A couple of weeks ago, my girlfriend took me shopping for new pants. I’ve never been too concerned about my appearance, but I know that she likes it when I at least try to look nice. Seconds after we stepped into the store front we were approached by sales person.
“Is there anything I can do for you?” She asked us.
We told her we were looking for pants. She walked with us to the back of the store where all the different sized jeans were to be found.
After our shopping experience, it occurred to me, why aren’t webpages run like that? Why is it that when I step foot onto a webpage I don’t ever get greeted by a knowledgeable, helpful, and most importantly, personable guide? A few years ago, I think there was an excuse – the technology wasn’t yet there. But now, with real time statistical programs taking the analytics market by storm, it’s becoming easier and easier. And now, with Woopra’s chat with visitors to your website capabilities, personal contact with website visitors is an important new inroad toward the democratization of the web.
I haven’t done this yet, but what I’m going to start doing is chatting with about 1 in every 10th person that visits my websites. I’ll ask them personally to sign up for my website’s email list serve or RSS.
As webmasters, we have to start selling our sites, and selling means we have to put ourselves out there. Particularly in the case of magazine websites, we have to start building a loyal base of readers. I challenge you to join Woopra and try what I’m going to start trying. Then, report your results.
{ 0 comments }