Finding Analogy in Disassembling a Deck and Simplifying a Website
Posted on | April 16, 2010 | No Comments
This weekend, I will begin a project to disassemble a friend’s deck so that we can use the (free) wood to construct a deck in our backyard. Just in case you are wondering, yes, I have permission from our friend! I suppose it would be quite a prank, though, to take down a friend’s deck while they are away, then wait behind the bushes to see the shock and awe. Note to self: Perform this prank before I die on someone I don’t like!
With mallet, hammer, socket wrench and work gloves, I will tear that monstrous deck apart and hope I don’t break a leg. Anything (almost) is worth fulfilling the dream of having some semblance of a deck in our backyard, where a sad slab of cracked concrete currently sits outside our backdoor. I really should take a photo of that poor piece of crap that looks as if ten earthquakes hit our house. I think I lost a shoe in that crack last year! China, can you mail it back to me?
So, I am not, by any means, what you would call a handy fellow. My one and only proficiency when it comes to home improvement is installing ceiling fans. I gained that mastery by installing ceiling fans in nearly every room in our house. So, if on the news this weekend you hear a funny story about a man, a mallet, and a deck that fell upon him, you’ll know that unidentified pancake of a man is yours truly.
Well, on to the topic of this post…. looking for analogy in the mess that I am about to undertake. It really does kinda match up well with disassembling a website. There are lots and lots of websites out there that have way too much clutter. There’s junk in corners and crevices of pages that distract the visitors from the important content. More often than not, the content managers of those sites stuff that junk into empty areas because there’s no other space to put it. Kind of like that room in your house that has become the storage closet for the muck and mire of your life (we all have some of that!).
Simplifying a site from time to time is a necessity. You might say you have a reason for every ounce of content on your website. You might feel as though taking away some of that content today would result in a lost customer tomorrow. Don’t be over-dramatic. Put yourself in their shoes: Would you rather wade through tons of content that is useless to you to find the content that you are seeking, or would you prefer to land on a website and see clear paths to your desired content?
Oh yeah, back to that deck. Sometimes, a nice, simple deck offers a better experience than a monstrous, elaborate deck. Sometimes, a deck is too overpowering for its own good. Disassembling that deck to make one that fits the needs of its users is the best approach. Same goes for websites.
I’ll let you know how the deck disassembly goes… and maybe post photos, too! Wish me luck.
Use Webinars to Boost Your Lead Generation and Your Brand Reputation
Posted on | March 31, 2010 | No Comments
Do you want your company to be known as the number one thought-leader and expert in your industry? Could you stand to make improvements in your lead generation efforts, to gain more hot prospects instead of chasing the luke-warm ones? If your answers to both questions are “Yes” (as they should be), webinars are a proven tool you can use to achieve these goals.
Pick a few topics or issues that are key in your industry, that meet these criteria:
1. Current hot-buttons that your customers face
2. General appeal or applicable to a wide audience
3. Easy to explain and present (primarily non-technical)
4. Can use real-world examples that your product or service can solve
Read up on webinars, such as from Webex or GoToMeeting. For a small investment in one of these services, you can schedule free or paid audio/video sessions with people interested in the topics you present. Has your email list become stagnate? There’s a good chance you can revitalize those lists by offering an educational session about a topic in your industry, or common questions or concerns that people face when evaluating the products and services you sell. Only at the end of the webinar should you mention how to get in touch with you to learn more about your company.
For instance, a financial service company may want to offer a series of webinars on mortgage issues. Or, a web agency could present some how-to’s on selecting the right web design or SEO company. By inviting people to attend your webinars, you show that you care about more than getting their business, and in doing so they will think of you when they are ready to buy because you have shown that you are a leader in your field. Being an educator puts you ahead of the pack of those who just sell, sell, and sell.
To start, create a Powerpoint presentation on the topic you want to present in your webinar. Don’t try to fit in too much. A succinct presentation, though it may cover a small portion of what you really want to present, will go over much better than one that is overloaded with information that will bury them. Next, decide who in your company will present the webinar. This should be someone who is well-spoken and can answer questions with authority. Once you have signed up with your webinar provider, schedule the webinar and send an invitation to your lists. Plaster the webinar details in every social network, direct mail, or any other channel you have at your disposal. Ultimately, you not only want to re-invigorate your existing list but gain NEW people who may be future customers. Finally, once you host your webinar, be sure to record it in a file that people can download at a later time. You may even choose to offer it as a free download. Depending on your industry, it may make more sense for you to offer both the live webinar and the recording for a reasonable price. Gauge the interest of the topic and price it accordingly.
I hope this idea becomes a key channel for you to gain new potential customers and a new way for your brand to gain a reputation as a leader in your industry.
If you need any more detail or guidance on how to set up your webinars, and some best practices, contact me.
Social Networking for Business: What You Put Into It Is What You Get Out Of It
Posted on | March 10, 2010 | No Comments
A frequent criticism of social networking in business is that there’s just too much information that is irrelevant to sift through to find the relevant information. The idea is daunting, to many, to have to stay tuned in to your networks for what may be just one or two ounces of valuable business-related content when there are gallons upon gallons of “I had a chicken salad sandwich for lunch” content to pour over.
To that criticism, I would first say that perhaps those who suffer from social overload do not yet have a clearly-defined objective in their social media program. Perhaps they don’t have a “program” at all, but instead dabble in a few tweets a week or post and respond to interesting things on Facebook. That, my friends, may be where the gaping hole exists… between you and your targeted community of followers and friends who are your potential buyers and brand advocates.
Have you ever considered launching a direct mail campaign with no clear objective, just sending out random postcards in hopes you hit one person who may be interested in what you’re selling? Probably not. I would pose a similar question to you about your social media activity. Why do you only participate just enough to wave your little flag and say, “Yeah, I am here, but I have nothing important to say, so I’ll be back next week and maybe I’ll have something to say then.” In no other marketing you do for your company would that “fly”… would it?
So, I’ll save the more in-depth discussion of how to get started with a social media program for a future post, but for today, give your social media activity some real thought before you toss it aside as something only to do when you have downtime. I started this post by pointing to the frequent criticism that there’s too much “fluff” going on in social networking to pay attention for the content that does matter to you. Well, I suppose if you are not providing interesting, relevant content yourself, how can you complain?
Website Keyword Density: The Holy Grail is in your Authenticity
Posted on | March 1, 2010 | No Comments
An article published today on SEO keyword density raises, yet again, one of the eternal questions asked by website owners: “What is the most effective balance of keywords within a given page of a site?”
The article refers to the widely-held belief that the perfect keyword density on a web page is 2-4%. That sounds about as good of a range as any. Yet, for as long as there has been SEO, search engines, and definitely since Al Gore invented the internet, webmasters and so-called gurus of search have been guilty of landing so far away from that right balance that they either do themselves no good by having ZERO relevant keywords, or, using such an ungodly amount they they get de-indexed by Google and the like. That eternal quest for the right balance is perhaps easier to achieve than you may think… not to say there is one definitive solution, but there are some concepts that will help you get closer to that Holy Grail than where you may be now.
Let’s start, briefly, with the basics. What makes up an effective website? Most often, unless it’s a site that needs to be heavy in images, the primary driver of good usability and being search-friendly is CONTENT. Content, while a vague word in some ways, is largely the copy you post on your website. After all, your visitors come to your site to learn about you, and what better way to do that than to spell out clearly who you are and what you do. You can’t often do that with images alone. So, when thinking of content, site owners need to place themselves in their visitors shoes and ask one basic question:
“If I were my site visitor, what would I want to learn about me or my company?”
Way too often, that essential question gets overlooked in the face of the easier question for website owners to answer, which is. “What do I want to tell my site visitors about me or my company?” Easy, I say, because we get so neck-deep into touting our business and why we’re the best, forgetting the wants and needs of the site visitor’s pursuit of their own questions. Taking the step of researching what your potential customers’ want to take away from visiting your site will lead into…
Effective, Authentic Site Copy!
On each page of your site, likely there is one dominant topic. If I am in advertising, I may be one page dedicated to each of the varieties of advertising I offer. And if you of what you speak, you should have no trouble writing authentic, flowing copy that, does not require you to force keywords into your copy. If you insert keywords into your site pages where they don’t really fit, just for the sake of artifically beefing up your page copy like some juiced up athlete trying to gain an advantage, you’ll be a big ol’ loser in the end. This is because search engine algorithms are keen to those tricks, and will kick you off of the island as swiftly as the sad folk who are voted off Survivor in the season’s first episode. When you are authentic, write your copy with your target audience top of mind (YOU aren’t as important as you think you are!), your keywords will fall into place naturally. This is not a perfect rule, but often it’ll get you at least about 80% of the way there… farther than perhaps any of your competitors.
Mr. Mom’s Guide To Not Pooping Out On Your Job Search
Posted on | February 3, 2010 | No Comments
The past couple months, since being “downsized” from my old job, has made me feel more like Michael Keaton in the movie “Mr. Mom” than I had ever expected. I could have been Keaton’s understudy, minus the chainsaw and 1980’s house decor:
I love being Mr. Mom, and if it paid as well in money as it did in the abundant satisfaction of being a parent to an 8 month old boy, I would not be looking for a new career opportunity. Being Mr. Mom is a FULL-TIME, RIGOROUS position, one that no husband of a wife who watches kids every day should take for granted. But I digress…
The topic of this post is “not pooping out on your job search,” and I can speak from experience on that. At various times during the last two months, I’ve wanted to just remove myself from the battle and get out of town for a day to get a breath. It sure would be relaxing and rejuvenating to get a quick change of scenery, put aside the computer, the cell phone, and not think about THE SEARCH for 24 hours. However, to do that would be to expose any chinks in my armor, and I absolutely don’t wan to do that. There’s some saying about allowing your nemesis to see your wounds, that it gives them a leg up in the battle. Well, if I have any wounds (I’m not admitting to any!), Mr. Unemployment isn’t going to see them.
You also can’t let your kid(s) see that they are getting the better of you while you focus on your job search. They may be too young to know why daddy is suddenly home and caring for them every day when mommy did it for so long. “So, since daddy is home with me, I should be his only focus!” Sorry, kid, you’re top priority, but daddy has to find himself a job, and a darn good one to pay for all of those cans of formula, toys, diapers, the roof over our head, and on and on and on…
The first reminder for you, and the biggest one of all, is to have Perspective. Do what you have to do to care for your kid(s), but when there’s an important phone call or event related to your job search, ask your family and friends to babysit. It’s too easy to go about your day and realize you did nothing to further your job search because the needs of your kid took up all your time — which it should in the perfect world! But really, if you think about your day, there is always time to multi-task. You don’t have to hold your baby 24/7. A plan for each day helps you focus, and if you only accomplish half of what you set out to do, at least you completed half of what you set out to do!
Like right now — my kid is fussing while I’m writing this sentence. I am looking over to him in his excersaucer, and although it sounds like he’s fussing, he’s having a good time, and a quick few minutes to focus on him, then back to writing this post, is all it takes. Perspective on your day is ESSENTIAL to getting your job search movin’.
Also, Perspective will give you Patience. Knowing what your priorities are each day will allow you to tell yourself, “Hey, I have these things to do, and if unforeseen things pop up, I will have time later to accomplish my plans.” Take a deep breath!
Be Positive. Smile, even when you don’t feel particularly happy. Get out of the house, even if you have nowhere particular to go. Reach out to your network of professional contacts for advice and help, even if you think they are too busy to respond.
Be Professional. I’ll admit to you that I conducted a phone meeting related to my freelance business recently while my kid was fussy. I asked the person I was talking to if I could delay our talk for another time. But she said she didn’t mind talking if I didn’t. We continued out talk, but what I should have done was just politely delay our call.
Uh oh, the kid is crying, so it’s a good time to end this post. You see? Perspective!
“Social Media Has No Place in My Industry.” THINK AGAIN!
Posted on | January 27, 2010 | No Comments
“Social media doesn’t have a place in my business.” Ack! I cringe a little when I hear this sentence or variations of it. When I hear that – after the cringe – I wonder if those same people would have looked at the first computer and said, “Computers don’t have a place in my business.” Or, if the cavemen, when introduced to the first wheel, had said, “Wheels have no place in my life” (translated from caveman grunts and growls, of course). Not to say that social media is as revolutionary and BIG as the computer or the wheel, but ya’ know…
I’ve worked in marketing for almost a decade, touching nearly all facets of the field. I’ve also worked two very different industries: aviation and publishing. And although the publishing company was far more welcoming of the idea of using social media to promote their products and engage their audiences, I would have loved to challenge the aviation company to let me take the reigns of their social marketing. But, alas, they still have the same website design that I directed for them over 5 years ago, so let’s just say they have other priorities in front of them. What I’m driving at here is that any company in any industry should be able to find a use for social networking to enhance their online marketing activity, conduct some market research, or at the very least put up a Facebook Page and post some updates on a weekly basis.
As proof, I’ll take a few random industries as examples here to propose some practical examples of how social media could be used:
Health Care: A perfect use of social media in the health care field is consumer research. If you could put a blank canvas out to the world and ask your consumers what they think about your service, wouldn’t that be valuable information to you? Although it can be scary to hear negative feedback, taking it constructively to make improvements to your business is a great opportunity to improve your brand image and show your consumers that you care what they think. Plus, it’s A LOT cheaper than focus groups!
Manufacturing: If you manufacture products, either in the B2B or B2C sectors, you can find a place in social media. Don’t you want more customers to buy your products or use you as their sole provider of the product you create? Well, those same customers are spending a ton of time on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, so why aren’t you? Refusing to be where your customers are is a little like refusing to go to a trade show where you know all of your customers and potential customers will be. Kinda silly, huh? Give Twitter a try: create an profile with a name recognizable to your customers, and post daily insights about your company, some breaking news, words from your CEO, and start following people who are in your same industry. Just showing that you are engaged in the greater community, and not just a name, infuses some personality into your brand, and as we all know, we are more likely to buy from (and like) someone we can relate to.
Waste Removal: Ha ha, I’m not sure what made me think of this one, and I know it is far out there, but play along with me for a moment. No one likes to think of waste, and no one expects a waste removal company to be anything but a bunch of gruff guys who get rid of what we don’t want. So, buck that image and poke some fun at yourself. Create a Facebook Page, post daily updates on the weird items you discover on the sides of roads or in dumpsters. Invite your fans to share their own stories of clutter removal. What does this do for your company? Yeah, it’s not going to win a ton of business, but it turns you from a company that simply picks up garbage to humans who shares a sarcastic sort of “love” for what they do and cares about their customers have to say.
That last example, of course, was an extreme case, but hopefully you’ll re-think your decision to stay away from social media. There really is a place for you here! Just be creative, and as long as you don’t do anything to hurt your brand, you’ll come away with some good consumer feedback, maybe gain some new customers, and best of all, it’s free marketing!
P.S. Can you think of an industry that CAN’T use social media? Leave a comment here, and I’ll take on your challenge and attempt to prove you wrong.
P.S.S. Another blogger posted some cool charts to show the adoption of social media across different industries: http://masterthenewnet.com/how-small-businesses-leaders-use-social-media
Proper Care and Feeding of Your Website: Part 1
Posted on | January 22, 2010 | No Comments
As I meet individuals and company representatives who are seeking to redesign their website or find new ways to bring in traffic and sales leads, I am constantly reminded of the fact that websites are living, breathing beings. They really should not be looked upon as things you buy because “the CEO says we need a new site” or because “our competitors have a cool site, so we should, too.” Most of all, website are not projects that have a conclusion. Just because your new site has launched, doesn’t mean the work is done. Just like a human being, or a plant (whatever analogy suits you), websites need proper care and feeding to thrive, and in order to be relevant, and to perform in all the ways you identified when you initially started your site project, you have to be constantly, strategically, active.
In this two-part post, I am going to point out the first steps of how to care and feed your website for it to be a success, regardless of your topic, business, or goals. Next week, in Part 2, I will talk about what’s needed for your site to thrive beyond the big site launch.
- Content: Content is the most important element of any website. If you can’t find a way to communicate in clear and concise way, then stop right where you are and don’t even design your site yet. In fact, write out all of your copy in Microsoft Word before you look at designs. You can fine-tune copy later. What’s important is that you are very direct about what you want to say about your company, service, topics, what have you. Embellishing or indulging yourself with fluff does nothing but turn away people who just want the facts, brief descriptions, and in the end, how to contact you if they need your product or service. Each page should answer questions such as, What is the service or product? Why am I different or what are my differentiating qualities? How can the customer benefit from me? How can the customer contact or engage with me? What is the next step or page I want the customer to take? Also key in your content is the frequent use of keywords that relate to your products or services. If your writing flows naturally and is authentic, those keywords will appear naturally as well.
- User Flow and Layout: Paying close attention to how you want your visitors to traverse your website, rather than just tossing up a series of pages that have no clear flow or relation, can be a huge detriment to your user experience and traffic. Using a simple tool like Powerpoint or Word, or a more advanced tool for user flows and wireframes, will allow you to be sure you have the right approach to your web design. It’s so easy to dive into the design because that’s what tends to be the more exciting step in the process. but it’s dangerous to jump to early into that. Starting with the homepage, plot out the pieces of content you absolutely want to be included. Then, do the same for the first-level pages and so on, until you are comfortable with at least the first pass at content and flow. Nothing is set in stone, of course, but starting with a foundation of logic, rather than design before user flow and layout, will likely shave weeks off your project schedule in the long run and save you some energy you’d be smarter to direct toward design work later.
- Design: Whether you are working with an internal designer or have hired an agency that is well-versed in web design, you will want to look at multiple concepts before you decide on the final design. Any designer worth his/her salt will offer multiple options and be able to share the pros and cons of each, and you will need to balance the innate need to find a visually appealing design with the practical need for a fully-functional and logical design. I’ve seen so often how people drool over breath-taking design concepts, yet when the work is underway and the content gets populated into that design, they wish they could start over and use the more practical design that better accommodates their content. So, when you do select your design, work closely with your designer every step of the way on how things are shaping up. With all due respect to designers, they don’t know your business or the nature of your copy/content as well as you do, so keeping them on track will, again, save you time in the long run. Don’t be shy about being a pest!
These aren’t new ideas by any means, but keeping them in mind will help you approach any web design project will make you happy with the final result. More next week!
Being Mr. Mom and Mr. Perfect Hire: How to Juggle
Posted on | January 13, 2010 | 4 Comments
As the clock ticked past midnight into the first moments of 2010, I was awake with my wife, coaxing my 7 month old son back to sleep. He has bouts of bad dreams, we think, and that seemed to be what woke him up this time, once again. Since I’ve been seeking new, full-time employment, I’ve been Mr. Mom, and happy to do it because I may never get this chance again for such prolonged time with my son. The time rocking him to sleep at night has also afforded me the opportunity to ponder what it means to be a parent, an active networker while searching for my next career move all at the same time. Have you ever tried making phone calls, sending well-thought-out emails, and researching target companies while watching your baby or young child nearby? Isn’t it fun??
I find myself, most days while my wife is at work, praying for my son to go down for a nap, so I can invest 30-45 minutes of solid searching – networking – calling – emailing time without worry of interruption. Check that… he’s not an interruption, don’t get me wrong, but even as I write this post he’s napping in the next room and I feel like I’m “on the clock” to finish before he stirs. How does one effectively manage their job search while wanting nothing more than to be a good, attentive dad or mom?
I’ve tried asking our baby, “Can Daddy have 10 minutes to get this done?” His answer: “Baa Boo”. I took that as a “no.” I’ve even tried, desperately, to sing to him while I work so that he focuses on something other than Daddy staring at his computer. Sometimes that works… well… for a few minutes, then it’s back to needing Daddy (which I do love).
So, how to juggle? Well, you can’t ever make a plan to make X number of calls or send Y number of emails. You just can’t, and if you try, you’ll only be disappointed when you look back on your activity that day. But what you CAN do is be cognizant of every moment you CAN get away while your kids nap or play on their own, and USE YOUR TIME WISELY. If you make just ONE goal per day, and make that goal your highest priority (next to caring for your kids), you’ll feel more accomplished than if you stare at a long list of goals and feel defeated even before 8am. And, in my experience, if you can add to your daily goals a weekly goal of attending at least one networking event, conference, seminar, etc, that gets you out of the house and among people of like-interests who are looking for work, too, you will feel a lot better about your efforts on the whole.
Case in point: Today, I attended a special interest group hosted by the American Marketing Association. While I did not go there expecting more than one or two potential leads on job opportunities, because the main point of the meeting was to talk about interactive marketing, actually I came away with FIVE potential leads on permanent jobs and/or consulting jobs. My point here is to pick your activity wisely. If you feel confident that one or two particular activities will be useful to you, then attend those and only those. Don’t waste your time with the “iffy” events or activities.
I’ve rambled a bit, but I hope these tips are useful to others in my position as Mr. Mom and Mr. Perfect Hire. I love my dual role, but it’s not without its challenges. Just be strategic about how you use your time.
UpStepWeb Wednesday: Don’t Let Social Become Stagnate
Posted on | December 16, 2009 | No Comments
In the beginning stages of the social networking era, which arguable began around 2 years ago with the rise in popularity of Twitter and Facebook, we couldn’t get enough of being “social” on the web. Whether for personal or business, many of us (including me) probably logged on a half-dozen times per day to tweet or post status updates on a zillion topics. All that activity quenched some need or void in us, one that I’m not sure anyone has been able to define. Suffice to say, social networking has lived long beyond the typical fad life-cycle and is, no doubt, here to stay. However, there is a risk of stagnation, of a leveling-off of use, that we, as business professionals who use social media, need to be aware of eliminate the majority of our target markets deciding to log on less frequently.
I’ve come up with these important practices that businesses should follow to maintain and grow their social networks:
- Be Transparent: On your Facebook Page and in your Tweets, don’t be afraid to share information about your company, people, products and services that you think your fans, followers, and observers would like to know about. Treating your social networking like a window into your business that you might not share on your website or other marketing channels provides your customers a level of insight that they will appreciate. Most of all, transparency makes you HUMAN, not a cold, corporate name that is un-relatable.
- Be Frequent: It looks really bad when you post a tweet or update Facebook once a month or less. Your fans and followers will appreciate frequent (at least every other day) updates if they are INTERESTING and NEWSWORTHY. Quality will always outlast Quantity, so as long as you are immersed in the goings-on of your business, and news related to your business field, then it will be easy for you to tweet and post interesting updates on a semi-daily basis. If you can’t do this, then you need to re-evaluate your mission on the social networks and consider opening up the topics you are comfortable discussing, and more importantly, re-evaluate what your customers are interested in.
- Be Multi-Faceted: Please don’t just post or tweet articles you find on the Web, or just share clever observations. Variety is the key. Try integrating your blog into your Facebook Page. Try adding Flickr and a Twitter feed to your Facebook Page. Try a daily update on Twitter of what you’re seeing happening in your business field. Most of all, be multi-faceted in what you share. Only 30% of what you share on the social networks should be about YOU! The other 70% should be about topics that relate to your products and services — information and resources that your customers and prospects would find useful. Example: If I have a Facebook Page about my golf products business, only 30% of the time should I post photos and links to my golf store and announce special prices or new products. The other 70% should encompass golf news, insider news on the sport that may be posted elsewhere but would be intriguing to those who follow golf, etc.
The main point I’m making here is: Be a member of your community. If you become a trusted resource and member of your community, when you do decide to directly mention or sell your products and services, your community will be far more open to buying.Up
SocialMention.com: Tracking your social footprint
Posted on | December 2, 2009 | No Comments
I was reminded this week while at a business networking event about SocialMention.com, a free search engine that tracks the instances, or mentions, of personal name, company name, or social account names. It’s a very useful site for those who are interested in researching how their business is perceived, good or bad, in the market. So, really, this should be useful to ALL businesses, because who isn’t interested in customer opinion and perception? As you can imagine, such a search can result in a wide range of types, especially if your brand is a poplar one. For example, a search on “Nike” results in 872 mentions in the past month, which isn’t all that surprising, given the popularity of Nike. A search on Nike, actually, brought up a lot about Tiger Woods’ recent problems. So, let’s try a different brand search… Best Buy. Here’s a screen capture of some of the results:
You can see some of the results, both good and bad, but always beneficial in knowing what your current brand perception and customer feedback is at any given time. SocialMention.com also gives a read of the type of mentions, which they call Sentiment, the Keywords that frequently appear in the mentions, and some percentages of Strength, Passion, and Reach. SocialMention.com even lets you set up email alerts for the names you wish to track, so that you don’t have to visit the site at all — just open the alerts in your email each morning. Give it a try!
Tags: brand percepton > customers > digg > facebook > feedback > socialmention > tracking social networks > twitter
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