If your cyberspace storefront is not keyword-rich, easy to navigate, and ladled with fresh content, you will have visitors who stay less than 10 seconds. How exactly does that increase sales?

Each day I receive notice for another social media training workshop – be it for LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.

Recently, a potential customer (a.k.a. prospect) contacted me about whether or not he should attend one being offered by a local social media expert and business coach.

Believing in never knocking the competition, I suggested that many of these learning or training engagements presume that you have an effective website.

Further conversation with this potential customer revealed he was not happy with the lack of traffic to his website. And this, my friends, is the fatal marketing presumption.

Until this obstacle (an unfriendly website) is removed, then learning more about social media will probably not secure the results you want.

Within this marketing strategy, the ultimate goal is to drive traffic to your website.

If your cyberspace storefront is not keyword-rich, easy to navigate, and ladled with fresh content, you will have visitors who stay less than 10 seconds.

How exactly does that increase sales?

Now, efficient and effective for me is defined as doing things right and doing the right thing. With respect to a website, this translates into quality and keyword-rich content that delivers high traffic and eventually more profit, regardless of whether the business is engaged in selling services, products or a combination of both.

The majority (at least 50%) of small business owners, including single office/home office entrepreneurs who have websites, have invested hundreds (if not thousands of dollars) to create and maintain them.

Yet, these hardworking entrepreneurs are receiving little to no traffic and the situation is not improving.

Now, I am not a “tekkie” person. In fact, I am technology challenged. However, during the last 5 years, I have invested thousands of hours to improve my website on my own time.

I can trace this improvement directly back to my business action plan and how I dramatically revised both my marketing action plan and sales action plan over 5 years ago.

In other words, I do not spray and pray my activities with the hope that something will stick.

Five years ago, I had one of those “I could have had a V8” moments, or what I call a Swedish FHEM (flat head experience moment).

Being a single office/home office entrepreneur, I had neither the resources nor expertise in marketing.

Sure, I attended local business networking events, chamber luncheons, and other opportunities to meet and greet. However, the results were not in proportion to the efforts I demonstrated. I realized there had to be a better way.

One of my mentors, Ray Overdorff, suggested that I invest one hour per day in expanding my knowledge of marketing and, in one year, I would become an expert, or at least far more knowledgeable.

He was on target.

In the book, “Outliers,” the author Malcolm Gladwell suggests it takes 10,000 hours to be truly successful.

For the last 5 years, I have planned my marketing and worked my education-based marketing plan by contributing to such sites as:

• EvanCarmichael
• EzineArticles
• NBiz Magazine
• Post Tribune of Northwest Indiana
• Sales Bloggers
• Sales Gravy
• Top Sales Experts

I am reaping the rewards of my education-based marketing efforts because my site continues to attract new visitors each day.

So, if you are considering taking any social media training, make sure your website is operating as close as possible to full warp power.

Then, take that social media training to supercharge your marketing warp engines. You will find all of your efforts truly helping you increase sales.