Archive for the ‘Business Principles’ Category

I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get completely overwhelmed with the sheer amount of time, energy and raw hours that go into properly marketing a website online. The thing that gets me the most is that with SEO and other forms of online marketing, there really is no situation when you can sit back and say “we’ve arrived.” Once you optimize a site, there are still so many things that can be assessed, analyzed, uncovered and corrected that you never really can say, “It’s Miller time!”

This is what I envy about web designers. They get to produce a finished work, then go and collect awards for their work. But, online marketing – that’s a different ballgame all together. Sure, we can celebrate top rankings, but tomorrow there is another keyword that needs improvement! Click here to keep learning

The process of search engine marketing can be defined as a strategic game of quickly implementing strategies that will increase your site’s exposure and conversion rates, while also patiently waiting for the fruits of your efforts to bear out.

Sometimes you’re doing one or the other, but most often you’re doing both at the same time. Taking action here, while waiting for results there. Then taking action over there, and waiting for the results here.

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Over the years, I’ve come to realize I’m not a very good sales person. I’m not good at self promotion or pushing the hard-sell techniques that “convert” leads into customers. Despite all that, I have been my company’s best (and only) sales person over the past 12 years.

I’ve tried to hire sales people in the past, but it has never turned out well. It seems that I know our products and service far better than anyone else can learn them.

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To know the value of one year – ask the student who failed their final.
To know the value of one month – ask the mother of a premature baby.
To know the value of one week – ask the editor of a weekly magazine.
To know the value of one day – ask the wage earner with six children.
To know the value of one hour – ask the lovers who are waiting to meet.
To know the value of one minute – ask the person who missed the plane.
To know the value of one second – ask the person who survived the accident.
To know the value of one millisecond – ask the Olympic silver medalist.
–John Maxwell

In SEO and SEM, time management is critical. Almost anybody in the industry will tell you that you can spend countless hours “tweaking” a website, looking at traffic analysis and conversion stats, and employing link building campaigns. These are all essential parts of a good SEO service, but at the same time, some limits have to be placed on the amount of time you will spend on these activities for any single client.

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If you have never heard of The Scotty Principle, you might as well just give up now.

Go home. We’re done here.

Okay, now that all the non-geeks have left the building, we can have a frank, honest conversation about SEO (and a bit of Star Trek).

I’ve always heard of people that are so good at sales they could sell ice to an Eskimo, water to a fish or prescription glasses to the blind. I think I once bought a bridge.

Having a good salesperson is great, but the sell-at-all-costs approach can often come back to bite the companies that hire them.

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While it’s great to know what people want, when you give them what they want, you only give them a partial solution. The want is the symptom. But, when you address the need, you are addressing the underlying problem and providing a much more holistic solution.

In Part 2 of this series, I started discussing a customers wants versus their needs. I continue this list here.

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Business building is about relationship building. In order to get and keep customers, you must be able to build some kind of relationship with them. In my last post, I talked about how building relationships online is essential to your long-term business strategy. After all, you want to be different than the 100′s or 1000′s of others all selling the same product or service. Once you open up the door to relationships with your customers, you create a comfort level and familiarity that continues to bring people back.

So, what is it that people want? How does that translate into what they need? And, how the heck does that get applied to your online business? Let’s look at some generalities of what people want and what you can do to meet their needs.

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There are a lot of things that go into operating a successful business. But, when it’s all said and done, the thing that really matters most is building relationships. Sure, your customers are concerned about price, quality, service, etc., but the most successful businesses are those that work to create some kind of strong rapport with both their customers and potential customers alike.

Wal-Mart provides a quick and easy example. Do you really need someone handing you a shopping cart as you walk into the store? I’m a big boy, I can get my own cart. But, almost every Wal-Mart employs friendly, elderly types to smile, say “Hello”, and hand you a cart as you walk in. Believe it or not, that little gesture is relationship building!

Many businesses fight to keep their prices low, and they make cuts so they can have the lowest prices in town. But, the dirty truth of that is, people will often pay more for something if they have a connection with person or business selling. That connection–that relationship–leads not only to repeat business, but to word of mouth business as well. This is true whether you run a grocery store, a restaurant, a sporting goods store, or a movie theater.

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Coupons are a great way to entice new visitors to purchase something from your site or to reward frequent customers. The popularity of Groupon is a great testament to the power (and desire) of coupons.

But, sometimes coupons can backfire. Not for those who have them, but for those that don’t.

Have you ever been to a site where, you’ve shopped around, found what you wanted, and when you went to check-out they asked you to enter your coupon code number? WTH! You don’t HAVE a coupon! But, you know that, somewhere out there, a coupon can be found!

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Engaging in competitive research before and during your SEO, PPC, Social Media, and Link Building campaigns is smart business. As they say, “information is power.”

But, too much information can also cause a handicap. It’s not too difficult to be so inundated with info. that you get information overload or conflicting advice. That leads to decision paralysis. You don’t know the right course of action to take, or you can wind up using good information to make bad judgment calls.

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