Five Ways to Make Money Online: It's NOT Just About Adverbs

5 Ways to Make Money Online:

It’s Not Just About Adverbs

Yep, this is a freelance web writer blog, but all of us are in the business of business – earning money to pay the bills, or at least trying to.

So, because we’re freelance web writers, we focus on selling words. Sometimes a few words. Sometimes a 250-page ebook on the dry cleaning industry. Writing is writing. Work is work.

However, there’s more ways to earn a few bucks than just selling words. These work for me.

Sign up for Adsense. Google places its little blue cube adverts on your blog or website page, and every time a visitor clicks on a Google ad, you get a few pennies.

You won’t get rich, but you don’t have to do anything except sign up.

Why add Adsense?

• ads provided by Google; you control add placement on site

• customized ads

• ads in text and/or motion formats

• ads are contextual based on the keywords entered by the search engine user

• you control which ads appear on your site or blog, i.e., no competing sites or sites with questionable subject matter

• you get paid each time click-throughs reach $100

• it’s FREE

Take on a couple of affiliates. Affiliate marketing is a money maker. You display ads for affiliates on your website or blog, and collect some cash each time a visitor clicks on the INTEL ad shining in the right column.

Affiliate agreements are different for each company so read the fine print. Choose affiliates related to the services you offer. For example, your web writer website will see more click-throughs for ads on web hosting, electronics, software and other products related to creating a website.

Sell proprietary products. Stuff you write once and sell over and over again.

Some of our members sell lists and reviews of bid-fer sites. Good idea. At least one member sells mentoring services to noob freelances. Write it once, then sell it as a download, a course, a webinar, or rent space at the local hotel and hold a seminar on building a successful website.

You bet they’ll show up.

If you write it, you own it, and if it generates revenues for years to come – BINGO! – you’re earning money for something you wrote 10 years ago.

Provide consultation. Most new website owners don’t know a landing page from a landing strip, but you can teach new site owners all kinds of useful information – and you don’t have to charge a bundle because it’s usually a few phone calls.

Do remember that you’re paid, in this case, for what you know. It has value. Write up a short doc on website design and ecommerce as an “ethical bribe” for signing up for a consultation.

Create a referral system. You’re a writer, or maybe a coder who writes or a writer who codes. In any case, chances are you don’t do it “all.”

Create a contacts file of companies and individuals who can deliver the services you don’t, won’t or can’t. Your Rolodex should be chock full of numbers for everyone from voice-over talent to HTML coders who have the patience to hand-code a website.

Many clients need additional services. Refer them to one of the professionals in your contacts file and get a little “finder’s fee” when your associate lands the job.

Only refer clients to people and companies you’ve worked with, or know personally. Don’t charge the client a fee. It comes from the provider who designs a brochure for your client, using the content you wrote. Win-win-win.

Hey, drop me a line to learn more about ecommerce, web design and how to market products or services online. It ain't rocket science.

Webwordslinger

editor@webwordslinger.com

SEO Client Retention:

The Key to Long-Term SEO/M Business Success

Building a successful SEO/M consultancy is hard. There’s a lot of competition and a lot of snake oil, SEO voodoo floating around the web, so building a solid reputation – one that leads to referrals and repeat business is essential to long-term business growth.

Keep 'em coming back

Once you have a client, you have to keep that client coming back because of the quality services and opinions you offer. You have to build a client base of happy clients. They come back for more. They’re also your best salespeople.

Here are some suggestions for keeping the customer satisfied.

1. Go through an extensive discovery phase. Determine such things as the target demographic, market competition, unique selling position, client objectives, challenges – a top-down analysis of what needs doing. A few hours more at this stage will save days of re-dos in the weeks ahead.

2. Prepare a written SOW. A statement of work describes the work to be undertaken (usually in chronological order), approval milestones, payment schedule, who’s going to do what. The more complete the SOW the more accurate the client’s expectations. Clients hate surprises so get on the same page early.

3. Give a stake to the client. No client is going to quibble with a strategy or design that s/he proposed. Instead of presenting finished pages and data analysis, engage the client and incorporate his or her suggestions into the final product. As best you can, let the client “own” the project.

4. Go proactive. In everything. Offer suggestions and counsel beyond the expectations of the client. If you discover an error you’ve made, call the client to let her know you’re on top of it.

5. Communicate. A lot. Not just approvals, though they’re essential to increased productivity, but also discuss implementation strategies, guerilla marketing tactics and opportunities for future growth of the client’s business.

6. Fix it. If the client ain’t happy, fix it. Period. A happy client will talk you up through his network. An unhappy client will bad mouth you to anyone who will listen. Rely on your SOW only as a last resort. Keep the client happy – even if it’s a loss leader for you.

Growing a stable of regular clients takes time and trust building. It’s an on-going process. But once your regulars are making up 75% of your work time, you don’t have to constantly worry about where the next job is coming from.

editor@webwordslinger.com
webwordslinger.com

10 DUMBEST WEB DESIGN MISTAKES: SHOOT YOURSELF IN THE FOOT

DON'T MAKE IT HARDER THAN IT HAS TO BE.

START COUNTING CLICKS. THE FEWER CLICKS, THE MORE MDAS.

The Top 10 Dumbest Site Design Practices:

Be Smart. Web Success Is Hard Enough

Despite some of the posts on SEOmoz.org, site optimization is NOT a science. Science requires accurate, contestable data. No metrics or analytics deliver empirical data so it ain’t no science. SEO Pros don’t even agree on which weighting factors have the most impact on PR and TR.

However, it doesn’t take rock solid numbers to identify dumb design decisions – decisions that prevent access, make buying difficult and make site navigation a wonderland of surprises.

Thus, I offer the 10 Dumbest Design Practices IMHO.

10. Flyouts or drop down menus that cover site text. Umm, yes I want to navigate to that page but that flyout covers home page content that I want to read. Dumber still? No way to close the flyout. Duh.

9. Limited payment gateways. DIY site owners happily launch with PayPal as their only payment gateway. A lot of buyers have never even heard of PayPal, they don’t have an account and they’re not going to the trouble to open one.

The more payment gateways, the more orders you’ll receive. Get a merchant account.

8. Spamglish. Yep, it’s still out there on critical pages that, ostensibly, are designed for humans. Keyword density, as a factor in PR and TR is losing significance so why stuff pages with keywords.

7. Critical site information in graphics. Bots can’t read graphics, so important indexing data may be lost, tucked in a bitmap somewhere.

6. No telephone number. This one is a poser. As a site owner, you went to a great deal of trouble, time and money to get that visitor on site. Wouldn’t it be great to have a telephone number (toll free) so visitors could call with questions or, better yet, orders?

5. Ambiguous navigation. The assumption, here, is that site visitors know what a link labeled “Damsels” means – kinda like those rest room signs in theme restaurants, i.e. “Buoys and Gulls.”

4. No site map. Come on, you guys. You can buy a site map generator for less than $25. And, in creating this remarkable map, you help visitors and bots find their ways around.

3. Dated, duplicate content. We’ve all encountered the entrepreneur who wants a low-ball site populated with public domain and syndicated content and 1,200 affiliate links. The site is dated the day it launches.

2. The long-form sales letter. I’m sure Dan Kennedy meant no harm but these endless pages of mixed type faces, heaps of hype and the never ending (literally) PS, PPS and PPPS bonuses are insulting to the intelligent of a chimp.

1. Home page opt ins. Are you nuts? I don’t even know what I’m opting for (or against). If I have to give you my email address knowing that you’re going to back sell me to the grave, I want to know what I’m getting.

Why place this HUGE stumbling block on page uno. I’m bouncing.

Start counting clicks. How many clicks are required for the site visitor to perform the most desired action or MDA. The fewer clicks, the more MDAs. Call me to discuss your site performance. beleive me, this ain't brain surgery.

Later,

Webwordslinger.com

There are dozens (100s) of mistakes that even experienced site designers make - especially the designer who's cranking out the sausage 24/7. Know what makes a high-functioning site. Then tell your programmer how to build it.

Have fun,

Webwordslinger.com

webwordslinger.com

CUSTOMER RETENTION: WANT THEM TO COME BACK?

Customer Retention:

Keep Them Locked In Place

How much did it cost you to get your latest customer? $0.50? You should be so lucky. $5.00? Ummmm, maybe. $10.00? You’re getting warmer.

The fact is, most site owners don’t have a clue how much it cost them to acquire a customer. More importantly, they don’t know if the customer made enough of an initial purchase to even cover customer acquisition costs such as Google AdWords, a press release, syndicated content or some other means of attracting attention on the W3.

However, you can get a rough estimate of cost per customer by totaling up marketing and promotion expenses and dividing by the number of customers – not just site visitors but visitors who converted to buyers. And this is far from a pointless exercise. When you determine just how much it cost you to recruit a customer – a paying customer – you’re going to want to keep that person coming back time and time again.

The Importance of Customer Retention to Site Success

It’s called customer retention and if you’re just starting out in the wild world of e-commerce, you’ll soon realize how critical customer retention is to your long-term success. And, even if you’ve been doing this a while, there are plenty of steps you can take to retain the customers you’ve accumulated over the years. Is it worth it? What do you think?

So here are a few tips that have worked for companies as diverse as Amazon and Netflix. And both of those e-businesses are doing well with their customer retention strategies.

Personalize the Buying Experience

You can do this using your database to deliver customized content to each visitor. You can welcome each customer by name and offer suggestions for purchase based on their past buying history.

Gather Customer Data

Two ways to do this: either through the use of metrics software or by providing repeat buyers (those are the ones you love) a form to write both gripes and praise. Fix the gripes. Expand the praiseworthy features. Easy. Oh, and don’t forget to mention that this form is for repeat customers only so you can improve both your products and services to enhance that repeat buyer’s on-site experience.

By the way, this kind of “personalized” input will probably reveal problems that never occurred to you. Conversely, it’ll point out your site’s under-utilized strengths like a one-click checkout, for instance.

Stay In Touch

Even small sites have new products and special sales. Use your database to provide email announcements for “customers” only.

Now don’t overdo this or your emails will end up in the recycling bin. However, the judicious use of email is very effective. Check out ajferrari.com. It’s a relatively small site that does big business in selling authentic Italian olive oils and other hard-to-find foods from Italy.

During the holiday season and a few weeks before Mother’s or Father’s day, this company sends out an email announcing gift ideas – and these emails pull big time.

Create a Customers Only Section

This requires a log in name and a password but it provides lots of useful informational content about the company’s products or services. Again, not too much hype. Keep the content informational to provide a little bonus for your regulars.

You may also want to consider adding a customer’s forum in this section – a place where regulars can share their experiences – good or bad – with your company (fix the bad) – they can exchange recipes, strategies, ask and answer questions. It’s a great way to build a site community – a group that returns to your site on a regular basis. And buys stuff.

Reward Loyalty

Free stuff. That’s always a nice reward. Offer free shipping to all of your regulars or offer a free gift with their next purchase. A free ebook download – anything that says “Thank you, we appreciate your patronage.”

BTW, these loyalty rewards may do better when placed in the “Customer Only” section so you don’t alienate newcomers to your site.

Surprise Savings

Regular customers will stay that way when you offer surprise savings on certain items. As items are placed in the shopping cart, you can flash a “Surprise Savings” icon announcing that “because you’re a regular customer, this item is only $5.99 instead of the $10.99 new customers pay.” Think of the old-time Blue Light Specials. It’s like free money and your regulars will definitely appreciate it.

Coupons work, too. Place them throughout your site so that visitors have to search for them, like a treasure hunt. Coupons can knock 10% off your total purchase price, provide free shipping and handling or offer a free thank-you gift – a show of appreciation for the customer’s regular patronage. And the customer gets the benefit today at the POP!

Simplify Everything

Keep things simple for regulars. Provide a one click checkout so these regulars can load up their shopping carts, make a single checkout click and their goods are on the way. Easy.

Provide a 24-hour customer service line. And even if you’re just starting out and cash is tight, this might be worth outsourcing. Otherwise you may end up spending your days handling customer care – not a happy thought – when you could put your time and energy to better use – like growing the business!

Make returns easy, too. Larger online businesses keep complete records of the buying practices of their customers. So, if you call in with a problem, your account pops up on screen telling the representative everything s/he needs to know about you.

If you’re a big spender and a regular, the service rep will do handstands to make sure you’re happy – even if it means the business loses money on this one sale. Your customer profile shows you’re worth keeping.

However, if you’re a first-time buyer or, worse, a customer who complains about every purchase, don’t expect the same treatment that good customers receive. Good customers are worth the effort. Problem buyers aren’t.

Always Over Deliver

One online company that caters to new brides always includes a little extra gift no matter how small the order. One woman ordered two bed side lamps and received, as a gift, four place mats – which probably cost as much as the two lamps she ordered. Think that customer will be back? She will.

This is a great way to get rid of excess inventory and maintain customer retention. But it doesn’t have to be a gift. It can be going the extra mile – overnight delivery or a special order – anything that makes the buyer feel as though you care – because you do care…a lot.

It costs you money for every buyer you get so it just makes sense that once they’ve become a customer, you keep them coming back by creating customer loyalty in lots of little ways.

Finally, No Unpleasant Surprises, Please.

Don’t forget to eliminate any unpleasant surprises. For example, a customer places a $9.95 order only to discover at the checkout that there’s a $7.95 shipping and handling fee. There’s an abandoned shopping cart and rest assured, that customer won’t be back.

Or, how about advertising an item on site only to inform the buyer that the item has been back ordered and won’t ship until the boat arrives from China. Think that customer will be pleased upon hearing that? How about orders that take six weeks to fill? That’s a no-no for sure.

Look you worked hard and paid for every one of your customers so everything you can do to keep them customers is, in the long run, going to improve your bottom line.

Back in the day, there was the view among merchants that “The customer is always right.” Somewhere along the way, that idea got lost. But in the intensely competitive world of e-commerce, the idea is making a comeback.

So, have a sign made up. Hang it where all employees (including you) can see it. In big bold letters, it should read:

THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT. ALWAYS!

That’s the best way to keep the customer base you’ve worked so hard to build.

Hey, it costs 10 times the dough to find a new client than to keep an existing client. Doesn't it make sense to keep the clients you have? Call me. Let's talk.

Later,

Webwordslinger.com

MySQL and Why You Need It

What’s MySQL and Why Do I Need It?

Put Your Site’s Data To Work For You

Even the smallest on-line business quickly collects data. Lots of it. Customer data – names, mailing addresses, email addresses, credit card information and other consumer information.

Then, there’s inventory data – what’s on the shelves, how much are you selling, when do you need to reorder, product specs – you get the idea.

Affiliate data, order and shipping info, PPC data – the facts and figures come fast and furious the minute your site goes live. And keeping straight these data records isn’t something you want to do with a pencil and paper.

What you need is an RDBMS.

A what? A relational database management system or RDBMS. It’s basically a really smart, intuitive database that enables you to manipulate, access and store data in lots of useful ways. Now you can go out and spend a bundle on RDBMS software, but you don’t have to. In fact, you can get the industry standard relational database software as an open source application. That means it’s free – always a good thing.

MySQL is a database the enables you to use and deploy specific data quickly through a variety of search and sort options. SQL stands for structured query language – a simple programming language that opens your database to more uses and better analytics without you having to learn a bunch of code. So, for example, if you wanted to conduct a search of all customer information from a particular zip code, a few clicks and all of your buyer information for that particular area is accessed and presented (quickly) on your computer screen.

Add some additional filters, like cutomers from that zip code who spent more than $200 and you’re on your way to developing the “Golden Mailing List” so prized in marketing and promotion.

MySQL

MySQL is open source, though there are restrictions on its use. However, for start-ups and even mid-sized online businesses, use restrictions aren’t a concern.

MySQL has become the most popular database within the realm of ecommerce for several solid reasons:

It’s free. (Best reason of all.)

It’s fast. (That’s always nice.)

It’s easy to install. (No, it really is.)

It runs on Linux and many other popular server platforms. (Important.)

It adapts well to HTML, the standard for site construction. (Essential.)

It works well with all popular Web server software, e.g. Apache. (Nice.)

When partnered with PHP, you can accomplish marketing miracles. MySQL and PHP make for a powerful combo – even for small commercial sites with a keen eye on rapid growth.

What’s PHP?

PHP stands for “PHP hypertext preprocessor” (sort of). Simply put, PHP is a server side scripting language. Like MySQL, PHP is open source (free). It’s highly intuitive, easy to learn and it dovetails with all HTML coding.

Server side scripting simply means that the PHP scripting is processed by your web host server rather than on your biz-system desktop. The server manipulates PHP scripting and delivers simple HTML scripting back to a visitor’s browser, eliminating all compatibility issues.

With the MySQL-PHP, one-two punch, you can streamline everything from order taking to marketing to data harvesting. You can collect data entered into online forms by visitors. This data is then automatically correlated into the powerful MySQL database. 24 caret marketing gold.

Using MySQL and PHP in tandem, you can create dynamic page content – content targeted at a specific visitor based on that visitor’s past purchase history. Think Amazon.com and its personalized approach to selling you more stuff. Amazon knows what you like and generates dynamic pages customized to your tastes. Of course, with a company that size it’s got one, big, honkin’ database.

MySQL enables you to send and receive cookies to improve your site’s performance for repeat visitors – even if the visitors haven’t “officially” registered at your site.

MySQL and PHP are both cross-platform applications. This allows you to create in Windows and deliver content through a Unix-based server. (Ask your web host if your sever is Unix-based.).

PHP also delivers a stack of other cool features. Visitor and credit card authentication, for example, are a snap when PHP is combined with the data stored in your MySQL d-base. Customizable pdf development is another cool feature, enabling you to create totally dynamic content in pdf format.

You might not need it today, but you will tomorrow.

If you’re just testing the waters, MySQL may not be critical to your venture. You can get by using MS Access, Informix, Sybase, Oracle and other data manipulation software. However, as your business grows, you may quickly discover that transferring data from one of these d-base packs to MySQL is somewhat of a headache.

And, since both MySQL and PHP are free and totally symbiotic, it makes sense to start with an RDBMS that is fully scaleable – growing right along with your bottom line.

Is your site data-driven?

Any commercial site is data driven. Info on products, orders, shipping and so on. But many non-commercial sites also hold and deliver heaps of information to visitors. Government sites, educational institutions, NFPs, survey sites and the like will also benefit from the power-packed MySQL, especially when coupled with the expansive features offered by PHP server side scripting.

Need a little help with your d-base design? All this stuff is free so drop me a line or call me. Use your site to collect marketing data and really grow BIG. FAST.

Later,

Webwordslinger.com

INVITE GOOGLE OVER FOR TEA

Using Google Sitemaps:

Show ‘Em What You Really Got

Search engine bots have long relied on site maps to simplify their mindless collection of letter strings. Site maps make it easy for spiders to assess the nature of the site, the accuracy of HTML tags and to detect new content faster and more easily. So, the development of a site map has always been useful to bots and to site visitors alike.

The importance of developing a site map has increased recently with the introduction of Google’s cool feature – Google Sitemaps, which is pretty much what it sounds like. Today any webmaster or site owner can quickly develop a site map for submission to Google’s SE for indexing. The benefits? Many.

Help Google. Help Yourself.

The proliferation of new websites has caused the Google gods to rethink their current processes used to spider and index the billions and billions of new pages of text coming online each year. It can’t be done, not even with all of Google’s resources. “Too much information.”

The solution? Let webmasters index their own sites. That’s what’s behind the new Google Sitemaps program. It’s a wonderful opportunity for e-biz owners to ensure that their sites are assessed and indexed properly on Google’s big ol’ hard drive, in effect taking ‘botness’ and placing it into the hands of site owners – humans with the ability for rational thought – something no SE spider brings to the table.

How Hard Is This?

No very. To get the most out of Google Websites, you’ll need an XML generated file on your site. XML stands for extensible markup language and you can find XML tutorials everywhere. Just Google XML and you’re on your way.

If you don’t know a thing about XML and writing code, no worries. This is something your programmer can develop in less than an hour, delivering better SE results and more highly-qualified visitors to your site.

The XML generated file is the ‘transmitter’ that sends site changes, updates, new content and other data to Google. No doubt, you’ve seen the ubiquitous red XML logo on the most up-to-date sites. Kind of a status symbol to those in the know. These XML-enabled sites provide more accurate SERPs, though it’s important to note that an XML generator won’t do a thing for your page rank. That’s another whole story.

XML Syndication

XML coding is used by most blogs because it’s a language that adapts easily to syndication. RSS – remote site syndication – employs XML to deliver your site’s content to other interested, like-minded sites in the form of XML/RSS feeds. It’s all part of the new dynamic of Web 2.0 – content syndication with lots of arrows (links) pointing back to your site.

In the case of Google Sitemaps, all the webmaster is doing is syndicating content directly to Google’s SE. This puts more control in the hands of webmasters to ensure that their sites are crawled accurately and frequently.

Even better, this program gives site owners control over several key weighting factors – variables, XML tags, attributes and so on.

Your XML Generator

It’s important that your XML site map be kept up to date since that’s going to be an important consideration when bots come calling. So, you need an XML generator. A what?

It’s easy. An XML generator simply spiders your site, identifies new content, lists URLs and notes any other changes and reports this data to the Google index. There are a slew of XML generators, some free, all low-cost, available on the w3. Just Google XML generator and take your pick. They all do the same basic thing and there’s one for every level of programming expertise.

Which Generator For You?

http://enarion.net/google/ is a php generator that you install on your host server. Once installed, your site is spidered and an XML sitemap automatically produced. Upload the new sitemap to your server. Then, run the generator to have your site map indexed by Google. It’s easy, even for the digitally-challenged.

But there are dozens of XML generators available – from pick-click easy to more-than-most-of-us-need-to-know-in-a-lifetime. So, to make things even simpler, and to encourage more self-indexing, Google has developed a list of 3^rd party XML generators that configure nicely with Google’s data hook-up. To see Google’s list of XML generators, simply click here.

Telling Google What You Want It To Know

The XML file created as part of your site will provide Google with lots of useful information that you submit only after every letter and symbol has been checked for accuracy. This information includes:

The location of your web page, i.e. your site’s URL. (Hello, I’m over here!)

Dates of content modification – what was added, deleted and/or changed since the last time you were spidered. This is very important for sites that change content frequently – especially informational or editorial content. Spiders love fresh content, as long as it isn’t page after page of hype.

Frequency of Content Change - SEs may view frequent content changes with suspicion, “thinking” that changing content may indicate gray-hat marketing tactics. Problem solved when the webmaster can indicate how frequently content changes from page to page. You can indicate change frequency from never to hourly, giving the bots a heads up.

Site Page Priority – Some pages of your website are more important than others. Obviously the homepage ranks high in importance, but so do high profit pages, opt-in pages and, of course, ordering pages.

Google’s Sitemap program allows webmasters to determine the importance of each page on the site! Pages are prioritized on a scale of 0.0 (least important) to 1.0 (most important). The higher the importance you assign to a page, the higher importance Google will assign to that page. No bump in page rank, however, since your priority rankings are only relative to the pages of your site.

Extreme Trust

Extreme trust is a new www concept, sort of like the honor system. Wikipedia, the online, ever-evolving encyclopedia is a project based on extreme trust. Anyone (even you) can make an entry to the Wikipedia site. Other readers can then go in and add, update and edit your information. It’s a means of harnessing the world’s knowledge in real time and it’s one of the most exciting uses of the web currently underway.

Now back to Google. Google has a well-established reputation for protecting its reputation and the quality of its search results. Sites have been gray-barred (banned) for seemingly minor infractions – sometimes even unintentional infractions. You don’t mess with Google. Period. Even big-time car maker BMW got penalized for less than exemplary reporting to Google. If it can happen to BMW, it can happen to you.

Banned from Google and you might just as well start over. Recovering your previous Google rank is all but impossible.

Now, apply this hard-edged business philosophy to the new Google Sitemap program. Believe this – you don’t get carte blanche. Spiders will still spider and bots will still bot. And if the information in your XML site map is out of sync with site text, purpose, components, tags or any other aspect of site descriptions, you better believe that you’re site is going to be slammed – and there won’t be a thing you can do about it.

Play It Straight

The black and gray hats out there are always trying to beat the system but the system grows more sophisticated with each passing minute. That’s why it’s best to use the Google Sitemap tool to your advantage – to ensure that your site is presented the way it should be and the way you want it to be.

To learn more about Google Sitemaps, click here.

And remember, when it comes to Google and every other search engine, play it straight. It’s the only way to go.

Haven't been indexed in two years? or just launching your new e-biz. yeah, well you want a little of that search engine love so submit sitemaps to all major search engines and show 'em what you really got.

Later, gator,

Webwordslinger.com

Does a Micro-Business Need A Website?

Does Your Micro-Business Need a Website?

In Three Words: yes, Yes, YES!

Whether you’re an accountant in Anchorage or a zookeeper in Xenia, your business needs a website. In fact, if you don’t have a business web site you’re missing a terrific marketing and promotion opportunity no matter what you do or where you are. And your competition is going to eat your lunch.

Selling Goods and Services

Most small businesses sell goods or services. If you own a termite exterminating business, you’re marketing a service – bug killing. If you sell little miniature furniture for doll house collectors, you’re selling goods – products. Either way, a web site is going to serve as an online billboard 24/7/365. And lots of people around the world are going to see that website and want to purchase whatever it is you’re selling.

What About the Cost?

In order to have a website you’ll need access to the information highway by way of a web hosting company. These companies maintain gigantic servers (just big, old hard drives, actually) that contain the web sites of thousands of small businesses just like yours. So is it pricey?

As with all technological advances, prices continue to fall within the website hosting business thanks to improved hardware (servers, routers and other gizmos about which you need to know nothing) and the proliferation of web hosting companies. In fact, all you need is a server (about $1000 for a good-sized one), some spare closet space to store the server and, guess what, you’re a web hosting company. Not a very good one, but a web host nonetheless.

However, stay clear of the unknown quantity – the web host that may be here today, long gone tomorrow, along with your web site, database information, the whole shebang. The fact is, you can find high quality, reliable web hosting services from a company that’s been around for years. Go with a company that has a track record and a long-term presence on the W3.

Now, cost. You can get a bunch of disk space (storage space for your site) and bandwidth (accessibility to and from your customers or clients) for less than $7.00 a month! You spend more than that on a couple of latte grandes on the way to the office. Staking your claim on the world wide web is the best, least-costly investment you’ll ever make to grow your business.

Do the math. Call your local newspaper and ask how much it will cost to run a small classified for a month. For the cost of that single, 30-day newsprint classified you can maintain a professional presence on the web for an entire year. In the battle between bang and buck, the web beats traditional print and other media advertising hands down every time.

In fact, you can cut print advertising costs significantly with a website clients can visit. Let the site do the selling. Let the print materials provide the map to lead buyers to the website. (See below.)

Yeah, but what about building a website? I’ll bet that’s going to cost a bunch.

Not at all. In fact, a good web host will provide an extensive tool kit that contains everything you need to construct, manage and grow a website – and it’s all FREE.

And it’s simple. You don’t need to know jack about HTML code, cascading style sheets (CSS), SEO, SEM, XML or other alphabetic mish-mash to create a professional-looking website in just a couple of hours. The entire process employs templates so you pick and click your way to site creation. You choose the colors, the design elements, the type face, the content, the site structure – you can do it all simply by going with a web host that provides the tools you’ll need.

Okay, but if I build it will they come?

Not if you keep it a secret. Once you’ve got your site up (easy), tested for bugginess (also easy) and launched (break out the champagne), it’s time to let the world know you’re here, you’re near and you’re open for business. How?

By placing your site’s URL (universal resource locator, also known as your web address) on every piece of marketing collateral you put out there. Got a business card? Add the URL. Stationery? URL. Marketing brochures? You got it, add the URL. If it’s printed on paper, it should include your site’s URL.

Also, remember that classified ad that was going to sock you in the wallet. Well, with a website, you can keep that classified short and sweet:

Tax problems? Call 555-1234 or visit us at www.taxproblemfixerguy.com

Boom! You don’t need to sell the service in print. Simply direct prospective clients to your website where you can go into great detail about all of the wonderful services or products you offer.

I don’t want to sell my services outside my local area so isn’t a website kind of a waste of money?

Au contraire. First, most of your traffic (site visitors) will find your URL by way of your print advertising, so you’re already focusing on the local market. Second, search engines like Google, Yahoo, MSN and Ask enable you to localize your search engine listings. This way, you aren’t selling carpet cleaning services to someone half way around the world.

You can keep it local by including your town’s or county’s name in your keyword list. Keywords are those words search engine users enter to conduct a search. For example:

carpet cleaners tampa florida (You don’t have to use capital letters; the search engine understands that you’re looking for a carpet cleaning service in Tampa, not in the UK.)

You can also localize the content of your website to appeal to the needs of local residents. Your air conditioning business probably won’t pull well in Yellow Knife (it’s in northern Canada) but it will generate business if you operate out of Corpus Christi where temperatures routinely hit the century mark during the summer months.

Localization allows you to target a very narrow demographic in the great scheme of online things. On the other hand, if you’re selling products, and you start getting orders from Istanbul, are you going to say ‘no’? Absolutely not. Just add a bit for the extra postage.

So, whether you want to keep it local or go global with your business, the best, least expensive way to do it is via the web, and a solid web host you can count on to be there for you next week, next year and forever.

The Prestige Factor

A professional-looking website (remember, you can build it and they will come) adds substance to your existing business. It adds that cachet of success and gives site visitors (or store visitors) the impression that your business is bigger than it actually is. You’re not just Bob’s Tuxedo Rentals down on Main Street.

You’re also www.bobstuxedorentals.com on the world wide web. This is sometimes called the prestige factor, creating (branding) an image that appears to have more substance than your simple, brick-and-mortar tuxedo rental store.

Okay, so how do I use my new website to best advantage?

Lots of ways. First, you can use your website to keep in touch with individual customers and your entire client base. For example, instead of trying to reach Ms. Jones on her cell, just drop her an email through your site. Simple, easy, effective.

You can also market to your entire client base through regular email updates or even a monthly or quarterly newsletter. The more often you put your company name in front of a potential customer’s nose, the more likely that nose will eventually buy something via the web, or by way of your store downtown.

Announce upcoming sales (exclusively for our valued customers), introduce new products or service offerings, provide advice and suggestions that drives traffic to your store – you can even send personalized birthday greetings if you can capture birthdates from existing clients. A website is a marketing bonanza.

You can also use your site to collect invaluable information on the buying practices and preferences of your client base. Provide a feedback form on your site (again, easy) to learn what visitors like and, more importantly, don’t like about your site. Collecting this marketing data will better equip you to adjust your product line, add new services, lower shipping and handling costs and identify the desires of your buyers. And you just can’t put a price on that. (Well, actually you can – less than $7 a month!)

Another good use of your website is to announce job openings – and even allow potential employees to apply online. Let’s say you own a couple of fast food franchises in Fresno. Employee turnover is always a problem. They come and go and finding new employees is costly using traditional means, i.e., the newspaper classifieds.

With a well-designed site you can announce job openings, pay rates, locations, benefits packages and more – much more than you could ever cover in a small newspaper classified.

The Keys to Online Success

So, whether you’re a start-up or a well-established business in the community or region, a website will boost sales and keep you in touch with your consumers. Just remember:

• Go with a web host that’s been around longer than last Tuesday. Go with a host with at least a five-year track record of providing hosting services. Longer is better.

• Choose a web host that provides software, tools and services FREE. This alone will save you literally thousands of dollars in start-up costs.

• Select a web host with 24/7 tech support – preferably U.S.-based tech support – for fast repairs and quick answers to any questions.

• Start small. You don’t need every bell, whistle, jim-crack and gee-gaw available to website owners. Keep it simple, start small and as you learn more about e-commerce, your site will eventually include additional features and contain more substantial information.

• Don’t worry about search engine optimization (SEO) and don’t pay an expert to optimize your site. Search engines aren’t your primary means of driving traffic to your business. Most visitors will find you through your print materials – business card, brochures, etc. – so ranking high in search engine results isn’t critical to the success of your business or your new website.

• Peg your URL to everything clients or customers see or hear about your business. If you’re running spots on local cable or radio, be sure to include your URL in all advertising. This way, you pique customer interest through the traditional media and make the sale on your site.

• Update your site. You can find plenty of sources of free content online. Give site visitors a reason to stop by again. And again. Hey, just include a daily horoscope (FREE) and you’ll start to see repeat visitors (especially Leos, for some reason).

Here it is, the bottom line: for the cost of a single, one-month insertion of a classified in the local newspaper, you can maintain a website and a web presence for an entire year. And it never closes, it never complains or calls in sick, and it never asks for a raise.

If your business doesn’t have a website, you’re missing out on one of the best, most cost-effective marketing tools available to the small business owner. So what are you waiting for?

Your competition across town already has her site up and active. And you’re sitting here reading this. Time to get moving.

Time to build your business website.

Just starting up. Give a shout before you blow a pile of cash on SEO voodoo and scam artists.

Later,

webwordslinger.com

DOA: PROJECT CREEP WILL KILL YOUR SERVICE BUSINESS.

Putting A Stop to Project Creep:

Protect Yourself and Your Business

Any service provider is aware of the concept of “project creep.” The project is agreed to by both service provider and client but, as the project moves forward, the client asks for “just one more little thing.”

Now, you want to keep the client happy and coming back for more of your services but when the client asks for five “little things,” you’re losing money because none of these project elements was discussed before the project was undertaken.

Project creep gobbles up time and money (same thing, actually) that the small service provider simply can’t afford to lose.

Now, not all service providers are in the enviable position of vetting clients to determine whether they become part of the client base. Many of us simply have to take the work that comes our way – especially if we’re just starting out as SEOs, site designers or CPAs. It doesn’t matter. If you have clients, you need to understand how to prevent project creep.

The Dangers of Project Creep

The most obvious danger is, of course, the loss of time. Man-hours translate to dollars in a small shop so if you’re spending time doing just “one little sales letter” on top of contractual deliverables, it’s a give-away and you’re the one who’s giving it away.

However, there’s a more serious danger. WOM. Word of mouth. If you say ‘no’ to project creep, you may save a few dollars but end up with an unhappy client. And that unhappy client is not going to sing your praises at the next conference or seminar. Bad WOM spreads like kudzu. It should be avoided at all costs. Yes, even the little extras should be thrown in. Why?

Because if that client walks away feeling she got a good deal and good service from you, she’ll talk you up to her network and that one job that cost you a few hundred dollars in man-hours can deliver tens of thousands of dollars in new work – and an expanding, stable client base – one you don’t have to replenish. Repeat business is your bread and butter.

So, the dangers are: (1) you lose some time and money on project creep and (2) you lose the best salesperson you’ll ever have – a satisfied client.

Google The New Client and Do Your Research

If it breathes, it’s indexed in Google somewhere. Do a quick background search. Check out the company website and check Whois, the directory of domain owners. It’s always nice to know who you might be working with.

If it’s a big project – six figures let’s say – pull a D & B on the company. Dunn and Bradstreet report on all corporations doing business in the U.S. and provides background, credit history and other useful information.

Talk to the decision maker. If a face-to-face meeting is possible, great. Otherwise, check the company website for design and production values, features and other tell-tale signs of a successful, or at least well-run, company.

Know with whom you’ll do business. Request a credit check if there’s any doubts about how deep you want to go with a particular client. It may be better (if possible) to try a small project before jumping into a $40,000 website with every bell, whistle and live feed you can find.

The SOW (Statement of Work)

The statement of work is often a separate document from the work agreement or contract. The contract usually states that you or your small company will complete all work in the SOW to the satisfaction of the client.

So, that SOW should be very, very specific to prevent project creep and hard feelings down the road.

Work and Payment Schedules

The SOW should provide detailed milestones and payment dates. This does a couple of things for you. If you deliver early, you score points for promptness. You’re already ahead of the game. Also, with a payment schedule you never get too deep into a project – especially with a new client.

If the client misses a payment, the work gets put to one side – at least until the client makes good on his or her SOW agreement.

Deliverables Inventory

The list of deliverables should be extremely detailed, describing the deliverable, format, placement, number of revisions and any other project specs.

In addition, the SOW should also include a list of items that won’t be delivered as part of the agreement. For example, if you’re building a website and the client asks if you could do a quick “5-part, auto-responder series,” ARs should be on your list of components that are NOT included in the price.

The client may be responsible for product pictures, for example, or site text or baseline metrics. Make sure everyone is clear on what’s included and what isn’t in the SOW.

However, it’s good form to offer a discount on this additional work to keep the client happy. Just make sure you at least break even.

Make the Client a Stakeholder

This is often overlooked, even by long-time business owners.

If your company simply presents storyboards or sample web pages to the client, the client has no vested interest in those design elements. So, early in the discovery phase, ask the client to recommend things like color schemes he likes, fonts that she finds attractive and other design elements.

This makes the client a stakeholder in the finished project, whatever it may be. It’s difficult to say you don’t like the color combination when you picked it out. Don’t back the client into a corner, i.e. “But these are the colors you chose!” Great way to lose a client, who, as we all know, is ALWAYS right.

However, by giving the client a say in project development, you lock in design or other project aspects more quickly.

Deliver Pages

Throughout the process, stay in touch with the client and get approvals at every possible stage. Roughs, boards, reaction text (too hypey?), sample site pages or the quarterly financial report – keep the customer informed.

Clients hate to be ignored and this shows you and your team are on the job. It also enables you to make changes when they’re easy to make. This is a real time saver, and if the client knows what s/he wants, all the better.

Managing Project Creep

A solid statement of work is the best place to start. But don’t stop there.

If the client asks for an additional deliverables and you can do it in an hour and it’s going to make him happy, do it. However, recognize that you’ve opened the door for a few more “little things.”

At some point, early in the project, introduce the concept of client alterations – changes after approvals, additions, you know, project creep. Be straightforward. This project creep is hurting your business and “while I’d love to give you another 20 pages of site text, I just don’t have the time.”

You have to draw the line. Otherwise, the client will keep on adding to the list of deliverables and you watch as your margins grow thinner with each “little thing.”

Your time and your expertise are the two commodities you sell. If you give these assets away, you diminish their value in the eyes of the client. Remember, you’re not just being paid for what you do…you’re also being paid for what you know.

And that’s what makes you the best ever there was.

WHEN GOOD SITES GO BAD

ARE YOU HAPPY WITH YOUR WEB SITE'S PERFORMANCE? YEAH, MOST SITES CRASH WITHIN 12 MONTHS.

ONE THING YOU CAN DO IS MAKE YOUR SITE BROWSER COMPATIBLE SO IT LOOKS GOOD ON IE, FIREFOX, CHROME, SAFARI AND OTHER BROWSERS ACROSS A VARIETY OF PLATFORMS.

Is Your Site “All-Browser” Friendly?

How Poor Design Makes a Good Site Look Bad

For most owners of an online start-up, their sites must be works of art. They spend hours and hours (or thousands and thousands of dollars) to develop a sharp-looking site that immediately catches the visitor’s eye. But is all of this really necessary?

And what about site visitors who still use dial-up connections on their 10-year old systems? They’re still out there and they still buy things. So, what can you do to make your web site picture perfect for any visitor using any operating system on any computer (except Coleco, which died in the early days of the personal computer era.)

KISS

Keep it simple, stupid. (No offense.)

Most first-time site owners want to use it just because they can, whether it’s a useless Flash demo or looped clipart stills that fade in and out every 10 seconds. If it exists and it looks cool, new owners want it because they’ve seen the feature on other “professional sites.”

But is simple better? All you have to do is go to the Google homepage for your answer. Plain white background, company logo, a few links to the back office and a search box. That’s it. No razzle-dazzle. Simplicity itself. Oh, and it’s one of the most visited sites in the world.

You may think all of that “web bling” looks hot, but it’s not. It’s so last week, it confuses first-time visitors (shock and awe online) and it slows download times by up to 300% - longer for dial-ups – and nobody wants to wait that long to see your cool/hot homepage. It may be your baby, but to visitors, it’s just another web site.

Site Usability for All Browsers

Somebody had the idea of the horizontal navigation bar across the top of the screen 20 years ago and it’s still the main means of navigating a web site. Originally, the only information you got was the actual link’s name – Our Products, About Us, Terms of Service and so on.

Today, navigation tool bars employ mouse-overs. Simply move your screen cursor over a link on the navigation bar and a flyout or dropdown menu appears, providing additional navigation options. Scroll. Click. You’re there.

The problem with many navigation bars is that they’re driven using JavaScript to connect navigation bar flyouts to specific links on the site – great if visitors have enabled JavaScript on their systems; unusable if the visitor’s browser isn’t JavaScript enabled. And not all are!

There’s a bigger point, here. Don’t assume that prospective visitors have certain features and capabilities available. Not all browsers are JavaScript ready. Not all employ 24- or 32-bit Truecolor. Not every computer system will have lots of VRAM (video RAM) to display color changes rapidly without other operations bogging down in the process. And not every visitor is going to have the really cool font you downloaded, and have used throughout the site.

When Good Sites Go Bad

What happens in these cases? First, some of your site’s features won’t function at all. What good is a Flash demo on the home page if the user hasn’t downloaded a Flash player? What good is audio if the visitor’s system doesn’t have speakers or (this is true of older systems) that the speaker batteries are dead?

Second, older browsers will make substitutions based on what it “thinks” you had in mind. It will substitute colors from the outdated 8-bit, 256-color spectrum and you don’t know what will end up on screen since your site design is based on 32-bit Truecolor. Posterized junk images with major color shifts aren’t unusual. And, if the visitor’s system doesn’t have the cool type font you use, and you fail to include the font as a separate font file, the browser may substitute something that looks just plain awful.

Looks Matter, But Not Too Much

Sure, a web site should look attractive and grab visitors’ attention – quickly. Sites should also read well, i.e. no typos. And sentences actually written in English. That’s not too much for any visitor to expect. But don’t get so hung up on the look of your new site that you forget about usability issues – how easy and comfortable is the site to use, i.e. read, navigate, access specific data and so on.

How do your programming conventions and latest tools in your web site builder kit translate to older systems, older browsers? Overall site usability, and accessibility to content, are more important considerations. And, remember, there are still web users who own computers with older CPUs, less RAM, limited color selection, terrible audio, no Flash player, no PDF reader and pokey dial-ups to the AOL portal.

Those older systems, with dial-up connections, are going the way of the rotary dial telephone and buggy whips. Even so, if you set the bar low enough to reach these borderline Luddites, you’ll expand the reach of your site. Even better, visitors with the latest systems and software will notice that you’ve simplified your site. Load times will shrink as conversion ratios expand.

Everybody wins – especially you.

Look, if you're just starting out in the world of e-commerce, call me first. You'll svae money and end up with a great looking site that converts visitors to buyers. And ain't that what it's all about?

Later,

Webwordslinger