Episode #58 – How To Make A Website More Effective To Sell, Save Money With Online Purchases, and A Big Marketing Lesson From Amazon.com
June 3, 2009Episode #58 – “I Don’t Need Your Attitude…I Have One of My Own;)”
Websites and resources mentioned in the show:
MemberGate.com (The online membership site platform – check out the free videos)
Retailmenot.com (Source for coupon codes for most sites)
NiftyClicks (discover the very latest web tools and resources)
Get a Private Telephone Consultation with me (to Help YOUR Business)
Buy This Week’s T-Shirt(from National Media Services)
Some companies just don’t get it, do they? I love hearing your stories about companies that don’t understand what customers want. This week, I share a story submitted by viewer Glen Munro, who’s website service provider offered to charge him for a higher level of support – let me know what you think of the proposal.
This week’s question is essentially a website review – see if you can spot any mistakes that YOU’RE making on YOUR website.
I don’t know about you, but I get a kick out of saving money. That’s why I LOVE RetaiMeNot.com, a site that lets you find coupon codes, fast. Many online retailers invite you to enter a coupon code during checkout, and obviously most visitors have no idea where to find a coupon code, so they ignore it. Well, now you know, you can start saving a lot more money!
This week’s BIG marketing lesson is from Amazon.com. I’ve mentioned them before on the show, but this time the lesson comes from a recent newspaper ad they featured in USA Today. You can learn a useful marketing lesson from their unconventional approach, it’s really clever.
Enjoy the show!
Regards,
June 3rd, 2009 at 5:04 am
RetailMeNot has saved me a ton of money, but they also have a sister site called BeatMyPrice.com
So before making a purchase, I always plug the product I’ve found into BeatMyPrice to see if it is cheaper anywhere else. Then once I decide on the vendor, I check RetailMeNot to save even more money on the purchase by using a coupon.
June 3rd, 2009 at 7:49 am
I think that trying to charge customers more to speak to someone who is better is probably there attempt at a clever marketing ploy but it will probably fail because as you said, I too think it is ridiculous. In fact, I would consider changing web hosts if I were him.
June 3rd, 2009 at 8:59 am
Hi Andrew,
before I give my opinion on this weeks topic I must warn you that there will be a small fee for my expert opinion. Otherwise, you’ll have to settle for a mediocre answer. Shhhesh!
Everybody wants to get in your pocket these days. How do I know if what I pay extra for is going to be worth the price until I can hear both sides. I don’t know about you, but I stopped paying those that want to charge even one dollar to get there downloaded info. I’d rather join a membership program. At least there I can evaluate the info and then cancel if it doesn’t work for me and I’m not out anything.
Good advise today from you.
Thanks, Hal
P.S. Check out my new blog at: http://www.fixingmyfollowup.com and tell me what you think.
June 3rd, 2009 at 9:25 am
Well, when I go to the salon, I have the option of paying more for a more experienced stylist. So, similar to your restaurant example, it’s like the salon is saying “You can pay $35 and have Julie cut your hair. She’s OKAY, but hasn’t had very much experience…and to be honest, she may very well really screw up your hair. OR, you can pay $65 and have Mary, who’s had much more experience & will do a better job.”
I also get charged extra for conditioner on my hair after they’ve washed it (they call it a “conditioning treatment” lol)…and heaven forbid- if I actually want them to dry and style my hair, well, that’s an additional cost as well.
It’s quite silly, isn’t it?
June 3rd, 2009 at 11:26 am
Hi Andrew,
With respect to paying more for better service, remember what the word TIPS stands for: To Insure Prompt Service! Fortunately, in our society today, we get to enjoy the service first, then evaluate it with the size of the TIP that we leave.
June 3rd, 2009 at 11:40 am
Hi Andrew,
Thanks for the link to retailmenot. I sent it to my wife and it is already one of her favorite sites. Looks like you just saved me some cash!
Wishing you healthy and happiness,
Pete
http://TheHealthyMinute.com
June 3rd, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Thanks again for the valuable video. But to Chris, I totally agree with him. He does not have to pay for consultation for a service that he is already subscribing to. That is crazy.
And thanks for the links and the marketing lesson. Will do the marketing tips you mentioned.
Jackie
http://www.squidoo.com/Repair-my-Credit-Rating
June 3rd, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Dan,
Thanks for the reminder about BeatMyPrice.com, that’s another great resource for everyone.
Anna,
I would change webhosts too!
Hal,
Congrats on your new blog. Just a little observation – add at least one picture with each post, otherwise it can look a bit ‘dry’. Try http://sxc.hu for free images you can use.
Rachel,
I can kind of understand a hair salon having different prices that match a range of experience of te stylists, but to adopt that model for support is ridiculous. Either someone can fix the issue or they can’t. They shouldn’t be charging more for someone who has a higher likelihood of fixing the issue!
Glen,
I haven’t heard of that TIP acronym before, that was cool. Mind you, I come from the land of no tipping, so we’re still getting used to it!
Pete,
I hope I haven’t caused your wife to become a shopaholic!
Jackie,
Thanks for your comment, I agree with Chris too!
Regards
Andrew
June 4th, 2009 at 8:30 pm
When you contact customer service, is that not what they are there for to give a service not charge you more for that service that you are paying for already. That should be included in the price that you pay in the first place. That will end up costing them a lot more in the long run when people start to leave the business and they go out of business.
Andrew, great job as always. You always give us the good stuff, right when we need it-we were looking for a place for free images. Thank you so much.
Dan and Deanna “Marketing Unscrambled”
June 5th, 2009 at 2:37 am
We looked at the video before but now it does not seem to be working. Can you fix it.
Dan and Deanna “Marketing Unscrambled”
June 5th, 2009 at 7:32 pm
Hi Andrew,
Looks like the swf got posted in the feed again instead of the mp4 (and it’s doing an infinite redirect loop at that). Just a heads up.
-Marcus
June 5th, 2009 at 7:41 pm
Marcus,
Do you mean in iTunes?
Andrew
June 5th, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Via the RSS feed:
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/helpmybusiness
-Marcus
August 15th, 2009 at 12:33 am
yes. retailmenot is best. i love this site so much.