Recently in Management Category
I was at a networking function for the International Business Academy, LLC recently and part of our speaker's table top exercise was to go around the table and each person ask this question, "What expectations do you have of a ____________ that you would do business with?'. As we went around the table it was very revealing to me as to what the business community thought of each others industries. When it was my turn I asked the question, "What expectations do you have of a web development firm that you would do business with?" I have to admit that the answers were very to the point and interesting enough riddled with emotion that was prompted from many bad experiences with so called professionals in our industry. The strong emotionals revealed in their answers was something I was surprised by. Here are some of their comments:
• I like to get a website that works! This person was on her third web developer and interviewing a fourth after our breakfast meeting in hopes she could find someone that would get her site to function properly and her shopping cart to at least take orders consistently. You could tell from her voice she was frustrated to say the least since her company's future growth depended on her website working 24/7.
• I would like to find someone that I can depend on for support and ongoing ideas to help me grow. That seems to be the general consensus of those at the table. They all wished they could get prompt support when they needed it. Many commented that when they went back to their original web person they were no where to be found. As to getting new ideas to help them grow, many designers are notorious for the statement, "Tell me what you want and I'll create it!" What's the point? If all our clients knew what they wanted they wouldn't need us. Most of the time our customers have no clue how all of this technology works nor do they care, they just want ongoing ideas that will drive sales and grow their brand online. In our opinion that the fun part of our job, helping companies grow by discussing how you can use technology to create an affinity with your brand!
• I'd like to have a design that was unique, simple and clean instead of some template? While templates are good for those on very, very tight budgets, there is nothing like having a custom designed site done that is specific to your needs, customers and is simple in design and navigation. We have found that with our simple, clean designs we can make any company look like a million bucks for far less than they might think.
• I'd like to find a developer that will design my site so it's flexible and expandable as I grow. Great web development firms always make this a priority. If you don't hear that your new website will be flexible and expandable long term from your current web development company's lips when it's time for a strategic makeover, run to get help immediately!! As a business owner myself, I have to get long term value from every investment I make. I'm drive to make sure our clients get the same.
I was surprised to hear these complaints from the various companies at the table but what they were concerned and frustrated about most are the sort of services we commit to do every day with our customers. Our mission is simple! "Make sure that your company's brand is IN demand 24/7 on the World Wide Web." By creating simple and compelling websites that work all of the time, constantly sharing unique strategies that build relationships with your site visitors and your company's brand of products, we make sure you get a great return on your investment long term.
By the way, over coffee after breakfast we all got to talking and sharing about some really great ideas that all of us have been using successfully to grow our brands online. If you 'd like to find out more about those ideas just email me at mark@csmediagroup.com and I'll send you a copy of my notes.
• I like to get a website that works! This person was on her third web developer and interviewing a fourth after our breakfast meeting in hopes she could find someone that would get her site to function properly and her shopping cart to at least take orders consistently. You could tell from her voice she was frustrated to say the least since her company's future growth depended on her website working 24/7.
• I would like to find someone that I can depend on for support and ongoing ideas to help me grow. That seems to be the general consensus of those at the table. They all wished they could get prompt support when they needed it. Many commented that when they went back to their original web person they were no where to be found. As to getting new ideas to help them grow, many designers are notorious for the statement, "Tell me what you want and I'll create it!" What's the point? If all our clients knew what they wanted they wouldn't need us. Most of the time our customers have no clue how all of this technology works nor do they care, they just want ongoing ideas that will drive sales and grow their brand online. In our opinion that the fun part of our job, helping companies grow by discussing how you can use technology to create an affinity with your brand!
• I'd like to have a design that was unique, simple and clean instead of some template? While templates are good for those on very, very tight budgets, there is nothing like having a custom designed site done that is specific to your needs, customers and is simple in design and navigation. We have found that with our simple, clean designs we can make any company look like a million bucks for far less than they might think.
• I'd like to find a developer that will design my site so it's flexible and expandable as I grow. Great web development firms always make this a priority. If you don't hear that your new website will be flexible and expandable long term from your current web development company's lips when it's time for a strategic makeover, run to get help immediately!! As a business owner myself, I have to get long term value from every investment I make. I'm drive to make sure our clients get the same.
I was surprised to hear these complaints from the various companies at the table but what they were concerned and frustrated about most are the sort of services we commit to do every day with our customers. Our mission is simple! "Make sure that your company's brand is IN demand 24/7 on the World Wide Web." By creating simple and compelling websites that work all of the time, constantly sharing unique strategies that build relationships with your site visitors and your company's brand of products, we make sure you get a great return on your investment long term.
By the way, over coffee after breakfast we all got to talking and sharing about some really great ideas that all of us have been using successfully to grow our brands online. If you 'd like to find out more about those ideas just email me at mark@csmediagroup.com and I'll send you a copy of my notes.
Surprisingly many companies today still do not see the impact that their company logo has on growing their business. They don't realize that it...
Establishes Your Identity
A strong identity will help your business attract new customers and keep existing customers coming back.
Reinforces Your Brand
Familiarity is vital to growing your business. Logo design is a primary factor since your company logo is the cornerstone of all of your marketing and promotional material. A unique logo will not only tell people what and who you are but it will set you apart from the competition.
Create a long-term impression with your company logo design
Nike, Mercedes, Samsung. Each of these companies created a long-term impression with their logo. An effective logo design can help turn your business into a household name. Apple reinvented itself with a new version of their logo design. Burger King did the same so did Adidas, and UPS. They did not spend millions for a nice looking design, they did it for one simple reason, a logo design defines a company’s direction and character.
Professional corporate logo design increases credibility
Competition is fierce in today's economy. Business owners, small and large, need to gain credibility in order to contend with existing industry leaders and gain market share. A corporate logo design properly used will allow you to create your brand and effectively market your product or service. We will not only design your new business logo design but we will show you how to use your logo design effectively.
Establishes Your Identity
A strong identity will help your business attract new customers and keep existing customers coming back.
Reinforces Your Brand
Familiarity is vital to growing your business. Logo design is a primary factor since your company logo is the cornerstone of all of your marketing and promotional material. A unique logo will not only tell people what and who you are but it will set you apart from the competition.
Create a long-term impression with your company logo design
Nike, Mercedes, Samsung. Each of these companies created a long-term impression with their logo. An effective logo design can help turn your business into a household name. Apple reinvented itself with a new version of their logo design. Burger King did the same so did Adidas, and UPS. They did not spend millions for a nice looking design, they did it for one simple reason, a logo design defines a company’s direction and character.
Professional corporate logo design increases credibility
Competition is fierce in today's economy. Business owners, small and large, need to gain credibility in order to contend with existing industry leaders and gain market share. A corporate logo design properly used will allow you to create your brand and effectively market your product or service. We will not only design your new business logo design but we will show you how to use your logo design effectively.
Any business owner will tell you that there is no such thing as a perfect salesman! If you listen long enough you'll find that many salesmen are often categorized as lazy, arrogant, self centered, over paid, hired guns that get to do nothing but entertain clients and play golf three times a week. Sound pretty darn good! As a matter of fact where can I sign up for a job like that?
What if you could hire the perfect salesman for your company? Wouldn't you agree that the perfect salesman should have some if not all of the following characteristics:
- Always shows up for work on time
- Works late and on weekends
- Has a great work ethic
- Only needs to be paid once a year
- Doesn't need any benefits
- Never takes a vacation
- Never calls in sick
- Never needs personal or sick days
- Never talks back to you
- Never wines or complains about his work
- Never asks for a raise
- Does what you tell them to do immediately
- Hangs on your every word
- Constantly giving you feedback on your customers
- Provides you with a completed activity report every day
- Grows your bottom line growth by at least 10% a year
- Is always willing to travel the globe to tell your story and to close deals
You would have to agree that finding such a salesman like that would never happen or could it be possible? In reality you could have such a salesman like that in a well designed, professional website. A well engineered website will do all the things a perfect salesman can do and more.
It always surprises us to hear that over 60% of small businesses in America have no web presence at all. And the remaining ones don't realize that an effective website is the single most critical business marketing tool they should have! Long before you hire a real flesh and blood salesman hire, train, develop and invest in your virtual salesman first.
Most business owners don't realize that the moment their new website launches their company just went global. No amount of advertising will give that far of a reach for just a few thousand dollars invested in your business.
If you are looking for that perfect salesman you really don't have to go to far! Be sure your company is working with a well established Internet marketing and design firm. It will ensure your investment in that 'perfect' salesman keeps growing your bottom line.
What if you could hire the perfect salesman for your company? Wouldn't you agree that the perfect salesman should have some if not all of the following characteristics:
- Always shows up for work on time
- Works late and on weekends
- Has a great work ethic
- Only needs to be paid once a year
- Doesn't need any benefits
- Never takes a vacation
- Never calls in sick
- Never needs personal or sick days
- Never talks back to you
- Never wines or complains about his work
- Never asks for a raise
- Does what you tell them to do immediately
- Hangs on your every word
- Constantly giving you feedback on your customers
- Provides you with a completed activity report every day
- Grows your bottom line growth by at least 10% a year
- Is always willing to travel the globe to tell your story and to close deals
You would have to agree that finding such a salesman like that would never happen or could it be possible? In reality you could have such a salesman like that in a well designed, professional website. A well engineered website will do all the things a perfect salesman can do and more.
It always surprises us to hear that over 60% of small businesses in America have no web presence at all. And the remaining ones don't realize that an effective website is the single most critical business marketing tool they should have! Long before you hire a real flesh and blood salesman hire, train, develop and invest in your virtual salesman first.
Most business owners don't realize that the moment their new website launches their company just went global. No amount of advertising will give that far of a reach for just a few thousand dollars invested in your business.
If you are looking for that perfect salesman you really don't have to go to far! Be sure your company is working with a well established Internet marketing and design firm. It will ensure your investment in that 'perfect' salesman keeps growing your bottom line.
You now have your website designed and you finally feel as if you are competing in the global Internet economy. The next step is to make certain that your website is giving you the return on your investment that meets your goals.
In any business you always look at the KPI's (Key Performance Indicators) to determine if your marketing, customer service, retail operations, etc. are producing the results you want and need. Your website is no different. We have developed a tracking system to know the what, where, why, when and how your website is performing month to month.
The following are the top ten basic website KPI's:
1. Defining visits and unique visitors. Your hosting company should have access to this information 24/7 in the form of analytic software like <a href="http://awstats.sourceforge.net/" target="_blank">AWStats</a> right on your server. If your hosting company does not have this information available you need to find one that does. Remember that most people confuse the large number of hits their site may be getting with the often time much lower number of unique visitors. The number of unique visitors is what's important. For the sites that we host, we make certain that this information is tracked monthly at the very least.
2. Search results. You typically find a search function on the larger websites on the Internet. This makes it easy for a site visitor to find exactly what they want. If the right search application is installed, it tracks the numbers of searches visitors are making and what it is they are looking for. Armed with this information we can expand and beef up those areas on your site where necessary. The application can also track the keywords visitors are using to search with. That information can be used to maximize your keywords for search optimizations of your site.
3. Visit duration. This is important when looking at your site's traffic analytics from your hosting provider. It shows the average duration that each visitor spends on your site. Considering that the average person spends less than two minutes, often times less than thirty seconds on any given site, you want to look for an average of two minutes or more. When that time continues to climb your site is really beginning to work for you and grow your business.
4. Conversion. Conversion events is another factor we examine. These indicators give a strong notion that what information you have on your site as well as the offers you are making are what site visitors want. Here are just a few (non exhaustive list) conversion events:
- Makes a purchase.
- Opts into a Newsletter,
- Submits some type of personal information,
- Subscribes to a RSS feed,
- Prints a page,
- Uses "email this to a friend" functionality,
- Spends more than ten minutes browsing the site.
- Downloads a document or an application.
- Looks at a set of important pages.
- Views a set number of pages during a visit.
- Clicks on a particular link to leave the site.
- Search for a specific product or piece of information.
Those are a few of the conversion items we track month to month.
5. Cost per referral. The nice thing about the web is that your site takes a visitor from a cold prospect to a warm referral. A warm referral is already familiar with your company, knows about your products and/or services and is comfortable enough to contact you by phone or at the least complete a contact form with their information. We make certain your contact form works for you and qualifies your visitors’ needs. Expanding your contact form alone can improve significantly your return on referrals.
6. Reach. With today's analytics we can actually track the number of visitors, including what cities they have come from to reach your site, from the ‘global marketplace.’ That alone is a huge advantage over your competition. You can use that data to target marketing campaigns, franchising efforts, expansion, and more.
7. Stickiness. This is not just a buzz word. We consider a site 'sticky' if it has the sort of resources and fresh content that encourages return visits, and as an end result, more purchases. We create blogs for our clients and that is one of the easiest ways to create stickiness. Our goal is that our own Brainstorm Blog becomes 'sticky' for many visitors.
8. Measuring offline activities using online support. If you want to improve website use and decrease call center costs, we have a recommendation for you. We have more and more of our clients using unique URLs or landing pages for their offline communications. We suggest that you use a unique telephone number of the call center that can be found only on your website. This will eventually reduce your costs and provide important tracking information.
9. Feedback Often times feedback from your existing or past customers can help you identify the areas in your business (including customer service) that need improvement. There are some very interesting ways to get that information that doesn't cost a lot of money or take much of your time. You can do it by running an online contest for a drawing. The bigger the prize the more information you can ask them to give you about your website, your products, services and your company overall. An online survey, without the visitor being required to give their name, is the best way to get the truth.
10. Profit The defining measurement of the success of your website is your profit. Using all of your KPI's from your website, and those from the offline portion of your business, we help you define if the web is working for your business, and most importantly, growing bottom line profits.
Having the knowledge of your KPI’s, we can improve your website based on the most important information available - what your visitors are telling you.
In any business you always look at the KPI's (Key Performance Indicators) to determine if your marketing, customer service, retail operations, etc. are producing the results you want and need. Your website is no different. We have developed a tracking system to know the what, where, why, when and how your website is performing month to month.
The following are the top ten basic website KPI's:
1. Defining visits and unique visitors. Your hosting company should have access to this information 24/7 in the form of analytic software like <a href="http://awstats.sourceforge.net/" target="_blank">AWStats</a> right on your server. If your hosting company does not have this information available you need to find one that does. Remember that most people confuse the large number of hits their site may be getting with the often time much lower number of unique visitors. The number of unique visitors is what's important. For the sites that we host, we make certain that this information is tracked monthly at the very least.
2. Search results. You typically find a search function on the larger websites on the Internet. This makes it easy for a site visitor to find exactly what they want. If the right search application is installed, it tracks the numbers of searches visitors are making and what it is they are looking for. Armed with this information we can expand and beef up those areas on your site where necessary. The application can also track the keywords visitors are using to search with. That information can be used to maximize your keywords for search optimizations of your site.
3. Visit duration. This is important when looking at your site's traffic analytics from your hosting provider. It shows the average duration that each visitor spends on your site. Considering that the average person spends less than two minutes, often times less than thirty seconds on any given site, you want to look for an average of two minutes or more. When that time continues to climb your site is really beginning to work for you and grow your business.
4. Conversion. Conversion events is another factor we examine. These indicators give a strong notion that what information you have on your site as well as the offers you are making are what site visitors want. Here are just a few (non exhaustive list) conversion events:
- Makes a purchase.
- Opts into a Newsletter,
- Submits some type of personal information,
- Subscribes to a RSS feed,
- Prints a page,
- Uses "email this to a friend" functionality,
- Spends more than ten minutes browsing the site.
- Downloads a document or an application.
- Looks at a set of important pages.
- Views a set number of pages during a visit.
- Clicks on a particular link to leave the site.
- Search for a specific product or piece of information.
Those are a few of the conversion items we track month to month.
5. Cost per referral. The nice thing about the web is that your site takes a visitor from a cold prospect to a warm referral. A warm referral is already familiar with your company, knows about your products and/or services and is comfortable enough to contact you by phone or at the least complete a contact form with their information. We make certain your contact form works for you and qualifies your visitors’ needs. Expanding your contact form alone can improve significantly your return on referrals.
6. Reach. With today's analytics we can actually track the number of visitors, including what cities they have come from to reach your site, from the ‘global marketplace.’ That alone is a huge advantage over your competition. You can use that data to target marketing campaigns, franchising efforts, expansion, and more.
7. Stickiness. This is not just a buzz word. We consider a site 'sticky' if it has the sort of resources and fresh content that encourages return visits, and as an end result, more purchases. We create blogs for our clients and that is one of the easiest ways to create stickiness. Our goal is that our own Brainstorm Blog becomes 'sticky' for many visitors.
8. Measuring offline activities using online support. If you want to improve website use and decrease call center costs, we have a recommendation for you. We have more and more of our clients using unique URLs or landing pages for their offline communications. We suggest that you use a unique telephone number of the call center that can be found only on your website. This will eventually reduce your costs and provide important tracking information.
9. Feedback Often times feedback from your existing or past customers can help you identify the areas in your business (including customer service) that need improvement. There are some very interesting ways to get that information that doesn't cost a lot of money or take much of your time. You can do it by running an online contest for a drawing. The bigger the prize the more information you can ask them to give you about your website, your products, services and your company overall. An online survey, without the visitor being required to give their name, is the best way to get the truth.
10. Profit The defining measurement of the success of your website is your profit. Using all of your KPI's from your website, and those from the offline portion of your business, we help you define if the web is working for your business, and most importantly, growing bottom line profits.
Having the knowledge of your KPI’s, we can improve your website based on the most important information available - what your visitors are telling you.
