1. The music/sound. It’s quiet with soft relaxing background sounds of people and easy-listening music - often tango.
2. Open and spacious. The shop is actually on the stage of an old, huge theater. You can even see the lighting switch/box area (what’s that called?) and the catwalk.
3. Coffee/caffeine spikes if you need. I’m not a big coffee drinker, but I’m a good patron. If you come here, let me know what you think about the quality of the coffee.
4. Ergonomically good seating. They have hardwood tables and chairs with a not-too-soft butt cushion. But the key is the height of the table. A good low level table closer to your lap is good because your shoulders don’t get bunched up too much when you work on a laptop. You might not realize this, but if you are sitting at a desk for hours, bad posture will cause aches and pains in areas of your body, especially your neck. (I’ve got my favorite 5 neck stretches to loosey-goosey up your neck - for people on computers for hours - just everyone these days)
5. Lighting. Lighting is perfect. Bright enough and soft enough.
6. A short walk from home. It’s far enough to feel like I’m somewhere else, close enough to not resist walking to it. The coffee is a wee bit expensive for the area, but the environment more than makes up for it. You don’t get rifraf, street noise or homeless. There’s a mix of tourists, casual coffee drinkers, students and other work-abroad people.
7. Need a break? Talk a walk. It’s great for walking around the bookstore. There are 4 floors in this theater and you can see the wonder architecture and murals.
8. It has Internet. Good speeds too. Free.
9. Evening performances. It’s really nice when a pianist and accordianist start playing in the corner. Really nice.
10. High Cielings.High ceilings always feel good.
11. Smart Feeling of Bookstores and Libraries. And there’s nothing like books and other intellectuals around to give you the productive willies.
12. The little cookie. They really won me over with the little cookie they give you with a coffee. Yum yum!

If you are in the area, come sit with me for a few hours and get some work done in, to date, the best spot to sit and work on my laptop. (Yes, this beats my NY Starbucks on 29th and Park, but don’t tell the baristas I said this!)

Oh, and the video of me geeking it out.

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Most small business websites site on the web sit around and collect cyberdust! They are often uninteresting, hard to look at, and don’t do much for the business.

On the other hand, the few successful websites out there are good at getting people to it, getting people excited, and getting people to buy!

The three things those websites have are:

1 – Attracts: They have a compelling reason to visit the website. Without a good reason to visit a website, no one will. People don’t visit websites “for more information” or to “check you out.”People are busy and only go to websites they “need” to go to. Your website must give people a very compelling need,  if you want them to come to your website.

2 – Engages: Successful websites interact with people and lead them to want to buy from you. Once you get people to your website, your website must engage them with why they should buy from your business, or enlist in your services. A simple list of products and services isn’t enough. You must make it interesting and exciting.

3 – Leads: Successful websites lead people to action! Action now! In order for people to buy from you, a product or service, people must take action. They must put in their payment information, register for something, or call you for a consultation. Things don’t happen in this world without action.

Can you think back to a website that you bought something from? Do you remember having a need? It could have been the need for information. Then you were invited to this website by some offer or freebee and you went to the website to explore. Once there, you were engaged in the website, reading, watching and listening and eventually you took some action towards buying, or registering, or signing up for something.

Here are two examples.

Ex. 1 Restaurant – A client of mine owns a 50’s theme burger and ice cream restaurant. His website isn’t just sitting there with a menu, although that is a good thing to have. Instead his website has an interactive game that kids love to play, a birthday club that gives you a free cone on your birthday, and money saving coupons you can download. These are compelling reasons for people to visit and for people to pass the website on to other people. Also, this game, the coupons and the birthday club are interactive elements that get people to participate in the website. Thirdly, the coupons get people to come into the restaurant and eat – the main money maker.

Ex. 2 Business Consultant – Another client of mine is a consultant that helps small businesses grow. His website has an article titled, “5 Things Most Small Businesses do Wrong that Stops Growth” which is used to attract people to his website. Then when people come to his website to get this article, his website further engages visitors by showing them the value his services bring in a very interesting way – a way that makes visitors want to hire this consultant! Thirdly, his website leads his visitors on to action by offering a no-fee short consultation on how to increase business profits. This gets prospects to call him.

As you can see, any and every business, whether they sell products online or are primarily an off-line service business, should have these key elements in making a website successful. They are:

1 – Attracts: A compelling reason to visit the website.
2 – Engages: Interaction that gets people to want to buy from you.
3 – Leads: Action steps for visitors to take at the website toward buying.

Do you want a successful website? If you are looking to grow your business, get more sales, and create a website that attracts, engages, and leads visitors into your business, then we should talk!

Let’s have a short 20-minute, “Website Success! Phone Discussion” in which we will:
1. Clarify what a successful website would be for your business
2. Identify key steps to creating this website
3. Uncover any road blocks that might be in the way
4. Help you get super-excited about your website and your business

Contact me here.

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