Ozdachs

Is Google+ Worth the Effort?

A client found a YouTube video extolling the virtues of Google+ for businesses. He wanted to know if he should invest time and energy in setting himself up on Google+.

The video he watched is long and the people in the video are supernaturally pleased with Google+ ! If you have 43 minutes, go for it…

The clip was posted on YouTube in 2013, and the predictions for the success of G+ were not accurate. It is not the social media place to be, if you’re only going to do one spot. The #1 place remains Facebook and there are many contenders that I think of as equal of G+ (LinkedIn, Instagram, etc.).

In fact, for the past 9 months I have heard rumors that Google is about to announce the end of G+ as we know it. I don’t know if they will kill G+… there really isn’t a need for them to admit failure. But, G+ failed in its intention to take the dominant position in social media. So, posting to G+ just isn’t required social media marketing.

The video also touts the instant availability in Google searches of what you post to G+. Having your comments quickly available is great, but I have seen entries in this blog and changes to HTML pages show up the same day in Google. So, using G+ doesn’t feel like an overwhelming advantage in becoming visible.

Benefits aside, the real issue in mounting a G+ presence is the cost. One of the commentators said that you should do 30 minutes of G+ before you start your business day and another 30 minutes at the end. I wish I had that time for social media! Do you want to invest in that much time? 30 minutes a week taxes a lot of business owners.

So, I don’t know whether investing in G+ is worth it for small businesses. I am not saying no, but I suspect that there is a diminishing returns. Spending a lot of time creating content just for G+ doesn’t seem logical. Instead, create a Google+ business page that puts you on the map. Then, include G+ in the list of social media sites you feed your comments to using Hootsuite or other posting app.

If you want to do more, them commit to a limited trial period of posting with a time budget. After 30, 60, or 90 days, do you see any increase in rankings, sales, or even engagement with clients? Let me know if the extra effort got you enough business!

By Ozdachs|2015-01-19T16:44:03-08:00January 19th, 2015|Google+, Social Media|1 Comment

The Tale of Two Offers

Black Friday Deals! Renewal Rates for Loyal Subscribers! Special Price for Returning Customers!

It’s now officially the season for marketing hype on steroids. But as Sergeant Phil Esterhaus warned us every week on Hill Street Blues, “Hey, let’s be careful out there.”

Just look at the two New Yorker pricing pages below.

Screen prints of New Yorker web page prices

Two Prices for New Yorker Subscriptions

I reached the top page by clicking on an email sent to me, telling me that I was a valuable customer, and inviting me to renew my gift subscriptions at a special rate. The offer is $69.99 for the first gift and $59.99 for each additional gift.

The bottom offer is one I found using a different web browser and going to the New Yorker website as if I’d never subscribed before. That page let me have two subscriptions for $69.99. I called the contact number on the sales page and the representative let me renew my gifts for the price offered to new customers. I saved $59.99 by not blindly renewing at my special, valued customer rate.

It’s not only the New Yorker that charges you more if they know you’ve used their product before. Most, if not all, companies track your relationship with them and will raise the prices for people that they think they’ve already hooked. For example, Quicken will display a come-on for its latest version about once a year. The page you go when you click from the ad in the application for your upgrade usually displays a price that’s more than if you went to Quicken yourself.

Unfortunately, the use of tracking cookies and other techniques makes it hard to show up on website as a virgin who deserves the most attractive pricing. But, you should try.

Here are some tips to keep you from being a dearly beloved, overpaying repeat customer:

Don’t sign up for any renewal or update or anything from an offer you get via email or from within an application.
Visit the business’ homepage with a browser that you don’t normally use. That way there won’t be cookies or other evidence of your association with that business which would lead their programs

Keep enjoying your favorite products and services. Keep giving them as holiday gifts, too. Just make sure you shop before you buy!

By Ozdachs|2014-12-10T09:58:26-08:00December 10th, 2014|E-Commerce|0 Comments

Embracing The “M” Word

Yes, I maintain websites after I’ve designed them. Yes, I maintain websites designed by other people.

Apparently a lot web designers want to just that: design websites. They don’t want to do minor changes or, God forbid, touch a site someone else originally created.

Many of the calls I get are from tired business owners who want to change some things in their site, but they don’t need — or want to pay for — a complete overhaul. They report problems finding someone who can help them.

Sometimes their original web designer has found a full-time graphics design job (a lot of web designers seem to be frustrated or underemployed graphic designers). Other times the business owners report that their original designer doesn’t do maintenance.

I think we web designers have to be available to make changes and tweaks to our customers’ pages. Phone numbers change, photos get outdated, new products come out, business hours expand! All of these updates belong on your website.

Sometimes the business owner needs more substantial changes. They want to add a video or a series of pages about new things they’re doing. The owner wants to update their site, but they aren’t up for a total re-do!

I get asked to help with all sorts of websites, even sites created on WordPress or other platforms that supposedly allow non-technical users to update content. WordPress, Joomla, and proprietary systems by Wix, GoDaddy, and others all require some computer skills. Although they do not require special software on your computer, these tools take time to learn and tame. Many owners are too busy running their business to spend hours coming up to speed and implementing changes. I am happy that they call me!

Doing maintenance may not be as fun as creating an eye-catching design from scratch. And, when I work on a site that someone else created, I have to adjust to whatever style that person had. I also have to find out where they have put the images, layouts, and styles I’m being asked to use and modify. And, of course, the original designer is never as organized and clear as I am!

Still, I am happy to do maintenance. I have done one-time updates, and I have some clients whose sites I change several times a month like Theatre Rhinoceros, a San Francisco theater company. I like making all of them reflect the owner’s current activities.

By Ozdachs|2014-10-07T15:40:50-07:00October 7th, 2014|Professional Services, Web Design|0 Comments

iPage Raises Prices, Makes it Difficult to Cancel

Just a heads up for people who have iPage hosting or are considering their services.

I looked at my credit card bill today and saw an iPage charge that was $20 higher for hosting a website than I paid last year. No notice, no nothing. iPage just charged more for the automatic hosting renewal.

The charge comes 15 days before the end of service I’ve paid for. So, I called iPage’s billing department. If the price really went up, then I wanted to move the site to another hosting service. I figured I move sometime this week, before the expiration of the hosting service I have already paid for.

Here’s what I found:

It takes 30 minutes on hold to reach an agent.

The agent confirmed that they raised the price.

She said that they can cancel my account and issue a credit on my card, but cancellation will immediately take down the web site that I paid for through October 14th. If I want to move the site before it’s taken down by iPage, she said that I will have to call billing back when I am ready for the cancellation (and wait another 30 minutes on hold, I guess).

There is no way she can either reduce the price to what I paid this year or simply not let the renewal take place in October.

I wonder if there’s some type of theft going on when they only accept immediate cancellations and take the two weeks of already paid-for hosting service ? Of course, I am not an attorney, and I am sure that iPage’s attorney’s would explain that they have the right to do what they’re doing because of some fine print somewhere.

So, let me just say that their practices are user hostile and sleazy. I recommend staying away from iPage.

By Ozdachs|2014-10-01T11:14:43-07:00September 20th, 2014|Consumer Tips|6 Comments

Stop Using Internet Explorer, Feds Say

The latest security alert is an official warning from the Feds! There’s a flaw in Microsoft’s Internet Explorer that bad guys can use to get into your computer and have their way with it.

The technobabble US government warning is Brithish-like in its drollness.

US-CERT [United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team, Department of Homeland Security] recommends that users and administrators review Microsoft Security Advisory 2963983 for mitigation actions and workarounds. Those who cannot follow Microsoft’s recommendations, such as Windows XP users, may consider employing an alternate browser.

If you click through to Microsoft’s site in the link, you’ll see there is a whole list of rather difficult technical work-arounds that will, at best, “mitagate” the potential problem. For example, Microsoft’s first of six suggested work-arounds is to “Deploy the Enhanced Mitigation Experience Toolkit 4.1”. Others are equally daunting.

Remember, after you’ve done everything Microsoft says, you’ve simply lessened the possibility that the bad guys will get through. The vulunerability is still in the Internet Explorer program. Plus, once you’ve implemented the work-arounds, you may discover that you can no longer do some things that you expect to. Why did IE originally have the settings and permissions Microsoft is now saying to change? I am guessing that IE probably needs them for some functionality you expect in a browser.

Anyway, there is a much simplier way to avoid the problems in Internet Explorer. Even the government suggests it: use a different web browser.

The two browsers I regularly use are:

Both are free and fast. Just click on one of the links above, download and install the browser, and start it up. Make sure that you make the new program your default Internet browser so that Internet Explorer doesn’t run when you click on a link.

Yes, if you switch away from Internet Explorer there will be some adjustment to a different look and feel. But, both Firefox and Chrome have a lot of free add-ons that make web surfing better. My favorites are add-ons that block ads and the annoying Flash ads.

But, really, you have to switch for your own security. Even the government thinks you should “consider” switching!

By Ozdachs|2014-04-30T07:36:30-07:00April 29th, 2014|Browsers|0 Comments

About Ozdachs

Is Google+ Worth the Effort?

The Tale of Two Offers

Embracing The “M” Word

iPage Raises Prices, Makes it Difficult to Cancel

Stop Using Internet Explorer, Feds Say