Are there optimization specialists?

John,
You bring up a very good point. I don't think you're wrong. But I'm wondering if there is a 'more right'?

It seems that every consultant I talk with wants to optimize this aspect and that so that I get x% better opt ins, better visual across the page, etc.

It seems the mindset of the consultant is to get them on the page, get them to buy now, or get them on a list where you can sell them ASAP. (I don't necessarily think this is wrong...read on)

What none of the consultants want to talk to me about is community. I look at the people in other industries that are selling like gangbusters. Of course I'm referring to big gurus like Vaynerchuck, Ferris, and others that get a lot of limelight.

I'm not saying I'm trying to be exactly like them. Nor am I saying they don't use tools and techniques for great conversions, I know they do. But I feel like they're worried about engagement before they are getting someone to a sales page.

So, for example, when I talk to a consultant he'll tell me something like 'You've got too many options in your nav bar.'

My response is that I want people to come and see options and want to surf around and want to come back. That's how I am on a site that engages me.

The consultant will come back with, "Well, studies have shown that if you have less options that your rate of getting people to sales pages will increase, etc."

And I don't dispute that the consultant is wrong. But I do question whether or not he 'gets' what I'm trying to do.

The bottom line is that what myself and my company is doing with dogs is pretty darn unique. There aren't too many trainers getting the kinds of results we are anywhere in the country or the world for that matter. As it stands we've got people flying us around the country to learn from us or sending their dogs from around the country. We're doing some really great things.

So do I want to tell them about those great things on a sales page? Or do I want a campaign that focuses on getting them to read some articles, watch some videos, meander over to our Facebook page, come back to the site, read our emails, etc and then decide they really want to do business with us?

Our competitors in the dog training space online have the optimization stuff down. I know they've got great opt in rates, great close rates, finely tuned email sequences etc. But because most of them are simply repurposing PLR they're forced to buy insane amounts of traffic in order to play a numbers game.

Don't get me wrong. I want the best opt in rates, the best close rates, etc. that I can get.

But I really want to find a consultant that gets that what I have isn't another PLR product that we can apply some scientific studies to and produce $1.25 for every $1 of ad spend we put in.

I want a consultant that would say, "You know what, if we put this image over here it will likely increase an opt in rate by X but I also think that's going to make someone less likely to engage."

Am I making sense? I want someone to help me turn myself into a known and trusted REAL expert and company. Not someone that can read the studies, knows how to A-B, and simply cares about direct response and not the engagement of the consumer.

Does THAT expert exist?