Monthly Archive for December, 2007

Believing in your dreams

Published on December 31, 2007 in Quotation. 0 Comments

These quotes are about believing in and following your dreams. Something to digest for our Monday morning and for 2008…..

If you can imagine it you can create it. If you can dream it, you can become it.
Ward, William Arthur

Life is a cup to be filled not drained.
Anonymous

If one is the master of one thing and understands one thing well, one has at the same time insight into and understanding of many things.
Van Gogh, Vincent

What we need is more people who specialize in the impossible.
Roethke, Theodore

Luck is when opportunity knocks and you answer.
Anonymous

Your own words are the bricks and mortar of the dreams you want to realize. Your words are the greatest power you have. The words you choose and the use establish the life you experience.
Croquette Sonia

Within our dreams and aspirations we find our opportunities
Ebaugh, Sue

The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can’t be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.
Fosdick, Harry Emerson

If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.
Thoreau, Henry David

You see things; and you say “Why?” But I dream things that never were; and I say “Why not?”
George Bernard Shaw

Viral Marketing within Your Website

Published on December 28, 2007 in Internet Sales and Website. 0 Comments

One of the sales elements that works hand in hand with branding is viral marketing.

These two marketing aids complement one another and help to make one another more powerful.

Viral marketing is a new phrase that means “word of mouth” marketing, or more accurately for website promotion, “self-propagation.”

What viral marketing does is to “spread your message” within the community, without you having to intervene. It’s like free advertising because visitors to your website will recommend it to others who will recommend it to others and so on.

In many ways, this kind of promotion acts just like a virus in that it spreads from person to person almost without them being aware.

There are two types of viral marketing:
Direct Viral Marketing – occurs when a client spreads the awareness of your product or service to others simply by using the product or service. Some of the online e-mail services are examples of this. When someone sends an e-mail using these kinds of services, each email automatically includes a message at the bottom of the e-mail that states the name of the email service they are using. A subtle but effective method of promotion.

Indirect Viral Marketing – happens when a client must actively find another client in order for both of them to benefit by using the product. An example of this is when someone wants to use an Internet service like a chat or messaging service, and they have to solicit the assistance of another user in order to implement the service. For example, if one person wants to send instant online messages to another person, that other person also needs to have the same software installed in order for the messaging to work. This means that one person needs to implore another to also install a messaging utility. (e.g., MSN messenger or ICQ)

There may be some ways you can implement viral marketing or self propagation within your website.

Offering things for free is one good way of doing this. This doesn’t mean you have to give away a product; you could provide a free service or some other valuable non-tangible item.

Free advice on technical or other complicated topics could be useful – quotes or definitions are useful to some people.

Contests are another way of attracting attention. If you do implement a contest, I suggest that your prize be one of significant value in the eyes of your clients. If it is deemed to be of low value, it will not attain the status of being a suitable viral marketing item.

There are many ways that a website can be made to contain items that visitors to the site will want to tell others about. Those who implement this feature and make it valuable will have a much greater chance of reaping the benefits of viral marketing.

Beating your competition

Published on December 24, 2007 in Quotation. 0 Comments

Competition does not
mean war….

It means learn.
It means prepare.
It means be your best.

Source: Sales Bible

Defining Your Website Purpose

Published on December 22, 2007 in Website Design. 0 Comments

Once you have people visiting your website, the trick for many businesses will be to keep them interested and hopefully coming back to your website.

Much has been written on how to construct a good website; sadly much of it seems to have been ignored.

The first thing to keep in mind with any website is DON’T CONFUSE YOUR VISITORS.
By this I mean, make sure that anyone who is visiting your website understands quickly and concisely why they are there.
Your site must clearly convey a simple message; are you SELLING, BUYING or INFORMING your visitors.

If the site was developed to sell product, it is fine to describe what the product or service is, but the emphasis should be that it is a “sales site.” If your site is an online brochure for your company and you are providing a variety of offerings, make sure you are crystal clear so your visitors know exactly where things on your site are located.

  1. Grab your visitor’s attention right away. Your site needs to open with a simple, clearly defined message that will make the visitor want to look further at the site.
  2. Make navigation easy and intuitive. As a general rule, when someone is visiting a website they want to have the flexibility of moving from page to page throughout the website. It can be very annoying to navigate a website by always returning to the home or main page. Even worse is navigating through a website and finding that the only option you have is the “Back button”. When this happen many people simply “click” away to another website. Poor navigational links on a website are signs of poor development quality and or poor planning. In the mind of the visitor, a fault on a website, like poor navigation, reflects on the quality of your business. Make sure all your website pages contain all the same internal links.
  3. Avoid long and wordy paragraphs. Unless you are providing some technical information. Even then it is probably a good idea to provide this information using a downloadable format such as PDF files. It is best to use graphics or pictures to help tell your story. The old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words is especially true on websites.
  4. Speed is of the essence. Especially when it comes to browsing websites. One of the best ways to drive visitors away from your site is by having a site that is painfully slow. Some of the things that can slow a website down are:
    • Graphic images that are improperly applied
    • Faulty scripts and programs improperly applied
    • Web-host operating with slow equipment
    • Animation or sound files improperly applied

When you work hard to attract visitors, the last thing you want to be doing is spoiling their experience with a slow website. Build your site according to the latest modem speed and computer viewing statistics. Finding this information on the Internet will require some research, but it is invaluable in making a better website. Keep in mind that when building your site, what looks good on one computer will be irritatingly slow to download on another.

Make your website easy and inviting to navigate. Always seek to improve!

The Gift of Appreciation

Published on December 20, 2007 in Motivation and Quotation. 0 Comments

“In the midst of our holiday “madness,” we often forget that
what most people want, more than anything else, is to be
truly appreciated by us. The best gift we can give to the
people in our lives is the gift of our true appreciation and
love.”

– Mike Robbins, author and speaker

The Importance of Web Metrics

Published on December 18, 2007 in Website Metrics. 0 Comments

There are many ways to measure your success in running a business and there are many ways to measure your success in running a website.

Knowing how to measure is almost as important as knowing what you want to measure.

You need to understand the need for Web metrics and agree on their value.

In his book Keeping Score, Mark Graham Brown boils down Web metrics to its bare essentials quite well:

  • Fewer is better: Concentrate on measuring the vital few key variables rather than the trivial many
  • Measures should be linked to the factors needed for success: key business drivers
  • Measures should be a mix of past, present, and future to ensure that the organization is concerned with all three perspectives
  • Measures should be based around the needs of customers, shareholders, and other key stakeholders
  • Measures need to have targets or goals established that are based on research rather than arbitrary numbers

Preventing objection

Published on December 17, 2007 in Motivation and Quotation. 0 Comments

The real world….

If you can anticipate objections,
you can prevent them from occurring.
Sounds simple, it just requires preparation and practice.
It takes time, creativity, and focus to make it happen.
Please try it.
Your reward for superior effort
will be superior sales…
which leads to a superior wallet.

source: The Sales Bible

Customer Service Strategy

Published on December 14, 2007 in Customer Relationship. 0 Comments

The internet is not only a key reason why the expectations of both B2C and B2B customers are rising, it can also be a way to meet their expectations in a cost-effective manner.

The graph below suggests an evolution in the way customer service is delivered that has the potential to improve service without increasing the cost providing it.

It involves, first, moving away from total reliance on telephone call centers for live customer service to customer service provided on the Internet, either with or without direct human intervention.

The ultimate step would then be one of “preventive medicine,” anticipating customer service needs before they are even recognized by the customer and delivering the needed service and support in a proactive manner.

Take the full advantage of the opportunities offered by the Internet to deliver satisfying customer service at a reasonable cost.

How the customer wants to be treated

Published on December 13, 2007 in Customer Relationship and Sales. 0 Comments

I tried to call some of my clients and asked what they want salespeople to do, how they want salespeople to act and what they want salespeople to say.

I listened and I wrote:

  • Get to the point and give me the facts
  • Tell me the truth
  • I want an ethical salesperson. Salespeople often get bum rap because a few without ethics
  • Don’t use a bunch of time-worn sales techniques to pressure me to buy
  • Give me a good reason why this product/service is perfect for me
  • Show me some proof
  • Show me I am not alone. Tell me about a similar situation where someone like me succeeded
  • Tell me and show me you will serve me after you sell me
  • Listen to me when I talk
  • Help me buy – don’t sell me

I hope this helps…

Variable used to measure website traffic and audiences

Published on December 12, 2007 in Website and Website Metrics. 0 Comments

Whatever the method of data collection, the same set of variables can be measured. You can learn about your website’s traffic and plan ahead to maximize the opportunity that you have within that short period of time.
The definition that follows are generally accepted within the Internet industry:

  1. Measure of Website Traffic simply document site activity:
    • Hits: the number of files requested
    • Impressions: the number of times an ad banner is requested by a browser
    • Page views or deliveries: the number of times a web page is requested
  2. Measure Website Audience provide data about the people who visit the site:
    • Visitors: the number of people who visit the the site
    • Unique Visitors: the number of different people who visits a site during a specific time period
    • Identified visitors: the number of visitors who can be identified through site registration or purchase

In order to be meaningful these measures must be taken during a specific period of time. That leads to an almost endles set of metrics that can be produced, depending on the needs of the marketer, for example:

  • Average number of hits per day
  • Number of page views per month
  • Average visitor session length
  • Number of visitors who visited more than once
  • New visitors
  • Least requested pages
  • Number of hits for each hour of the day

AWStats is a good web statistic report that you can have on your server to help you keep track with your website’s traffic.