Want to know why people are not responding to your Website informatoin, email blasts, or printed material? Would yoiu like to increase your conversion rates?

It is possible, if you let us lead you in altering your focus.

Have you ever heard that it is not what we say that counts, but how we say it? That is what user experience development is all about. That is how good Website content design is cerated. It is done with a good working understanding of neuro linguistic programming and human psychology that is focused on marketing language.Even wire frame issues (physical presentaton of thoughts)

I wish I would take credit for this video, but I cannot. It was produced by a company in the UK and it is brilliant. Please take careful note that the meaning of the story never changed from the first message to the second. But the results did. That is what I do at Accurate Business Communications. Change the perception and you change the results.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hzgzim5m7oU

Here aer five myths that have a huge and unexpected affect on WEbsite content.

1. Factual and accurate information about us will get readers to respond. - No, it will not. Sales - all sales - are driven by emotion, not facts. Until someone can equate spending funds with the benefits of ownership, you have do not have a sale. You do not even have interest.

2. We need to eduacate our prospects.about all of the features. Then they will understand why they should purchase - Not exactly. What you need to do is to engage them first and let them know why they should care about your product. Explain the impact, then the features.

3. People will take the time to read the facts. - Not unless they know why first. We live in a world of clutter and feel that we have less time than we actually have. With the economy as it is, we have smaller staffs and more to do. Marketing messages need to hit the point in a big hurry. The 5 to 10 second rule is a good one to follow.

4. We do not do ecommerce on the Web so it does not matter much. This is the worst assumption of all. When a salesman leaves your office after a presentation, where is the fitst place you go for proof of what he or she said? You go straight to their Website.Now, the 5th point becomes critical.

5. If they do not understand what they read, we can always explain it to them so they will see our point. You will probably never get that chance. We do not like to admit we are wrong when we have made a decision and we do not like to revisit decisions we have already made. We feel that is a waste of time. So if we allow an erronious decision to be made, what happens? We get shut out of any further consideration, even in the face of overwhelming information to the contrary. We figure that the decision has been made, and we move on. 

The use of talented business consultants can help turn good ideas into great companies. Shutting them out can spell doom.

About nine months to a year ago I met the founder of a new company. Let's call him Sam. His company sells a "technical" device to the commercial world. I suggested he take a short appointment to discuss his branding efforts along with his Website content. He told me that he "had that covered". He already had a web designer and someone to supply content. I could tell that he didn't really have it covered, but that did not matter. I blame myself for not doing a good enough job of getting him to listen to me.

Enter consultant number two. Let's call him Dave. Dave is a close confidant of mine. Bob had also met this same fellow about the same time last year and offered his services. Dave was met with a mediocre reception, but gave the fellow a few pointers even though he was not hired for an engagement. 

Last night Dave called me and asked me to review a Website and to confirm where and what I thought this market and targets were. I did not recognize the name of the company at the time. When I asked Dave why, he told me that the business was failing and that it might be too late to pull it out of the mess it is in.

I found the Website so full of communications errors as to render it almost totally ineffective. In fact, it was likely a detriment to his efforts more than an aid. And it is likely that if Sam allowed the site content to be crafted in the manner I saw, it is likely that the same type of ineffective communications take place in his sales presentations.

Sam is typical of many small business owners. I understand that this is a bit subjective since I do not know Sam well, but I do see it so frequently and hear it from other consultants so frequently, that I do not doubt the validity. Here goes another small business down the drain because the owner, president, founder got caught in his own "knowledge" arrogance. Remember his original answer to me and to Bob? "I have that covered". He didn't. He could have.

This particular call reminded me of a conversation I had 6 or 8 months ago with two other consultants I work with frequently. One is a brand expert and the other a Web and social media expert. We decided to review each others' Websites. What we were all three alerted to was the fact that we are often too close to our own issues to spot them. What they both told me about my Website were things that I would never dare let one of my clients do and i had done them to my own site. It made me hyper-vigilant to how I handle many aspects of my business.

I can tell you that I rarely go a week without runing someting I am doing by another consultant to get a fresh set of critical eyes on one my projects. I am most fortunate to be part of several professional groups dedicated to helping one another.

The point: If you are starting a new venture or business of any kind, you had better find some qualified consultants to work with or you could be just like Dave's prospect - worried that it is too late to survive.

Friends Larry and Lynne Bradham created a very special Thanksgiving for anyone who might have had dinner with them. You see, they are very "giving" people. Thanksgiving is Larry's favorite holiday. It is rapidly becoming mine.

We were not celebrating with family this year, so we joined them. So did another local couple, Sonny and Peggy Richardson. Nothing unusual so far. But the other two guests were pretty special. They were two young GI's attached to Ft. Eustis and the Bradhams had called the USO to "adopt" two young men for the day. This was their third time getting involved.

While Larry finished the preparations for the day, I played taxi driver and went to pick them up at the Hampton Coliseum. I ran into friends who had been doing this for 15 years. What a site! Approximately 120 service people stood opposite about 50 or 60 host families. I waited to hear my name (Actually Larry's name) and when called, I met Zachary (20 years old, single, and from a small town in Iowa) and Jimmy (23, married, and from San Antonio). Zachary is due to ship out to Egypt in about 6 weeks and Jimmy is headed to Alaska. both are helicopter mechanics.

God bless them both.

Along with the servicemen, about a dozen fresh Chincoteague seaside oysters were the stars of the day. As you can imagine, neither of them would have anything to do with the wonderful-though-slimy sea creatures. But Jimmy's wife saved the day. They had been texting all morning and during dinner. When Jimmy told her that we had fresh oysters, she told him that he "had to try them". Not to be outdone by his buddy, Zachary was obliged to try them too.

So out into the back yard we went where the fresh oysters and homemade cocktail sauce (my specialty) were waiting. We warned both of them about the consistency of the shelled critters. It is not the flavor that turns people off. The flavor is actually quite light for a sea dweller. But the consistency is much like - you fill in the blank. There are lots of very special names.

The results were instantaneous for both young men. Jimmy was first. He took one on a work, dipped it in the cocktail sauce, put it in his mouth, and then did something I did not expect. He chewed it. And his face lit up. He loved them. And he went right back into the bowl for another, saying "These things are wonderful". Zack was next. The results were not at all similar. As soon as he put it in his mouth and chewed, his face contorted into something from an Aliens movie. He was too polite - and probably proud - to spit it out. He did say that the flavor was good, but he could not get past the slime.

In the end it was a beautiful day fostered by beautiful friends with a fantastic idea. You should try it next year. Just call the local USO and tell them that you want to adopt a GI for Thanksgiving.

About 150 people showed up. From that pool, 37 ideas were delivered. From that group, 8 finalists were chosen Friday night. There task was to put the ideas together to form a new company - in two days. The remarkable thing was that those who were not selected as finalists were not turned away. Rather they were asked to join other teams in an effort to help someone complete an application or bring an idea to fruition. There was $10,000 to $20,000 in start-up costs on the line.

Well, it worked. In fact it worked so well that there will be more than one company starting up. How do I know that? Because my team finished second and out of the money for the event. But we were approached immediately afterwards by several investors wanting to get involved.By the way, the team lead only heard about the event 30 minutes before the start and was not even registered.

Out came the spirit of the event. Zack Miller stopped introducing registrants and asked if anyone had an idea to present on the spur of the moment. That was "my guy" and the rest will be a part of my future - good or bad.