MikeyCampling

Archive for the ‘marketing’ Category

Ok – no need to get too excited – I’m talking about a professional relationship.

I don’t just want to build you a website and I won’t just throw a template together for you.
I won’t make a copy of somebody else’s work and I won’t work on spec.
I want to provide a professional service that will make you smile and make me proud.

Please watch the video below.  If you find yourself laughing, get in touch and we’ll do business.

The NetSetter blog is a fantastic source of advice and inspiration for anyone wishing to make money online.

It’s part of the envato group of websites, along with Freelance Switch – which I also enjoy following.

As an example, you may like to read this article on how to monetize* blog posts – short, clear and to the point advice.  You may not plan on taking up blogging in a big way, but even so, there’s advice here that could help you formulate a strategy for productive blogging as part of a marketing effort.

There are many blogs out there with long, rambling general pieces that make me lose the will to live – this piece from NetSetter is not one of those.

I’m desperately fighting the urge to say, ‘Check it out’ at this point, so I’ll stop there.

*Yes, I’m sorry for anyone on the UK who prefers to spell it ‘monetise’ but that’s what the article’s called.  Personally I’d prefer to say, ‘how to profit from blogging’ but there we are.

Proud to be a NetSetter

If you’re a web pro, then what I’m about to say will be obvious.  But if you’re just dipping your toe into the wonderful world of the web, read on.

Stage 1 – They’ve got one, I want one.

Stop. Take a cold shower.

Better now? OK.  Listen.  Web projects are complicated.  Yes, I know your nephew made a website for his rockband and he’s only twelve but then, just because I can make a pretty good macaroni cheese, I don’t claim to be a chef.  If you want your site to be effective, it’s got to be done correctly and that will take time.  And it will cost money.

I may be shooting myself in the foot here, but please stop and ask yourself if you really do need a website.  Will it be a worthwhile investment?  Will it actually increase your sales or make your life easier in some way?

If you aren’t ready yet, then please wait.  So many small businesses have awful websites and, as a consumer, I find that bad websites put me off.  By all means, register a domain name.  Many registrars will allow you a free parking page and an email address and both could be useful.

Stage 2 – I’m ready to go online.

Great.  So your business is going according to plan.  You have some cash to spend and some time to spare. Your site can be up and running by next Tuesday – right?

Wrong.

It’s time to think and plan. But not about websites – about people.

Who will be the stakeholders in this project?  Who will take responsibility for it?  How will your users interact with your site?

Get all your stakeholders together and get them talking.  Try to value everyone’s contributions.  Do your best to get everyone involved.

Try to pin down some measurable objectives for your site, e.g. we will increase sales by 10% over 12 months.

Stage 3 – Talk to the Pros

Research your local webdesigners.  Try to meet with a few of them. Do they seem willing to understand you and your objectives?

You’re going to have to build a relationship with your designer so consider if you could work with them long-term.

Avoid anyone who promises you the moon (i.e. a number one ranking on google) for a suspiciously low cost.

If money is tight, consider using a one man band; they’ll have lower overheads.  Also, be prepared to balance cost and time.  A large agency can charge more but will employ several people to get the job done quickly.  If you can wait, you could save a lot of money.

Stage 4 – Go for it.

It’s time to commit.  Agree a timescale and a budget with your designer.

At this stage, don’t forget those stakeholders.  Keep them informed and share progress with them.  Ask for their opinions but don’t let them derail your project – remember those objectives.

A couple of pleas here.

Don’t expect your designer to work without a contract (if they are – be suspicious).

Please don’t expect a designer to prepare any preliminary work for no pay.

Stage 5 – Test and sign off.

Don’t sign off your project until you’ve tested it with stakeholders and users.  A good designer will encourage you to do this – but don’t expect them to hang around forever.  A couple of weeks of intensive updates and modifications should cover it, but discuss this with your designer.

Stage 6 – Review

Some web guru said that websites are never finished, only abandoned.  Monitor your website, check your analytics (or pay a pro to do this for you) and be prepared to pay for any modifications that you request after you’ve signed the project off.  Look out for new opportunities as the online world changes and expands, e.g. social media integration, advertising, e-commerce, email newsletters.  If your site has been well-built, it should provide a solid foundation for your online future.

That’s it.

Very brief I know, but perhaps you can suggest some additions?

Google have produced a whole bunch of videos to get you started with adwords.  They’re generally quite useful and a lot more interesting than ploughing through the reams of online documentation that they also provide.  This video is a little twee, but if you’re not sure what adwords are all about, it may enlighten you.  Of course, you could always just hire me to set up and monitor your adwords campaign, and then you could relax and let me take the strain.

So which is better…

to tweet your blogs or blog your tweets?

And should you tweet and update your facebook status simultaneously with tweetdeck?

And what about your Linked In profile?  You can add your blog posts and your tweets to that – but what if they’re the same (see first point above)?

And what – horror of horrors – if you really don’t have that many interesting things to say?

Much is made of the marketing and communication possibilities of social networking, but you have to keep one foot in the real world.  Social networking can be a dreadful time-waster and it can be very hard to judge whether it has any real effect.  If my experience of using the internet has taught me anything, it’s that most people will click on just about anything – and then hit the back button.  Clicks and subscription numbers are no guarantee of success.

Sure, there have been carefully orchestrated campaigns that have successfully capitalised on these media – but we never hear about the countless number of efforts that have not amounted to anything.  I follow 6 tweeters.  When that number was only 2, I read everything.  Now, sadly, I hardly read any of them.

So by all means enjoy your social networking – I do.  But don’t let it take over your life.

And if you’ve got any thoughts about these ideas, then why not comment, subscribe to the RSS, follow the tweets, fan the facebook, digg it, stumbleupon it, link to it or, if you feel like it, just emit a hollow laugh.

Thanks for taking the time.