It's Great To Give

Staying along the lines of a website, I've been sitting at my computer, gathering information and printing it off, to get organized before I actually work on mine.  One of the things I've always liked to do on my websites is give my customers more than what they expected or came for.  It's Great To Give!

But not just giving, there definitely is a formula you need to follow, so that both you and your customer get the most out of it.

• Give something that they can actually use
• It must compliments what you are selling (i.e. it can't be a lamp if you are selling shoes)
• Change it often, to keep them returning to see what's new
• Place different items on a couple of pages that you want your customer to visit
• Have a sign up button, so your customers won't miss out on getting the latest gift
• Have a "refer a friend" button, to encourage word of mouth referrals to your website

Now, for me and my customers, you know that I put up free articles, wrappers and other templates or e-books and some of you might be wondering what you can put on your website for candywrapper customers.  Well, I do have a few suggestions that might help you get the creative juices flowing as you look at the pages of your own website.  For instance:

• Wedding page/s - a wedding planner guide or sheet; latest wedding trends in flowers, themes and colours
  
• Baby page/s - articles on baby names; pregnancy nutrition; baby safe toys; baby shower ideas
• Holiday page/s - decorating ideas; history on certain traditions; listing of special holiday events

That's just a few ideas to get you going.  The great thing is that you don't have to be a writer or an expert in decorating, nutrition or any of these things.  There are plenty of places on the internet that have authors that are looking for exposure and offer their articles for free.  In most cases, all they ask you for is that you leave their bio information intact, let them know where you use their article and, in some cases, a link back to them.

Just do a search for "free articles on....." (whatever subject you want).  Just remember to read their terms before you use their article.

Having said all that, it isn't necessary to put something on each and every page.  Pick and choose which pages you want to bring attention to.  Such as, in the fall, it would be your Christmas page/s; January, your Valentine's and Easter page/s, etc.

It would also be beneficial to put a general party or occasion planning guide, booklet or idea suggestion sheet that you can change with the relevant seasons on your home page.  A great "side effect" to doing this is as your customers return again and again AND send referrals to your website, it increases the number of visitors to your website and helps with your seo and moving your website up in the search engines :)

Just remember that whatever you choose to do should be useful to your customers and compliment your business and then you'll find out just how great it is to give!