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A creative team offering adoption profile design, marketing graphic design, web design, branding, logo design, marketing Langley, Surrey, White Rock, Delta, Vancouver
Make Sure it’s a Merry Christmas
Christmas is a great time to help your community. There are many agencies out there who have a credible and organized approach. Please consider giving to your local foodback, shelter, church or other program.
One that I’m found of is the Langley Christmas Bureau, http://www.langleychristmasbureau.com/ it’s a great way to help families have a great Christmas!
One Fish, Two Fish…Red Fish, Blue Fish
If you’re like me you like to have choices. You don’t want someone telling you to do something you don’t understand or buy something you haven’t done any research on. However, there are so many choices out there. There is a down-side to having free-will, you could make a mistake, what if you make the wrong choice and others suffer?
Well, before I get too overly dramatic let me tell you what I’m talking about first. I’m talking about picking a marketing and design company to do your website, ads, promos and messaging for your business.
Common Pitfalls and Problems…and I’m only scratching the surface:
- In an effort to save money you go for the cheapest deal and if you’re lucky you’ll end up with a website that works but absolutely no business generated from it
- You opt for the “You get what you pay for” motto but don’t do your research and find that when a bigger client comes along your marketing firm forgets who you are and opts for staaling tactics to placate you. If you have difficulty meeting them in person or talking on the phone regularly you’re in trouble
- Your marketing manager doesn’t “get you” or your business, in fact they’ve never been by to see the place and you find yourself going around in circles going over the same design, project, or content over and over again
- Deadlines are missed, messages aren’t returned, they’ve overpromised and underdelivered yet again and now you’ve wasted time, wasted money and lost the opportunity to get your messaging out when your demographic is the most receptive
- You’ve never met the graphic designer or copywriter who’s creating your stuff and you feel mis-represented
These are just a few I could go on and on but I’m starting to get depressed. You see sometimes stuff happens and certain expectatons are not met but if any of these things are happening consistantly you know you’ve made a mistake.
What can you do beforehand?
- Do your research: Meet with these people, in person, make sure you like them
- Check their work: Call some of their clients, get it straight from the source, don’t rely on the manicured testimonials on their site, everyone does that
- Make sure you click: If you don’t feel any kind of connection, walk away, run away, flee!
- Go through your list of expectations before you sign anything: You want to know up front if they’re willing to meet your expectations like – Who’s responsible for proofing, what if a deadline is missed?, what if I have a question about the billing?, what if there’s a mistake and it’s not your fault?, what if a campaign falls flat?, what kind of response time they have?, how long of a timeframe can they commit to you?
What if you’re already too far in to get out?
- Meet face-to-face: No matter what it takes you need to have a meeting of the minds. If you are having a hard time getting an appointment you may have to play hard-ball.
- Sometimes it’s a simple lack of communication: Assuming that they want to keep you as a client, and most marketing agencies would like to keep their clients, give them the benefit of the doubt and have an open discussion with them and express why you think your needs aren’t being met.
- Tie up loose ends: Before continuing with any new projects make sure you complete the most urgent ones. Then you’ll be in a better position to evaluate whether or not you should continue with the agency.
- Ask around: If you’re not sure if maybe you’re the problem or expecting too much call other agencies and ask about their processes and services and of course ask your friends or other local businesses.
Email Marketing – It’ s All in the Content
Deliver truly engaging content that serves your audience
This is probably the most important component to getting your emails opened. This has been proven more important than a crafty subject line. If you can get your prospects and customers to anticipate your emails, it doesn’t matter where it’s coming from or what the subject line says, they’ll open it. Take a conversational non-salesy approach. If your content is 95% educational and 5% pitch and your email says things like, “I was working on this today and learned this powerful lesson…” at the end of the explanation of the lesson you offer one of your products that complements the lesson learned. This process of serving your prospects and customers creates that anticipated content you need and encourages consumption and engagement with your list. This trend also supports the notion of being conversational in email matters. People like that.
Know Who You’re Dealing With
When you’re just starting out in business what you learned in school is only half the battle. Dealing with different types of clients can be the biggest hindrance to a successful project, so you need to know who you’re dealing with. In my experience there are two types of clients I try and stay away from: The Passive Aggressive and The Family Friend. When I first started out I’ll admit I was very eager for clients so I took on whoever contacted me without asking too many questions. Well I found out the hard way that the Passive Aggressive took up too much of my time and I wasted a lot of really great work on this person and money. I think the most disappointing thing about the passive aggressive client is that you don’t really know if they ever intend to pay because they’re not up-front with you about anything. The other type of client I would recommend staying away from is the ‘family friend’ if you do want to do work for them then treat it like a volunteer project. Family friends expect a great deal, and great service. Meaning if they want to call you late Saturday night and discuss the project then that’s what they’re going to do. I would suggest recommending them to another colleague but again if you want to help them expect to spend a lot of time on an unprofitable project. Even if you do charge them close to your normal rate, watch out, this could be a point of contention as well. In addition they may also expect to pay you ‘under the table’ which is illegal and won’t help you much if you ever get audited.
However, every once in a while you come across The Dream Client. I’m telling you if you find this person or company always, always do work for them. You may even want to downplay your busyness and put off other projects to hold on to this one, believe me it will be worth it.
The Dream Client
This client, widely dismissed as a myth, does in fact exist and understands the full scope and artistry of your work. They value your role and creative contributions and want you in the driver’s seat as soon as the project gets underway. They are timely with responses and payments… payments that they did not “negotiate” but rather accepted for what they are. They reflect on your suggestions and have confidence in your capabilities.
Identifying Characteristics
- Is enthusiastic about the project and your involvement in it.
- Communication shows awareness of and respect for your role.
- Makes such statements as:
- “Here’s the brief we prepared. The rest is pretty much up to you.”
- “We like what we’ve seen and trust you’ll do great things for us.”
How to Deal
Don’t brag! Just enjoy the ride and hold on to them for as long as you possibly can!
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See below and excerpt and the full article link to Smashing Magazine’s article on “How to Identify and Deal with Different Types of Clients”
Read the entire article at Smashing Magazine
In business, being able to read people and quickly get a sense of who you’re dealing with is an invaluable skill. It turns your encounter with a client into an opportunity to catch a glimpse of the upcoming project and how it will need to be handled. It is one of the building blocks of a professional relationship.
In today’s digital age, the arena has shifted to the Web, and the online office space that most freelancers inhabit limits personal interaction. Though sussing out a client’s personality via online communication is difficult, it still remains an invaluable tool in your arsenal.
In the freelancing field, you will encounter a range of client types. Being able to identify which you are dealing with allows you to develop the right strategy to maximize your interactions with them, and it could save your sanity. Below is a list of the most common personality types and the tell-tale signs that will tip you off.
This is the client who is very passive when you ask for initial input, but when you submit the finished product, they aggressively attack it, demanding a lot of detailed changes, both major and minor. They had an idea of what they wanted all along but kept it mostly to themselves. Even though they showed appreciation of certain ideas and elements throughout the development process, do not expect the passive-aggressive client to keep any of them as they send revisions your way.
Passive Aggressive
Identifying Characteristics
- Communication is mostly one-sided and unhelpful during project development.
- Makes statements such as:
- “I’m not really sure what we’re looking for.”
- “Just do something that would appeal to us generally.”
- “You totally missed the point of what we wanted.”
How to Deal
Patience is the key. Expecting the last-minute requests for revisions may soften the blow of the client’s aggressive behavior. Keep your original layered design intact so that you can easily refine and change it later (not that you wouldn’t, but it does happen). Also, make sure your contract specifies a limited number of revisions.
The Family Friend
This is the client whom you have known for years either through personal or family interaction, and this connection has landed you the job. The relationship will be tested and perhaps marred forever by what could very well be a nightmare of a project. This family friend believes he deserves a “special” price and unbridled access to your work. They will sometimes unwittingly belittle your work or not take it seriously because of their personal connection to you.
Identifying Characteristics
- These clients are easy to identify because… well, you know them.
- Makes such statements as:
- “Could you just throw something together for me?”
- “I don’t want you to think that just because I know you I want you to cut me a deal.”
- “You’re going to charge me what?! But we go way back!”
How to Deal
The way to deal with this client depends on how well you know them and how much you value your relationship with them. But remember that anyone who would take advantage of such a relationship is not truly a friend, so respond accordingly. An honest approach could end up saving the relationship. But start off with a professional, not personal, tone, and they may follow your lead. Of course, if you truly value the relationship, you may want to pass on the job altogether.
SEO Actually Works
Search Engine Optimization has been an important part of website development for some time now, to the point where it’s expected that your new website has SEO without even having to ask for it. I must say I’ve created all my websites with SEO and some sites have taken longer than others to see results but it actually works. For my site in particular I knew that it would take a while. Firstly becausee I did little to no advertising and the market I’m in is saturated to say the least so I really thought that SEO may not work in my case. But I googled some keywords for my site and there it is with the rest of them. So my encouragement is to not be discouraged if your site hasn’t climbed to the top yet eventually if you have good SEO you’ll be there.
Coding be gone
Yes! Finally it is here, no more being hampered by code I don’t understand and don’t want to learn. I can now build interactive dynamic websites with freedom from contacting programmers or trying to tame plug-ins and their innumerable updates.
Build dynamic websites without programming
Business Catalyst empowers you to build highly functional dynamic websites without backend programming or complicated configuration. Using only HTML and CSS, you can build online stores, database-driven web forms and more — all from your familiar Dreamweaver workspace.
Easily build interactive, database-driven apps
Business Catalyst’s powerful “Web Apps” feature enables web designers like you to build web applications with a point and click approach.
From real estate listings to business directories, you can define mini-databases of “items” and allow your clients to add new items from an easy to use interface
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Built-in Search
All BC Web Apps have an automatically created search function to search the database — without any programming required.
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User Generated Content
Your client’s visitors can submit, manage and delete their own items directly on the website and into the database. Your clients can even charge for submissions.
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Customize Look and Feel
Every BC Web App’s look and feel — including their layout, CSS and more — is completely customizable to suit your client
The Lost Art of Creating Hype – Going Viral
“After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing, after all, as wanting.”
Spock
It seems that in our age of instant gratification businesses are figuring out that the hype generated for a product may actually be more valuable than the product itself.
The key to success on the internet is to go ‘viral’, meaning generate a tremendous amount of visitors, users, friends, tweets about your business, product, event or even you. The trick is though is that you need to be interesting enough to go viral. What are you offering that’s so great and worth talking about and spreading the word? If you can answer that question and you guess right then you’ll have a viral movement on your hands. Also, if you plan on launching a new product, event or whatever then try building some hype first by creating a launch page and getting people to sign up to one of the first to find out your little secret.
Things to think about and then read http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2011/09/01/elements-of-a-viral-launch-page/
- Is what I’m doing making a difference in the local or global community?
- What service am I offering that will really help people?
- Do I have interesting stories that I can share?
- Am I easily accessible on all the popular social networks?
- Do I respond to comments or inquiries in a timely manner?
- Do I make regular updates to my website, blog, twitter, fb, etc?
- Can I summarize what I offer in one sentence?
What’s so bad about failure?
“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.” – Abraham Lincoln
We’re all aware of the four letter word that makes your stomach drop, your skin tingle and makes your eyes dart for the closest exit…F A I L. Everyone hates failure, it’s not a good feeling and it tends to bring up a lot of past not so good feelings so our natural instict is to avoid failure. However, I’m starting to learn that failing isn’t such a bad thing. In fact I’ve learned far more for my failures than anything I’ve done right. Most of the time if I’ve done something right I have no idea what I actually did that was so ‘right’ I just did it. The problem with failure is that it can become so unpleasant, so disappointing and could effect those closest to you that your desire to give up may win out over your desire to try again.
My encouragement to you is not to give up and look at the list below of the so called failures of others:
- Post-it notes ( was originally glue that didn’t work)
- Viagra ( was supposed to be a blood pressure pill, but it didn’t work but had an interesting side-affect)
- Walt Disney: Today Disney rakes in billions from merchandise, movies and theme parks around the world, but Walt Disney himself had a bit of a rough start. He was fired by a newspaper editor because, “he lacked imagination and had no good ideas.” After that, Disney started a number of businesses that didn’t last too long and ended with bankruptcy and failure. He kept plugging along, however, and eventually found a recipe for success that worked
- Albert Einstein: Most of us take Einstein’s name as synonymous with genius, but he didn’t always show such promise. Einstein did not speak until he was four and did not read until he was seven, causing his teachers and parents to think he was mentally handicapped, slow and anti-social. Eventually, he was expelled from school and was refused admittance to the Zurich Polytechnic School. It might have taken him a bit longer, but most people would agree that he caught on pretty well in the end, winning the Nobel Prize and changing the face of modern physics
- Winston Churchill: This Nobel Prize-winning, twice-elected Prime Minster of the United Kingdom wasn’t always as well regarded as he is today. Churchill struggled in school and failed the sixth grade. After school he faced many years of political failures, as he was defeated in every election for public office until he finally became the Prime Minister at the ripe old age of 62
- Steven Spielberg: While today Spielberg’s name is synonymous with big budget, he was rejected from the University of Southern California School of Theater, Film and Television three times. He eventually attended school at another location, only to drop out to become a director before finishing. Thirty-five years after starting his degree, Spielberg returned to school in 2002 to finally complete his work and earn his BA.
In Smashing Magazines article How to Become a Web Design Expert I believe they are right on when they say ‘Obessive Passion’ will get you through your failures and onto your next success and probably your next glorious failure.
“The definition of an expert is someone who knows what not to do.”
Charles Winston
Is Your Website Post-PC Ready?
Test here to see how your site looks on a mobile device. Go here and input your website now. You may need to load Java if your computer does not have it. Click on this link if it is not loaded onto your computer (Windows).
http://www.opera.com/mobile/demo
Written by Jenny Wilmshurst – Tweet Twins Social Media – Social Media Speaker – Social Media Trainer – Social Media Consultant
Mobile Marketing and it is on the brink of an absolute boom globally – 2011. NZ searches using mobile are somewhat slower – with maybe a year to catch up with US activity. In the USA it looks like website owners, Social Media Managers and business owner need to “get in now!” In one NZ sector I researched that about 1% of its potential keyworded traffic was by mobile phone. You can bet that this uptake will rise significantly in 2011 & 2012.
Would you like to be ahead of the curve for this change?
What is Local Social Mobile Marketing? It’s about your (local) business having a conversation with prospects and clients on their mobile phones and smart phones.
Benefits are that you can provide relevant, valuable information directly to people who are interested in your products and services (with their permission)
it was anticipated that by the end of 2010, there would be approximately 5 billion cell phone subscriptions. It’s a staggering number – there are 7 billion people in the world.
- There are only about 2 billion internet users. Imagine the impact of this!?
- World wide email use is around 1.3 billion. Text messaging is around 3 billion.
- Social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc) and mobile work together. Facebook has reported that about a quarter of their users (around 100 million) access their site via mobile devices. This number is rapidly rising.
- Google has publicly stated that all their future activitywill be based on mobile-ready platforms FIRST!
You are already involved with mobile marketing if you have a website or a social media presence. How? When a potential customer using their iPhone, Smartphone or Android finds you on Facebook and then clicks through to your webpage. If your site is not mobile optimized (optimised for the UK/Australia/NZ market) they get a useless result at best. That means one less sale for you every time that happens.
Can you afford that?
Test here to see how your site looks on a mobile device. Go here and input your website now. You may need to load Java if your computer does not have it. Click on this link if it is no loaded onto your computer (Windows).
http://www.opera.com/mobile/demo
Painful? This is fixable!
Written by Jenny Wilmshurst – Tweet Twins Social Media – Social Media Speaker – Social Media Trainer – Social Media Consultant
Promoting Your Music
Your musical profile is all about you, your music and your style.
unqiue, there is no one else like you!
Online Promotion:
Get an online profile for less that $1,000 with a CMS (content management system) that allows you to do your own updates.
In addition to this get found on:
- MySpace Music – MySpace is one of the biggest social networking sites for people who live for music, providing a remarkable opportunity for musicians to gain online exposure.Using a MySpace Music profile, musicians are free to upload their music for their fans to discover and download.Essentially, MySpace Music creates a gateway for music to spread virally throughout its social network, where other MySpace members can explore the music videos, featured playlists and top artists of the MySpace community. Having a presence on MySpace is a great way for musicians to make a name for themselves and can open a number of doors to the heart of the music industry.
- Facebook – Musicians can literally advertise themselves on Facebook by making their own band page and having fans join their page as “Facebook fans.”This popular method of self-promotion helps musicians reach over 200 million active Facebook users by creating a presence that connects and engages fans through downloadable music.A Facebook page is a public profile enabling musicians to upload and share their songs with a growing online community that works in conjunction with Facebook Ads to spread the word even further.This is definitely a powerful tool for online promotion.
- MP3.com – MP3.com is a tremendously popular place for musicians to promote their music online, where the chances of artists getting loads of traffic directed towards their music are always in their favor.Musicians who upload their albums and songs to MP3.com attract tons of new fans looking for a free outlet to their favorite artists and bands.Word spreads rather quickly throughout this online source for digital music, opening a number of doors for any musician seeking recognition.
School Websites
The School Website—First and (Sometimes) Most Important Contact
The school’s website is the first contact many prospective parents will make
with the school. It is the place they will get their primary information, and it is based on
the school’s website that many parents will make a decision either to continue to
explore the school or reject the school as a possibility for their child.
Shortly, any printed promotional material about the school will be far less important than
the website. In fact, the website may replace printed promotional material almost
completely.
Every school has a website. Some are attractive and well-maintained. Others are
unattractive, outdated, poorly maintained and just plain do not work. Few seem to have
given real serious thought to the school’s website as a primary marketing tool.
Rethinking and redesigning the website as a marketing tool does not have to radically
change the existing site. It means, however, that in addition to looking at the site as a
parent who already has a child in the school, one needs to look at the site with the eyes
of one who is a prospective parent shopping for a school.
Is there evidence on the website of the three primary reasons Catholic parents
choose Catholic schools: academic excellence, strong catholic faith and moral
values, and a safe school environment?
- Are the ten frequently asked questions by parents answered on the website?
- Is there evidence on the website of a caring school community?
- Are there pictures of smiling students who look happy and studious?
- Is there accurate, up-to-date information about open houses, kindergarten fairs, and the admissions process?
- Is there mention of financial assistance?
- Is there information in other languages?
Two important steps:
1. Re-creating the school’s website so that it serves as an effective marketing tool
2. Maintaining an accurate, attractive, and up-to-date website
The Lost Art of Simplicity
A Definition of Simplicity:
Letting Go of the Things that are Unneeded
What is simplicity? It could be defined as “the absence of unnecessary elements,” or even shorter “the essence.”
Simplicity doesn’t equal boring.
Simplicity doesn’t equal superficial.
Simplicity is especially important when designing information and media-heavy interfaces.
Simplicity is a perspective on design, an approach which often creates the most beautiful and the most usable results.
A common mistake is to think that obtaining simplicity is a matter of reduction, of reducing something which is more complete than the “simple” end result. On the contrary, simplicity requires serious thought and effort.
What do People Want?
Well I really don’t have an answer but I have discovered three things to be true….most of the time.
1. People want to be entertained:
To entertain means to capture attention. The classic quote, “Tell me and I forget, show me and I remember, involve me and I’m yours” underscores the fact that emotionally engaging communication is the most efficient form of getting a message across.
For instance, two speakers at a conference could deliver the same speech with two very differing results, leaving behind one satisfied and one dissatisfied audience. It’s not until all elements of communication fully interact that efficient and emotionally engaging communication can be achieved.
2. People want to discover things:
If the communication gap is too wide, the message is too obscure for people to understand. If what’s communicated is too narrow, the message is too obvious and therefore uninteresting.
3. People don’t have time to learn overly complex things:
Whether you’re designing a website, developing a new product, or trying to get your point across in a discussion, it’s good to remember that most people do have limited patience.
That’s why simplicity is important.
More on Simplicity Read this Article Simplicity: The Neglected Value
Know Your Customers
When you are creating marketing materials for your business from website design to business cards you must always keep your audience in mind. What is important to you as a business manager or owner may not necessarily be important to your clients. Too many times small, medium and even large businesses design websites and print materials based on what they like and what they think should be on the promo materials. This can leave the viewer with too many unanswered questions, the last thing you want are people visiting your website and not having their questions answered, they’ll simply move on to the next site that does answer their questions.
Following excerpt is from Small Business Canada
You need to develop your target market as specifically as possible if you’re going to market your product or service effectively. So think of your “ideal” client or customer as a person. Visualize him or her in detail. “See” what he or she does, thinks, and wants.
If you can’t visualize this person clearly and distinctly, then you need to research your potential customer or client until you can. Because until you can define your target market, you won’t be able to make the decisions that need to be made about marketing, such as how, where, and when to advertise.
You’re Not Selling to Yourself
Click here to read about defining your target audience.
Websites for Real Estate
Websites for realtors or new development properties need to be high on visual appeal and approachability.
Below is a great example of a clean real estate site, to see more examples of really great sites check out this link to Smashing Magazine.
Communicating with your designer: Just Say It
“The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
George Bernard Shaw
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Most of the time when you hire a graphic designer you are not their only client, therefore, clear and consistant communication is a must. When you delay responding to your designer’s messages or you don’t call to check up on progress this communicates that your project is not that urgent to you. If your designer senses a lack of urgency from you or your company then logically other clients who have more pressing needs are going to get most of their attention. This doesn’t mean that you need to hound your designer constantly but it does mean that you should at least be talking every 3-4 days to check on progress, you are paying for this service so you should want to know how it’s going.
Tips for effective communication:
- Communicate, communicate, communicate; Establish the best mode of communication for you, the client. Is it email, phone, or in person meetings and make this clear to your designer.
- Where are we at? If you feel ‘out of the loop’ as to what’s going on with your project, then contact your designer right away.
- This isn’t right: Discuss problems with design or function right away, the longer you wait the longer it will take to correct and your project will be delayed.
- Is it done yet? Communicate any hard deadlines to your designer, this will help him or her plan and prioritize to make sure your project gets the attention it deserves.
- A picture is worth a thousand dollars: If you’re having a difficult time communicating what your design expectations are then speak with pictures instead of words. Find pictures and other websites that have elements that you’re looking for, this can really help the designer understand what you’re picturing for your company.
- Don’t wait too long: if you feel that you’re not getting anywhere or getting any feedback from your designer give a single warning that you need more information and results and then pull the plug. The longer you wait to do this the more you’ll be ‘stuck’ with that designer since you’ve already invested time and money into them. Also, if you plan to be away make sure you meet with your designer to go over any questions to make sure the project plan will be in motion while you are gone.
Your website is not for you…it’s for your clients
I know I’ve blogged about this before but it keeps coming up. Consistantly clients are coming to me looking to design a website that appeals to their needs. When in reality they should be looking to design a website based on what their customers and potential customers want to see. For instance, recently an accounting firm wanted a new website, they were breaking into an incredibly saturated market so it was important to stand out. Well, what they thought would make them stand out was to create a ‘relaxing’ website with less focus on uptight businessy stuff. Ok…but the problem with that is I and I’m sure most people looking for an accountant don’t want a relaxed approach to their finances! I really want someone who is professional and diligent and all those uptight accountant type things to handle my money so shouldn’t the website relflect that?
It is the case more often than not, that a client comes to us and does not understand how important it is for their designs to target a specific group of people. We are asked to make changes to appeal to the client, with no consideration of how those changes will affect the design’s ability to carry out its mission, which most of the time is: To effectively bring in new business.
Print Is Not Dead
64% of adults say that reading in print is easier than reading on a computer screen.
76% of adult consumers have been directly influenced to purchase through direct mail.
Your brand is your business, your marketing materials are what you use to introduce your business.
What do you want your marketing material to say about you?
Quality, creativity, consistency, passion
Or
Boring, cheap, tired, dated.
Three Things to Ask Before Designing a Website
It takes a good amount of forethought and expertise to create a winning website and professional web designers know there are some important points you should consider before you get started.
With that in mind, here are three questions to ask yourself before you start working on your creative web design.
1.Who is your audience?
This may seem like an obvious question, but surprisingly few website owners take the time to consider the response. However, the way you design your site will vary greatly depending on who your target audience is-so give it some thought before your start working on your design.
If your site is created to appeal to new customers, then think about who those new customers are …what do they want? What do they need? Do they even know they need it?
If your site is designed to help your current customers, then think about what information they already have and more importantly, what new information they will need from your site.
In general, experts say new website visitors are more important than loyal visitors, because you have already convinced the latter of your worth. If that is the case, then consider how you can get your message to new visitors without neglecting your loyal readers.
In many cases, you may realize you have more than one target audience. If that is the case, then think about how you can reach each one and be sure you know which one is more important. If you aren’t sure, think about which one will deliver you the most profit … that’s your most important group.
2.What do you want site visitors to do?
Ok, so you’ve determined who is going to visit your site, now you need to decide what you want them to do. Obviously, if you are selling a product directly from your site, you hope your visitors click through the products page and complete a purchase. If you are selling a service, then you want your readers to fill out an email request, pick up the phone and call you or at a minimum sign up for email updates, grab your RSS feed or register for your newsletter. On a more intangible note, you also want your site visitors to be drawn to you. You want them to feel comfortable with your site, products or services and you want to instill confidence in your brand. A creative web design can subconsciously deliver this message to your audience. You just need to think about what information you need on your site to accomplish these goals and what information your visitors need so they can do whatever it is you want them to do.
3.How are they going to find the information they need?
You know who they are, you know what you want them to do, now you need to consider how they are going to do it. This is important for your creative website design because you will need to think about how your visitors-both new and returning readers-will see your business and how they will navigate to the most important section(s) of your site.
Try to remove yourself and think about what information you would want if you were in their position. What words would you enter into the search box? Which links would make you want to click? What titles or headlines would make you want to keep reading?
How will you incorporate the three most important creative website design elements to help your readers find the information? How will your visitors reach out to you? Will you use a contact form? Will you have a newsletter subscription form? Will you publish your email address or phone number on the site?
Once you have narrowed down your target audience, know what you want them to do and have considered how they are going to do it, you are ready to begin working on your site. If you are unsure of how to get started, a creative web design specialist can help. They understand visitor habits and can incorporate the visual elements of an attractive web site with the functionality of a site your visitors can use.
For full article click here.
What’s right for you?
Why consultations are important.
Most clients contact me thinking that they already have a solution to their marketing dilemma. Most of the time small business owners think that a website will solve their problems of lack of clientele and lack of exposure. Really a website can only take you so far and it really depends on who your customers are, you need to get specific.
For example, if you are breaking into a market that is already well represented then you need to get creative and specifically target potential customers. Answer the question…what makes you unique? Is it your low prices, fast delivery, customised services etc.
Typically most small businesses tend to take the route of ‘pick me because my prices are really low’. This is a very tricky strategy that may not get you the results you envisioned. However, it may be your only option. If this is your strategy then most likely you won’t be in a position to spend the money on a website and the marketing that goes along with it. (If you can’t afford to spend $1800.00 on a simple website and the SEO and advertising then a website is not for you.)
What can you do then?
There is still an option besides a website. Even though a website is the simplest way to market your business there is still another way but it will require some creative thinking and some hard work. Print is still relatively cheap, get a simple brochure or post card together detailing the services your business provides along with a discount offer and go to your customers. That means find them in grocery store parking lots, local business, bus stops etc. You need to go where people are and approach them directly. Putting the brochures on car windows may help as well but you are more likely to attract new customers by doing face-to-face marketing.
People are tired of direct mail campaigns and electronic answering services they want that personal touch even if they might initially avoid you.
Be bold, be brave, believe in the services you’re offering and strike up some conversation with some potential clients!
Documenting Your Research On-line
The top Universities and research companies are finding the internet to be a great showcase for their work. It now makes sense to post academic research on the web. The research coming out of Universities is of the highest caliber and can significantly impact our future and change the way things are normally done. However, suprisingly very few people know about it. It’s rarely in the newspapers, sometimes it makes the news and on-line it’s difficult to find unless you know exactly what to look for.
Universities are learning that to get noticed, attract students and rise up the academia ladder they need to be on the web.
The Brand Called You – An article on professors creating websites that document their research
Human Sercurity Report Project – The Human Security Report Project (HSRP) is an independent research centre affiliated with Simon Fraser University (SFU) in Vancouver, Canada. Formerly located at the University of British Columbia and known as the Human Security Centre, the HSRP joined SFU in May of 2007.
Improve Your Websites Credibility - Stanford Wed Credibility Research
Taking Criticism Positively
Taking criticism is difficult, especially when its not asked for…and most of the time, it’s not asked for.
One of the first things they teach you in Marketing is to go looking for clients, that usually means evaluating their business as best as you can and then make unsolicited suggestions. I have to admit I’ve done this and I’ve either received positive responses or no response at all. However, recently I received a very negative response, obviously I offended someone. This was not my intent, my comments were based on the website not the person. However, I received a taste of my own medicine shortly after. You see I google myself occasionally and decided to do so and found that some SEO ‘expert’ had evaluated my site on her blog. She did it quite tactfully actually but she commented that my site optimization wasn’t up to par. This didn’t feel good at all, my first reaction was does this person even know what they were talking about?
“I didn’t ask for this person’s input and here it was on her blog for all to see.”
Secondly, I didn’t ask for this person’s input and here it was on her blog for all to see. Once I calmed down I evaluated my site to see if she was right…and guess what, she was! I made the corrections she suggested and it only took a few minutes.
So I get it, criticism is hard to take especially when you’re not asking for it, but there is always a chance the person might have a point, even if it’s a small one.
How to handle criticism:
- First off you need self-confidence
- When you are criticized by someone, before you get angry at them, take the time to reflect on what was said. Maybe there is something that you can learn from that criticism.
- Sometimes when we are criticized, it is meant to help us to improve on ourselves or our work. I know sometimes it hurts, to hear someone criticize you, but you can make it benefit you. Take the criticism and turn it around, so that you can benefit from it. Use it as a lesson, to strengthen and improve your weaknesses.
- There are other times that people will criticize you for no reason at all. Some will constantly criticize you, but they seldom or never give positive feedback. Maybe they are just trying to ruin your day or to lower your self-esteem. If you realize that this is the case, ignore them and continue on.
- Whenever you are criticized, make sure that you are aware of what exactly needs to be corrected. For example if your boss, critcizes your work, instead of taking it personal, ask for specific details of what is needed to be corrected.
- Have confidence in yourself and whatever you do. Keep in mind, that you are not perfect, and there is going to be at least one person who will crticize you.
- Don’t allow criticism to slow you down or lower your self-esteem. In our everyday lives we are sure to encounter some sort of criticism. It is how we take criticism that matters. Think of it as something positive, at least you are important enough to some people, for them to take the time to criticize you.
The New Face of Marketing – Give them something to talk about
Mike is the Managing Director of digital marketing agency World Wide Creative and co-founder of The Heavy Chef Project. A video blogger who happens to know a fair amount about web marketing; presenting on SEO, Usability and Analytics at digital conferences and marketing courses worldwide. A passionate Spurs fan, Mike also co-hosts the popular football video blog: Free-Kick.tv.
Follow Mike on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mikeperk
Social Media Optimization
Social media optimization (SMO) is a set of methods for generating publicity through social media, online communities and community websites. Methods of SMO include having a facebook page, adding a ‘like this’ to your site, blogging and incorporating third party community functionalities like Flickr photo slides and galleries or YouTube videos. Social media optimization is a form of search engine marketing.
Social media optimization is in many ways connected as a technique to viral marketing where word of mouth is created not through friends or family but through the use of networking in social bookmarking, video and photo sharing websites. The idea is no longer to tell potential clients what you’re offering and why they should want it but it’s about interaction and engagement.
The number one goal of social media marketing is to increase awareness and interaction with consumers, number two is to create a community with customers and fans and number three is to increase traffic to the website. If social media optimization is successful you will gain insight into customer’s needs and identify new business opportunities.
Finding New Clients
Great Tips below from the Business Development Centre – Sign up for their newsletters here http://www.bdc-canada.com/BDC/newsletter.htm
WAYS OF FINDING NEW CLIENTS IN 2011
Smart business owners know consistently finding clients is crucial
to their success. After all, without a steady stream of new and
repeat customers, there’s nobody to serve, no money to be made, and
no reason to keep the doors open. How do you find clients who are
ready to buy, even though the economy has changed?
Finding clients takes effort and creativity- especially in a tight
market. The good news is, though, that regardless of the economy,
people still need the solutions you offer and expert advice to
eliminate the challenges they face. All you need are a few simple
tips on how to go about finding clients when the market is tight.
STEP ONE TO FINDING CLIENTS
Hang on to the clients you have! No marketing strategy is as cost
effective or as efficient as keeping the clients you have already
established a working relationship with in the past. Meet your
deadlines, go above and beyond what’s expected and do it all with
excellent customer service as your goal. This will help you hang on
to every single client you have.
STEP TWO TO FINDING CLIENTS
Don’t be afraid to go back to former clients and check in with them.
Even if the working relationship ended under not so great
circumstances, it can still be revived in certain situations. If you
dropped the ball with a client that you previously had a good
working relationship with, get in touch, own your mistakes and ask
for another shot. You have nothing to lose — and you never know,
you might be pleasantly surprised.
STEP THREE TO FINDING CLIENTS
Ask for referrals. Go through your current and past client lists
and contact the clients who have been especially happy with your
work. Ask them if they can refer you to friends and colleagues of
theirs. When you receive the referrals, make sure you dedicate your
self to those new clients in the same way as if you were working for
your original connection. This referral base could turn into a
plethora of new clients if you work it with integrity and commitment.
STEP FOUR TO FINDING CLIENTS
Participating in social media is a terrific way to find new clients.
Work up a special or a sale of your services and offer a limited
time (or limited number) of specials via Twitter or Facebook. Watch
the numbers closely, though. It’s easy for this type of deal to take
off like a rocket and give you more work than you can comfortably
handle in no time flat. Know your limits!
STEP FIVE TO FINDING CLIENTS
Check out the job boards. If you’ve never used a job board like
Guru.com or Elance.com, now may be the time to give it a shot. Setup
a membership at one of these two boards or both. Each offers a free
membership, but you are much better off spending the money on a paid
membership. It will show prospects that you take the process
seriously and it will provide you with much greater opportunity.
Work up some professional job proposal templates, but make sure you
customize them for each potential job. Create a profile that
showcases your experience and portfolio and start bidding. If you
commit to bidding on five jobs a day, every day, come rain or shine,
you’ll be finding clients in no time.
Finding clients is an essential part of any business. While finding
clients may seem challenging and there is an ebb and flow to every
business, it is far from impossible. Create a strategic plan, follow
through on a daily basis and don’t be afraid to put yourself out
there. If you take consistent, focused action, before you know it,
you’ll have as many clients as you could possibly want- and may even
need to start outsourcing some of your own work!
Out of ideas for promoting your business?
PROMOTING YOUR BUSINESS ?
Here are the ideas you should consider:
| 1 | “Expert” talks, presentations | 49 | Newspaper – “column” | |||
| 2 | “Guest” Register |
50 | Newspaper – classified | |||
| 3 | “Loaners:” books/videos/equip. | 51 | Newspaper – display | |||
| 4 | “Preferred Customer” event | 52 | Newspaper – insert | |||
| 5 | Bags / Gift boxes | 53 | Personal selling | |||
| 6 | Balloons | 54 | Personalities, appearance | |||
| 7 | Brochures, catalogue | 55 | Personalities, endorsement | |||
| 8 | Bumper / Window stickers | 56 | Placemats | |||
| 9 | Business Cards | 57 | Point of purchase | |||
| 10 | Business networking | 58 | Posters | |||
| 11 | Cash register receipt | 59 | Product label | |||
| 12 | Charity events | 60 | Product packaging | |||
| 13 | Child amusements -toys, coloring pages | 61 | Radio | |||
| 14 | Children’s play area | 62 | Rebates | |||
| 15 | Complaint handling | 63 | Recipes, others uses guides | |||
| 16 | Consumer shows | 64 | Referral cards/prospect | |||
| 17 | Contests | 65 | Sampling | |||
| 18 | Coupon mail packs | 66 | Scratch games | |||
| 19 | Cross merchandise/service | 67 | Seminars | |||
| 20 | Customer testimonials | 68 | Service reminders | |||
| 21 | Demonstrations | 69 | Show booth/graphics etc.. | |||
| 22 | Direct mail letters | 70 | Sidewalk Footsteps | |||
| 23 | Direction signs: store, community | 71 | Signs – “A” frame | |||
| 24 | Discount/Premium Booklets | 72 | Signs – storefront | |||
| 25 | Electronic message signs | 73 | Signs – Vehicle | |||
| 26 | Employee name tags | 74 | Sings – Sporting Events | |||
| 27 | Employee product/service buttons | 75 | Special events | |||
| 28 | Environmental tie – ins | 76 | Specialties, premiums | |||
| 29 | Ethnic services – languages spoken | 77 | Sports event programs | |||
| 30 | Event sponsorship | 78 | Sports team sponsor | |||
| 31 | Fax Ad Flyers | 79 | Statement stuffers | |||
| 32 | Flyers | 80 | Store displays | |||
| 33 | Free information, instructions | 81 | Store P.A. system | |||
| 34 | Free trial offers | 82 | Student yearbooks | |||
| 35 | Grand Opening | 83 | Telemarketing | |||
| 36 | Greeting cards | 84 | Television | |||
| 37 | Home parties | 85 | Thank you cards | |||
| 38 | Industry Directories | 86 | Tours – store, factory | |||
| 39 | Joining Associations | 87 | Trade shows | |||
| 40 | Letterhead | 88 | Transit ads | |||
| 41 | Location, Location | 89 | Two for one offers | |||
| 42 | Logo clothing | 90 | Uniforms | |||
| 43 | Logos | 91 | Video tapes | |||
| 44 | Magazine – trade/consumer | 92 | Warranty cards | |||
| 45 | Maps | 93 | Window Banners | |||
| 46 | Mascot | 94 | Window displays | |||
| 47 | News releases | 95 | Yellow pages | |||
| 48 | Newsletters |
The Importance of Advertising
You have a new web site so now what?
If your site is not popular right away this is an indication that you need to do more advertising. Web sites do not get found by default or automatically, they need to be recognized by search engines and in order for this to happen you’ll good SEO and people need to be actively visiting your site. Web sites are most effective when developed in conjunction with advertising campaigns. Fortunately, Internet advertising is one of the least expensive and most effective types of marketing tools.
Don’t Give Up on Paper-based Advertising
Web sites cannot reach your entire client base, there are still those who prefer the yellow pages, the newspaper and reading materials to find what they’re looking for. Put your site address on business cards, brochures, direct mail, yellow pages and the like and you’ll see more results.
The Top 3 Most Important Components of Web Design
Your website is like the storefront of your online business, it must portray a professional image. Otherwise, it’s going to be hard for others to trust you enough to do business with you. The assumption is that if you can’t even setup a simple website, you are unlikely to be able to provide high quality services. Whether that is true or not is not important. It’s the perception that matters.
Element 1: Color and tone of the website 
This is perhaps the most important element among the three elements. When a visitor first visits your website, the first impression starts to form. Again, the accuracy of the impression isn’t important. If you send all the wrong signals, the visitor will think of you as an unreliable service provider. What you can do is to make sure that you use the right colors to create the right tone. There is no fixed tone for a website. The right tone depends on your target visitors. If they are a mature group, don’t use colors that are too fanciful or gaudy. Instead, try using more mature colors like brown, blue or grey. Don’t assume anything. For example, you may feel that grey is boring. But the website is not there for your own satisfaction. It’s there for your visitors. So if your visitors feel comfortable with grey, then make sure you use the color!
Element 2: Graphics
Use of graphics Graphics can turn the most boring site into a professional site, or a professional site into an amateurish site. Be extra careful when choosing graphics. If you have the time, make sure you sit down together with your web designer to choose the right graphics.
Element 3: Quality of content
Finally, after all that you have done, always make sure that you post high quality content on your website. Others should see your site as an authority site. They are more likely to buy from someone who knows what they are talking about. In other words, if they see you as an expert, it’s going to be easier to sell something to them. Every product is a solution to some problem. As an expert, you are in a better position to recommend products. But first, you must establish yourself as an expert in your field. How do you do that? You start by posting valuable content. In this case, quality is more important than quantity. If you can’t delivery quality content, forget about quantity. More doesn’t really help. Put the three elements together and you have got a professional website.
Is Your Website Working For You?
The best way to tell if your website is working for you is to review your site analytics. Most websites come with an analytic program, but if your website does not there are various free analytic programs available. The most common free analytic program is called Google Analytics.
By looking at your website analytics you can see: how many visitors are coming to your website, where your visitors are coming in from, what keywords people are finding your website under, what your bounce rate is and much more. If your website has a high bounce rate that means that a majority of visitors are coming into your website and leaving quickly. This is not good! You want visitors to look around your website and if they are not your website is not working for you.
One of the most important parts of a website is its content. Regardless if you have an informational website or an online store information is pertinent. Properly designed search engine optimized websites contain mass amounts of information. Having an online store is great, but you need relevant information on the website to help with ranking your website high. Search engines like to see websites with a code to content ratio in favor of content.
What if you website is not working for you, but it is search engine optimized and has a mass amount of information? In this case online marketing may be the right solution for you. Many new websites require this extra push to get more visitors which help increase the natural search engine ranking.
If your website has many issues and is not working for you it may be necessary to start from scratch and get a whole new website. Although the initial cost of a website can be pricey, in the long run if built to suit your business needs it will pay off.
Getting the Most out of Your Website
6 Ways to Get the Results You Want from Your Website
- Search Engine Optimization
- Campaign Management
- Online PR
- Website Optimization
- Conversion
- PPC Management
Search Engine Optimization:
The search engines are in competition with each other for market-share of the expanding search audience and to win that competition they are continuously striving to deliver the best product to their customers: the search engine user. Therefore, the sites that provide the most relevant content are the ones that the search engines are going to rank the highest. Consequently, those are the sites they’ll provide to their search customers. If you go to Google and search for your primary product offering, does your company show up in the results? And, just as important, do your competitors? If a potential customer did a similar search – a surefire indication of a highly qualified lead – would he or she find you? We’ll create website that our in compliance with the most popular search engines making sure that you don’t get lost in the crowd.
Campaign Management:
After your site has been optimized in order to be recognized by all the majot search engines this now needs to be maintained in order to keep up with ever changing standards and the influx of new competitors. Regular campaign expansions give you more keyphrases and optimized pages, keep your site’s content up to date and bring you new and better search engine results. Whether there are changes in your industry or in your product offerings, new relevant keyphrases and pages should be added to your campaign, keeping your site fresh, accurate, and visible. At emphasis we continually monitor your top competitors’ websites as another part of ongoing search engine optimization management. Reporting is another part of Campaign Management, you need to know how your site is performing. We, therefore, provide reports on a monthly and quarterly basis to keep you apprised of our efforts with easy-to-read charts and commentary.
Online and Offline PR:
As part of our Advertising Package we create an online public relations program that includes optimized online press releases and expert article distribution to promote your company on news engines and industry portals, as well as your own website. The process can be relatively simple. For example, you write a press release about your organization and PR web pushes your news to a huge distribution network of major news sites and search engines, and in front of consumers and journalists. It’s possible to achieve major publicity, a great search engine ranking, and, most importantly, thousands of new customers.
Offline PR is really print PR, this means that we strategize about what offers you can put out to potential clients. Furthermore, if your the new business on the block what can you do to attact clients in your area? Draws, contests, special offers, reoccuring themes, etc.
Website Optimization:
This is about making your website fully accessible, easy to navigate and quick to load. This ranges from making sure your image sizes aren’t too large, cleaning up any unclean code and making sure all your links work. Anything that’s broken, takes too long to load, or is irrelevant to the customers your trying to target will discourage visitors from staying on your site and effectively you lose out on business.
Conversion:
What happens when you have visitors coming to your site but they’re not staying, they’re not searching around, and they’re not doing anything you want them to. Once you’ve attracted a visitor how do you get them to stay around awhile?
Your website has the potential to get hundreds – maybe even thousands – of visitors every day. Some of them typed your URL into their web browsers; others searched on Google for a product or service your company offers. These people are actively seeking you out, making them the most qualified leads you could have – yet if your website is like most companies’ sites, 98 percent of those visitors leave without ever taking the next step.
What’s the next step? Maybe it’s making a purchase, filling out a contact form, signing up for a newsletter, or downloading a white paper. Whatever it is you want your website visitors to do, we’ll come up with customized solutions to make it happen.
PPC Management:
Using pay-per-click ads on the major search engines gives you the ability to increase your rankings and traffic. We’ll analyze your particular market to see which search engines will provide your company with the best benefits and then generate landing pages, keyphrase groupings, and ad copy. With the right copy, your customers will be tempted to click and learn more about your company and its product or service offerings.
We can help you manage your PPC campaign and eliminate the headaches associated with mismanagement or poor keyphrase choice. We’ll continually refine your pay-per-click marketing campaign even after you achieve the desired results, providing you with bi-monthly reports to keep you apprised of the campaign status.
How Do You Want To Be Remembered?
Whether you put the time and energy into building a good brand or not, you’re going to be remembered. Are you going to be remembered as being fresh, innovative, results driven or tired, boring and out-dated?
If you are a new business owner, one of your first objectives must be to brand yourself. Business coaches and consultants alike will all tell you how important it is to establish your identity. You want to be noticed. You want to be remembered. You want to stand out from the rest. You want your business to grow. Just what will creating a brand accomplish for you and your business? Consider these points:
A brand makes you memorable
Obviously, for clients or customers to come to you, they have to first remember you. By creating a brand that sticks in their minds, you increase the odds that yours will be the name that pops into their head when they’re looking for the types of services you provide. Whether it’s your logo design, add campaign or radio jingle, creating a solid brand will help drive business in your direction.
A brand creates credibility
Whether it’s factual or simply perceived, branding lends credibility to your business. When people see or hear about you over and over in a positive context they naturally believe that you must be good, reliable, trustworthy, etc. After all, they see your logo everywhere. They hear your ads repeated on the radio, or they simply hear your name connected with something they need or want. Therefore, you must be the go to person for that service.
A good brand saves you time
In business, time is money. Establishing a good brand for your company right from the start can save you hours of introduction time that can be better used as selling time. Imagine if every time you met with a potential customer you first had to explain who you are, what you do, and how you do it, before you even begin your sales pitch! Now imagine meeting with that same customer who has already been exposed to your brand and knows that information already! The time you save there is time you can put into giving a good sales presentation and getting the business.
A good brand helps you attract the right kinds of clients
A well thought out and relevant brand will make it easy for clients to connect you with the product or service they are looking for. To use a very simple example, if you were to brand your company as an insurance company for seniors, you won’t likely be the company Mom calls when her teens start to drive, but you will be the one that all those folks over 50 will call to get some reward for their years of good driving.
A brand provides a solid base from which your business can expand
A good business does not remain stagnant but grows and changes over time. Once you’ve established a memorable brand, it’s much easier to incorporate change under that same umbrella than it would be to try to create a whole new business. By expanding within your brand you never lose the valuable customer base that you have spent so much time developing.
Source: www.onecoach.com