I have done a lot of research on people visiting web sites, but to really understand how true this is, think about YOUR web site surfing habits.

I do a lot of online shopping. When most people shop, they want to compare prices and product features. Here is a good example of an offline purchase I made 5 months ago. I wanted to buy a new high defintion television. In Bayshore, New York, all within a 2 mile radius are the stores Best Buy, Walmart, PC Richards, and Circuit City (before they went out of business). I kid you not, I drove back and forth about 3 times to each store before I made a purchase decision. I finally bought my TV at Walmart, not even a store that specializes in electronics like the other three stores.

On the web, it is much easier to go from store to store. You don’t need to spend time driving or money on gas. Just type in the URL and you’re there in less than 10 seconds. You can bookmark the web pages for even faster return.

Also, online, you can read reviews from people all over the world and you don’t even have to meet them. Try talking to strangers in a brick and mortar store. They look at you like you have two heads, especially in New York.

So What Do I Do For My Web Site?

My point is that your web site needs to be designed in such a way, that you need people to bookmark your web site and return to it. That’s the key. Return visits is the answer to increasing sales on your web site. Like I said above, online sales average on the 4th, 5th, and 6th visit to your web site. You can only do that by getting return visits.

At Hot Web Ideas, we have over 20 ideas on getting return visits to your web site. The common showbiz phrase “keep them wanting more”. Make them come back by doing some of these things:

• updating your blog
• offering a messageboard on your web site
• have follow links to your Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter pages and other Web 2.0 strategies
• adding a You Tube video of yourself

I promise you that doing any or all of these things will get you return traffic to your web site. If you don’t have the time to do any of these, you can always ask us at Hot Web Ideas. We do have a staff on hand to update all of these services for you like ghost blogging, tweeting, etc. Some of 0ur clients even let us maintain their Facebook pages.

I can assure all of our clients one thing: telling your web visitors that your product is the cheapest just does not work. There is always someone cheaper out there. Getting return visits reflects respect to your web site visitors and increasing online sales, the reason why most of us have web sites.

I attended the HIA Trade Show at Suffolk Community College on Thursday, May 27th and have a lot of videos to add in this series, but this started with my friends Laurinda and Peggy.

In this episode of the video podcast series, I interview Yvonne on the Long Island business networking scene, because let’s face it, nobody knows more about networking in Long Island than Yvonne. Through this event series, I have made great business relationships with so many people, that Yvonne’s events have become like a drug. With her husband and co-organizer, Howie Bisk, and the amazing job from  assistant organizer Jake Caramico, the Long Island Entrepreneur and Startup Long Island networking events always run without a hitch.

The latest buzz words or phrases now are “givers and takers”. Yvonne just keeps giving and giving and giving: raffles, free ebooks, business advice at her events, free advertising for others’ networking events, and a chance for event attendees to expose their business to others in the Long Island business community.

Now, one last thing that I must point out is how much of an avid blogger Yvonne is. In late 2008, I helped Yvonne launch the Long Island Business Blog and now Yvonne has spun out on her own at http://longislandentrepreneurs.wordpress.com. I have never in my 4 years of reading blogs seen one person blog so much, and each post is a quality one, not like some bloggers where they just ramble on. Yvonne’s blogs are short and sweet, but also valuable.

Alright, check out the interview and if you have not yet been to one of Yvonne and Howard’s networking events, you are missing out on finding good opportunities to make some great business relationships.

Next week’s podcast features the charming Eileen Lichtenstein from Balance and Power.

I got into Facebook page design in mid April 2010 and have been getting requests from my web design clients. You can see my portfolio of Facebook pages at http://www.facebook.com/Bruce.Chamoff.Marketing?v=app_7146470109&ref=ts

My portfolio is growing and now I want to offer 2 Facebook page designs to business owners, which is worth $300.00 for a design, very cheap as compared to a web site.

Here is how it will work:

1. Feel free to visit any of the Facebook pages that I have designed below and add a comment to this blog with your critique of any one of those pages. Good, bad, or indifferent, I am looking for your comments on this blog and whether or not you like my design on the web page. Be honest. I can take it. Your comment must be written professionally. The more text you write in the comment, the better.
2. Click the LIKE button on my Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/Bruce.Chamoff.Marketing
3. On May 31, I will pick two comments at random from the list of comments and if your comment is selected, I will build you a Facebook page design for your business for free.

Special Promo Codes: There are some business owners out there who are helping us promote this contest. In your comment, if you have a promo code, please mention the promo code so I can give proper credit to the business.

Ok, I am looking forward to your critique of my Facebook design work below and good luck in the contest! I am excited.

Star Promoz
The brain child of Helen Zagaro, Star Promo is a promotions and specialty advertising company, or as some would say “Chachkies”. Star Promoz also boasts is trademark mascot “Schwaggy” and Bruce from Hot Web Ideas also came up with the idea of the Schwaggy Map

Long Island Online Radio
Long Island Online Radio is Bruce’s contribution to the local music scene featuring bands in all genres, interviews, and podcasts. Listen Online at Long Island Online Radio.com

Unleash Your Full Potential Now!
Clinical hypnotist, Eugenia Karahalias offers services to help you be more positive and achieve more. Visit her web site.

Radio J Show
Radio J’s podcast is one of the best on Long Island. With multiple genres, hundreds of bands, and several live shows per year, Radio J stays on the forefront of the local music scene.

Adrian’s Network
The first virtual business networking system started by sales consultant and trainer, Adrian Miller.

Dolores For Mayor
In the tradition of Coffee Talk, Dolores will make changes. She has not mentioned what those changes will be yet, but you can visit her fan page to see the issues that she is working on solving. Dolores is a true American and she says that her plans to change the American flag to Orange, Magenta, and Lime Green will be reached. She even has a goldfish named “Betsy Ross” who swims around all day in circles. Check out Dolores For Mayor.

Long Island Business Force
One of Long Island New York’s fastest growing business networking groups. I have been a member for 6 months and have been very successful with it.

A big problem with testimonials on a web site is that most web site owners make them up. Anybody can say that Bruce C wrote up a testimonial for your business. Who is Bruce C? It may be me and may be someone else or just a faciticious person altogether.

The question is: What is the most strategic way of getting strong and real testimonials on social media and networks? Let’s go through them.

First and foremost: Linked In gives you an opportunity to get testimonials from real people, from their full name. The tool is called recommendations. Linked In allows your connections to recommend you by leaving comments on your Linked In profile. You, as the Linked In member, can approve or reject the recommendation. I actually believe that Linked In should call this tool “Testimonials”, because that is what potential clients are used to hearing today. Linked In is truly a great way to receive authentic testimonials.

On Linked In, you can simply recommend people and 95% of the time, they will reciprocate with a recommendation about you. Simply asking for recommendations puts unnecessary pressure on that other person. However, initiating an unsolicited recommendation will allow them to reciprocate without the pressure. Flattery will truly get you everywhere.

On Twitter, the best way of getting testimonials is by replying to people using the @ sign in front of their name. All of their followers will see your reply and again, 95% of the people you recommend on Twitter will reciprocate in appreciation. The added benefit here on Twitter is that people who also like you and your company will probably retweet (forwarding someone else’s tweets to your following) and retweeting is one of Twitter’s best viral marketing and branding tools.

Facebook has a much quicker way of getting testimonials. You can simply go on someone’s wall of their profile or Facebook fan page and write up your testimonials. Your testimonial will show up on the Facebook newsfeed allowing people to “Like” it and comment. People have recommended me on my wall with testimonials and others who are happy with my services will add their own testimonials in the comments section of that Facebook wall post.

YouTube has an interested and effective method too. As a video web site, ask your clients to come to your office, grab your flip, and video tape their testimonials.

Folks, we have to understand that the key word here is “social” and social means people. People are the ones who make or break your business. Find a way for people to utilize the social media to provide your business testimonials and the viral marketing will explode!

What’s cool about this magazine is that Eric shows his experience business networking in the Long Island business community by featuring articles on Long Island power-players like Helen Zagazo of Star Promoz, John A Hill of John A Hill and Associates, and Yvonne Bisk of Long Island Entrepreneurs.

Eric and I are planning to team up our two radio stations between IRadioUSA and Long Island Online Radio and I do not see Eric’s innovation of releasing exciting projects stopping any time in the near future.

Laurinda Handlik

The magazine is not just about highlighting accomplishments in the Long Island business community, but also offers valuable articles and columns on business networking tools, marketing strategies, social media marketing, and a cool column from our good friend Laurinda Handlik called Ask Laurinda.

Competition With Craigs List?

I am going to make a HUGE prediction here and say that Long Island Small Business Owner Magazine is going to become a BIG competitor of Craigs List to business owners on Long Island. Why do I say that? Afterall, Craigs List is huge and owned partly by Ebay. Well, Craigs List does not do business networking on Long Island; Eric does…and when Eric is not, Laurinda is, who introduced me to the web site in mid April.

The web site looks a little like Craigs List: less graphical, but more like, well a magazine, which is something that Craigs List does not currently have. With its classifieds section, I have a feeling that the web site will grow fast and business owners will be flocking here to place their ads, because in marketing sense, the magazine is VERY WELL targeted to local business owners.

As an online marketer, some of my own suggestions to make this web site grow even faster:

1. Build a total social media presence including Twitter and a Facebook fan page.
2. Have a Link To Us web page.
3. Build a Facebook application to allow people to read the articles in Facebook.
4. Have an RSS feed to reach subscribers on iPhones, Blackberries, and other mobile phones/devices

Good luck to Eric Koppelman and staff and congrats on the rapid growth!

I had a good time as a brought my family to enjoy a day of seeing my friends business from the networking scene, enjoy some nice catered food, and listen live music from 2 hot bands including the Below Average White Band.

As the event was featured with raffles and giveaways, all proceeds were donated to charity for breast cancer research specifically to the LI2DAY WALK FOR THE CURE event.

Thanks to Helen and the Long Island Sole Sisters for a well-deserve kudos for an excellent! Details of this event

If you have surveys on your web site and provide some valuable incentive for people to fill out that survey, you WILL get the results you need to make the correct business decisions about your web site and the traffic that is coming to your web site. You need a skilled and experienced professional to look at the data, but Google Analytics works just fine.

Online marketing, believe it or not, uses the same marketing strategies and principles as traditional marketing. Demographics, target marketing, marketing research, branding, and marketing positioning all play a BIG part in online marketing and social media marketing.

There are too many people out there that introduce themselves as Online Marketing Professionals all because using social media web sites comes easy to them, but they have no clue about traditional marketing. That just makes online marketing ineffective. Anybody can create a Facebook fan page or a Twitter account. It is easy and takes all of 2 minutes. However, what are you going to do with that fan page or Twitter account to leverage your target marketing and make money? That’s what separates the social media marketing people from the real marketing people.

What I am pointing out is that you can measure business results coming from Facebook and Twitter, but you need a good landing page on your web site that will make people respond to your business and online marketing strategies.

Some examples:

1. There are companies that offer Twitter followers exclusive coupon codes. In other words, they can only get a discount with a certain coupon code if they follow the company. Then, like traditional marketing, make your coupon code expire. Those Twitter followers will have an incentive to keep following you in order to get the next coupon before it expires. This online marketing strategy works, folks.

2. Tell Facebook fans that if they visit your web page and join your mailing list, exclusively for Facebook fans, you will email them discounts. This also works.

3. You Tube – Yes, this is also social media and online marketing – Have people watch your You Tube video and if they do, you will give them a secret URL online in the YouTube video to visit your web site, enter their email address, and you will give them 25% off your price.

4. Your blog. Some of us have blogs and yes, blogs are also online marketing: Anybody who comments on a certain blog post and has at least 100 words in the comment and the comment is valuable (otherwise anybody can cut and paste) will receive a full hour of your consulting time for free.

Get creative! Online marketing works, but it is not as simple as posting Twitter status (tweets) or creating a Facebook fan page for your business. Give people valuable incentives to sample your work, coupon codes, surveys to fill out, and you will creating a branding and positioning strategy that works.

I hope you find this informative.