I review allot of websites and web pages, and I always get asked” what do you think?” I usually do have a first impression of the design, graphics etc. but inevitably comes down to does the website convert? That is the operative question.

Conversion basically means that once a potential customer is viewing your site, are they doing what you are asked them to do. What I mean by that is, every website MUST have a ‘call to action’ where you are asking this potential client to do something. You may want them to sign up for a newsletter, special offer or just contact you for more information. You may just want to qualify that person by sending them deeper into your website to more detailed pages targeted at your client demographic. Here are some ‘call to action’ conversion goals:

1. Tell your viewer to click on a button (contact us, go here, get this)

2. Have video on your index (main site page) for viewer retention and at the end of the video, direct them to a page that has an offer or more specific information.

3. Lead the potential customer through a process that makes them go deeper in your site to eventually see an offer to buy or call you.

4. Envision your website like a funnel, where you have general information on your main page and get more into detail and qualifying the further the prospect goes.

5. ALWAYS have contact now information on every page of your website and make it easy for your your viewers. A email link button, simple contact form with minimal effort required to fill it out, and/or a phone number.

You can have the best looking site on the web, but if that website does not convert viewers to customers, all you have is an expensive business card.

To your conversion success…

Larry J Clark
www.websmartsolutions.com

Well it’s been just over a week since the marriage of my oldest child, “my little girl”, Courtney to her new husband David.

Courtney and Dave have been dating seriously for just over year and we are thrilled to have Dave in the Family. The wedding was spectacular and the venue at Redwoods Golf Course in Langley BC was over the top. Even with just over a 100 people, it seemed it was a grand formal affair and the food was excellent. Hat’s off to the Redwood’s and your staff. Job well done.

You can see some pictures from Red Handed Photography here: http://www.redhandedphotography.blogspot.com/

It was also a blessing to have family and our friends from Vancouver there to share our special moment with us.

Here’s to you Mr. and Mrs. Sondergaard. May God richly bless you all the days of your lives together.

A proud Daddy,

Larry J Clark

Here is a new video I did for a client in Calgary. Ranked first page on Google in one day. Had fun making it with Keynote and some video programs.

Astro Transmission Calgary Video on YouTube

To your video future…

Larry

I am sure you probably heard this quote before…” if you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything”.

I am beginning to believe it is time for us to start standing p for what we believe is right. I am now writing responses in the news paper editorials to voice my opinion of what is being written. Now I know that opinions are like belly buttons…everyone has them, but I am seeing the news media indoctrinating the readers with ‘their’ slants on Government, politics and moral values. The main issue I see is that there is little or no opposition not many people standing up for what is right.

I am not saying what I believe is right or right for you, what I am saying is that if you have heart led belief that opposes what you see is a wrong direction for humanity and for this Country, don’t stay silent. Silence has caused this Country to move in directions that our founding fathers and politicians had warned us not to go. Some may call it progress or ‘tolerance’ but I call it inaction. Hey, count me in as one who stood back numerous times in the past and took no action but complained about the outcome. Not any more.

I will know oppose those decisions/opinions I believe are wrong and morally corrupt this Country I live in. I want to continue to sing “God keep this Land Glorious and Free”.

You may disagree with everything I have just said in this. Excellent…voice your opposition and opinion. We may agree to disagree but at least you stood for something.

To the majority voices rising up for what is right…

Kind Regards,

Larry J Clark

Well we have come upon the Season in Calgary that I call “Fa-Winter’ as we have seemed to have skipped past Fall and have gone right in to Winter. Good grief….have I repressed my memories of living here 11 years ago that I forgot about what happens here in the weather scene. Have I conveniently forgot that Calgary has a record of snow falling EVERY month of the year?

Today, the temperature has hit 0 Celsius and there are snow flurries. I booked the G37 for snow tires next week thinking I was being proactive. Oh well. Break out the long johns it going to be a cold one.

I have inserted a picture from last week showing some fall colours looking at Cochrane Alberta (where I drive out to for work everyday) and now those same mountains have snow on them. Pretty but you won’t see me skiing down them anytime soon.

Off the topic but I was looking at my scar on my leg from the accident 2 1/2 years ago. Although noticeable, the scar is fading. It got me thinking of some decisions we have made or that we could have made that caused a permanent ‘scar’ in our life. Things we have to or may have to live with forever.

Scars are quite noticeable in the beginning but eventually the red tissue fades to regular skin tone shows up but  sometimes you tweak your knee and pain reminds you the scar still exists. Life is like that. Sometimes you are reminded of past wounds/scars even though they are not visible and you thought you have moved on. The best cure when making a decision in life is whether that decision will leave you with a lifetime reminder, and take it from me, it will remind you constantly. Make great and wise choices, especially character choices, and leave the scars of life behind.

Thanks for reading.

Larry J Clark

Anybody can sell on price. That’s easy. I can train any intelligent person to take orders on home sales just on price point. The real test of experience is selling homes on it’s value.

So where does value come from? Really, it comes from individuals and what they perceive the value of the home to be to them. I could stand here all day extolling the features and the value the Builder believes the home has, but ultimately it is the home buyer who either agrees or disagrees with my assessment. There are other ‘market’ indicators that assist a home buyer like a CMA. (Current market analysis) These are usually done by Realtors who research what has sold recently in the area and for what cost. Then they compare a home to one that is similar in size, etc. and come up with what the ‘market’ value of that home is.

So where does value come in? When I walk in a new home, if it too big, not laid out to my liking or some other challenge, my value for that home may not be the same as someone who the home suits perfectly. So now you have two completely different values of the same home. Of course you can break the house cost down to sticks of wood and concrete and try and figure out what it actually cost to build, and valuate that way as well. The problem with this is that the “emotional” value is not there. Say this new home is one block from a school, then a young family would value it’s location more than a empty nester couple. What about the lot? Some people value corner lots more than others and land can be the same size for area, but one could have a view and the other not.

I am not saying I have the answers when it comes to selling homes or value, but I think there is something to be said for finding out what potential clients value as important to them, other than just cost.

Let me know what you think.

Kind Regards,

Larry J Clark

I just developed and uploaded a new blog yesterday called “Sunset Ridge View“. It is based on the Community I sell new homes in Cochrane Alberta.

I want to blog about the Community and hopefully will get input from the residents of events and interesting facts that I can add. Maps and pictures will also be included along with information about the great Town of Cochrane.

Have a great weekend!

Larry

Well, it’s been one official month here in Calgary. We officially took possession of our new home here July 1st. Robin has been doing a great job of “nesting” and putting everything in it’s place. I thought we had gotten rid of allot of ’ stuff ’ but it still seems we have too much. The house is great and we are really taking advantage of the big yard. It has a hut tub we inherited, and I have been doing my best impression of a handyman to get it going, but to no avail. It has a mystery leak near the pump that only a service guy can fix. Hopefully they will call me back for a time to come out.

Looks like we may have the old home in Abbotsford sold. It is pending a few conditions that come off Monday, so please pray that this will close and we turn the page on the BC life. The boys are still living there but seem to be doing well. Adam is coming out for his Birthday this week so it will be great to see him.

The new job is doing great and I am adjusting well. I am pleased with my progress even though I am hard on myself when it comes to results. I know they will come in time and I heard once that there is no such thing as luck…just hard work and opportunity coming together. I know all the effort I am putting in will pay off for myself and for Calbridge Homes. I am running my first sales meeting tomorrow and really looking forward to it.

The weather here has taken a bit to adjust to. It is finally summer here but the first few weeks were cold, rainy and windy. Not necessarily it that order. I don’t remember the weather like this when we used to live here, but maybe I repressed those memories on purpose! The drive out to Cochrane every day just got easier with the opening of a new highway (Stoney Trail) and the views of the mountains are spectacular. There are allot of crazy drivers here and everyone has a pickup. No kidding. Redneck Capital of Canada as well.

So there you go. The mid July update from Larry Clark Blog. I will add some new pictures to the next post as well. Take care and thanks again for tuning into the every changing and adjusting life of the Clark’s.

Enjoy your summer,

Larry

Well, the wonderful world of Telus Communications has done it again. I asked that my old business number be transfered to my partners who are now following up all the calls. This was requested on the 15th of June and I was told it would be 24 hours “...thank you sir and thank you for calling Telus”. Not done.

I called a week later once I was told they were not getting calls and I was told the Telus technical dudes forgot to put a “1” in front of the re-direct number to Alberta. “no problem sir, this is our technicians error and we will have this fixed within 24 hours…thank you for calling Telus and have a good day”

Fast forward to today. Still not done and and I went through 3 different departments to get this resolved and guess what I heard…” no problem sir, we will have this fixed within the next 24 hours and thank you for calling Telus and have a good day” Have a good day? Get serious!! I was on my cell phone for over 15 minutes and was put on hold at least 4 times. Whats up with these big Corporations? They spend millions of dollars on training people to be good listeners, resolve conflict and customer service, why not spend millions of dollars to integrate your Company communications so I don’t have to go through 3 departments to resolve one phone issue?

On top of all this, they charge me a 75 dollar fee for the priviledge of re-directing this number which was never done. For a fully integrated Company they sure are disjointed when it comes to each Department. I am guessing some top executive ‘learned’ how to run a Company in business school. Next time ask someone who has run a Company how to do it and maybe listen to those tapes you record when you say “this call maybe monitored for quality assurance”. Maybe then you can attempt to cut down on needless calls and customer frustration.

This is still going to be a great day,

Larry

Well now that I am here in Calgary we were looking to rent a home vs. buying  until we sold our home in BC. I put an ad on Kijiji and advertised that I was looking to take over a mortgage or a low down payment on a house to see if I could avoid putting allot of money down on a house before I got the money from the equity from the existing home.

Anyway, we had a rental lined up and I received a call from a family that wanted someone to take over their mortgage. I went and looked at the home and it is a beautiful 5 year old home in Kincora on a cul-de-sac. It has a huge lot, hot tub, hardwood, air conditioning amongst other things. Well, we have now bought it and take possession the 1st of July. Now I am the proud owner of 2 homes so I really need to sell the old one. I have attached some pictures for you.

The good news is this will force us to settle into our new life here. Next post will be my one week report on my new job.

Kind Regards,

Larry