fabric services," (Huh?) "it's the ideal backbone for your enterprise." (Duh!) Solution? Translate all features into a meaningful benefit prospects can identify with. You want "Wow! I get it!" Wow makes them act.

3. Translate features into benefits? Or not. When writing out your service benefits, you need to consider what those benefits actually mean to your prospects. Don't translate features into an obvious, generic benefit that every other company offers. Dig deeper. How are you different, and what pai

Ah, the land of ROI-ification. A land where e-mails are opened and links are clicked and phones ring by the minute. Is this utopia? Or arms-length reality? Once you apply these proven strategies, you just might find out.

But first, a look at the state of your website.

What a big website you have, grandmother! Many corporate websites are little more than online brochures featuring product and service descriptions with a few crunchy benefits tossed in for variety. Slick design, not very engaging copy. They read like how a cubicle looks: bland, boring, safe. A tendency to rely on jargon and highly technical language to convince the prospect means most prospects remain unconvinced. Assuming they read that far.

Thank God I'm Not Coca Cola!

Fortunately, being small has its advantages. Nimbility is one of them. (Yes, you can even make up words.) As a small company, it's relatively painless to make a few quick adjustments if a particular message isn't working.

So what's the alternative? What if you can't afford to take risks with edgy, engaging marketing communications? First, consider the consequences of lost opportunities. Not taking a risk may turn out to be the riskiest decision of all. Fortunately, you can change direction relatively quickly to start generating results. Here are 5 small steps to ROI-ify your website:

1. Forget about your company, your product, your service. Tailor your messages to focus on the customer. Your customer. "We" and "I" are dirty words. "You" is a glorious symphony. What does this person care about? What keeps him up at night? What are his fears? Dreams? Favorite ice cream flavor? When prospects see themselves in your messaging, they're irresistibly drawn in. The more tightly you wrap your message around your prospect's concerns, the better your results.

2. "Huh?" and "Duh!" Testing is a highly scientific method whereby each sentence is read aloud. Offending sentences will almost always trigger a sub-optimal response. Example: "With carrier-class availability, dynamic port allocation and intelligent fabric services," (Huh?) "it's the ideal backbone for your enterprise." (Duh!) Solution? Translate all features into a meaningful benefit prospects can identify with. You want "Wow! I get it!" Wow makes them act.

3. Translate features into benefits? Or not. When writing out your service benefits, you need to consider what those benefits actually mean to your prospects. Don't translate features into an obvious, generic benefit that every other company offers. Dig deeper. How are you different, and what pai

how a cubicle looks: bland, boring, safe. A tendency to rely on jargon and highly technical language to convince the prospect means most prospects remain unconvinced. Assuming they read that far.

Thank God I'm Not Coca Cola!

Fortunately, being small has its advantages. Nimbility is one of them. (Yes, you can even make up words.) As a small company, it's relatively painless to make a few quick adjustments if a particular message isn't working.

So what's the alternative? What if you can't afford to take risks with edgy, engaging marketing communications? First, consider the consequences of lost opportunities. Not taking a risk may turn out to be the riskiest decision of all. Fortunately, you can change direction relatively quickly to start generating results. Here are 5 small steps to ROI-ify your website:

1. Forget about your company, your product, your service. Tailor your messages to focus on the customer. Your customer. "We" and "I" are dirty words. "You" is a glorious symphony. What does this person care about? What keeps him up at night? What are his fears? Dreams? Favorite ice cream flavor? When prospects see themselves in your messaging, they're irresistibly drawn in. The more tightly you wrap your message around your prospect's concerns, the better your results.

2. "Huh?" and "Duh!" Testing is a highly scientific method whereby each sentence is read aloud. Offending sentences will almost always trigger a sub-optimal response. Example: "With carrier-class availability, dynamic port allocation and intelligent fabric services," (Huh?) "it's the ideal backbone for your enterprise." (Duh!) Solution? Translate all features into a meaningful benefit prospects can identify with. You want "Wow! I get it!" Wow makes them act.

3. Translate features into benefits? Or not. When writing out your service benefits, you need to consider what those benefits actually mean to your prospects. Don't translate features into an obvious, generic benefit that every other company offers. Dig deeper. How are you different, and what pai

ke risks with edgy, engaging marketing communications? First, consider the consequences of lost opportunities. Not taking a risk may turn out to be the riskiest decision of all. Fortunately, you can change direction relatively quickly to start generating results. Here are 5 small steps to ROI-ify your website:

1. Forget about your company, your product, your service. Tailor your messages to focus on the customer. Your customer. "We" and "I" are dirty words. "You" is a glorious symphony. What does this person care about? What keeps him up at night? What are his fears? Dreams? Favorite ice cream flavor? When prospects see themselves in your messaging, they're irresistibly drawn in. The more tightly you wrap your message around your prospect's concerns, the better your results.

2. "Huh?" and "Duh!" Testing is a highly scientific method whereby each sentence is read aloud. Offending sentences will almost always trigger a sub-optimal response. Example: "With carrier-class availability, dynamic port allocation and intelligent fabric services," (Huh?) "it's the ideal backbone for your enterprise." (Duh!) Solution? Translate all features into a meaningful benefit prospects can identify with. You want "Wow! I get it!" Wow makes them act.

3. Translate features into benefits? Or not. When writing out your service benefits, you need to consider what those benefits actually mean to your prospects. Don't translate features into an obvious, generic benefit that every other company offers. Dig deeper. How are you different, and what pai

e about? What keeps him up at night? What are his fears? Dreams? Favorite ice cream flavor? When prospects see themselves in your messaging, they're irresistibly drawn in. The more tightly you wrap your message around your prospect's concerns, the better your results.

2. "Huh?" and "Duh!" Testing is a highly scientific method whereby each sentence is read aloud. Offending sentences will almost always trigger a sub-optimal response. Example: "With carrier-class availability, dynamic port allocation and intelligent fabric services," (Huh?) "it's the ideal backbone for your enterprise." (Duh!) Solution? Translate all features into a meaningful benefit prospects can identify with. You want "Wow! I get it!" Wow makes them act.

3. Translate features into benefits? Or not. When writing out your service benefits, you need to consider what those benefits actually mean to your prospects. Don't translate features into an obvious, generic benefit that every other company offers. Dig deeper. How are you different, and what pai

fabric services," (Huh?) "it's the ideal backbone for your enterprise." (Duh!) Solution? Translate all features into a meaningful benefit prospects can identify with. You want "Wow! I get it!" Wow makes them act.

3. Translate features into benefits? Or not. When writing out your service benefits, you need to consider what those benefits actually mean to your prospects. Don't translate features into an obvious, generic benefit that every other company offers. Dig deeper. How are you different, and what pain does that solve for your prospect? Deliver the value in addition to the benefit.

4. Ask not what you can do for your customer. Many companies are so busy explaining what they do that they forget to answer the questions buyers are asking themselves about why they should buy from you in the first place. Don't forget to consider these questions when crafting your message. You're much more likely to convert a prospect into a sale.

5. Test before rolling out the big guns. If you're already in the midst of a marketing campaign, don't panic. You don't need to employ all of these strategies at once. Successful companies embrace new approaches by testing them first. Marketing, after all, is part art, part science. Testing big changes helps you minimize risks and maximize results.