So, today it happened again & I was reminded of one of my favorite quotes. Red Adair said, "If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur."
What happened, you ask? Yet another example of "I can pick your brains & then do it myself for free."
I just visited the new website of someone I know. He has a small business & had needed a website. After spending time speaking w/ him, giving him advice & then sending a proposal to which I never received a response (nor the courtesy of a call/email as to why) I just found out he did it himself using some pre-packaged DIY website program.
Well, to say it is worthless is putting it mildly. He left most of the pre-filled brackets untouched (you know "List your products and services here") so it is very obvious he didn't finish yet let the site go live anyway. The website program company is located in California. How do I know? Their own address is pre-filled in the brackets in which the business owner is supposed to insert their information.
The funniest of all is the testimonials page...they're all greeked out with John Doe in a made up CA company - yes, ALL of them!
In his feeble attempt to try his hand at programming, turns out you cannot get from one page to another without going back to the home page. I ran the stats & the site gets a "D". I also Googled his company name - up to page 6 in the rankings all I got was another company with the same name located in the Midwest.
His copy is filled with sayings such as "quality work" and the like in several places. Sadly, no one will take him seriously.
I should have guessed this would happen. He had all the signs. Too bad he completely ignored all of my advice because had he applied at least some of it, it may have been at least somewhat useful to him. Now it's simply an embarrasment.
While I have nothing against DIY folks, after all I just redid several rooms in my house myself, I did hire an electrician to do the dangerous work (Ms. Sparky, anyone?); an interior designer to create a plan for me to follow; and a plumber - and I PAID them.
Someone once told me they won't pay for ideas...but the best companies/products/services all began with an idea. They're worth paying for. Unless of course, you WANT to fail.
Showing posts with label small business website problems. Show all posts
Showing posts with label small business website problems. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Monday, May 12, 2008
Website lessons for small business owners
Recently I have worked with several clients to redo their websites and I have found there seems to be some recurring issues with small business owners & their relationship (or lack thereof) to their own website. There are some lessons that we can all benefit from to make the most of your site itself & your relationship with your writer, desiger, & hosting company.
They are:
1. Not owning your own URL - this is a TERRIBLE mistake. While it may seem convenient for your web designer to do it for you if you are busy, it takes less than 10 minutes to register it yourself. NEVER let anyone hold your URL hostage (especially if it is the name - or a derivation thereof - of your company). All domain registration companies allow for you to set up an administrator (the web designer) which allows them access to create it, but YOU own it. Once the site is finished, you can change the passwords so no one else but you has access to your site.
2. Not looking at your stats - this is another TERRIBLE mistake. Be sure you have access to the statistics of your own site. Don't depend on others to get them for you (they're always too busy once you've paid them). Ideally, you should check them once a week. Even if at first you don't understand what they mean, call your hosting company & they can explain it to you. Over time you should see pattern & be able to adjust the content of your site accordingly. The basics that you want to look for are # visitors per day (you can look for patterns in your daily visits), most popular viewed pages (see where you may be falling short on content), referrals (where the hits are coming from such as another site where you might have a reciprocal link, google, etc.), main entry & exit pages.
3. Not testing your contact form - if a period of time goes by & you have not received any requests for information, be sure to go in & test it yourself by filling it out & sending it. Sometimes hosting companies have issues, or sometimes it is the form itself. By demanding too many required fields (& having the form bounce back blank for leaving these blank) you may be unintentionally turning people away from the form, & therefore from your business.
Lastly, remember that simply having a website does NOT mean that people will visit it. A website is really just an electronic brochure that has interactivity. You still have to market it - don't spend money on a site, sit back & think that's all you have to do. You will find this is a big mistake & you will be wasting valuable time & resources. Be sure to back it up with a solid marketing plan to drive visitors to your site.
Happy Marketing!
Randye
visit www.myaffordablemarketing.com for more information & solutions to your small business marketing issues.
They are:
1. Not owning your own URL - this is a TERRIBLE mistake. While it may seem convenient for your web designer to do it for you if you are busy, it takes less than 10 minutes to register it yourself. NEVER let anyone hold your URL hostage (especially if it is the name - or a derivation thereof - of your company). All domain registration companies allow for you to set up an administrator (the web designer) which allows them access to create it, but YOU own it. Once the site is finished, you can change the passwords so no one else but you has access to your site.
2. Not looking at your stats - this is another TERRIBLE mistake. Be sure you have access to the statistics of your own site. Don't depend on others to get them for you (they're always too busy once you've paid them). Ideally, you should check them once a week. Even if at first you don't understand what they mean, call your hosting company & they can explain it to you. Over time you should see pattern & be able to adjust the content of your site accordingly. The basics that you want to look for are # visitors per day (you can look for patterns in your daily visits), most popular viewed pages (see where you may be falling short on content), referrals (where the hits are coming from such as another site where you might have a reciprocal link, google, etc.), main entry & exit pages.
3. Not testing your contact form - if a period of time goes by & you have not received any requests for information, be sure to go in & test it yourself by filling it out & sending it. Sometimes hosting companies have issues, or sometimes it is the form itself. By demanding too many required fields (& having the form bounce back blank for leaving these blank) you may be unintentionally turning people away from the form, & therefore from your business.
Lastly, remember that simply having a website does NOT mean that people will visit it. A website is really just an electronic brochure that has interactivity. You still have to market it - don't spend money on a site, sit back & think that's all you have to do. You will find this is a big mistake & you will be wasting valuable time & resources. Be sure to back it up with a solid marketing plan to drive visitors to your site.
Happy Marketing!
Randye
visit www.myaffordablemarketing.com for more information & solutions to your small business marketing issues.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
But I took out an ad......
The other day I had a phone conversation with a potential new client who desperately needed help building his failing business and finding a new direction to take it to.
As we talked, I asked him how he is currently marketing his business, what has he done in the past, etc. His answers were almost painful to hear.
He had fallen into the trap of “I’m too busy to take care of marketing” when he had business and the revenue to support a marketing effort, and now that business is at a dead halt, he has no pipeline, no marketing experiences to fall back on and worst of all, no budget to do anything with.
His reasoning for not doing any marketing was that he took out an ad several years ago; it didn’t work, so he never did it again.
Sadly, I see this happen to so many small business owners. The idea that marketing and advertising is the same thing is an incorrect assumption.
Let’s start with some basics:
Think of marketing as an umbrella and each spoke is a slice of the marketing pie that all fits together to form a marketing strategy. Those spokes may include advertising, website, acquisition, public relations, packaging, distribution, slogans, sales promotion, pricing, sales, retention, customer service, logo, uniforms, follow ups, even how you answer your phone and the associations you belong to. The most accepted definition of marketing is soup to nuts – everything it takes to get a product or service into the hands of the end user when they are ready to buy.
Confusing marketing with advertising can be fatal and very expensive. To begin advertising without having a solid platform of what your company represents to the consumer, what your competitive benefits are, and EXACTLY who your target market is will always result in a failed advertising effort and therefore wasted dollars. Advertising is a mass form of communication used to sell your product. But it is not the only form and may not be the right platform for your business, especially if it is a specialized product or service.
Because of the high cost of advertising, it should be left to companies who have a proven business and marketing model. Why? Taking out a one time ad at a cost of $1000 is not effective. On average, it takes 3-5 touches for a consumer to make a purchase decision (if you are selling to other businesses it may take even more). If you have a $1000 budget, you are much better off running a smaller $250 ad four times. This accomplishes what is known as frequency which is the proven way to move consumers to a purchase decision.
In addition, because most small business owners do not have a marketing background, they almost always fall prey to selling features instead of benefits. Think of this example, if you told me the ingredients in a new shampoo, would I care? Most likely I couldn’t even pronounce many of them. Instead, if you told me it would make my hair healthier, shinier, cleaner, curlier, softer, etc. THEN I would be more likely to buy it because I now know what it will do for me. In other words, I know the BENEFITS.
Often I review existing or prior ads that have been used by my clients and 99% of the time I see this malady. Because they are so close to their product they know what goes into it, but not why people buy it. This is why their ads didn’t work, especially if they did just a one time placement.
Here’s a fun but powerful exercise to try for yourself:
Turn 3 features of your product or service into benefits. For example, “weights less than a pound” would be stated in all marketing and advertising as “lightweight and portable”.
Once you have the benefits down and know the right way to implement marketing and advertising, you are well on your way to creating an impactful, successful campaign that will drive revenue to your bottom line.
As we talked, I asked him how he is currently marketing his business, what has he done in the past, etc. His answers were almost painful to hear.
He had fallen into the trap of “I’m too busy to take care of marketing” when he had business and the revenue to support a marketing effort, and now that business is at a dead halt, he has no pipeline, no marketing experiences to fall back on and worst of all, no budget to do anything with.
His reasoning for not doing any marketing was that he took out an ad several years ago; it didn’t work, so he never did it again.
Sadly, I see this happen to so many small business owners. The idea that marketing and advertising is the same thing is an incorrect assumption.
Let’s start with some basics:
Think of marketing as an umbrella and each spoke is a slice of the marketing pie that all fits together to form a marketing strategy. Those spokes may include advertising, website, acquisition, public relations, packaging, distribution, slogans, sales promotion, pricing, sales, retention, customer service, logo, uniforms, follow ups, even how you answer your phone and the associations you belong to. The most accepted definition of marketing is soup to nuts – everything it takes to get a product or service into the hands of the end user when they are ready to buy.
Confusing marketing with advertising can be fatal and very expensive. To begin advertising without having a solid platform of what your company represents to the consumer, what your competitive benefits are, and EXACTLY who your target market is will always result in a failed advertising effort and therefore wasted dollars. Advertising is a mass form of communication used to sell your product. But it is not the only form and may not be the right platform for your business, especially if it is a specialized product or service.
Because of the high cost of advertising, it should be left to companies who have a proven business and marketing model. Why? Taking out a one time ad at a cost of $1000 is not effective. On average, it takes 3-5 touches for a consumer to make a purchase decision (if you are selling to other businesses it may take even more). If you have a $1000 budget, you are much better off running a smaller $250 ad four times. This accomplishes what is known as frequency which is the proven way to move consumers to a purchase decision.
In addition, because most small business owners do not have a marketing background, they almost always fall prey to selling features instead of benefits. Think of this example, if you told me the ingredients in a new shampoo, would I care? Most likely I couldn’t even pronounce many of them. Instead, if you told me it would make my hair healthier, shinier, cleaner, curlier, softer, etc. THEN I would be more likely to buy it because I now know what it will do for me. In other words, I know the BENEFITS.
Often I review existing or prior ads that have been used by my clients and 99% of the time I see this malady. Because they are so close to their product they know what goes into it, but not why people buy it. This is why their ads didn’t work, especially if they did just a one time placement.
Here’s a fun but powerful exercise to try for yourself:
Turn 3 features of your product or service into benefits. For example, “weights less than a pound” would be stated in all marketing and advertising as “lightweight and portable”.
Once you have the benefits down and know the right way to implement marketing and advertising, you are well on your way to creating an impactful, successful campaign that will drive revenue to your bottom line.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)