First let’s get this clear. This isn’t an Aweber Bash Fest. It’s a really great company, with excellent service and a good reputation, indeed, I can’t recall the last time an online company called me from another continent to thank me for signing up for an account, that’s how customer-focussed they are. But I won’t be going with them for my email list services and here’s why:

I’m already with another broadcast email provider called iContact. I’ve been using them since the end of 2008 and my list of subscribers for various sites has steadily grown and while it’s not huge, it’s important to me. To move to Aweber, I’d have to email all of my list subscribers and ask them to start over and respond to a confirmation email they’ll be getting.

And that’s my Problem Number One. Unlike many bloggers / website owners, I grow my email list from many sources and the critical thing is this:

My list is not just from people who’ve ASKED me to send them information. I build my list pro-actively by using it to carefully add prospects to it that I know won’t be offended to receive information, but who I know would not bother with a signup process. After all, why should they? I want to sell something to them and supply them information, why should they be the ones who have to make the effort, however small? I know right now that these people will not respond to a confirmation email request, but at the same time, they’re happy to accept a non-offensive stream of news from me. Most of them gave me a business card and asked me to stay in touch. They’re what I’d describe as long term prospects – people who I might be able to do business with in the medium to long term and who I’d like to keep in touch with to remind them I’m there, no pressure, no strings attached.

Aweber’s business model is built the other way up. They supply a very good service based upon people actively finding a website or blog they like and deciding they’d like to join a list. The problem I have with that is that it doesn’t easily allow me to add the type of prospect I’ve described above. Step forward iContact. They’re my other broadcast email provider and the one’s I’ll be staying with. I can add email addresses of those long term, slow burn prospects by a simple cut and paste, without needing a confirmation email. In addition, on my website signup boxes, I can opt to ask for the confirmation process with a simple check box. This gives me the best of both worlds – a locked down, spam proof signup box where I need one, plus the trust in me not to abuse my powers by annoying people with unwanted emails.

So who’s right and who’s wrong? If you’re just starting out building your subscriber list, there’s virtually nothing in it. Both services claim industry leading standards of deliverability and competitive, sensible pricing structures. Aweber is undoubtedly the darling of the Blogosphere, but iContact certainly provides a very good service with excellent support.

Disclaimer – by clicking a link to iContact, I get a discount from my account if you choose to sign up with them, it helps bring down the cost of running my email list.

I‘ve got to get this off my chest, it seems to be happening more and more…
Amongst the usual deluge of emails yesterday, I received some marketing material from a company I know. That’s fine, I know them, they’re good guys, I use their products. But here’s how the email started:

“Our latest brochure information is appended for your perusal”

I’m sorry, what? You wouldn’t say that to someone you met face to face. So what on earth made you type it?
In that same way the other extreme is equally annoying. I got this one, not by a text from an old Nokia, but by email:

“tnx fr yr txtx lst nite”

Both are equally annoying and reflect a lack of thought, but in two different ways.
In the first example, the writer is probably enthusiastic about their products, but slightly nervous and trying too hard to sound professional. You sound perfectly fine when you’re talking to your customers on the phone and face to face, right? So why change the way you speak in the written word?
The second, text speak, smacks of someone who really just can’t be bothered. I’m probably being unfair, but there seems to be an entire generation of people growing up with a huge history of their primary written communication being via multi-tap mobile phones. It was excusable in the old days of Nokia 6310 when you could generate friction burns with your thumb just asking what was for dinner, but not today. Hopefully the mobile saviors of the English language will be devices like the iPhone and Blackberry, with their auto-complete eliminating the need for txtx spk.

So next time you’re sitting down at that big, scary blank Word Document, don’t think so hard. Consider the intended tone of your writing as if it were a face to face meeting and just let your words flow the same way. You’ll be surprised at how the word count grows and before you know it, you’re all finished and ready for your office proof reader to herewith peruse at their considerable discretion…

Remember them? They held everything in your life in a cool leather binder. You could say that the iPhone is just that, but I’m sorry, there are too many frustrations with it for me, good though it is. And from a phoographer’s viewpoint, there are so many things about the iPad that excite me…

The iPad marketing video makes me laugh out loud with excitement. I’m not an early adopter of new software or hardware, I prefer to let others iron out the bugs and buy the v2.1, but the iPad is the thing I’ll be at the front of the queue for and I have high hopes for it, with a few reservations… My iPhone is a great gadget, but has it’s limitations, so here’s my wish list of things I really hope the iPad can score on to make it my constant companion:

Looks like the digital delivery platform is finally here. Some, such as Total 911 magazine are already there, with a download version of the magazine on iTunes already. Others will surely follow.
There are lots of other areas that the iPad is going to impact, not just business. Imagine how much better the screen is going to look compared to, say, a Sony PSP. Add in iTunes’ App Store’s marketing power and make the games reasonable in price, instead of the eye watering £30 ticket of norm for new releases onto other gaming platforms and it’ll be a winner for fun.
I’m sure you’ll have your own ideas on the iPad and how it might work for you. For the first time, I want to be at the front of the queue. So what’s your iPad ideal? I’d love to hear how you think it might work as a personal and business tool for you….

If you haven’t ventured into launching a company blog yet, you can talk to me about dipping your toes in the big blog ocean. Or if you’re trying to work out the best way to start a company blog, try reading my ten tips for writing company blogs to help you get started.

1. Be yourself! It’s what all your existing customers like about you, remember? Don’t try and write in ‘corporate speak’ on your blog, write in a slightly more informal way but without appearing too familiar or chatty. Above all, try and set the ‘tone’ for how you’d like others to perceive your company

2. Jargon – If you’re trying to reach people with little knowledge of your industry, don’t use too much of your industry jargon. If you do, consider explaining the phrases you use so that others can see that you’re taking the time to be understood.

3. Be SEO Friendly. Easier said than done, but it’s surprising how often people don’t do it. Write your title and description tags to replicate phrases that people actually use to search with. Newspaper and magazine websites are particularly prone to this. They’ll write in their title tag their headline, for example, “Phew, What A Scorcher” instead of “Summer weather reports and weather forecast advice online”

4. The Gerlad Ratner Phenomenon. If you haven’t heard of him, read this. His speech was right up there with distributing photocopies of your backside at the Christmas party. Don’t ‘Do A Ratner’. Remember that once it’s out there, it’s out there and be careful what you say about your existing customers and readership.

5. Be consistent. Both in frequency of postings and in what you say. Try and post on a regular basis. Some people say ideally every day, but for most people that’s too much. If you really want to hit the ground running with your blog and generate a big following, then consider hiring someone like me to author it for you and kick start your ideas.

6. Invite discussion. Allow comments on your blog without waiting for moderation. Wordpress has some very powerful spam protection measures, so don’t worry about Viagra ads popping up. To help prompt discussion, try finishing your post with a query or request for readers viewpoints, like I’ve done here.

7. Give something first. Social media such as blogging is different to normal marketing and promotion. Give something to your audience without expecting anything in return. Continue to do this for several months and don’t expect the phone to ring for a while. People like to see that you have knowledge on your subject so try and become considered as ‘undeniably good’ at what you do.

8. Don’t be scared! Too many people, myself included, didn’t think that what they did was particularly interesting. Indeed I initially dismissed blogging as a kind of self congratulatory ‘High Five Dude’ idea where people spouted off about themselves. How wrong I was.. People really are interested in what you do, so take the courageous step to get out there and write about it.

9. Look Inside! Many of my clients who want help with company blogs struggle for inspiration and subject matter. I used to struggle until one day, the penny dropped and this is really important! Things that to you that are every day occurences within your business are actually really interesting to other people. My motorsport clients in particular fall for this one. Every day, they deal with interesting supercars, rally cars and machinery most can only dream about, but they never give it a second thought. Unless it’s top secret, blog about it!

10. I don’t have a number ten. Remember my number six point? What’s your favourite tip for blogging and what have you learned about communicating with your clients and propects in this way?

One of the most successful websites in recent years has been the Ice Driver website for Andy McKenna. I’ve been involved in Ice Driver all the way from it’s concept right through to it becoming the premier winter driving experience. At the end of 2009, we managed to capture the dot-com Ice Driver domain that had not previously been available. But it was right at the top of the enquiry season for Ice Driver and the SEO work was paying off, so did we really want to move house right then?
It was tempting to fire it up, but we decided to shelve it until the summer. Now, summer’s here and we’re about to start the dot-com move and I thought readers would be interested to see the steps we’re taking to make it happen, hopefully without being penalised too much along the way. I’ll also be describing some of the new stuff we’re putting on the site, as we’re doing much more than just copying over last year’s model to the new domain.
The first thing I did was install the domain and add some content. Brand new domain names are often subject to Google’s ’sandbox’. This means that Google take a look and let the site sit for a while (no-one knows how long) before they decide you’re a ‘good guy’ and start to show you in search results. So we added content and sat back a while to see. Not too long and it’s now starting to appear, so time for the next step – finalise the design look, write the new 2010 content and start with the SEO stuff.
Next time, I’ll write about what we decided to do with the layout, how we’ll be using social media this season and what visitors think of the new site.

If you bring up the subject of web design with small business people, it wouldn’t take you too long to find someone who has been burned by a web designer. Sadly, some have even come to the conclusion that a web site is not worth the expense, the time or the hassle. I sat down recently and took a look at how and why that happens and hopefully outline some success principles that will help you when you need web design services. Since so many web designers get it wrong, the web design principles that actually work may surprise you.

First Off, It’s Not Your Fault!

There is a serious flaw in the web design industry, and small business owners are especially prone to fall victim to it. The problem is that usually, very little business planning goes into a web site design. Too many web designers are more concerned with selling web design with cool movies and effects, than taking the time to build an effective web site that

This deficiency stems from the fact that very few web designers are marketing people. They’ve never operated in a sales and marketing environment and easily become preoccupied with the technical aspects of websites, rather than thinking about what your problems are and what your customers need. They believe that the selling part is down to you, they’re just here to write the design of the site.

But small business people do not have big advertising budgets, nor do they have the time to try and understand the world of website design and it’s jargon. So they are easily attracted to the unfeasably low rates and off the shelf template solutions of average web designers.

So if your past experience of website design companies has been a confusing and dissappointing one, it’s not your fault….

To SEO or not to SEO

There is a lot of emphasis placed on search engine optimization (SEO), and there should be, because this is very important if you want to have your web site found by people using the search engines. For most web sites, search engines account for 80% to 95% of all visitors. However, as important as SEO is, if you have a web site that is not creating sales with the visitors you are already getting, SEO needs to wait.

Instead, create website content that your visitors will want.

This next principle is the one you will probably find the most surprising. People actually read web sites! OK, so they do have a short attention span, and we will look at that point in a moment, but they do read. There have been many studies done by people in white coats with lots of pens in their pockets to document the way people use web pages. Even though so much attention is given to graphics, the studies show that well over 75% of the time, web page users actually read the text before they notice graphics. While this does not please the photographer in me, it is a fact.
This does not mean that graphics are unimportant. Visual elements are one of the many advantages a web site can provide. If you consider that most people use the Internet to seek information, then does it not make sense that they will read your web site’s content? Providing the right information can mean the difference between winning a customer, or surrendering them to your competition. Next we’ll look at what we can do to get people’s attention

Please Stay a While

Earlier, the short attention span of website visitors was mentioned. It’s called the 3 second rule by the men with white coats and lots of pens. According to web studies, if you cannot capture the attention of your visitor in approximately 3 seconds, that’s how fast they usually leave your web site. However, I’ve not been able to see a study that actually tells you why. My opinion is because so many web sites are such a horrible waste of time and that search engine returns often have no resemblance to what you asked for, that people’s patience has been worn down.

The solution is to have a fast loading page that quickly says:

“This is what you’ve been looking for. Wait a moment, we can solve your problem”.

If they can “skim” in a few seconds, and you grab their attention, you have successfully drawn them in so they will stay a while.

Another white-coat-man statistic is that it takes 7 visits before you make a sale. If your web site is not done correctly, you will have dismal results because you can’t get them to come back seven times. That is why so many web site owners are disappointed with their success. That is why some web designers provide what seems to be a bargain, while other web designers have to charge more to give you a better value. It takes more time to plan and create a good web site design and there’s no “one size fits all”.

The good news is that most of your competitors will go for the bargain

They will suffer the same fate as everyone else who does not realize the value of an effective web site design. Very few of them will invest the resources needed for success. If you do, you can win. This does not mean you need the big budget of a major corporation, or that it has to be a major chunk of your marketing budget. It just means you need to be willing to do better than average and accept that you’re in it for the long term. The rewards are much greater when you stretch beyond the norm.

If you’ve read this far, I hope you’ve begun to understand what makes a good website. My next post will discuss stuff like the great ‘Social Media’ phenomenon and how you can get started with Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and all the other great stuff that’s out there to help you reach more customers.

I’m reposting this from my other blog over at Octane Gossip, as I think it bears relevance to my thoughts on the current state many people in sales will be finding themselves in

I bumped into an old friend last week, as I had to call into a car showroom I used to work in. Of course, they relocated a few years ago to a cool, trendy out-of-town site, lots of smoked glass and chrome and very nice to look at, the perfect shopping experience and surely a great place to be? But when I asked how things were going, while I didnʼt expect it to be roses given the current climate , I was truly surprised by what he had to say. “Iʼm really sick .
” Selling cars today is nothing like it was when you were at it.” I looked around the showroom, trying to find his desk. “Weʼre not allowed desks in the showroom, theyʼre seen as confrontational. Weʼve got sofas and clusters of chairs instead. What with the coffee machines, kidʼs Play Stations and widescreen TVʼs we ʼve less space to display cars here than in the old site”

Christ, feller, no wonder youʼre not making any money…

“Thatʼs not all, we ʼre not allowed to approach customers, we wait in the office until the receptionist calls us, theyʼre seen as more friendly” I can see why. The lovely long legs and black wool dress were truly impressive and no match for my freindʼs middle age spread and greying temples. But it wasnʼt selling cars.

“This jobʼs hard enough, but now, itʼs just about impossible.”

No shit, Sherlock. If youʼve got to stay in the office until called, youʼre not allowed to approach customers and the used car pitch is off limits until called, you stand no chance. My friends no Swiss Toni or vulture looking for the next punter as a victim, heʼs actually a very conscientious, professional bloke who cares about both the people he sells cars to and the company he works for – heʼs been there more than a decade. And yet heʼs desperate.

So who thought all this up? “Itʼs the new ʻRetail Conceptʼ, apparently. I just wish I could get out, but I guess Iʼm too old now …” I was staggered, but on reflection I knew why. Some marketing expert with a degree in something theoretical has pitched this as what people want – comfy, cuddly, touchy , feely car buying thatʼs big on theory and short on real world facts. So is my freind a silver haired dinosaur?

The young trendy marketing-type will doubtless think so, but Iʼve news for them. When the jobʼs on itʼs arse like it is right now and if you walk onto the used car pitch and listen carefully you can actually hear all the stock depreciating and the bank are twitching to grab back your overdraft, you need honest, motivated, hard working and above all, experienced cars salesmen. It ʼs simple mathematics . Your stock is falling in value as never before, Glassʼ Guide is punishing it with a baseball bat, so you daren ʼt let it go over-age , but you canʼt liquidate it, because no-one in the trade is buying, either because they don ʼt want to or they simply canʼt write a cheque for it either . Thatʼs when you need car sales professionals, to get out there and find retail buyers for your stock. Not flat screen TVʼs and comfy sofas.