This article is the result of a conversation I had with a magician about his website. He wanted to know if I could build him a nice looking site that had his name and contact information on it. I explained to him the purpose of having a website and what you want visitors to do when they land on your site.
The number one reason magicians have websites is ego. They want to be able to say to people, "You can visit my website at www.bite-me-hard.com." When the person visits the website they usually see one of two scenarios:
The typical magician's site is wonder to behold. How can one person find so many different ways to use free animated graphics on the home page? It is clear that the magician designing his site learned how to color text, change fonts, and increase font size. All done in the same paragraph! Check out my prior article listed above for a detailed discussion of this topic.
Your website exists to get people to give you their permission. That's right, their permission. The goal of the website is to get visitors to give you their name and email. Believe it or not this is valuable information that is not given away freely. The website must be structured to induce people to trust you enough to give this information to you.
This is why brochure sites and typical magician's sites don't usually work well. If you haven't built a relationship with the potential client, then it is unlikely they will book your magic show. It is like it was in high school. You can walk up to the prettiest girl in school and say "Do me!" Chances are it won't be effective. Your website must establish a relationship with potential client and gain her permission. After that you can approach her and say, "Book me!"
This approach to marketing is called Permission Marketing. It has always been practiced but Seth Godin coined the term with his book by the same name. Buy a copy and Amazon or your local bookstore. The purpose of Permission Marketing is to turn strangers into friends, and friends into clients.
I am not recommending spamming people to get more magic shows. The key elements of Permission Marketing are communications from you are expected, individualized, and interesting to the person. Let,s look at the elements in the context of emails:
Your website will impact your ability to gain permission from visitors. Two general considerations are content and design. If you have not taken the free Master Course on Selling Services, I strongly encourage you to do so. The course covers the topics of contents and design in more detail. You will find material that you can use on your website right now.
People searching the web are looking for good information. They will trust and reward those who give them the information they seek. Many will give you permission to contact them again. This opens the door to build trust and gain a loyal customer. What kinds of content should the site provide? The simple answer is whatever the person is looking for.
Let's assume a mother finds your website considering the possibility of hiring a magician for her daughter's next birthday party. She doesn't care that you do gospel illusion shows or trade shows. In fact she might be put off by it. If this magician does all of these other things, how important is my daughter's birthday party going to be? You must view your content from the visitor's perspective.
Provide content that she can use. For example, you can provide a general guide to hosting a magical birthday party. Let her know if she signs up with her name and email you will send her a detailed step by step guide to hosting the perfect magical birthday party. You could also put magic birthday party invitations on your site personalized to your magic show, but with space for it to be individualized to the child and her birthday party.
With relevant and useful content you will begin to build trust. You will get her to give you her name and email. You provide even better content and increase her trust. You can contact her about how your magic show will make her daughter's birthday party one to be remembered always. The key to providing content is to over-deliver on the person's expectations. Remember this:
The goal of your website is turn strangers into friends, and friends into clients.
The design of your site is also important. Your site must be easily navigated. You want visitors to find the information they are seeking quickly and easily. Graphics add to the site but can become clutter if you are not careful. It should have a clean look. Don't be afraid to use a plain white background. It looks good and text can be easily read. I would avoid reverse colors for text. Light text on dark background can strain the eyes if there is much material there.
An example of this approach is Learn-Great-MagicTricks.com. This new site is still growing. It is clean looking. Information is easily found. The content is useful for people learning to do magic. Within one month, the site was listed in most search engines, had decent rankings, was getting newsletter subscriptions, and most importantly the site was earning money. The point is that this advice works and I use it myself.
Copyright ? 2005 J.L. Siefers, All rights reserved.
J.L. Siefers has been performing great magic for years. He has written extensively on many topics in magic. He has shown hundreds of people how to successfully learn to do great magic tricks.
Want to learn to do magic? Click now to get your FREE magic tricks! http://www.learn-great-magic-tricks.com
Sign up for The Magic Way newsletter! It's FREE: http://www.learn-great-magic-tricks.com
limousine Ackley .. Lockport Chicago limo O’HareThere are several graphic software packages available to help you... Read More
With an increasing number of employment portals emerging, it is... Read More
You've got a concept for a business, are excited about... Read More
1. Repackage your web site content in to different products... Read More
Almost everything is available on the web? products, services, e-books,... Read More
It's been said again and again, when it comes to... Read More
If you have a web site to which people pay... Read More
Does your website make you any money? Does it SAVE... Read More
The object of search engines is to give their visitors... Read More
It seems more and more webmasters are using CSS for... Read More
The time it takes to load your site can make... Read More
An ongoing challenge for webmasters today is to provide fresh... Read More
Have you heard of 'Babel Fish'?It's a service provided by... Read More
A Double Ad Tracker is an Ad-Tracker that points to... Read More
You spend time and money promoting your website; but what... Read More
1. Web site File Structure / File NamingMost search engines... Read More
QUESTION: My business is very small, just me and... Read More
This article may come as a surprise to you.Especially since... Read More
ASP.NET is a new programming framework from Microsoft for developing... Read More
Colors convey emotions and emotions heavily influence the decision-making process.... Read More
Are you in a dilemma whether to create a mini... Read More
Why your site should be developed with CSS and semantic... Read More
When you develop a sales brochure, you have a mental... Read More
When I purchase something from a web site I first... Read More
Conventional Wisdom states you should use Sub-Directories to organize your... Read More
shuttle from O'Hare Alexander ..There can be zillions of reasons why your visitors return... Read More
Squeeze pages are a very hot topic in the internet... Read More
What dollar amount does your web site contribute to this... Read More
A successful website is something that everyone venturing into the... Read More
7. Create high quality content - make clear points with... Read More
Some wise human once said "Learn from the mistakes of... Read More
If you are reading this, I assume you either have... Read More
Did you know that many folks make "buying decisions" when... Read More
If you are familiar with my work, then you have... Read More
It seems that almost every Tom Dick and Harry do... Read More
1. Who needs an artists website?Not everyone! If you are... Read More
Are you serious about get this website done fast and... Read More
Do you have a website? If so, you need an... Read More
Most websites use similar fonts and as a result have... Read More
A web site builder can be a real life saver... Read More
Surfing the internet is basically an information-fest! From intellectual discussions... Read More
In today's world, a web site is virtually mandatory for... Read More
One of the most popular methods of traffic generation is... Read More
You have an idea for a website and you are... Read More
There are literally thousands of different options, styles and formats... Read More
When building your website you might not have a large... Read More
Let's face it. Building a web site that browses consistently... Read More
Let's face it; the line from A Field of Dreams... Read More
There are more than billions of Web Sites, running Online... Read More
Are you using the best colors for your web site?... Read More
Web Design |