Being A Cool Converter

Or being a capitalist

I had a revelation last week.

No there weren’t any flashing lights or voices or hazy mists.

I was musing about my website and my strategy with it.

I have read nearly a million blog posts, email newsletters and books (perhaps a slight exaggeration) about website design, becoming a social media monster, how to do X,Y,Z with your website. You know the ones that keep streaming into your Inbox.

It had to stop.

The strategy boils to one sentence really

The purpose of your website is to CONVERT,CONVERT. CONVERT.

I Don’t Know You

I had a call on Friday with a lead from Dublin (convert him man convert him!!). During our chat he mentioned a business in the US who I(I quote) “must have heard about ”.

I had forgotten to written his name down so I wasn’t even familiar with his name let alone a business in his niche.

I have often sublimely assumed that people on visiting my own website will instantly know that I am a reasonable guy who creates great websites at a competitive price and that I am not a geeky dude working from my grannies bedroom. They will know in seconds and reach for their cheque books.

First I have never been in either of my long deceased grannie’s bedrooms.I come from an age where you never went upstairs in peoples houses as it was considered incredible bad protocol. We only had downstairs bathrooms when I was growing up so trips in that direction weren’t required like they are now.

But I digress.

My website visitor really doesn’t give a s**t about what I am. They care about what I can do for them at their price.

Every page on your (and mine) website should be a conversion monster to make you the visitor do something that is a step towards converting you to a fan. email subscriber, repeat visitor or customer.

Capitalism Rules

Now you may say isn’t that good to do, isn’t the webs about sharing information. Of course it is but how are you measuring the impact. Google Analytics can track the visit but are you converting it to a comment, tweet, Like, yodel?

In many cases you don’t. I know I don’t always either.

So I am piling up all the email newsletters, ebooks and books into a tidy pile in the virtual corner and setting a match to them. I am donning my flash suit, cufflinks and becoming a capitalist.

Oooooh the New Donald Trump

You may laugh at this post but let me explain where I am coming from.

I first starting doing this job because I genuinely loved doing what I do.

I still do. I get a genuine buzz from launching a website and and even greater one when a website starts making revenue for the customer.

But I have often forgotten why I do it. I do it to make money. Not lots of money. Enough to feed my family, pay the bills, take a holiday now and then. My dream is to retire somewhere warm within the next 10 years.

Creating content that doesn’t convert won’t satisfy those dreams.