Can you really make a “Brick & Mortar” business successful on the web?

January 25th, 2010

Get ready.. This is going to be one of my famous rants..

I took some time this weekend to thumb through the paper and take a look at the local companies who advertise there. I ran across a couple of companies (names withheld to protect the guilty) that run sizable ads – like quarter page or larger – that had previously contacted me saying they weren’t seeing the results they wanted from the web and wanted to know how we could improve their site.

What I think is funny is that in each case, the costs of everything I proposed to them (including an AdWords budget) would have cost less than $1,000 with me completely guaranteeing the results. In both cases, I was told no because of budgetary reasons, or that they didn’t feel the plan I proposed would work for “their business”.

It totally bewilders me how somebody who could spend hundreds, perhaps even thousands of dollars for an advertisement that runs one day, but won’t even give a second though to investing a few bucks into improving their website so that it targets their ideal client, weeds out unqualified or undesirable clients, and compels a direct response from the visitors, which generates leads and sales at virtually no cost.

Guess what, mystery companies Y & Z: You’re about to start hearing from me a lot more.. and here’s why: You are my perfect client. It isn’t because I think you have a bad website (actually, one of them is VERY nice).. It’s simply because you appear to have never seen success from your sites.

Experience is a great teacher, and it has taught me that even though many times I have to drag the customer kicking and screaming, once they actually start receiving results from their website their entire outlook changes. Not just their outlook, but their bottom line as well. We don’t get in there and try to recommend technology just for the sake of recommending technology. We focus on your goals and what it takes to get there.

We also teach you how to measure your results. Most of the time, this is the one thing that our competition leaves out. Sure you can have a great looking web site, but do people buy? Do they sign up for more info? If you are advertising online, what ads are they clicking on?

If you don’t know the answers to those questions. Don’t worry, you will. Don’t get caught up in the mindset where you think that your business is somehow different. We can work with every business and every industry and I guarantee you, we will find a way to make your website more profitable.

As for companies Y & Z.. I have a strange feeling you will see their success stories here soon.

Thanks for your time!

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The downside to social networking, part 2

December 26th, 2009

In my last post, I shared some interesting statistics about social networking.

Now, let me ask you this:

Have you ever been rowdy and happy-go-lucky before?

Have you ever had a picture taken of you doing something that now you or anyone else would consider inappropriate ?

How about written something and wishing you wouldn’t have just after hitting the “send” or “post” button?

Don’t be ashamed.  I have done it too.

Now, have you ever turned white when you found out that your picture, email/post (or worse, your personal information) was shared with everyone in the world via the web? Whether done deliberately or inadvertently, by you or somebody you know, THEY DO. Things like these can find their way to the Web.

The part that sucks is that even things that aren’t true can creep up.  I know you think it’s far fetched to think that people might simply make up things that can harm your reputation.  You’re probably telling yourself it might not matter, the truth is the truth..  Well think again.

Now, you don’t have to click on that link just yet – bear with me a few more minutes.

But I don’t have anything like that out there..

Ok, so maybe you’re sure that you don’t have anything on the Web that can ruin your reputation. Here is another angle..  From the statistics mentioned in my last post, the chances of you applying for a new job or going out on an online date are quite high.

Let me put it this way.. When you want to find a job or when you want to know more about a person, what do you do? You’d probably Google away. Don’t you think a potential employer or date would do that on you as well?

If you’ve got nothing to hide, then maybe you shouldn’t be worried, but wouldn’t you like to be absolutely sure?  After all, we are in the midst of the Web 2.0 awakening, where information spreads so fast in all directions.

Times have changed, and new technologies pop up everyday to make searches more precise and locating information that much easier.  If you’re want to see what you or your family’s “Web footprint” looks like, then you might want to check out ReputationDefender.com. They’ve taken the task of working to defend, clean, or straighten your reputation online.

If you have a teenager, remember that all it takes is a little peer pressure, a click on a video-enabled phone, a quick upload to You Tube, and voila, instant video – viewable to all. The truth is, there are quite a number of video sharing sites out there, and there is no way you can track every one of them. Reputation Defender has a product that can take care of that problem for you.

Remember the film that catapulted Sandra Bullock to fame? (Yes, I’m talking about The Net, not Miss Congeniality..)  Well, what happened to her has been happening to many people all over the world, especially here in the US. Identity theft is no longer a product of Hollywood concoctions. Data brokers like Intelius, Yahoo!, People Search, and 411.com often list private information on public websites, and this has become a gold mine for identity thieves.

Reputation Defender’s solution to this is a product called MyReputation.  They comb the web for your personal information, collating these information along with the sites that display them, and providing you with an interface that allows you to remove whatever information you’d like to keep private.  Literally, it’s as if you have your own personal online reputation manager to ensure that your reputation on the Web closely approximates the image that you would like to project online.

Web 2.0 is one vibrant world to step in. It’s probably where we’re all headed, so it’s good to know that there’s hope to keep the one thing that we want to hold intact… our reputation.

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The downside to social networking, part 1

December 18th, 2009

As many of you know, Tina, my search guru, has been pushing me into the use of Social Media as a tool to increase my exposure on the web as well as increase business.  So far, I have to say that I have had some pretty impressive results and I’m just getting started.

One of the things that her and I talked about early on was my absolute need for privacy.   Being in the tech field, I have seen a lot of people get “screwed” by their own careless misuse of technology.  I am talking about people being fired over things they said in an online forum or sued over the content of a supposedly “private” email.  

I think that one of the main reasons I was initially reluctant to try out Tina’s Web 2.0 marketing strategies go back to some of the battles I had to go through with my stepdaughters over their use of MySpace.  Out of respect for their privacy, I won’t get into details here but let’s just say the old saying “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink” is definitely true when it comes to teenagers.  I wish I had a service back then like MyChild From ReputationDefender.  It all worked out though in the end – although they had some issues (and even got busted by us for some things they bragged about) they learned their lessons the hard way and are “responsible” myspace users now.

So, it seems that with all this attention to Web 2.0, we are slipping into a way of communicating that is making it more difficult to draw a clear line that separates your Web life from your real one.  

While this can be a good thing.. Allowing you to connect with new-found friends and re-connect with old ones.. Letting your own voice be heard by an audience that can go from a handful to a thousand in a few hours.. Even giving you the chance to promote yourself and share your life..  It could also be costly.

Before I elaborate, here are a few stats:

  • 50 Million Americans change jobs each year
  • 20 Million Americans are dating online
  • 64% of teens say they do things online that they wouldn’t want their parents to know about. 
  • 53% of American adults use search engines to find information about each other
  • 77% of executive recruiters use search engines to research applicants
  • 26% of college admissions officers use search engines to research candidates

Now add in some stats about the top sites on the ‘net.  As of Nov 18, 2008, among the top 10 sites at Alexa, are:

  • Youtube.com # 3
  • Facebook.com # 5
  • Myspace.com # 7
  • Wikipedia.org # 8
  • Blogger.com # 9

That just covers some of the video sharing, social networking, wiki, and blogging sites. Also in the top 10 are the following four search engines:

  • Yahoo.com #1
  • Google.com #2
  • Live.com #4
  • Yahoo.co.jp #10

What you get when you combine all of these statistics together is that there is an unprecedented rise in the desire to inform and to be informed.  Not only that, but it can be done so easily now.  I’m even willing to bet that right now, you probably have an open tab on your browser that is running at least one of, or one that is closely related to, the sites I mentioned above.

Am I right?

In my next article, I am going to go into some more specifics about my concerns with Web 2.0 and social networking.  I am also going to talk about how you can “do” social media while keeping your online “footprint” strictly in check.  We’ll also talk about how services like ReputationDefender can help.

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If you want to market by email – learn the rules.

November 10th, 2009

You know, I have long suffered from a condition that makes me easily annoyed with people who don’t have at least a little respect for my personal e-mail address.

As many of you know, I have been known to buy a house or two in my time for investment purposes. As such, I am a member of a Real Estate Investors Association. During our meetings, new investors who are trying to build up a list of contacts are always asking for cards or passing out email list sign-up forms. I have no problem at all with this practice as I think it is a great way to build a network.. However, where I am going with this is that there should be some certification required before people are allowed to send out a message with over just a few recipients. ESPECIALLY if it is a marketing message.

Let me phrase it differently: Putting a group of recipients that don’t know each other in the “TO:” box of a message instead of the “BCC:” box of a message should be a crime. This is one of my biggest pet peeves – ever – and it seems there is always a new batch of nitwits that don’t have the common sense to figure it out. I mean, really, it’s bad enough that every time I buy a product online I have to search the page for that conveniently pre-checked box that subscribes me to another newsletter that I don’t want.. Why should I have to be constantly replying to people and explaining to them that there are some simple rules you should follow, out of common courtesy, when sending an email.

SO:

I have come up with what I think could be a polite, but effective way to curb this. Instead of replying with my normal, canned response, I have come up with a new response. Here it is:

Dear Friend,

Thank you for your message, but I think you might have have broken one of the rules.

Please visit: http://www.pleaselearntherules.com/

Thank you and regards.

Yes, as you may have guessed, I also created the Please Learn The Rules web site. Now before you go on ranting about how much time I must have on my hands, consider that I have about a half hour in putting that site online (most of which was re-wording the text several times so people don’t get offended). Then think of how much time it takes to skim through 40 or 50 emails a day that you have no interest in, just to find out you have no interest in them. In that respect, you could say I did it for the benefit of everyone.

Feel free to send along any rule-breakers you come across to the site also. Let’s take back our inboxes and spread the word!

Thanks for your time.

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Take control of your domain – its yours!

October 6th, 2009

Wow. This is one of those blog entries that I really hate to write. The reason I hate writing it is that it is very real situation that happens probably a lot more than even I think. What warrants it as this weeks topic of a rant is that a friend and client of mine is going through it as we speak. 

I am sure you heard of the “bargain” companies that offer a “free domain name” with their hosting services. The catch is that when you try to leave, you find that you never really owned your domain at all and you can’t take it with you. This little trick has been around for a while now, and I would hope that anyone reading this would smell this scheme from a mile away and steer clear of it.

Well that’s not really what happened here, but the end result is the same, and in this case leaves me scratching my head. You see in this case, my friend/client is the legal registrant of the domain but still seems to be powerless to change the contacts and/or transfer it to another registrar.

Before I go too far, (and sorry for making an example out of you, {name removed for privacy}) I just want to make one statement to anyone who did not register their own domain name: GET YOUR DOMAIN NAME UNDER YOUR NAME AND CONTROL, NOW! I don’t care who registered it for you if it was a web developer, your “computer guy” or even uncle Fred.

Here is the story: This particular client purchased a highly customized version of my Premier Sites database system. At the time, a quick WHOIS showed me that his “computer guy” owned his domain. I mentioned to him that he should get it put in his name – and he did – or so he thought.

Here we are over a year later and we determine we need to make some changes to his nameserver records. No big deal, right? Well, as it turns out, even though he is the “registrant” of the domain, all of the “contacts” for the domain remained as his computer guy. 

It just so happens that at the same time there is some billing disagreement between them and the computer guy basically refuses to make any changes.. or.. get this.. even approve a transfer to another registrar.

Obviously your first thought is “Well, let’s just write a little letter and get it changed. After all, I *AM* the registrant, right?” Wrong.

Interestingly enough – guess who the registrar is? You guessed it. The computer guy. He is part of some domain reseller program, who, when calling the “parent” company listens quietly to your request then tells you contact your reseller.

Gee, thanks.

Will he get his domain back? Yes – but it will be a potentially nasty fight. You see ICANN has rules about people hijacking domains, but they are all geared towards someone who takes someone else’s trademark and tries to sell it back to them. In this case, the client is even the legal registrant – so none of the normal ICANN rules apply.

Fortunately, the client and I have identified a couple of options, although neither are particularly attractive, he WILL get his domain back.. eventually.

I will do my best to keep all of you that are interested updated on the outcome of this – but please, Please, PLEASE – I am BEGGING you – Check the ownership and Administrative contact for your domain names and make sure it is YOU.

Sorry for the rant, but I hope it saves you some money and frustration in the future.

Thanks for your time.

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Ability is not easy

September 9th, 2009

Just a short entry to share something funny that happened to me today. I got a taste of my own medicine.

If you have been reading this for any length of time, you know that I always talk about how much better it is to hire an expert to help with your information systems strategy. My big argument is usually that many people don’t realize that the value in what I do. It definitely isn’t a commodity, and while raw talent has a little to do with it, my real strength is a combination of loving what I do, a lot practice and the embarrassment of a few failures along the way to give me solid experience.

One of my hobbies is playing the guitar. I am not very good at it, but I enjoy trying. I was in Guitar Center today to buy some strings and for some reason decided to wander into the little room where they have all the real expensive guitars. I saw a guy in there just whaling away on a guitar. I sat there for a few minutes and watched in awe as I was trying to think of what kind of guitar it had to be to sound that good.

When he finished I talked to him for a couple of minutes and found out a couple of things that shocked me. The guitar he was playing was a $149 Yamaha model and the song he was playing that had me so hooked was an original. 

Meaning it as a compliment, I told him I would give half my life to play like that. Without blinking he looked up at me and said “Yeah, well that’s pretty much what it took, dude.”

What an excellent way to put it. I hope I get a chance to use that line in the future with regard to my profession.

That’s it for today. Just wanted to share this. Thanks for your time.

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How would you answer this question?

August 4th, 2009

If you’re among the group of small business owners that have a pulse, you’ve either put up a web site or thought about it. Lets assume, for the purpose of this blog entry, that you do have a web site. I want to ask a challenging question: Are you happy with what it does for you?

The initial response I usually get to that question when I ask it in person is, “What do you mean ‘what it does for me’? It’s just a website.” Sometimes people will tell me that they’re getting however many hits a day or month and others still will tell me how proud they are of the job their brother/sister/cousin/uncle/etc did for free.

What most people don’t know is why I ask the question the way I do. Many assume that my follow up to either of the above answers is some sort of sales pitch to sell them a website. That assumption is dead wrong. I sort of consider it a pre-qualification question. Experience has shown me that people who see a website as an online brochure or some other static existence where the success is measured in “hits” are not my target customer. When I receive one of these answers, I generally change the subject, and, if I’m lucky, the other party in the conversation never figures out what I do for a living.

So, with that being the case, what is the answer I look for? I am looking for the one person out of 30 that responds by telling me how much money their web site is making them. These are the people I can help. Their feet are already wet, they have gotten a taste of business on the web and are generally hungry for more. I am always excited to continue the conversation when it heads this direction. Even more so if they begin to tell me about what they have vs. what they want or list some of the things they wish their site did that they don’t think is possible.

Interestingly enough, the reason I love talking to folks about how to make their business more successful on the web isn’t because I own a web business and am trying to make a sale. I mean, yes, I have to make a living and all, but the real reason is simple: I love creating solutions. It’s a passion I first experienced in the 80’s when I wrote a management system for a Door and Window company on group of Commodore 128 computers sharing a central hard drive… That particular solution in and of itself is a testament to my creativity – and over the last 20 years I have only gotten better. 

Anyway, I need to run for now, but if you are one of those folks that are hungry for doing more with the web, give us a call and lets talk. I promise, no sales pitches and no pressure. Let’s just see if we can come up with some ideas that fit your business. Thanks for your time.

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Let’s talk about listening..

July 8th, 2009

I write about this a lot – and rightfully so – I believe it is one of the most fundamental things that a business can do to increase sales, customer satisfaction, ROI, TCO, IRR or whatever acronym or metric you want to use. Why do I believe this? Because I have proven it.

The topic: LISTEN TO YOUR CUSTOMERS!

Your customers will tell you what they want – but most of the time they won’t make you listen to them. One of the things that I always try to help my clients do is find ways to measure the wants and needs of their customers. Not just the customers you like and maybe have a chummy relationship with, but even those that you might feel are a little more of a pain to deal with. Have you ever given thought to why they might be a pain in the first place? Usually they will tell you.

In his book The Magic of Thinking Big, David Schwartz tells us that Big people monopolize the listening and small people monopolize the talking. In all of my reading, I have found listening to your customer to be one of the most common qualities that all marjor business success stories have in common.

In all this talk about listening, I keep talking about your customers. I’m not talking about just your current customers, although that’s a good start. You should also look into capturing the opinions of customers that decide not to do business with you. Even better, find out what happened to those customers who have done business with you before but don’t anymore. You might think you know the answer already, but ask anyway. I have found that many times people are surprised at what they find!

Another strategy is to talk to the folks that are on the front lines with the customer like your delivery driver, customer service rep or salesperson – find out what they think – get their opinion on how you’re doing as well. Make it anonymous if you want – you are looking for honesty not praise here. Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart once flew his aircraft to Mt. Pleasant, Texas and parked it with instructions to the copilot to meet him 100 or so miles down the road. He then flagged down a Wal-Mart semi-truck and rode the rest of the way to “chat with the driver.” When asked about it, he said that it “seemed like so much fun” and that he had learned much. 

In business today, you have the ability to collect and process an enormous amount of information. Perhaps I should rephrase that – you have always had the ability to collect the information – but through a strong systems strategy, you have the ability to store, organize, search and act upon the information you collect. Customer feedback is a crucial part of this cycle. Why do you think that just about any time you buy something online these days you get a questionairre in your email a few days later? 

Think about it.

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How important is your job?

June 18th, 2009

I read a story the other day that as usual, inspired some ideas for this blog post. I don’t mean this as a totally shameless plug, but one of the things that makes my company so unique is that we have a very balanced view of the solutions that we implement.

What I mean by “balanced view” is that we always look at the problem or business need and build the solution, not just to fix the problem or address the need, but to seamlessly “flow” into the other activities of the business. I know, it sounds like a lot of marketing crap, so let me try to recite the story for you:

A man was walking past a building site when he saw a couple of workers breaking granite. He walked over to them and asked one worker, “What are you doing?” and the guy replied “I’m trying to break this granite.” So he goes to the other one and asks the same question. The second guy, however replied “I’m on a team of people and we’re building a cathedral.”

The point I am trying to make is that to the common development firm, technology solutions are a commodity. It’s a couple dozen lines of code spit out that accomplishes the task they are given. In other words, they’re just breaking the granite – without any regard to how the granite fits into the overall plan for the cathedral.

Is that they guy you want creating your solution? One that can’t see past the task at hand? Maybe you would – but personally, I like the idea of the second guy. He has the bigger picture in mind. He’s a team member – not a consultant, not a vendor – but a true partner. He’s an expert that looks at the overall plans of the cathedral and not only breaks the granite for you – but will also help you decide whether you need Biotite-granite, Hornblende-granite or Tourmaline-granite. He will explain to you the diffences in composition and color and match them up with the colors you’re putting on your walls, etc. You get the idea.

Just as hiring a granite expert gives you the perfect granite for your construction job, a good solution architect will look at your overall systems strategy (and if you don’t have one, will recommend you get one!) and develop the solution that is best for your business – over and above the task at hand. Besides, what good is a system that you have to go out of your way to use? How satisfied do you think you will be with a “solution” that automates one function but creates 3 more manual processes in it’s wake?

I know, a lot of people don’t think about that kind of stuff. Fortunately for you though, I do. Don’t get me wrong – I didn’t always – Believe me, I have learned plenty from that school of hard knocks – that’s why experience so important in this field.

As usual, thanks for your time.

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New year, New Site, New Opportunities..

December 31st, 2008

Well here we have it. I think that quite possibly for the first time in history I am actually going to make good on a new years resolution before new years day. 

If you haven’t checked out the web site today, you might want to take a quick peek. It’s changed. 

A lot.

I have been in need of cleaning some things up, removing services that I no longer offer, etc, and kept putting it off under the notion that client projects had to take priority.

As you know the old saying, carpe diem, I took the opportunity while most of my clients were off work and closed down through the holidays to go ahead and put the last few polishing touches needed to make the site live.

It’s still a work in progress. I want to completely update the Products area to put more information up about PowerHelm and Premier Sites, but it will have to wait for a couple more weeks.

Anyway, my personal goal was to have the site up on New Years Day, I managed to make it happen.. A day early none the less!

If this is an indication of how 2008 is going to be for Mosier Information Services, well, all I can say is “Watch Out, Here we come!”

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