June 5, 2008

Ban Inspirational Quotes from Your Marketing Materials

I love quotes, affirmations and inspiring literature as much as any self-improvement professional would. I even have several post-it notes with my motivational saying du-jour stuck to my desk, right next to my computer. However, where you’ll never see quotes is in my website design. Website, brochures and presentation kits are not the place to display them.

As a wellness professional your website has a purpose. Generally, it is to inspire action. The “action” can be a variety of things such as signing up for your newsletter, joining your membership club or purchasing one of your information products. You get to choose the action step. Most people want that action to be a phone call saying “I want to work with you bad!” But usually, that happens after quite a few baby action steps.

Allow me to explain….

1) Quotes do not inspire action.

In fact, inspirational quotes do the opposite. They put your readers in thinking mode. “Hmmm… That’s a nice quote. I like it. Feels good. Ah….” It essentially creates an interruption in the momentum of your message. You do not want this. You want people to come to your site, feel connected to you and your message, feel desire for the results your work promises, and take some sort of action that gives you permission to start a connecting with them on a regular basis.

2) Quotes do not pack the punch you imagine.

While you may have a deep connection with the author of your favorite quote, your client will not. Why? They hire you because you read those books! They do not. Hiring you is the short cut to that wisdom expressed in your favorite quote. So no matter what, the quote will not have the same weight, resonance and meaning for your potential clients.

3) Quotes create confusion.

Every page on your site should have one message and one action. Quotes in the side bar and header of your website draw your eye away from the flow of your message. People are over stimulated and bombarded with messages from the moment they wake up in the morning. Make your website a sanctuary of simplicity, clarity and focus. Do not add to the bombardment of stimuli with quotes all over your website. Eliminate distraction on your site and keep your visitors moving in the direction of the action that you want them to take.

4) Quotes promote other people.

Inspirational quotes in the design of your website advertise someone else’s wisdom. The only wisdom you should promote on your website is your own. A better solution would be to create a free Amazon bookstore (go to associates.amazon.com) within your site where you can promote the authors you love while making a few bucks for your efforts.

5) Quotes try to prove something.

I used quotes in the header of my first website. When I think about it, I now see I was subconsciously trying to ad weight to my message. “Look here! Read this quote! This famous health pioneer that only nutrition geeks like me know agrees with my point of view! It’s safe to hire me.” No more hiding behind other people quotes. You know enough. If you insist on quotes in the content and design of your site, quote yourself.

But let’s face it. You and I will never give up our quote lust. (I enthusiastically underline my favorite passages in every book that I read.) A better way to share those inspiring passages you find in the books is in your newsletter (your newsletter feature article matching the message of your chosen quote), during your guided meditation classes or in the cards you send to clients and colleagues in your networking.

I hope this was helpful.

To your continued professional expansion,

Karin

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Filed under Blog, Internet Marketing, Materials that Work, Personalizing Your Materials, Words That Work by Karin