Okay gentlemen – most of the women reading this will nod their heads in agreement when I say…

Commitment is good

Now before all the guys out there panic and start running – let me clarify what I’m talking about. In the world of marketing and business it is a good thing to get your prospects to commit.

The goal is to entice prospects to give you their contact information. One of the easiest ways to do this is to ask for an email address.

Getting a visitor’s email is the single most important goal for your website

I keep talking about email capture again and again because it is THAT important to your social media and online marketing. When you get a prospect’s email, you get control and permission.

An email address gives you control of the marketing relationship. If you are relying on prospects to return to your website later on their own – you’re delusional.

In defense of prospects world-wide, it’s not their fault. They simply can’t keep up with the fire hose of information coming at them every day. Most people will welcome relevant and helpful emails targeted to meet their needs. Deep down, prospects want you to have control of the marketing relationship so they don’t have to think.

An email address also gives you permission to follow up. Each time a prospect subscribes to your email list – image them standing in a crowd raising their hand and saying… “I’m interested in your products and services.” They are giving you permission to market to them.

A few tips on getting emails from your prospects

• Be sure to have an email capture form on your website. The solution we use is Aweber. I’ve written a lot about using email opt in forms here and here.
• When using an email capture form – be clear on the value that you will provide in return for a prospect email address. Offer to give them a free report, video, download, coupon, etc.
• Many smart marketing professionals create print ads that send prospects to landing pages with email opt in forms on them. This is a great idea. The problem is – when prospects visit the web page many won’t enter their name into your email list. A better option is to provide an email address that prospects respond to that will automatically subscribe them to your list. This will result in 100% opt ins.

Imagine your business as a lead capture machine

Imagine the cycle of success you will create by inviting prospects to commit by giving you their email address – which in turn gives you permission and control in the marketing process.

With a solid email list you can alert people (who have already committed to you that they are interested) with new products and services.

Just think of the cost savings! By building an email list you are building a future database of potential customers.

Don’t forget that people value their emails. You can’t abuse the relationship with your prospect. Continually offer value in your emails. Look to improve the lives and businesses of your potential customers.

Today’s Action Step

Get signed up for an email service provider and place an email capture form on your website or blog. Make it enticing for prospects to give you their email address by giving away something free in return for the address.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership. He is a producer, author, speaker and social media marketing coach who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter or Google Buzz.

*Photo By Pacopus

As my mentor Eben Pagan likes to say, “it’s not about communication, it’s about conversion.” You can communicate your brand all you want, but at the end of the day conversions are what matter.

Conversion should be your new goal

If you’d like to use social media to market your business, then you need to use social media to drive conversions. Yes, using Twitter and Facebook to brand your business can work over the long term. But your goal is to see some results now.

By placing emphasis on website conversions, you will make the right choices about what content you produce for social media sites, how you set up your profiles and even what links to include in your messaging.

A quick overview of conversion

Conversion simply refers to the number of online visitors who take the desired action you want them to take. So it’s important to identify what those “desired actions” are.

First, we have sales. This is a great conversion. Sales of products or services are measurable and always a good thing in business.

Second, we have lead capture. This is the process of capturing someone’s email address and name when they come to your website. Lead capture is not as intuitive for for most business owners – but in reality it can be even more powerful than trying to sell on the first visit.

I’m not suggesting you don’t have something for sale on your site, I’m simply suggesting that many potential customers are not ready to buy something on the first visit. But they would be willing to start a relationship with you.

Let’s look at it this way. If you met an attractive person at a party, would you ask them:  A) to marry you [the sale] or b) for a phone number [lead capture]?

It seems so simple when you are meeting someone in a romantic situation. But in business marketing and social media, common sense goes out the window for a lot of people.

Small business owners see Coke and Nike with billboards in Times Square and think they have to compete on that level.

Bull crap.

Change your mindset to focus on conversions first. There is a place for branding, but don’t start there.

How leads are captured

If lead capture is important, how do we do it?

There are three steps to capturing leads online using social media.

First, set up your website so it’s ready to capture leads.

Sounds simple right – but stay with me here.

I recommend capturing email addresses and names. For some industries (like real estate, insurance, or restaurants) it might make sense to get a physical address and phone number. But in most cases you will start by getting prospects and visitors to opt-in to an email list.

You will need to place an email capture form on your site and make it appealing to join your list.

I like to offer a valuable free product on my sites. It doesn’t have to cost you anything in materials. It could be an online training video or free PDF report packed with useful information.

Second – be sure all your social media sites point back to your website where you capture leads.

Again – obvious right? But wouldn’t you know it – most people don’t do this.

On your Twitter profile, place a link that routes back to your website. On LinkedIn include a link that drives traffic to your website. You get the idea.

Third – make a clear call to action in your social media profiles.

If you are a real estate agent, go ahead and say something like “to learn how I can sell your house in 30 days – download my free report [website address]”

Action step: Place a lead capture form on your business website

Start with your own site. Ninety-nine percent of people reading this article don’t have a lead capture form on their website. Take care of that today first.

Now go take action.

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Joel Mark Witt is the Publisher of Folk Media and author of 21 Days To Twitter Leadership. He is a producer, author, and speaker who consults with businesses and nonprofits on how to use social media in marketing and communications. Get more from Joel on Twitter or Google Buzz.

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Here are 3 Reasons Why Your Business Should Have A Blog. Listen to them here:

1) Blogs create a feedback look for your business.
The internet allows two-way communication. So you can begin a discussion on your blog and ask your readers and customers to comment. This creates a great way to listen to your customers needs and wants.

2) Blogs are great for search engine optimization (SEO)
Basically this means that your content on the blog will be recognized by search engines. The key is to make the content valuable to a reader. Google, Yahoo, and others will then link to your online posts and articles exposing your business to new prospects and clients.

3) Blogs beg to be updated.
A blog is a platform that feeds off of new information. Search engines and web visitors in general love to see fresh, new content on your site. This will in turn help with your SEO.

Joel Mark Witt is a producer, speaker, and new media leader who writes about social media and its impact in the business world. He is also the Founding Director of Folk Media. Send him an email: joelmarkwitt (at) folkmedia.org or follow him on Twitter.

*Photo by Swampadswain