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A Simple Formula for Online Improvement

At a recent trade show where I had the opportunity to speak with retailers, I had a sense that some were overwhelmed with choices. They believed in the power of the internet, and as clients they had the ability to manage their online presences... but where should they focus their efforts when there are only so many available hours each month? Website, SEO, SEM, social networking, newsletters, e-commerce... I felt like some people were paralyzed. There were so many things they could do, they ended up not doing anything. I think we all have that feeling in our lives sometimes!

Pardon me in advance if article states the obvious, but after that trade show I felt that sometimes we all need to simplify our goals and get back to basics. For those that are not sure where to focus their efforts, the point of this article is to:

• Estiablish key measurements for website success
• List some very simple tasks that can be completed in just minutes
• Demonstrate how measuring your results will make you feel empowered

To act on the advice in this article, you need 3 things:

• The ability to update your website and other online channels (e.g. Facebook)
• The ability to view the visits to your website with a tool like Google Analytics
• A desire to improve! ;-)

If you're using Site Caddy, then you have everything you need, so let's get started.

Goals for this Article

The next time you find yourself with a small block of time to spend on your online sales and marketing, I want you to feel like:

1. You know how to invest your time
2. You can easily pick a quick task and get it done
3. You know how to measure your results

A Simple Formula

The point of this article is to simplify things, so let's look at a very simple formula for success:

Success Rate = (Positive Actions) divided by (Visitors to Website)

First, let's define a "positive action". When a person goes to your website and does something that is good for your business, I would call this a positive action. Some of these are easier to measure than others. Examples would include:

• Buying a product
• Making a reservation
• Submitting a contact form or gathering contact details
• Viewing directions to your location
• Sharing your information with friends (e.g. via Facebook)

Perhaps some of these outcomes are more positive than others, but every one of these actions might eventually result in a benefit to your business.

Reviewing our simple formula:

Success Rate = (Positive Actions) divided by (Visitors to Website)

If 1,000 people visit your website this month, and 50 of them take some positive action once they get there, then your success rate is 5% - and that's not bad.

Note: In a strictly e-commerce environment, we would consider your conversion rate to be the ratio between sales and visitors. But even if you are selling products on your website, there are other successful outcomes from a visit to your site (if even just brand awareness) and I prefer this broader approach.

You Can Lead a Horse to Water...

Obviously we are shooting for the highest possible success rate. It's a waste if we have 1,000 people going to our website every month, but only 2 of them do something we want them to do.

If we have enough people going to our website but only a few of them are taking a positive action...
It would indicate that we need to improve our website. Make it easier to navigate. Give our visitors clear direction. Encourage them to do what we want them to do - perhaps even incentivize them. Make sure the site is updated and looks professional.

If we don't have enough people going to our website in the first place...
Then this is an online marketing issue. We need to improve our visibility with search engines. We can get proactive and run online ads. We can make sure the people in our business are aware of our website.

OK - So What Should I Do?

In the last section we established that our goal is a high success rate for website visits. But let's simplify things even further. Let's forget about the success rate and say this:

• If you get more visitors to your website, you increase your chances for positive actions
• If you improve your website, you increase your chances for positive actions

Hmmm - wait a second... by that logic, almost anything you do will improve your online success? Yes - that's right - if you get more visitors, or improve your website and other online presences, you will increase your number of positive outcomes. And for those that feel that this logic is just too simple, then you've probably been overcomplicating things. And your competitors that have been steadily doing the simple things are probably passing you by while you wait to figure it all out.

If you are buying my logic, then you now know what to do. Do anything. Anything will help. And if you want a little inspiration, I have a list of little things you can do.

Pick One and Get Going

There are thousands of things you can do online to improve your business. To make it easier to choose, here is a list of tasks you can complete in a short amount of time and at no cost:

Very Quick

Just have 5-10 minutes to do something positive for your online presense? Here are a few tasks that will only take a few minutes:

• Create a Twitter or Facebook account
• Post something on Twitter or Facebook with a link back to your site
• Post a news item or event to your website
• Review your website analytics to make sure you're going in the right direction
• Review the results of your last e-mail blast
• Review your website home page for out-of-date content - change if necessary
• Add a link to a friendly business on your website, and ask them to link back to you
• Add a couple of contacts to your online database

Quick Enough

These tasks should not take more than 15-20 minutes to complete. Remember - we're not always seeking perfection, we're looking for small things we can do on a regular basis to make some positive impact:

• Make sure there are clear directions on your home page
• Prune your list of contacts
• Start a new e-mail blast message - save for later if no time to finish
• Start a new page on your website - save for later if no time to finish
• Add a new product to your online catalog
• Learn something new - how about AdWords?

Not As Quick but Still Important

Have a half hour to dedicate to your website?

• Create and send a monthly e-mail blast
• Review your entire website for anything out of date or inaccurate
• Review your entire product catalog and make any updates necessary
• Review other sites on the web (in our out of your sector) for good ideas
• Create and post a special offer or discount
• Get creative!

More To Come

These are short lists, and there are hundreds of other quick tasks out there. I will continue to update this list as I think of more quick tasks, and please feel free to post comments to this article with your own ideas!

Measuring Results Makes It Fun

In this article we are talking about little things you can do to:

• Get more eyeballs on your website
• Get those visitors to take a positive action

But let's face it - little improvements can be boring, and not necessarily inspire us to stick with it. Think of someone on a diet. It's logical that if they trimmed just 10 calories from their intake each day, and exercised for just 5 minutes per day, over the course of a year they would save themselves thousands of calories and get a little healthier. But the pounds would not come flying off, 6-pack abs would not miraculously appear in the mirror, and the chances of being self-motivated enough to maintain the new regimen would be slim.

Modern dieters have many tools at their disposal to stay encouraged. They can keep a chart of their calories, share tips online with other dieters, get precise measurements from scales, work with personal trainers, and so on. These little tricks can help each person to stay on track and reach their goals.

For me, website analytics (visitor reports) are the trick to staying motivated with your website. First, make sure you have easy access to your visitor numbers. Find out how many people are visiting your site, and how many visitors are going to the pages you want them to visit. This is the equivelent of a dieter stepping on the scale on New Year's Day - getting a baseline and setting some targets. Make a note of how many visitors you've had in the last month. Estimate how many of those visits have resulted in a positive outcome. That's our baseline, and our goal is to gradually improve on those numbers.

If you continue to make small improvements, you should see your numbers continue to make small jumps forward. And this can be all the motivation you need to keep going, and the proof you need to believe in what you are doing. To say "wow - I really can do this". Hopefully it will also encourage you to realize that the more you put into it, the more you will get out of it.

Summary

Feeling paralyzed by the number of things you could be doing to improve your business online? Break through that paralysis by identifying small tasks and completing them as time allows.

Remember that any small improvement that will either get more visitors to your website, or encourage those visitors to take a positive action, will have a beneficial result for your business.

Sure, get bolder as time and budget allow. But on a day-to-day basis if you're not sure what to do... just do something!

The Little Things That Lead to Online Success

Recently I posted an article to this blog discussing why you should make your website a priority and simple steps you can take to make that happen. I was encouraged by the reader response to this post! I received a number of emails from clients saying they realized they had been treating their online marketing as a chore rather than an opportunity, and that they had already started to make changes.

I hope this post is a suitable companion to that article. Let's assume for a moment that you have now made your website a priority for improving your business' sales and marketing. How are we going to take our new-found passion for the web and convert it into practical steps we can take to make it happen? And assuming of course that you're not a web guru, and you don't have a 6 figure online marketing budget!

The Bad News: There Is No Silver Bullet

I would like to tell you that our Site Caddy system (or a comparable service on the market) is the silver bullet: a magic wand you can wave to achieve total success on the web without any effort. I would like to, but I would be lying.

There are many tools on the market that give you the ability to achieve success on the web, but they cannot do the work for you. They do not know your unique selling points as well as you do, or speak the language of your customers and members. They simply help bridge the technology gap between what you are trying to say (marketing) and how you are trying to say it (the internet).

The Good News: It's Within Your Reach

It has been my experience businesses that succeed online do so not because they are breaking new ground with technology or breaking the bank. They are simply being creative, being consistant, and doing all the little things it takes to be successful onlne.

For the rest of this post we'll look at a number of tips and suggestions- the "little things" you can do to improve your online marketing. And none of these little things require:

• A large budget (most require none)
• More than a basic level of computer skills
• A lot of your time

And if you're making your online marketing a priority, then surely a few hours is not too much to ask!

Make It a Priority

Yes- I'm repeating this one more time.  I know it seems obvious and boring, but if online marketing is not considered a high priority, then the simple steps outlined below will not happen- at least not consistently. Online marketing is easy and cost effective- and your competition knows it.  So get inspired, get off the fence, and dive in.  It's not too late.

Do It Yourself

If you would prefer to spend money rather than time on your online marketing, there is no shortage of web companies that will be quite happy to build, manage and upgrade your site. But when each update you make to your site incurs a charge, you will be less likely to update your site on a regular basis. The more you put into your site, the more it's going to cost.

No one knows your business, your customers, your products & services, better than you. The more you have control over your marketing (both traditional and online), the better you represent your business and respond to a changing environment.

Our Site Caddy system is one of many services available that help you to manage your online marketing without need for outside assistance. And once you discover how easy it is, you'll never look back.

Don't Be Afraid

When working with new technologies (be it a website, point of sale system, or telephone network) it's easy to become overly cautious- sometimes to the point of paralysis. But most modern online marketing tools (whether for website building, emailing or advertising) are designed for the average business user. They are backed up (so there is little chance of permanently losing information) and provide ample opportunities to review drafts of your changes and test versions before going live.

So if you're fearful of technology- get over it! Sometimes the best way to learn something new is to try it- and even make a few mistakes. I can assure you:

• Everyone else makes mistakes as well
• Your customers/members won't mind the occasional honest mistake
• You won't break the internet!

But if you're a cautious person by nature, here are a few areas where an ounce of prevention is worth its weight in gold:

• Know who to call in case things do go wrong. They eventually do for everyone.
• When sending a bulk email, always send yourself enough tests to confirm you are satisfied with the end result.
• Review your site on a regular basis- especially the home page.
• Security is always a must (see more below). Emails are not secure, and credit card numbers should not be stored.

Learn the Basics

There are actually only a few tools you need to be comfortable with to work effectively with your computer and the internet.  If you can come to grips with these concepts and tools, you can compete online:

• Email
• Web browsers
• Resizing photos

I will follow up with another blog post shortly that gives simple recommendations for getting up to speed with each.

Start Simple, But Get Started

It's great to have lofty aspirations for your web presence. But too many people either postpone starting on their web presence, or overly delay the release of their website, while striving for perfection.

Building a web presence is different than printing a flyer or creating a television ad. You don't have to get it perfect the first time. And as long as you have the ability to update your own site, there should be no difference in cost between starting with something simple and building over time.

Another tangible benefit to starting simply is the fact that you leave yourself plenty of room for improvement. Often times people invest all of their "web time" in getting the site ready for the grand opening, then don't update it for months at the most critical of times- when everyone is looking at it! Instead try to plan on a regular series of small updates, instead of one massive attack.

So find a few hours, make a start, be creative, and get something live as quickly as possible. You can always improve it tomorrow.

Be Creative

Creativity and elbow grease can more than not offset any lacking in online marketing budget.

Don't be afraid to be different. Not every website has to look like Amazon.com or eBay, and your customers will expect your online marketing to be an extension of your bricks and mortar personality and identity.

And how can a small business compete with the major online superstores like Amazon.com? Perhaps not on price or selection, but you do have a number of advantages they don't:

• Better knowledge of your products
• Better understanding of your customers
• The ability to connect to a local audience
• The ability to target a niche

Here are a few creative ideas you might try:

• Run a contest on your site
• Place an event listing for your town on your site
• Post photo galleries from events hosted by you or your community
• Ask customers or members to contribute to your website
• Reward visitors for signing up to your mailing list

So don't be afraid to be different or creative- but try to remain consistent.

Consistency Instills Confidence

You must be vigilant in your approach to online marketing. Updating your site 2 or 3 times per year for major events is not enough. Starting a monthly newsletter is a great idea, but your subscribers will become frustrated if it turns into a bi-annual affair.

Again, building a successful online marketing presence is not about dropping a bundle of cash one time on a flashy website. It's more about using what you have effectively and consistently.

And don't become frustrated if your website does not pay major dividends the same month you launch it. Too many people get discouraged when the launch of a new website does not create an immediate return on investment. Building an effective online presence takes time and effort, and it will take more time to find your audience.

Here are a few tips to help:

• Make your own website your browser's home page so you see it every time you go online
• Set reminders for yourself to update the site regularly
• Choose one person at your business responsible for keeping things moving
• Always look for new ways to leverage your website
• Always look for new opportunities to build your mailing list and improve communications

You must strive to create a loyal community that will get in the habit of returning to your website often, and the best way to do that is to offer regularly updated content.

Social Networking is Free and Effective

If you're not interested in social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and MySpace- that's OK. Don't feel like you have to use them. But they are free, and these sites receive millions of hits every day. If you can direct just a few of those visitors through to your website, it's time well spent.

I recently posted to this blog with links and suggestions for using social networking sites as a part of your online marketing strategy:
http://blog.sitecaddy.com/2009/07/using-social-networking-for-fun-and-profit.html

Everything OK?

You should expect that the web company you work with will ensure that your website remains functional around the clock, that your email server is always ready, and that support is available when you need it. But there are many problems that they cannot anticipate or solve without your notification. For example, a virus on your computer might cause your email software to have problems.

You should take responsibility for making sure that all aspects of your online presence are working on a regular basis. For example:

• If you suspect any problems with your email, simply ask a friend to send you a test, and do the same with them.
• Check the home page of your website at least once per day to make sure it represents your business properly.
• Test orders or bookings on a regular basis. Make sure you are receiving the notifications you should be.

Monthly Plan

Let's wrap things up by taking all of the advice in this article, and turning it into a simple monthly plan that takes only a few hours (and zero budget) to implement.

• Daily x 5 minutes: view your home page, confirm email is functional
• Weekly x 10 minutes: make some noticeable update to your home page
• Weekly x 10 minutes: add one news item and one event listing to your site
• Weekly x 10 minutes: learn something new about your email or web browser
• Monthly x 30 minutes: update the special offers on your website
• Monthly x 30 minutes: send an email newsletter/digest to your mailing list
• Monthly x 60 minutes: research other websites, and implement campaigns based on the best ideas you have seen

The total time required for this plan? 4-6 hours per month. Of course this is a simple strategy that might work for you, but we would encourage everyone to devote even more time to their online marketing. Look for ways to replace traditional marketing costs such as print ads, postage, and your time, with more cost effective online alternatives.

Summary

More often than not, being successful online is not based on big budgets and techinical wizardry. Focus on:

• Making your online marketing a priority in your business plan
• Taking control of your web presence
• Getting over your fears of technology, and ask for help when you need it
• Learning the basics, and leaving the rest to the experts
• Starting simple and building over time
• Being creative, but being consistent
• Utilizing any free tools that exist such as social networking sites
• Taking responsibility to make sure everything is working properly
• Putting a plan in place and being vigilant

And have some fun! The internet gives every business, no matter how small, an unprecedented opportunity for expression. The days of relying on your son-in-law or neighbor's kid with a computer degree to manage your website and fix your email are gone. Take control, learn the basics, have some fun... and get online!

Writing for the Web: Finding Your Voice

Over the years, your web site will grow to contain many pages of content- possibly written by different authors.  And while each author works on a page individually, the site visitor views the site as a whole, reading from one page to the next sequentially.  Maintaining a consistent look and tone throughout the site can be a challenge.  By establishing a “voice” for the site at the beginning, all content authors can write in a consistent manner.

Point Of View (Grammatical Person)

Remember your early school English classes, where you learned the difference between 1st Person and 3rd Person?  Don't worry- there won't be a test! But I would suggest that you identify a Point of View for your website early and then apply it consistently throughout the site.  Let's use myself and Site Caddy as an example:

• 1st Person Singular: When I first started Site Caddy, my goal was to help small to medium sized businesses get online.
• 1st Person Plural: At Site Caddy, we strive to constantly improve on the level of service we provide our clients.
• 3rd Person: Any use of the Site Caddy logo or name is strictly prohibited without prior consent from Green Island Interactive.

For small to medium sized organizations, the 1st person plural form (e.g. “At Site Caddy we strive to…”) is often good for creating a connection with the audience, rather than speaking as an omniscient corporate voice. 

The 1st person singular form is fine for a very small business, or for pages dealing specifically with one person, allowing the author to speak for himself. Also fine for a blog such as this.

I often reserve the 3rd person form for legal or formal pages, as it can sound a bit "corporate".  Remember, we are trying to establish a dialog with our visitor- a connection.

But what's most important is that all authors should stick with the agreed point of view throughout the site.  There may be times when we need to use other persons, but try to remain consistent.

The Tone

For many visitors unfamiliar with your organization, the web site will represent the business.  You need to ensure the site presents your business as professional and trustworthy at all times.  It doesn't have to be stiff, but it should be professional.

When writing in the first person it can be easy to fall into colloquial or informal speech, as if speaking with a friend or revealing more information than necessary.  It is recommended that a professional, corporate tone is maintained at all times, while still striving to build a connection with the reader and portray your business as a group of caring people rather than a faceless corporate body.

But don't be afraid to be energetic! When you're surfing the web, would you prefer to read something exciting or something dull? Don't be afraid to display your enthusiasm for your business- just do it in a professional manner at all times, and make sure all authors do the same.

The Message and the Theme

Writing for any medium can be difficult, and the web presents its own set of challenges.  Not least of these is having multiple authors with diverse viewpoints write in a consistent fashion.  But by establishing a central theme and the core messages for the site in advance, we can create a framework authors can rely on when unsure of the best choice of words.

The Message

As with any other corporate literature, we always need to stay on message.  All authors should be aware of this message and make sure their content is in synch with the message before publishing.

The Theme

I've written a lot of copy for a lot of websites in my time, and it can be tough to pull verbal nuggets of gold out of thin air! How many different ways can you write an "About Us" page?

A theme can help both designers and content authors to both be creative and flow consistently.  Use your theme to influence word choices and design elements. 

Slogan

A theme can help to “pull a site together”, and a unifying slogan/strapline can assist.  It can be used with the logo, in the title bar, in the mission statement, and throughout the copy.  I've always liked General Electric's slogan- "Imagination at Work". They play off this theme constantly throughout their site. It's very positive, but vague enough that it can be reused in many different ways.

Style Guide

It's one thing to create your theme, it's another thing to stick to it- and make sure authors both now and in the future will too.  A style guide is a document in which you can store this information and share it in your business. It's also a good place to record information such as logo use guidelines, trademarks and your color palette. Update your style guide as your branding evolves.

An Example: Johnny's Java Joint (JJJ)

Let's go with my long overused example- a coffee shop.  There are thousands of coffee shops worldwide, and I'm sure they mostly offer the same services.  So how do I write good copy for this site without being the same as every other barista?  How do I get all of my authors on the same page and still give them some creative license? How do you marry the copy with the design?

Let's start with the tone. Let's assume that JJJ is basically a one man operation, but I want to make it "feel" a little bigger on the web. I also want to create a friendly and inviting tone on the site, similar to the atmosphere at the shop. I'm going to go with 1st Person Plural throughout the site, and use phrases like "At Johnny's Java Joint our number one priority is premium coffees from around the world."

Moving on to the message. Let's say we will identify the following core messages we want to reinforce throughout the site. Johnny's Java Joint is:

• A purveryor of fine coffees from around the world
• A friendly place to meet friends
• Environmentally responsible

Now let's craft a catchy slogan to compliment our tone and message... how about "Global Coffee, Local Flavor". It's fairly vague, it speaks to the premium coffee beans we import from around the world, but it sounds like the kind of place you would find in your neighborhood. More importantly (for this example if not for business purposes) it uses great words like Global and Flavor that can be weaved throughout the content of our site.

Let's move on to pick a theme for our site, which the slogan practically does for us.  Our theme will be "Global".  How can we weave this throughout the site?  How about:

• Using terms like Barista and Biscotti instead of Staff and Biscuits
• Incorporating photos of coffee drinkers and shops from around the world
• Incorporating Earth, Conservationism and Sustainability phrases

So let's put this all together into a practical use- writing the home page of our new website. Let's lean heavily on our slogan and theme, establish our message, and create a tone:

"Flavors and aromas can stir powerful memories... a black coffee in Seattle, an Espresso in Rome, or a Cafe Au Lait in Paris. At Johnny's Java Joint, you will find the finest beans and blends from around the globe. Stop in with your friends and let our friendly Baristas help you to create a new memory. Each time you do, we'll make a small donation to help restore the planet."

It's not perfect, but I was able to write it in about 2 minutes by pulling from the business messages and theme.  I'm confident that given a few more minutes, I could craft something quite nice by using the same techniques.

Summary

The content on a website is paramount, yet it often takes a back seat to design and technology concerns. Writing good content for your site can take longer than you expect. Establishing your point of view, tone, message and theme before starting will both save you time and result in a better site.  You will soon find these techniques to be old friends you can lean on when stuck for your next sentence.

And if anyone reads this article and creates a Starbucksy mega-brand with the slogan "Global Coffee, Local Flavor", I would like free coffee and biscotti for life.

Using Social Networking for Fun and Profit

You've probably heard about social networking sites such as Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn.  Maybe you've read about their popularity in the news, or maybe you've overheard your teenage son or daughter talking about "tweeting" with her friends.  But have you considered using these free channels to help promote your business?

In this blog I will talk a little bit about what these websites are, how they work, how you can use them to drive traffic to your sites, and how they can compliment your existing website.  And to answer your next questions... it's free and it only takes a few minutes!

What is a Social Networking Website?

It's difficult to define, but you might say that a social networking service is a website that provides tools that help people to find and communicate with each other.  You typically create an account for free, enter information about yourself (your profile), and then either find and connect with other like minded people, or sit back and wait for them to find you.

Typically these sites are compartmentalized into different "channels" for different topics. So while teenagers might use Twitter to keep friends up to date with their latest news, a business might use Twitter as a simple way to communicate with the world.

Why Use Social Networking for Business?

There are a lot of "little" reasons why you could use these sites to promote your business.  But let me focus on a few "big" reasons:

Volume: These websites get billions of hits- it's really quite amazing. Sites like Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace challenge Google for page views.  And while you should not expect the world to beat a path to your pages, even if you got visits from a tiny fraction of their audience, you will get a significant boost to your site visits and brand awareness.

They're Safe: TV News programs love cautionary tales about the dangers of the internet, and in fairness there are opportunities for trouble if you disclose too much personal or private information. But in a business context, there is little that can go wrong if you keep your profile professional.

They're Important: During the recent presidential elections in Iran, the US State Department asked Twitter's management to postpone scheduled maintenance downtime.  It turns out that news blackouts by the Iranian government left voters with few ways to communicate with each other and the outside world, and Twitter was the chosen mode of communication. These social networking sites have gone far beyond texting tools for kids- they're part of the fabric of global communications.

They're Easy: Like anything else, you will get out of these sites as much as you put into them.  But setting up an account and adding your profile and links to your business websites takes only minutes and doesn't cost a cent- continue reading to learn how.

Getting Started

Here is information on some of the most popular social networking sites on the internet, but this is by no means an exhaustive listing.

Site: Twitter
Website: http://www.twitter.com/
Purpose: Post short messages.
Business or Personal? Both
Signing up: Go to https://twitter.com/signup and enter your name, email address, and choose a username and a password.
In their own words: http://twitter.com/about#about
In my own words: The beauty of Twitter is in its simplicity.  There is really only one thing you can do with Twitter- post short messages and links (up to 140 characters). But it's that simplicity that makes it so powerful and popular.  There are no instructions to read.  No rules to learn. No guidelines.  Just post messages.
Getting started: Go to https://twitter.com/signupand enter your name and email address, and choose a username and a password- and that's it!
Recommendations: At Site Caddy we use Twitter to summarize activities and update clients on new releases and interesting industry news- we have our twitter feed plugged into the Site Caddy login page. You might use it to highlight special offers or make important announcements.

Site: LinkedIn
Website: http://www.linkedin.com/
Signing up: https://www.linkedin.com/secure/register
Purpose: Creating connections between businesses and business people.
Business or Personal? Business.
In their own words: http://press.linkedin.com/about
In my own words: LinkedIn is a powerful networking site intended for business users. It intelligently builds connections between people based on your profile and your existing connections.
Getting started: Sign up and create a profile. LinkedIn will help you to create your first links based on the information in your profile (e.g. your location, work history, schools attended).
Recommendations: LinkedIn is the online equivalent of a networking event. LinkedIn makes many recommendations on how to improve your profile- the more information you provide and people you connect to, the better you will do. It's not necessarily a great channel to market, but it is a good way to increase your exposure online and meet potential partners, clients, and staff.

Site: MySpace
Website: http://www.myspace.com/
Signing up: http://signups.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=signup
Purpose: Posting information about yourself for all the world to see.
Business or Personal? Personal, but has business uses.
A bit of background: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySpace
In my own words: MySpace was originally all about social networking- allowing people to meet and share information online. But when 100 million people sign up, business will surely follow.
Getting started: Sign up and create a profile. Explore. Be amazed.
Recommendations: Start simple and populate your profile with the same keywords you promote on your website. Remember your goal- drive traffic to your website where you convert visitors to sales.

Site: Facebook
Website: http://www.facebook.com/
Signing up: http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php(specifically for business signup)
Purpose: Posting information about yourself for all the world to see.
Business or Personal? Personal, but has business uses.
A bit of background: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook
In my own words: Same as for MySpace.
Getting started: Same as for MySpace.
Recommendations: Same as for MySpace.

Site: YouTube
Website: http://www.youtube.com/
Signing up: http://www.youtube.com/create_account
Purpose: Sharing videos.
Business or Personal? Both.
A bit of background: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youtube
In their own words: http://www.youtube.com/t/about
In my own words: YouTube is not so much of a social networking site, in that it does not help people to connect with each other.  But I wanted to include it in this post because in this context it is relevant- it's originally a social website that now has business purposes.
Recommendations: Many small businesses have promotional videos available and YouTube is a great forum. For example, rather than embedding a video directly in your Site Caddy website, upload it to YouTube and then add the YouTube video to your site (help is available on the Site Caddy help site.

Other social networking sites: Friendster, Bebo, Classmates, and dozens of worldwide sites.

General Advice

Remember The Mission
The point of using these social networking tools is to increase awareness of your brand/business and drive traffic to your website.

Something is Better than Nothing!
Don't get overwhelmed by all of these things you feel like you should be doing to promote your business on the web.  Start small and simple.  It would take less than an hour to sign up for and create profiles on all of these sites and more. If you have time later to extend your profile and build connections, great.  If not- then your profile will still drive traffic to your site and increase brand awareness.

Create Valuable Content
People typically don't go online to search for ads- they search for valuable information? If you create useful content on these sites and your own, you will have better results. For example, if you run a coffee shop, you might post daily tweets with simple coffee recipes or trivia. People know when you're trying to sell them something- at least make them feel like you are working for it ;-)

Personalize
The web (and especially the younger audience) is all about personalization. All of these sites provide tools that allow you to personalize your account with your logo, color scheme and more.  It's not necessary, but it does look a bit more professional!

The Next Steps

The information in this post is hopefully a good start for those that were curious about these sites but unsure how to apply them as marketing tools.  Search online for more information and tactics- there are thousands of articles on this subject.

Be Creative. The information I am providing in this article is very basic, and all the sites discussed are easy to use. But don't feel you need to stop with just a profile. Apply the same logic and creativity you use for your own business to these sites. Mix things up. Try one strategy on one site, and something different on the next. You can be both professional and different!

Link them all together. In Site Caddy you might create a page in the "About Us" section on your website named "Follow Us". On that page, you could include links to all of your social networking pages.  On each of those pages, create links to the other sites, but emphasize the links to your business site.

In my next post to this blog I will talk about how success on the web is not dependent on a huge budget or a silver bullet. In my opinion it is a combination of many "little things" that separate the good from the great online marketers.  Posting your information to these social networking sites is a good example of little things you can do to increase your business exposure on the web. And yes- they do make a difference.

Top Tips for Effective Email Campaigns (Part 2 of 2)

I hope you enjoyed Part 1 of this post, where I described 10 ways to improve your email campaigns.  Here's Part 2 with 10 more tips.

Note: Many of these points are more relevant to email campaigns, but many can be applied to text messaging (SMS) as well.

11) Choose Delivery Times That Work For Your Recipients

There is no universally perfect time to send a message- what's important is the right time for your recipients. You know your members and customers and you can judge  the best time for them. But here are a few tips and guidelines:

• Sending a message during the weekend may result in a message being lumped in with many others on Monday morning.
• People may not be as focused on Friday afternoons.
• Your recipients may be in different time zones.
• Messages targeted at business people can work well between 10am and 4pm on weekdays.
• The weekend is an option for messages targeted at a leisure audience.
• Coordinate your online messages with offline campaigns.

And remember that your recipients may not read your message until days or even weeks after you send it. Include specific dates in combination with time relative words like "today" or "this week". Your "today" might be your recipient's "last week"!

12) Multiple Messages for Special Occasions

Some subjects (especially for special events) are best served by multiple campaigns- like a "Save The Date" card for a wedding invitation. You might:

1. Send a preliminary message far in advance to alert your recipients to the event;
2. Send a detailed message closer to the time;
3. Send a short reminder the day before the event;

Just be careful not to overdo it- save multiple message campaigns like this for truly special occasions- otherwise your recipients might feel overwhelmed and opt-out.

13) Try Different Strategies

By checking your message reports you will be able to tell which campaigns are more successful. Not every message can be a blockbuster, but your goal (as with your  website visitor numbers) is to focus on the trends and not the numbers. Don't be afraid to mix things up a little from campaign to campaign.  For example:

• Try different subject lines to see which capture the imagination.
• Send at different times of day and days of week.
• Try different versions of the same campaign to different recipients and groups.
• Vary the length and the content of the message.

14) Write For Your Reader, Not For Yourself

We all feel we have something to say. We all feel our business is the best business in the world. But always remember your recipients' priorities. Will they be more interested in hearing your opinion on current affairs, or a special offer that will save them money and make their life better?  Site Caddy can be a soapbox, but it should be a business tool.

15) How Do You Read Messages?

Do you read every message you get?  Do you read every line of every message, or just scan the subject lines and first paragraph? Do you get upset by spam, or if a  company keeps sending you messages even if you don't want them? 

So do your recipients!  Think of how you read messages and what messages you respond positively  to, and try to apply the same logic to your campaigns.

16) Don't Overdo It

Since email and text messaging is inexpensive, it can be tempting to flood your recipients with news and updates. But not only will you lessen the impact of your important messages, you run the risk of having your recipients opt-out of your campaigns entirely.  How many is too many? That's different for each business.  If you've  established a long standing rapport with your recipients, then they may expect to hear from you every day. It's also different for different audiences. Members may like to  hear from you every day, but customers may only want to hear from you if you have a special offer.

17) Mind Your Tone

Your message campaigns are a part of your online presence, which is a part of your complete brand and identity. Make sure the tone and content of your messages is in  keeping with the tone and content on your website and your identity. Make sure that whomever is sending messages on your behalf is on the same page. We all have a tendency to be informal when sending messages to friends and family, but this may not be appropriate for your business communications.

18) Don't Overhype

Readers are conditioned to ignore emails and offers that are "over the top". Spam filters can be triggered by keywords and deceptive tactics. Be assertive and focused, but don't oversell. Avoid:

• Overused words such as FREE, OFFER and GUARANTEE.
• Unnecessary capitalization
• Large fonts or wild colors

19) Be Careful

Online messaging is a powerful tool.  With the press of a button you have the ability to broadcast a message to thousands of people. And once that button is pressed there is no going back!

• Send test messages to yourself or your manager to proofread.
• Think twice before getting emotional. 
• Never MWI (Message While Intoxicated).  Enough said.

20) Follow Up

Improved communications with your clients, members and potential customers is a good thing, and it's good when they reply to your messages.  Sometimes they will  want more information, sometimes they will want to make a purchase, and sometimes they will want to give you feedback. Make sure that you make time to follow up on each reply, or the recipient will not only be less likely to reply next time but also less likely to read your next message.  Yes- this can take a little time, but these messages are important and often lead to new revenue.

If you do not want to hear back from your recipients, that's OK too.  But make it clear.  Use a reply address for your campaign such as no-replies@yourdomain.com and make it clear in the email that they should not reply to the email. Tell them how they should make contact with you.

Do you have any great tips?  Comment on this blog post.

Top Tips for Effective Email Campaigns (Part 1 of 2)

Sending messages to your customers and members is a good way to increase service levels, sales and branding.  You don't need to have a great reason to send a  message- simply wishing them a happy holiday, thanking them for their continued support, or reminding them of an ongoing special offer are reason enough.

But with the majority of your message campaigns (as with your business initiatives) you will want to have a purpose, and that purpose is usually to either cut costs or increase revenues.  Here are a number of ways you can not only increase the success rates for your messages, but increase their usefulness for your business.

Note: Many of these points are more relevant to email campaigns, but many can be applied to text messaging as well.

1) Build Your Lists

Build your list at every opportunity you have. If you have a retail location, add a point-of-sale sign up form. At conferences or events, ask everyone you speak with if you may add them to your list after you exchange business cards. Use Site Caddy to add your newsletter sign-up form to every page on your web site.

2) Use Clean Lists

Dumping messages on every address you can get your hands on is not effective marketing- it's spamming. Make sure your lists are clean and adjust your campaigns based on what you learn from your reports. Your conversion rates will climb and your messaging costs will drop.

3) Use Message Reports

Most messaging tools like Site Caddy include detailed reports on success and failures after message campaigns are sent. Take the time to review the reports and make adjustments to future campaigns based on the results. Make sure to keep your lists clean (e.g. remove hard bounces) to reduce the risk of being flagged as a spammer.

4) Get To The Point!

Many authors like to build their story slowly, starting with amusing anecdotes and gradually building to a crescendo. And while the Pulitzer Prize committee will surely  appreciate your patient approach, email readers will either skip the fluff or discard your message entirely. Recipients scan emails quickly and make decisions in seconds.  Get your important content to the top of the email. If they want to read on for more details, all the better.

5) Nail Your Subject Line

The subject line is a bit like the home page on a website: the temptation is to add too much information. But many email clients display only the first few characters of the  subject line due to limited space. Be careful or your exceptionally well crafted and descriptive subject line will turn into a non sequitur.  Again- get to the point early, and  include less essential information later. And you don't need to tell them who you are in the subject line- Site Caddy will include that information in the email address.  Here  are a couple of examples:

• Bad: Site Caddy Will Be Hosting a Special Email Strategy Webinar on June 29th
• Good: Webinar on June 29th: Email Strategies

6) Use Calls to Action

Message reporting is not an exact science. The best way to increase reporting accuracy and judge the effectiveness of your campaigns is by recipient replies or click-throughs. You can easily encourage both in your emails. For example:

• Don't add all content to your message. Use Site Caddy to add the content to your website (e.g. new page or news item) and then include just a synopsis and a link to the relevant page on your site.
• Encourage the reader to take a specific action. Instead of just announcing a special offer, direct the reader to click on a link to find out details or participate.
• Encourage readers to forward the message to a friend.

7) Use Landing Pages

The page your website visitor lands on when they get to your website is known as the landing page, and it is often not your home page. They may be coming from a search  engine, a link in your messages, or links sent from your Site Caddy site to a friend.

Make it easy on your message recipients. If you are telling them about a special offer, don't just include a link to your home page and make them find the information on the offer. Include a link to a landing page that deals specifically with the special offer.  If you don't have one already, use Site Caddy to create the page- it only takes a  minute.

8) Stay Focused

Once in a while it's good to send a general newsletter or digest that covers a broad array of topics relevant to your recipients. But more often than not it's good to be specific and focused. Here are a few tips:

• Keep your messages short: 2 short messages will be read before 1 long one.
• Target your messages to groups: consider breaking your campaigns up by group and adjusting the message for each type of recipient.

9) Don't Overcommit

If you are going to start a weekly email campaign, fantastic! It will be a great way to let your members and customers know what's going on and to drive sales. But will your team have time to compose and send a campaign every week?  Will you have time to follow up on the responses and check your reports to make sure your recipient lists are clean? If not, consider a less regular cycle (monthly or quarterly) or simply do not announce that messages will be delivered on a schedule.

10) Be Consistent

When you do commit to a scheduled messaging campaign, try to be consistent. Send messages on the same day of the week or month so your recipients will get in a routine. You can always mix in special announcements at any time.

Tomorrow I will list another 10 tips. Do you have any great tips?  Comment on this blog post.

Making Your Website a Priority

In 2007 I was pitching a new website to the committee of a prospective client in Dublin.  One of the attendees asked "What is the most important factor in creating a successful website?".  I must have seemed very on-the-ball when I had an answer at the ready- luckily I had been considering that very question myself just a couple of days earlier!

My answer was simple and I stick by it today: to be successful the website must be a priority in your business.  I'm pretty sure they were expecting a somewhat more technical answer like Search Engine Optimization or Content Management.  But if the online presence is not considered a priority, the rest will not matter.  In fact I would go so far as to say that it is difficult to fail if you make your online presence a priority, and it is difficult to succeed if you do not.

 

Shifting Priorities

In the 10 years I've been building websites for clients I've noticed a marked shift in how our current and prospective clients view the importance of an online marketing presence.  For fun let's compare with the traditional 5 stages of grief:

1. Denial: I don't need a website.  We do just fine without one.  Web developers need not apply.
2. Anger: I will scream if one more person asks me why we don't have a website.
3. Bargaining: I begrudgingly admit I need a website.  I don't care how it works as long as it's cheap!
4. Depression: Why is my website not cutting my costs and increasing my sales?
5. Acceptance: We need to have a website that works.  It's going to be our most important sales and marketing tool.

If I was going to add a 6th stage to that list, it would be this:

6. Control: For our web presence to be effective, we need to have full control. No one knows our business or our market better than we do.

 

Should It Be A Priority? Make Me A Believer.

For those that are navigating the murky waters between stages 1 and 4, let's take a look at a few reasons why your online presence should be a priority:

Online sales and marketing is cost effective.  For example, our Site Caddy service gives you everything you need to manage a world-class web presence for just a few dollars/euro per day. Compare that with the cost of print, postage, radio, television, or other traditional forms of advertising.

Online sales and marketing is growing.Even in the current economy almost all news and research channels are reporting increased spending and success in the online sector. For businesses, it's the best way to cut sales and marketing costs.  For consumers, the web is the best place to comparison shop.

Online sales and marketing is global.Unless you are at the level of Coca-Cola or IBM, you probably don't have the marketing budget to reach people outside your local area. Wrong! One website + a little online marketing + a bit of creativity = global audience. And you can target your message to only the regions you are interested in.

Your competition is doing it. If your friend jumps off a bridge, that does not mean you should too.  But if your competitors are effectively using the internet to attract new customers and provide them with better service and prices, don't get left behind.

The world is changing. Every day your demographic is getting younger and more internet savvy. Even if you think your current customer base does not care about the internet, your next generation of clients will.  Every day your customers and members are relying more on the web to provide services and help make buying decisions. You had better be ready for them, or someone else will.

Online sales and marketing is easy! Do not fear the web.  Embrace it.  Start small, both in terms of ambition and budget. But get started today.

I could go on and on, but at this point I am going to assume I did my job of convincing you that the web should be a priority for your organization. What do we do now?

 

Making Your Web Presence A Priority

Welcome to Stage 5- Acceptance. You've decided that a solid web presence is critical to the success of your business. How do I make it a priority?

Choose a Web Czar

OK, maybe the term Web Czar is a little dramatic, but you need to have one person in your organization that is tasked with the web. This person needs to believe in the power of the web. They do not need to be an expert- only willing to try and to learn.

If you're a small business (or a one person operation) then you are the Web Czar. I know you already work too many hours and have too many responsibilities on your plate. But establishing the web as a priority means just that: it's a priority and you need to make room in your schedule.  Think of the time you will save in the long run if the web site is doing your sales and marketing for you.

And yes, if the home page of your website is advertising a special offer that expired 2 months ago- blame the Web Czar.  But if your online sales jump 50% in each of the 1st 3 months of their reign, take them to lunch and lavish them with praise.

Create a Budget

There are a ton of great things you can do on the web for free, especially if you're creative. But unless you've got a time on your hands or IT and marketing departments at your disposal, you will probably need to spend something on your online presence. If it is a priority, then it should be budgeted as such. Start small. Measure your results. Increase the spend on the areas that work.

Keep Your Eye On It

If you're not used to having your web presence as a priority, it can be easily forgotten. A few simple tricks can help you to keep the web on the brain.  For example, make your web site your browser's home page so it's the first thing you see each time you go online. Set reminders for yourself to update the site at regular intervals. Always look for opportunities to leverage your website and online communications. Always look for ways to drive visitors to your website.

Take Action

This is where Site Caddy comes in.  You have established that your online marketing is a priority.  You have established that your web presence is a top priority for your business.  A member of your team has been tasked with not only keeping the website up to date but to finding new ways to use it.  They use Site Caddy every day to update the site, drive online sales, build their contact database, and communicate with members, customers and prospects.

And yes- we got that gig in Dublin!  They have made their online marketing a priority, they have doubled their online bookings in each of the last two years, and they are very happy.

Update Your Browser to Get The Most Out of the Web

With traditional desktop applications, you had to install a specific type of software on your computer to run a specific type of program- like Microsoft Word.  If you got a new computer or wanted to get the latest version of Word, you had to buy a new copy.  And there were still no guarantees that your Word documents would be compatible with everyone else's.

Web browsers have evolved differently.  There are versions available for every computer.  They are based on standards (or are supposed to be) so you can use any browser you like. They can do many different jobs.  They're regularly updated and improved.  But most of all- they are FREE!!! 

But despite the fact they cost nothing, a relatively large percentage of web surfers in the world use old browsers.  The main offender is Internet Explorer from Microsoft, primarily because Microsoft has not made it easy enough for users to upgrade.  And unfortunately version 6 of Internet Explorer is widely accepted as one of the most poorly written pieces of software of all time!

But the solution is simple: download the latest version of a web browser and enjoy the best of what Site Caddy and the web have to offer!  Here is a list of the major players in the market, as well as my 2 cents on which are the best.

Firefox from Mozilla
Download: http://www.firefox.com
Current % of market: 47.7%
My Opinion: The best browser available.

Internet Explorer from Microsoft
Download: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/internet-explorer/default.aspx
Current % of market: Approximately 40% for all versions
My Opinion: Version 8 is a great improvement but still lags behind.

Chrome from Google
Download: http://www.google.com/chrome/
Current % of market: 5.5%
My Opinion: A great entry into the browser wars, and surely a force to be reckoned with.

Opera from Opera Software Company
Download: http://www.opera.com
Current % of market: 2.2%
Opinion: Well worth a look.

Safari from Apple
Download: http://www.apple.com/safari/download/
Current % of market: 3.0%
Opinion: Clean and elegant like all Apple products, but still not best option for Windows users.

Other Contenders
iPhone: Many people now surf the web from their iPhone
Netscape: No longer in production- switch to Firefox.
AOL Explorer from America Online: If you're an AOL subscriber and you absolutely have to...

So get the most out of the web and your Site Caddy account: download the latest browsers (especially if you are using Internet Explorer v6) and get surfing.  And since their free, feel free to try them all out and see what you like the best!

Grow Your Mailing List by Enabling the Subscribe Feature

If you would like visitors to your website to be able to subscribe to your mailing list, follow the instructions on this page:

http://help.sitecaddy.com/scee/en/help/people/subscribe.html

Enabling the subscribe feature on your website is a fantastic way to build your mailing list and it happens automatically through Site Caddy.  Once you enable the Subscribe button, your visitors can click the Subscribe link in the Page Tools section, fill out a form with name and email address, and their information is automatically added to your People Caddy list.

When visitors subscribe, they are automatically added to a group in People Caddy called Subscribers. This way you can tell them apart from other members, customers or staff.

But make sure if you do enable your subscriber list that you use it! These are customers and members that are interested in hearing what you have to say. Make sure to keep them in the loop- even a simple mailshot once per month or per quarter to alert them to special offers or interesting news.

Welcome!

Welcome to the new Site Caddy blog- a place for Team Site Caddy to tell you more about what's going on behind the scenes, new features coming to Site Caddy soon, and the best ways to get the most out of your accounts.

For each blog post, we look forward to your comments! And feel free to tell your friends- the more the merrier.