Building your business without getting lost in the minutia

September 6th, 2011

Every entrepreneur wants to build their business but most new businesses have to be very lean in order to get off the ground. Unfortunately for most businesses that means doing without key things that can help their business thrive but that does not have to be the case. Just because you do not have the specific skills needed for a task and you cannot afford to have a full or even part-time employee around to get the things done that you need does not mean that you have to do without. There are inexpensive options available to give you the help you need so you can focus more on the business of building your business.

Picture it, your office, now. You, focusing on meeting your clients needs while your daily office/business needs are effortlessly handled by an unseen force? It is an amazing feeling right? You, focusing on the stuff that made you want to start your own business in the first place, not a care in the world. Sound too good to be true? What could this amazing unseen force be? It is none other than your Virtual Assistant. That’s right, your heard me…Virtual. And I am not talking about The H.A.L 9000 or some scary SkyNet kind of thing that will take your data in a desperate plot to take over the world. I am talking about highly skilled professionals working from home that can remotely help your back office run at peak efficiency.

Think about it like hiring a temp from an agency but rather than getting basic computer skills and the task for providing office space and equipment, you get someone with experience doing exactly what you need done who provides their own equipment and can help you at just about any hour of the day (within reason of course). You can find VA’s with skills that run the gamut from very broad skill sets to help you take care of stuff that piles up and keeps you from getting to more important things to very narrow specializations to help you with more of a surgical focus and everything in-between.

Need someone to answer the phones so you can get out for a few hours a day unencumbered?
No problem. There are many ways in which your local business calls can be routed to a VA so they make appointments, take messages or anything else you require.

Perhaps you have great marketing ideas and have no clue hoe to implement them?
That’s not a problem either. You can find marketing writers to help with your website and other marketing content.

Does Social Networking completely elude you?
You are covered there too with social media experts who can not only get you setup with the likes of Facebook and Twitter but will also keep it updated for you to keep your presence fresh.

Bookkeeping not really your bag, baby?
You can find a VA to handle your payables and receivables to ensure that you are always in good standing with your vendors while making sure that your clients are in good standing with you.

Web Guys getting you down?
You can even find someone to make your website updates for you so you don’t have to pay outrageous maintenance costs to unscrupulous web developers.

And instead of paying for someone 25-40 hours a week, you only pay for the time you use and the rates are very reasonable. So what all can you get? The sky’s the limit. If there is a need, chances are the is a VA out the that is specializing in easing that pain.

And the list goes on. If you need it done, chances are there is someone out there with the expertise you need, ready to help.

So what are you waiting for? You can get exactly the help you need without the unnecessary overhead so have a seat at the table, tuck in and help your business grow.

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Posted in Branding, Email Marketing, Marketing, Reputation Management, SEM, SEO, Social Media, Website, WordPress | No Comments »

Zen and the Art of Email List Maintenance

August 18th, 2011

Many business owners new and old ponder the age-old question of how to build and expand an email list for their online marketing efforts. While the question of building a list is important, the more important thing to consider out of the box is how to maintain it once it inevitably reaches critical mass (what can I say, I am more of glass is too big kind of guy).

Now some people like to stick with the old capture an email one at a time and maintain the list offline is something high-tech like a spreadsheet way of doing things. This is very time-consuming and leaves you open to all sorts of human error issues from forgetting to add a name to the list all the way to forgetting to unsubscribe someone. Others may  have a custom application that captures the information in a database to try to keep the issues at a minimum and lessen the time it takes each month to maintain their list but this way still requires you to handle subscribes and unsubscribes somewhat manually.

All this time spent maintaining your email list can defeat the purpose of having one in the first place because rather than being able to concentrate on your business and making your clients aware of the latest and greatest, you are spending all of that quality marketing time (that could be spent on developing your promotion or enhancing your product) on making sure that the little old lady in Pasadena (who may not even get to her email for days at a time) is receiving your less than well thought out message. So what is the answer? When in doubt go to the professionals!

As I have stated in previous posts, a veritable gaggle of reasonable priced companies have popped up to fill this void. Now I know what you are thinking,”Why would I have a company do nothing but maintain my list?” and the simple answer is that you wouldn’t. The companies I am talking about specialize in email delivery but they offer this business saving service FREE as a part of using their service. And small businesses can easily find FREE Trials (like AWeber, VerticalResponse, and GetResponse for example) and depending on your list size and mailing requirements FREE forever (like my personal favorite MailChimp).

So seriously, how can they help?

  1. Well, to start they will allow you to import your existing list so you breathe a little easier.
  2. Then they provide you with a form you can place on your website to use for capturing email information. This is key because information submitted here goes right to your list and if you have more than one, that can be delineated as well to make sure that people who wanted to hear more about your great Green Bean Casserole recipe can be separated from those interested in your 14 ways to deal with household insect incursions.
  3. Once people are subscribed they can be sent a verification email so you can be doubly sure that they wanted to receive email from you and are not just the innocent victim of a vindictive co-worker who knows they have an irrational fear of overcooked legumes and singed them up for your casserole recipe list as a way to get back at them for not sharing their Shamrock shake…but I digress.
  4. And in the event that they intended to subscribe but your recipes somehow remind them too much of their dearly departed aunt Flo (the Green Bean Casserole Queen of Tallulah Falls), they can use a link provided to unsubscribe from your list.

With all of this functionality at your finger tips, you are now no longer a slave to the innumerable changes to your list each month. Now you can focus on the business of marketing your products/services secure in the knowledge that the list you use to disseminate your pearls of business brilliance is the best list it can be each and every time you setup a new campaign. And who knows, with all this extra time you may want to start another list or two with which to dazzle the masses with your new-found love for croquet mallets.

 

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What to look for in a web host, the basics

May 17th, 2011

Most people are somewhat at a loss when it comes to choosing a web host. It is generally believed that all hosts are created equal and the only real determining factor is price. Sadly this is not the case and if you let price alone drive your hosting decision you might end up with a big headache for the foreseeable future. Now don’t get me wrong, cost should be a factor, it just should not be the ONLY factor in making your decision. Besides, anymore a small business can get decent hosting for as little as $4/month so it is a lot easier to focus on what the host can do for you.

Functionality

Server Software
The first stop on your hosting voyage should be about the functionality that the host offers. Now start back to your homework again. As I may have mentioned before making a plan is always the best any to start any web project. And if you have your plan handy, then you will know what you are looking for. At the most basic level you need to decide between Linux and Windows hosting. There are pros and cons to both, the key is knowing what your finished site will require (if anything) in order to function the most effectively. Linux is usually a safe bet if you are not sure and a basic static HTML site will work on either platform out of the box  but having a plan will take the guess-work out of it.

If your site is going to be built using PHP (whether it be a custom build or something like WordPress) you are best off with a Linux server. While with .ASP or .Net, a Windows server is a better option. There are components that will allow some things to run on either platform interchangeably but depending on your planned use, it is best to stick with the type of server it was initially designed to use.

Storage & Transfer
Other things to consider when choosing your hosting plan is the amount of storage space and data transfer you are allotted each month as part of your plan. Storage space is pretty straight forward – it is the amount of physical disk space you have available for storing your files on the web server but Data Transfer is a little trickier. Data Transfer is more about traffic. It is the amount of data that can be transferred from your site to your visitors each month. Now, I know what you are thinking, “that does not pertain to me because I don’t really have anything I want people to download”. Well, that is not exactly what it means. Data Transfer covers every page and every element of every page that is sent to a user when they come to your site. What that means is that if you have an HTML page that is 10K and you have 5 images on that page that are each 20K, you are transferring 110K of data each time that page is viewed.  Plans generally cover 2-5GB of data transfer each month and unless you actually have large downloadable files  or have mistakenly decided to host your own videos on the site, most small business will not have an issue with this. But be weary, If you do end up going over your allotment it might come back to bite you with up-charges. Video is usually the cause of data transfer up-charges and one of the best ways for small businesses to avoid this type of issue is to host your video on a sharing site like YouTube because you can still embed the video in your page but the data is being transferred directly from YouTube to your visitors so you get to see the benefits of having video on your site without the potential cost issues.

For most small businesses a basic plan will have all that you need.

Email
Email is an often overlooked component of web hosting packages. Never discount the value of having an email address that is specifically associated with your domain. It presents a much more professional image and many times you get a great deal more functionality out of it that you would have with Gmail, Yahoo or your local cable provider. Most come with at least 10 email addresses and some come with hundreds. Make sure to pay attention to the available features for your email as well while deciding.

Databases
Depending on the type of site you are building you may also need a Database. And although PHP, ASP and .NET do not require the use of a database to be useful, their real power comes from the dynamic delivery of content. The most common type of database is MySQL which is generally offered with Linux plans (and required for WordPress) while Microsoft SQL server is the DB of choice for .NET.

Reliability
A major differentiator between different web hosts is reliability. Most decent hosts offer a 99% + up-time guarantee. You need to make sure that the host you choose is not a fly by night operation that is going to cause more problems than it solves but bigger does not always equal better. Some of the big boys have had financial issues in recent years causing problems for their users when they had to sell out and the users had to jump through hoops to keep everything status quo.  Make sure you are comfortable with the host you chooses because the longer you are with them, the harder it is to leave. And if you do end up having to leave (no matter how little time you have spent with them) be prepared for the pains that can accompany it (propagating your domain to a new host can cause downtime with your website as well as wreak havoc on your email). The best option is to do your homework upfront so you don’t have to deal with the dentist over the issues caused by excessive teeth gnashing.

Service
For the most part, customer service with your web host will be pretty transparent and you won’t really care, that is until you have an issue. And although they do not happen with great frequency, problems do occur and they seem to always happen at the most inopportune times. And at times like those it is good to know there is someone you can contact to get it resolved quickly. Check to see how they handle customer service. Is it email only or do they have a number you can call and do they have hours that will work for your needs? I know I have had to contact support in the middle of the night a few times for different clients and the fact that I was able to get a response from someone at 2AM and avoid the potential unpleasantness from eager site goers inability to do what they wanted was more than worth it. Make sure their availability will suite your needs (and a phone number as an option is always a huge plus).

There are a number of companies out there that can get you what you need, when you need it, with reliability and  service to back up the sale. Some of my top picks are below:

BlueHost
GoDaddy

Now that you know what you are looking for (at least on a basic level), get out there and find the host that can help make your online dreams a reality.

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How can I do an Email Newsletter, let me count the ways…

April 19th, 2011

One of the most popular methods of building an email marketing database is through subscriptions to an email newsletter. They are a great way to connect with new potential customers but how do you get started with one? Once the decision is made, you can get things going in pretty short order, but as with most things you need a good recipe to get things just right. And the best way to ensure a tasty dish, as I may have mentioned in previous posts, is to think it through before you start. So whats to think about, right? You want to increase your email database and what you have to say is definitely monumentally important to anyone with half a brain so you should just make it happen, right? Well, not necessarily. If you take a little time to think it through before you start, you can make your first endeavor into the world of email marketing a much more successful one.

So let’s think it through a bit:

Purpose:
I know you want ti increase your email database, but is that the only purpose behind your need to shower unsuspecting readers with your thought-provoking prose? Think about your ultimate goal in adding to your email database. Is it to drive traffic to your website, increase sales for specific products, interest potential attendees in upcoming events or to simply a way to stay connected with your client base by informing them of what is new and happening with your company?

Content:
What type of content do you want to present? Just because you have a good idea for an article or two in the inaugural issue does not mean your newsletter will have legs. Make sure that the concept behind the newsletter is scalable enough to include as yet undetermined topics for your concept. You don’t want to develop a newsletter entirely around the “pitfalls of baking 3″ diameter apple tarts during the winter solstice” when a slightly broader topic like “3″ tarts” will allow you the fluidity needed to keep your readers interested with a broader range of topics throughout the year.

Format:
How do you want your newsletter to be read? It seems like a simple enough questions but it is one that can have a great impact on how your particular brand of literary brilliance is received. There are a number of ways to format a newsletter, all of which are good, but what works best for you is entirely dependent on the content you plan to provide. The two most common types are the All-in-one and the click-through.

All-In-One
The all-in-one type brings all of the content of the newsletter right to your subscribers inbox. They allow the subscriber to easily digest the information for quick action.These work very well for company announcements, affiliate sales and newsletters with fewer articles or shorter content. The advantage of these is they are entirely encapsulated so they are easy to read on the go with various wireless devices.

Click through
The click-through type of newsletter is one that provides a summary of each article with a link to continue reading. This type of newsletter generally has both an email and website component It is more suited to newsletters with a great deal of technical content, a large numbers of topics or longer more in-depth articles. Although it can be more time-consuming to maintain, this type of newsletter allows for additional benefits outside of simply bolstering your email database. With this type of newsletter you are driving traffic to your website with each click and once they are finished reading your newsletter, they might decide to stick around and see what else you have to offer at that moment in time. It also allows for the possibility of both broad and targeted advertising based on topic rather than just the broad type of advertising that the all-in-one might deliver.

Now that you have done your due diligence: you know your purpose, you have a scalable idea for ongoing content and your format is set, it is time to get busy. Your next steps are to come up with a catchy title, some awesome design and a way to make it go.

Catchy title – Check! Forget the marketing angle, the brilliant name you came up with is probably the whole reason you decided to do the newsletter in the first place, right? :)

Awesome design – Check! You know a kick’n designer that can make that brilliant title sing. All you have to do is give him the name and the next great content vehicle is as good as done! And if you don’t think you need the next great design, that is not a problem either because there are ways of making your newsletter talk even if it in NOT one of the pretty people.

Way to make it go - Uh, oh! How do I do that? Well lucky for you this ain’t your mama’s content distribution method. There are a great many ways to give your vehicle wings and none of them require jet fuel. If you don’t have a bunch of technology black belts lying around just waiting for you to come in with your next flash to brilliance then you will want to consider using a third-party email provider to deliver your newsletter and more importantly maintain your email database.

There are an ever-increasing number of providers out there to suite this need and the one you go with depends a lot on you. Most have tools and templates for creating simple HTML newsletters (in case you do not feel the need for design ecstasy in your template) but all will help you manage your list. You can find solutions to fit anything from a large enterprise implementations that service lists in the hundreds of thousands (like YesMail, Silverpop and ExactTarget) all the way down to lists of less than a hundred. The trick is to read the features available for the cost and decide what works best for your list and mailing needs. Small businesses can easily find FREE Trials (like AWeber, VerticalResponse, and GetResponse for example) and depending on your list size and mailing requirements FREE forever (like my personal favorite MailChimp). Functionality varies from service to service but they all do a good job of helping you get your word out.

The best part of hosted services is the list maintenance. They allow you to set up your list with boning or preloaded with an existing database. From there they provide you with ways to create subscribe forms that can be used in your online marketing efforts, auto responders that can be used to carry a link to a free gift and all the while they handle any unsubscribes that come through to make sure that you stay CAN-SPAM compliant.

After the due diligence for your new newsletter us done, make sure to check out some of these email providers to see what works best for you needs:

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First, do not annoy

April 8th, 2011

Ok, Recently I posted on the virtues of enhancing the user experience with media like Animation, Audio and Video and it occurs to me that I may need to qualify that a bit. As my title suggests, the first tenet of any webocratic oath should be First, Do NOT Annoy! So even though I am a proponent of adding media to your site and even though I DID specify judicious use, I just wanted to follow-up with a few “Best Practices” where these and other things are involved.

Animation/Flash
Lets start with the biggest offender. And although I am a believer in Flash (Sorry, Steve) there is a place for everything (you may start to see a pattern as you read these). The non-gratuitous use of Flash is obviously the preferred implementation. Sites that hit you in the face with annoying animation over and over and over are just that…annoying. If you are going to use it, like everything else you do on your site, you should think it through. Adding some movement to capture attention is great but as with most things in my opinion less is more. Just because a little does a little good, does not mean that a lot will have the same effect..if fact it, like say opiates for instance, can have the opposite effect in high doses. Just let it do its work and then fade into the background. Make them try to find it again if it was so cool they need to watch it again, don’t assume that it is so awesome that your intrepid site goers need to see it over and over and over again.

Audio/video
Although not nearly as bad as flash, there are some practices with audio and video that can can drive traffic away rather than helping draw it in further. The worst of the worst in my opinion is Auto Play! There is nothing more annoying than being in a quiet house after everyone has gone to bed, quietly researching your latest obsession when suddenly, without warning, the loudest most irritating techno-trash music starts echoing off of every hard surface in your house accompanied by Robyn Leach talking about the Champaign Wishes and Caviar Dreams of this fantastic product. The initial reaction (assuming that you are not now incontinent) is to get away from the sound as quickly as possible and the easiest way to do that (even if there is a “sound off” switch) is to leave the site and I can’t tell you how many times I have done just that. It is so disturbing that it totally puts you off the company or product they are offering. Even if it is the best, most perfect version of what you are looking for and the price would make you cry with joy, you wont be there long enough to find out and you will consciously choose not to return to the scene of the crime. I am all for the audio or video, but make it your customer’s choice to view to content. You can make it compelling simply by placement and they will watch or listen to the wonders that is your product simply for that reason. Assault (even on your senses) is a crime and smash and grab tactics do not work out well for anyone.

Navigation
The most subtle of the annoyances can be found (or not in some cases) in a sites navigation. In the case of navigation issues it is not so much seeing too much (although too much of anything can be harmful, I am sure vegetables in sufficient quantities will give you cancer..but I digress ), but seeing too little or not seeing it at all. The key here is to think logically about it. Having your navigation at the bottom of the screen below the fold may be awesome for the design but it is ridiculous for a website. People expect to find menu items in a few main places. First and foremost, the top of the screen (I know..the hell you say, right), followed closely by the top left side and then the right.

The key here is to pick one (and I am talking main navigation, I am not saying not to have links throughout and an interesting magazine like layout (especially on the home page) and stick with it. Don’t have some items on the top and them some on the left or the right or any mix in-between. The goal is for people to find what they are looking for so how about helping them out. Here is a thought, wherever your main navigation is, keep it consistent throughout the site, try not to go too deep (you get much beyond 2 levels and people are going to feel like they are in a hedge maze). Drop-down/Flyout menus are great for consistency but not always necessary. Just think it through logically and consider for a moment WWJD – What Would Joe-Customer Do? If you put yourself in a lowest common denominator mindset when building out the navigation you will be sure to have something everyone can follow.

Just remember, you learned everything you need to now about your website in Kindergarten. Whether it was K.I.S.S. ( Keep It Simple Stupid) or Chris’ Razor (The simplest idea is usually the Best), the less annoying your site is, the more effective it will be in getting your message across. Put yourself in your visitors place. Assume you are in a quiet room full of sleeping babies, your headphones are in the next room, you have had only 3 hours of sleep and you have a huge headache (but somehow surfing the web still seems like a good idea..work with me here…). You don’t want to experience the cacophony of crying babies caused by the music/video that played automatically or your own expletive deleted screaming from the Flash that would not go away or the navigation you could not wade through. Making a conscious effort not to annoy your site visitors by allowing them a say in their own web experience will only serve to better your relationship with current and potential customers.

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