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.
Yesterday I received this cute snowy picture from a contact on one of our wood flooring email lists:
His little dog Molly had managed to add snow-bracelets to her little paws - first time she'd encountered snow.
Now I hear you ask: how on earth is this cute little dog related to wooden flooring?
It's not. It is however related to our new - improved - pipeline marketing strategy and tactics: being able to make the structured (email) marketing much more worthwhile, relevant, anticipated and personal (wrap).
Using the internet to market your business I've come to realise goes in leaps and bounds, evolving your system and methods as you go (or as you discover better tools). Looking at our own business we went from
AWeber enabled us not just to "bulk" email - in the best meaning of the word, one email sent out to a multitude of contacts who had all given their permission to be emailed by us - but also to email a sequence of relevant emails per subject (segmentation).
As with every tactic, if it works you want to improve on it - well, I do. We looked closer at all the possibilities AWeber could give us and found ways to optimise it as best as possible or as far as the program let us.
For instance:
Our lists grew from 200 contacts at the start of using AWeber (Oct 07) to 2072 in December 2009 (around 20 - 30% of contacts were on more than 1 list, adding to the total). When you see your lists growing and you notice the effect on your turnover and profit while realising you pushed the program as far as possible you start to feel restricted - well I do.
Using AWeber is a great and cost-effective way to follow-up prospects/contacts and to stay in regular contact with clients, automation of this is great too but it is limited to email. How to follow-up in the same structured and effective way on
We started to use a separate CRM program (part of our accounting software) to improve the follow-up on those other contacts/methods of conversations but that turned quickly in notes every where, double entries of contact details and no way of tracking what was working as stand alone or as combination of email, phone call and even letters. Plus segmentation on various subjects/interest was impossible without keeping even more manual lists.
The search for a more comprehensive package that could cover all was on (and took over 2 months, more about this in a later post).
Three weeks ago we started using our new "catch-all/automate most" online software program which still enables us to email a sequence of relevant information (personalised) per different wood floor type using the autoresponder option, still enables our website visitors to ask questions and receive personal advice for their problems but also triggers "automated" prompts to print and post follow-up letters (automagically merged with relevant details), to call a contact to offer more help or advice, to decide per contact which follow-up series has the most relevant information for them plus it tracks which campaign, follow-up series etc is most effective in generating sales (even after only 3 weeks we are starting to see results of our new tactics).
For instance and coming back to the cute little dog: his owner had submitted a question in regards of finishing a wood floor using our new "ask a question" webform. I received his question and replied with the best advice possible. Three days later our new software program prompted me to send a new email (custom email not an autoresponder) based on his original question and our first reply. That and the heavy snow fall we've been having lately resulted in a sharing of Winter stories and the picture of his dog, plus an ongoing conversation with him about solving his problem and what products we can supply him to help out.
Worthwhile, relevant, anticipated and personal. Automated? Yes and no, human interaction can be prompted - hence our new software system - but never set on auto-pilot, hence our new software system.
More post about this system and our evolving strategies and tactics in pipeline marketing will follow over the coming weeks/months. It's a new (ad)venture for us too, but one we're confident it will be as flexible as we need it/want it to be to grow our business further.
And all of a sudden 2009 is gone, past, never to be returned to ever! 365 whole days just whooshed by it seems, where has a whole year gone?
Is it true that the older we get, the more quicker time seems to pass or is it true that "time flies when you're having fun?"
Anyway: HAPPY NEW YEAR!
I'd planned to write my regular recap of the year last week, but boy, even the last days of December seem to sped by at wrap-drive. So, very shortly then:
2009:
Isn't it funny that even when looking back at 365 whole days it is hard to recall any specific moments? We just seemed to carry on and on, doing what we love doing and realising step by step, day by day what we had planned (hoped more likely due to the negative and pessimistic media noises) to do.
Sincerely hope you had a good year too and are, like is, full of confidence the first year of a brand new decade will be more than all right.
(New decade: is it truly already 10 years ago we moved - emigrated -to Kent?)
And this year we will go beyond my beloved AWeber - more about this "venture" later (if, no, when I find time to tell you about the new software application we have started to use for our "pipeline marketing").
What are your plans for this year, any significant changes planned? Any worries, happy tidings?
My new book E-Mail Marketing Dynamite launched yesterday.
At the moment I’m giving it away FREE!
If you want a copy all you have to pay is a few pounds to cover the cost of postage and packing to anywhere in the United Kingdom. (Overseas costs a little bit more but the book is essentially still free.)
As the name implies this one’s all about e-mail marketing - how any small business can get massive leverage on the incredible power this medium provides to boost sales and profits.
Click here to grab a free copy of E-Mail Marketing Dynamite — but do it now before I regain my commercial sensibilities and start charging for it!
I wish you the best of success with your e-mail marketing - let me know how it goes.
Ed.
P.S. The book also features interviews with 11 small business owners who are successfully using email to grow their businesses — and they even include a plumber and a ‘high street’ retail shop — so hopefully this book will once for all dispel the myth that only technology companies can use email marketing!
via www.edrivis.com
And one of those 11 Ed mentions here is our business: Wood You Like, a small retailer in rural Kent - selling and installing a high value item connected with the housing market: wooden flooring.
Our turnover this year has surpassed last year's turnover, we use email marketing in a constant and effective way to establish meaningful and even educational relationships with prospects and many have turned into long term clients (no matter what the economy throws at them or us). We build on trust and our cement is email marketing.
Yours?
Recently I explained how you can use any article you've already written in ScreenSteps in combination with AWeber. It involved:
1) copying your AWeber template as a
2) html template for ScreenSteps,
3) adding specific coding from ScreenSteps in this html template.
Once that was done, you could
4) export any article in ScreenSteps using this template,
5) then copy/paste the complete code from this html page
6) into the source of your new AWeber message
Last week Blue Mango released the Beta 2.7 version of ScreenSteps Desktop. One of the new features is the Clipboard copy function - a new icon in the menu bar.
You can use this to add the content of an article (lessons) you've written in ScreenSteps into an email for instance, which will also copy the images/screenshots into it. A quick and simple solution when you want to email your prospect/client an individual email to answer a question he/she might have.
For AWeber users this new feature makes it absolutely fool-proof simple to create a follow-up or broadcast message from content already written. Go to the article/lesson in your ScreenSteps Desktop program
1) Click the Clipboard icon
2) paste (ctrl V) the content straight into your new Aweber message (using your standard template if you have).
Done! Including all the hyperlinks you inserted in your article are instantly there.
(Please note that images won't be copied with your text due to how AWeber lets you place images in your messages, they have to be online already!).
Example, above is the template I've created for one of the 1 Plus 1 Makes 3 email lists. In AWeber, click copy which copies the template into a new message (broadcast or follow-up)
Now, all I have to do to add content from my ScreenSteps library is click the clipboard and paste (crtl V) the contents in the new message.
And if needed I can now add images to the message.
The above example is only one of the many new features in the new release.
ScreenSteps Desktop, making publishing content in a multitude of ways easier and easier!
For weeks now I'm trying to find time to write another book review, but other - more pressing - business tasks keep coming up (good ones though, don't take me wrong).
But today Seth Godin made this task a little easier by posting this:
Can't top this
Getting someone to switch is really difficult.
Getting someone to switch because you offer more of what they were looking for when they choose the one they have now is essentially impossible. For starters, they're probably not looking for more. And beyond that, they'd need to admit that they were wrong for not choosing you in the first place.
So, you don't get someone to switch because you're cheaper than Walmart. You don't get someone to switch because you serve bigger portions than the big-portion steakhouse down the street. You don't get someone to switch because your hospital is more famous than the Mayo Clinic.
The chances that you can top a trusted provider on the very thing the provider is trusted for are slim indeed.
Instead, you gain converts by winning at something the existing provider didn't think was so important.
And that is exactly what "The Collapse of Distinction: Overcoming the Stifling Sameness of Today's Marketplace
Scott McKain starts his excellent book by remembering his childhood in a little town in the US where two local diners suddenly experienced the "fast-food" chains. One business didn't take long to fold, the other survived as if the fast-food giants weren't even there.
Collapse of Distinction contains many more examples and steps to take yourself to "Stand out from the crowd" - beginning with the three dangers every business faces when competing:
Scott answers these dangers with 4 pieces of advice you should implement in that order:
It is a great read - the only thing I did not like is Scott's dislike of the IMHO greatest book of all: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
Thanks again to my personal librarian Drew McLellan for recommending this book to me.
Saturday we had the pleasure of welcoming returning clients in our showroom - we, like every business no doubt, love returning clients - specially when you sell high value goods like wooden flooring.
We installed a natural wooden floor for them 6 years ago - they were one of our first Wood You Like clients so we remembered many details - but one year later they had sold-up and moved to another town in Kent. They were kept in the picture of our business through our monthly newsletter and when the time came to finally get rid of the existing carpet in their "new" home they didn't go anywhere else but back to Charing.
In our showroom we display many large sample boards because wood comes in plenty of options in species, finishes, colours and floor-types (from veneer to design parquet). It happens frequently the floor area is covered with 3 to even 7 large sample boards so all can show off their own characteristics perfectly. Our main manufacturer/supplier provides us with product information leaflets, but a printed sample doesn't always give the right impression in regards of the true colour. So seeing a "live" large sample works best, specially when our prospect/client is in dubio of what would suit his/her design style best.
In our cupboard we keep a stack of small off-cuts from floors installed, but there is a small problem with this: it only shows part of all the characteristics a floor can have. It is in fact almost an "art" to make a correct sample board - it should really display most of the things you will find in the whole floor, warts and all! (Or in this case: knots, filler and variation in colours).
Our returning clients couldn't really make up their minds on the three most preferred floors. Did we have samples of all three so they could compare the colours etc with their existing furniture and design. I came up with a better idea, or so I hoped.
Why didn't I take high resolution pictures of the sample boards and email them together with our written specified quote on all three floor types? That idea was appreciated and after they took their farewells I took to work - only to discover the battery of our camera was empty! Waiting for the re-charge to complete I pondered on the format I would email the images - I had to make sure the images were named correctly and all of a sudden I realised the best way to do this - including adding important information - was to create a document using ScreenSteps.
So I took the overview picture and all individual close-ups of the sample boards, downloaded them into my pc and viewed them in the standard viewer (large). Normally I would crop and reduce seize of the "raw" images to make the file smaller - especially when you do not know if the prospect can receive large files without problems or might have problems opening the format in which I turn the images. But almost everyone can open a PDF file without any problems!
Using the CapturePalette of ScreenSteps Desktop very quickly all four images were automagically transferred into one document where I only needed to write the extra information and could now also use the annotation option to number the boards to correspond with the specific information.
When this was done I exported the document as PDF file, attached it to my email and away it was! (If you're interested you can download/view it here to see exactly how effective it shows the sample boards in their full glory.)
In 5 minutes time I had created an instant, personal and relevant product information leaflet, showing our clients exactly what they had seen in our showroom to assist in their decision making.
Their reply after receiving the quotations and the personal leaflet:
"Thank you that is really helpful as we could put them against the floor boards in the hall, and our decor in the room to get some idea what they will look like."
Our next follow up is an on-site survey to check measurements and discuss further installation matters.
This must be the 7th possibility I can use ScreenSteps Desktop for (one of the other possibilities is writing this article in it and uploading it automagically into my blog), such a multifunctional simple program. It makes effective and relevant communication with our prospects and clients so much easier and quicker without compromising on quality.
Using Twitter-search (with RSS feed to my "blog" reader) I can follow, read and interact on questions/news about some software programs I use myself and of which I'm a big fan: Typepad, ScreenSteps and of course AWeber.
So once a day I go to my reader and read all the relevant tweets.
Strange and weird things can appear - or so I thought the first time when I kept reading the same tweets over and over again but by different "people":
You notice something?
And this one comes up frequently too:
You notice something?
Besides the exact same tweeted text they all seem to have numbers in their twitter profile name. When you check their profile 9 times out of 10 you will see something likes this:
I've started to call them "Cheesers" - because what they do IMHO is rather cheesy:
"Trying too hard, unsubtle, and inauthentic.
Specifically that which is unsubtle or inauthentic in its way of trying to elicit a certain response from a viewer, listener, audience, etc."
What's the use of this? Why would you 'hackle' a excellent software program which has an excellent customer support this way? I "smell" a competitor, do you?
Then there is a whole different group of twitters:
Again the twitter profile name is a combination of name and numbers (and none of them follow anyone - only have a number of no doubt automated followers).
These tweets seem to direct you to a tutorial on how to build/utilise an AWeber web form to grow your email list.
Only, when you follow the link you always end up on the same website which promotes completely the opposite practice of permission marketing AWeber is so well known for: Blasting - in this case not email blasting but blasting links and content on twitter, facebook and many more social media platforms.
If this company is so successful, why do they need to "piggyback" on the fame of another company that promotes exactly the opposite?
Shame on them. We can do without cheesers and cheaters - what on earth is Social about them?
(Rant over)
Email marketing has become a 'set-piece' for businesses small and large. Still many small businesses and trades think "it's not for our type of business/trade". Believe me - and others - they are wrong: email marketing benefits any type of business.
If you belong to the group of 'doubters' and/or don't know where to start with email marketing the right way to prevent being branded a 'spammer', a great book is about to be launched.
Ed Rivis' second book "Email Marketing Dynamite" not only contains practical advice and tips on how to start this profitable and cost-effective type of marketing, it also contains 10 interviews with business owners/marketing managers from a range of industries and trades on how they use email marketing to grow their business in sometimes spectacular ways.
The book starts off with a rather poignant and witty "In Memoriam" from "The Company Who Didn't Appear to Care".
"We failed to embrace modern methods of customer communication that would have prevented you from forgetting about us and buying from our competitors instead."
Make sure your business doesn't end up with a sort-like memoriam. If you hurry you still might be able to pre-register your interest in Ed's book and get the opportunity to buy it for just the P&P cost and receive special bonuses (I've seen/read/used them, they are more than worthwhile!) on the day it launches (TBA, but coming very soon!).
Social Media is a strange beast - a nice, intriguing strange beast that is.
Take my "personal Librarian" Drew McLellan. How and when we 'met' I can't remember (90% chance is was through Liz Strauss, who I've 'met' years ago when I just started this Kiss2 blog around the same time the Z-list discussion happened).
When Drew reviews a book on his blog I've come to trust his recommendations and if I think if will suit our business practise there is a 95% chance I purchase the book. So too when I read this:
Are you a trust agent? Do you need to be?
by Drew McLellan
Chris Brogan (one of social media's Godfathers) and Julien Smith, a trend analyst and expert on building communities have released a new book, Trust Agents.
The subtitle pretty much tells you what to expect....using the web to build influence, improve reputation and earn trust. And that's exactly what the book focuses on. Sort of.
The book defines 6 characteristics of trust agents:
via www.drewsmarketingminute.com
And I wasn't disappointed.
Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust
"Givers Gain" - or as they put it:
"That is what evolves naturally. If you act like a good citizen, and you feel like One of Us, the benefits arise without much thoughts - good things happen to good people."
Always my own first and foremost important tip on who to become a trust agent too:
Be passionate about giving!
My experience is this comes indeed natural to most popular trust agents. No hidden objectives.
Forums - mostly a forgotten subject in Social Media reports, discussions, books - are
a great place to become known as a trust agent. It's done and doing
wonders for our business, including multiple incoming links to our main
website and FAQ blog (and even webshop). The links we place ourselves and because the forum owners trust us not to abuse the forum we are allowed this, although they have a strict non-advertising rule.
No hidden objectives: the forum members know we run a business; my twitter, blog and facebook, LinkedIn contacts/friends know I have a 'second career' in webmarketing.
Give unrelenting - don't expect gain. Now that's a strange mindset but the only one that works!
Give value and you will always gain.
In Chris and Julien's Trust Agents there is also a perfect question (page 200) that illustrates one of my pet-hates on no replies to emails or comments:
"You don't give blank stares to people who ask you questions, so why its digital equivalent?"
Thanks for another great recommendation Drew, you were - as always - spot on: Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith is a novel must read for anyone using Social Media to enhance his/her business - the right way.
As business owner you frequently encounter fellow business people and no matter what the subject at hand is, in the end the conversation turns to comparing "notes".
If it is not the state of the economy, the effect or lack of effect of the big "recession" the conversation is about business practices, marketing experiences, number of prospects/clients and the likes.
And about costs of course. What are your ads costing, what is your overall marketing costing you, how about the utility bills and what new ventures/activities are you contemplating? Eventually the talk ends in "value for money" when we turn to web marketing/web presence.
Like the discussion I had recently about our secure webshop. My conversation partner - a home-based retailer - had looked into launching a webshop too, but didn't appreciate the so-called "fixed costs" attached to an online shop. Paypal didn't appear professional enough - we use it with no effort at all for our "digital products" and don't think any of our clients regard us less professional for using it - all other online card processing companies set a minimum cost per month. We know, we pay a minimum per month for the pleasure - two minimum amounts per month to be honest (online card processing plus a hardware terminal in our showroom for 'real life' and phone/email card processing). She prefers to be sent a cheque through the post, even the fixed minimum cost for hardware equipment she couldn't see as necessary.
The home-based retailer couldn't see the "profit" in a monthly minimum cost for her type of products to launch an online shop. I begged to differ, we are in fact more than happy to pay this "cost".
The fact is, we don't see it as a cost - like we don't see our accountant as a "cost" but as an asset, but that is a completely different story ;-) - we see offering the facility to our prospects/clients to securely purchase our products online (or over the phone) as an opportunity.
Her prospects now need to wait to purchase what they fancy until my fellow business owner is awake and answering her emails/phone calls. Contrary to The Internet, she's not working 24/7 - unlike our secure webshop and online card processing facility.
It happens frequently when we "open for business" - i.e. answer the phone, respond to emails during normal working hours - my inbox shows a purchase made online. Made during the late afternoon - after "opening hours", during the evening, even during the night or very early in the morning.
Our clients don't have to wait for us!
The last time I've checked our online sales through our secure webshop, it counts for 5% of our total turnover. And it is rare those online purchases occur during working hours. Not world shocking, but for us more than enough to happily pay the minimum costs for our online card processing facility.
Because it also facilitates those "spur of the moment" decision we all make one time or another: you see something in a shop or online and decide there and then to buy it. Click a few buttons and voilà, purchase made. No regrets, no wavering waiting time: shall I or shan't I.
We also know that during working hours, having browsed our online shop, new clients call us to place their orders - most people want to talk to a real person and getting some extra advice. So we are also very happy to pay a minimum cost per month for our "in shop" card processing facility. The phone/email purchases from clients whom never ever set a foot into our showroom counts at the moment for 17.5% of our turnover.
22.5% turnover generated because accepting these minimum costs per month!
Do you, like my conversation partner, see costs or do you see extra opportunities? Opportunities for your business because you offer your prospects the simple facility to make that "spur of the moment" decision. Shorting the decision cycle.
The Internet "works" 24/7, does you business or do you limit your sales opportunities to your opening hours and old-fashion payment methods? Just to reduce your fixed costs?
You tell me - in the comment box, if you like.
Ever since Martin Malden (re)converted me back to use Twitter as part of our webmarketing strategy my personal Twitter account sees an almost daily increase of 'followers'. If I wanted I could have had a tremendous number of followers, but since I'm not into "the number game" I tend to check out the latest new followers own profile page. If I like what I see/read I sometimes "follow back".
(Must say, most of my new followers I simply block. Just by looking at the difference between the number of "following" - very high - and "followers" - very low - you can count on it the account holder has some kind of automagically "follow everyone who tweets a specific keyword" set up. I always wonder if they ever read any tweets of all those persons they follow or just hope on the principle: someone follows me, so I follow back, to increase their number of followers with the single goal to sell to them.)
Last week memsitebuilding decided to follow me. Checking out his profile page I saw Bo Nebbett is heavy into building membership sites, an area that does have my interest too, so I decided to follow back.
As many other Twitters memsitebuilding sends an automated welcome DM (Direct Message) to new followers:
I don't know about you, but I read a question in the above DM - let me know if? And since I'm not one to leave a question unanswered I clicked the envelop icon to reply to this DM.
To my astonishment I received the following (again automated) DM back:
How about that? Using automated systems is one thing, not even being bothered to read replies to your own automated messages is another. Reminds me of the article Justin Premick wrote and which started a very interesting discussion over at the AWeber's blog: "Do Not Reply " Address? Don't Bother.
IMHO another very bad example of 'netiquete' (online etiquette) - so Jason, if your reading this, another one to add to your list.
No matter which medium you select to contact prospects, clients and even friends, be it modern Facebook, Twitter, email marketing or old fashion phone calls and 'snail mail' letters: be consistent in the medium itself.
If you send out emails, accept email replies; if you send out Direct Messages on Twitter, accept - and read! - DM replies. If you make a phone call, don't hide your phone number and accept return calls etc etc.
How else are you going to build trust? You use one method for your own convenience but you don't allow your 'contact's to use the same convenient method. Marketing nowadays - or should that be always? - should be focused on the convenience of your prospect to contact you, not your own convenience.
Side note: I am still waiting for a reply when I did use @memsitebuilding
In March this year Christine B Whittemore (known to many as CB the Chief Simplifier) "interviewed" me on how we as small retailer in the floorcovering business use (and profit) from the new modern web marketing tools and strategies. If you have been reading/following my blog you know how much we have integrated web marketing into our business and how - sometimes amazingly - successful that has been.
CB interviewed many more (retail) bloggers about their experiences and what tips/advice they have for others. This has now cumulated into the following.....(straight from CB's own blog "Flooring the Consumer")
"Back in early December 2008, I decided - with inspiration from Mack Collier - to launch a weekly social media series about Bridging New & Old. I've been so impressed with the wisdom that these prominent and talented social media practitioners share that I decided - with inspiration from CK - to feature their responses to one question in an e-Book. Hence "Social Media's Collective Wisdom: Simplifying Marketing With Social Media - Book I."
The e-Book focuses on the question: "what suggestions do you have for companies to implement so they can more effectively bridge old media with new media and connect with end users?"
It takes the responses from the first 26 participants in the series. Since, as of this week, 34 interviews have taken place, there will be a Book II. I promise!
Social Media's Collective Wisdom Book I is available for free download from Simple Marketing Now.
I invite you to read it. I encourage you to share it with others. I think you will find the wisdom within compelling and thought-provoking.
And, then, will you let me know how you applied what's within?
The following very wonderful and wise friends participated in Book I. If you haven't yet explored what they do, definitely do so.
- Susan Abbott from Customer Experience Crossroads
- Toby Bloomberg from Diva Marketing Blog
- Laurence Borel from Blog Till You Drop
- Jeanne Byington from The Importance of Earnest Service
- Mack Collier from MackCollier.com
- Yvonne DiVita from LipSticking
- Jay Ehret from The Marketing Spot
- Kristin Golliher from Otterbox
- Kristin Gorski from Write Now Is Good
- Lewis Green from BizSolutionsPlus
- Ann Handley from Annarchy
- Karin Hermans from Wood You Like
- Chris Kieff from 1 Good Reason
- Andrea Learned from Learned On Women
- Lori Magno from Moda Di Magno Blog For Stylish Living
- Valeria Maltoni from Conversation Agent
- Doug Meacham from NextUp
- Peg Mulligan from Peg Mulligan’s Blog
- Rich Nadworny from Digital Strategy Blog
- Amber Naslund from Altitude Branding
- David Polinchock from Experience Manifesto
- Arun Rajagopal from Arun Rajagopal’s Blog
- Dan Schawbel from Personal Branding Blog
- Mario Vellandi from Melodies in Marketing
- Steve Woodruff from StickyFigure
- Alan Woody from Carpets By Otto
As with everything online: you have raving fans for the one and equally raving fans for the other option. This review will focus on my own personal experiences with both platforms and why I recommend Typepad for business owners who want/need an easy to use, SEO ready and quick to edit/add platform.
Why would any business use a blog?
So far I've come up with 7 key reasons, see here for the long version
No matter what type of business you are in, service or products, using a blog (or as I prefer to call it: a dynamic and interactive webpresence) is one of the fastest ways to grow your presence online in a sustainable and none-time consuming way. It depends on the amount of time you want to spend and your knowledge of IT, CSS and HTML which of the two most used blog platforms will suit you and your business best: "paid for" Typepad or self-hosted "free" WordPress.org.
Why Typepad?
Let's face it: ....... Read on here (redirects to "1 Plus 1 Makes 3")
We like Dragons Den so much we even passed on the second half of the friendly between The Netherlands and England yesterday evening (which ended 2 all).
BBC always seems to leave the best for last - not saying the best investment or idea, just the best "entertainment" or another "first in the Den".
Carol Savage of MyDish needed an investment of £100,000 to take her sharing website (sharing of recipes in more than one way) to the next level: improved ordering facilities to online supermarkets. Ocado is already in the frame, Asda might be next.
Although the total amount brought in by other angels is already £600,000 and the business "burns" £22,000 a month, the pitch for more - very appropriate when talking about food - did seem to go down well.
But three of the Dragons saw the "next dot.com" upstart which could be copied any day at much lower costs. Deborah Meaden saw something else and focussed on the other functionalities the website would need to become as profitable as the pitch promised.
Shopping online for the groceries of the recipes (advertising and affiliate revenue) which are then delivered home (Ocado) and in the near future planning your whole weekly shopping for groceries online and being delivered to your doorstep (more advertising and affiliate revenue).
Deborah agreed with the potential and offered the money for 15%. Theo then offered an additional £100,000 for the same percentage because he's adement is will take double the money first to get where the MyDish Social Media Site wants to be.
30% was too much for Carol to accept in relation to her other shareholders (who brought in the £600,000) and shook hands with Deborah.
So another first in the Den, another Social Media site in the offering. (Read and/or watch the whole pitch here)
It made me wonder the following:
Whatever happened to "shop local for local food" and Deborah's "green credentials"?
To travel to the UK from mainland Europe you'll have to cross the Strait of Dover (English Channel) or the North Sea, depending of your starting point. To travel from the UK to the neighbouring island you have to cross the Irish Sea.
This neighbouring island is divided in two: Northern Ireland and Ireland (Republic) but no matter which one you want to go to, you'll have to cross the Irish Sea.
Beginning August we received a phone order for maintenance product from Belfast area: two bottles of polish and a polish applicator please. No problem for us when the village we live and work in has its own Post Office. Standard parcel delivered within 48 hours, even over the Irish Sea.
In the last week of August we received a phone order from the Dublin area: two bottles of polish and a polish applicator please. I went to the Post Office again where James told me the astonish news it had to go "Overseas". The Irish Sea I said, I know my geography.
That was not what he meant. "Overseas" = International standard parcels
A) that costs 160% more!
B) takes between 3 - 5 delivery days to Ireland (Republic) according to Parcel Force's website
However, yesterday my Dublin area client called: where was the parcel? Trying to check the parcel online with the tracking number gave the following message: not available for this service (International Standard Parcel).
On the phone then to Customer Service (select 1 for.. 2 for... 6 for all other enquires = 6. Select 1 for.... 2 for.... 6 for all other enquires = 6. Select 1 for... 2 for.... 4 for all other enquires = 4) where I finally managed to explain the situation to a real person: shipped on 27th of August, 1.5 week later still no sign of the parcel - where it should "only" take 3 - 5 working days to cross the Irish Sea.
A very bored sounding customer service employee then told me it can take up to 30 days (that is a whole month!). When I asked why their own website stated 3 - 5 working days for Ireland (Republic) with International Standard Parcel I was told that was "only" an indication and should not be taken face-value!
Don't take me wrong, but does the Irish Sea stretch to enormous proportions when you ship something with the International Standard Parcel service?
(The best part of Parcel Force webpage on Ireland was the first sentence:
"We are in the process of rolling out our new improved international products to all customers."
About time too!)
Let's just hope this parcel is not on its way to turn into a Phileas Fogg adventure.
Update 18.08.09: received a phone call from our Dublin area client yesterday early evening - yes, our clients can even call us after normal working hours: parcel had arrived! (Turned out it was delivered 4 doors further down the road but no notification card was left behind at clients address.)
So, all's well that ends well, it seems.
In June Ed Rivis announced his soon to be launched new book: "Email Marketing Dynamite".
"E-Mail marketing is the #1 most critical tactic any business can perform online. Pound for pound it’s also reported to be the most effective tactics any company can perform in terms of ROI (Return on Investment).
All the biggest companies use it to generate extra sales, revenues and profits - so if I have a ‘mission’ at the moment, it’s to get a lot more small business owners using e-mail effectively."
If there is anything I can totally agree with, it is his mission. Our own retail businesses thrives on web marketing which includes - of course - email marketing.
Ed has asked (through his own email marketing campaigns in combination with his blog) if he could interview various small businesses about their experiences with email marketing: what effect it has had on their business success or even survival. I had the pleasure of talking to Ed for almost 1 hour as one of the interviewees.
You can subscribe to the pre-launch news of his new book - which, and I'm sure of it, if it is anything like any of Ed's other products and publications, will show/teach you how you too can effectively implement email marketing to grow/sustain your business in any economical circumstance.
First step: preregister your interest and profit from the opportunity to buy his book for only P&P the minute it is released.
Last week I joined in to the 25 Words group writing project Liz Strauss had launched.
Liz has now - as she always does after a project like this - compiled a wonderful painting of words presentation (see below).
Contributors:
Courtney Chowning
Liz Strauss
Claire Druga
Karin H
Christa Miller
Suzanna Stinnett
MaryS (one of my favourite 25 Words)
Liz Hover
Writer-Mommy
Tim Tracey
bobjones.nl
AppFail
Regina Lark
Summer Huggins
ANDI
Anna
Karen Putz (another of my favourite 25 Words)
that damn redhead
Tim Bursch
Niro
Tracy Fox
Joseph Crockett
Jen
Lorraine Ball
Ike
Dave Haber
Tre~
Jim Storer
Rebecca E. Parsons
Sheila Scarborough
Jim McGee
Francie
nerdmuffin
Julie (can relate to these 25 Words too)
Avil Beckford
Glenda
Pass it on.
On the Successful & Outstanding Blog(gers) blog Liz has started a new 25 words writing project: share your thoughts and wisdom in 25 words with the world.
(follow the link to the invitation)
My contribution:
In this brave new world
of follow and followers,
follow the question
and provide the needed answer
That truly puts the "Social" in the "Medium".
Nowadays, even with the increase of all types of Social Media platforms, that's still the only item most businesses have: one web site and I've lost count of small businesses' websites I've seen which are still the same as the moment they were built years ago.
Unfortunately, it doesn't work like that anymore - and it stopped working a while ago. Not just because of the Social Media 'craze' but more due to the advances in search technology. If your website is not found on the first two or three result pages you can forget any traffic, it is said. Getting ranked high in the generic search results especially on Google takes either a lot of time or a lot of money and there are plenty of SEO wizards out there claiming they can get your website on the first page, guaranteed. A lot of money is wasted this way, because even if they succeed in getting your site "up there", what is all that extra traffic going to find? Last year's special offer? (Like the banner ad I saw this week on one of the forums we frequent as part of our web presence)
One of the offline discussion I had - which continued "online" per email - was just about that: in this day and age of multiple electronic platforms: websites, facebook pages, YouTube, Squido lenses, blogs, twitter accounts, autoresponders, LinkedIn profiles, forums - have I left something out? - what is a business to do? Choose only one platform or opt-in for all, because you never know what platform one of your prospect is using and you don't want to miss out on any opportunity to be found (or to be regarded as "old-fashioned" because you haven't jumped on the latest internet craze where loads of others are making the big bucks).
But again, what is your prospect going to find when he/she follows you, becomes a fan, watches your video, reads your blog article, lands on your website, connects on LinkedIn, submits a name and email address in the box of your autoresponder? Do they find a consistent presence? A representation of you business that encourages trusting the presence your business portraits?
Because IMHO that should be the focus of any "WebPresence" your business is establishing, trying to establish: building trust with your prospects. No matter which platform you select or how many: all should work as "an invitation" to start a conversation, an invitation for arranging that next cup of coffee to keep the interest and relationship alive.
Every business should have a web presence, not just a website. The choices are plentiful indeed, but be wary of those choices that does not help you built trust. Ever left a comment on a business blog, tweeted a question to a business and never received a reply? Submitted your name and email address in the box only to receive a sales letter - every other day?
Social Media platforms are not "number games": look at how many followers, fans, subscribers, readers I have.
It's what quality you are able to give to those numbers. Focus on quality relationships instead of quantities in short term "profit", quality is what pays your bills in the end - it always has and always will.
(Maybe I should change the name of my E-training, from The WebMarketing ToolBox to The Web Presence ToolBox - something to ponder about this coming week.)
There are three software programs our business has come to learn, love and can't do without any more: Typepad blog platform, AWeber the autoresponder and email marketing and ScreenSteps The multiple media publishing machine. All three involve turning content into (marketing) documentation, are mainly so-called 'online' software programs and are a great tool/help for us to interact with our prospects/clients.
Funnily enough one of those three can be used in combination with the two others. ScreenSteps (Desktop) publishes some of our documentation without any problems into Typepad (this post for instance) and in AWeber.
On this Kiss Business 2 and on the 1 Plus 1 Makes 3 blog I've praised this software program since the moment we started using it. I've tried to explain many times why it is such a great, versatile, simple and multifunctional program any business creating documentation should use.
In their latest webinar "Why your documentation is useless" Greg and Trevor DeVore, founders of Blue Mango Learning Systems and the creators of ScreenSteps have done a much better job - of course! - of explaining why creating your documentation, manuals and even training instructions should be considered a process instead of a project.
Even the stills from the Webinar already tells you the essence of the story:
The video recording of the Webinar tells you much more about the principle of seeing your documentation as a progress instead of a project. Due to the time the webinar was planned I couldn't attend, but I watched the recording this morning and thought: yes, this is exactly what I've been trying to explain to others why ScreenSteps Desktop (and Live) is such a great and IMHO essential tool in these modern days where prospects and clients expect adequate and easy accessible information from many businesses - even from a specialised retailer like we are.
Watch the Webinar recording here and all the slides here.
The whole pricing structure of ScreenSteps Live (now in combination with ScreenSteps Desktop licenses) has made it even more worthwhile to start using both programs and for every business - customer service department, technical support, to function as tour guide for their clients by creating, publishing and distributing all your documentation the right way.
Very quickly you will see that the number of follow-up questions asked by prospects/clients to your customer service or technical support will drastically reduce (and the number of "Thank You!" emails will increase).
Yesterday saw the return of one of my favourite programs on BBC 2: Dragons Den.
And boy, were we in for a treat! The program makers left the best for last: Steve Smith with his "True Call" a 'cold-call' blocking system with a difference. Most phone companies have 'services' you can use to block certain numbers but these will block callers indifferently and will cost you between £ 3.50 - £ 4.00 per month.
The "True Call" is a device which is (at the moment) plugged in between the phone socket and your phone and screens every incoming call. Meaning you as user have multiple options when the phone rings. If the caller is on your 'friends list' the call is let straight through to your phone, if the caller is 'unknown' the True Call will ask him/her to identify themselves and then gives you, the user, 4 options:
During the demonstration Steve Smith did just that and the cold-caller hears a 'standard' message we are all eager to be able to tell one of those callers:
"We're not interested in your call. Please hang up and don't call again"
in the most cold voice you can imagine. It had the Dragons in stitches too.
It was a great pitch, straight forward and to the point. And then it became even more interesting due to the almost eager reactions of the Dragons to get a 'piece of the action'.
It does not happen often in the Den what happened yesterday - or at least was broadcasted yesterday, today saw plenty of very surprised tweets about how quickly the product seemed to be available in the shops.
There in front of 5 of the most renowned Entrepreneurs UK has come to know (and appreciate) stood an entrepreneur with a proven track-record, a proven product, an almost perfect pitch and a believable financial forecast asking for an investment of £100.000 for 7.5% equity.
They almost tripped over each other to get in.
James Caan set the benchmark by offering 1/2 for 12.5% - Deborah Meaden went straight over him by offering the full amount for 12.5%.
Duncan Bannatyne was really clever IMHO to simply state he would underwrite every offer made by Peter Jones (who as we all know is THE man to have as Dragon for any product even just slightly related to tele-communication).
Peter did indeed make it known that he could add the most value most quickly and offered the full amount for 15% or would share 3 ways with Duncan and James.
Then Theo Pathitis threw in his retail acumen: he could have UK distribution in seconds and matched Deborah's offer.
I'm not going to spoil it any further for those who haven't seen it yet, just watch the 13 minute video of the broadcast here. I must confess I was sitting on the edge of my seat at the end - which offer would this proven entrepreneur go for?
In all the years I've been watching Dragons Den it is rare to see a fight like this and offers in so quick (and so low!).
One thing that did cross my mind at the end was: which cold call business will find a 'cure' for the True Call blocker?
And that my friends, is what keeps the economical world turn round and round and round:
act and counteract
Dear AWeber
Greetings from a big fan of your autorespond and email marketing software. Your functionality enables our business to start an ethical and long-term conversation with those prospects who opt-in to receive information about many of our ranges. It even enables prospects to request personalised advice on any subject of our trade they can't find quickly enough on our site or anywhere else online. We can even use you as instant delivery vehicle of "how-to wood-guides" in combination with Paypal secure payments. And everyone on our many retails business lists receive our monthly newsletter when we broadcast it every first Monday of the month.
Because of its functionality and ease to use I'm also using your software for my second career business 1 Plus 1 Makes 3, where combined expertise gives you triple value. There you are, amongst other usages, also the instant delivery vehicle of the E-training I created on "The Best AWeber Strategies and Tactics for Small Businesses".
For this Kiss2, the 1plus1makes3 and our retail FAQ & News blogs you alert subscribers when a new article (post) has been published so no one misses out on news, be it on new ranges in our retail business, on business and marketing books I've been reading or software programs that can make small business life simpler and effective.
And recently we're sponsoring our village community by hosting and managing the CharingKent website and use your software to inform every local business and villager of all the activities that take place in our lovely Kent village.
All in all we are very happy with your software, your first class deliverability and your excellent support team. Since recently I and others can even tweet with you in 140 characters at a time and receive a relevant tweet back.
There is however one thing that would make my life - and I'm sure many other AWeber account holders who use your software for more than one purpose (various departments, locations, targeted groups and/or volunteer work) - even more simple. Explaining this in 140 characters won't do in this case I'm afraid, hence this 'old-fashion' format of a blog post.
The last time I counted our AWeber account contains 23 lists for our retail business, 7 for 1 Plus 1 Makes 3 and 2 for other purposes. No doubt this will continue to grow - a new division in our retail business is about to be launched. For every single list I have to fill in the From/Reply email address and name, the Company branding details and global fields with specific signature per purpose. I know it doesn't sound like much, but I would be very grateful if you could make this task more simpler.
Can't you give us 'department defaults' options where the above details are filled in only once per department (business, organisation, purpose)? And then in the List Settings you give us the option to select either
I've come to know AWeber as very tuned in to its clients and always willing to improve the software. So could you do me and I still believe many others this favour?
Yours truly
Karin H. (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)
Perhaps you too read (about) Malcolm Galdwell's disagreeing review on Chris Anderson's new book: “Free: The Future of a Radical Price” and perhaps you agree with Seth Godin's opinion of the review: "Malcolm is wrong".
I've been thinking of the concept 'free' even more since I've read Seth's post and Glaswell's review. According to Anderson's new book (not free ;-)) because of enhanced and advanced technology, IT infra-structure more and more products/services can be offered for free. Gladwell states that's rather utopian thinking: IT infra-structures aren't free (he points towards YouTube), nor is the infra-structure to deliver cheaper and cheaper power.
Seth on the other hand points towards the unlimited advancement of 'free' information: "In the world of free, everyone can play".
I've read Gladwell's Tipping Point, Anderson's The Long Tail and plenty of Seth's books. I also read Dan Ariely's "Predictable Irrational" (great read, really recommend it to everyone). This book is mentioned too in Galdwell's review of Anderson and in Anderson's new book. What Ariely's experiment shows IMHO that even free has a perceived value, depending to what the free item is compared.
And it is that perceived value I think will always be "top of the bill" - not "Free":
Seth states:
People will pay for content if it is so unique they can't get it anywhere else, so fast they benefit from getting it before anyone else, or so related to their tribe that paying for it brings them closer to other people.
In my humble opinion and experience as retailer of physical products who sees a tremendous increase in the sale of our 'digital products' (digital delivered PDF guides on various aspects of our trade, how to... etc) it is and always will be:
People will pay for content if it is perceived coming from an expert and saving them time to find and implement quickly what they are after (advice or training).
In the world of free, everyone can play is correct: where 'everyone' are those who are able to turn free information into knowledge and they can now play and profit in the world too, where before only those with expensive publication channels could play (and profit).
There's something wrong with the title, not? I'm sure you, like me, have been told many times that the only way to grow your business is by working "on" your business; where working "in" the business only means you're working for a wage, nothing more.
Some state you should dedicate at least 3 hours a week on working "on" your business and preferably more than that. Working "on" your business to improve sales rates, conversion rates, customer care, worth of mouth and overall performances. To increase profit.
So what is working "in" your business really?
Welcoming visitors in your showroom? Delivering ordered materials to your client? Calculating and writing a quotation for a prospect? Carrying out a survey to determine what and how many materials and labour are needed? Doing the actual work of - in our case - installing or maintaining a wooden floor? Following up on prospects? Sending out snail mail letters to existing clients to remind them of the need of maintenance? Writing another follow-up message or newsletter broadcast for your email campaigns? Washing our van to make sure it always looks presentable? Counting stock so no job is delayed because of shortness in materials? Replying quickly and adequate to emails coming in from prospects/clients? Keeping your website up to date with the latest news on products, procedures and prices? Keeping the books up to date so suppliers are paid in time to continue a good relationship with them?
But......
Isn't every single one of those tasks dedicated to provide your prospects/clients with the best available products/services your business can provide?
So isn't working "in" your business also working "on" your business?
Or do I see this wrong?
I got confused this week - sitting in our sunny garden one evening after work - pondering about all the things I'd done that day and the days before. It felt I only had been doing 'regular' tasks, taking care of our prospects and clients any which way. Shouldn't I make more time available for working "on" the business instead? But where would my and my partner's tasks be different then?
I mean, if my dear partner - who does the surveys, fitting, most of the deliveries and maintenance services - doesn't have the right materials at the right time, drives in a dirty van and doesn't pay respect to the prospect/client with his manners, that wouldn't do our "worth of mouth" and therefore existing and future profits no good at all. Same with all our marketing and systems/procedures I take care off. All are in fact targeted to provide our prospects/clients with the best possible service (be it physical products or simple advice) we can give them.
So perhaps the title is wrong and should it say: when working "in" your business feels like working "on" your business?
'Cos when is "in" actually only "in" and "on" actually only "on"?
Or perhaps we need a completely different phrase all together? How about:
Working "with" your business?
What do you think?
Have you ever realised how many 'standard' business tasks can now be done online?
We have been using Internet banking the moment it came available: constant instant overview of your going in's and out's. On the road? Access your bank's website anywhere you are and take care of your finances.
More and more service providers notify us we can find our latest invoice online. And then I'm not even talking about all the standard essential office products you can buy online nowadays, from stationery to coffee pods, study books etc - all delivered to your front door without you having to go out. Our own business has its own secure webshop and we dispatch products all over the UK (some through drop-shipping, some through our local post-office).
Marketing is more and more done on-line:
using blog platform software for your business website (again, accessible everywhere you are to add, edit and comment/answer questions left by your website visitors).
email-marketing: how often I access AWeber you don't want to know, queueing 'blog-alerts' to subscribers interested in wooden flooring, writing and sending out our monthly newsletter, checking how well all the marketing messages are performing and which headline in which webform works best (split-testing). Instant access to statistics: what you can measure you can improve.
If you need an internet ad campaign: Google Adwords is your tool. Easy to set up and to control your spending. Another great on-line tool.
(Although.... yesterday I received a discount voucher - valid till the end of this month - for Adwords from a friend as thank you for some SEO I'd done for his latest website. When I entered the code into my billing page of my long term Google Adwords account I got the following message: my account was too old to redeem this voucher! As if Google isn't making enough money already!! Too old to be treated as a respected client? End of rant.)
Customer care can be done online too these days with one of my favourite programs: ScreenSteps Desktop and ScreenSteps Live. Publish the answers to your frequently asked questions online (written in Desktop so you can publish and combine in multiple ways) and direct your prospects/clients to the appropriate page in the manual using ScreenSteps latest innovation: Live Support System.
(Blue Mango Learning System announced last week the price for ScreenSteps Desktop Pro is - IMHO finally! - going to be increased with $ 20.00. Since the release of the latest version 2.6 the value of the program is tripled if not quadrupled and rightly so should the price reflect this. If you hurry you can still get this excellent and multifunctional program for the old price of $ 59.95. Offer end Wednesday 17 June)
Another online software I used this week is perhaps also the latest 'innovation' of off-line business tasks now available online: bookkeeping! Liberty Accounting comes complete with Payroll and is one - if not the - first to include filling your VAT return through their program.
(Side-note: the program was recommended by our business adviser for my neighbour who had asked both him and me for advice on accounting. All three of us can access the program: the owner of the business, the 'bookkeeper' of the business and the accountant of the business - how's that for multi-functionality?)
All the above programs I've used this last week - a short week for us after our well deserved break last weekend - and makes you wonder/ponder if the 'virtual office' or 'virtual business' is about to truly become a fact?
How many online tools are you using for standard 'off line' business activities yourself? And what other tasks can you see being turned online in the near future?
Recent Comments