You may have one or two pens you prefer to use, but still the cup is pretty full and there are times you will simply grab the first pen that your fingers touch. It can be disappointing when that pen doesn't work or it can provide a surprise when it is one you haven't tried, but works very well.

This is a concept for ecommerce. No, you don't necessarily have to toss out free pens, but there is an idea about working to become a favorite of customers.

Why not encourage visitors to add your website to their favorites folder. Allow consumers to think of your site the same way they think of their pen cup.

This is a call to action and may not make sense on the first or even second tier pages of a website. It should certainly be added by the time the consumer reaches the checkout.

Some site owners are afraid of placing a call to action on their websites.

I suppose the fear is well founded. After all if you push to hard it could result in a customer that considers the act pushy and uncalled for. However, what this has done is made site owners perhaps too cautious in asking customers for their business.

It is possible to visit an ecommerce site and have absolutely no call to action. They may provide good information, but little in the way of encouraging visitors to buy.

Your call to action might be as simple as adding the site to a favorites folder or it could be to ask prospective customers to involve themselves in live chat with a representative that can answer their questions.

Try to make sure you actually have someone who can visit with consumers. Some sites have moved to an automated system that has the tendency to turn consumers away from the site especially when they discover they are simply having a conversation with a computer.

Another call to action might be to encourage visitors to sign up for a free membership to additional information or free downloads. This contributes to positive list building objectives and gives you the opportunity to invite the member to engage in additional calls to action.

You DO NOT have to be in the face of your prospective customer to add an action point. You can simply lead from one content page to the next with encouragement to click on a link that will allow them to consider product titles or service offerings.

So look at that pen cup once more on your desk and imagine the millions of others just like it. Your call to action may be similar to placing a pen in the cup of potential customers who may list you as a favorite and come back for another visit someday when you least expect it.