Author Archive
#1 at Amazon.com
Waiting For Your Cat to Bark is now a #1 best seller!
Today we hit #1 on the overall book best seller’s list on Amazon.com
Wow!
Thanks for the support. Oh and if you don’t have a copy or three, what’r you waiting for?
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Written by:Persuasion Architects
What is John A. Greco, Jr., president and CEO of the Direct Marketing Association reading?
Well we are extremely flattered that he mention both of our books. Here is what he had to say:
Waiting for Your Cat to Bark? : Persuading Customers When They Ignore Marketing
" ‘Waiting for Your Cat to Bark’ makes in interesting argument that simply tracking marketing measures to a Web site is not actually effective — it doesn’t take into consideration the reasons driving the behavior of consumers. The book conveys an important message: The consumer is in charge and must be engaged on his/her own terms, and merely measuring Website visits isn’t enough to make an informed decision."
Call to Action: Secret Formulas to Improve Online Results
"As the Internet changes the way marketers do business, learning how to optimize Web sites in order to motivate consumers to make a purchase is crucial. ‘Call to Action’ explains the steps of successful persuasion and is a must read for any marketer, with practical information on how to convert Website traffic into sales and ultimately, profits."
You can read the other books he recommends at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115211863976798531 .html?mod=googlenews_wsj (registration required - sorry).
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Wall Street Journal Best Seller
Waiting for Your Cat to Bark is now #2 on the Wall Street Journal’s Business Best Sellers list, and #10 on the overall Non-Fiction Best Sellers list .
Not too shabby.
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USA Today Best Seller
Our humble little tome, "Waiting for your Cat to Bark" is now #4 on the USA Today Money Best Sellers, and #54 on the USA Today Top 150. We just heard news that we will be top 5 in the Wall Street Journal Business best sellers as well. We’ll post the link as soon as we get it.
Of course selling the book and making all these best sellers lists is exciting, but the really exciting thing for us in the company is to see folks read and use the advice and examples in the book. We are still hearing great reader success storys from our last best seller Call to Action.
Do you have a copy of the new book yet? We will be waiting to hear your success story next.
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Written by:Persuasion Architects
Interesting Discussion about Waiting for Your Cat To Bark
Ran across this discussion in the Cr8asite forums
Of course it begins with a succint and positive review of our new book, but the discussion that follows is a fascinating one.
What are your thoughts?
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Written by:Persuasion Architects
Duct Tape Marketing meets Bryan Eisenberg
After a great breakfast chat with small business marketer John Jantsch at Duct Tape Marketing, Bryan Eisenberg and John recorded this podcast where Bryan shared his insights into small businesses and their use of the internet. Not a bad way for Bryan to kick off his share of the book tour.
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Written by:Persuasion Architects
The State of Online Retailing
It keeps going down, down, down.
What?
The average conversion rate for online retailing.
In 2002 it was 3.2%, in 2003 it was 2.4%, 2004 it was 2.6%, and last year down to 2.4%
All this according to the Shop.org State of Online Retailing 2006 report.
Think about 2002, ages ago in internet years right? Now think about 2005. Today sites are better, better technology. Faster sites. Better usability. Better web analytics. Majors sites have been redesigned since 2002. More users have broadband, and visitors are more comfortable buying online.
So what is going on?
Lot of folks still waiting for their cats to bark. Are you?
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Written by:Persuasion Architects
Where is the FUNNNN?
What do you do if you are in a dog munch dog, hyper competitive industry? What do you do if you are in an industry whose reputation is collectively toilet bound? What do you do if everyone in America is conditioned to mistrust you? How do you sell successfully in a hostile environment like that?
Answer: Have fun.
I’ve been watching the new A&E reality show "King of Cars" featuring a loudmouth rapper type car dealer named Chop who runs Towbin Dodge in Las Vegas. 80% of their business is a direct result of a weekly informmercial Chop produces himself. The TV informmercial is one of the single best persuasion scenario driving points I have ever seen, it drives offline traffic like crazy. (Yeah yeah, the website needs work but that’s another post)
Be warned, the infommercial is obnoxious, juvenile, blue, and a general train wreck. But, it is FUN, magnetic, and hugely successful.
Towbin Dodge is the #1 single point dealership in the nation.
Instead of trying to market credibility, or change the public’s perception of car salesmen, Chop just decided to make everything fun. To be himself.
Turns out people love him. Turns out people love having fun. Who woulda thunk?
I have to wonder how many companys can benefit from unclenching their rear ends and being a bit real. Or are you gonna make me and the public endure yet another cloned, canned, polished, boring and safe message that no one is gonna believe anyway?
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Different Kinds of Traffic
Seth Godin blogs…
Whatever your website, I think you want better traffic, not more traffic.
You want to figure out why the right people will come, not build a sideshow that attracts exactly the wrong people.
At trade shows, there’s always a few booths with magicians, fire-eaters or bikini-clad models. And post-show, there’s no evidence at all to indicate that the noisy attractions did very much to improve the actual metrics of the booth.
So, maybe it doesn’t matter how your site does compared to a site in a different category. What matters, I think, is how your site does compared to last week or last month, and what’s happening to your conversion. Read Seth’s entire post.
Agreed. We’ve been talking about his for quite a while.
Assuming your site’s conversion rate is on par with the industry average(around 2%) be careful not to come to the conclusion that 98-97% of the traffic is the wrong people just because they don’t convert. Don’t run out willy nilly and try to find the ‘right traffic’. Most of that good traffic might be right beneath your sniffer now. No matter how much of the ‘right traffic’ you have, your sight has to be just as right to make sure that ‘quality’ traffic gets the information they need, the way they need it.
It’s not just quality of traffic, and like Seth points out, it’s the quality of their experience with you and your brand. The quality of your persuasion scenario planning is what bridges the gap between you and your traffic’s potential.
We’ve spent a few words in some recent ClickZ articles talking about persuasion scenarios. Start with this article, then read this, and finally this.
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Complimentary Conversion & Persuasion Goodies
If you missed the Santa Barbara Emetrics Summit, Bryan Eisenberg wrapped up the event in his most recent ClickZ article .
Our GrokDotCom newsletter is also out. The martian writes about the maturity (or immaturity) of the online channel. Are you settling for poor conversion rate increases because you think this is as good as the online channel gets? Find out. The newsletter also features an article from one of our newest staff additions, Robert Gorell, who generously spills some help about online copywriting.
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