Virtual Impax

Effective Strategic Digital Marketing

Business Basics

When the shoe fits… I get flamed.

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Well, my last blog entry inspired a nice little flame from the designer in question.

Despite the fact that I didn’t mention him by name, he recognized himself in the post and sent me an email taking me to the wood shed. He dressed me down thoroughly and instructed me that had I followed the instructions on his web site and “contacted him in the specified manner” that he would have gotten back with me sooner.

Here’s a news flash for ANYONE who thinks a potential customer is reading every single word you write… whether it’s a blog, a brochure or an ad that runs in print….

NO ONE READS YOUR COPY AS CAREFULLY AS YOU DO.

The semi colon used on the about page instead of a colon is not going to tip the scales and make someone NOT contact you to hire you for your services…unless you’re offering your services as a proof reader or editor.

As a matter of fact, I’ve seen typos in one place or another on almost every “successful” web site.  It’s the new world order of marketing… “Get it out quickly… mistakes be damned…. make corrections later!”

I’ve been telling clients for a decade now… “The absolute BEST email you can get in your in box (aside from the “I’m interested in hiring you” one)  is the one where the reader corrects your typos!”  Why?  Because that means people are READING your content!!!!  That is the sign that the content featured on your web site/brochure/ad is indeed compelling content and that readers care enough to share their observations with you.

If you’re going to use your Facebook/Myspace/LinkedIn account as your primary web presence… check it daily.

I know… there are people who advise you to ignore your email.  However, I think Steve Pavilina hit the nail on the head with tip #6 on “10 Business Lessons From a Snarky Entrepreneur”

Become so organized it disgusts people.  You’ll never achieve perfection, but you’ll be far better off than your peers who spend two weeks every year looking for things they misplaced.  If you aren’t chronically well-organized, punctual, and dependable, rest assured you’re competing with someone who is.

In the end, no one likes to be “dressed down”… however, you must remember…your best customer is not the one who quietly slinks away… and then complains to 15 people about your business.  Your most treasured customer should be the one who voices a complaint.

Kristin Zhivago writes in her post A buyer’s hellish experience

Understand what people want to do on your website. If you’re not mapping out every step of what everyone wants to DO on your website, you’re bound to be frustrating people. This is vitally important. It is also seldom given half the attention it deserves. There is no substitute for getting input from users and watching users try to use your site. Yes, it’s an extra time-consuming process. It’s also one of the most important things you can do to increase revenue.

I contrast that designer’s response with the ABSOLUTELY classy response to a customer service mis-step which appears on the Ingram Micro blog, First Impressions are Hard to Overcome.

So what do you do when such an issue comes to your attention?  The best defense is not defensive at all.  Own up to your mistakes or shortcomings, pledge to try harder and resolve the concerns, and ask that the offended party give you another chance.  Sometimes they will.  Often they won’t.  In either case its an expensive and humbling lesson.

Excuses and deflections will never fly.  Honesty and perseverance might.

My apology to the designer mentioned previously:

I did NOT intend to humiliate you or dress you down.  I intentionally did NOT mention you, our shared client nor my other client by name.  No details were shared which would identify you and that was by design.

I’m sorry your feelings were hurt.  Your work is inspired.  Take my blog post for what it was… insight as to how a potential customer uses your web presence to contact you.

I’m most disappointed that I will not be able to offer your services to my constantly growing list of clients.  I hope my comments will enable you to refine your web presence so it can become a powerful catalyst in building your business.

Oh… and sorry it took me so long to cook that crow so I could eat it!

When it comes to business… when you snooze, you lose!

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About a month ago, I had a client sign up for a blog and she arrived with an amazingly diverse selection of potential “logos” to use on her site. At the same time, I had another client who was struggling trying to find an artist who “got” his business and could create a logo which “fit” with the other marketing pieces he had already had developed.

I asked the incoming client for the name of her graphic designer… and she promptly gave me a URL for him. This domain name redirected to a Myspace profile page. Fortunately, I have a Myspace page so I could send him a “friends” request… because there was NO other way given to contact him on the profile.

In my Myspace friend’s request, I gave my gmail address and asked for him to contact me there. This request was made almost 2 weeks ago and today, I finally got a reply.

I admit, I didn’t say “I have a possible job for you” in the initial contact which may or may not have inspired him to respond in a more timely manner. However, it did remind me of the wise words of a former client who runs a small publishing company. She said, “I’d rather have a graphic artist of moderate talent who can deliver on deadline than an incredibly gifted one who doesn’t know what the word deadline means.”

Her words come back frequently when I try to work with graphic artists.

Liz Strauss writes about a friend of hers who is a graphic artist and is struggling. In her post When Is Being Good Not Good for Business? where she wonders why he’s not getting jobs.  I wonder if it’s the same guy?

Meanwhile we found another graphic artist for my client who needed one.  Our second choice returned my client’s contact immediately.  Earlier this week, my client send me the first round of logos from the graphic artist whom I’ve dubbed “local talent”.

So in the time it took for the the first graphic artist to respond, we already were evaluating the first round of designs from the second.

I was really impressed with the work done by the first guy.  It was great… but I’m running a business.  If I recommend him to a client and he takes 2 weeks to respond, it makes ME look bad!

Customers can’t measure quality, especially when it comes to logo design and development.

In hindsight, the first clue I had that this guy wasn’t serious about his business was the fact that he’s using his Myspace profile as his online presence.  It’s a shame.  He’s got a gift.

What I learned from my membership with Teaching Sells

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Brian Clark is an internet “legend”. When he speaks, the tech savvy sit up straight and listen… so back in November, when he and Tony Clark launched their membership Site Teaching Sells, I signed up immediately.

Those of us who jumped on the bandwagon quickly were called the “founders”….. and we got 3 months of membership for what we were told was the price of a single month’s membership. Within the first few weeks, the site underwent a MASSIVE overhaul.

My first impression was not a good one.  Most of the content was merely “selling copy” to sell members on the benefits of launching a membership site.  The problem?  We were already sold and we’d already bought our ticket.  We sat down, ready for the show and instead were treated to a sales pitch on why we should be there.

For me, it was worth the price of admission to see how Moodle/Amember worked together.  (Very well and I was impressed.)  I had been previously disappointed with Amember and its ability to integrate with php nuke. (In a word… it doesn’t… but you don’t find that out until you purchase and read the install directions for the plug in!)

Then, the “meat” of the site began appearing as the tutorials began showing up.   Teaching Sells started with a robust offering of Camtasia tutorials.  The problem?  Camtasia is a commercial product and they’ve done a really nice job of providing training materials for their product.

What would have been another “worth the price of admission” would have been a series of Moodle tutorials.  Moodle is an open source online course management system.  During my 3 months of membership, I never got a tutorial on the basics of Moodle.    Because of it’s open source origins… learning Moodle is a “trial by fire” experience.  Video tutorials would have been welcomed.

In all fairness, I noticed that content development seemed to get a “burst” with approximately 2 weeks left in my membership so it’s possible that it’s a very robust program now.  I saw on the web site that they now have 9 content modules available and they’re offering a $1 preview.

Despite my disappointment, I consider the money well spent for several reasons.

  1. Addressing Different Learning Styles:
    As I perused the video clips, I realized that I really wanted a written version that I could quickly scan and assimilate. It pointed out to me that as I develop content for my support site, that I take heed of a lesson I’ve already learned: different learning styles require different methods of content delivery.

    When I began plans for my support site, it was my plan to populate the site with how-to videos. However, feedback from my beta-testers let me know that many of my clients prefer their tutorials to be written. However, videos are SOOOO much easier to create….. I was tempted to “ignore” my beta tester feedback.

    The Teaching Sells experience clearly illustrated for me the importance of providing instructional content in as many formats as possible. The old “Tell them what you’re GOING to tell them, tell them, then tell them what you told them” holds true in training as well as public speaking.

  2. First Impressions are Lasting Impressions
    Teaching Sells once again taught me that first impressions were lasting ones.  My experience with the site clearly illustrated to me the importance of creating the BULK of your content BEFORE you issue invitations. Towards the end of my membership run, the rush to fill the site was on and it may be well worth the price of admission now. Considering that they’re offering $1 preview, I would assume that the content has been “filled out”.
  3. There’s no such thing as a set it and forget it web site.
    In one of the lessons, the student is told that they have two options for their membership site.  They can either continually add fresh content or they can continually add new members.

    I’ve had many, many clients speak wistfully of a membership site because for some reason there’s the crazy notion out there that membership sites are a “set it and forget it” business.   If you’re not adding content… then you won’t be adding new members…. and both require a lot of effort.

    I’ve spent the last 6 months creating content for my future membership web site.  I have a client who completed her membership site in less time, however it was not her first stab at launching a membership site either.

    It’s both of our opinion that you “pay up front” when you put together a membership site.  There’s a LOT of time invested up front pulling together quality content.  Then, you get to start promoting the heck out of the site.  The primary goal of both of our “membership” sites is to take the support pressure off of us in our businesses instead of hoping to “get rich without working hard”.  Because trust me, pulling together a membership site is HARD WORK!

For me…  the investment in Teaching Sells was worthwhile…. but this is a conclusion I’ve come to after considerable introspection after a rather knee jerk reaction (or two) leading to a few hasty and harsh comment on a couple of blogs.

In the end… isn’t that what the internet is for… so individuals can irrationally lash out with impunity at nameless, faceless strangers in a public forum?

In other words…think before you comment.  I wish I had.

Brian Gardner’s one smart cookie….

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I met Brian just before the Colts went to the Superbowl.  Brian’s not only a talented Word Press blog theme developer, he’s also a Colts fan who happens to live in the heart of Chicago Bear (the Colt’s Super Bowl XLI opponent) country.    Are all great minds Colts fans, or is it just an amazing coincidence?

Anyhow, Brian has since quit his day job and struck out on his own and he’s hit the ground running!!!  Last week, he launched an affiliate program where he pays commissions on sales of his premium Word Press themes.  Yesterday, Brian has announced his own version of March Madness…. offering fabulous prizes to his top affiliates in the month of March.

The promotion works on two levels:

a) It’s a great way to promote affiliate sign ups.

Sales is a numbers game.  In affiliate programs, 20% of your affiliate will generate 80% of your sales.  The more affiliates you have, the more sales they will generate.  It’s just that simple.

b) It’s link bait.

Not only must you sign up as an affiliate to join the contest, but you must also link back as well!

GREAT JOB Brian on crafting a compelling contest to promote your new affiliate program.

Superbowl XLII and defining your role….

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I am a Colts fan.  Therefore, it naturally follows that I am NOT a huge Patriots fan.  As a Colts fan, I have held a special place this season for Peyton’s younger brother Eli as well. Therefore, because of Peyton’s little brother’s appearance, Superbowl XLII was not purely an exercise of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”.

For the first time, in a long time… the game was MUCH better than the commercials.   What a game it was.  What made it EVEN BETTER was that it defied the predictions of the “experts”.    On the front page of the sports section in our local Sunday paper were all kinds of articles written with the Patriot’s Superbowl XLII win already penciled in.

I love it when the underdog wins.   I guess that is why I work with small business owners… because the odds really are stacked against them from the start and I LOVE helping them to beat the odds.

However, it takes a LOT of hard work to beat the odds.  That’s probably why I enjoy American style football.  No football game was ever won AT ANY LEVEL without an entire TEAM of  players and coaches working hard… physically AND mentally preparing to win the game.

There isn’t any “just in time” learning going on in football… and there aren’t many generalists playing the game.  Each player has a job to do on the field.   Failure to execute one’s assigned tasks means failure pure and simple.

Imagine if Lawrence Tynes (the kicker for the NY Giants) suddenly decided in the first quarter that he wanted to be a running back.  When the Giants lined up to score their first field goal… imagine the chaos if he had picked up the ball and tried to run for a touchdown.  Sure… it has the potential to be a great “trick” play… but it only has a chance of success if the whole team is in on it!  If Tynes had suddenly decided to engage in “freestyle football” last night, I’m not sure he would have literally survived to see the end of the game!

Lawrence Tynes may have what it takes to play another position, but ever since high school he’s always been a kicker for the team.  His role is tightly defined.  Most of the time, his job is to stand on the side lines and be ready to walk onto the field and put the ball through the goal posts from ANY position on the field. That is his job.  He’s not the fastest, he’s not the strongest…. and it’s possible that he doesn’t even know how to tackle properly.  That doesn’t matter.  He does what he does EXCEEDINGLY well and he can do it under pressure, when it counts.

As the mother of a kicker for his high school football team, I’m sure that Tynes suffered the same “ribbing” my son endures.  Kickers, in general, aren’t considered “real” football players… however, if not for Tynes performance last night… (he scored the first and last points for the Giants) the Patriots would be having a much better morning this morning.

What’s your role in your customers/client’s lives and/or business?  Do you really want nutritional advice from your CPA?  I didn’t think so.  Define your role and it makes everything MUCH easier when it comes to marketing your business.