Want to know what really burns my butt?

When people start talking about stuff they "parrot" from other gurus and have no idea what they are talking about.

Do web page graphics or pictures really matter or is it the content that matters?

Let's quit being silly. Ok?

I can't remember the news show, either 60 minutes or 20/20, but they did an experiment of sending out overweight ladies for job interviews for secretarial
positions or office managers and discovered that regardless of background or work experience, thin pretty ladies were hired for the jobs. Only one of the overweight ladies got a follow up interview. In fact some of the thin pretty ladies with no prior experience or background for the position got the job. Can you believe that?

Is that fair? No.

It's life.

I don't know who said "a picture is worth a thousand words" (some chinese guy I think), but it's true.

Men dressed in nice suits get more respect than a guy in blue jeans. You just don't see Senators on the floor of the Senate in blue jeans and turtle neck t-shirts.

I didn't make the rules up. "How to Dress for Success" was a best seller for a long time.

Is content on a website or sales page important? Absolutely. But people do judge a book by it's cover. That's just the way we humans are.

But instead of me trying to sell you on why web page graphics, clip art, and pictures matter, why don't we take a look together and let you be the judge.

Fair enough?

What do most "opt in" ezine or newsletter forms look like?

They usually have a little box for your name and email address and then a submit button. Right?

Kind of boring.

Now let's look at a new sign up box that gave me 3 times the number of subscribers.

Now here's my question for you.

If the content you see in the box above is the same word for word as the content on my old "opt in" box, why was my opt in rates 300% better?

I don't know.  Maybe it's the cute gator.  Maybe it's the "count me in" button.  Who cares?

All I know is that I get 3 times the sign ups.

Still not convinced?

You've seen testimonial boxes on sales pages and websites... right?

They usually have a colored background that offsets from the main copy of the page to draw attention to a testimonial. Kind of boring but effective with good copy. Want to see an example of a kick butt testimonial template?

Does this one make a difference?

Good. Maybe I have your attention now. Web page graphics make a big difference and they do grab attention.

Don't buy into the garbage that pictures or pretty doesn't matter... just content does.

If you don't believe me, go to your next job interview in blue jeans and a tee shirt and then tell me if you got the job.

By the way. If you want some great web page graphics templates for "opt in" emailing, testimonials, or websites for less than the cost of a movie and dinner out you can get them here.

Until Next Time...