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Casual Articles - Business Website Marketing - Don't Make These Ten Mistakes!
What if -- every time you had a networking appointment with someone -- you invited a third person. Sound like a ridiculous concept? Why on earth would you want to do this? Aren't you taking the focus off of your business and putting it on someone else's? Here are 5 reasons why multiple meetings are beneficial:YOU CAN MAKE MORE PROFESSIONAL CONNECTIONS IN LESS TIMENetworking can become very time-consuming and expensive -- especially if all you ever do is have lunch or dinner with one person at a time. And if you try to meet with every possible networking contact individually, you will never have any time to see clients! You should spend about 20% of your week marketing your business -- and you want to get the biggest bang for your networking "buck" during that time as possible. So, by meeting with two potential gateopeners at once, you are using your market
8. NO CROSS PROMOTION
If you follow this guide and don't make these mistakes, your website will be a very useful marketing tool. Now you need to tell people about it. Put your website address on everything! Your business cards, your brochures, your invoices, your cash register receipts, TV, radio - whatever!
Even though your website will be "found" by Internet searchers, remember that a high percentage of your visitors will be folks that have seen your website address somewhere other than the web. Now - where are they going to see it? That is up to you.
9. NO PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
Most people evaluate the website project by looking at how much it will cost. I agree that this is important. But you must consider other factors when building your site. One of the most important is scaleability Your business is going to grow, your website is going to have to grow with you.
Make sure you're asking yourself "how will this site serve me in the future?" A little aforethought now will help you not only save money but time in the future when its time to add pages, content and
Complete connection with every workplace communication is possible when you take time to develop the Expert Persuader Technique. Here are the tools needed to master this persuasion technique.Good News FirstYour first tool in mastering this technique is GNF - Good News First. This calls on you, each time you have to give bad news to a work team member, to begin by giving encouraging feedback first. For example, before telling them they missed a promotion, share positive comments from the selection panel.Early Agreement in NegotiationsYour negotiations, to get a hostile team member to agree to your workplace communication suggestion, need to begin by selecting three topics on which you already agree.Get them to say yes to you three times and you will greatly increase the outcome of them then sa
If you're planning a website development project, be sure to keep these ten areas in mind. If you currently have a website, use these ten as a checklist and see how you measure up:
1. NOT THINKING ABOUT THE CUSTOMER
If I've said this once, I've said it a thousand times: You don't need a website. Your customers do. Build your site with them in mind. All to often businesses get too caught up in trying to list everything they do and who they are that they forget about who's visiting the site. A simple rule to follow: if it doesn't pass the "so what" plan, get rid of it.
Now that doesn't apply to all pages on your site, of course. But it should apply to the majority of it. Especially the high traffic pages, like your homepage. That real estate is precious, so make sure your message matters to your ideal customer base.
2. NO PURPOSE FOR THE SITE
This goes hand in hand with number 1. Before you move forward, be sure to have a plan. You should have a purpose for you site and build it to match that purpose. Can the purpose change later? Of course it can. But if you try to build a site that is all things to all people, you'll end up with a site that is nothing to those that matter most - Your customers!
Here's a hint: think about your ideal employee. What would they say? What could they do? What could they handle for you in terms of communicating with your client? With that in mind, build a website that becomes your 24 hour employee.
3. YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW THEY WERE THERE
Even without a reason to return, what many sites lack is a way for visitors to tell you they visited your site to begin with. Consider this: would you build a showroom with no employees? Of course not - there would be no purpose. But, building a website with no way for the customer to interact is the same thing.
Does this mean you have to have expensive e-commerce and shopping components? No. Not every business can justify nor needs this level of web presence. However, little things like "how to" articles [take this one for instance], newsletters, free consultations or special offers are great ways to initiate contact from a visitor.
4. TOO MUCH FANCY STUFF
More often than not, when one or more of the mistakes on this page are made (usually lack of purpose, content and understanding of who the site is for) you'll find a website that is full of flashing neon banners, scrolling text, pop up ads and banner ads. The reason? Rather than plan with substance, the website was designed to either impress on sizzle or to show off the latest trick a web developer has learned.
Keep in mind that your business website should be a place that represents your business in the proper way. Most businesses can do more harm than good when elements of flash and heavy elements are introduced into their website just for the sake of being there. Is there a place for flash, moving objects and sizzle? Oh yeah - and there are lots of terrific examples out there to point to. Unfortunately, there are many bad examples as well. And that's not good for business.
5. NAVIGATION IS NOT CONSISTENT
Just like painting yourself in a corner, websites with poor or inconsistent navigation often leave visitors wondering how they got to where they are and how to get out.
This one is easy to solve, but surprisingly often overlooked. Just remember this: Never assume your visitor knows anything about your website or the browser and design your buttons so your visitor can go anywhere at any time.
6. TELL PEOPLE WHO YOU ARE
Communication is so important and yet it is done so poorly so often. Remember that you want people to find out about you, not research you. What I mean is by visiting your site, I should know what you do in a matter of seconds. Yes, seconds. Whether that is through clever photography or text or graphics, it doesn't matter.
Remember this: people don't like to read [it's amazing you've made it this far!] - say whatever you need to say in simple, clear and concise terms so everyone gets it. National newspapers are written at an 8th grade reading level. You're site should be too.
7. FIELD OF DREAMS MENTALITY
I was debating whether or not to include both 7 and 8 as one but they really are different problems, so we'll keep them as is. When someone builds a website and then does nothing to help their own cause by following basic steps, they are essentially thinking "If I build it, they will come". Hence, the Field of Dreams mentality.
Your website is competing with millions of pages on the web and you need to give it some help to get found. Meta tags, descriptions and keywords help your site to be "found" by search engines. Building the site is not good enough. Make sure you have keywords and descriptions that pertain to your website, but not in too general a term. For instance, if you are a real estate agent, using "Real Estate" is going to put you in a group of thousands and thousands of websites. But, if you live in New Hampshire and you use terms like "waterfront property in New Hampshire", you suddenly are defining your terms to fit your site.
8. NO CROSS PROMOTION
If you follow this guide and don't make these mistakes, your website will be a very useful marketing tool. Now you need to tell people about it. Put your website address on everything! Your business cards, your brochures, your invoices, your cash register receipts, TV, radio - whatever!
Even though your website will be "found" by Internet searchers, remember that a high percentage of your visitors will be folks that have seen your website address somewhere other than the web. Now - where are they going to see it? That is up to you.
9. NO PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
Most people evaluate the website project by looking at how much it will cost. I agree that this is important. But you must consider other factors when building your site. One of the most important is scaleability Your business is going to grow, your website is going to have to grow with you.
Make sure you're asking yourself "how will this site serve me in the future?" A little aforethought now will help you not only save money but time in the future when its time to add pages, content and
My company conducts surveys on behalf of customers, but personally and professionally, I think they suck!Don’t get me wrong. Wanting to get your customers’ opinions is a good thing.I just don’t think surveys get at people’s opinions efficiently or effectively, and there are better means at our disposal.For example, last night at the checkout counter at the supermarket I picked up a survey. It has a listing of eleven items, ranging from the speed and accuracy of the checkout to the freshness and selection of meat and fish. Plus, there are spaces, tiny lines at that, for recording comments and suggestions.It’s a lot to cram onto a 4 by 7 pre-stamped card.Anyway, here are just five of my concerns about a survey of this type:(1) Only a fraction of shoppers will see it in its plastic bin, pick it up, and take it with them. So, the res
Here's a hint: think about your ideal employee. What would they say? What could they do? What could they handle for you in terms of communicating with your client? With that in mind, build a website that becomes your 24 hour employee.
3. YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW THEY WERE THERE
Even without a reason to return, what many sites lack is a way for visitors to tell you they visited your site to begin with. Consider this: would you build a showroom with no employees? Of course not - there would be no purpose. But, building a website with no way for the customer to interact is the same thing.
Does this mean you have to have expensive e-commerce and shopping components? No. Not every business can justify nor needs this level of web presence. However, little things like "how to" articles [take this one for instance], newsletters, free consultations or special offers are great ways to initiate contact from a visitor.
4. TOO MUCH FANCY STUFF
More often than not, when one or more of the mistakes on this page are made (usually lack of purpose, content and understanding of who the site is for) you'll find a website that is full of flashing neon banners, scrolling text, pop up ads and banner ads. The reason? Rather than plan with substance, the website was designed to either impress on sizzle or to show off the latest trick a web developer has learned.
Keep in mind that your business website should be a place that represents your business in the proper way. Most businesses can do more harm than good when elements of flash and heavy elements are introduced into their website just for the sake of being there. Is there a place for flash, moving objects and sizzle? Oh yeah - and there are lots of terrific examples out there to point to. Unfortunately, there are many bad examples as well. And that's not good for business.
5. NAVIGATION IS NOT CONSISTENT
Just like painting yourself in a corner, websites with poor or inconsistent navigation often leave visitors wondering how they got to where they are and how to get out.
This one is easy to solve, but surprisingly often overlooked. Just remember this: Never assume your visitor knows anything about your website or the browser and design your buttons so your visitor can go anywhere at any time.
6. TELL PEOPLE WHO YOU ARE
Communication is so important and yet it is done so poorly so often. Remember that you want people to find out about you, not research you. What I mean is by visiting your site, I should know what you do in a matter of seconds. Yes, seconds. Whether that is through clever photography or text or graphics, it doesn't matter.
Remember this: people don't like to read [it's amazing you've made it this far!] - say whatever you need to say in simple, clear and concise terms so everyone gets it. National newspapers are written at an 8th grade reading level. You're site should be too.
7. FIELD OF DREAMS MENTALITY
I was debating whether or not to include both 7 and 8 as one but they really are different problems, so we'll keep them as is. When someone builds a website and then does nothing to help their own cause by following basic steps, they are essentially thinking "If I build it, they will come". Hence, the Field of Dreams mentality.
Your website is competing with millions of pages on the web and you need to give it some help to get found. Meta tags, descriptions and keywords help your site to be "found" by search engines. Building the site is not good enough. Make sure you have keywords and descriptions that pertain to your website, but not in too general a term. For instance, if you are a real estate agent, using "Real Estate" is going to put you in a group of thousands and thousands of websites. But, if you live in New Hampshire and you use terms like "waterfront property in New Hampshire", you suddenly are defining your terms to fit your site.
8. NO CROSS PROMOTION
If you follow this guide and don't make these mistakes, your website will be a very useful marketing tool. Now you need to tell people about it. Put your website address on everything! Your business cards, your brochures, your invoices, your cash register receipts, TV, radio - whatever!
Even though your website will be "found" by Internet searchers, remember that a high percentage of your visitors will be folks that have seen your website address somewhere other than the web. Now - where are they going to see it? That is up to you.
9. NO PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
Most people evaluate the website project by looking at how much it will cost. I agree that this is important. But you must consider other factors when building your site. One of the most important is scaleability Your business is going to grow, your website is going to have to grow with you.
Make sure you're asking yourself "how will this site serve me in the future?" A little aforethought now will help you not only save money but time in the future when its time to add pages, content and
So you want to create an income from Adsense then, right? And you know that it's possible to make a massive residual Adsense income from Adsense ads placed on your website, right?Well let's think about it for a second. Slow down and really imagine that thought for a moment or two. You actually think you can create an adsense income just by placing adsense ads on your website, and people will flock to your website, and click on your adsense ads a million times, and you'll be filthy stinking rich overnight, precious? Hmm.......Okay, I know you're not that stupid, and you realise there's more work involved with adsense to make things work right. And by right, I mean the above scenario actually happens. People visit your site, and by clever application of certain insider techniques, visitors st
Keep in mind that your business website should be a place that represents your business in the proper way. Most businesses can do more harm than good when elements of flash and heavy elements are introduced into their website just for the sake of being there. Is there a place for flash, moving objects and sizzle? Oh yeah - and there are lots of terrific examples out there to point to. Unfortunately, there are many bad examples as well. And that's not good for business.
5. NAVIGATION IS NOT CONSISTENT
Just like painting yourself in a corner, websites with poor or inconsistent navigation often leave visitors wondering how they got to where they are and how to get out.
This one is easy to solve, but surprisingly often overlooked. Just remember this: Never assume your visitor knows anything about your website or the browser and design your buttons so your visitor can go anywhere at any time.
6. TELL PEOPLE WHO YOU ARE
Communication is so important and yet it is done so poorly so often. Remember that you want people to find out about you, not research you. What I mean is by visiting your site, I should know what you do in a matter of seconds. Yes, seconds. Whether that is through clever photography or text or graphics, it doesn't matter.
Remember this: people don't like to read [it's amazing you've made it this far!] - say whatever you need to say in simple, clear and concise terms so everyone gets it. National newspapers are written at an 8th grade reading level. You're site should be too.
7. FIELD OF DREAMS MENTALITY
I was debating whether or not to include both 7 and 8 as one but they really are different problems, so we'll keep them as is. When someone builds a website and then does nothing to help their own cause by following basic steps, they are essentially thinking "If I build it, they will come". Hence, the Field of Dreams mentality.
Your website is competing with millions of pages on the web and you need to give it some help to get found. Meta tags, descriptions and keywords help your site to be "found" by search engines. Building the site is not good enough. Make sure you have keywords and descriptions that pertain to your website, but not in too general a term. For instance, if you are a real estate agent, using "Real Estate" is going to put you in a group of thousands and thousands of websites. But, if you live in New Hampshire and you use terms like "waterfront property in New Hampshire", you suddenly are defining your terms to fit your site.
8. NO CROSS PROMOTION
If you follow this guide and don't make these mistakes, your website will be a very useful marketing tool. Now you need to tell people about it. Put your website address on everything! Your business cards, your brochures, your invoices, your cash register receipts, TV, radio - whatever!
Even though your website will be "found" by Internet searchers, remember that a high percentage of your visitors will be folks that have seen your website address somewhere other than the web. Now - where are they going to see it? That is up to you.
9. NO PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
Most people evaluate the website project by looking at how much it will cost. I agree that this is important. But you must consider other factors when building your site. One of the most important is scaleability Your business is going to grow, your website is going to have to grow with you.
Make sure you're asking yourself "how will this site serve me in the future?" A little aforethought now will help you not only save money but time in the future when its time to add pages, content and
The market for kid’s products has skyrocketed in the last 20 years. The baby boomer generation, with a higher average income, and their wealthier children will pay higher prices for their children. When you consider the grandparents and other relatives on top of that, you will see that a very healthy group of consumers waits to compensate the serious retail entrepreneur. Conditions are better than ever in selling merchandise for babies and children, so naturally a plethora of specialty stores have come to existence that are either devoted to juvenile merchandise or have a section of their store for such products.Unfortunately, many retailers do not profit accordingly because they fail to merchandise correctly. The major retail chains have a strong hold on this market, so it is important to know how to compete. The concentration of these major stores is focuse
Remember this: people don't like to read [it's amazing you've made it this far!] - say whatever you need to say in simple, clear and concise terms so everyone gets it. National newspapers are written at an 8th grade reading level. You're site should be too.
7. FIELD OF DREAMS MENTALITY
I was debating whether or not to include both 7 and 8 as one but they really are different problems, so we'll keep them as is. When someone builds a website and then does nothing to help their own cause by following basic steps, they are essentially thinking "If I build it, they will come". Hence, the Field of Dreams mentality.
Your website is competing with millions of pages on the web and you need to give it some help to get found. Meta tags, descriptions and keywords help your site to be "found" by search engines. Building the site is not good enough. Make sure you have keywords and descriptions that pertain to your website, but not in too general a term. For instance, if you are a real estate agent, using "Real Estate" is going to put you in a group of thousands and thousands of websites. But, if you live in New Hampshire and you use terms like "waterfront property in New Hampshire", you suddenly are defining your terms to fit your site.
8. NO CROSS PROMOTION
If you follow this guide and don't make these mistakes, your website will be a very useful marketing tool. Now you need to tell people about it. Put your website address on everything! Your business cards, your brochures, your invoices, your cash register receipts, TV, radio - whatever!
Even though your website will be "found" by Internet searchers, remember that a high percentage of your visitors will be folks that have seen your website address somewhere other than the web. Now - where are they going to see it? That is up to you.
9. NO PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
Most people evaluate the website project by looking at how much it will cost. I agree that this is important. But you must consider other factors when building your site. One of the most important is scaleability Your business is going to grow, your website is going to have to grow with you.
Make sure you're asking yourself "how will this site serve me in the future?" A little aforethought now will help you not only save money but time in the future when its time to add pages, content and
In the 1992 USA Presidential election, political strategist James Carville hung a sign in Bill Clinton's Little Rock campaign office that read, “It’s still the economy, stupid.” His intent? Simply to keep everybody focused on the most important issue of the day. History clearly demonstrates he was right and George Bush Sr. was soundly defeated.The lesson to be learned from this is that even the most important among us; the inarguably qualified, are still not immune to a potential to overlook the obvious.When it comes to job-hunting, nearly everyone’s heard the mantra; You never get a second chance to make a first impression. True words to be sure - the importance of which, few will argue. Nevertheless, too many of us fail to appreciate how critical and how important the first impression really is.Need proof? Try a little experiment of your own. Sit d
8. NO CROSS PROMOTION
If you follow this guide and don't make these mistakes, your website will be a very useful marketing tool. Now you need to tell people about it. Put your website address on everything! Your business cards, your brochures, your invoices, your cash register receipts, TV, radio - whatever!
Even though your website will be "found" by Internet searchers, remember that a high percentage of your visitors will be folks that have seen your website address somewhere other than the web. Now - where are they going to see it? That is up to you.
9. NO PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE
Most people evaluate the website project by looking at how much it will cost. I agree that this is important. But you must consider other factors when building your site. One of the most important is scaleability Your business is going to grow, your website is going to have to grow with you.
Make sure you're asking yourself "how will this site serve me in the future?" A little aforethought now will help you not only save money but time in the future when its time to add pages, content and additional features.
10. BASIC CONTACT INFORMATION IS HARD TO FIND
This one is the most amazing to me. I can't believe how many people don't put their phone number or email address out in the open where it can be easily seen and used. You would be surprised how many people use the web as a phone book. Not putting your phone number or email where people can see it tells them you really are not interested in hearing from them.
Think about that.
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