by Mike Michalowicz
I had an eye opening moment one year ago, almost to the day. I was curious about how effective my website was at engaging visitors. What better way to determine that, than to see how long people stayed when they landed on my site. The numbers were shocking! Nearly 85% of my site’s visitors didn’t stay for more than eight seconds! Eight measly seconds.
Do you get how bad that is? That is the same as inviting a guest over for a nice dinner and drinks, and when you open the door to greet them, they look at you, smile and say “It was great seeing you. I gotta run. Have a great night. Oh, and I’ll never be back.” Ahh! They didn't even get to taste that delicious homemade apple pie I baked. It's my specialty you know.
Now, imagine that scenario again. This time the doorbell rings, I open the door wearing a tuxedo with a maid and butler at my side. And the butler has a fresh, steaming slice of apple pie for my guest to sample. I suspect my visitor would have something new to say. “Whoa... what’s going on here? You know I had to run, but holy cow, apple pie a la mode?!? I’m staying!”
That is exactly what I did for my website, and you can do for yours. I made the simple and inexpensive changes to make my site distinguished. Mow those eight five percenters are staying for an average of one minute and three seconds. That is equivalent to eating two slices of apple pie in web time. And the rest of my visitors? They are averaging almost five minutes. That’s effectively a sleep over!
Here is how you make your site distinguished, and have people really digging in:
- Real Pictures And Lots Of Them – Ditch the stock photography, and post real pictures of you and your employees. But don’t use your favorite headshot from highschool (even though you are in your fifties now), instead use a variety of current photos. The more variety of great shots of you and your team, the more you will become a mini-celebrity in your prospect’s eyes. Talk about being distinguished.
- Have Your Own Distinct Voice – People relate to others who are like them. Most people aren't watered down and boring (Are you? I didn't think so!), so how come so many sites are? Have your site be consistent with your own natural voice and style. The goal here isn’t to make everyone happy (you can’t). The goal is to make the right people to feel a connection with you.
- Always Be Blogging - Forget the ABC’s of business, start doing the ABB’s (Always Be Blogging). Blogs have lost their cache over the years, ironically making them more influential. As less people blog, your blog will get even better SEO. Just make sure you maintain your distinct voice, and speak about the industry you're in and what you do.
- Let The People Speak – Let your following (web visitors) share their voice too. Enable commenting on your blogs, and respond to the comments people post. Use tools like MediaRoomVIP that allow you to pose a question to your community and have it automatically compile their responses into a blog post. Hey look at that, there's that blogging again!
- Integrated Social Media - Twitter. Facebook. LinkedIn. Youtube. The list goes on and on. All these social media platforms are powerful ways for your web visitors to keep attuned to your goings on. The problem is they are all over the place. Used widgets or plugins to integrate your social media directly onto your site. Now people can stay on your site while seeing all the stuff you are tweeting about simultaneously.
- Give Me Some Variety – Pictures and text are mandatory for a good website, but you shouldn’t stop there. Add videos, podcasts, infographics, social media feeds, live chats, group video conferences, along with the pictures and text to keep things fresh. It offers a great way to repurpose content (e.g. a video can be redone into an infographic), and it surely makes your site distinguished.
What are the first thing you are going to do to make your site distinguished? Share your ideas below. And if you want a little inspiration, you can visit my site at www.MikeMichalowicz.com to see how I made it distinguished. Maybe you will stay for at least one minute and three seconds!
Attend the Get Found and Be Chosen presented Barry Moltz hosted by Dex Digital on June 19th during the LOHAS Business Conference in Boulder. For more information on your business’ findability score please visit: www.HowFindableAreYou.com/LOHAS
Get your Findable Score™. It's fast, free and easy! Learn how consumers search for businesses in your industry and get advice to improve your visibility. Your score is free and so is the marketing insight.

I am fortunate to be able to connect with various experts in a variety of LOHAS related categories as well as research various articles predicting what to expect as new opportunities and market trends in the growing LOHAS market. Based on my discussions and findings, here are a few things that I think stand out in the organic and natural food vertical of LOHAS:
My Yoga Online
I know you may be thinking “Why do I need to read about the case for building a community? Everyone already knows it’s the latest and greatest marketing trend.” Which is precisely my point.
Article By Barry Moltz - Barry is a nationally recognized expert on small business who has given hundreds of presentations to audiences ranging in size from 20 to 20,000. Barry Moltz gets business owners growing again by unlocking their long forgotten potential. With decades of entrepreneurial experience in his own business ventures as well as consulting countless other entrepreneurs, Barry has discovered the formula to get stuck business owners unstuck and marching forward. Barry applies simple, strategic steps to facilitate change. Details on Barry can be found on his website
I am in a unique position to view various market verticals and get some ideas on what are trends for various elements of LOHAS. Here are a few I think to be on the lookout for in the health and wellness space.
I’ve been practicing yoga pretty consistently since 1998 and feel it’s one of the most important tools in my life to help with work-life balance. I recommend it to many people because it’s an activity everyone can do and everyone benefits from doing – albeit if you do it somewhat regularly. 

Mikhaila Stettler is an artist, writer and producer. As Creative Director of
The field of sustainability has evolved from a small niche of environmentalists into a transdisciplinary field that spans from local agriculture to global business. Today, people around the globe are much more aware of the problems facing mankind and the planet as a whole. The population is estimated to grow to nine billion by 2050, an increase that will only further strain our planet's natural resources. In these universities, teachers and students are committing their careers to developing the principles and practices that will allow the human race to achieve a sustainable future.
Pizza, beer, ramen noodles—yep that about sums up the diet of a typical college student these days. Short on both cash and time, students take what they can get in the way of sustenance, no matter how bad for them it really is. The more we learn about nutrition and our bodies, the more we realize just how damaging habits such as these are. Sure, it's likely that these are only temporary routines that will eradicate themselves upon graduation, but there's a chance they won't. And then what are we left with? A society of out-of-shape, malnourished individuals eating themselves into an early grave.
There is lots of fear mongering going on at the moment. Fingers are being pointed. Rage is being tossed around. This makes us quake in our boots, be fearful of the "enemy" or the "opposition," or anything else outside our known world.
Best Beginner's SEO Resources:

Every day, more medical professionals and patients are recognizing the benefits of an integrative approach to health care. Integrative medicine (IM) is a health philosophy that focuses on the whole person, not just the disease. In treating an illness or disorder, a doctor who practices IMworks to heal the whole patient; mind, body and spirit.
