This is kind of an unplanned post that came to me while I was walking down the street on my way to take sunset pictures. I came across this sign in front of a house for sale and it stopped me in my tracks. I took my smart phone out of my pocket and took a quick picture knowing that this would become a blog post someday.
If you look at this sign it has like a million ways for you to be able to see more information about the house for sale.
I started to think about when Shawn Collins was selling his house and he wasn't thrilled with the way the real estate agent was doing nothing so he took it in his own hands and sold the house on his own. I was thinking if Shawn had these guys working for him he wouldn't of had to do that as these guys seem to have their stuff in order.
Taking a quick look at the sign I can see a phone number, a QR code, a website, their links to 6 social networks. On the bottom of the sign is a text number with details. 10 ways I can get more info on the property. Make it 11 because they also had a flyer in a box with all the information. I think you could say this was blanket coverage.
Then I got to thinking about all the websites I see as an affiliate manager that have no contact details on them at all. Usually these turn out to be declined from our programs. 99% of the time they are just spam blogs done quickly or the webmaster is new and doesn't see the need to be contacted and/or doesn't know the benefits of building a trust factor.
Potential customers will have questions that they may need answered before they hand over their credit card information. While I agree with Derrick Halpern of Social Triggers when he says you shouldn't have your website filled with social media buttons in your sidebar you have to make it easy for customers and media to contact you.
I hear you saying “But Vinny I don't want to answer peoples questions?” Trust me every time you get contacted with a question you can either use that question on your FAQ page or maybe even a full out blog post. Odds are if one of your customers has this question others will also. Done right your new page could become the authority in the niche and become the #1 spot in the search engines.
The Media May Be Looking To Contact You For a Story
With this San Francisco plane crash all over the news it makes me realize how lucky I was last year to have CNN contact me. If you saw the video Fred Hayes shot of the plane crash you saw his name on the upper right hand corner.
Last year I got lucky and was in the right place at the right time when the Space shuttle crashed into a bridge while being transported to the USS Intrepid. We did a podcast on this on ABC's Plus where I explain the details. At the time I didn't have a contact us form on this site. Somewhere along the line I missed this step making the site. It happens!
Without a contact us or some sort of social media contacts on your site you have no way for the media to contact you. Why make people jump through hoops to get to you. People buy from people they trust. Take a moment now and see how many of your websites need a contact us form or another way for media to contact you.
A few weeks ago I was contacted by a major TV production company looking for information on my niche to use on a very popular tv show. When I got the email I was surprised but with the CNN experience under my belt I knew exactly how to handle that. While that is still in the talking stages who knows maybe the site will be mentioned on the show? Maybe on their webpage with a back link of course. We will see what happens but I do know that wouldn't happen if I didn't have a way for the media to contact me.