There’s no shortage of advice, opinions and statistics about effective landing pages. As always, the main question is: What’s best for your website? The answer is simple: whatever your customers want.

That’s not an evasive or vague answer. Once your website has been up and running for awhile, you’ll notice patterns and trends. Whether you figure this out by gut feeling or by using an analytics program is irrelevant.

Going through your website’s demographics goes a long way to determining your site’s success in regards to conversion. Generally, if your demographics reveal an educated and older website visitor, you can use more text and content than if your site visitors are younger or less educated.

The Power of Pictures

Vision is easily a human’s most dominant sense, so pictures and images will always have a powerful impact. Many websites, however, suffer from the ‘kitchen sink mentality’, figuring if a few images are good, then lots of images must be great. The marketing mantra – clarity trumps persuasion – has existed for decades for exactly this reason.

Using text is a double-edged sword. Great text – not just good text, but great text – written by a professional copywriter can often appeal to highly educated people and their higher than average incomes. Direct marketers, who honed this technique to perfection through years in catalog and direct mail marketing, have found it relatively easy to translate their skills to the internet.

The downside – if you can call it that – to great text, is that it is often overkill. It’s possible to speak ‘at’ your audience, instead of with them. Dr. Phil is the perfect example of how to do it the correct way. He has taken psychology and made it easy for the masses to understand.

That’s a killer concept! Can you make it work for your site, your business, your industry?

How Do You Handle It?

It’s a dilemma for many marketers, who try to please a client or manager while trying to please the customer. The answer isn’t easy. If you work for somebody, you have to please them. But don’t you really work for the customer?

When I was employed, I’d often aggravate management to no end by ignoring their rules and suggestions and doing what was right for the customer. That’s not a suggestion for those who value their jobs, especially in this economy.

But it does provide the opening for lean and nimble companies to take clients away from companies like that. Companies and individuals who promise and deliver performance and base their fees on the percentage increase are growing quickly. That makes it a win/win because the easiest thing to sell is proven performance.

Everybody is in sales.

If you’re looking for a job, you’re in sales.

If you have a job and want a promotion or a raise, you’re in sales.

If you own a business and want a loan or a new customer, you’re definitely in sales.

Getting good sales information is easy. There are long time pros like Jeffrey Gitomer, Chet Holmes, Neil Rackham, Tom Hopkins, Zig Ziglar, Jay Conrad Levinson, Stephan Schiffman, and Brian Tracy. Getting information which can dramatically improve your sales skills from these authors is a no-brainer.

Then we have Jill Konrath (or Con-wrath as some have called her),  author or co-author of six books. Conwrath recently wrote a guest blog post about how to leave a voice mail, giving a typical example and a suggested example.

She stated that saying over-used buzz words and corporate speak was a no win situation and I’ll totally agree with her. She mentioned using a ‘fresh perspective’ on selling to get a voice mail message returned. Only her fresh perspective wasn’t. It’s been standard in professional and consultive selling for decades.

But let’s get down to details. Her first sample voicemail message was this:

Eric. This is Pat Webster calling. I’m with Blasé Strategies, a leading marketing firm in the Minneapolis area. We offer a wide range of services, including branding, collateral development, as well as packaging and web design- one-stop shopping for all your marketing needs.

I’d love to set up a time to find out about your needs and tell you a bit about how we might help your company. Please give me a call at your earliest convenience. My number is 123-456-7890. I look forward to meeting you. Have a great day!

Most sales pros would recognize this voicemail message for exactly what it is: useless. Agreed.

Here is Con-wrath’s suggested message, which she promoted as, “It’s palpable. You’re a business peer. A real professional. A person who brings substantial value. Someone worth meeting.”

Eric. Pat Webster from Blasé Strategies. 123-456-7890. I just spent an hour analyzing your website. Based on what I see, I suspect your shopping cart abandon rate may be higher than it should. One of our recent customers had the same problem.

We cut their abandoned carts by 16% in just one month, resulting in a 8.4% lift in sales. Let’s set up a time to talk. Again, my number is 123-456-7890.

Palpable? Professional? Value? NOT!

Let’s break it down so you can see the multiple problems with her suggested message.

Eric. (How about “Hello, Eric.” or “Good morning/afternoon, Eric.” That type of condescending tone will not win friends, influence people, or make sales.) Pat Webster from Blasé Strategies. 123-456-7890. (It’s pointless to leave the number so soon in the message. There hasn’t been a justification or reason to call so mentioning the number is superfluous.) I just spent an hour analyzing your website.  (An hour? Really? For a cold call? That is completely unbelievable. It’s the same concept as when an outside sales rep enters a place of business without an appointment and says, “I was in the neighborhood.” Nonsense.) Based on what I see, I suspect your shopping cart abandon rate may be higher than it should. (I! I! I! Me! Me! Me! Don’t be self-referential. Make the voice mail about the customer, not about you. And why mention this supposed problem unless you had a solution – which means you’re in sales. Damnit, if you’re in sales, admit you’re in sales.) One of our recent customers had the same problem. (The same EXACT problem? Again, highly doubtful. Which means untrustworthy.)

We cut their abandoned carts by 16% in just one month (We? Oh, yeah, self-referential. The customer wants to know, “What’s in it for me?!?”), resulting in a 8.4% lift in sales (Lift? Speak English! An 8.4% increase in sales). Let’s set up a time to talk. (Why? So you can sell me?) Again, my (more self-referential nonsense.) number is 123-456-7890.

Whew! Now, seriously, if you were a buyer and got that voicemail message, how likely would you be to return the call? I’d rather call my ex-mother-in-law to talk about the sleeping habits of North American pygmy squirrels.

Do It Like This

Hello, Eric. Pat Webster from Blasé Strategies. A brief analysis of your ecommerce website reveals that your shopping cart abandonment rate may be higher than the industry average. A client with a similar problem reduced his abandoned carts by 16% in just one month, resulting in a 8.4% sales increase. If you want to take advantage of the same service, please call me back at 123-456-7890, that’s 123-456-seventy-eight ninety. Thanks, Eric!

Now let’s compare.

1. Con-wrath mentions the buyer by name or with the use of words like ‘you’, ‘your’, etc. just 3 times while the seller mentions his name, company name or the words “I”, etc. 8 times. In my example, the customer’s information is mentioned 5 times and the seller’s info just 3 times. People are more likely to return calls when the focus is on them.

2. The subtle use of peer pressure is a powerful motivator. People tend to want to do the same things as others. If one’s performance is below industry average and they can use a solution which worked for others, they will likely take advantage of it.

3.  Repeating the phone number in two different ways – at the end of the call – makes it easy for the buyer to write down and remember the number.

4. The last word in the message is the buyer’s name, which Dale Carnegie called, “the sweetest sound in any language.”

Con-wrath stated her information is better than Jay Conrad Levinson, the father of Guerrilla Marketing. Okay, then, let’s test the theory. I challenge Con-wrath to write a cold call voice mail message script for three types of businesses: an entrepreneur, a small business with approximately 10-25 employees and a large corporation of 250 employees or more.

I will write a voice mail script for the same types of companies. We’ll give the matching scripts to three sales reps and have them leave 50 messages. Then, we’ll compare numbers to see who wrote the script with the highest percentage of returned calls. Loser pays the winner $10,000.00.

I’m ready any time.

A well-known piece of advice is never to discuss sex, religion or politics in front of company. Like most advice, there’s a time and a place to heed this concept and a time and place to ignore it. Today, politics will be ignored. If you’re a hard-core Democrat or Republican, you’re likely to be squeamish as your party’s philosophies won’t benefit from kid gloves treatment.

The purpose of this post is to show how politics and business is intertwined. As a consultant to many small businesses, it’s imperative they understand the implications of how they vote. Find a topic below for a different take than you’ll get from major media.

DEATH

Democrats and Republicans both miss the boat here. Generally, Democrats support abortion rights and oppose the death penalty while Republicans oppose abortion and support the death penalty. Come on, America! Can’t you see the hypocrisy? People are either FOR death (supporting both abortion and the death penalty) or AGAINST death (opposing both abortion and the death penalty).

This is one way the major political parties create and foster ideological partisanship. A 2009 ABC News poll found over 60% of Americans support the death penalty. A 2009 Gallup poll found that more Americans were ‘pro life’ than ‘pro choice’ for the first time. Slight edge to the Republicans, based on the polling results.

FEAR

Fear is the friend of the politician. An educated and aware voter, however, does not fall prey to the politics of fear.

Republicans use the fear of terror attacks and loss of national security. There is obviously classified information regarding Americans’ safety and security that can’t possibly be revealed due to national security. This fear reached a fever pitch during the Bush administration after the September 11 attacks.

But looking at the numbers from a purely statistical point (and with all due respect to those who lost their lives or whose lives were impacted by the loss or injury of a loved one), the odds of terrorist attacks resulting in injury or death are far less than driving in a car or even being struck by lightning.

So how much privacy have Americans needlessly sacrificed in the name of safety? How much money has been wasted that could have been better spent? Or, better yet, not spent and used for reducing the deficit?

Democrats are no better. The pitch economic fear to draw people into the party. Fear of a layoff, of being downsized, having your job outsourced to a foreign country, of not having enough to retire with, and on and on and on.

Why not, instead teach people how to protect themselves financially? Why not teach budgeting (as if the government understands that) or obtaining valuable skills so one does not have to rely on the government? Democrats – to paraphrase the old saying – prefer to give people fish instead of teaching them how to fish. This dependency on money from the government fosters a weakness in people. This is hardly the way to motivate people.

THE DEFICIT

Neither party has earned the right to speak about budget deficits.

When George W. Bush was president, the budget deficits ranged from about $250-450 Billion per year, the largest deficits on record, in pure dollar amounts.. This happened quickly after Bill Clinton had budget surpluses. Democrats howled about the outrageous spending.

The overspending (proving Bush was not a fiscal conservative) was one reason Republicans lost control of Congress in 2006 and 2008. Congressional Republicans allowed Bush to spend recklessly from 2001 until 2007, when Democrats took control of Congress.

Yet in Democrat Barack Obams’s first year in office, the budget deficit hit a record $1.4 Trillion, over 300% larger than Bush’s previous record. And where was the Democratic outrage over these budget deficits? That’s right. You could head a pin drop.

Now Obama has pledged to cut the deficit in half by 2012. Sounds hauntingly familiar, doesn’t it? Sure, because it’s the same concept George W. Bush used: spend like hell, then tell the voters you’ll cut the deficit in half, even though that’s still a huge increase in what was spent. There is no difference between either major political party on this issue.

FINAL THOUGHTS

If you’re a partisan – one who only votes for one party no matter what – you’re part of the problem. There are good and bad Democrats and good and bad Republicans. Neither party has a patent on superior ideas or idiocy.

If you only get your news from one source or one ideology, you’re shortchanging yourself. Read both liberal news and conservative news and then something like USA Today, which plays it about as moderately as one can hope.

Same on television. Like Fox? Watch MSNBC. Like MSNBC? Watch Fox. Radio, too. Listen to conservative and liberal commentators.

Bottom line: most established politicians are full of crap. If you really want change and hope, vote out as many incumbents as possible. There’s a reason Congress has only about a 25% approval rating. So how come over 90% get re-elected over and over again?

This discussion is just getting started. This election year is VITAL for the future of America. The two best presidents of the last 30 years were Reagan and Clinton, because they had to govern as centrists. Why? Because, except for Clinton’s first 2 years, the Congress was controlled by the president’s opposing party.

The two worst presidents of the last 35 years were Carter and Bush. Why? Because they had a Congress controlled by their respective party. The correlation is there and it’s real. Political extremism is bad for America. Only someone as clueless as Balloon Boy’s dad could fail to grasp the concept.

Comments are definitely welcomed, especially when accompanied by FACTS. If all you can do is whine or parrot talking points from either major political party, you’re going to be dead meat. Your comments will be posted just so people can see how stupid or ignorant you really are.

The 2010 elections are only about 9 months away. That’s plenty of time to educate yourself. Better yet, run for office yourself and let me know about it.

Google dominates US search queries with about 80% of all searches. Their Android operating system has fanatical followers. Google Docs is a powerful and free alternative to Microsoft Office. Gmail is an exceptionally popular email system.

To many people, that’s a little scary, a little bit too much Big Brother, even a little bit McCarthyish. Do a search on Google and the results – until very, very recently – were different depending whether you were signed in to your Google account or not.

It’s entirely possible Google is altruistic. It’s also possible Google knows far more than it lets on. Governments on several levels have subpoenaed the major search engines, including Google, looking for information. With the increasing rise in identity theft, how much information do you really want others to have?

Google knows a lot about each user. The more of their services you use, the more they know about you. Part of the problem is their products and services are very, very good and exceptionally convenient. Is there a hidden price you might pay for all this quality and convenience?

If you’re not willing to take a chance but still want the benefit of Google products, consider this option. Google introduced their Chrome web browser in 2008. Without their big push, it’s acceptance has languished, with less than 3% of the browser market.

Google makes another web browser which very few people have even heard of called Chromium, which is an open source version of Chrome.  Using Chromium, you can browse the web and see everything in the open source code.

If you want to minimize Google’s influence even further, try Anonymizer for anonymous web browsing.

If you have other options, I’d love to hear your solutions. As always, please leave your comments, which are always welcome.

Jason Calacanis, a favorite of mine because he speaks his mind, sent this email the other day:

Comscore is the technology industry’s biggest bully, and today I’m calling for an industry-wide boycott of their services.

I’m asking journalist and bloggers to stop covering their stats, I’m asking advertisers to not use their services, and finally, I’m asking startup companies to not support their new and widely reported on “$10,000 to get your stats correct” extortion ring.

If I was a stock trader I would short the stock–but I’m not–so I won’t (I keep my money in bonds and angel investments for the record).

Also, if you own Comscore shares, I’m not going to tell you that you should sell them, but if I were an analyst–and I’m not–I would probably tell folks to sell every share they had, and as quickly as possible.

Additionally, I’m asking Comscore to drop their “pay for correct stats” model in the next ten days.

Let’s get into why.

Comscore’s Reign of Terror

For over a decade, I’ve railed against our industry’s leading metrics company ComScore with little result.

It all started when I was a journalist in the 90s for the Silicon Alley Reporter. I listened to company after company from Silicon Alley to Silicon Valley complain about how ComScore’s method of counting traffic websites, via a sample of users, was incorrect.

People couldn’t understand why the internet industry, with it’s ability to track traffic perfectly, would ever adopt the failed sample-based methods used on television and radio. Comscore’s ideas were antiquated and unnecessary.

Entrepreneurs would show me their internal stats, which were typically three to five times larger than Comscore’s numbers, and beg me to correct them in the Silicon Alley Reporter.

However, I noticed a pattern: the big companies didn’t complain about Comscore.

Why?

Well, from what multiple people shared with me, you simply had to follow the money. According to these folks it was an unspoken truth for years that if you paid Comscore they fixed your numbers, and if you were a small company and didn’t, well, you suffered. Comscore would probably deny this, but their recent “pay to play” product shows their true stripes.

They screwed me at Weblogs, Inc.

————————

It wasn’t until I started Weblogs, Inc. that I really felt the sting of not participating in the Comscore protection racket. You see, advertisers love Comscore and they make advertising buys based on it.

Our small, but growing blogs, were under reported month after month and Comscore basically told me to pound salt when I complained. It cost me money, and I promised myself that if I could ever support another service that wasn’t based on payola I would.

Here you can see a smoking gun from 2005 when Comscore did a “study” on blogs with Gawker Media as a sponsor. Interestingly, Gawker’s blogs did really well in the study. The only problem was that Comscore’s numbers were different than the SiteMeter traffic that Gawker and Weblogs Inc. were publishing at the time.

Denton privately admitted to me he support Comscore because he had to because of their reputation in the advertising industry. He thought I should bite the bullet as well and get in bed with the bullies. Not my style, sorry.

[[ Some links from 2005 Comscore: Show us the data or get out of Dodge http://bit.ly/4I7S6i and ClickZ: http://www.clickz.com/3526851 - Fred Wilson throws me under the bus: http://bit.ly/8BpFnh ]]

I publicly complained about Comscore but no one would really listen.

Actually Jeff Jarvis did support me: http://bit.ly/8zW0GF

My good friend Fred Wilson, who had invested in the firm, turned away and watched the bullies he invested in pummel me when I complained about Comscore. Fred is outspoken and an advocate of startups–except with Comscore. He’s turned a blind eye while letting his huge venture return in Comscore color his objectivity. In fact, it must be obvious to Fred that Comscore is, in fact, holding back his other startup investments by extorting money from them!

Fred’s been an amazing supporter of mine over the years, but I’ve never been able to get over the fact that he invested in and supported these guys. Fred’s continued support of this company is unconscionable at this point. He needs to come out and say that Comscore charging $10,000 for this product is a pure shake down.

Do it Fred… you know you want to!

ComScore Tries to Buy Me Off

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This summer the tough guys at Comscore approached me with a clandestine deal after I continued to publicly complain about their methods. The message was clear: if I stopped criticizing them and publicly supported their server data measurement program they would not charge me. The $10,000 it would cost a year for this service would be free for me if I threw my fellow entrepreneurs under the bus.

Their email to me included something out of the a Sopranos episode:

“Normally there is a cost to implement, but in this case we will gladly waive the charge if you are interested.” Yeah, and if you’re not interested perhaps you would like to come on a fishing trip with us this weekend.

You bastards think that after a *decade* of me trying to stop your extortion you can by me off by simply waiving some fees? I could easily pay the $10,000 fee today but I will never give you guys a dime. I will remember what you did to me when I was coming up forever.

I’d rather lose half my revenue from advertising as Mahalo grows from a top 1,000 site (2007), to the top 400 sites (2008) and now a top 200 site (2009), and eventually even a top 50 site I hope (2011?)–than give you even one ounce of my support.

I wrote back: “You guys are evil for charging companies–I would never support you. Quantcast and Google are going to crush you guys…. And I’m telling everyone I know to support Quantcast.”

They never contacted me again.

Comscore formalizes their extortion ring

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This week you may have read over at the excellent “All Things D” that Comscore is now willing to do real metrics on your website if you give them $10,000 a year. They claim this is to pay for their servers.

More: http://bit.ly/6Fqrhe

This after they spent the last decade criticizing the direct measurement methods of their competitors like Quantcast and Google Analytics as being flawed! Now they say pixel tracking–actual measurement on the server side–is the best method. What a bunch of slim buckets.

Could it be that enough publishers and advertisers have told you to go f– yourself in the past year?

Could it be that Quantcast has a product that is 100x better than your service and it’s FREE?

Could it be that Compete.com is secretly testing a server-side testing method like Quantcast’s and is about to kick your ass?

From where I sit, this is Comscore’s desperate Hail Mary pass to try and save their dying protection racket. Comscore has ZERO value when Google Analytics, Compete.com and Quantcast allow you to publicly and freely track your stats.

Bullies, Ethics & Your Part

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As a kid growing up in Brooklyn, I learned that when you or your friends were being bullied there was really only one solution to the problem: punch the bully directly in the face as hard as you can the second they approached you. Like really, the second they come at you–the second the first word comes out of their mouth–punch them in the face. Don’t let them even finish their sentence. If they say “I want your milk money” your fist should make contact right around the “want” mark.

BANG!

At a young age I tested this technique and it resulted in a couple of multi-day suspensions from school and black eyes, but it is a life-long strategy for success that has never failed me. Do not let yourself or your friends get bullied–ever. Even if you get your ass kicked, at least you got your shot in and you held your ground.

When someone from Comscore approaches, you should tell them to go hell. (Note: do not literally punch them in the face–I’m not advocating physical violence here, I’m advocating voting with your dollar.)

I put up a good fight for a decade but made little progress and frankly got my ass kicked by Comscore in the Weblogs, Inc. days.

However, their obnoxious behavior has finally been publicly exposed.

This means that we–as an industry–can finally run this bully out of town.

Again, here is what I’m asking for in the Comscore Boycott. Feel free to republish this article in whole at your blog.

The Comscore Boycott: Play Your Part!

======================

1. Startups: Do NOT pay a single penny to Comscore–ever.

2. Startups who are getting this program for free (I suspect a good

number): Opt out and tell Comscore to f– themselves.

3. Press & Bloggers: Please do not run Comscore’s inaccurate numbers, and please expose their extortion ring.

4. Advertisers: Do not use Comscore to plan your media buys: use the free and more accurate Quantcast.

5. Google: Please release your version Comscore killer (based on Quantcast’s model), or better yet PLEASE BUY QUANTCAST!

6. Compete.com: Please release your Comscore killer.

7. Stock traders & Analysts: Please think deeply about the potential revenue destruction that Comscore could be facing.

8. Fred Wilson: publicly state that you do not agree with ComScore’s mafia-like methods.

9. Republish this email at your blog.

10. If you have information on Comscore that should be exposed send it to me in confidence (say anonymous up top)

To My “Friends” at Comscore

—————————————

You know I’m right.

As such, I’m asking for complete and unconditional surrender. Make your tracking pixel program 100% free in the next 10 days or the boycott will continue.

If you’re a current or former executive at Comscore and you have an opinion on this please send me your thoughts in confidence, and I will republish them to the list without your name.

If you’re a current employee who can’t deal with this any more, please add me on LinkedIn and ask for a LinkedIn introduction to the Google Analytics, Compete.com or Quantcast teams. I will gladly forward talented people from Comscore on to companies I think are more ethical.

All the best,

Jason

As someone who has always supported small businesses and entrepreneurs in their battle against big businesses and many draconian government laws, I’m going “all in” and supporting Jason’s point. Please join Jason and show your support.