The answer is absolutely yes! But there are some qualifications to that. Just saying "inbound marketing" around the office is not going to get any results, it's a process and it requires that you adopt a new attitude, develop a sound plan for implementation and deploy the needed resources to execute on your plan. By the way, this is not a plan with an end, remember that inbound marketing is a process to generate defined results, but it's a process of ongoing improvement and so has no end. As you journey down this road your company will achieve continually improving results, great ROI, that will drive your bottom line through being found, converting leads and measuring the results. If you're not going on this journey be aware that your competition is and taking your prospective customers with them. Do you want to let this happen?
Here is a brief outline of a process you might want to consider to get started. Of course each point has many details, but at least it will give you some ideas as to how to move forward.
1- Evaluate your current internet situation (web presence)- This means looking at all of your current activities both on and off your website. Is it accomplishing what you hoped it would? Why or why not?
2- Clearly define what you want business results you want to achieve- This could be increased traffic, more leads, better evaluation of results, or any combination.
3- Establish with detail who your target audience is- By doing so it will help you tailor your messaging.
4- Investigate where and what your audience is doing now- Are there related forums and blogs where they are active? What kind of keyword searches are being done? What info are they finding through those searches? What social media activities are relevant? etc. etc.
5- Develop a plan- It can be difficult to complete this step if you're not fully aware of what options exist for you. Maybe the first step is to access the help of a consultant to save you time, ensure that you're not overlooking possibilities and this will help you get a clear idea of what kind of resources either internal or external you'll need.
This was meant to be a short post today and...well you be the judge. As a final offering, if you are considering this approach I encourage you to read "Why inbound marketing should be a priority for your company this week." Of course you can defer doing anything, (We humans are great procrastinators aren't we?) but be aware that the internet ocean is rising, all you have to do is be certain your companies information is in the current and you will achieve outstanding results. If there is anything I can do to help, contact me as Jason Mraz sings..."I'm yours".
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Friday, August 28, 2009
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Inbound Marketing and Business Blogging, What's the Connection?
To answer this question it's important to understand what a blog is so that it makes sense in the context of inbound marketing. There may be a number of you who think that a blog is just a way that people provide information updates about their lives or interests similar to an extended Facebook entry and in many cases that is in fact what a blog is. For our purposes the discussion centres (yes, I'm Canadian so I spell centre with an 're' ending) around the business blog, a blog where the information updates are focused on our business activities, what's new, interesting or relevant to our target audience. A blog is a tool that allows you to quickly and easily publish new content online and where readers can interact with questions or comments about what you've offered. How does it relate to inbound marketing then? Remember that the first part of inbound marketing is about the creation of content that is well optimized using SEO best practices and promotion through social media vehicles? Therefore blogging allows your business to quickly create new content for all interested visitors to read, comment on and share with others. When done properly, you'll see your readership grow and by completing the inbound cycle of conversion and measurement, you'll achieve the business outcomes you've established.
For the purpose of my post here today I'm going to stay focused on the first element of inbound marketing, content creation, otherwise...well it would just be too long! OK, so we've established that blogging is an easy and effective way to create new content for our visitors so what do we do? Step 1 is to decide on your blog software and there are many to chose from, the important thing is to host it on your own website. (Yes, I'm well aware that I'm not following this advice, that will be changing very soon with the launch of our website!) Why is this important? The inbound marketing advantages of hosting your own blog are too numerous to talk about here but in a nutshell if you don't host the blog, you don't get the benefit. If you cut and trim your neighbours lawn, their property looks great...not yours! Step 2 is to understand who it is that your trying to reach with your information offering. As an example, here I offer information intended for the small and medium sized business who is looking for information on how they can use the internet to improve business results. All of the postings are intended to provide more useful (I hope!) ways that you can understand and use the web to help you achieve your business goals. Now we've touched on the why (generate business results), how (blog software), who (your target audience), what (relevant and helpful info), where (blog hosted on your own website) next let's discuss when...as often as possible! You've got a lot of information to share with your visitors so...get to it. Blogging is perhaps the simplest way for you to reach and attract new prospects from the web over time. Notice "over time" not overnight. It's rare that you'll create great business results right out of the gate, remember this is a process not and event so stay the course.
Blogging may seem a little daunting to your company, how are you going to find the time? Who's going to do it? Will we have enough information to share? These are all valid concerns, but consider this, the use of the internet is continuing to grow. Business and consumers alike are looking for information everyday, Google alone receives over a billion queries daily and if you're in business you must very seriously consider what the cost of not being in front of this stream, no scrap that... ocean of information seekers will cost you... a lot! Want some help? Feel free to contact us here.
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
For the purpose of my post here today I'm going to stay focused on the first element of inbound marketing, content creation, otherwise...well it would just be too long! OK, so we've established that blogging is an easy and effective way to create new content for our visitors so what do we do? Step 1 is to decide on your blog software and there are many to chose from, the important thing is to host it on your own website. (Yes, I'm well aware that I'm not following this advice, that will be changing very soon with the launch of our website!) Why is this important? The inbound marketing advantages of hosting your own blog are too numerous to talk about here but in a nutshell if you don't host the blog, you don't get the benefit. If you cut and trim your neighbours lawn, their property looks great...not yours! Step 2 is to understand who it is that your trying to reach with your information offering. As an example, here I offer information intended for the small and medium sized business who is looking for information on how they can use the internet to improve business results. All of the postings are intended to provide more useful (I hope!) ways that you can understand and use the web to help you achieve your business goals. Now we've touched on the why (generate business results), how (blog software), who (your target audience), what (relevant and helpful info), where (blog hosted on your own website) next let's discuss when...as often as possible! You've got a lot of information to share with your visitors so...get to it. Blogging is perhaps the simplest way for you to reach and attract new prospects from the web over time. Notice "over time" not overnight. It's rare that you'll create great business results right out of the gate, remember this is a process not and event so stay the course.
Blogging may seem a little daunting to your company, how are you going to find the time? Who's going to do it? Will we have enough information to share? These are all valid concerns, but consider this, the use of the internet is continuing to grow. Business and consumers alike are looking for information everyday, Google alone receives over a billion queries daily and if you're in business you must very seriously consider what the cost of not being in front of this stream, no scrap that... ocean of information seekers will cost you... a lot! Want some help? Feel free to contact us here.
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Why Does Inbound Marketing Make Sense?
OK, a small step back to understand just what inbound marketing actually is since there are a lot of people that don't yet know about it and how powerful a process it can be as use of the internet continues to grow...what an understatement that is!
Inbound marketing is the process of creating relevant internet content that is well optimized and promoted for your target audience to increase traffic, along with the implementation of effective conversion tactics that will generate inquiries/leads and through the use of marketing and competition analysis tools allow your company to review and refine your web development initiatives to achieve the maximum ROI for your marketing dollar. Simply put:
Traffic
-Content
-SEO
-Promotion
+ Leads
-Conversion
-Landing Pages
-Tracking
+ Results
-Analysis tools
-Competition Evaluation
-Lead Nurture
= ROI
In some recent posts these subjects have been talked about individually (improving traffic, generating leads, evaluating results) and you can be certain that there will be more in future.
So...why does this kind of process make sense today? After all, look at the results that were achieved by companies like Coke, Nike and Johnson & Johnson. What has changed that would require a different marketing process than these great companies used?
These companies (and of course there are many others) were built up for the most part before the public access to the internet was developed and as a result they had to use conventional outbound advertising and marketing practices to build their businesses. Television, radio and print media were all used extensively to make certain that these companies were in our collective minds on a continual basis and huge $$$ were spent to make that happen! Have you heard the recent news about these traditional media companies? They are in contraction, why? Because we are blocking this outbound activity! Are you on the "Do not call" list? Do you have Sirius radio or some other ad free radio service? Do you have a DVR so that you can fast forward through the commercials? ...and the list goes on. Here's the final nail, we as consumers now have the ability to self research what we want with...the internet. I don't know about you, but I don't go to trade shows anymore to find out about stuff, I go online. I don't go to a store when I want to do research on my new TV, home theatre, dishwasher, renovation project, insurance, vacation etc. I go online and I'm not alone...billions, BILLIONS of queries are going through Google and other search engines every single month.
The continuing expansion of the internet as a means of information sharing has fundamentally changed the relationship between business and their customers and that is why inbound marketing makes sense today. Put your company in position to deliver information (content/traffic), respond effectively to inquiries (conversion/leads) and measure and evaluate what is going on (analysis/results) and you will achieve the business outcomes you're looking for. Don't want to engage in this process? It may cost your business more than you can imagine.
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Can I help you? Contact me.
Inbound marketing is the process of creating relevant internet content that is well optimized and promoted for your target audience to increase traffic, along with the implementation of effective conversion tactics that will generate inquiries/leads and through the use of marketing and competition analysis tools allow your company to review and refine your web development initiatives to achieve the maximum ROI for your marketing dollar. Simply put:
Traffic
-Content
-SEO
-Promotion
+ Leads
-Conversion
-Landing Pages
-Tracking
+ Results
-Analysis tools
-Competition Evaluation
-Lead Nurture
= ROI
In some recent posts these subjects have been talked about individually (improving traffic, generating leads, evaluating results) and you can be certain that there will be more in future.
So...why does this kind of process make sense today? After all, look at the results that were achieved by companies like Coke, Nike and Johnson & Johnson. What has changed that would require a different marketing process than these great companies used?
These companies (and of course there are many others) were built up for the most part before the public access to the internet was developed and as a result they had to use conventional outbound advertising and marketing practices to build their businesses. Television, radio and print media were all used extensively to make certain that these companies were in our collective minds on a continual basis and huge $$$ were spent to make that happen! Have you heard the recent news about these traditional media companies? They are in contraction, why? Because we are blocking this outbound activity! Are you on the "Do not call" list? Do you have Sirius radio or some other ad free radio service? Do you have a DVR so that you can fast forward through the commercials? ...and the list goes on. Here's the final nail, we as consumers now have the ability to self research what we want with...the internet. I don't know about you, but I don't go to trade shows anymore to find out about stuff, I go online. I don't go to a store when I want to do research on my new TV, home theatre, dishwasher, renovation project, insurance, vacation etc. I go online and I'm not alone...billions, BILLIONS of queries are going through Google and other search engines every single month.
The continuing expansion of the internet as a means of information sharing has fundamentally changed the relationship between business and their customers and that is why inbound marketing makes sense today. Put your company in position to deliver information (content/traffic), respond effectively to inquiries (conversion/leads) and measure and evaluate what is going on (analysis/results) and you will achieve the business outcomes you're looking for. Don't want to engage in this process? It may cost your business more than you can imagine.
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Can I help you? Contact me.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Do You Know who Your Customer is?
Wow, it's been a while since I put up a post, long overdue but I've been really busy which is a good thing!
I wrote about how so often companies fail to make any effort regarding the concept of getting found (SEO) on the internet when they create a website in one of my very first posts in this blog. This kind of misses the whole point of the exercise doesn't it? It's unfortunate that companies would take the time to create a site but not really understand that they have to be found in order for the site to be of real value to their business. I won't comment about the companies that make these websites other than to say shame on them for taking a clients money and not really delivering the goods. Today I want to address another key element of your websites design...who are you trying to reach?
The simple and self evident answer is "My customers!" of course. But I would ask you to take a moment and reflect on just who exactly that customer is, because as the process of content development on your website continues this should be an important consideration. It could be that there are a variety of prospective clients you're trying to communicate with and each one will require individual attention. For example, a hotel has the "business traveller", "family vacation audience", "event planner" and "wedding couple" among others as prospective clients and each has their specific needs as to relevant information...it is not about the beds, pillows and bathrooms, rather it's about what those individuals are looking for and each is different. but here is the most important point I offer...it is not about you and your business, it's about your customer and the solution you can provide for them! In the example of the hotel does the business person care that you have the "best pillows in town"? Maybe, but more likely they are looking for easy access to the facilities they have to go to, great communications infrastructure and that they'll get a good sleep when they finally make it to bed. Focus on solving they're problems, not on what you're selling.
How does this separate you from your competition? If you've taken time to see what your competition is doing (highly recommended!) you'll see that most of them tend to the "Blah, blah, blah" about their business website approach. It's not their fault, they don't know any better. Now you do. Here's an exercise to illustrate my point. the next time you're looking for information about a product or service online, think about which websites you stay on in your investigations, is it the sites that say "We have great widgets!" or is it the websites that speak to your problem and offer insight about how you can solve it? This is the way that websurfers get engaged with companies and ultimately end up being customers...there is enough blah, blah, blah in our lives, separate yourself! It will generate $$$ for your business.
Want some help? Contact me.
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
I wrote about how so often companies fail to make any effort regarding the concept of getting found (SEO) on the internet when they create a website in one of my very first posts in this blog. This kind of misses the whole point of the exercise doesn't it? It's unfortunate that companies would take the time to create a site but not really understand that they have to be found in order for the site to be of real value to their business. I won't comment about the companies that make these websites other than to say shame on them for taking a clients money and not really delivering the goods. Today I want to address another key element of your websites design...who are you trying to reach?
The simple and self evident answer is "My customers!" of course. But I would ask you to take a moment and reflect on just who exactly that customer is, because as the process of content development on your website continues this should be an important consideration. It could be that there are a variety of prospective clients you're trying to communicate with and each one will require individual attention. For example, a hotel has the "business traveller", "family vacation audience", "event planner" and "wedding couple" among others as prospective clients and each has their specific needs as to relevant information...it is not about the beds, pillows and bathrooms, rather it's about what those individuals are looking for and each is different. but here is the most important point I offer...it is not about you and your business, it's about your customer and the solution you can provide for them! In the example of the hotel does the business person care that you have the "best pillows in town"? Maybe, but more likely they are looking for easy access to the facilities they have to go to, great communications infrastructure and that they'll get a good sleep when they finally make it to bed. Focus on solving they're problems, not on what you're selling.
How does this separate you from your competition? If you've taken time to see what your competition is doing (highly recommended!) you'll see that most of them tend to the "Blah, blah, blah" about their business website approach. It's not their fault, they don't know any better. Now you do. Here's an exercise to illustrate my point. the next time you're looking for information about a product or service online, think about which websites you stay on in your investigations, is it the sites that say "We have great widgets!" or is it the websites that speak to your problem and offer insight about how you can solve it? This is the way that websurfers get engaged with companies and ultimately end up being customers...there is enough blah, blah, blah in our lives, separate yourself! It will generate $$$ for your business.
Want some help? Contact me.
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Monday, August 3, 2009
What Web Content Should You Create?
The short answer is anything and everything that you can because...Content is KING! No I'm not kidding. Whether it's a blog entry, an update on your "Latest News" page, a video (hmmmm, here's an interesting one), a white paper, a new landing page, well I think you get my point, there is no doubt that creating content should be your top priority for your website. Why? Because it's your content that will determine whether or not your site is relevant to your prospective clients and being relevant and engaging is what will convert site visitors to prospects to clients. That is the kind of result you want from your website right? Anything else is a waste of your valuable time and resources.
OK, so is there some sort of magic formula? Is there some preferred content you can create to generate the best results? Not really, but there are some key fundamentals that are going to ensure that the content you develop achieves the desired outcomes. To illustrate this let's look at two examples one good, and the other...well not so good. First the good. In Marketing Voices , a weekly podcast, Jennifer Jones speaks with a variety of people involved with the marketing world about what they are doing, what trends they see, what's working (or not) and you're invited in to access these insights. Why is this good content? It's relevant to her audience, interesting, well optimized and provides the visitor with the information they are seeking and opportunities for that audience to engage further. This kind of content development achieves all of the desired outcomes.
For the "other" case, consider this blog...yah, you heard me right, my blog! You have to understand, I started this as an experiment, and it's working. More and more people are coming to read my blog entries, but we are still just speaking of "10's" of people monthly which I'm not unhappy with I intend very shortly to launch a website for my new company, but in the meantime I use this blog as my platform to try and share some insight for the small and medium sized business people. OK, so what is the problem with this blog? Sorry, what are the problems with this blog? Well, the one good thing is I pretty regularly add content, so readers are getting new information from their reading, and I focus on giving readers information I know will be helpful to them if they truly want to improve the results they are achieving from their online initiatives. Where this breaks down is that the content isn't optimized and there could be much more offered, for example a video, pictures, more links etc. But as I said this has always been an experiment and this blog is a way to get my feet wet in this environment. I can't wait for my new website to launch where I'll be spending considerable time to deliver a great example of content development!
OK, time to wrap up. What is my point today? Once again, content is KING, so if someone is offering you a quick fix to generate traffic to your website there's a better (much better) than 50% chance you're money or resources are being wasted. Make certain that as you consider your online development that whoever you engage to help you understands that there is a process involved and that after you've evaluated your current situation thoroughly, content is where the process begins, anything else...is costing you money, not creating an ROI!
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
OK, so is there some sort of magic formula? Is there some preferred content you can create to generate the best results? Not really, but there are some key fundamentals that are going to ensure that the content you develop achieves the desired outcomes. To illustrate this let's look at two examples one good, and the other...well not so good. First the good. In Marketing Voices , a weekly podcast, Jennifer Jones speaks with a variety of people involved with the marketing world about what they are doing, what trends they see, what's working (or not) and you're invited in to access these insights. Why is this good content? It's relevant to her audience, interesting, well optimized and provides the visitor with the information they are seeking and opportunities for that audience to engage further. This kind of content development achieves all of the desired outcomes.
For the "other" case, consider this blog...yah, you heard me right, my blog! You have to understand, I started this as an experiment, and it's working. More and more people are coming to read my blog entries, but we are still just speaking of "10's" of people monthly which I'm not unhappy with I intend very shortly to launch a website for my new company, but in the meantime I use this blog as my platform to try and share some insight for the small and medium sized business people. OK, so what is the problem with this blog? Sorry, what are the problems with this blog? Well, the one good thing is I pretty regularly add content, so readers are getting new information from their reading, and I focus on giving readers information I know will be helpful to them if they truly want to improve the results they are achieving from their online initiatives. Where this breaks down is that the content isn't optimized and there could be much more offered, for example a video, pictures, more links etc. But as I said this has always been an experiment and this blog is a way to get my feet wet in this environment. I can't wait for my new website to launch where I'll be spending considerable time to deliver a great example of content development!
OK, time to wrap up. What is my point today? Once again, content is KING, so if someone is offering you a quick fix to generate traffic to your website there's a better (much better) than 50% chance you're money or resources are being wasted. Make certain that as you consider your online development that whoever you engage to help you understands that there is a process involved and that after you've evaluated your current situation thoroughly, content is where the process begins, anything else...is costing you money, not creating an ROI!
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Monday, July 27, 2009
Website Marketing and Conversion, Step 3
Metrics, measurement and meaning!!! If you're website is going to be successful over time then you must use some sort of metrics program to provide you with accurate measurement and interpret that information so that it has meaning for you in a way that allows you to take action and improve the results. Many small and medium sized businesses overlook this critical element of their online development and waste resources doing what they think is the right thing to do, not really knowing whether it is or not. This is costly both in time and capital resources and the solution is readily available. If you aren't, your competition is, and they're winning your prospective business.
You know how difficult it is to measure how successful your marketing activities are, is it the ad in the paper, the direct mail piece, the radio, television or print ad, the flyer campaign or trade show that is generating your results? In the years that I've spent in the world of small business development, I've counseled every company that I've had the pleasure to work with to do their best to track the results they are getting but it's very difficult. You have to make certain that your staff are trained to find out how inquiring prospects heard about your business, make certain you have a process in place to record this information, then analyze the information and finally decide if it's right or not. (In my experience it's as right as it is wrong!) This leads to the often heard expression "I know that 50% of my marketing spend is what is getting the results I want, now if only I knew which 50%."...so true!
Imagine campaigns where you knew how many prospective clients were responding to each individual offer you had. Where the prospect had come from, some of the reasoning behind how they had found your offer. what if you knew the company they were from and what their email address was? Do you think you could use this information to improve your company's sales figures? What if you could know some of this information about your competition? Welcome to the online world! The right metrics solution can give you this and more. No more wondering what is or is not working, just solid information that you can build on going forward to further improve your results.
You may have heard of Google Analytics, hopefully you have, and hopefully you're using at least this basic information to assist you in evaluating what results your website is generating but let me be clear, there is much more information available if you know how to find it. For example Site Meter (www.sitemeter.com) offers a free software that will give you pretty good information and the paid service they offer (starting at $6.95/month based on up to 25,000 page views/month) gives pretty good information for you to work with and there are many other solutions out there that will provide you with similar or better information. I repeat, this information is critical for your ongoing success online! As a website owner please recognize that once you have a website that's just the beginning. Like any other form of corporate promotion you must evaluate and modify to improve the results on a continual basis so budget for it. How much more is available? Lot's!!!
In the last three postings I've given a very brief outline of a three step process that will absolutely improve the results you're getting online from your website: 1- create content and promote it; 2- give your website visitors ample opportunities to convert in some manner or another while they are visiting your website; 3-measure the results for meaning. There is a lot of work to do but whatever time and resources you commit will provide you with the best ROI of any marketing investment you make. What if there was a platform that gave you this and so much more? I encourage you to check out www.hubspot.com because they have the best most cost effective solution for small and medium size businesses that I've found. If you are going to spend anytime investigating what possibilities there are for your business online, I urge you to check out Hubspot, and I guarantee that at the very least you'll learn something valuable for your business. Let them know how you found them!
Want some help? Contact me. I want to help you be as successful as you want to be with your online presence development. I'm your outsourced VP of Online Marketing and I will deliver more and better results from your website than you have ever had before and love doing it.
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
You know how difficult it is to measure how successful your marketing activities are, is it the ad in the paper, the direct mail piece, the radio, television or print ad, the flyer campaign or trade show that is generating your results? In the years that I've spent in the world of small business development, I've counseled every company that I've had the pleasure to work with to do their best to track the results they are getting but it's very difficult. You have to make certain that your staff are trained to find out how inquiring prospects heard about your business, make certain you have a process in place to record this information, then analyze the information and finally decide if it's right or not. (In my experience it's as right as it is wrong!) This leads to the often heard expression "I know that 50% of my marketing spend is what is getting the results I want, now if only I knew which 50%."...so true!
Imagine campaigns where you knew how many prospective clients were responding to each individual offer you had. Where the prospect had come from, some of the reasoning behind how they had found your offer. what if you knew the company they were from and what their email address was? Do you think you could use this information to improve your company's sales figures? What if you could know some of this information about your competition? Welcome to the online world! The right metrics solution can give you this and more. No more wondering what is or is not working, just solid information that you can build on going forward to further improve your results.
You may have heard of Google Analytics, hopefully you have, and hopefully you're using at least this basic information to assist you in evaluating what results your website is generating but let me be clear, there is much more information available if you know how to find it. For example Site Meter (www.sitemeter.com) offers a free software that will give you pretty good information and the paid service they offer (starting at $6.95/month based on up to 25,000 page views/month) gives pretty good information for you to work with and there are many other solutions out there that will provide you with similar or better information. I repeat, this information is critical for your ongoing success online! As a website owner please recognize that once you have a website that's just the beginning. Like any other form of corporate promotion you must evaluate and modify to improve the results on a continual basis so budget for it. How much more is available? Lot's!!!
In the last three postings I've given a very brief outline of a three step process that will absolutely improve the results you're getting online from your website: 1- create content and promote it; 2- give your website visitors ample opportunities to convert in some manner or another while they are visiting your website; 3-measure the results for meaning. There is a lot of work to do but whatever time and resources you commit will provide you with the best ROI of any marketing investment you make. What if there was a platform that gave you this and so much more? I encourage you to check out www.hubspot.com because they have the best most cost effective solution for small and medium size businesses that I've found. If you are going to spend anytime investigating what possibilities there are for your business online, I urge you to check out Hubspot, and I guarantee that at the very least you'll learn something valuable for your business. Let them know how you found them!
Want some help? Contact me. I want to help you be as successful as you want to be with your online presence development. I'm your outsourced VP of Online Marketing and I will deliver more and better results from your website than you have ever had before and love doing it.
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Website Marketing and Conversion, Step 2
Website marketing requires time and intelligent planning to create the business outcomes you want for your business. In this series, I've been outlining the simple basics of how to begin creating a website that will:
1- Receive targeted traffic;
2- Convert that traffic to new client relationships;
3- Allow you to monitor results, change/develop content to constantly improve results.
Today we'll focus on #2, converting your websites traffic to new clients.
What is meant by the term conversion? Web conversions take many forms ranging from accessing information such as a whitepaper, filling out a form for contact, to completing an online purchase. Regardless of what the conversion is, as small and medium sized businesses your number one priority should be creating conversions and if appropriate having a series of conversions that lead to the creation of a new client...really, what else matters? Website designers will have you believe that your website needs to look a certain way and that this colour or that layout is better...the best return on your investment is when visitors to your website ultimatley become clients right? Stay focused on conversion!!!
How is this done? There are many details that I won't go into, (branding, language, etc.) that's not the intention here, what I want to give you is some ideas on how to make this work for your business. What's important is to remember that a conversion doesn't necessarily mean that you create a new client right away, remember relationships take time, all you want to do is begin a relationship and provide opportunities to develop that relationship over time. Generally this can be accomplished when your website provides the site visitor with different ways to engage with information that will help them answer questions, questions that you should understand for your business based on real world experience. Here is a simple example.
Company XYZ has a website that promotes their residential HVAC solutions. One very common question will be "How much will my new furnace or air conditioner cost?". It may not be the first question, but it will certianly come up at some point as the site visitor continues their purchase decision making process and it opens a great opportunity for XYZ to begin a relationship. How? Simply offer a "FREE NO OBLIGATION QUOTATION". This could be a link in the appropriate position in the text that takes them to a form, or it could be a "button" link at the side of the text that takes them to a form, or it could be a specific call to action in the text that says something like, "Call us today to get yoru free no obligation estimate." Regardless of which one (or all) of the conversion options used here, any serious prospect is going to want this information and there are three ways outlined in this example that will allow the site visitor to begin or deepen their relationship with Company XYZ that can lead to that prospect becoming a client. Converted! As noted earlier, there are many other considerations, but the basics outlined can dramatically improve the ROI from your website.
Are there other conversion possibilities? Many! Depending on your business and how relationships are created in the 'real world' you could use information in the form of whitepapers, landing pages that speak to a prospect in a certain manner on a specific question or concern typical prospects have, create "FREE TRIALS" or "SPECIAL OFFER" buttons, and these are just a few ideas. What's of greatest importance is to make certain that you are in fact providing visitors to your website with a variety of relevant ways to begin a relationship with you. If you're uncertain about the details, contact somebody who can help you, again I repeat, as a small or medium sized business, your number one objective should be to create new business from your website, anything and everything else...justs costs you money!
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
1- Receive targeted traffic;
2- Convert that traffic to new client relationships;
3- Allow you to monitor results, change/develop content to constantly improve results.
Today we'll focus on #2, converting your websites traffic to new clients.
What is meant by the term conversion? Web conversions take many forms ranging from accessing information such as a whitepaper, filling out a form for contact, to completing an online purchase. Regardless of what the conversion is, as small and medium sized businesses your number one priority should be creating conversions and if appropriate having a series of conversions that lead to the creation of a new client...really, what else matters? Website designers will have you believe that your website needs to look a certain way and that this colour or that layout is better...the best return on your investment is when visitors to your website ultimatley become clients right? Stay focused on conversion!!!
How is this done? There are many details that I won't go into, (branding, language, etc.) that's not the intention here, what I want to give you is some ideas on how to make this work for your business. What's important is to remember that a conversion doesn't necessarily mean that you create a new client right away, remember relationships take time, all you want to do is begin a relationship and provide opportunities to develop that relationship over time. Generally this can be accomplished when your website provides the site visitor with different ways to engage with information that will help them answer questions, questions that you should understand for your business based on real world experience. Here is a simple example.
Company XYZ has a website that promotes their residential HVAC solutions. One very common question will be "How much will my new furnace or air conditioner cost?". It may not be the first question, but it will certianly come up at some point as the site visitor continues their purchase decision making process and it opens a great opportunity for XYZ to begin a relationship. How? Simply offer a "FREE NO OBLIGATION QUOTATION". This could be a link in the appropriate position in the text that takes them to a form, or it could be a "button" link at the side of the text that takes them to a form, or it could be a specific call to action in the text that says something like, "Call us today to get yoru free no obligation estimate." Regardless of which one (or all) of the conversion options used here, any serious prospect is going to want this information and there are three ways outlined in this example that will allow the site visitor to begin or deepen their relationship with Company XYZ that can lead to that prospect becoming a client. Converted! As noted earlier, there are many other considerations, but the basics outlined can dramatically improve the ROI from your website.
Are there other conversion possibilities? Many! Depending on your business and how relationships are created in the 'real world' you could use information in the form of whitepapers, landing pages that speak to a prospect in a certain manner on a specific question or concern typical prospects have, create "FREE TRIALS" or "SPECIAL OFFER" buttons, and these are just a few ideas. What's of greatest importance is to make certain that you are in fact providing visitors to your website with a variety of relevant ways to begin a relationship with you. If you're uncertain about the details, contact somebody who can help you, again I repeat, as a small or medium sized business, your number one objective should be to create new business from your website, anything and everything else...justs costs you money!
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Website Marketing and Conversion, Step 1
Do you really want to boost the business results from your website? Then you have to begin taking the steps like SEO (search engine optimization), web content creation, competitor analysis, email management and many others but today let's focus on step 1, generating traffic. Traffic to your website is critical to making it a success and here are 5 simple tips to get you off to a good start. Once you have traffic, you can create conversion which leads to revenue and the more you invest in getting this formula right the more it will pay off for you in the growth of your business. Ok, let's get into the traffic building...
1- Create real content that your website visitors are looking for. Of course you need to know what they're looking for, but let's assume you do, well provide them with what they want to know. There is nothing as simple as telling them the truth about your offering and how it addresses their problem. The more material both written, images, video etc. that you can provide that talks about your solution for their problem the more that they are going to like your website and engage with the information.
2- Make certain that your content is SEO friendly. This takes time but pays off big in the long run. Using something as simple as the Google Adwords Keyword tool will give you some good ideas on how to make your copy and the html tags for your images and other content SEO friendly. When you use this information to create relevant content that uses the kind of language that site visitors use to find you, up go the traffic numbers.
3- Blog! This is one of the quickest and easiest ways to create content that your target audience is looking for. Don't make the mistake of using an application that hosts your blog, but instead, host it on your own website in a sub-domain like "yourcompanyname.blog.com". By doing this and creating content with SEO in mind you'll become a favourite of the search engines and the internet super highway will have a main road through your website for the targeted traffic you are looking for.
4- Engage with social media. Create a company facebook page, twitter, linkedin and others and participate in the discussion. Don't be overwhelmed by this, it can be as simple as you want, but again, as you create more doors and windows to your business, more traffic will follow.
5- Here we go again...MAKE A PLAN! Detail what and when you are going to do the things that are outlined here. Failing to plan is a plan to fail, it can't be said any more clearly.
There you go. These tips are certain to help boost the traffic that's coming to your website. Next we'll talk about converting the visitor and beginning to have a relationship with them with the goal of making them a new client. If you're looking for an all in one solution please check out www.hubspot.com they have an outstanding software program that will help you achieve all you want online and more using inbound marketing in ways you may not know even exist. If you want help, get in touch with me, I'd be glad to assist in any way that I can.
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
1- Create real content that your website visitors are looking for. Of course you need to know what they're looking for, but let's assume you do, well provide them with what they want to know. There is nothing as simple as telling them the truth about your offering and how it addresses their problem. The more material both written, images, video etc. that you can provide that talks about your solution for their problem the more that they are going to like your website and engage with the information.
2- Make certain that your content is SEO friendly. This takes time but pays off big in the long run. Using something as simple as the Google Adwords Keyword tool will give you some good ideas on how to make your copy and the html tags for your images and other content SEO friendly. When you use this information to create relevant content that uses the kind of language that site visitors use to find you, up go the traffic numbers.
3- Blog! This is one of the quickest and easiest ways to create content that your target audience is looking for. Don't make the mistake of using an application that hosts your blog, but instead, host it on your own website in a sub-domain like "yourcompanyname.blog.com". By doing this and creating content with SEO in mind you'll become a favourite of the search engines and the internet super highway will have a main road through your website for the targeted traffic you are looking for.
4- Engage with social media. Create a company facebook page, twitter, linkedin and others and participate in the discussion. Don't be overwhelmed by this, it can be as simple as you want, but again, as you create more doors and windows to your business, more traffic will follow.
5- Here we go again...MAKE A PLAN! Detail what and when you are going to do the things that are outlined here. Failing to plan is a plan to fail, it can't be said any more clearly.
There you go. These tips are certain to help boost the traffic that's coming to your website. Next we'll talk about converting the visitor and beginning to have a relationship with them with the goal of making them a new client. If you're looking for an all in one solution please check out www.hubspot.com they have an outstanding software program that will help you achieve all you want online and more using inbound marketing in ways you may not know even exist. If you want help, get in touch with me, I'd be glad to assist in any way that I can.
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Website Marketing and Conversion, 3 Steps
The terms web marketing, SEO, social media etc. are now heard, well in my case daily, but even for unrelated businesses, they're out there and used regularly, but are you taking advantage of what they can do for your business?
Recently I was sitting with a new prospect who owns a small business and brochure style website that wasn't really doing anything for the business other than providing a space that he could direct people to. It has a few pictures of work done, descriptions of services offered and basic contact information...pretty uninspiring overall. I asked him what he would like the website to do for the business and the answer was (as I expected) generate leads that he could turn into business, what every business wants in an ideal world. I know this is hard to believe for some of you, but if this is truly what you want, you can easily achieve your goal, but you must invest either time, capital and sometimes both to achieve what you want...more business!
The process is simple really and involves only three steps however, these three steps can vary in complexity and depend on what resources you can and will allocate to getting the job done. Over the next few entries I will expand on each step but here in very simplest terms are the steps:
1- Generate traffic- Provide optimized content, consider blogging and social media;
2- Provide for conversions- To create leads develop conversion forms, landing pages and make sure you're tracking the outcomes;
3- Monitor results- Use tools that provide competitor analysis, lead scoring and marketing analytics so that you can effectively see what's working and what's not.
As mentioned, it is really three simple steps but there is much to consider for each of these steps. Too often companies start out in only one direction and then when they don't get the desired results they throw their hands up and say "It doesn't work!". It does work, but you need a comprehensive plan that allows you to make it work and as mentioned you'll have to commit time and or resources to get it done. The result, more business, more cost effectively resulting in better profits for you.
Consider this; my prospective client spent about $10,400 in trade shows last year and figures that he got about $20,000 in business for his efforts...not good! Spend that same money to create a better website properly planned, constructed and implemented and you'll get the results you are looking for, more business with greater profitability...Make it so #1!
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Recently I was sitting with a new prospect who owns a small business and brochure style website that wasn't really doing anything for the business other than providing a space that he could direct people to. It has a few pictures of work done, descriptions of services offered and basic contact information...pretty uninspiring overall. I asked him what he would like the website to do for the business and the answer was (as I expected) generate leads that he could turn into business, what every business wants in an ideal world. I know this is hard to believe for some of you, but if this is truly what you want, you can easily achieve your goal, but you must invest either time, capital and sometimes both to achieve what you want...more business!
The process is simple really and involves only three steps however, these three steps can vary in complexity and depend on what resources you can and will allocate to getting the job done. Over the next few entries I will expand on each step but here in very simplest terms are the steps:
1- Generate traffic- Provide optimized content, consider blogging and social media;
2- Provide for conversions- To create leads develop conversion forms, landing pages and make sure you're tracking the outcomes;
3- Monitor results- Use tools that provide competitor analysis, lead scoring and marketing analytics so that you can effectively see what's working and what's not.
As mentioned, it is really three simple steps but there is much to consider for each of these steps. Too often companies start out in only one direction and then when they don't get the desired results they throw their hands up and say "It doesn't work!". It does work, but you need a comprehensive plan that allows you to make it work and as mentioned you'll have to commit time and or resources to get it done. The result, more business, more cost effectively resulting in better profits for you.
Consider this; my prospective client spent about $10,400 in trade shows last year and figures that he got about $20,000 in business for his efforts...not good! Spend that same money to create a better website properly planned, constructed and implemented and you'll get the results you are looking for, more business with greater profitability...Make it so #1!
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Monday, June 8, 2009
Free Website Development Tools
Small business is in a tough position, you want to make the business grow and you know that there is opportunity with the internet, you just don't have the resources (here I'm talking of capital resources) to take advantage of what's out there to help you. Maybe you've even heard that there are many tools offered that target your problem in a cost effective way, either free or very low cost, but finding them can be time consuming. Here I offer for you 20 great tools that you can use which fit into the category of free or very low cost. They will help you, you just have to use them. If you don't...know that your competition is, so invest the time or hire someone who will invest the time on your behalf, the cost of inaction to your business is too high!
CRM - contact and lead tracking, sales and contact management, sales pipeline management and forecasting, customer service and business management. Keep yourself organized! Free version available from www.freecrm.com, from $7/mo at www.sugarcrm.com
Market Research - Google Alerts is a "must-have” clipping service. Set up your favorite key words and www.google.com/alerts finds and delivers articles about any subject of your choosing to your inbox every day. Watch for news and mentions of your own company, your customers and your competitors. Free
Creative Design – Want a design for a new logo, brochure, website or business card? Go to either www.crowdspring.com or www.99designs.com, upload your requirements, run a contest and pick your favourite. You pick the purse size, I’ve seen contests get dozens of great results for only a few hundred dollars.
Marketing Collateral – Want fast easy printing? Upload files for brochures, business cards and stationary. These companies, www.overnightprints.com and www.vistaprint.com, will print and ship – too easy. vistaprint.com is also available in Canada at www.vistaprint.ca
Permission-based Marketing – create and send opt-in newsletters, deliver and track blog posts and updates to customers, prospects and colleagues. www.campaigner.com starts at $10/mo, www.constantcontact.com starts at $15/mo
Accounting – track your time and expenses, manage contractors, send and manage your invoices, totally on-line, getting rave reviews. Join the wave at www.freshbooks.com, pricing starts at $15/mo
Conference Calling – when you need to convene a meeting (and look professional doing it), you can get free reservationless conference calling at www.freeconference.com
Remote PC Access – for those times when you need to get to a file on your computer but your computer is in your office and you’re not. www.gotomypc.com starts at $20/mo
Long Distance Calling - www.skype.com offers free or very low cost long distance calling (works best with headphones), and it can also do conference calls
Project Management – web-based project management software that marries time tracking and task management in a collaborative online space with powerful reporting. www.myintervals.com is $20 for up to 15 projects
Taking orders/selling stuff – the dead easy way to accept credit cards on your website, www.paypal.com only charges you when you sell, a transaction fee up to 3% of sale value
Keeping track of it all - make notes on anything on the web or on your computer using www.evernote.com and have these memory joggers available (and search able) at any time - free
Sending really big files – www.yousendit.com – for when you need to send a really big file that your customer may not be able to receive otherwise, or when you absolutely need to know a file reached it’s intended recipient – yousendit has a pay as you go option or plans from $10/mo
Virtual Fax – if you deal with Fortune 1000 companies you know how they love their faxes. www.efax.com lets you receive faxes in your email account instead of on a fax machine – way more convenient. You can also send scanned docs as faxes using the same service. Starts at $17/mo
On-line Meetings – www.dimdim.com makes your meeting almost as good as in-person and much less expensive than airfare. Use it to deliver synchronized live presentations, whiteboards and web pages and share their voice and video over the Internet. Free and $20/mo options
Virtual Receptionist - an Internet voicemail system accessible by phone, email, or the web. an auto-attendant that acts as your virtual receptionist. You can create virtual mailboxes for your employees and enjoy voicemail call forwarding, call transfers, call routing, voicemail notifications, and much more.... www.my1voice.com from $10/mo
Transcription – For those people who just hate to type but love to talk, you can record your messaging, upload it to www.speakwrite.com and receive a typed doc back via email in about 3 hours.
Sharing your thoughts – absolutely the best way to publish your powerpoint presentations on the web and share them with others - www.slideshare.com is free
Document sharing and collaboration – my personal favorite, docs.google.com allows you to upload word or excel files and work on them collaboratively with selected people. Takes all the hassle out of emailing docs around for comments. - free
Running an event? Use www.eventbrite.com to create a webpage for your event, accept and manage registrations and even publish who has RSVP’d. Free if your event is free, 2.5% of ticket price for paid events.
Many thanks to the group of great people at www.onedegree.ca for compiling this information!
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
CRM - contact and lead tracking, sales and contact management, sales pipeline management and forecasting, customer service and business management. Keep yourself organized! Free version available from www.freecrm.com, from $7/mo at www.sugarcrm.com
Market Research - Google Alerts is a "must-have” clipping service. Set up your favorite key words and www.google.com/alerts finds and delivers articles about any subject of your choosing to your inbox every day. Watch for news and mentions of your own company, your customers and your competitors. Free
Creative Design – Want a design for a new logo, brochure, website or business card? Go to either www.crowdspring.com or www.99designs.com, upload your requirements, run a contest and pick your favourite. You pick the purse size, I’ve seen contests get dozens of great results for only a few hundred dollars.
Marketing Collateral – Want fast easy printing? Upload files for brochures, business cards and stationary. These companies, www.overnightprints.com and www.vistaprint.com, will print and ship – too easy. vistaprint.com is also available in Canada at www.vistaprint.ca
Permission-based Marketing – create and send opt-in newsletters, deliver and track blog posts and updates to customers, prospects and colleagues. www.campaigner.com starts at $10/mo, www.constantcontact.com starts at $15/mo
Accounting – track your time and expenses, manage contractors, send and manage your invoices, totally on-line, getting rave reviews. Join the wave at www.freshbooks.com, pricing starts at $15/mo
Conference Calling – when you need to convene a meeting (and look professional doing it), you can get free reservationless conference calling at www.freeconference.com
Remote PC Access – for those times when you need to get to a file on your computer but your computer is in your office and you’re not. www.gotomypc.com starts at $20/mo
Long Distance Calling - www.skype.com offers free or very low cost long distance calling (works best with headphones), and it can also do conference calls
Project Management – web-based project management software that marries time tracking and task management in a collaborative online space with powerful reporting. www.myintervals.com is $20 for up to 15 projects
Taking orders/selling stuff – the dead easy way to accept credit cards on your website, www.paypal.com only charges you when you sell, a transaction fee up to 3% of sale value
Keeping track of it all - make notes on anything on the web or on your computer using www.evernote.com and have these memory joggers available (and search able) at any time - free
Sending really big files – www.yousendit.com – for when you need to send a really big file that your customer may not be able to receive otherwise, or when you absolutely need to know a file reached it’s intended recipient – yousendit has a pay as you go option or plans from $10/mo
Virtual Fax – if you deal with Fortune 1000 companies you know how they love their faxes. www.efax.com lets you receive faxes in your email account instead of on a fax machine – way more convenient. You can also send scanned docs as faxes using the same service. Starts at $17/mo
On-line Meetings – www.dimdim.com makes your meeting almost as good as in-person and much less expensive than airfare. Use it to deliver synchronized live presentations, whiteboards and web pages and share their voice and video over the Internet. Free and $20/mo options
Virtual Receptionist - an Internet voicemail system accessible by phone, email, or the web. an auto-attendant that acts as your virtual receptionist. You can create virtual mailboxes for your employees and enjoy voicemail call forwarding, call transfers, call routing, voicemail notifications, and much more.... www.my1voice.com from $10/mo
Transcription – For those people who just hate to type but love to talk, you can record your messaging, upload it to www.speakwrite.com and receive a typed doc back via email in about 3 hours.
Sharing your thoughts – absolutely the best way to publish your powerpoint presentations on the web and share them with others - www.slideshare.com is free
Document sharing and collaboration – my personal favorite, docs.google.com allows you to upload word or excel files and work on them collaboratively with selected people. Takes all the hassle out of emailing docs around for comments. - free
Running an event? Use www.eventbrite.com to create a webpage for your event, accept and manage registrations and even publish who has RSVP’d. Free if your event is free, 2.5% of ticket price for paid events.
Many thanks to the group of great people at www.onedegree.ca for compiling this information!
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Friday, June 5, 2009
Friday Blogging...
Well here it is Friday morning. I got up this morning a little earlier than normal, it must have something to do with the phase of the moon!
If you've just entered into the world of blogging (like me) and are watching what is happening with respect to your traffic through web analytics then you might notice something interesting...generally, Friday posts don't get the same traction as those entries posted earlier in the week. I wonder why that would be. I guess it's true as a song said "Everybody's working for the weekend." So, what does this mean? Well, if you want to reach out with a message, get it together earlier in the week!
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
If you've just entered into the world of blogging (like me) and are watching what is happening with respect to your traffic through web analytics then you might notice something interesting...generally, Friday posts don't get the same traction as those entries posted earlier in the week. I wonder why that would be. I guess it's true as a song said "Everybody's working for the weekend." So, what does this mean? Well, if you want to reach out with a message, get it together earlier in the week!
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Keeping Social Media Fun
As I speak with more and more businesses on the subject of social media engagement and what they can expect from their effort, I'm also recognizing that these initiatives can get tiresome and become just one more thing that has to get done on a list of many. Questions start coming up about whether this is really worth the effort. Do you want to achieve a richer web presence? Elevate your search rankings? Drive traffic to your website? Ultimately these are questions you'll have to answer for yourself but before making any rash decisions consider this; if you aren't engaged who is? You're competition? If so, why are they and not you? In the end analysis it all comes down to ROI. A well planned and thought out social media campaign will drive traffic to you and assuming you have a website that has been carefully designed to achieve the conversion you want, more traffic = more conversions = more customers. If not yours your competitions...what does that cost you?
This article I found today and it gives great direction about how to keep your social media initiative vibrant and on track: http://econsultancy.com/blog/3936-keeping-social-media-sustainable It's a very worthwhile read and only takes about 2 minutes to get through, well worth the investment if you're considering some sort of social media engagement or need to re-ignite the effort.
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
This article I found today and it gives great direction about how to keep your social media initiative vibrant and on track: http://econsultancy.com/blog/3936-keeping-social-media-sustainable It's a very worthwhile read and only takes about 2 minutes to get through, well worth the investment if you're considering some sort of social media engagement or need to re-ignite the effort.
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Blended Search, the Holistic Approach
It won't be the first time that you've read here about looking at your plans for the development of your web presence using an approach that is as comprehensive as you can imagine. When it comes to developing your website, relevant content, social media positions and any other developments that will assist with your over search engine optimization and communications with your target audience, think big! It will pay off with improved ROI for you. It turns out that those of us who are thinking this way are not alone (not that I thought I was!) and in a recent article at One Degree.ca, I think the sources Kate Trgovac reaches out to for input pretty clearly articulate that this is the right way to go. I can't say it any better so here's the link, it's worth the read. http://www.onedegree.ca/2009/05/universal-and-blended-search-inside-the-marketers-studio.html#comments
Continue thinking about one thing or another it's important, but please, I implore you, think in the greater context of a well thought out plan, it is the surest way to achieving the outcomes that will improve your bottom line. If not yours...the competitions.
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Continue thinking about one thing or another it's important, but please, I implore you, think in the greater context of a well thought out plan, it is the surest way to achieving the outcomes that will improve your bottom line. If not yours...the competitions.
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Friday, May 22, 2009
Social Media or Email Marketing...What Comes First?
Lately I've been involved with many discussions related to social media, (blogging, Facebook, Twitter etc.) and in a post on http://econsultancy.com/blog today Andrew Gordon brings forward the idea that email marketing has been lost in all the hubbub surrounding the social networking craze and...I agree! What do you think? Now the question, as a business, what is your best approach to using the internet to achieve the business improvements you're looking for?
Here's are some thoughts. Social media and email marketing result in different outcomes, socializing online brings about awareness, branding, client engagement, discussion and interest among other things, and email marketing brings about prospect conversion. Are the two at odds with each other, or exclusive of one and other? The short answer is no, now let's look at a slightly longer answer. Engaging with a social media campaign that is well thought out and executed, will improve your visibility or branding and should result in improved traffic to your website. Now let's look at your website. Here a visitor should become engaged with your offering and begin the process that leads from prospect to client and if that is working then more traffic to your website will generate more clients. Now we add email marketing into the mix. With email you're in a position to extend your relationship with your site visitor, for some businesses this is a one step process, for others it may require a number of "touches" before a visitor is moved to being a client and email is a very effective means to facilitate this process. Social media drives traffic and email marketing converts that traffic into new clients. Simple? Hmmmmm...
Yes it is, but no it isn't either and more...what comes first? You guessed it, a plan! Once again, back to planning. Both social networking and email marketing are effective and generate a positive ROI, (social media drives traffic, leads to lifted conversions, results in revenue boost) but truly, you must think of this in the context of your overall business development. Again, this is not an event but a process with a number of milestones or benchmarks along the way and numerous considerations as to input to achieve each step. Where does that leave you? Each and everyday the internet is growing and presenting greater opportunity than ever before in history to achieve the outcomes you want for your business. Failing to plan is a sure plan to fail...the cost of failing is for you to decide...
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Here's are some thoughts. Social media and email marketing result in different outcomes, socializing online brings about awareness, branding, client engagement, discussion and interest among other things, and email marketing brings about prospect conversion. Are the two at odds with each other, or exclusive of one and other? The short answer is no, now let's look at a slightly longer answer. Engaging with a social media campaign that is well thought out and executed, will improve your visibility or branding and should result in improved traffic to your website. Now let's look at your website. Here a visitor should become engaged with your offering and begin the process that leads from prospect to client and if that is working then more traffic to your website will generate more clients. Now we add email marketing into the mix. With email you're in a position to extend your relationship with your site visitor, for some businesses this is a one step process, for others it may require a number of "touches" before a visitor is moved to being a client and email is a very effective means to facilitate this process. Social media drives traffic and email marketing converts that traffic into new clients. Simple? Hmmmmm...
Yes it is, but no it isn't either and more...what comes first? You guessed it, a plan! Once again, back to planning. Both social networking and email marketing are effective and generate a positive ROI, (social media drives traffic, leads to lifted conversions, results in revenue boost) but truly, you must think of this in the context of your overall business development. Again, this is not an event but a process with a number of milestones or benchmarks along the way and numerous considerations as to input to achieve each step. Where does that leave you? Each and everyday the internet is growing and presenting greater opportunity than ever before in history to achieve the outcomes you want for your business. Failing to plan is a sure plan to fail...the cost of failing is for you to decide...
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Friday, May 15, 2009
What's the Right Thing to do to Boost Your Presence?
This is a great question and one that is worth taking a closer look at so that you can decide what's best for you. It comes up frequently when discussing matters of web presence development with clients or prospects and while the 5 simple suggestions offered here will give you a starting point, realize that each has many complex associated factors. It is generally agreed that there is no single solution, no 'silver bullet' but rather a combination of actions that will help you achieve the desired lift you seek, so...think it through!
Five Suggestions:
1- If you haven't already you need to evaluate your current position. In the online world there are many tools that can help you in this regard, and many are available at no cost, but there is a time commitment and you'll need at least a little understanding. This link will get you all the tools that you'll need if you're interested in a DIY approach: www.seocompany.ca/tool/seo-tools.html Think about what is working presently, what isn't, and what you'd like to achieve...if you can think it, it can probably be done!
2- Understand your audience. This is often overlooked because assumptions are made that may or may not be valid. Canvass your existing clients and prospects...who are they and what were they looking for that initially caught their attention?
3- Know your strengths and work with them. Seems obvious enough and yet often companies fail to recognize what these truly are with online media. Trying to improve on areas that aren't generating results will at best lead to below average returns whereas developing your areas of strength will boost further the positive results. www.sitemeter.com offers a free tool that will at the very least give you ideas as to what's going on with your website.
4- Make certain you are working with an overall development strategy...once again plan! Failing to plan is a plan for failure...
5- Once you've established your overall strategy recognize it's not an event but a process that will require time and resources. These are often in short supply, but are essential elements to the creation of as many 'doors' as possible to your audience which is what establishing and expanding your online presence will accomplish and, when properly executed, will provide you with the best ROI of any of your business development initiatives.
As mentioned, these are only five suggestions and each has many associated factors. If you have the resources internally go for it! If not, you'll need to outsource. As a final observation I offer this, there is no doubt that the internet offers business the most extraordinary opportunity for expansion. Your prospective customers are looking for you there...can they find you? If not, how much is that costing your business?
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Five Suggestions:
1- If you haven't already you need to evaluate your current position. In the online world there are many tools that can help you in this regard, and many are available at no cost, but there is a time commitment and you'll need at least a little understanding. This link will get you all the tools that you'll need if you're interested in a DIY approach: www.seocompany.ca/tool/seo-tools.html Think about what is working presently, what isn't, and what you'd like to achieve...if you can think it, it can probably be done!
2- Understand your audience. This is often overlooked because assumptions are made that may or may not be valid. Canvass your existing clients and prospects...who are they and what were they looking for that initially caught their attention?
3- Know your strengths and work with them. Seems obvious enough and yet often companies fail to recognize what these truly are with online media. Trying to improve on areas that aren't generating results will at best lead to below average returns whereas developing your areas of strength will boost further the positive results. www.sitemeter.com offers a free tool that will at the very least give you ideas as to what's going on with your website.
4- Make certain you are working with an overall development strategy...once again plan! Failing to plan is a plan for failure...
5- Once you've established your overall strategy recognize it's not an event but a process that will require time and resources. These are often in short supply, but are essential elements to the creation of as many 'doors' as possible to your audience which is what establishing and expanding your online presence will accomplish and, when properly executed, will provide you with the best ROI of any of your business development initiatives.
As mentioned, these are only five suggestions and each has many associated factors. If you have the resources internally go for it! If not, you'll need to outsource. As a final observation I offer this, there is no doubt that the internet offers business the most extraordinary opportunity for expansion. Your prospective customers are looking for you there...can they find you? If not, how much is that costing your business?
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
What's Stopping You?
Well, here it is, 2009, almost a tenth the way through the 21st century and you still don't have a website, or if you do it's very basic and probably doesn't do what you want it to right? What is stopping you from moving forward on a new website? Do you wonder if this might be costing you lost revenues?
Some observations:
1- You are entirely focused on your core business activity so you have no time;
2- You probably think a website is a very expensive investment, it used to be;
3- You've heard the horror stories of being an abandoned internet orphan.
OK, let's address these one at a time.
1- Good you should be! That's what makes money for your business. Stay focused but do a little outsourcing. The opportunities that are available to business by way of the internet are growing daily...you are missing out on revenue, maybe to your competition.
2- Yep, it used to be that a basic sort of website might run $15,000 even more. All that has changed. You can now have a well constructed and compliant website with a great deal of functionality and good optimization for $2,000 even less if you want to go with a very basic template style website. (I don't recommend this but that's your decision) Once you have your website in place you'll be surprised by what it might do for your business. What would it mean to your business to get another client, two...three?
3- It was often the case that 'a basement designer' would make you a website and then get hired somewhere and you'd be left on your own when you needed to make changes and updates and...they wouldn't get done. This to has changed. First of all there are many reputable firms that can provide you with the service you need at affordable rates. Second, if you do go with a 'basement designer' today any reputable firm will be able to take your website and work with it, change it, develop it in any way you see appropriate to getting the outcomes you're looking for.
That's all I want to say. If you're part of the large group of companies that are poorly positioned online, I encourage you to do whatever it takes to remedy your situation. I guarantee you that if you move forward on this it will be the best money you ever spent in the promotion of your business. Something for you to think about...I recently spoke with a small business who had just finished a trade show where they figure they spent about $10,000 for 4 days of exposure. For that kind of money you could create a knock your socks off website that would generate business 24/7/365. Move forward, your competition is...call me, email me if I can help.
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Some observations:
1- You are entirely focused on your core business activity so you have no time;
2- You probably think a website is a very expensive investment, it used to be;
3- You've heard the horror stories of being an abandoned internet orphan.
OK, let's address these one at a time.
1- Good you should be! That's what makes money for your business. Stay focused but do a little outsourcing. The opportunities that are available to business by way of the internet are growing daily...you are missing out on revenue, maybe to your competition.
2- Yep, it used to be that a basic sort of website might run $15,000 even more. All that has changed. You can now have a well constructed and compliant website with a great deal of functionality and good optimization for $2,000 even less if you want to go with a very basic template style website. (I don't recommend this but that's your decision) Once you have your website in place you'll be surprised by what it might do for your business. What would it mean to your business to get another client, two...three?
3- It was often the case that 'a basement designer' would make you a website and then get hired somewhere and you'd be left on your own when you needed to make changes and updates and...they wouldn't get done. This to has changed. First of all there are many reputable firms that can provide you with the service you need at affordable rates. Second, if you do go with a 'basement designer' today any reputable firm will be able to take your website and work with it, change it, develop it in any way you see appropriate to getting the outcomes you're looking for.
That's all I want to say. If you're part of the large group of companies that are poorly positioned online, I encourage you to do whatever it takes to remedy your situation. I guarantee you that if you move forward on this it will be the best money you ever spent in the promotion of your business. Something for you to think about...I recently spoke with a small business who had just finished a trade show where they figure they spent about $10,000 for 4 days of exposure. For that kind of money you could create a knock your socks off website that would generate business 24/7/365. Move forward, your competition is...call me, email me if I can help.
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
B2B or B2C Blogging for...What?
There is some disagreement out there about whether or not corporate business blogging is really beneficial or not. On one side, those who adamantly feel this is an important component of your company image, an the other side that feel it has no value particularly because the ROI is not clear and so it is a waste of time and resources. One thing is certain, if you don't have a blog, the ROI is...zero! I personally believe that a blog does have value but there are certain conditions required to achieve returns...uh oh , here we go with PLAN again!
Before beginning to blog brainstorm some questions for example, who is your audience? What information do they want? What problem(s) are they looking to solve?...and so on. A good next step is to determine what blogging is to accomplish in the scope of your overall corporate strategy, is this an info, dialogue, branding or other type blog? If you're comfortable that you're on firm ground up to this point get to blogging...with certain conditions.
Speak truthfully in a clear voice that will be heard by your audience, there's enough 'stuff' out there. If you offer information or insight that is not the truth expect to be called out on the carpet, we don't have time for it. A key to successful blog development is that you become recognized as a trusted source, so stay true. Reflect on real experience or comment similarly but you must have a motivation that stays on the high ground or you will not develop any loyalty from your readers.
It's true that there are many blogs that are not generating the desired outcomes and there is little or no ROI, but a well planned blog, that forms part of a consistent corporate strategy and is patiently nurtured and adheres to the highest level of integrity will have tremendous ROI. Want to invest the time? Ultimately this is your decision but here's a final thought. If your blog initiative resulted in one more satisfied customer, what would that be worth to the company? What about two? Three? If you don't blog, it could be that you would never generate that business, its lost to a competitor...
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Before beginning to blog brainstorm some questions for example, who is your audience? What information do they want? What problem(s) are they looking to solve?...and so on. A good next step is to determine what blogging is to accomplish in the scope of your overall corporate strategy, is this an info, dialogue, branding or other type blog? If you're comfortable that you're on firm ground up to this point get to blogging...with certain conditions.
Speak truthfully in a clear voice that will be heard by your audience, there's enough 'stuff' out there. If you offer information or insight that is not the truth expect to be called out on the carpet, we don't have time for it. A key to successful blog development is that you become recognized as a trusted source, so stay true. Reflect on real experience or comment similarly but you must have a motivation that stays on the high ground or you will not develop any loyalty from your readers.
It's true that there are many blogs that are not generating the desired outcomes and there is little or no ROI, but a well planned blog, that forms part of a consistent corporate strategy and is patiently nurtured and adheres to the highest level of integrity will have tremendous ROI. Want to invest the time? Ultimately this is your decision but here's a final thought. If your blog initiative resulted in one more satisfied customer, what would that be worth to the company? What about two? Three? If you don't blog, it could be that you would never generate that business, its lost to a competitor...
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Monday, May 11, 2009
Thinking Social Media...Read This!
Social media continues to dominate a lot of discussions for companies as they consider what they're plans are...hopefully they are in fact considering instead of just acting as this may have undesirable results! I invite you to read the following as I couldn't have said it better myself and in fact extend the concept outlined to not just social media engagement, but website development generally. Here is one way to think of it, what would you like your web presence to do for your company? If you can imagine it, it can probably be done...plan! Failing to plan is a very good plan to fail. Read on...
http://econsultancy.com/blog/3797-social-media-is-about-the-steak-not-the-sizzle#blog_comment_8529
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
http://econsultancy.com/blog/3797-social-media-is-about-the-steak-not-the-sizzle#blog_comment_8529
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Friday, May 8, 2009
Be Cool Internet...Stay Nice! 5 Reasons
Have you ever had an experience that left you really frustrated with a company if not outright mad? Whether it's a flaw with something that you bought, (zippers on hockey bags come to mind...Easton Canada, not so nice!!!) or a real let down in what you thought you were getting as a a service and what was delivered, it is more important than ever that you respond well to your customers concerns. Deliver good service, be honest, stand behind your product. Why? Today, more than ever before, an unhappy client can make their frustration known to a wide audience...really wide audience!
How you ask? Here are just five:
www.ripoffreport.com
www.settlement.org
www.evalu8.org
www.fraudalert.com
http://en.wordpress.com/tag/consumer-rip-off/
When I say just five, what I mean is there are probably 155...thousand similar websites or blogs! I don't think anyone can afford that kind of 'free press' do you? Is this fair? I think so, what do you think? Be cool...stay nice.
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
How you ask? Here are just five:
www.ripoffreport.com
www.settlement.org
www.evalu8.org
www.fraudalert.com
http://en.wordpress.com/tag/consumer-rip-off/
When I say just five, what I mean is there are probably 155...thousand similar websites or blogs! I don't think anyone can afford that kind of 'free press' do you? Is this fair? I think so, what do you think? Be cool...stay nice.
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
Thursday, April 23, 2009
What is a Website For?
So...what is a website for? Really! Give me some answers I want to know what you're thinking.
As I observe what is happening with online communications and the conventional marketing options, here is a comment that I would be really interested in opening a discussion on:
Traditional marketing vehicles, print, TV, radio, trade shows etc. continue to be valid options but they are expensive and very difficult at best to track results. The internet offers business accurate, trackable results, unlimited ability to communicate relevant information, and a return on investment that is unmatched by any conventional media offering on a minute by minute basis and as a result, more and more companies are investing in their online presence.
What do conventional media do? They are supposed to get the prospect to engage with the company. What is a website for? In my opinion... get the prospect to engage with the company! In the online world we call this conversion. What do you think? I'm interested in hearing from you, leave a comment.
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
As I observe what is happening with online communications and the conventional marketing options, here is a comment that I would be really interested in opening a discussion on:
Traditional marketing vehicles, print, TV, radio, trade shows etc. continue to be valid options but they are expensive and very difficult at best to track results. The internet offers business accurate, trackable results, unlimited ability to communicate relevant information, and a return on investment that is unmatched by any conventional media offering on a minute by minute basis and as a result, more and more companies are investing in their online presence.
What do conventional media do? They are supposed to get the prospect to engage with the company. What is a website for? In my opinion... get the prospect to engage with the company! In the online world we call this conversion. What do you think? I'm interested in hearing from you, leave a comment.
We're at the edge of the future!
Andy Xhignesse
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