It does not happen often I'm turning instantly lyrical about a software program. Happened only a few times in the last 6 years, Typepad, ScreenSteps and Octane come to mind. But it happened again with Ecwid (Ecommerce "Widgets") - a new breed of shopping cart software
Our existing webshop - implemented 3 years ago as substitute for Actinic - is an integrated part of our Accounting package from Mamut (Enterprise version). Then fitting the bill as a modern Ecommerce solution, now - compared with the newer cloud computing solutions all around us - more and more sluggish and lately even frustratingly out of date.
As always, you try to "hang-on" as best as possible, and kind of shrug off the restrictions the program keeps putting in your way to add versatility and improvements to the online shopping experience of modern online shoppers. But there comes a moment when you decide: enough is enough, we need another solution. Even if that means adding a bit more work to the bookkeeping by missing the automagicall link between online order and sales ledger.
Searching the internet for a better solution for us brought, of course, a multitude of options. Some fortunately offer a trial webshop or a trial period. Dividing time between normal tasks, other marketing projects and testing these options does tend to make one impatient. But help was at hand by means of a recent blog post by my online friend Martin Malden.
In his "A really good (and simple) shoppingcart for WordPress" Martin exclaimed his pure relief of finding Ecwid
And I completely agree with Martin: it's superb (and free for the first 100 products you have in your "shop"). Opening an account is dead easy, you can even log in with an existing google account.
(Side-note: you do need to know a bit of css coding to understand how to customise the design of your "shop", and some of the documentation could IMHO be improved.)
You'll notice I keep placing the word shop between quotes - because it's more than just an online shop where you send your prospect to to do their shopping.
Imagine the following true facts of the last week: there's no promotion of the new "shop" yet, I've not even linked to it from our main website but already have managed to receive an order every single day! Why and how?
This single product you can buy straight of its landing page - a webpage from our main website dedicated only to our cast iron buffing block, nothing more nothing less. Before Ecwid there was a link to our existing webshop where this product is listed among other maintenance tools we sell.
When someone landed on this page and wanted to order this magnificent eco-friendly tool they had to leave the page, scroll down to the product in the webshop again to buy it. Steps that are now avoided (and we seem to be running out of buffing blocks quickly!)
With Ecwid you can simply copy the html code of any product in your "shop" and paste it in any other webpage, blogpost etc.
Imagine what this does for our other landing pages (simple DIY guides) - they too are already attracting orders.
The minute a visitor adds one of the product to the bag, the actual shopping bag appears. Try it for yourself if you like and then "open the bag".
You'll see a pop-up window with your ordered product, the delivery costs and tax specified, plus check-out options (including Paypal Express Check-out). But there is, for us and our new client, an even more important button there:
Continue Shopping. This brings you, without leaving the page you were on, in the actual complete Ecommerce shop where you can fill your shopping bag with other products. Go on, give it a try. Have a browse!
The actual Ecommerce "shop" I call the "storage house", the back end of the webshop. There you admin the products, the prices, the product images, the Egoods files, the categories (and one product can be attached to more than one category), the delivery costs, the payment options, the outgoing emails to your new (or existing) clients etc etc etc.
The Front End of your webshop can be anywhere. Multiple outlets with either the complete range, one single category or even one single product.
It did take me more than 5 minutes to set it up, and it still does not replace our existing Mamut webshop, but we're getting there. Once all the categories are filled we'll start to redirect everyone to our new Ecommerce solution. And in the meantime the landing pages will no doubt continue to bring in new orders.
(And then we might even venture in the other option Ecwid has: linking our brand new Ecommerce solution with Facebook.)
Martin, thanks again for the tip.
And as for Ecwid - I grant them the Kiss Award.
This week I kept reading blog posts about "picking your brain" mentalities - good or bad for your business/brand/network?
Some posts were reactions to blog posts - as happens so often in the blogosphere, and this post is in fact a reaction too - and others took a different spin/angle to the question.
What seems to have triggered this blog'roll' was the following tweet by Skydiver (Peter Shankman)
One blogger found it a very arrogant statement, others agreed totally or understood the point of view where again others compared the same principle to having your network "rustled".
And this morning in a trade magazine (CFJ) I read the same sentiment when one of the top technical/hands-on advisers of the wooden flooring trade used his monthly column to announce he has set up a new system you can "subscribe" to for an annual (small) fee to get his advice by phone or in writing (where before he'd given his advice for free).
All in all, reading the tweet, posts and magazine column I can fully understand what they are doing: in this time and age of "FREE to all" those who make their living out of advising others (businesses, traders, writers etc) are starting to feel the profit pressure.
For those asking to pick their brains there seems to be no line (not even a thin one) between reading the free blog posts/articles filled with advice, tips and hints for all who want to read it/learn from it and the direct (personal) request for advice. "You're constantly giving out advice left, right and center so why wouldn't I pick up the phone, write that email and ask a direct question?"
And there's the catch. Writing blog posts, articles about your experiences, knowledge and expertise is - in general - meant as showcase of your experience, knowledge and expertise. Like a port-folio, an (very extended and ongoing) introduction. A modern way of attracting prospects, clients, financiers etc etc (again, in general).
Free content is not the same as free case specific advice.
Funnily enough, our own business best performing webforms or source of clients is exactly that: giving out case specific advice for free.
Daily I answer questions not just be email but also over the phone. Free, helping out in very specific cases with tips, hints and product recommendations.
In fact we thrive and grow on having our "brains picked", day in day out, week in week out. It takes up our time (my time especially) and we love it, our bank balance loves it too. So, where's the difference?
Reading those various posts and articles this week on the same subject: "free as long as it for general purpsose, if you want case specific advice/help I'll charge my normal rate", does show where IMHO the difference is:
It depends what you sell.
We don't supply wooden floors for free, we don't install wooden floors for free and since recently we also don't restore floors for free (not that we ever done that for free, we just recently added a new "department" to our business). Our profit comes from those three services: supply, install and restore. Our profit does not come from giving case specific advice (althoug based on some of those cases we did publish our first Q&A on Wooden Flooring, which became profitable within 1 month).
And as long as this case specific free advice brings in more profit (from small to large orders based on the case specific advice given) than it costs us (time to answer the phone and writing the emails even for those who don't turn into clients) we will continue our free service. And if ever need be we would even employ a second "adviser".
Free case specific advice on our products and methods (installation, restoration and how to guides) sells our products and methods.
That's a big difference in giving free case specific advice to a specific business on how to implement a social media strategy or as Gini rightfully states:
"I think Jason’s blog post is less about incentive-based consulting and more about something that is rampant in the industries where people sell their brains for a living. Time is how we make our money. We don’t make widgets. We don’t sell products. We don’t manufacture anything. We don’t process anything. Our brains are our products and, Jason is right, every time someone asks us for free help, they’re taking us away from clients or opportunities to make us money."
What do you sell? Can what you do/make help you become more profitable by giving case specific advice for free or does it eat into your profits? Can you let me know in the comment box?
The readers of the magazine Interiors Monthly have voted for the 2010 Best Awards and to our big surprise:
Just returned from our short break we received a very nice surprise in the mail: the above framed certificate of the readers choice in the category Best Flooring Retailer ( 1 - 2 stores).
All winners in all categories will be announced in next month's issue of Interiors Monthly.
A tweet from former colleague from our "corporate" days in The Netherlands caught my eye this morning
Translation:
Can you as hard working small business close shop for 3 weeks? No. Will I do it? Yes! We're closed the 1st 3 weeks of August..
It made me think (which I told her and then she made the bold statement I was always on holiday - I can't help it my work turned into a hobby ;-)). Joking aside - my "hobby" takes up so much of our time we haven't been away for more than a long weekend for years - it is a good and valid question and somehow I don't really agree with the straight NO answer.
If you employ others also your employees are entitled to holidays, no matter what you as owner do with your own holiday entitlement.
When Rahma and I both worked for a manufacturing company most departments during the summer months used the following system: only one or two could be away at one time, the rest had already been on holiday or were going later. Meaning spreading the work load, normally carried by the whole team, over fewer persons for many weeks in a row.
Stretched out holiday planning regularly produced "stressed-out" employees and managers. 'Cos the demands on the department stayed the same, no matter how many or few employees were available to fulfil the tasks. This can have/had a ripple effect on other departments too, which in the end can/will effect the clients.
Other (smaller) factories (and even the above mentioned company we worked for in its earlier days) use a different system: the whole caboodle closed for 3 weeks. Meaning, nothing coming in - no new orders too - and nothing going out. Short pain.
But no stressed-out employees either (not counting the bookkeeper worrying about his cash-flow). And clarity to existing clients too: if you need our product before this or that day, make sure you get your order in on time otherwise you'll have to wait until we're all back from our well deserved 3 weeks break.
Above two systems (stretched out or short) are more for larger businesses, employing over 10 - 15 people (or at least, that's my guess). How about what both Rahma and we are now "running": small businesses with a small number of employees.
Would stretching out be easier to handle or not? The owner/manager could decide not to take a holiday at all (been there, doing it - again), which leaves the "executors" of the work. Like in our case our fitters (conveniently forgetting that one of these fitters is my own partner who does not go on holiday without me!). One could not do the jobs normally carried out by two, so spreading the weeks does not help, clients/orders will have to wait anyway. And what about the bookkeeper? Who will do his/her task in between the normal other tasks?
Stressed out employees, stressed out owner, stressed out clients again.
So, the short pain system would be better here? Closing the "shop" for everyone for 2 - 3 weeks. Everyone away at the same time, clients know you're away for this specific period of time (do tell them way upfront and not the week before - seen it!)
Many small business owners (us among them) will worry about lost sales when the "shop" is closed for this x period of time. And what about new enquiries? For most, times are hard enough as it is.
Every single one of us needs a break from the system once in a while. Refuel the engine, step away from the daily grind, exposing yourself to new views, new experiences and new impressions or just simply to relax and only do those things you want to do (reading a book, taking a stroll over a beach, visiting musea or castle gardens). Revitalise, both for your own health as in fact your business health.
But closing shop does not have to mean the enquiries or sales have to "close" too.
Takes some upfront logistics of course, but hey, that's keeping the business going during your own break for you.
In our case it would mean
Of course not everything will go as smoothly as you would be on stand-bye but, hey relax, you're on your well deserved holiday. This means letting go, delegating the control too. It's only for 2 - 3 weeks. And besides, you still got your smart phone to read your daily emails from the answering and/or fulfillment service in case of emergencies.
Systems to allow you to break out your system. That's modern business life for you.
Hmm, where did I leave that holiday brochure?
It was predicted and it was delivered: the government is cutting its spending. Some departments have to find ways to cut their budget (IMHO quite different than what they actual spend, but that's a different story) as much as 40%
If it all works out, all of us - tax-payers and beneficiaries of those taxes - will have a more sustainable financial future. That's the plan. As business owner and tax-payer (double, on personal and business "profits") I would love to see this happening.
After the emergency budget was announced we received the following online order from a gov.uk email address - very local as well. A Kent council project/centre in nearby Ashford - 6 miles away from our showroom.
1 bottle a £ 10.54 - total price paid: £ 43.17
Let me break this down for you:
bottle £ 10.54
shipping costs £ 17.63 (default setting, can be changed to appropriate costs during check-out)
additional fees £ 15.00 (fixed fee for payment by credit card)
So now lets retrace the steps the gov.uk person took ordering this one bottle:
Underneath every single product in our online shop we list the P&P per quantity. In this case: ordering 1 bottle will cost £ 8.50 ex VAT for P&P
First page on our secure check-out:
1) Delivery Method, select delivery method.
2) Default setting is the top one, 99% of our clients change this option when needed to a lower or higher one, depending on the information found on the product page.
3) The option the gov.uk person ordering the bottle should have selected
Again, default is the top one: place your order and pick up the phone (9 times out of 10 we're the ones who pick up the phone to call the client and discuss how they would like to pay.)
This time the gov.uk person ordering the one bottle did manage to select the correct one and changed the default method. But don't take me wrong, for an item costing just over £ 10.00 would you personally pay £ 15.00 extra just for the pleasure of using your credit card?
If this gov.uk person had read the information correctly the first saving would have been £ 6.50 ex VAT (£ 7.63 including VAT). If only this gov.uk person had picked up the phone to discuss the payment method/options another big saving could have been made.
We do charge a fee for payment by credit card, 3% on the amount paid because that's what the credit card companies charge us for the pleasure. Our online shop does not work with percentages so we calculated what the normal amount ordered is and based our fix fee for this payment option on this (and we win some, we lose some).
A simple phone call to the shop - only 6 miles down the road of the gov.uk person - would have told them:
it's only £ 8.50 for the delivery and if you insist on paying by credit card we'll have to add £ 0.61 to the total price = £ 21.13
That's a saving of £22.00 or 51% - more than any department is asked to save.
(And would a short journey from Ashford to Charing really cost that much in time and petrol? If they'd visited the showroom they could have saved another £ 10.00)
Now of course does this £22.00 not make a big dent in the deficit. But as bookkeeper (and double Capricorn) I know very well that many small ones make one big one; that to keep an eye on the pennies, the pounds will take care of themselves.
Mine, and yours. And if you are only a little bit like me, you care about your money and how it is spent.
But for a gov.uk person in an office ordering one bottle online it seems to be nobodies money. It's on a credit card anyway, who knows who gets to see the monthly statement of all the spending?
Government spending cuts should start with accountability for every penny spent in her name. If there's a waste of yours and mine money the gov.uk person accountable should pay the moneys unnecessarily spent out of their own pocket, definitely making it their money too.
I predict that then a lot of savings will be made straight away, without any hardship to beneficiaries of taxes. (Update 12.07.10: listed this also on George Osborne's website: Spending Challenge)
(And before you berate me of having accepted this order with this tremendous waste of your money, the extra profit on this order has been donated to Room to Read - World Change Starts with Educated Children)
If you have a business website - and which business nowadays hasn't? - I hope you have a way of tracking your web visitors. Where do they "land", how did they find your site and also, if they used a search engine to find the answer to a question: what search phrase did they use that made them click on the link to your site.
All important data, although I know some business owners (of small, medium and large businesses) only measure the hits and visitor numbers. The detailed data from your web tracking software is a true treasure trove to find opportunities, even niches, for your business.
Since our first web page went live we've been using Statcounter web tracking software - IMHO still way better and detailed than Google Analytics, especially for small businesses.
With Statcounter you can have a multitude of projects - all with their own simple tracking code - to fine tune your marketing and detailed insight in certain specific projects.
Two things about Statcounter that really stand out is it shows the path each individual visitor takes through your website, page by page - including exit links (even to other sites) and the exact place in the search results your visitor found the "entry page" (or landing page).
When is the last time you had a proper look/insight in the most common search phrases your web visitor uses to find your site? Have you ever done something with this extra knowledge to improve the experience of your visitor and therefore the result/ROI of your website/webmarketing?
In September 2007 we published a simple post on our FAQ blog about restoring an original parquet floor, including sanding tips and products to use. Main reason for this post was an article in a trade magazine about the different sanders available for hire for the DIY-er.
This post quickly became one of the better found "pages" of our whole "web-presence". This rather short post presented us with a new opportunity: targeting DIY-ers and home-owners who discovered an original parquet floor in their home and who are looking for tips/advice/products to restore this valuable floor.
We extended the information from the original blog post and created a new specific page on our "static" main website: "7 Easy steps to repair/restore your original parquet floor", added recommended products underneath it with links to our secure online shop and we made sure we added a link in this popular blog post to the new guide - our first wood floor guide. The blog post is not longer the most popular, the 7 steps are now plus the number of orders for the recommended products went from hardly any to 8 - 10 orders per month (and is still an ongoing profitable "line").
Our next step was to turn the "7 steps" into an even more extended guide which can be purchased as E-guide. Our first "digital" product as wooden floor retailer - another "niche".
Due to the result of our first digital guide and the popularity of another blog post: how to install your own floor, keep it simple this information was also extended and beginning 2009 turned into an E-book too. The popularity and profitability of this new E-guide made the decision to turn it into a proper paperback easier. The paperback has now replaced the E-guide and is doing even better (not just for sale on our own website but also through Amazon.co.uk and .com plus any other book retailer - online or off-line).
Above are just two examples of opportunities we found in our own web statistics, showing us what visitors are truly looking for, what the problems/pains are they need solved.
Your web visitors use words/phrases you might never have thought of in your SEO improvement sessions. It only needs a single word or combination of words in one of your blogposts or webpage to give you an indication (because the post/page keeps being found time after time) where the next opportunity to improve/grow your business/range is. Then extend the information on that page so your visitors receive more/better information to solve their problem/pain and your ROI increases almost without any extra effort.
Of late parquet floor restoration features high and frequently in our web stats. From next month onwards we are extending our services to include parquet floor restoration in the Kent area - which also means we're turning from a 2 "man" band into a 3 "man" band. A big step for a small business but a decision made easier because of our own web statistics: there's a real ongoing demand for both products and services to restore original parquet floors.
Yesterday I almost laughed out loud when I read the following search phrase that brought a visitor to our website:
Nowhere on our website do we talk about installation prices, but as you can see above, combinations of words of the search phrase lists our website high on the search results (which is good to know) plus it gives us an idea for what to write in our next blog post: how to select your professional fitter. (And it gave me the idea of this blog post here)
What opportunities will you find in the treasure trove your web statistics can be?
We keep our contacts up to date with news on products, methods, regulations etc. And our suppliers do the same fortunately. Communication is important when running a business, so everyone knows which products are changing, are new - or improved - or will be discontinued.
Or so we thought.
With the last shipment from our regular Dutch supplier the box of one type of products contained the manufacturer's April newsletter, proudly announcing: we're going green! Not just their products but also their house style; green labels, brochures, website and all.
The newsletter is in Dutch, but that's not a problem for us, as you might know we originate from The Netherlands.
The translation of the main news is as follows:
"Starting from 1st July we will only supply products to the professional floor fitter which comply with the VOC regulation (OPS-wetgeving) but keep/establish the same quality and end-result ... we love to help the floor fitter to establish a Volatile-Organic-Compound-free result."
We frequently use and recommend two of the products that are now definitely disappearing from their range and which are all replaced with greener ones. We decided there and then after reading the news we would not re-stock these two products and inform all of our contacts through our newsletter.
Partly unbeknown to us various floor-fitters, retailers and even wholesalers in the UK are subscribed to our newsletter - nice to known of course and good practice: best way to keep an eye on your competitor, read their newsletter.
Within an hour after emailing our newsletter to around 1290 contacts we received a phone call from the UK rep of the manufacturer, a bit angry too. Where did we get this news, several of his clients in the trade had been calling him to confirm "our news" and one had even be so kind to forward our newsletter to him.
When I explained it came from the manufacturer's own (Dutch) newsletter in a box with their own products I was told the following amazing - to me - statement:
yeap, but that's just for the Dutch and Belgium market where this VOC regulation has been ratified by the industry, not for the UK market.
I questioned him about this VOC regulation being an EU regulation and wasn't the UK part of the EU? To no avail, here the regulation, according to him, is apparently not ratified by the industry and non-green products in that regards are therefore still available.
He then went on to tell me I should email everyone again to inform them of this, I told him I would insert a note on the blog post about the same subject, which I did. I used his own words and also repeated that once our own limited stock is gone, it's gone and will not be replaced with new "old" products from this manufacturer.
This rep was not happy, and I was left wondering about the green pat on their own back by this Dutch manufacturer.
My impression is they are - with right - proud to comply with the new VOC regulations and help protect the health of the professional floor fitters and the environment by innovation products that are greener but still do "what is says on the tin". Their whole marketing/brand is being turned green for it.
However, and here's the snag, what about the health of professional floor fitters and the environment of countries where the industry - en mass - has not ratified this tightening regulation.
Here in the UK there are plenty of companies/manufacturers voluntarily complying with this regulation - see the same blog post about another replacement product we introduced.
Inconsistency never works for a brand - you are either green, brown, red or whatever statement you want everywhere, or you are not. You can't have it both ways. You'll be "found out" and very quickly nowadays.
This also makes me wonder the following: if the UK is lagging behind in ratifying and complying with these new green regulations there is a very big risk that the UK will be used as a "dumping ground" for other EU manufacturers for their non complying products. Not sure this EU regulation was meant this way.
And not sure how you can use green marketing in one country but decide to forget all about it in another, just because it's not enforced (and therefore more convenient for the bottom line?).
Can you be a different shade of green in different countries?
Does silence in strategic alliance work?
Last week I wrote about our encounter with Royal Mail on Direct Mail options which ended in having to go back to the drawing board.
As Ed Rivis rightly remarked in his comment on my post: Direct Response Advertising is what it's all about when targeting specific not yet known prospects. Because we don't know what type of floor covering and in what kind of state the new home owners will find once the Big Day has arrived our aim is to offer handy "first-aid" tips for stain removal and simple maintenance on both wood flooring - our own expertise - and carpets - of which we do not have "inside" knowledge.
Fortunately, we have been in contact with a carpet cleaning company who indicated over a month ago they were in for strategic alliance. On their request earlier I was following a sequence of email messages about how to find a decent carpet cleaner and how to spot the "tricks of the trade". I also submitted some IMHO constructive comments on the messages, the layout and the style used; sharing our own experience with email marketing and the results we have. Their sequenced emails keep coming, but no reply to my comments.
So, in regards of our new project, we gave them a call and left a message on the answering machine over a week ago.
Which is a pity, because if we work together on this project, they could do the same for new home-movers in their area and use our tips on stain removing and maintaining wooden floors while promoting their own services to those with carpets.
Fortunately we always have Google to search and find the information about stain removing etc ourselves to compile the report we have in mind on our own. One site I discovered truly is a gold mine on giving information, tips and advice on all kinds of stains and how to prevent/remove them.
Great, problem solved I thought. All I have to do now is contact them and request permission to use their info - with naming the source and linking to their site - for our reports. Their contact page invites feedback, by subscribing to their newsletter and entering a comment in the text box. Which of course I promptly did. A kind request to share and promote their expertise on stains.
Great, another chance to explain to the person in charge our idea. So I replied to the email with an offer to do even more than the above, we would be more than happy to inform all of our contacts of their site.
That was a week ago. Silence until..........
A new (auto?) email which arrived in my inbox yesterday.
Oh yes, I'm interested in interesting information but was actually hoping they would be interested in our proposal. Or at least acknowledge our request.
It seems they are more interested in the number of Like's on Facebook. Pity, we could have added so much extra free information to their site in regards of stain removal and maintaining wooden floors to the benefit of their readers and "fans".
what's with businesses that seem to step on the Social Media and webmarketing ladder only to turn it into a one-way traffic: from them to us. To them I can highly recommend the "Age of Conversation 3 - It is time to get busy"
There was a ps in the last email: "If you would like us to stop contacting you please reply to this email with 'REMOVE ME' as the subject."
What I'm wondering/even begging is: how can I make you contact me in earnest??
So, stuck again? Back to the drawing board again?
No, I've decided to do exactly what they are asking: use their tips and link to their site and Facebook page because all in all the information that can be found there is a gold-mine and would absolutely benefit our yet unknown prospects who just moved home and might be facing stains on (inherited) carpets. We like to help out - that's how we grow our business. And if need be, as it seems now, we go-it-alone!
Last week I had a visit from one of Royal Mail's New Business Managers to discuss Direct Mailing options Royal Mail has to offer small businesses. We are always interested in trying out different marketing methods and this meeting would go deeper into the option "home-movers".
The Royal Mail person had experience in helping to organise a marketing campaign for small to medium businesses targeting those who are about to move home or had just moved. Since Ashford Borough with its new excellent High Speed Link to London (and the Eurostar to mainland Europe) it is getting more and more attractive for commuters looking for a more rural (and cheaper than London) life. A great source of new prospects for us, but how to find them in time?
Moving home is rather stressful, specially the way here in England you seem to buy a house - for us Dutch people still a very strange and unbelievable illogical and even weird way: until the actual exchange date the deal could go pear-shaped and accepted offers don't seem to mean anything at all. And everyone is in a chain of selling/buying homes where if only one shackle breaks all the other deals are off too - with no compensation for the "innocent".
Until the actual exchange no-one is even certain the home of their dream will be theirs and therefore no one ever plans many new items for the new home in advance.
Which means we - as retailer in wooden floors - should not contact possible new prospects in the area until after they truly moved in (in a chain everyone seems to move on the same day or weekend because the next new owner is queuing up) and the dust of the stressful move has settled. For us from a different country where you would have at least one week to prepare your new home (including new floor covering) for the arrival of the contents of your old home a strange concept to get used to.
The direct mail marketing campaign we wanted to discuss would therefore focus on an informative way to new arrivals in the area about their existing floor covering, very often "inherited" from the previous owner. Being informative has always been and always will be a large part of our marketing strategy, direct mail marketing using home-movers data from the Royal Mail would be a new tactic for us.
During the conversation with the New Business Manager we discussed how we market our business normally, the internet and email marketing are still the main tactics. We do have one "paper" ad in a local "Village Directory" that is publish monthly, contains ads from local businesses and local news. It's distributed in many villages around Ashford town, and in our experience is the only paper ad that works for us.
In the latest Village Directory a editorial about our recently publish book "Wooden Floor Installation Manual" shows on the same page as our ad. When I showed this to our guest he skimmed the editorial and immediately remarked:
"Well, your branding is missing."
(The editorial has a headline: "Planning to Install a Wooden Floor", not a "headstone" and no logo of our business, the simple contact details can be found at the bottom of the article, just above our ad - again without a typical "branding" headstone.)
He completely missed the message in the article, the offer to help solve a problem. Fortunately the readers of the Village Directory care more about the message than about the missing banding "headstone".
This morning, enjoying my first cup of coffee of the day, I continued reading my copy of the Age of Conversation 3 - It's time to get busy - and was reminded of the above misguided remark when I came to the excellent contribution of Efrain Mendicuti (page 59) "Branding is not about your ad campaign".
Mr Royal Mail New Business Manager seems to think it is, headstone included. Pity.
(In the end Royal Mail also does not seem to understand that a new marketing campaign, especially when using a new method - new for us - the first test should be small. A minimum of 5000 addresses of home-movers is not small, not in our book. So, back to the drawing table - new tactic already found and in the process of being implemented coming month, as a small test.)
Talking about branding and "headstones" - how about Google's latest "logo" display!
The text in the extra button below the "logo" is IMHO absolutely priceless!
They are welcome to it, and well done to put a smile on many faces. I lost count of all the tweets yesterday and today pointing me towards this remarkable piece of creativity.
For our business I'm more than happy our brand gets across as being the most informative business, helping to solve problems in regards of wooden floors - before, during and after the installation of it.
Honestly think this does not need a headstone or logo. Just the right message.
In my contribution to the "Age of Conversation 3 - It is Time to get Busy" (page 11, in the At The Coalface section) I try to explain in just 400 words how we use Q and A's to grow our business, one question at the time.
Enabling a visitor to your website to submit a question is a great way to start a conversation. We first started to use this principle when we launched our blog-site: FAQ & News site where we turned the comment box into a "ask your question" box.
Now, not everyone is happy, willing or sometimes even internet-savy enough to have their questions/problems made public, no matter if the subject is only "wooden floor" related. Plus, although we both publish our answer online in the comment box and email the person who asked the question, we're not always able to follow-up on this Q&A to find out if our answer solved the problem.
One way to tackle both issues in one go is to create a so-called "extended" webform in AWeber or any other autorespond software program. The "text-box" in the webform is large enough to contain a very long question, allowing your visitor to describe the situation and problem in detail. On the page of the form you explain that the question will be answered personally and in private - so quite different than using the comment box of a blog.
And on the thank you page, when using a autoresponder program that uses double opt-in, like AWeber, you must explain thoroughly that the question will only land in our inbox when the "subscription" is confirmed. This means some questions never land in our inbox and a problem is not solved. I'm in favour of double opt-in, to prevent spamming, but in these cases where you offer to answer questions and the webform is not intended to send a marketing/sales message it works as a break on the conversation.
Since end 2009 we use Octane HQ for our autoresponder (and for much more) which uses only a single opt-in (and where we are blocked to email the subscriber again through the system, once he/she unsubscribes using the "from all lists" option - a very strict "opted out" rule in Octane HQ).
With this method, every question lands in our inbox and is followed up personally.
How does answering questions for free helps us grow our business?
Two ways really:
Our answer is first and foremost to help solve a problem, not selling a product. But it happens quite often we do receive an order - small or large - from the person asking for help. Based on trust established through the conversation (and because - no bragging intended - our products are of high quality).
(Proof is in the pudding, above statistics since end of Dec last year to today. The "extended" webform is top of the bill, followed by two of the most popular free reports we give out.)
The second reason is it grows our database of FAQ's based articles in the most simple way possible. Every house, every situation and even every design style wish is different, so variations on a theme a plenty. And as every business adviser (every proper one that is) will tell you: the more you tell, the more you sell - again, see above the conversions from prospects to clients with free but valuable and relevant reports.
So the content of our FAQ is mostly "generated" by prospects/clients, the articles themselves are generated in a software program that allows us to publish them in multiple ways (from exporting to a blog platform to PDF or Word files and even as HTML pages for websites), plus - and here's where it gets interesting - the program allows us to archive every single article for future use. Further use as in grouping relevant articles into "manuals" per subject - again to be exported as PDF or Word files, ready in one go including a Table of Contents. All in one simple program: ScreenSteps Desktop Pro
We only need to "write" an article once, and re-use it whenever the needs occur in any combination or form we like. Plus the program contains a very versatile Image Capture Tool that places images into the article and when exported in any of the available forms are uploaded, printed etc instantly in the position we placed them in.
I've written about it before, we used this program to write our "Wooden Floor Installation Manual", which exported as Word-document could be digitised as required by the "printer" very quickly, plus the same manual was instantly available as an online version for clients. Write once, use and re-use for ever.
The last few months our FAQ & News site has "case-studies" posts, where the email conversation between prospect and us can be read and used by those who are in a sort-like situation or are looking for the same sort of advice/tips/tricks of the trade.
And all these new Q & A's will eventually end up in new "how to..." books or short guides.
One other benefit of generating new articles in ScreenSteps Desktop and publishing them on our blog is that when we receive a question already answered we simply direct to this published article - instant but still relevant answer.
We are a specialised retailer, utilising FAQ's to assist/help/guide prospects/clients using our products and methods. How many other businesses, be it retail or service orientated, would benefit from using this "write once - (re) use for ever"? Your own business perhaps?
(PS, this article was also written in ScreenSteps, ready to be re-used when I finally find the time to create manual on IT tools and marketing)
New York, NY (May 07, 2010)—Almost three years ago, an online conversation between two marketing pros—an American and an Australian—evolved into a collaborative writing effort by more than 100 bloggers from nine countries, and was aptly titled The Age of Conversation. Fast forward to today and the abstract experiment is now a concrete treatise on the state of social media and marketing best practices as a whole. With Drew McLellan and Gavin Heaton still firmly at the helm, the third book in the Age of Conversation series has become a veritable “who’s who” of the world’s leading marketing bloggers. Age of Conversation 3 (202 pages; hardcover; paperback; Kindle; ePub) was published by new digital publishing company Channel V Books (www.ChannelVBooks.com), and is now available through all major online retailers, as a Kindle e-book, and will soon be available as an ePub for other digital readers.
Age of Conversation 3 captures the distinct shift from social media as a hypothetical consumer loyalty tool, as it was considered only a little more than a year ago, to its current state as a staple in the modern marketing toolbox. Although the book covers more than just social media, the topic is ubiquitous among the book’s 10 sections: At the Coalface; Identities, Friends and Trusted Strangers; Conversational Branding; Measurement; Corporate Conversations; In the Boardroom; Innovation and Execution; Influence; Getting to Work; and Pitching Social Media.
“We have seen an incredible shift in the role of social media over the past three years. It has moved from an outlier in the marketing mix to one of the strategic pillars of any corporate marketing or branding exercise,” said Drew McLellan. “And it doesn’t end there,” adds Gavin Heaton. “As the many authors of this new book explain, the focus may be on conversation, but you can’t participate in a conversation from the sidelines. It’s all about participation. And this book provides you with 171 lessons in this new art”.
My own contribution can be found in the "At The Coalface" section:
"Building your business one question at the time"
All proceeds of this third Age of Conversation will be donated to an international children’s charity. You can "meet" all the 171 authors here (with links to their own websites/blogs) and follow them on Twitter through the AoC3 list here
The book is also available on Amazon.co.uk and if you use the links below I will make sure the "rewards" I receive from Amazon's affiliate program will go towards the AoC3 charity of choice.
For the paperback version:
For the hardback version:
My "personal librarian" Drew McMellan introduced me to a new book (new for me) last week in his regular "What I'm Reading" posts.
And although the title was a bit "trendy" to say the least: "The Recession-Proof Business"
One principle IMHO stood out, one I've wrote about earlier. Why, when we are so focused on telling prospects/clients what benefits they will have from our products/services do we keep talking about our business's USP - Unique Selling Point (or Proposition). Andy Bounds made it into a much better Proposition or Point: UBP, where the B stand for Buying.
Victor goes one better. One of the principles/strategies applied by businesses not only surviving recessions but growing stronger/bigger during one is the dedicated focus on:
Unique, Compelling and Credible Promise
What would your prospect rather hear your business has? An Unique Selling Point or an Unique, Compelling and Credible Promise?
Two weeks ago during Ed Rivis' Web Strategies Live Seminar it was mentioned rather frequently: The Money Is In The List.
When we talk about lists from a business perspective nowadays, lists filled with email addresses is never far from anyone's thoughts and rightly so. Over the last 3 - 5 years email marketing has become an easy and relative cheap way of marketing your business to an almost unlimited number of prospects and clients. Of course it is (unfortunately so) also used to fill as much inboxes as anyone can, no matter if they belong to total strangers who are absolutely not interested in your products or services whatsoever! The delivery method is free, so press "send" no matter what. One or two idiots will still be tempted to buy from you - people do buy the strangest things and for the strangest reasons, always have done so and always will do so.
But if it would be wise to focus your attention (time and effort to automate your "blast a 1000 emails an hour" system) one those two idiots? You'll end up with a lists filled with unqualified leads and risk your IPS being banned. That's IMHO not a list that qualifies to have "money in it".
The three lists I'm talking about are:
Lists 1 and 2 have one mutual feature: all should be qualified leads, some ready some not yet ready to buy from you but with shown interest in your product/service nonetheless.
List 2 and 3 are the most overlooked and/or ignored lists by most businesses. Most businesses focus their attention, time and marketing budget on turning leads into clients in the shortest possible way and if it that doesn't happen within 5 or 6 emails these leads are dropped from the list (= when using an autoresponder program don't receive any new info - ever). And when it does happen and the lead/prospect becomes a client they receive the product/service and are the forgotten by most. The latter seems to happen for two major reasons:
I think we can all agree that there is money in list number 1, but list number 3 definitely makes money for our business and well in the following two main ways:
And then there is a third reason: our existing clients could decide to move and have wooden flooring installed in their new home too of course (or in the extension they plan to build to their existing home).
If we would not remind them of our existence and our products/services of which they already experienced the quality why would they even think about us when the time comes for either maintenance, recommending a wooden flooring business to their friends or when the need for a new wooden floor arises for themselves?
This leaves us with list number 2: leads on a long term nurture drip. We know from experience there is money in there too - small example: only last Saturday a prospect returned to our showroom after 13 months to decide on their actual floor to be installed next month (and that is not even the longest period a prospect takes, another client took 2 years). I know these are extraordinary examples - but it happens often in our type of business, so we are not very surprised it happens again and again.
Imagine if we had decide after 5 emails 13 months ago this prospect would never make a decision favouring our business and suppose also this prospect had requested quotes from another business too. A business that would have kept them up to date regularly with news on products and services without constantly asking for the sale. Who would have won the sale in the end you think?
Most of the prospects on our nurturing lists don't take that long to come to a decision fortunately - on average a purchase is made within 5 - 6 weeks after "first contact" but as you can see with the above example this average is influenced by those taking longer than 52 weeks ;-)
And all are nurtured with care and attention and once they become clients are cared for again through our strategies and tactics for list 3.
Last week I finalised our management report for the first quarter of 2010 and since using Octane HQ as ultimate CRM system the insight we now have in our lists is even greater.
Some statistics:
total new contacts added to the system in Q1: 585
total new contacts in Q1 who've added themselves to the system (by submitting their own details in one of our many webforms): 434 (almost 75% of general total!)
number of new contacts converted into clients during Q1: 80 (14%)
number of returning clients: 5
number of new clients recommended by existing clients: 4
And historically Q1 is one of the lesser quarters, believe it or not, but our business does seem to behave rather seasonable.
All in all (adding items 1 - 4 together) our three types of lists have generated 49.8% of our sales in Q1
Since switching from AWeber to Octane HQ (which now also has taken over our snail mail nurturing) the ease of switching a contact from one list (prospect) to long term nurture drip or client still feels extraordinary to me, no more importing/exporting details from one program to the other. And as I've explained in the series "Pipe-line marketing - going beyond AWeber" the program is versatile and flexible at the same time.
Not only in managing our growing lists, but as I've now also discovered with the report tab in proving once again that the Money Is Definitely In The Lists - in all three of them.
Robert Craven is business adviser, author and founder of the Directors Centre. I've read various of his books, attended a few excellent workshops he held in cooperation with Barclays, I follow his blog etc and kind of "know" him as an expert on sound business advice.
Why Small Businesses Both Hate and Love What I Am Saying By Robert Craven
It seems that my 'Beating The Credit Crunch' book and 'ology' is like marmite. People love it or hate it.
The messages are pretty straightforward. You shouldn't even think about increasing sales until you have done the following:
Put up your prices if you can
Compete on everything but price
Screw your suppliers' feet to the ground on price
'Fix' the under-performing staff, suppliers, customers and products, or sack them
Pay money 10 days slower; collect money 10 days faster.There is a bunch of people who seem to miss the whole point. They describe me as callous, insensitive, cruel, mercenary, short-sighted, and selfish....
From Business Unwrapped
I agree with the first two tips: put you prices up and never compete on price. Squeeze as much value in your product/service as you can to raise your price. If every business would do this we would all win in a sustainable way - value for money. Everyone is getting tiered of lousy products, lousy service and the businesses that are being rewarded now are those who are adding value.
The part I have a problem with is the third tip: screw your suppliers' feet to the ground on price.
Sure, you might be able to squeeze their price down and experience a double whammy on your profit margin when you also apply the first tip: sale price up, purchase price down = larger margin.
Until your supplier applies the same tip from Robert and starts pushing up his prices while at the same time your client applies the same tip from Robert and starts pushing your price down. And then your supplier's supplier discovers the same tip and so will your client's client.
Everything, including value, would flatten.
In this scenario I can only see one part of the chain winning, the one with the most bargaining power and the loser will be the start of the chain. Nothing new here, farmers and supermarkets come to mind.
Another result I would see happening is both suppliers and clients bypassing the next/last part in the chain (farmer goes directly to the consumer, retailer goes directly to manufacturer etc).
When I tweeted Robert my doubts about the long term effect of his main tips yesterday
I received the following reply:
something became clear - later on, I didn't realise the difference in perception until later. I know that someone will always be seduced to take the short term profit:
What I realised (pondering in the sunshine in the garden yesterday evening, Spring is here!) was that Robert was talking from a horizontal structure point of view: pitching one accountant to another, one superstore to another, where I was focusing on the long term effect within a vertical structure (supply chain).
And there's IMHO the clinch: horizontal versus vertical structure. And in business every horizontal structure is also part of a vertical structure:
When every single shackle in this structure follows the principle of pushing sales prices up and pushing purchase costs down no matter what, the whole structure flattens and no one gains.
Value and quality would be squeezed further and further to sustain any chance of decent profit. Unsustainable.
There is another way: demand the highest quality and value from your supplier - value for money - in the same focused effort you yourself will add as much value as possible in your product/service to give your own client more value for money.
Sustainable win-win through out the horizontal and vertical structure.
So yes Robert, I can understand the title why some love and some hate what you say, it is a matter of perception: horizontal or vertical. And since no business is ever only in a horizontal structure, squeezing at both ends of the vertical chain cannot be sustainable ever.
What I would like to know is are you horizontal or vertical minded? Do you regard Robert's tip applicable for your business - long term?
The weather was glorious this weekend, sunny, warm, cloudless. The following pictures I just had to take - if only for posterity (will we ever see this again?)
Absolutely not a single condensation trail of airplanes, the beautiful result of disruption of air traffic caused by the volcanic eruption in Iceland last week.
My thoughts are with all those caught up in the disruption, stranded at airports and trying to get home or to the place where you planned to go. On the other hand I cannot help but think how this lack of air travel over most part of Europe will affect the Global Warming reports.
And I cannot help but appreciate the absolute beauty of clear blue skies all day long without a single interruption of condensation trails. How long ago has it been we've been able to see this - let's call it - spectacle? And when will we ever see this again?
Have a reminder of how the sky will look when air flights take off again:
Which brings us to that old question again, two old questions really:
Your thoughts?
What would someone who's business is featured in "Email Marketing Dynamite" be doing at the first ever Web Strategy Live Seminar held by the author of aforementioned book?
It only took a short discussion with Richard C (accountant, business adviser, mentor) after receiving the invite for Ed's first seminar to decide we would both take him up on his heavily discounted offer and attend (and finally see "the man" himself as it were). Main reason: we both seem to be "eternal students" and never eager to miss a chance to learn more - or different ways.
Richard C is a bottomless well of effective marketing ideas, I've written plenty about our own (web) marketing strategies and the successes with it for our business but there is always more to discover.
Yes, most of the Strategies discussed (at a speed that really made me think we also discovered Warp Speed) are in place in our businesses, but hearing/seeing them once again in great detail did bring out some gaps in our tactics.
Multi-variation testing of landing pages is one of them. Most special "project" webpages I do test already with a simple A/B test (through Google Website Optimizer, definitely with a Z Ed) but I'd not made the next essential step to take this testing up a notch. I will now and have already a project in mind.
I also took away a little extra tip on Google Adwords from Ed, reducing the p-p-c costs on further testing a control ad.
Another reason for traveling down (up?) to London (with the High Speed Rail Link, only 38 minutes!) was of course the chance to meet other businesses with - rather essential IMHO - the same or like-wise ideas on web marketing. If you ever tried to work together (alliance, joint-venture) with a business that did not know or even see the advantage of web strategies (list building, lead pages etc) you know where I'm coming from with this - hard work with limited success. Estate Agents come to mind - but that's a completely different story.
I came away with two firm strategic alliance prospects: one carpet cleaning company and one marble fire-place business. (Email) Talks are already on their way to see where our own lists of contacts/clients can help the other (in the most ethical ways of course, that's one of the first essential and profitable "rules" Ed and others give you). Looking forward to this project - I think it could even be a joint strategic alliance between the three of us - one way or the other.
And a surprise twitter-contact-became-supplier first face to face meeting too. During the "Golden Carrot" brainstorming one lady in the back of the room mentioned an idea about the secrets of proper packaging, being in the transport trade. After one of the breaks I saw her name-badge: Fiona McLellan, which rang a bell. We got talking and it turns out she's the owner of Pharos Parcel, the transport company we now use for parcels instead of ParcelForce. Reasons for switching? Pharos' online booking system is simple, straight forward and covers all that you need, no whistles or bells attached. That, the excellent experience we (and our clients) have with Pharoh Parcel and the regular collection van driver plus the more than competitive prices for parcels, leaves me with absolutely no second thoughts to recommend Fiona and her company to anyone who needs to send out parcels (and/or large items) on a regular or irregular basis.
On the train journey back (so short, we arrived in Ashford before we'd finished brainstorming!) we'd discussed various topics covered during the fast-paced Seminar and added more ideas/plans to the "to-do-list". We always learn or see new angles to grow our businesses - and this is how it should be IMHO.
Plus we have the CD-rom from the Web Strategy Live to keep us going and on our toes! This CD-rom is filled with short videos, templates, worksheets and much more.
Ed has more Web Strategy Live seminars planned, you can register your interest here and if you go, give him our regards! Thanks for a very interesting, learnfull and enjoyable day Ed.
The next UK election was announced last week, as if nobody was expecting this! Even more News programs "dedicated" to the political parties, even more "insight" interviews - be at with the party leaders or political experts - and even more promises, promises and promises in manifestos.
Problem with Governments is - no matter which colour - they have this insatiable habit of taxing those they are supposed to govern. And at the moment all it feels like is that every party is trying to figure out whom to tax more will bring them the most voters.
I've made a small list of all the taxes brought upon us (personal and business tax) by governments past and present (has there ever been a time governments did not tax their people, is that their main purpose?):
What makes me wonder most though is why? Why does it seem the main purpose of a Government is to tax us one way or the other (and often twice on the same matter).
Because, you will no doubt tell me, it pays for....... (fill in a multitude of reasons, from schools, hospitals to roads and this or that committee and lets not forget the benefits for others - those out of work or disabled so they cannot contribute to the economy as well as we can and do).
But is that truly so? Can't we just pay for all those items we need when we need them? But not everyone is so prudent to save for later or is able to work, I hear you say; "we have to be fair, we live in a democracy where we share" I know you are thinking.
I know, too much water on the bridge already. Once a ruler/Government starts taxing its population there is no going back to the barter principle (pay as you go/need in which ever means available/acceptable by the other).
But is there? Too much water under the bridge, I mean. No period has seen so many advancements in technology, in medicine, in democracy than the last 15 - 25 years. Why haven't we been able to rule out taxes? Most things are getting smaller, cheaper, more readily available for all. Only tax is getting bigger and more expensive; the divide between poor and rich, between have's and have-not's is getting wider, not closer.
Perhaps I'm wondering about the wrong issue. Perhaps higher tax, more tax is the result of the same principle that allows this divide getting wider. Greed and habit - or should that be the habit of greed?
If we all stopped paying tax, would the world end? If we all started to barter, would the divide grow or would the greed stop?
Taxing thoughts this.
Beginning March I asked the question "Has Ashford delivered the Boom?" here and on the LinkedIn Group East Kent Business Network.
In total (only) 7 businesses took part in the survey till now with the following result - all from East Kent Business Network members:
The results of question 3 bags a few new questions for me personally (running a business Supplying high value products to domestic clients in the Ashford borough):
Does the East Kent Business Network group mainly contain B2B businesses?
Or are B2C business owners not very prone to take part in a survey?
Is On-line marketing a category on its own? (Don't mean this cynical, and hope the person who wrote this doesn't feels hurt).
A significant majority says NO. (100% is very, very significant in my book.)
Plenty of work to do for Ashford's committee "Ashford Best Placed in Britain" it seems or the borough's Economic Development department for that matter.
Maidstone and Canterbury seem to be scoring highest in the perception to deliver more to/do more for businesses than Ashford does.
Hmm, moving?
Had really hoped the survey would have attracted some businesses in "the known" - estate agents come to mind. If there is an increase in commuters to London from other places moving to Ashford Borough now, they should be the first to know. Anyone?
Thanks to all who took part in this simple, short survey. Wonder if we should notify Ashford Borough Council of the results - or would they know already that according to most businesses they failed?
Access to the survey will be kept open till the end of this month - perhaps this Spring will bring more green shoots for Ashford? Feel free to enter you own thoughts - the survey can be found here.
The last set of books I bought from Amazon also counted one I had already read - but then a revised version of it (and I do tend to re-read books anyway, so no harm done really).
Robert's book focuses on how we human beings so often take the easy way out when it comes to making a decision. A decision to buy something, to accept something, to agree to something and many other daily decisions. From fairly simple matters to big life changing matters. We tend to take the easy way out.
He calls it the click/whir reaction: we encounter a situation that requires us to think and decide, something triggers the easy way-out option (the click, the correct tape is placed in our head) and we take an almost snap decision (the whir, the standard message on the tape - or here: the triggered standard reaction onto which we base our decision).
Triggers: reciprocity, commitment and consistency, authority, social proof, liking and scarcity
Some triggers are scary reading: the title of doctor has proven to be enough to follow instructions that could (has) result(ed) in administering wrong medicine (by highly trained nurses), the pin-striped suit is enough for a crowd to cross a busy road because a pin-striped suit does so and they simply follow.
And we all do, because authority and social proof of what others do, say gives us the easy way out and we don't have to think (takes time, plus we risk missing out) for ourselves. We're trained in this click/whir response since childhood.
(Funny example of this click/whir reaction can also be seen on Drew McLellan's blog in his post "How potent can brand be?")
Cialdini gives per trigger solutions or realisations to prevent you from being persuaded by this click/whir reaction - hard to do when it seems to be ingrained in our Western Society.
The book, specially the chapter about authority, reminded me also of one of my long time favourite Science Fiction Novel: The Great Explosion - Eric Frank Russell. The only real science fiction bit is the characters travel in a space ship, the classic book is more about bureaucracy and mindless following of rules (indeed. again click/whir).
To make my point how ingrained we are I copied the following from The Great Explosion to show how we (often mistakenly) accept authority to know it all, to guide us. The copied text starts when a crew-member is sent into a nearby town on the planet the ship has just landed on and first tries to find the government/authority have failed (misserable). His quest to comply with the orders he received goes like this:
Tenth Engineer Harrison reached the first street on either side of which were small detached houses with neat gardens back and front. A plump, amiable looking woman was trimming a hedge halfway along. He pulled up near to her, politely touched his cap.
“Scuse me, ma’am, I’m looking for the biggest man in town.”
She part-turned, gave him no more than a casual glance, pointed her clipping-shears southward. “That would be Jeff Baines. First on the right and second on the left. It’s a small delicatessen.”
“Thank you.”
He moved on, hearing the steady snip-snip resume behind him. First on the right. He curved around a long, low, rubber-balled truck parked by the corner. Second on the left. Three children pointed at him dramatically and yelled shrill warnings that his back wheel was going round. He found the delicatessen, propped a pedal on the curb, gave his machine a reassuring pat before he went inside and had a look at Jeff.
There was plenty to see. Jeff had four chins, a twenty-two inch neck, and a paunch that stuck out half a yard. An ordinary mortal could have got into either leg of his pants without bothering to take off his diving suit. Jeff Baines weighed at least three hundred pounds and undoubtedly was the biggest man in town.“Wanting something?” inquired Jeff, lugging it up from far down.
“Not exactly.” Harrison eyed the succulent food display and decided that anything unsold by nightfall was not thrown out to the cats. “I’m looking for a certain person.”
“Are you now? Usually I avoid that sort—but every man to his taste.” He plucked a fat lip while he mused a moment, then suggested, “Try Sid Wilcock over on Dane Avenue. He’s the most certain man I know.”
“I didn’t mean it that way,” said Harrison. “I meant that I’m searching for somebody particular.”
“Then why the blazes didn’t you say so in the first place?” Jeff Baines worked over the new problem, finally offered, “Tod Green ought to fit that specification topnotch. You’ll find him in the shoe-shop at the end of this road. He’s particular enough for anyone. He’s downright finicky.”
“You persist in misunderstanding me,” Harrison told him and then went on to make it plainer. “I’m hunting a local bigwig so that I can invite him to a feed.”
Resting himself on a high stool which he overlapped by a foot all round, Jeff Baines eyed him peculiarly. “There’s something lopsided about this. Indeed, it seems crazy to me.”
“Why?”
“You’re going to use up a considerable slice of your life finding a fellow who wears a wig, especially if you insist that it’s got to be a big one. And then again, where’s the point of dumping an ob on him merely because he uses a bean-blanket?”
---------------------------------------
He groaned low down, then informed, “I’m chasing the mayor.”“What is that?”
“Number one. The big boss. The sheriff, pohanko, or whatever you call him.”
“I’m still no wiser,” she said, genuinely puzzled.
“The man who runs this town. The leading citizen.”
“Make it a little clearer,” she suggested, trying hard to help him. “Who or what should this citizen be leading?”
“You and Seth and everyone else.” He waved a hand to encompass the entire burg.
Frowning, she asked, “Leading us where?”
“Wherever you’re going.”
She gave up, beaten, and signed the white-coated waiter to come to her assistance.
“Matt, are we going any place?”
“How should I know?”
“Well, ask Seth then.”
He went away, came back with, “Seth says he’s going home at six o’clock and what’s it to you?”
“Anyone leading him there?” she inquired.
“Don’t be daft,” Matt advised. “He knows his own way and he’s cold sober.”
Harrison chipped in. “Look, I don’t see why there should be so much difficulty about all this. Just tell me where I can find an official, any official—the police chief, the city treasurer, the mortuary keeper or even a mere justice of the peace.”
“What’s an official?” asked Matt, openly baffled.
The complete story is available online here - look for chapter 9 if you want to find out immediately if Harrision did manage to find an official - it does make you think about what we have come to take for granted.
Freedom to decide for ourselves does seem - again - further away from us than ever. Until we realise that the click/whir response is making the decisions and not our own free mind.
Freedom - I won't (#f_iw)
The minute you mention "business plan" to anyone 9 times out of 10 the reply is a loud groan or a shake of the head. Many think it is "only" essential when you are trying to secure external funding, whatever type of external funding that comes to mind (from bank loan to venture capital).
Every business template I've come across (and there are many organisations/institutes that can provide you with a free template) has the same structure you are deemed to follow and the explanation of some parts confirms that a business plan is "only" essential when looking for funding:
1. Summary
(Enter your text here)The summary is the last part of the plan that you write, but should be included at the beginning of the plan. This allows busy readers to quickly see what the plan is about without reading all the details.
(copied from a standard business plan template offered by one of the large banks).
Specially the part of "busy readers" shows it to be more an external focussed plan than for internal use. The biggest problem or even largest pitfall for this is writing to please/seduce that external source instead of being a honest presentation of past, present and planned future. Don't fool yourself, we've all done it. Even if you write such a plan only for your accountant or bank manager we tend to write it in the most optimistic way we think we can get away with. So who's fooling who?
No wonder then that so many (annual) business plans end up in the archives once written, stacked on top of the plans from last year, the year before and so on. Where in fact it should be an ongoing (rolling) report/assessment of where your business is now and where you want to take it.
This month's free download at the Director's Centre Business Club is all about "Where do you want to go?".
"If you are able to start to define where you want to be and what you want to be, then you are also starting to define what it is that you do not want to be. This process of defining the direction that you wish to move in makes it easier to decide what the steps on the way will need to be.
The more focus you have, the greater your clarity, then the easier it is for you to define the path. If you do not know where you want to go then any road will do!
While many consultants get very excited about the definitions of purpose, vision, mission, objectives and goals, what really counts is how you can use the process to define and determine the future development of your business."
It contains one of my all time favourite remarks: if you don't know where you want to go, any road will do.
You have to know/find out/discover where you want to take your business. You, not your bank manager, the venture capitalist or anyone else. You are in the driving seat and it all starts with focus. And focus is better "captured" and sustained when you write your goal/aim/plan down - in your own words, comprehensible for you and not just for your external sources - and once it is written down this way it becomes more real and achievable.
You can register for the Director's Centre Business Club still for free, just start here (the first page tells you it is indeed for free and no credit card details will be asked, then on page 2 you are asked to fill in your business details).
Once you've registered find this month special workbook. That's right: a WORKbook, not just something you should only download and read, but work on/with it to grow your business. Does this replace the annual business plan? Perhaps in more ways than one.
Using the workbook you'll have to come clean for yourself, it makes you think hard and long if you are on the "right track" of what you set out to do when you started your business and how you want to proceed. Once you know/realise this, the road is clear to plot/plan your own and your business' future in sustainable steps. (And the same applies for when you are "only" just thinking of setting out to start your own business.)
And believe me, if you know deep down in your heart that the steps of this plan you write down are honest, of your own making and sustainable, it will become so much easier to convince external sources if in the event you are indeed looking for external funding. Now that's what I would call a plan to do/stay-in business, the only business plan worth your time.
(This article/pondering came about after a discussion on a DIY-forum - of all places!)
It has taken some time to come together, but the new book, Age of Conversation 3: It’s time to get busy!, is in its final stages. Very soon you will be able to purchase it directly from Amazon or a number of other online book stores. The new cover, as you can see below, was designed by Chris Wilson. And this, our new site, was designed and built by Craig Wilson and the hard working team at Sticky Advertising.
We’re excited to be at this stage of the process. The quality of thinking throughout the book is of the highest calibre – as would be expected from such an illustrious group.
This year, all proceeds go to an international children’s charity
When the "call to contribute" came end of last year I submitted my 400 words too (and sticking the 400 words is very, very hard for me as some of you might know!)
All the contributors for the 3rd edition are:
In my recent pre-review on Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us I pondered about master craftsmen. Why, when modern progress and all the inventions of the last century should have given us more free time, are craftsmen so far and few between?
For some weeks now we've been watching Monty Don's Mastercrafts and yesterday's program in my opinion really told it all - why mastering takes time and although modern society seems to give us more time to spend the way we like ourselves, at the same time modern society is "guilty" of giving us the one thing that holds us back: short cuts.
In the weeks before we had watched as 3 hopefuls per program had set the first steps in mastering one of the "old crafts": Green Wood Craft, Thatching, Balcksmithing and Stained Glass and from the first program on we became hooked to it. The programs are sincerely made, showing you the history of the craft, the masterpieces preserved for posterity and the reason why it is so important these crafts are being kept alive (our heritage of masterpieces would "crumble" if we do not take care of them in the way we should.)
Yesterday Monty Don introduced three new hopefuls to the craft of weaving: Fashion designer Holly Berry, ex-City business annalist Tref Davies and craft-writer Momtaz Begum-Hossain. All three were left in the hands of mentor Margo Selby, one of UK's few craftsmen making a living from weaving.
Momtaz, a true spirit of modern times, told us she did not like to follow rules and would make up her own to create the products. And that "statement"/attitude would come to haunt her the rest of the 6 weeks of "boot-camp".
In mastering a craft there are no short-cuts - in order to become a master you have to master the technique first, relentlessly getting to grips with the technique. Once you master the technique of your craft, you can start to push against it boundaries and create your own craft - not the other way around.
The two others quickly "saw" the basics, the technique of setting the loom, why the correct winding of the yarn on the wraps and the correct schedule - or rather programming - of then threading the headles in the different shafts (which when used in different combinations during the weaving creates the pattern) forms the absolute essential foundation to the craft of weaving. No short cuts.
Understanding the whole process of what makes a woven cloth, understanding the technique how, but more important, why it works the way it works is the first and only step to master a craft.
As Monty Don remarked: repetitive actions, extremely repetitive actions matters every time, starting with the correct winding of the yarns, setting up the loom and handling the shuttles - all equally important. No short cuts.
And that's where modern society, modern attitude fails us - we are so used to short-cuts we even believe we are entitled to cutting corners. Being "clever" -i.e. finding the short cuts - has in many ways become the new meaning of being creative, of "mastering" something. Being clever is using this or that trick to cut corners and get ahead of the game, we see it daily in many products and services. Get Rich Quick schemes aplenty.
Yes, you could get lucky and create a "master-piece" without the hard graft, but could you repeat your success when you have not taken the essential time to understand why and how it works? You can throw paints on a canvas and by chance a combination of two colours mixing together creates a most wonderful new colour. Could you reproduce this new wonderful colour again and again? No chance. No short cuts.
Momtaz tried to follow her own rules in creativity and messed up the first sample by not mastering the importance of the technique of the craft. At the end of the program - to give her her due - she persevered and created what the two judges (Michelle Bowen from the Arts Council and Angela Swan from the Worshipful Company of Weavers) considered as a very early stage development, but given time she would be able to master the craft.
Holly and Tref both mastered the technique where Holly produced a commercial worthy double woven cloth. Tref turned out to be a real novelty, even a genius, and already managed to push at the boundaries of the technique, creating a very complicated pattern extremely well executed - even though he had been very unwell the last week. His "master-piece" earned him a 6 months apprenticeship at Margo Selby's studio.
Monty's last remark, quoting Momtaz, brought the message truly home: there is such a difference between amateurism and professionalism, it has such a high standard.
No short cuts.
(The program is filled with precious moments, if you have 60 minutes to spare do yourself a favour and watch the broadcast here)
Once you start ordering books and other stuff from Amazon.co.uk they know to find you with recommendations. Fairly targeted recommendations too - well, most of the time - based on your previous purchases and searches (plus I think the items you place in your wish-list).
Roughly three weeks ago one of those recommendation emails landed in my inbox and because I didn't have anything new to read at that time I had a proper look at the recommendations. Two writers I recognised, owning books from their "pen" already, one sounded vaguely familiar and had an interesting title for his book.
So, click, click, click and 2 days later three books arrived. I decided to start with the one from the unknown writer Daniel H Pink. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (see my pre-review from earlier).
When I finished this excellent book I turned to Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? How to Drive Your Career and Create a Remarkable Future
But then in a quite different way. Obviously: because both writers are different writers with different styles, different experiences, different histories, different.... you name it and probably I'll agree with you.
I wrote about Drive before I finished it, I'm now writing about Linchpin before I've finished it. I truly enjoyed Drive, I'm truly enjoying Linchpin. Both tell me my "gut-feeling" has been right all along: it is definitely all right to put your head above the parapet, it is definitely all right to claim I love my work without having to make the excuse that "times are hard so we need to make long hours and long days", it's definitely proper business sense to change the rules, to not only be in the "supply & install" business but also in the education business and fill our website with free information (to just name one example of our business concept that seems alien to most).
The main difference between Drive and Linchpin IMHO is the method (the word "style" does not really fit here) both writers use:
Dan H. Pink gives you science and tests to make his point, in a logical order
Seth Godin gives you his gut feelings in a kind of hopscotch way of writing (which I found is his "preferrred" way in most of his recent books).
Which one is better? Really believe that's not of any importance, if you like a more scientific approach, go for Drive, if you like a more pondering style, go for Linchpin - or read both ;-)
One way or the other you discover the essence of it is more the way you might start behaving, might change your ways (in business and person) then discussing which book portraits this idea better.
Have fun, no matter which book you opt for and remember: reading should be both fun and stimulating - both writers manage to do this.
(And the third book I bought at the same time? Coincidentally it is also more about psychology than business concept or marketing - although you always pick up a few ideas for those areas along the way. Turns out the 3rd book is a revised edition of an excellent book I've already devoured: Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
BTW, amazon does not always get it right - it keeps recommending E-Mail Marketing Dynamite
10 years ago (07.05.2000) we “landed” in Kent to live and work in the Ashford Borough. Main reason to settle in this area: the future was bright here according to Ashford Borough council:
After 10 years we would like to hear your views/thoughts/opinions and experiences and kindly ask you to contribute to our research by taking part in the following short survey here.
(Even if your business is not located in the Ashford Borough your thoughts would be appreciated, especially from those in Kent/Sussex/Surrey.)
Many thanks in advance!
Finally part 4 (planned to write 4 articles on our switch and it seems I've made it!) As promised in earlier parts: in this final part of the series - no doubt I'll write more often about Octane HQ features and my experiences with it - I'll show you more of the flexibility and focused segmentation Octane gives you for your pipeline marketing.
Let's start with the fields you can enter for your contact. Besides default fields, like first name, last name, address and lead/contact source you can add as many custom fields as you like to this page. These fields can be either: text box, drop down menu or calender and can be made required fields or not (careful here: the minute you make a custom field required and you're importing contacts this field has to be matched otherwise it will trigger an upload error and your contact will not be imported!)
You can rearrange all your custom fields in a sequence you prefer, but the "box" of custom fields in your new contact page is in a fixed position - halfway down the page, just above the address details.
As you can see above, I use a Drop Down List very often. Octane HQ lets you search on any of the fields in the contact details page using the Power Search, where the result of your search can be added to follow-up series or groups. If you use a text box as custom field you have more search options than with a Drop Down List. The latter is limited to: Equals or Is Empty. Not that this matters much is my experience: created a (temporary) group and add your search results per Drop Down option to this group.
Tip: restrict your custom fields to "either/or" details: a contact is either a prospect or a client, a contacts first means of contact was either a phone call or filled in a webform, a prospect is either a domestic client/prospect or an architect.
Every contact can be added to one or more groups, the and/and/and options. Above shows only a few of the groups I've created so far, in total there are (at the moment) 28, all with their own purpose. Some are just for statistical reasons, some are for segmented one-off emails ("blasts" or broadcasts).
So far, so very much equal to AWeber. In AWeber you can select more than 1 lists to send your broadcast to and in the webform you use you can create custom fields (text boxes and drop down lists). But there's where it ends though, one custom field for one of your AWeber lists is not transferable to any of your other lists.
(Hope you remember we are a retailer, selling many different ranges and products, so had/have many different lists/follow-up series. Your situation and/or your business might be quite different and not in need of so many lists/different follow-up series/groups.)
AWeber is purely based on email marketing, Octane HQ goes a step further: instead of solely auto-emails at a set sequence you can create a sequence of auto-emails, Letters and Task per "lists" or using Octane HQ's terminology "follow-up series".
This fu-series is automagically filled with contacts submitting their email address, name and address to our webform "request our Wood Floor Info pack".
(I'll show you the actions triggered by a webform in more detail lower down, that's also quite flexible too!).
One of the auto steps the webform triggers is sending me an email about the request, so I know I have to go into Octane, click the task on my home page: print letter, load letterheads into my printer and actual print the pre-written letter where the contact and address details are already merged onto. The prospect immediately receives an email informing him/her the requested pack will be in the post asap.
It then follows the steps I've set for this fu-series in sequence. But it does not - does not have to - end with step 6.
Every fu-series gives you the option to set End-Actions after the last step is completed, see the above example. The new fu-series where this contact will be added to has its own End-Action, a new fu-series that sends out a maintenance reminder every 6 months, nothing more. The reason this contact is also added to the group maintenance reminder emails is so we can send a broadcast/"email campaign", to everyone in there when we have specific news on maintenance products or services.
All in one go, triggered by one single webform. Pipe-line marketing on auto-pilot.
In AWeber we had a top performing list: Ask Personal Advice on Wood Floors, where web visitors could submit their wooden floor related question to us and receive a personal answer. In AWeber they would all land in the same fu-series, sending them a sequence of auto-emails promoting the benefits of wooden flooring in general, no matter what their original question was.
Someone asking about maintenance (and therefore in most cases already in the possession of a wood floor) would receive the same auto information as someone asking for advice on which wooden floor would suit his/her circumstances best. which meant: not always sending out relevant info (except our personal email answering their question).
Now in Octane that problem is solved:
If for instance the question was about maintaining a wooden floor in the best possible way we now can add the contact to a maintenance tips fu-series, after emailing the new prospect our personal answer and informing him/her about what we are about to do also (emailing the maintenance tips).
Fine tuning the available info most suited for their circumstances.
4 days later the task overview on my Octane HQ home page prompts me to send a custom email to the contact again, where I normally ask if the information had been useful, if the problem has been solved or if we can be of further assistance. Sometimes it doesn't even comes that far, when our first answer starts a whole email conversation to and fro (like our prospect who emailed me the picture of his little cute dog - part 1).
This webform continues to be a successful lead source and since using Octane instead of AWeber has converted more prospects into clients than before. (10 so far in 2010, only 6 weeks young).
Octane HQ is "action based", you've seen this in the follow-up series including the End-Actions and you can see this above in the list of actions triggered when a prospect submits details through a webform.
Above example "request our Wood Floor Info Pack" removes someone - if applicable - from one fu-series, adds them to the WFIP fu-series (which triggers me to print the letter, remember), ads the contact to two groups and sends me an email too.
And of course, standard, it creates a new contact - only if the email address used is not yet in our database, otherwise it will skip this action but will trigger all the other actions.
These are the actions possible: 6 in total (besides the standard "create contact"). AWeber "automation rules" never go this far.
One segmentation I've started to use from day one on in Octane HQ is the Payment Way (method) last used by a client.
Suppose we launch a new product or have a special offer - for which we would use one-off email campaign (broadcast) to existing clients. In Octane - like in AWeber - you can copy the broadcast already written. Therefore I could write one email campaign about the special offer and focus on ordering online (PW: Online) while listing other ordering options too. I could then simply copy the email and edit the paragraph to focus more on ordering over the phone, while listing the other options too.
The contacts I select for the specific emails would only contain those contacts I know used the specific ordering method I focus on in that specific email, contacts who used another method would get that specific email. You get the picture.
This is just one example you can use the segmentation per group for of course, I'm sure you can think of examples you can use for your own specific segmentation and your own specific group names.
Expect more posts about our experiences and success switching from AWeber to Octane for our pipe-line marketing, but for the moment I want to leave it at this.
One last thing then: since this week Octane has now also become the "delivery vehicle" for our digital products, linking the PayPal buy-now button with the database in a much simpler way than AWeber did.
Oh and did I already mention the "opportunities" feature, which translates in won/lost sales and fills your sales statistics in various ways (from sales per sales-person, sales per product range, sales per lead source etc) and that more reports are being build as we speak?
Or that when any link you insert in your emails (in a fu-series or "campaign") is clicked you can add those contacts who clicked that specific link to a new group or fu-series? Or export and send a letter using mail-merge?
And that the customer service of Octane HQ is to rave about? Always on the ball and very quick to help out.
I leave it for now (I promise).
Hope you have enjoyed these series. and if you feel like it, request a demonstration of what Octane can/could do for your business, you'll get their personal attention.
Starting to use a new contact management program, be it an email marketing system or CRM program, it always entails exporting existing data out of the old and importing in the new software.
I won't bother you with all the details, this short post will just highlight some of the "problems" and some of the simplicity I encountered.
I regard myself as a person with a positive attitude, so let's start with the good bits.
Octane HQ makes it rather simple to import existing data, as long as it is a CSV file (comma separated values). CSV files are easily generated, most software systems give you the option to either export data in such a format or save the document (an Excel spreadsheet for instance) as a CSV file. Tip: if the exported data does not contain column headers, create your own.
Per file you want to upload you can select a "contact source" which will be added to every contact about to be imported into your new system. So if you have more than one source of existing data you can start the segmentation here.
(In part 4 of this series I'll dive deeper into all the default and custom fields Octane HQ offers and the flexibility of it.)
Link all headers - hence the tip above - with default (1) or custom fields (2) in Octane HQ. And the number of custom fields can be plenty, no limits here. If one of the fields in Octane doesn't have a counterpart on the csv file you select [no match]
Then click "import" at the bottom of the page and done.
Simple and so far so good.
In our case we had to import data from two existing different programs: AWeber and Mamut (CRM, accounting and secure webshop desktop software).
For AWeber the default field "Background" in Octane comes in very handy, more about this in part 4. I used it to indicate which specific list a subscriber had been on. Lists from AWeber can be downloaded as an excel file (go to Subscribers, select the search preferences you need, click search and then click the Excel icon that shows above the results.
Mamut however turned out not to be so simple.
Oh, all data can be exported in an almost unlimited ways but preferably you want to do this export/import exercise only once, not 25 times!
I thought I'd found the perfect export option containing all the fields in Mamut that I needed, from ID/Status, lead source, type of client etc etc and export it straight away as csv file
This is what was exported: data1, data2, data3 etc etc etc and the data itself where numbers. Since I don't speak or read this particular "data-language" it is just field after field of gibberish.
I did manage to export readable date from Mamut after al, taking the long way round. 25 times the long way round! Exporting data was now restricted per status (prospect, client, returning clients); per source (ads, website, webforms, wom etc) and per client type (DIY floor, DIY small materials, Supply & Install etc) into separate excel files which I then had to save as csv files.
I did of course submit a support ticket to Mamut and after 7 days I received this answer:
A: too late and B: not very helpful.
Anyway, with the simplicity of Octane Import function it took only 30 minutes to import all the needed data (after spending 4 hours "cleaning-up" the data exported from Mamut).
And then the real fun started - which I will dive into in part 4 of this series, so stay tuned.
In part 1 of these series I explained why we felt the need to go "beyond AWeber".
If your (web)marketing strategy evolves, the need for a more flexible, compact and efficient tool comes quite quickly to the forefront in order to implement your also evolving tactics.
If you ever have been in the situation where you need a new software program you know it sometimes feels like trying to find that needle in a haystack: which of the so many programs around would suit your needs (now and at least for the coming 2 - 3 years) best? Fortunately I was not alone in this search, a good friend of mine also realised that in order to implement evolved strategies a better fitting CRM program was needed. And a chore shared between two persons who know each others talents well is a chore halved (or so we thought). It still took over 2 months before we made a final decision, both for the same program.
We started with setting parameters for the new program. Although we both represent/own two completely different businesses:
one (me) a B2C business: retailer with mostly domestic clients and one B2B: accountancy/business consultancy/financial services (and more) can they still have the same parameters?
Well, both of us know (have come to realise) that informing prospects is the most effective way to convert them into clients, no matter if your business is B2C or B2B - it's the same principle.
The main parameters we set for the new software were:
The most obvious one to start at was Infusionsoft (US based), seemingly for many former AWeber users the next logical step. Not for us though, way too pricey and if you have to believe some it is rather complicated to handle and control all activities (note: last remark purely based on hear-say, we did not have a trial of the program ourselves).
We also found a newcomer: webCRM, UK based. This one - after a trial - soon showed it lacked many of the parameters we'd set and is more just an online CRM program. (Same functionality as the CRM program that comes with Mamut, our bookkeeping software). Does have a very good pipe-line structure though and at £ 30.00 (for 2 users) good value for money - if you are just looking for an online CRM program that is.
A LinkedIn query on the subject directed us to SalesForce (US and UK based) "the cloud computing" software. The possibility to combine it with other online programs, like Google Mail, and other "bespoke" applications sounded good. Once you find your way on their website - could be just me - it promises to tick all the boxes. However, on closer inspection it doesn't.
Both of us were invited for a Webinar and received log in details plus a phone number to call in for the "meeting" (together with 6 other potential SalesForce users, all with their own questions and areas of interest).
It soon turned out that the standard options in SalesForce focus much more on sales-departments (nice and elaborate graphs to track statistics on almost everything) than on marketing itself and if you needed something "simple" like autoresponder you had to add one of the "partner" applications (and most of these apps come with their own price). Getting a question in during the "meeting" was rather difficult, due IMHO to the number of others (and some you could hear sigh when a question was asked and answered that didn't relate to their business or circumstances). Not the best of experiences I must say.
Totting up all the none-standard applications to meet our parameters SalesForce increased tremendously in price (and then still wouldn't tick all the boxes).
Beginning December our spirits were low - on the subject of finding the right program for us that is, normal business proceeded nicely. Then we were pointed in the direction of two "new" programs to check out and in the end these were the two that ended up on our shortlist. We decided to check out one each.
Mine, again through a LinkedIn query, was SalesNexus (US based).
The demo looked promising, and so did the video of one of the webinars. The minute you ask for a test-drive SalesNexus sends you a free report about the hidden costs of other programs (focussing their report on SalesForce and ACT!), which is quite interesting but.... I'll come back to that later.
After watching the Webinar video I signed up for a 30 day trial and had a better look around, asking many question by email in the process (which showed a stumble block we hadn't thought of before: the time difference between UK and USA. Effectively this means that any support you need is mainly restricted to the afternoons.)
There are many functions in SalesNexus I really liked, for instance the Library function (reminded me of ScreenSteps: write once, use in a multiple way) and the "look-up" function that keeps its search results until you decide you've done all you wanted to do at that moment. The principle of SalesNexus is based on: your business is unique so you need unique fields, unique activities, unique segmentation and you name it you can added/edit and customise it.
But...
Chunky, slow, and hidden costs here too. SalesNexus comes in two Editions: Standard and Pro (compared here).
But then somewhere on their website I stumbled on another Edition: Pro Plus (the comparison data sheet is hidden deep down the website, I had to ask SalesNexus support for the link when I could not find it again) The Pro Plus is the Pro with extras but for the lead capture function you're presented with another annual fee.
Now don't get me wrong, during our "quest" we discovered this happen quite often: a price for the basics and than a price per add-on so you can even customise your own program and decide if the additionals are worth the extra money.
Here it was a let down, "pot and kettle" came to mind.
Pity really, because the program ticked many boxes and although the autorespond option was only able to email out one email (and not a sequence of automated follow-up messages) I was rather impressed by it. Specially when I was informed that the auto responder would be improved later on (Q2 2010).
In the meantime my friend Richard C had further investigated shortlist number 2: Octane HQ "Fuel your Sales" (UK based). In Ed Rivis latest book "E-Mail Marketing Dynamite
However, as we learned in December, between the moment of writing and the launch of Ed's book, J-Media (the owner of Octane HQ) had made the decision to turn it into an online program after al with also a change in the price structure. So we had a look after al. Well, Richard first.
And reported back with enthusiasm - of course at the same time I'd gotten excited about SalesNexus!
Octane HQ is more focused on marketing to enhance sales in contrast of most of the "cloud" programs we'd seen where marketing is sometimes only an after thought. The banner on the simple website ends with: Put your marketing on autopilot and grow your sales!
Richard was convinced that if I only agreed to a one-on-one webinar with one of the team members of Octane I would be won over too. And so a Go-to-meeting (with the owner!) was arranged quickly and the fun started: show me what you got, does it do what I want it to do and try to impress me. He and it did.
Nothing fancy in the program, just logical and effectiveness combined - with style. When I discovered that the "creator" Dave had also been a big fan of AWeber I understood why it felt both familiar and even more as the next most logical step to take once you realise AWeber can only do so much for your pipe-line marketing.
Let's tick the boxes:
And as extra bonus I was promised they would create a kind of email parser like AWeber has with Paypal (using the Octane HQ autoresponder option as "delivery vehicle" for your digital products).
The day after the over 1 hour lasting "webinar" Richard and I shared notes and started to realise that our quest had ended. He did the honours of informing Octane HQ they had gained two new and eager clients and that was that.
Well, not quite.
That was the moment the work of implementing the evolved strategies and tactics really started. Which will be revealed in part 3.
Recent Comments