/// Don’t Flush Your Products, Your Obstruction Goes Much Deeper ///

by Mel Dawn

Have you spent thousands of dollars on a dead website full of amazing products, yet your competitor moves crap faster than you can blink an eye? All it takes are 4 quick motions to reveal your problem.  

The first time I bought products online was from a dial-up bulletin board in the 90s. Today I buy so much crap online that I’ve experienced my fair share of plugged sales funnels. Please… someone take my money!

All it takes is for 1 roadblock on your site and you’ve got another abandoned shopping cart. Shouldn’t shopping be simple?

I buy a lot of stuff online. You should listen to my advice, as I’m your ideal customer. These nuggets are useful, whether you’re running a website, selling on e-Commerce sites, or on social media channels. 

You may think your products are shit as they aren’t moving, but chances are your problem lies much deeper than you think. 

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1. Let’s Go Shopping!

Visit that great site that’s getting all the conversions. Yes, you’ll cringe at some of their tacky products, yet they move them quickly. It may not even be pretty, but somehow, buying is much simpler there. 

Do yourself a favour, and choose a few products. Add them to the shopping cart and check out. 

Wasn’t that easy?

Compare how your site measures up to the competition. As we said earlier, it’s not the crap you’re selling but likely some other issue happening on your site. 

Most likely, it has to do with the checkout process. If your competitor has figured out a way to streamline their checkout process, you should too.

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2. Eliminate Extra Blockages!

If you have an endless checkout process on your own site, your customers are going to either become annoyed, or… look a squirrel!

That’s right, they’ll abandon their shopping carts. Their intentions may be good about returning at a later date to complete that purchase…look a squirrel!

The best place to eliminate blockages is to start at the beginning.

Let me just drop this item in my shopping cart. Good, now that’s done, how easy is it to find that shopping cart? 

Don’t make it a game! That shopping cart icon should be clearly at the top of the screen. 

When you’re ready to check out, it should be a simple process. Customers want their stuff and they want it yesterday. Don’t put them through a labour-intensive process. 

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3. Flush Those Details Away!

Remember that half your audience is checking out from a smart device. Have a simple system. If it’s a service you’re selling, you don’t need their home address or phone number. 

If it’s a product you’re selling, you don’t need a phone number either. If they’re like me, they’ll enter a phoney number anyway. 

If you don’t have shipping rates prominently posted, ensure they pop-up as soon as your customer enters their address. 

Don’t let them go through hoops to see how much shipping is. And remember that Canada is not a foreign country. 

Shipping fees should be reasonable. If you must include tracking costs, let them know up front there is a reason why shipping to Canada or the UK costs a bit more.

People won’t abandon their shopping cart when they understand the reasons for a higher shipping cost, but they will if you just toss a number at them. 

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4. Hire That Freakin’ Plumber, Errrr… Expert!

If your toilet was pouring water everywhere, you’d hire a plumber. If your dishwasher stopped working…you’d get the dog to lick the plates. 

If you are experiencing any form of roadblock on your website that prevents customers from completing their purchases, chances are that something is wrong. 

You can always ask potential customers what went wrong, if you can find them.

And if you can’t figure it out on your end, hire a freakin’ expert! 

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/// Flush Out Your Site’s Problems Now! ///

So that’s it folks.

I hope this has helped you on your journey to flushing out blockages on your own website.

Now go and spend time with your family this evening!

Why Being a Writer is a Lot Like Being a Girl Who Has No Name

The Comparison Between the Independent Writer and the Assassin

by Mel Dawn

Many people will recognize the reference of “a girl has no name” from the hit TV series A Game of Thrones. Arya Stark may just be the heir to the throne, but she’s on the run from people who wish her dead. She regularly recites her death prayer every night—people that she’s going to kill. She’s taken up with a mysterious society in the House of Black and White. It soon becomes apparent that this is a society of assassins, which may just be the perfect place for Arya to receive further martial arts training. But first, she must lose her identity, and become “a girl has no name”. 

In many instances, being an independent writer is a also a lot like being a girl who has no name. 

People will hire you so they can put their name on your work. In other words, they don’t want to get their hands dirty. But remember it’s only called ghostwriting when they stick their name on your article or short story. When you write copy for a website or Amazon product, that’s not ghostwriting at all, because there is no author’s name attached. Just like Arya, I receive no recognition for a greater portion of my work. 

People will hire you to do crazy things. This is much like the assassin is hired. When you’re a writer, you’ll often be asked to do crazy things. I’ve actually dressed up as a zombie to do a promo video, and I’ve dressed up in steampunk gear to recite some poems that I wrote. So yes, sometimes it can be fun when I get to combine my writing with my performance art, but some outsiders may view these small jobs as weird.

The more money you are paid, the less people will complain. No one will ever complain if they pay the assasin the big bucks. I once wrote a short locksmith in NYC article for $5, and the buyer wanted me to make endless revisions. I asked him to be more specific, but he never was. I ended up processing a refund for him, saying I could sell it to someone else. I did. I sold it to his competition for $100. 

You’ll receive some interesting offers. I had an offer of marriage on my zombie video gig. It was from some guy in the USA—I would have expected that more from Japan. I think he was 1/3 of my age too. I imagine the female assassin attracts her fair share of admirers too.

People waste money on me.  If you want someone dead, you're willing to pay any price. I don’t know how many times I’ve written articles and the buyer has never posted them on their website. I repeatedly check back even a year later, and nope, it’s not there. Yet they never asked for revisions, and they gave me a five star review. For these people, money is no object. 

If you sell it, they will come. The assassin is there to provide a service, and so is the writer.  People will often order a short story from me about how they wish to place their friends in a precarious situation. These stories are meant to be used as gifts. There is definitely an untapped market here! 

You'll have to create your own recognition. Some buyers will allow me to use my own name on articles and short stories. Besides the ghostwritten orders, of which most of my work is comprised, I do have a surprising number of clients that allow me to put my name on my work for their website. All it takes is asking. This is where the conflict is with Arya: she kills people and the House of Black and White know she has done it. Remember, she is supposed to be anonymous when she kills. If she wants recognition, she has to do it herself.

The cash can vary. I’ll make more money on a short story than if I sold it to an anthology or magazine. In many cases, my clients will be adding their own names to my short stories and then attempting to resell it. In other instances, they’re using it for promo purposes, or they will self-publish it. In most cases, I’ll make way more money than if I sold it to an anthology or magazine. I rarely submit to those spots anymore. Arya chooses her battles well, disregarding those that hold no purpose. 

You'll get to do a wide range of work. Besides doing the zombie and steampunk videos, I have also written landing pages, blogs, sales copy, Amazon product descriptions, website product descriptions, and articles. The fun things I’ve done have included writing short stories for games developers, boardgames and app developers. I’ve also written scripts for videos. I’ve even written posts for Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, and posted to business social media sites on a regular basis. I’ve also edited, proofread, formatted, and done the graphic design for printed novels and e-books. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a few more gigs that I try during the upcoming months. Arya bounces around from place to place for when she is needed.

The goal of the girl who has no name is to eventually take back her name, so that she can truly gain the identity that she was born for. Until then, we'll just take the cash.

Marketing Guest Post—Social Media Buttons

ABOUT — HIRE ME — CONTACT

    OUR FIRST GUEST POST ON ROYAL CITY LIVING!

Let's Welcome Ely Brass, from Biz Simplified.

by Mel Dawn

Today, let me welcome Ely Brass to my blog. He’s agreed to post a quick business tip to my blog, and vice versa. So, with no further adieu (so cliched eh?) here is Ely Brass.

Social Media Buttons

by Ely Brass

Chances are you already have social media accounts set up, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, but have you added their social media buttons to your website? These buttons should be on every page of your website, and every page of your blog, enabling your readers to share your amazing content, products, what-have-yous, with their friends, family, colleagues, followers, etc. It’s like free marketing, only you don’t have to do anything. 

Please visit my Biz Simplified Blog to read about more quick Biz Tips, and Follow me on Twitter: @bizsimplified1.

***~***

If you enjoyed this article, please Like and Follow Mel Dawn on Facebook & Twitter.

You may be interested in these other articles:

The Devastating Effects of the Vancouver 2015 Earthquake

The Odds Are Against You Being Born a Human in Canada

Steampunk Kitty Poem by Mel Dawn

If you’d like me to write an article for your site, 

please learn more here.

One hour of surprises!

After a lifetime of working various careers, jobs, and for myself, I've come to realize that I need to set aside one hour a day for surprises. It doesn't matter how much time I spend working out my schedule at the beginning of the week, or how much work I want to get done, invariably, at least once a day, the surprises come.

Surprises come in many shapes and forms. One day the toilet breaks, another day a pipe leaks. A phone call comes from a sick family member. Or my cat barfs all over my bed. I suddenly realize I forgot to buy insurance yesterday. Or a friend says they're going to Las Vegas and I want to figure out if I can go too.

Surprises also come in the form of happy events. For example, today I was all set to work on a short story and my new website. I decided to take a break and check my email. Not only did I sell another article but an author invited me to join her Facebook Like for a Like event today! The article is not due until later in the week, but the Facebook Author's Page promotion is only on for twenty-four hours. Many authors signed up, so this took a great deal of time today. But it was a great idea, as my Facebook page was in sad need of promotion. It was also a fantastic idea that I hadn't had time to think up for myself. Sometimes when you connect with others, they have fabulous networking ideas.

Today I lost an hour of working time, but it was for a great cause. Be sure to keep an hour free from your schedule each day for those daily surprises!