Ozdachs

Everything Is Incremental

The bad economy has generated desperate calls from owners who are begging for the Internet to save their business.

I wish it were that simple. When I talk to these potential clients, I first have to set their expectations.

Internet Magic The fact is that a web site and the Internet are not magic. They very, very, very rarely make a site owner a lot of money quickly.

Even if you plot, plan, and work to optimize your web site to return high on Google’s search results, you’re not likely to get rich overnight.

Distrust anyone who promises riches if you hire them to promote, design, or advertise for your business on the Internet. (Or anywhere else!)

Like every other real-world marketing effort, each action you take to market on the Internet will yield incremental results. This is not bad, but it is not magic. For every step you take, you’ll get a few more calls, a few more visitors to your business.

Want a marketing push? Then commit yourself to play in as many of these areas as you can:

Create or update your web site.
Your web site is your primary electronic calling card. Potential clients check it for your style and personality, in addition to looking for concrete information like services offered. People expect your business to have a site, and they expect it to look like 2010 and not 1999.
Optimize your web site for search engines (also called “Search Engine Optimization” or “SEO”).
You’ll want to do some research or hire a professional for this step, but showing up better in Google is well worth it.
Advertise your goods or services on Craigslist.
Really! Craigslist listings are free, and you can use them to point to your web site for more information. Don’t forget to repost the listing or update it every three days so that you’re not lost too deep in the clutter.
Identify a target client group and create a direct mail campaign.
Really, again! This low-tech approach to an identified group of potential customers should get their attention and invite them to check you out on your web site. Start off by use your local chamber of commerce address list or even the membership list of an affinity group (such as a business exchange network like BNI.)
Claim and spruce up your local business listing in Google and Bing.
These are the two major search engines which show maps of businesses when people search for goods and services. You want a link to your business on the map — this is especially important if you’re selling impulse or food items like pizza.
Run a Google Adwords campaign.
Adwords are the “sponsored listings” which show up on the top and right of the normal search results. You can get new visitors to your site for a couple dollars each.
Send out a monthly electronic magazine.
Even if you’re not selling anything people can click on and buy, touching your clients regularly is essential to growing your business. Your monthly message doesn’t have to be very long, and it should not be about you! You want to give your contacts some helpful information that will get them to smile and remember that you’re available to help them. Of course you can help them with a special or coupon in the newsletter, but don’t talk too much about you, your services, or your own wonderfulness.
Join and attend regularly a business referral group.
The best new clients can be the ones that people who know you and your business pre-screen and send to you. So, spend a couple hours each week talking with other business owners. In addition to the straight-forward benefits of a referral, you’ll learn about your strengths and weaknesses when you answer standards questions — such as who is a perfect referral for you — as part of the program. Moreover, you’ll learn about trends and area-wide concerns of people outside your industry. Valuable stuff!

There’s more, of course. Almost all of the pre-Internet marketing options remain marketing weapons in your fight for profit.

Each action is helpful. And, none of they is enough by itself!

By Ozdachs|2010-03-22T07:48:24-07:00March 22nd, 2010|Marketing|2 Comments

Electronic Marketing is Marketing

I have been working with some new clients this month. Not only are they new to me, but they’re new to using the Internet for their own business.

My task has been to reassure them that everything they thought they know about marketing and sales still applies. The medium may be unfamiliar, but the basics of marketing are constant.

"Get Postage" is the Winning Phrase

It’s been fun explaining to them that nothing fundamental is different. Here’s a great example from Inc.com.

Stamps.com found that using the phrase “sign up” was actually a negative; customers saw it as a high-pressure sales tactic. Once the site replaced that phrase with “Get Postage,” sales increased.

When the web site was focusing on what Stamps.com wanted (a new subscriber), visitors resisted. When the wording was rephrased to focus on delivering what the clients wanted (postage), people responded.

This is basic, brick-and-mortar, pre-Internet, pre-electricity marketing. You focus on meeting a need of your potential client and not on the needs of the business owner. Getting the prospect to sign-up will follow naturally once you’ve addressed his or her needs.

Your prospect’s time is valuable! They want to see that you’re going to solve their problem with little or no risk to them. They want to see this quickly.

So, on the Internet, just like in print, be direct, be catchy, and don’t waste anyone’s time or space.

“Welcome to our Website” is a very common — and very stupid — sight on the Internet. It’s like buying an ad in Time magazine that shouts in big type, “Welcome to our Ad”. Instead, spend your valuable screen real estate grabbing the prospect by his needs.

Don’t “welcome” or talk about yourself. Instead, make your visitors an offer they cannot refuse. Something like:

Let your web site earn you money!
Contact Ozdachs for a FREE site analysis.

We’re at www.ozdachs.biz and 415.347.6479.

By Ozdachs|2010-03-16T06:48:21-07:00March 16th, 2010|Marketing|0 Comments

The More You Ask for the Less You Get

Volunteer form scraped from the Internet

Tell Us (too much)!

A friend wanted me to sign-up for her non-profit’s email announcements. I went to the subscription page and happily entered my email address. The form had additional blanks for my home phone number and street address. I didn’t think this non-profit in Oregon needed to have this information, so I ignored those fields and clicked submit.

Wrong.

I was told that those fields were mandatory. So, I left my browser and sent my friend email explaining that I was not going to know what her group was up to because their web form asked for too much information.

Most people wouldn’t have sent the email. They would have just clicked away.

I understand that non-profits and businesses want to know all ways to reach me. They want to add me to their mailing lists, phone trees, and email blasts. But, their desire to reach out and touch me can feel as inappropriately creepy as the clueless lecher at a party.

My friend’s organization’s made a common — and fairly serious — blunder. They focused on their desire for information instead of considering the site visitor’s experience and mood. Sure, the visitor wanted information. But, they didn’t want to become BFF on the first date.

I scraped the graphic for this blog from the web this morning by searching Google for “sign-up form”. One of the top pages had this form which even requires your cell phone number. Geesh!

Businesses have the same problem, of course. Last week I wanted some comparison pricing information and I found myself being asked for my street address before getting the prices. Huh? No. No, thanks.

E-commerce sites track abandoned shopping carts left behind by people who have picked out items without purchasing them. The more client information required during check-out, the more abandoned carts a business has. Still, marking information as “required” remains irresistible for so many webmasters.

Here’s what to do:
Ask for all the information you want, but require only that information you need to fulfill the current transaction.

Your goal with most sign-up forms is to establish a relationship with a new client or supporter. When the visitor is filling out the form, you’re 90% there. They’ve found you on the Internet, liked your web site, and about to ask you to contact them. Don’t blow it by being greedy.

When your new contact starts receiving information and service from you, they’ll open up. They’ll place orders. They’ll phone you and ask for return calls with answers to their questions.

Being patient and measured when asking for information on the Internet is polite and professional. It is also the only successful way to build your contact data base.

By Ozdachs|2010-03-11T11:12:41-08:00March 11th, 2010|Web Design|1 Comment

They're Just Not That Into You

Are you an accountant, lawyer, doctor, or other professional who is starting a blog?

My highest educated professional clients are the hardest to get set up successfully with a blog.

Why?

Probably because they know how to write proper English sentences and paragraphs. Their high school English teacher’s admonitions never leave their consciousness, and every sentence has to be a perfectly-crafted, grammatically correct masterpiece. They’re great traditional writers!

The result of their Herculean labor generally is a block of gray-looking text which no self-respecting Internet surfer is going to read. The written insights may be both brilliant and helpful, but the pearls of wisdom just aren’t going to be read. The author hasn’t caught on to the unwritten rules of blogging.

Here’s what I tell my clients to do:

Approach blogging like you were writing a magazine ad not like you were writing an essay.
Go for short, visually easy to absorb bits of information.
Limit your post to <400 words or so.
Shorter is okay. Longer is a waste of your time, because Internet visitors have no attention span. Your 2000-word blog post that reveals the cure for cancer starting at word 650 is not going to earn you the Nobel Prize. No one will have read that far.
Use bullets.
Use graphics.
Use white space.

The blogosphere is an electronic elevator you get into and have to convince your fellow passengers to hire you in the time it takes for you to reach the ground floor. Your posts need to be pithy, catchy elevator speeches. If you have long and intricate how-to instructions, link to them from your blog so the folks really interested can get the details while the average surface-surfing blog reader will remain impressed with how intelligent and witty you sound.

It’s okay to think of your Internet readers as selfish beautiful people at a cocktail party. They’ll talk with you as long as you’re helping them and being quick about it. Even if you have a fantastic story.

By Ozdachs|2010-03-05T17:03:24-08:00March 5th, 2010|Blogging|1 Comment

Put Your Business on the Map… and Other Tips from the Queeks

A group of local techy geeks have been meeting for lunch and swapping stories for a year or so. As we talked about client tragedies, we recognized that many of the dilemmas our customers face could be easily avoided with a bit of insight.

Thus was born the Queeks blog.

We’re committed to contributing regularly to the blog, in addition to what we write on our own web sites and social media spots.

Check out the two Queeks tips from Ozdachs:

We’re Back Here, too!
I’ve just finished a tour of jury duty that started in November. I was able to continue working for clients by extending the days and working weekends.

But, something had to go. So, there have been no blog postings or Dangerous Common Sense newsletters since I started on the jury.

They’re starting up again!

By Ozdachs|2010-03-05T16:41:42-08:00March 5th, 2010|Professional Services, Tips and Resources|0 Comments

About Ozdachs

Everything Is Incremental

Electronic Marketing is Marketing

The More You Ask for the Less You Get

They're Just Not That Into You

Put Your Business on the Map… and Other Tips from the Queeks