Well drop is kind of a harsh term, I more like… moved on to a younger, hipper, more talented customer management service. I guess you could say I’m kind of a cougar when it comes to technology.

So the shocking truth is that I am moving on to bigger and better things, and I want to serve you even better! I just launched my super cool new website and am expanding my offerings from just website design to also include products, webinars, and my favorite; The Branding Game. So that is why I have switched to…drum roll please… Infusionsoft.

You may have heard of it, there has been a lot of buzz lately because it’s taking the sales automation world by storm. Not only does it handle your auto responder (your list/newsletter), it also is a shopping cart, a scheduling system, an affiliate manager, and all around great guy amazing piece of software.

The beauty of Infusionsoft is not just that it handles all of the aspects of your coaching business, but it puts them on autopilot. I can’t even go into all of the detail (because you would probably start crying from boredom) but in this blog I always try to expose you to different pieces of technology and tools you can use to make running your coaching business easier. So here is a brief overview of what Infusionsoft capable of so that you know what’s possible in customer management software.

When set up properly Infusionsoft will collect prospect information, keep in touch with them and build credibility for you, sell them your product, follow up with them and give them an amazing customer experience, then help you sell them another product and so on. It will even send birthday greetings.

Think of how valuable this could be to you, and how much time you could save by automating these actions. And that’s just the autoresponder!

Here are a few other cool things Infusionsoft does:

• Help you keep track of your prospects, where they are in your sales cycle and store notes about conversations you’ve had.
• Set up an affiliate management center where affiliates can get copy to send to their lists, track their commissions and help you sell more.
• Provide multiple payment plans, subscriptions, and with special add ons – memberships.
• Integrates with Goto Webinar, Maestro, and I’m sure a slew of other commonly used pieces of software so that you don’t even miss a piece of vital information within your customer base.

Nifty right?

As I’m using this software and implementing it into how I manage the Land of Brand I’ve learned a lot and have so many ideas for you on:

• How to craft your sales cycle so that your services lead into each other.
• How to make a really compelling opt in offer (instead of just throwing something together)
• Opportunities that you’re missing when you’re keeping in touch with prospects.

I want to share all of those ideas with you. I’ve incorporated a lot of them into the Branding Game which you are welcome to check out, but you’ll also find more articles being added regularly at The Land of Brand blog, so make sure you head on over there and subscribe to the newsletter, as the newsletter here will slowly be phased out.

And for the record, Aweber will still always be my first love and I still recommend it wholeheartedly!

Now I could give you a lesson on color theory used by designers, or even the psychological effects of color choices on your website (though I’d have to look all of that up on wikipedia). But the truth is, none of that matters. And even if you knew HOW you were supposed to choose colors on a color wheel to make your website pretty, unless you are artistic and understand these things, your color scheme is still going to look like a mess.

Don’t lose hope though! There is a very cool and easy way for you to choose stellar website colors.

While you may not be artistically equipped to pick colors straight from a color wheel, chances are you still know a good color combo when you see it.

You’ll find beautiful color schemes in nature, whether it be the green of a meadow and how it contrasts with the blue sky. Or, maybe a particular flower catches your eye.

I personally love Japanese kimonos because they are always beautiful and vibrant. They also have very interesting color combinations that frequently go against normal “color theory” and is the reason they are so stunning.

So look around you and create “snapshots” of color combinations you like. A great way to do this is to look through photography portfolios or magazines. When you find an image that really jumps out at you, it could be the composition of the colors and how they balance each other, or the feeling they give you.

To give you an example of what I’m talking about here are two links to blog posts from Brian Gardner of Studiopress who has compiled photos with associated color schemes. They are extremely cool and are a great example for how you can take a stunning image and translate the colors and feeling to your website.

Coffee inspired color schemes from Studiopress
Winter inspired color schemes from Studiopress

Before you turn yourself lose on Google Images though I’d like to remind you of a few things:

1. Your website and brand is an expression of who YOU are, so don’t over think it. Choose what you like, and as long as the design is professional (and you didn’t choose puke green with orange text) it’s going to look good and appeal to your audience.
2. Stop worrying about turning people off. This goes along with number one. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve heard “I like this color scheme, but I want to make sure I’m not turning men away” I’d be able to support my ice cream addiction no problemo. My website is purple and green and I still attract a 30% male audience. It’s the quality and the content that people connect with, not whether or not your site is pink.
3. Don’t over do it, for the most part choosing just 2 colors (not including black and white) will be enough to give your website pizzazz. Then your designer can work with different shades of those colors to create depth and accent important featured ares.

So go forth and bring some color to your website! Please post any interesting images or color schemes that you find in the comments.

You don’t have to be boring and stuffy though to position yourself as an expert coach.

When you really know what you’re talking about the information you share should come easily and roll right off of your tongue. If you were explaining something to a friend you wouldn’t be using large words and perfectly correct grammar. You would probably be flailing your arms around and umming a lot. But I bet they still think you’re smart (ok … maybe).

In fact, when someone is hiding behind complicated words and overly formal language many times we assume that they don’t know what they’re talking about or that they are compensating for something.

So when you’re writing a blog post or delivering a tele-seminar, don’t get hung up on being perfect. People appreciate a conversational tone and find it easier to follow.

You’ll also look smarter because if you can deliver this kind of content off the cuff, then imagine what you can bring to the table when you’re actually trying!

Your disadvantage as a coach is that in order to actually talk with your prospects you have to get them to make the first move, which isn’t as easy as you would like it to be. In fact, it can be downright difficult!

The process to actually getting to that first conversation is complex, the person finds your website, maybe they sign up for your newsletter, you send them valuable information, and maybe down the road if the stars align they call you.

What if you could cut all of that out, and reach out and talk to website visitors directly?

Well actually… you can!

If you’ve been to my site recently you’ll notice that after a few moments when a page loads you get a prompt asking if you have any questions. This is actually a very simple plugin that I bought this summer on App Sumo (a Groupon-like site for us geeky folks) because it was a good deal, and I wanted to test this concept out before I invested in something more robust.

The one I have is called Snap Engage and it connects to my Google Talk and when I’m online, it will prompt website visitors to chat with me. How cool is that?

I can tell you first hand, that it is very cool.

It’s much easier to build a relationship with someone when you’re actually talking with them, and most of the time when someone has questions it’s because they are interested and the chat naturally leads into a sales conversation or phone call.

With just this simple prompt I’ve had:

• Blog readers chat me to talk about my latest post.
• Prospects ask questions about my services and sign up on the spot.
• Potential joint venture partners contact me to talk about promoting my services.
• I’ve even had a client chat me from the hospital where his son was being born!

All of this is just from a simple automated prompt. There are other plugins out there that do even more such as:

• Monitor visitors, where they are from, and how they found your site.
• Allow you to share a screen with visitors and see where they are clicking.
• Track how long a visitor is on a page and prompt them manually to see if they have questions.

(I haven’t tested these out yet so I don’t have any specific recommendations, if you do though please put them in the comments!)

How creepy cool would it be if right when someone is reading through your copy and is either stuck at a certain point or about to click away you swoop in and ask them if you can help.

This kind of plugin could make a big difference in how you sell your coaching services and engage with visitors on your site.

In this business everything is about the relationships you build. The best way to build those relationships is by actively talking with people. Blogs and newsletters are great, but when you can actually TALK with someone it can make all of the difference in the world.

Most of these services have free trials, and very inexpensive options usually starting at $15-$20 a month. Try it out, and let me know what kind of results you have…or better yet come chat me some time I’d love to talk with you!

Quite simply, the most common mistake I see on coaching websites is using a list of questions to start off a sales page.

When you sit down to write a juicy sales letter, the first rule of thumb is to make it easy for your target market to identify that you are speaking to them specifically.  Now my view may be a little controversial since many copy writers out there teach you to open your sales letter with questions that speak to your target audience.

The logic is sound, and sometimes it works, but I think there are better ways to get your prospect’s attention. So in this article I’m first going to give you reasons why this isn’t the best method, and what you can do to make your copy even better.

Before we get started here is an example of what I mean when I say a list of questions, these are not from anywhere in particular but you’ll get the drift.  Imagine a life coaching site, and here is the opening:

• Do you feel like you are overworked and under appreciated?
• Do you believe that there is more for you out there?
• Are you sick of waiting for something big, and ready to take that leap into a better life?

Look familiar? Please don’t hang your head in shame if your sales copy starts like this.  You aren’t alone.

Here are a few reasons why this just isn’t the best way to do it:

1. The questions are too broad. You need your copy to speak to a specific person with a specific need if you want it to get them drooling. When coaches use these questions to open a page, they are usually trying to cover all of their bases.  This is a common mistake, the more narrow you are with the problem you solve and who you’re talking to the better chance you have of that prospect recognizing themselves and positioning yourself as their solution.
2. It just doesn’t plain ‘ol doesn’t look good. Your website should be designed to draw people in, and the same goes for your copy.  You want to lure people into the story you’re telling and keep them wanting more.  I do believe bullets are needed to separate out ideas, especially for those that are skimming the page, but opening with them just makes you look lazy and isn’t very appealing.
3. You look like a rookie. You’ll notice if you take a look at some “A list” coaches and how they write their copy, I rarely see a sales page that uses this method.  Good copy will make you look like the pro that you are, and poorly formatted copy can make you look lame, it can even lose you clients.

So what can you do?

1. Start off with a juicy headline. Immediately identify the big result you are going to give your client so that they recognize right away that you have the answer they need and they can read on.
2. Tell a story, instead of using bullets think about how you could incorporate the needs and desires that you are trying to convey and paint a picture.   Here is an example using the bullets from above.

   “It kills me to see how many women are overworked and under appreciated. I know that they know there is something out there that is bigger and better, but sometimes they don’t have the courage to step out of their comfort zone and look for it. 

   I’m here to help, in my super awesome live your best life coaching program I help women that are stuck in crappy jobs discover ways to torture their bosses, and make their jobs much more rewarding.”

   That last bit was just to see if you were paying attention!  The key though is that it was very specific with what was being offered (boss torturing strategies) and the benefit (a sense of reward).

3. Give benefits with your bullets. If you are going to use bullets to separate out benefits in your copy, make sure you are telling them why they want it.  For each bullet make sure you add “so that…” at the end.  You’ll find more creative ways to do this without the “so that” but this is a good place to start.

Example:

• Recordings of our calls so that you can always refer back to them when you have a low moment.
• Discover 5 strategies that will help you be more productive and slaughter your to do list.
• Learn the right questions to ask so that you don’t get burned by your next service provider.

I am definitely a supporter of writing your own copy because I believe it is important that your website expresses who you are and shows off your awesome personality.  That being said, there are some great copy writers out there (one of which I’m lucky enough to have on my team) that are not only great at writing drool worthy sales pages, but can also adapt their writing to fit your voice and personality.

As always, practice makes perfect and the more you write the better you will get!