Features are great. And while it is important to point out what makes your product unique, it is even more crucial to entice potential customers with the benefits of using your product. People are busy, and to be successful in any pursuit requires efficiency. Which explains why the average web surfer will decide in five seconds whether or not your website meets their needs.

There are a number of basic design elements that need to be met for a website to be effective, like utilizing a clear and targeted presentation of information, ease of use, consistent navigation and appealing graphic design, but an often overlooked approach is to simply “sell them on the benefits.”

Spammers know this all to well. How often have you seen these subject lines? Double Your Income – Work From Home – Satisfy Your Partner. As annoying as these emails are, they all stress benefits and people respond to them.

An effective example of a benefit may be, “save ten minutes on every transaction using our online software.” Time is money, and you don’t have to be a shrewd businessperson to realize that a ten minute per transaction savings equates to real dollars on the bottom line. An even better approach is to turn features into benefits.  “The AMD Duron processor’s seventh generation architecture gives it a longer life span than other processors found in the value segment.” In this example, the feature is the highly developed architecture of the processor and the benefit is that is will last longer because of it.

By stressing benefits you will instantly grab the attention of a potential customer and begin the path of personalizing your product or service with their needs and situation.

 

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The knowledge human beings have amassed is staggering, and yet a large majority of it remains locked away from society. That’s because many individuals who retain this knowledge have yet to share it. Two primary reasons for this are fear and uncertainty.  Fear that by divulging secrets of wisdom it will somehow lesson an individual’s competitive advantage, and uncertainty for not knowing how or where to communicate this knowledge in the first place.

It’s true we operate as individuals compelled to protect our own interests, but we are also part of a society that needs to protect its interests as well.  “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one” (Spock, Starship Enterprise 2285).  A healthy society requires that its citizens share their experiences with one another, and the value of that information determines the level of reward.

The trend in business today is to tap into the knowledge base of business owners, CEOs and industry professionals and to expose those people for what they truly are - experts.  Being considered an expert in your field of business will pay off time and time again, as customers and knowledge seekers come to you for consultation and direction.  And if someone builds upon your wisdom, then society dictates they should deserve a piece of the pie, as well.  If you’re lucky enough to be in a growing industry, society will just bake a bigger pie.

The Internet offers some great tools to communicate your message.  Writing and dispersing articles is a snap with services like EzineArticles.com, posting and managing regular blogs is easy as opening a free account with Blogger.com or MySpace, and if you like to communicate using your voice, podcasting is a great way to build an audience through services like iTunes and Libsyn.  Don’t be shy to use “experts” to help out when you need it.  There is a vast pool of talent waiting to assist with copy editing, consulting and audio/video production.  Watch your website page rankings soar when you link to your relevant articles, podcasts or videos hosted at these popular third party applications.

Be sure to include your contact information in all of your communications and a path to your website – society will need to know where to find you to send your reward.

 

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