Wednesday the 4th of March, 2009 | Articles | Business | Tools |
I have recently been working with a team (who is a new team within an older corporation) to get their website and ecommerce system up to par. The blogging platform, ecommerce platform and proprietary login system are substandard at best but they’re the required platforms by IT. Two very small issues have become a severe nightmare.
1) The username field only allows for 15 characters
a) The page doesn’t notify the limitation to the user ahead of time and plenty of people are used to using their email address which can easily exceed 15 characters
b) When the user goes over 15 characters, they are greeted with a red error stating “System Error, please try again later.”
2) When a user does go under the required characters by chance, they get dropped off at their user profile page instead of continuing with their checkout.
These two seemingly small issues drive 80% of their customers to require multiple phone and/or email touches for assistance on checkout and countless abandoned carts. Two months since launch of their new ecommerce site, this issue is still not resolved.
Wednesday the 12th of April, 2006 | Articles | Business | Marketing |
I had lunch the other day with a buddy of mine who also happens to be a client. He was asking how to get ranked higher in the Search Rankings and if he should invest in Search Engine Optimization (SEO). I told him I’d look into it, but advised simple local marketing. I’m becoming concerned the more I read about SEO and their unrealistic promises. Here is an excerpt from an unnamed SEO web service.
Research shows that most web traffic comes from search engines. But if your site is not ranked high enough on the search engines (e.g. after the third page of the search result), none of that traffic will come to you. Worse, it might all go to your competitors.

Search engines are a very important source of traffic because it’s highly targeted. Visitors that come to your site via search engines got there because they focused their search using keywords related to your products or services. But because there are so many pages on the web, and more submitted every day, your site is competing with an increasing number of other sites. So what can you do?

That’s where Search Engine Optimization comes in. Search Engine Optimization is the process of preparing your website so that search engines can better understand its content and/or purpose.
Think about it! If a search engine can not clearly identify the content of your site, why would it give your site a high position in the search results? Your site must be focused on the content, products, or services you provide. Optimizing your page will save you money that you would need to spend on advertising otherwise.
If you want guaranteed top ranking in the major search engines, we provide a full search engine optimization service: 20 guaranteed top 20 ranking.
The first two paragraphs are very much true. Most traffic comes from Search Engines, Google being the largest chunk. The final three paragraphs are nothing more than a snake oil salesman’s pitch. Google has spent the last 7 years with the finest mathematical and engineering minds on the planet developing algorithms to identify what a site’s content consists of and how it should be ranked. Google’s sandbox effect can take a few months before they even catalog you. This is to make sure your site has longevity and they aren’t listing sites that are here one day and gone the next. The fact of matter is no one can guarantee a top 20 ranking. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
So how do you get your site noticed in the search engine market? Your site has to grow organically. Just like any business, developing a successful site takes time and energy. There are two important rules to follow when building your site.
Always be adding new relevant content
The idea is to develop an extensive knowledge base on your website that relates to your industry. You want high quality content, a lot of it. Take the time to develop content that relates to your business and that people will be interested in reading. If they search for a term that is mentioned often in one of your pages, you have a higher likeliness of getting that reader.
Find a way to get as many relevant high-traffic websites to link to you
The best way to do this is by getting involved in your industry’s online community. If you are a photographer, start commenting on as many photography blogs as possible. Things like, “good post†won’t quite cut it. You have to give something back to the community. Find a small list of blogs that welcome comments and get going.
As I said before, traffic doesn’t just come overnight once you’re on the web. People have to sift through all the trash first. Once they find you, word of mouth takes over. Once a site develops its online reputation, the traffic will follow.
Wednesday the 5th of April, 2006 | Articles | Business | Marketing |
Blogs are becoming more and more popular on the internet. It seems as if there are almost as many readers of blogs as there are bloggers. There has been an ever-increasing amount of marketing experts online commanding that every business needs a blog. I wholeheartedly disagree with this statement.
Obtaining Readership
Blogs have saturated the online publications market much like cable did to television. There are too many choices. If you type any search term into technorati you get a jumbled mess of returns. The only blogs that are readable from technorati are the ones labeled “most authority.†This means obtaining a decent amount of interest in your blog will take plenty of time.
Consistancy
A blog takes a lot of work. Entries must be provided on a consistent basis or people will become disinterested. Posima’s designer, Steve P. Sharpe, had 600 people subscribed to his blog. He began to make entries farther and fewer between. He is now starting to publish more frequently, but has lost 500 subscribers during his 5 month hiatus.
Time and Effort
Most small businesses already have a long list of overdue to-do items that directly relate to the business. They shouldn’t be concerned with starting a blog that will require more time and effort than they have to offer.
The solution - Articles
Instead of trying to break into this market, write articles and submit them abound. There are plenty of bloggers in your niche market that would be happy to post your article. They get great content from an expert, and you get linked to from their site which helps your search rankings as well as develop potential interest in your business from their developed readership.
Wednesday the 29th of March, 2006 | Articles | Business | Marketing |
Through the short life of Posima, I have tried many different techniques to build interest in the product. The underlying idea of marketing is to locate potential customers and convince them why your product or service is right for them. This two part problem can be front loaded or back loaded, depending on your type of business. Let me explain…
The Posima web service is aimed at a national audience of sole-proprietors, small businesses and nonprofit organizations who need a website but whose web-savvy or budget prevent them from obtaining one. For me, the problem is front-loaded. Trying to locate individuals who aren’t familiar with technology and don’t know how to scour the web for what they’re looking for has proven a difficult feat. They are looking for me as I look for them, but how do we find each other?
The back-loaded marketing problem is when you can locate your audience but can’t convert them into sales. One of my clients, Brian from Kingfish Aquariums, maintains large aquariums for homes, offices, department stores and more. It’s a lucrative business and he makes a nice living, especially for someone who has just started. Prior to switching to Posima he had a poor excuse for a website that had nothing more than pictures and contact information which didn’t generate much business. Posima helped him get his site setup professionally, display his portfolio of aquariums as well as provide a contact form for potential clients to contact him with. Now he gets roughly 7-10 new inquiries a week.
Why the sudden jump in potential clients? Brian had existing local marketing efforts in place, but his old website was so poorly done people didn’t take him seriously. His new site is a virtual brochure where people can learn about Brian’s expertise, services offered and see the types of aquariums he maintains. When the user feels comfortable enough, they can contact him with a simple, painless contact form.
Both the front and back-loaded problems are solvable, however the front-loaded problem is easier to identify. I’m aware that it’s difficult for me to find new clients whereas Brian had no idea there was a problem until the launch of his new site. Marketing and refining your marketing efforts should be an ongoing process. Just because you have a front-loaded problem doesn’t mean you should ignore the back-end. There may not be a problem, but that’s no excuse to be lazy.
You should always be on the lookout for your target demographic. In addition to your current marketing, you should be constantly testing new possible outlets. At the same time, you need to always show your customers what you have to offer by displaying as much content as you can on your website. Your website needs to be a living, ever growing organism. Always display new projects, thoughts, news, and anything else that will help your potential clients learn more about you and your business. This will not only help them feel more comfortable dealing with you, but will also allow them to label you as an “expert†in your field.
Friday the 10th of March, 2006 | Articles | Business | News | Web Apps |
Welcome to 2006, the year Web 2.0 grew up to be just like his bigger, dumber brother. What the hell am I talking about? Google has just purchased yet another web app that still resides in beta. While it may not be exactly the same as a VC pumping gobs of cash into a young company, it is creating an atmosphere for build to flip companies. Because of Google’s apparent need to spend, spend, spend, we will now begin seeing more VC money being pumped into half-baked ideas. Companies, Applications and Services will be built to cater to those with the bling before they get a chance to learn to survive on their own.
These types of acquisitions are hurting our tech economy. Instead of masses of early adopters being able to use apps like Measure Map and Writely, Google is going to have them in beta, under development and unreleased until their engineers can tinker under the hood for a while and launch them as a Google Apps. Why is this a bad thing? A new app needs to be out in the open to allow users to play with it and manipulate it for their uses. The app needs time to grow and have features tweaked post launch to streamline usage. A big fat blob of a company like Google will not allow that to happen. Only the group of passionate developers that gave the app life can do these things properly.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a proponent of larger companies purchasing successful smaller ones that can benefit their core business. Delicious, Blogger, Skype, Myspace, Keyhole, Urchin and Flickr were all proven apps with a strong user base. Measure Map and Writely never saw the light of day. Google is going to send these two apps into the world and have a billion users sign up the day they release with atrophied muscles. I’m disgusted…
Wednesday the 8th of March, 2006 | Articles | Business | Marketing |
Look at the “classic” Swiss Army Knife. It has a blade, scissors, nail file with screwdriver tip (very functional), toothpick and a pair of tweezers. This is not a great many tools, but in most situations these 5 tools can be great help. Let’s compare this with the “Swisschamp.” We now have 22 tools, some of which include a fish scaler and a corkscrew. So when you catch that fish in the wilderness you’ll be able to open a proper bottle of white to accompany it.
What does this have to do with business? Let’s look at a business we can analyze like the Swiss Army Knife, Walmart. Walmart has a great business model going, selling everyday products to everyday people for less. Even better than their business model is their placement of stores. Located smack dab in the middle of rural America, driving every competitor clear out of their way. I know the Mom and Pop stores suffered, but I also remember once paying $8 more than average to a Mom and Pop for a bottle of vodka. Sure he was a small business man, but the only time this man got up from reading the paper was to ring up my uber expensive bottle of booze, then tell me he didn’t take checks or credit cards.
Walmart isn’t perfect however, they veered away from their “classic” status and tried to become the “WalmartChamp” when they entered the online video rental business. Netflix created this market in the late 90’s and have grown to be such a threat that Blockbuster and Walmart both wanted a piece of the action. I can understand Blockbuster, video rentals are their business, but Walmart? Remember Walmart’s business model, everyday products for everyday people. Since when do everyday people rent videos online? I’m sure some do, but it is not mainstream nor will it be for several more years. In the end, Walmart wised up and hired Netflix to handle that aspect of their business.
How does this relate to us, the small business folk? Look at Walmart’s stumble as a lesson learned. Do what you do best and don’t stray too far from what you know. With the capabilities of the web going further and further, you’ll always be able to find areas for growth within your industry and market niche.
Wednesday the 1st of March, 2006 | Articles | Business | SMB Guide |
When starting a business, one of the first things on the To-Do list is finding out what to sell. The best way to be successful in your efforts is to find a niche then specialize in that niche. Some niche markets are still too broad, which will allow you the possibility of finding a great sub-niche.
REI is a large retailer that specializes in Outdoor Goods. They provide their customers a wide array of options in camping, snow-sports, rock-climbing, biking and much more. REI is very successful in their niche market and provide a wonderful experience to their patrons. As you may be able to see, even though they specialize in a niche market - Outdoor Gear, that niche can be broken down even more. If you are starting a business, it is best to find a niche within a niche.
Paul Sullivan owns RackOutfitters.com and is a perfect example of a sub-niche. Rack Outfitters sells car racks for your outdoor equipment. He also only offers two brands. According to Paul, there is so much to learn about items in his sub-niche that an REI employee can’t give you the level of expertise that he can. This is because the REI employee has to know general information about all the items they sell in every department.
Paul sells his products by “click and mortar,” meaning he sells to foot-trafficers through his Austin-based headquarters as well as online. It’s important to do enough research on your niche to know whether you’ll have enough foot traffic to compliment your online sales should you choose to do both. Austin is home to an intense community of outdoorsman. There are plenty of bikers, hikers and kayakers to sustain his local business should he not be successful online. Not to mention Austin is only a 16 hour trip to any slope in Colorado, another example of why car rack sales are successful in Austin. Opening the same type of shop in a less outdoor friendly community would not provide the amount of brick and mortar sales that allowed Paul to grow his online business.
A few rules to ponder before you get started
Choose either a niche or sub-niche market that doesn’t have any direct competition. RackOutfitters has REI, Walmart and others, but that competition is too broad to be a real threat.
Be positive that your choice in niche has plenty of potential customers in the surrounding area. As I mentioned before, Paul would probably not have been as successful in a community that was less active.
Offer a limited number of brands to avoid confusing your customers and have confidence in those brands. It may be easier to sell a cheaper product up front, but expect to receive a lot of complaints if the quality doesn’t measure up.
Follow these simple rules and your click and mortar store has a great chance of being a success.
Thursday the 16th of February, 2006 | Articles | Ideas | Marketing |
How Apple Takes Advantage
We all know that Apple is the poster child for brilliant marketing as well as being the most powerful hype machine known to man. Recently however, Apple has stepped on a few toes while promoting their products.
First Apple launched a new, long awaited iPod ad featuring Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.” Turns out the ad is ghostly familiar to an older Lugz shoes ad.
Months later they released their new Intel iMac ad. Again, this commercial is almost a shot for shot reproduction of The Postal Service’s 2003 video “Such Great Heights.”
Both Lugz and The Postal Service made public statements that they were disappointed in Apple or were in the process of filing legal action. However, the Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights” video made an unprecedented jump to #1 on iTunes two years after being filmed. The financial numbers for Lugz is unknown, but I have a feeling their free press didn’t hurt. Either way, Apple, Lugz and The Postal Service all got plenty of news commentary thanks to Apple’s little stunt.
Nike’s Threat
I can’t give Apple all of the credit for what I believe are intentional publicity stunts. Early last summer, Nike began sponsoring a skateboarding tour and released a promotional poster to generate buzz. The problem is that the poster is almost indistinguishable from Minor Threat’s (an early 80’s indie rock band) 1984 self-titled album.
As would be expected, Minor Threat made a lot of noise and Nike issued a formal apology. Personally I’ve never heard of Minor Threat, however the first thing I did was preview some of their songs on iTunes after the news was released. I can’t say I was a fan of the music, but one would have to be pretty thick to believe the story didn’t generate a bump in sales for Minor Threat.
Who’s Next?
I have a sneaking suspicion we will begin to see more stories similar to the ones discussed above. Once a successful new marketing idea is figured out, everybody jumps on the bandwagon. Just look at Alex Tew’s Million Dollar Homepage, that site has spawned countless copycats. My theory is that the age old bell curve will come into play. Nike and Apple were the “innovators” of this marketing ploy, next will come the early adopters then the masses. Don’t believe me? Take a look at 37signals’ brand new Campfire logo and compare it to the Feedburner logo.
The quote provided by Feedburner President Dick Costolo on campfirenow.com makes this little nugget even more interesting to me.
Wednesday the 25th of January, 2006 | Articles | SMB Guide |
Many trepps fail in their efforts, most within the first few months. There is no secret to being successful. However, we all know from History class that we can learn from others mistakes. Michael Ames, the author of Small Business Management and Gustav Berle, author of The Do it Yourself Business Book list the following as the top ten reasons small businesses fail.
1 - Lack of experience
2 - Insufficient capital (money)
3 - Poor location
4 - Poor inventory management
5 - Over-investment in fixed assets
6 - Poor credit arrangements
7 - Personal use of business funds
8 - Unexpected growth
9 - Competition
10 - Low sales
Look at the above list and try to come up with solutions to all of them. If you solve the problems before they occur, you’ll be ready for battle if one or more of them tries to break you later.
Monday the 23rd of January, 2006 | Articles | Business | Tech |
Many individuals as well as small businesses are led to believe that they have proper tech support provided by their computer manufacturer. From personal experience I can tell you that is not the case. No matter who you buy your computer from, it’s almost impossible for a large company to take care of their individual and/or small business customers. Dell for example, uses a third party that will come to your house or office. I’ve heard many complaints that these Dell techs zip in and zip. Many times having to come back to the same house multiple times. The problem is, the third party gets paid per computer they fix and the tech guy running around the city has a quota he must meet every day. This doesn’t allow for proper diagnosis of problems, merely quick fixes.
Your best bet for a solution is a local tech. Forget about the extended warranty from your computer manufacturer and spend a little time finding the right local that will provide you with the service you need. It’s not always the cheapest route, but it is often the better one. Would you prefer to pay $150 and have your computer up and running the same day or go with the $150 4-year warranty and spend most of your time on the phone trying to coerce the tech guys to come help you?
To find a support provider, you can ask clients, peers, fellow small business owners or you can visit your local chamber of commerce for a list of companies. Try to find someone who has a local shop and will give you the personal service you need, unlike a national franchise such as Geek Squad. Once you find a provider, they may run a hardware and software audit on your system to better understand what your future issues may be.
If you own a Mac, I can tell you from personal experience that your local Apple Store is a great bet. I’ve also had success with a service called Doctor Mac Direct. Doctor Mac will have someone actually tap into your computer remotely to fix the problem while they discuss with you what they are doing. It is all live and you can see the tech moving your mouse around the screen. It’s pretty neat.
Wednesday the 18th of January, 2006 | Articles | SMB Guide |
Becoming an Entrepreneur (trepp) is a fantastic experience, but it’s not for everyone. There are a lot of things that must be considered before taking the plunge. The first secret to being successful is making sure you are ready for what lies ahead.
First things first, you must be a good manager. Not a manager in the traditional sense, you’re not managing a group of people in a department of a company. You are now managing all aspects of the company. You must be able to budget your time properly and follow through with tasks. Rationalizing not completing a task or waking up on time in the morning is a sure fire way to fail.
You’ll now be dealing with a lot of differing personalities between your vendors, employees, customers and so on. Some will be very serious needing things done a certain way at a certain time. Others will be laid back and possibly disorganized. Make sure you can deal with the varying degrees of people you’re bound to come into contact with on any given day.
Even though you’ll have more free time to yourself during the day, you’ll have more stress and less vacations. Making too many wrong decisions is not an option. Be ready for 12-16 hour work days. When things go wrong, people will be contacting you for a solution.
Family is another issue you’ll need to be thinking about. How will your new schedule affect them? Make sure you have enough money to last long enough so your family doesn’t have to frequent the soup kitchens in a few months.
This isn’t meant to scare you off. It is merely something you should think about before publicly condemning your boss to hell as you walk out the door. Think long and hard whether you can handle the above issues. If you think you’re ready then more power to you!
Saturday the 17th of December, 2005 | Articles | Business | Personal |
Why are people so comfortable with saying that something is impossible? I had a disagreement with a friend last night because I told him about some enzyme I’d heard about that scientists are injecting into mice to help them live 30% longer. He said it would never happen. A few weeks earlier I was discussing the possibility with a medical school student about rigging a video camera to a blind person’s brain to help them see. Again… impossible.
I don’t like this word, impossible. Personally I think it should be banished from the English language and removed from Webster’s dictionary. Seriously, is anything truly impossible? Does the existence of this word help our society in our ongoing struggle to push forward? Look at the Egyptian Pyramids, the Great Wall of China and the Roman Aqueducts. I’m sure when the blueprints for those engineering marvels were first introduced there was a fair amount of skepticism, but they’re there.
read more...
Monday the 12th of December, 2005 | Articles | Business | Personal | Posima | Tools | Web Apps |
After 13 months and 2 days of torture we are finally launching this application. “But Chad, I thought you were joking this whole time about actually having a website in production. You mean it wasn’t a cover and you’re still living with your parents at 24 for a reason?” I can understand your skepticism, I have been planning on launching next week for what seems like forever. I have to say that even though the past year has had its ups and downs, this process has taught me more than what I learned in all my years of schooling. Call it a Masters from the University of Hard Knocks. Anywho, I’d like to thank all my friends and family that helped me from point A to point B. I’d like to name names, but there are too many and you all know who you are.
Without further ado… Welcome to Posima. We are an all in one website management system. We provide the design, content management tools and if needed a free domain name while using the service. From what I understand, this is the first service of its kind. No one else has ever provided everything a user needs to go from nothing to a fully functional website in mere hours without having to know any code. Sure there are blogging tools out there, but people/businesses who want a website want it to look like a website...not a blog.
Bits and pieces of the posima.com site are still not quite finished. The application is done and fully functional, but the features and support sections of the site are still works in progress. The gallery page will come into its own once we obtain clients, so check back from time to time to see what people are creating. I’ve setup a demo account for everyone to play with and see how the site works. Comment and let me know what you think. Here are the login details:
username: demo
password: demouser
More goodness to come soon,
Chad
Sunday the 4th of December, 2005 | Articles |
Figuring out what type of content you should provide on your website is a difficult task. When a visitor finds your site, you want to properly educate them on your business so they know whether or not they will find your business useful. If they do, the next step is making them a happy customer. How do we do this?
USA Today ran a fantastic article that will provide some insight into tackling these problems called:
Saturday the 3rd of December, 2005 | Articles |
I had a friend a while back call into Dell for a new machine. He told the salesman who answered that he was looking for a new machine and asked what was on special. The salesman on the phone answered, “Actually due to low profit margins in PC’s we have left the computer business in favor of making fortune cookies. Would you still be interested in hearing our current specials?” My friend laughed and immediately ordered 10,000 fortune cookies, he also bought a Dell on that call. He was so pleased with his experience that he passed around the salesman’s extension to anyone who mentioned they needed a system. That guy got two more sales by word of mouth. We found out later the salesman was fired for being unprofessional on the phone.
How do you define professionalism? Would you enjoy interacting with someone reading from a script or would you prefer to TALK to someone like the Dell guy? James Archer has a great article called Imperfection and the Human Brand which delves into this topic further.