Dan Janal | Publicity and PR Leads Blog

No self-respecting publisher today will talk to an author who doesn’t have a large “platform” of followers who will by a book and a marketing plan that shows how the author will sell the book.

So how did Stieg Larsson become a best-selling author, years after he died without publishing a book in his life?

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, his best-selling “The Girl Who…” series is a best seller in the US and from what I can tell from my visit to Madrid, all over Europe as well.

I don’t have the answers. Do you? Why would a publisher take on an unknown author, who is dead, and promote the heck out of his books when it seems like most publishers won’t lift a finger to promote a book from an unknown (living) author?

Any ideas?

I recently visited Madrid and had a wonderful time. But at many times, I felt like a stranger in a strange land. I realized that feeling affects many visitors to your website. Here’s why

Your website prospects are like tourists in a foreign country. They don’t know you. They don’t trust you. They have many other vendors to choose from. They want to buy something like yours from someone like you. It could be you if you do the right things. It won’t be you if you don’t.

Here are five keys to improving your website so you connect with your prospects.

1. State your price. Many restaurants posted pictures of the food they served, but didn’t post the prices. I avoided those restaurants. How would I know what the price was? Why should I risk embarrassment by going inside sit and seeing the menu with prices that I didn’t want to pay? Why would I want to waste my time? The prospects who see your website are the same way. They are tired, scared, impatient and distrustful. Don’t make people hunt for it. – unless there’s a darned good reason.

2. Make an attempt to speak the language of your customer. Yes, I tried to study Spanish and learn a few words. In some cases, I got by quite nicely in others, we were both lost. Don’t expect your website visitor to speak your language which has technical jargon, nuance, and insider knowledge. You must be willing to listen to the prospect and speak at her level.

3. Use the phone. I wanted to go to Spain to learn Spanish and also to see the sights. I went to Google to find language courses in Madrid. I found quite a few. Only one had a notice that they would call me if I had any questions. I put in my phone number and a good time to call. They did. I asked my question and signed up for the course. By talking to a real person (on their dime), I knew the company was real. I couldn’t know that if I hadn’t talked to them. Does your website invite communication? Do you hide behind email or do you get off your butt and pick up the phone. A few minutes on the phone can do a lot to calm fears and build trust.

4. Get the right person to call prospects. If you don’t want to call prospects, then hire someone who will. This step is too important to overlook. I don’t like talking to prospects. I’d much rather spend my time training, consulting, coaching and speaking. So I hired someone who likes to sell. This is a case of 1 plus 1 equals three. I do what I like to do; she does what she likes to do; and the company grows and clients get the service they need.

5. Don’t wear out your welcome. I could have stayed in Madrid for two weeks. I actually cleared by schedule in case I wanted to add another week. And on my last day in Madrid, I seriously considered staying. I had done most, but not all of the things I wanted to do. And it is true that I might discover things that I hadn’t even known about. But I’d rather leave early and want more than stay too late and be bored. For marketers, the message is to answer your prospects questions, but don’t bore them with all the details and features they might not care about. When you’ve made the sale, then bow out gracefully.

If you follow these tips, you’ll be speaking a new language of profits with your prospects.

Dan Janal is an early thought leader in the field of publicity and the Internet. He delivers thought-provoking keynote speeches across the world. For information about his seminars, go to http://www.janal.com

Dan Janal is a very successful entrepreneur, professional speaker and marketing coach who helps clients build their businesses by improving their strategy for using publicity, marketing, Internet marketing, e-commerce and sales. For more information, go to

http://www.prleadsplus.com

This article can be published on your website or ezine. Contact dan @ prleads for permission.

We met a famous Spanish actor today in the immersion section of the class. Juan Anillo spoke about his life as an actor and actively tried to get me to ask him questions in Spanish. He seemed like a very warm and personable fellow. I got his picture with me. I hope I can upload it to my blog. It will have to wait until I get back home.

Interesting fact: We say “break a leg” to actors for good luck. In Spain, they say “Mucha Mierda.” You can use Google translator if you need to.

My iPhone doesn’t work here. That is, the data is mucho expensivo (Spanish!) so I turned the phone off. I can take pictures, but can´t send via iPhone. I figured how to transfer pix to laptop, but it appears that the connection is so slow that pix might be a
problem to send. A yousendit file I wanted to send to a client said it would take 25 hours!

The school teaches grammar and conversation in the morning. In the afternoon, they deliver lectures so we can build our listening skills. I understood most of a 2-hour lecture on the Spanish news media (it’s growing! People read newspapers here, unlike the US.) Also, the papers are very partisan. No fair and balanced news here. People buy the paper that reflects their opinions. And yes, Rupert Murdoch owns papers here. Is he King of the World?

Class is getting easier. My head still spins at the end of the morning. It is good. To learn a language you really need a lot of drill and repetition and speaking. Before I came to Spain, I listened to many hours of Spanish language CDs. That was good for building vocabulary and listening skills, but when you have to speak, it is like starting from square one.

The teachers are very good. I’m getting more comfortable in restaurants and trying to think of stories to tell using Spanish. If you try hard enough, you can make verbs do a lot of work for you!