How do I get more people to my website?

How do I get more people to my website? <–This is a question I get daily, in every variation (storefront, blog, website) and through all stages of business.

And the reason being is: we all get stuck sometimes! Traffic dries up, or that marketing campaign ends, or Pinterest traffic suddenly drops by 600%. Today I have an invaluable lesson to help you attract, connect with and convert more customers.

The Customer Flow Chart

I use this customer flow chart (aka “the sales funnel”) in training all the time. In itself, the image is pretty basic. But, I like to layer bigger business lessons onto this image, as I’m going to do today. Before we get to that, let’s just take a minute to better understand how this works.

At the top of the sales funnel (where you see referrals, blogs, shops and social media accounts pouring in), you’ll find the widest opening. Up there, you’re talking to a lot of different people at once: you’re introducing yourself to new visitors and engaging long-time fans and customers with the same breath.

When those visitors start to listen and engage with the content or products you’re sharing, they enter the sales funnel. They’re interested, or maybe even just curious about what you’re saying. They lean in; they want to know more.

You start to establish trust. Beyond social media and public posts, you start to answer their questions. Your emails provide insight and value. They may not have said “yes” to the sale, but they’re definitely listening and connecting.

You convert your first sale. This funnel had a broad, wide-open start, but now we’re talking about a single transaction. A new customer has entered the customer pool, and you now feel a sense of knowing one another. You’re engaged in an active exchange of energy.

Finally, the follow up. Because you never want to treat a new customer as a one-off sale. The after-sale is your opportunity to build a relationship, and all good businesses are built on good relationships.

What Gears Aren’t Working?

Yesterday, I emailed a private lesson to Marketing Creativity subscribers about the working gears of an online business. The response blew me away. (By the way, I’m going to be sending out a lot of private lessons to subscribers this year. If you’re not already on my list, I’ve attached an opt-in form to the end of this post.)

While there’s a formula to a successful online business, it’s more than just a problem to be solved. And while it is simple, it involves more than just one magic component. Think of it as a machine made up of working gears: your product, the offer, the email list, branding, sales, traffic to your site, social proof, content, repeat business, etc. – they’re all gears.

Each gear must be functioning properly in order to make the machine work.

And when you look at it like that, you realize that your storefront / blog / website <– wherever you’re trying to direct people, is only a single gear. There’s a much bigger machine behind the curtain of a thriving online business.

When I asked which gears weren’t working in your business, you said …

• My message is too broad/scattered, and I think it confuses people
• I get people to my site/listing, but they’re not buying!
• I’m doing all the talking; it feels like nobody’s listening/responding!
• I’m active on social, but nobody’s clicking through to my site
• I’m marketing, but nobody’s taking action
• My product sells in person, but I can’t convert online

Can you relate? Of course you can! Six years later, I still find myself facing a few of these problems from time to time. And that’s okay because it‘s normal.

Let me bring this to life …

I’m going to project the necessary gears of your online business onto your sales funnel. Where is your funnel lacking customers and drying up, according to this chart? Where are your current visitors and customers falling off instead of following through?

Final thought for today: What if you have all of these gears in place, but your customer flow chart simply isn’t … flowing?

I’m sending an insanely empowering sequence via email to help you solve this puzzle once and for all. Be sure to subscribe below now, if you haven’t already.