How to Blog for Business

To start out, I’m not going to waste your time explaining what a blog is. You’re reading one right now. Look at it, examine it, feel it, taste it. But if you still don’t know then you can read a very thorough, long and boring explanation here on Wikipedia and then come back here to read the rest.

This is all about getting people (potential clients) to actually read it. It’s one thing to post your ramblings online, but it’s an entirely different thing to get people to be able find your musings with all the crap that’s on the Internet and to have them actually care about what you are writing. So let’s jump right into this.

Be prepared to do it on a regular basis.

I would suggest giving this a shot for at least six months on a weekly basis. Now, this is not really how blogs are designed to work. Their purpose is  to actually be updated regularly throughout the day but if you’re employed then that can be a little tricky. Now it would be preferable to be able to update your blog daily or even bi-weekly but hell, I don’t even do that, so just start with weekly posts and then move on from there.

Be consistent.

Select a day of the week as well as a time of day to post and keep that schedule throughout. This is actually very important. Consistency will keep people coming back and hopefully create anticipation among current readers.

Write about something people will actually care about.

Now this is geared to business blogging. There are some personal blogs out there where people write about whatever the hell pops into their heads and some people actually read their crap but you are doing this for business. Since you are doing this for business purposes then show your expertise by giving advice or offering your opinions on industry trends. Just make sure you have enough content for at least 26 postings if you’re planning on doing this weekly for 6 months. (My math is right isn’t it?)

Don’t post advertisements for your business.

Give people actual information they can use. People won’t ever come back if all you do is post 5 paragraph ads for your business. Try to make it informative and a little bit entertaining.

Do post a link to your web site, Facebook page, Twitter page, Linked In page or something.

At the end of each post it is common practice to post your digital signature. Such as the one I have at the bottom of this post. Your name, title, company and a link or two are usually alright. This way, if someone is interested they can read more about you, start following you, friend you or whatever.

Make sure you completely fill out your profile.

If you sign up for one of the free blogs like WordPress or Blogger make sure you don’t just blow through the sign up process skipping every step. Completely fill out your profile. Get as much information about you and your business out there as you can. Being that you won’t be using your blog postings to sell, your profile can be used to fill people in on your business and what you have to offer.

Ping it.

Once you make your postings you need to let the blog services on the Internet know that your blog has been updated. This is called “pinging”. Now some of the blog hosting web sites do this automatically and some require that you type in some urls to do this. There are also web sites like Ping-O-Matic that do this for you. This can be a little technical for some but is an important part of letting everyone know that your blog has been updated.

Digg it.

Digg.com has a blog submit form where you can submit new blog postings to their site. You have to be a member to do this, but don’t worry it’s free. Now your blog posting will zip through their index at the speed of light but it is worth the 20 seconds it takes doing this. Now Digg.com also has a variety of features you can use to increase the exposure but that is another topic for another day. (If anyone reading this has written an article on using Digg.com feel free to comment and I’ll amend this post with your link right here in the article.)

Bookmark it.

Technorati , Delicious and a slew of other bookmarking sites are out there for you to promote your blog postings. These are similar to the previously mentioned Digg. They are basically ways for people to share links with each other. Now these bookmarking sites are like social networking sites so just signing up and posting stuff to no one won’t do you any good. You’ll need to be active in their different communities and such to build your contacts that share links with you. But again, that’s another topic for another day.

Add your blog to your other social networking sites.

If you’re signed up other social networking sites like Facebook or Linked In I have good news for you. They have widgets built in that allow you to have your blog postings appear in your profile. Other social networking sites have similar features, you will probably have to look into their various “Other Features”, “Plug Ins” or “Widgets” sections to find them but if you have the ability to do so then do it.

Add a social networking widget to your blog.

A social networkling widget is a little plug in that allows people to share your blog with others. An example of one is Add This. Now this will go on your actual blog web site. Depending on which blog you are using and if you using the blog’s server or hosting it yourself adding this can be as easy as a click of a button or you may need to have your web or IT guy help you. It’s something you want to do either way.

Twitter it (but be careful).

Using Twitter or any other micro blog to promote a new blog entry is a good way of promoting your stuff but be careful. Excessive self serving postings on micro blogs like Twitter can also make you look like a tool or come awful close to spamming. Make sure your micro blog postings don’t all read “New blog posting…” over and over again. Throw in some other stuff too… but alas, I’ve gone over using Twitter to spam already in a previous post.

Announce your new blog postings in your newsletter.

If you have an online newsletter announce your blog postings in it. Post the first few sentences or a brief summary with a link to your blog.

Announce your new postings in any online groups you are part of.

Now this one you also need to be careful with. This is also where posting general information that people actually would care about helps you. Many online groups will allow you to post links to articles and such that the group may find interesting. This is a great place to promote your blog postings but be careful as to not piss everyone off by becoming spammy. Many users look at online groups as places to spam the hell out of people and posting your blog updates may be looked upon as spam. If you are unsure, make sure to check with your administrators before blasting out links to your blog. And if you ARE allowed to do so then only announce your updates once. Don’t resubmit every hour on the hour. That is spamming. If it doesn’t catch on like wild fire with one announcement then tough, try again on your next update.

Post comments in other people’s blogs.

Read other blogs that cover similar topics. If your blog posting relates to something you read in someone elses blog posting then comment on it and include a link to your blog. They may, or may not, include your comment but if they do it’s more promotion for your blog.

Add a link to your blog on all your web sites.

If you have a web site for your business you need to add a link to your blog and have your blog link back to your web site. You also need to add a link to your blog in all your profiles on any any social networking sites you are signed up for.

Now, how does all this generate actual business?

Click here to read about some of the ways a business blog can turn into actual money in your pocket.

Jayme Ward is the owner of Digi Donkey, an Internet Consulting Firm located in Historic Cocoa Village, Florida.

Why Your Web Site Isn’t Working

Oh, why does your web site suck so?

Two of the top questions I am often asked is , “Why isn’t my web site working?” and “What’s wrong with my web site?”. Luckily, for all of you reading this,  the answer to these questions usually revolve around the same set of issues so I can go ahead and answer them for you now without even looking at your stuff or billing you for the time. Think of this as a free Viagra for the Web sample from Digi Donkey. Just a little something to get your junk working again.

Before I begin we need to lay some parameters and define what “not working” actually refers to. For most people it means, “I dropped some serious cabbage on this piece of sh!t and it hasn’t produced any results. Either the phone isn’t ringing, people aren’t buying your stuff or no one is filling out your 20 item questionnaire.

You’ll notice that I left out, “People aren’t even visiting in the first place.”  The reason why is that most people who come to me don’t even have a clue as to how many visitors their web site is getting in the first place. There are business owners that will drop thousands of dollars on a web site yet don’t track the results. This isn’t TV, radio or print where you have to guess. Web site traffic can be tracked a variety of different ways and a good start would be to have your web person sign you up for a free Google Analytics account and begin tracking your traffic. You really can’t take an educated stab at fixing something if you don’t have a clue what is wrong and studying your traffic is a good start. Are you getting visitors? If so, are you losing them within 10 seconds of landing on your page? Are they clicking around but not calling? Are they clicking around but not buying?

To keep it simple, as well as give me another topic for another day, we’ll assume you’re getting traffic but not converting it into business. Here are some of most common issues with business web sites that prevent them from turning visitors into customers.

Your web site just plain sucks.

The design just doesn’t work for what you are trying to represent. This usually due to fact that you had your brother, his friend, an engineer, yourself, a douche-bag or whatever design your site for you. With all of the competition nowadays you have to have a professional looking  presence online if you want to be taken seriously.

Your contact form is way too f*cking  long.

This happens to a lot of people. They want to know ever damn thing about the person, usually to pre-qualify them. Now why in hell would someone want to spend 20 minutes filling out your form? You need to simplify. A good rule of thumb is ask for their name, email and phone number. Don’t ask for their entire life history. Keep it simple and the chances of them filling it out will increase. Remember, they don’t know you and they have no idea what you’re actually going to do with the personal information they put in. Again, keep it simple and some thing else you can do to increase form submissions is to…

Give them something for filling out your form.

Give them a reason to fill out your form other than the knowledge that they will have you calling them to follow up. Give them 10% off if they purchase or enter everyone who fills out the form into a drawing for a gift card to a restaurant chain. Just give them something. You’ll be surprised how many people will fill out an online form if they get something out of it besides your wonderful services.

Have a call to action on every page.

Your web site needs to have a purpose and if you’re not selling products right on the site then your purpose is most likely to generate leads. To do that you need a way to find out who is interested in your stuff and they need a way to let you know. You do that with a call to action. “Call now”, “Sign Up Now” or “Enter Now” are some good ones. Tell the visitors what you want them to do and make sure the phone number, email address or contact form is easily seen on every page. If you are trying to generate business from other states get yourself a toll free number so they don’t have to pay the toll charges. Make it easy for them and the chances of them contacting you will increase.

Start a free newsletter.

Some visitors may not be ready to use your services when they visit your site the first time. They may be pre-planning, price shopping or something else. A good way to stay in touch is by having them sign up for a free newsletter. Make it simple by only asking for name and email. Hell, you actually only need the email address. Then give them something for signing up like coupons available only to subscribers or entry into a monthly drawing like I mentioned earlier. Then you can keep marketing to them on a regular basis through the newsletter.

Get rid of all the damn Flash animation.

Flash looks cool and it can give your site a visual edge if done right. It hurts though if the damn thing takes too long to load. If someone has to wait for your site to load, the chances of them bailing out increases dramatically.

Suck it up and hire a real photographer to take pictures of your products (especially food).

Now when I say hire a real photographer I mean someone you actually have to pay that makes a living taking photos. Not your sister-in-law with the expensive camera. If you are selling stuff online through your own web site a good clear photo could be the difference between them buying or bolting. This is especially true when dealing with food. For the most part, food looks like sh!t when not photographed by a professional. You may actually turn people off when you take your own poorly lit, pasty, blurry ass pictures.

Don’t give away the cow man.

Some people give away too much information on their web site. They are so thorough that consumers have no reason to contact them. They can make their decision right then and there. This is fine on an E-Commerce site but if you are trying to generate leads, only give them enough info to peak their interest. That way they have to contact you to get the rest of the info and you can work your sales magic on them. That’s the point right – to have them contact you. So scale it back a little. You’d be surprised how many people increased the effectiveness of their web sites just by cutting the information down to a minimum.

Be honest with youself about your product or service.

This is the one most people have a hard time dealing with. Does your product or service just plain suck? Is there really a demand for it or did you get sucked into some sort of scam. Now, I’m not speaking to real businesses, I’m speaking about get rich online schemes. If you have already dropped a ton of scratch I sympathize with you but no amount of web design, Flash, video, SEO or masterful online marketing is going to help if the public looks at your stuff as crap or as a scam. You need to get an objective opinion before sinking a ton of money into marketing something that possibly no one wants.

Now I didn’t cover everything that could be wrong but, like I stated before, these are the most common issues I have run into. Talk to your web designer about correcting these issues and if they won’t help hire someone who will.

Jayme Ward is the owner of Digi Donkey an Internet Consulting Firm located in Historic Cocoa Village, Florida.

First Annual Mr. Awesome Awards for Networking Tools

Normally I would use this valuable cyber-space for giving no-holds-barred advice to business owners regarding marketing, but this week you are all in for something special. This week I’ll be giving out the 1st Annual Mr. Awesome Awards for Networking Tools.

Now for those of you who don’t already get the joke let me explain.

VH1, purveyor of such fine programming like “People Who Used to be Celebrities But Are Now on Drugs”, “Skanks Who’ll Do Anything to Get on TV Like Sleep With Bret Michaels” and “Why the F@ck Would Any Woman In Her Right Mind Want to Date Flava Flav” has now come out with a new show that sets the bar so low that the heat from the Earth’s core has already begun melting it. Their new entry into the world of “The Honeymooners”,  “The Cosby Show”, “All in the Family” and “MASH” is called “Tool Academy”. In this show, disgruntled women tricked their @-hole boyfriends into believing they were going onto a show where they would be competing for the title of “Mr. Awesome”.  (I’m not making this up, this is a real show that’s on like every other day). So these dip sh!ts get on the show only to learn that their disgruntled girlfriends are really just trying to change them for the better because they are such tools.

That’s where this week’s blog comes in. I asked myself, where in the business world do you meet the most tools?  Well… networking of course. Whether during real life business networking or social networking online we’ve all met them. So, maybe, just  like on the TV show, we can help some of these clueless people by giving them out their own “Mr. Awesome” awards.

Here we go.

The “Mr. Awesome” award for Twitter mastery goes to…

The guy who only posts links to his website or blog over and over and over again.

The “Mr. Awesome” award for best usage of time goes to…

The guy who posts the exact same message to every social networking outlet he’s signed up for 50 times in a row within 5 minutes.

The “Mr. Awesome” award for best first impression goes to…

The guy who shoves his business card into your face before you even get a chance to ask him his name.

The “Mr. Awesome” award for best conversationalist goes to…

The guy who can’t carry on a 3 minute conversation with you without mention how his business or products or services can help you over and over again.

The “Mr. Awesome” award for sensitivity to women goes to…

The guy who relentlessly hits on every woman at a business networking event.

The “Mr. Awesome” award for business development goes to…

The guy who invites you out for drinks and then offers you a “terrific business opportunity”.

The “Mr. Awesome” award for blog promotion goes to…

The guy who decides that mentioning he updated his blog just once isn’t enough, so he does it every hour on the hour for an entire day.

The “Ms. Awesome” award for image consulting  goes to…

The woman who rolls into a business networking event with her boobs hanging out and then proceeds to bitch about how everyone is just looking at her boobs.

The “Mr. Awesome” award for group posting mastery goes to…

The guy who is always posting questions yet never actually responds to anyone who comments on his posts.

The “Mr. Awesome” award for group posting mastery II goes to…

The guy who always responds that his business has the answer to whatever question has been posted.

The “Mr. Awesome” award for helping out goes to…

The guy who keeps giving you leads without ever really confirming that the people actually want, or even need, your service.

The “Mr. Awesome” award for LinkedIn mastery goes to…

The guy who has decided that LinkedIn groups are the perfect place to spam the sh!t out of people.

The “Mr. Awesome” award for best social butterfly goes to…

The guy who keeps everyone in his  MeetUp group up to date on all his specials and promotions yet never actually attends any events in person.

The “Mr. Awesome” award for practicing what you preach goes to…

The networking group that ignores visitors to that group when they show up for the first time.

The “Mr. Awesome” award for best sales tactics goes to…

The guy who doesn’t realize that the time to sell is not within the first five minutes of meeting somebody.

The “Mr. Awesome” award for Jeffery Lebowski / Big Lebowski mistaken identity goes to…

The guy who thinks that anyone actually cares to hear about his network marketing opportunity at a networking event.

The “Mr.  / Ms. Awesome” award for way to much information goes to…

The man or woman who gets hammered at a business networking function and then proceeds to bitch about their spouse all night.

The “Mr.  / Ms. Awesome” award for false advertising  goes to…

The guy or girl who uses a 20 year old photo for their online profile picture.

The “Mr. Awesome” award for keen insight goes to…

The guy that keeps sending me emails promising to add extra size to my junk.

Feel free to respond with any other “Mr. Awesome” awards you feel I may have left out. Keep them geared toward real life or online networking.

Jayme Ward is the owner of Digi Donkey an Internet Strategy company located in Historic Cocoa Village, Florida.

The Cheap Ass Guide to Determining Your Target Market

Who does #2 work for? Who does #2 wooorrkkk fooorrrrrrrrr?

The real question is, who do you work for? The sad truth is that many small owners don’t have the slightest clue who their target market really is. Oh, they think they know but when asked to put more than 2 seconds of educated thought into it many are off course.

You can see many examples of small business owners not having a clue of who they are targeting by attending any business networking function where people are allowed to give the dreaded 30 – 60 second “elevator” speech. “I’m looking for anyone who’s looking to buy  a house”, “I’m looking for anyone with a spine”, “I’m looking for anyone with skin”, I’m looking for anyone wh0 needs a website”, “I’m looking for anyone who needs printing”. You might as well just stand up and blurt out, “I’m looking for anyone that will give me money to sit down, shut up and not waste the next 40 seconds of your life”.

Why does this even matter? I WILL do business with anyone that can pay me for my services?

My answer to the above statement is, “No sh!t Sherlock”.  Of course you’ll do business with anyone who’ll pay you because that’s why you got into business in the first place, to make money. The reason why you need to know your target market is so that you don’t piss away your money marketing to the wrong people.

The article is not going to teach you the finer points of market research and all that jazz. After all, it is a Cheap Ass Guide. But I am going to give you cheap ass, do-it-all-yourself, I’m a writer because I have Word, I’m a graphic artist because I have Photoshop, I’m a web designer because I have Dreamweaver business owners a small exercise you can do to determine who your top client is right now. This way you’ll be able to at least start targeting the right people with your homemade flyers, website and business cards.

An Excellent Case Study

A few years ago I consulted a young woman who owned a skin care business. When I asked her to generalize who her top client was she confidently said, “Women in their mid-twenties that want better looking skin”. I then asked her to do an exercise that required her to call up her top 10 – 20 clients and ask them a series of questions. Now determining who her top clients where was a mini challenge. Does she go by the people that drop the most cabbage, the ones that she personally likes the best or the ones that may not spend a whole lot but refer the most business? Now in her case we determined that it really boiled down into 2 categories; people that spent the most and people that didn’t spend much but sent a lot of referrals. She had good personal relations with everyone across the board.

When her results came back (she spoke with 16 or so people) she was shocked by the results. Her average client was not young women in their mid-twenties it was actually white women in their late 40’s and early 50’s. They where married with children and worked outside the home.  They said that the reason they used her services was that they usually felt unappreciated at home / work and they just needed a place to unwind and be girlie. All this time she thought her business was being driven by Bunny Lebowski when it was actually being driven by Maude. When we looked at the books, something like 65% of her business fell into this demographic.

Here is why this example is so good. Some of these women had received several fliers and brochures for over a year but never came in until meeting the woman in person at networking events.  Her personality and professionalism got them in, not any of her marketing efforts. Why didn’t they? Because, according to them, all the fliers and brochures had pictures of young girls in their mid 20’s and where designed to look very young and hip. The women got the impression that her business (even though very clinical in nature) was for young girls and they did not want to go someplace that made them feel old. They felt old at work, they felt old at home and they did not want to go to a place that reinforced them feeling old all over again. Especially when going  in for rejuvination treatments and such.

Now after two years in business and seeing these woman on a day to day basis why in the hell was she so off when I asked her who her general client was? It’s because she was projecting her desires onto her business. She saw herself as young and hip. She saw her clients as young and hip. It was not what was really happening but that is how she saw it.  When she realised who her clients really were, and changed her marketing materials accordingly( more mature women in the photos, more comforting and reassuring copy, more clean and conservative design and layout) her response rate to her her ads, emails and mailers doubled. Why, because now she knew who was most likely to use her service and she geared her marketing to them.

You’re not McDonald’s so stop trying to market your business like they do.

Small business owners that try to target everyone on their ads are idiots. McDonald’s actually does target everyone. They target young women, old women, kids, men, African Americans, Asians, whites, Hispanics, handicapped folks and every age group within the entire racial spectrum. You know why? Because they can afford it. They can afford to do market studies. They can afford to profile everyone who eats their crappy food and come up with a plan to target market to them. Guess what. You probably can’t afford to and if you can and are still reading this for free advice you’re one cheap ass douche bag. If you’re doing this on the cheap and have limited resources (money) then you really need to put your efforts into targeting one person. You will still have people outside of your marketing bulls eye come to your business but if you do focus on the people who are most likely to use your services your marketing efforts will have a much better chance of succeeding instead of just plain sucking.

The Questionnaire

Gather up your top 10 – 20 clients and get answers to the following questions. Now who your top clients are is your own judgment. Do you prefer people that drop the most money or ones that refer the most business? Do you like catering to high maintenance people or ones that are the most appreciative? This is your own question that needs to be answered before you begin this exercise.

• What sex are they?
• How old are they?
• What race are they?
• Are they married, single, dating, divorced?
• Do they have children?
• Do they own a business?
• Do they work?
• Do they enjoy their job?
• How much money do they make? ( You may need to guesstimate this one. If you can’t ask then look at their clothes, car, jewelry. It’s actually very important to have an idea of your client’s income situation.)
• Why did they initially come to you?
• Had they seen any of your marketing materials before coming to you?
• How long did they wait from the time they knew what you do before they came in the first time?
• Why do they continue using your service?
• Have they ever referred you business?
• How much have they spent with you during the previous year, six months?
• What do they like most about your company?
• What do they like least about your company?
• How easy is this client to collect from? Do they pay right away or do you have to hound them for money?
• When this client comes in do you look forward to seeing them again or are they a pain in the ass?

Now is this the most effective way to find out your target market? No, but it is effective for doing it on the cheap.

That’s pretty much it.

Now people actually go to college and get real degrees in marketing and advertising. There are businesses out there that do real market research and have much more scientific ways of gathering this information but doing the above excersise will at least get you started down the right path. If you own a business you need to know who your business is targeting. If you can’t afford to target everyone then target who is most likely to use your service. Just remember, your target market may not be who you think it is or even who you’d prefer it to be.

Jayme Ward is the owner of Digi Donkey, an Internet Consulting Firm located in Historic Cocoa Village, Florida.

Beware of “SEO Experts” unless you enjoy pissing money away.

This is a warning to all business owners that don’t know anything about the Internet other than that it is were you get your email and porn from.

Self-titled Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Experts are popping up all over the place like Snake Oil Salesmen in the days of Wyatt Earp. These guys will try to sell you on the fact that you NEED to be on the first page of Google and if you’re not, you’ve wasted all your money and could be out of business within the year since you will NEVER be found without their services.

These guys and gals will use their mystic skills of OPTIMIZATION to make your website look more attractive to Google and the other search engines in order for your website to show up on top of every other person’s website when someone searches for your products or services.

Even better yet, if you sign up for a long term monthly Optimization Service Schedule, they will keep your website on top for as long you keep cutting them a check.

Some will even, for a moderate (or extremely large) monthly fee,  let YOU do your OWN website optimization with their special high-tech, mystical website optimization software.

I ‘ve even heard that with some of these magical services, little elves will come out at night while you’re sleeping and fix your shoes.

Every Self Proclaimed SEO Expert Should Be Livid By This Point

Obviously, this article is not being written for people in the biz, it is straight advice for business owners that don’t know anything about this stuff. I’ll try not  to get too technical and I will definitely try to keep it moving since explaining SEO to someone who doesn’t have a clue is about as entertaining as having to sit through The Notebook with my wife and daughters.

To start out, there are legit companies out there that will help your search engine ranking increase. There are proven practices that actually work. But, there are also a ton of a-hole, scum bags out there that talk a good game and then will proceed to screw you out of every cent you have with minimal (if you are lucky) or zero results. The problem most of you small business owners will encounter is that you have no idea how to differentiate between the pros and jerk-offs. So later on I’m going to give you a list of things to look out for when researching SEO companies.

What in the Hell is SEO and Why Do I Care?

If you’ve made is this far and still have no friggin idea what in the hell I’m writing about here is an explanation from Winkipedia and since everything on Winkipedia is true well accept  this as the truth.

‘Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. Usually, the earlier a site is presented in the search results, or the higher it “ranks,” the more searchers will visit that site. SEO can also target different kinds of search, including image search, local search, and industry-specific vertical search engines.’

There you go, very technical, nerdy and thorough. Very thorough. (Just a side note, whenever I can drop a reference from The Big Lebowski into an article I will, see if you can find them in future stuff.)

Hey Man Don’t Drink the Kool Aid

Shhhhh – I have a secret – just don’t let anyone in the SEO business hear us.  Having your website appear on the first page of a Google search isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. There you go. I said it, even though I’ll probably lose my key to the executive bathroom now.

Don’t let fear based marketing convince you that you need to be on the first page of a search engine result. Would it be nice? Of course it would. Will it help with people being able to find you online. In theory it should, but there are plenty of other ways your website can be found online beyond just search engines. I know the owners of several online companies with tore-up, non-validating, piece of sh!t websites that do plenty of business. They get their traffic through pay-per-click, social networking, You Tube videos and other viral marketing techniques. They could care less about search engine placement because their particular metrics show that the money they would have to spend to “optimize” their crappy websites isn’t worth the cost to get an extra 10, 20 or whatever visitors they could possibly gain per month. Search engine placement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be and if you have a limited budget I suggest looking into other options as well as SEO and then weigh the benefits-to-cost for your particular business. Proper SEO should be part of an overall Internet strategy but not the sole thing you drop all your money into.

Things About SEO For The Small Business Owner, That If You Know Them,  You’re Chances Of Getting Screwed Dramatically Decrease List

• Take responsibility: just like real life, if you get screwed it’s usually your own damn fault. You can’t blame it on being drunk or, in this case, uninformed.
• Educate yourself: If you don’t know anything about computers or the Internet then talk to someone who does. How can you go through all the bids and make an informed decision if you don’t have any idea what you’re reading.
• Don’t let the guy trying to sell you his service be your only source of information: If you don’t know anything about this stuff and you let the guy trying to sell you his SEO services educate you on SEO then you’re an idiot. Get a second, third, fourth or fifth opinion.
• Search for SEO info on the Internet: It’s free info and will maybe shine some light on the topic for you.
• Ask the person trying to sell you the SEO service to explain exactly what it is they will be doing: If they can’t answer the question in plain English (or whatever language you speak) without getting overly technical and nerdy (so you can understand it) then run for the hills.  Many of the guys  out there that aren’t legit don’t even understand the service they are trying to sell.
• Do a search for “SEO Experts” in the various search engines: Is the dude trying to sell you his services  #1 in Google, Yahoo and MSN. If not, ask them how they can make your website #1 (if that is what they are promising) if they can’t even do it for themselves. (All you people in the biz still reading this are probably cringing by this last statement but some of you will actually get the point I am making).
• If an SEO Expert  promises you a #1 ranking in Google, Yahoo or any other search engine they are full of sh!t: Search engine placement can’t be guaranteed. No questions asked. If they guarantee it, they are full of crap and don’t use them.
• If youz don’t know, youz betta ax somebody (hire a consultant): Now I am a consultant so I understand that comes across as self serving since I’m writing this. But I’m not asking you to hire me.  Again, if you don’t anything about his stuff and are about to drop some serious coin,  then hire someone who knows more about it than you. Having someone on your team that is looking out for your best interests in these manners could save you thousands (or even hundreds of thousands) of dollars in decisions regarding SEO and Internet marketing.
• Make the person selling you the service show you, oh let’s say, 20 different examples of websites they have maneuvered to the first page of Google, Yahoo and MSN: Now this is sort of a “dick move” to do to someone but (especially if they are guaranteeing results) in theory, every client they have ever worked with should be on the first page of every relevant search result. The point, again, is that this stuff can’t be guaranteed.
• In some cases, proper SEO won’t do a damn thing to your placement: There is always a chance that your website is already coming up as high as it will for certain search terms. You could have the #1 SEO expert in the world personally work on your site and it may not do jack sh!t.  Because of your competition, area and other factors your site may already be performing as well as it can. In some searches showing up on page 4 may be as high as you’ll ever go. That’s why you shouldn’t put all your eggs into the SEO basket. Sometimes this SEO stuff just won’t work the way you want it to or give you the results you are hoping for no matter what anyone tells you.

There you go. Now did I cover every possible question you should ask? No, but hopefully this should at least get you to start questioning all these so called experts. Like I stated above, there are good legit people out there that can help your website perform to it’s potential. Educate yourselves. Do you really need SEO service or could you be better served with a different Internet strategy? Just make sure that you ask questions and challenge anyone that promises results that seem too good to be true.

About the Author

Jayme Ward owns Digi Donkey, an Internet Consulting Firm located in Historic Cocoa Village, Florida. You think this blog is something you should hear him speak. He can be contacted at info@digidonkey.com

Are You Twitting or Spamming?

Spamming Sucks And So Do the Spammers That Spam

Right now social networking sites like Facebook and tools like Twitter are in their infancy. It’s like the Internet back in the days of midi music, animated fire and dancing hamsters. No ads, no spam and the only thing you had to pay for was porn.

Then something happened. An presence started making it’s way into people’s favorite websites. “Your computer is too slow click here to fix it.” And you’d click it (back in the day we didn’t know any better) only to end up on a page trying to sell you some crap.

Then came the free browsers with all the ads loaded right into your start up page. How nice was that? Waiting 2 minutes for your pages to load because of all the ads was great wasn’t it.

Then the spammers discovered email and, well we all know how that turned out.

Now they have a new tool at their pudgy Cheeto-powdered finger tips. Social Networks.

The problem is that the spammers aren’t the normal ones holed up in rooms full of servers with dynamic ip addresses staying one step ahead of the Internet police. No, these new spammers are advertising agencies, marketing managers, Internet consultants, sales people, web designers and the “so called”  Social Networking Experts who don’t get what social networking is all about.

Loss of Innocence

Look at the social networks like an innocent girl from the Midwest rolling into college at a major university for the first time. New to the scene, innocent and looking to make a good impression in her new environment.  She goes out to some parties with her new group of friends and some of the guys start getting a little grab assy with her. Now she doesn’t want to be a downer so she let’s the guy cop a little feel here and there as long as it isn’t too blatant and obvious. Next semester she’s doing body shots of her roommate’s stomach. The following semester she swapping spit with dudes in the bathroom between fits of vomiting in the toilet. She goes from being a nice girl, to popular life of the party girl to used up skank and no fun anymore.

Well people, that’s what the Social Networks may very well become. Scan the Internet for all the articles, blogs and websites dedicated to teaching businesses how to use Social Networking to increase their bottom lines. Enjoy them while their still innocent because the social networking spam has already started to flow.

Add 3-4 Inches to Your Penis Now

If you are using Social Networking to build contacts for your business that’s fine. Just use the tool in a way that won’t piss people off.  Social Networking is about meeting people and exchanging ideas and crap. It’s not about getting them to sign up for your Multi Level Marketing scheme. It’s not about explaining to people how your company can get them a lower mortgage. It’s not about adding 3-4 inches to their penis. People don’t want to be sold to when they are having fun and right now the Social Networks are for fun. If you want to relentlessly plug your business then sign up for a Social Neworking site designed for that like LinkedIn. Stay out of the “social” Social Networking sites unless you learn how to do it without selling every third post.

If you must use Social Networks to grow your list of contacts then take a more social slant when doing it. No one wants to buy your crappy penis enlargement pills when discussing the artistic merits and plausibility of “The Dark Knight” and “Iron Man”. Join the conversation, lay back then join another one that interests you and so on. Go ahead and put your website in your profile. Mention that you sell penis pills in your profile too. Do you happen to write a blog full of  big penis stories? Great, mention it every time you update your blog but don’t sell your penis pills in your posts.

That’s it. Let people find out what you do on there terms. More and more Social Spamming is taking place and the Social Networks will eventually start dealing with it. They want to become used up and be turned ad depositories, or suppositories, depending on how you look at it.

I implore every “so called” Social Networking specialist out there to teach responsible social networking techniques and don’t just turn all your clients into Social Spammers. If businesses are shown how to do it right then everything that makes social networking cool right now will be sucked out and used up before too long.

Your Brother-in-Law: The Real Competition for Graphic Artists and Web Designers Everywhere

Every web designer and graphic artist out there (if they have been in business long enough) has lost at least one bid to  someones brother-in-law. Now it may not have been the brother-in-law per say, it could have been the sister-in-law, sister, brother, son or  neighbor’s kid. Basically, they lost the bid to someone who probably charged hundreds or even thousands of dollars less than what the job, in the real world, would cost.  If the average rate to get a 5 page website developed in your area is $500 someones  douche bag  brother-in-law will offer to do it for  $50.  Now it will probably take him 10 times longer to produce some piece of crap that will need to be redone by a professional, but hey, at least you saved yourself some money the first time around.

Why is this an issue to the small business owner?

Now, as a small business owner, you may wondering why does even  matter to you. If you can save a couple hundred bucks it might be worth taking the chance. You may feel that you don’t need a sophisticated logo or fancy website and that just getting something up is more important than spending the extra money on something you really don’t care that much about anyway. Here is the problem, if you care about your business you’re going to end up spending the money anyway and in some cases even more than if would have just hired a professional in the first place. In my business alone, we do around 30 website re-dos every year. This is where someone comes to us that either build their website themselves or had their brother-in-law build it for them. Most of time we just redo it from scratch because the thing is such a wreck it is actually cheaper to start fresh. In other cases the client insists that we just fix it for them.  Now “just fixing” a website can sometimes take 3-4 longer than building it from scratch. Why, because every web designer builds websites their own way and for someone else to come in and fix something the first thing they have to do is figure out how the thing was built in the first place. And guess what, you’re on the clock. You are going to be paying for your web designer to sit there and look at the website to figure out how it was put together before they can even begin to fix it for you.

The other issue you’ll run into is the fact that your brother-in-law most likely didn’t put it together right in the first place. Professional web designers build websites that validate. That means, from a technical standpoint, the website is built in a way so that the search engines can read the content properly and so that the browsers display the content properly. If your web designer has any scruples they won’t post a website with junkie code so you’ll end up having to pay for them to rewrite the code in every page. Oh, and you’ll be paying for that too.

If you just have a professional build it in the first place you’ll save yourself the headache of going through this process twice.

Professional web designers don’t use Frontpage.

If someone tells you they are going to build your website in Frontpage then run for the hills. From a technical standpoint Frontpage is crap. That’s it in a nutshell. If they are using Frontpage they are not a professional because the pros know better.

But the other bids were so high or I can’t afford a professional.

If you need brain surgery would you go to your sister-in-law because she’s a pediatrician and could save you a couple bucks or would you go to a brain surgeon? The reason why web design and graphic art can be pricey is because they both take time and specialized skill. Professional graphic artists and web designers have college degrees and know how to do the job you are hiring them for. If you take a chance on someone who’s skill set is based on the fact that they have a cool MySpace page and own Dreamweaver you are putting your money and image in the hands of someone who probably doesn’t know what they are doing or worse, someone who knows just enough to do it poorly.

Being able to draw does not make someone a graphic artist and being able to put a website on the Internet does not make someone a web designer.  Remember this when you are ready to design your logo, your brochures or build your website and you’ll end up saving yourself money and time in the future.

The Clip Art Logo: If You Don’t Care About Your Business Why Should Anyone Else

This blog is about proper logo design. Notice that I used the word “proper”. This is not about just jacking something up onto piece of paper and running with it.

Obviously, and many times, unfortunately, your budget will dictate how you approach logo design. The issue I have encountered most of time is that the “perceived value” of logo design from the client is not realistic. I don’t mean to bruise your egos out there but most of you business owners don’t have a clue what actually goes into the proper design of a logo. All you know is that you want it done fast and cheap. Many times you guys don’t really need a graphic artist you need a psychic. Getting the details, goals, target markets and other things are the most important parts of logo design and for some reason that is what most small business owners don’t want to pay for. Some of you out there are getting ready to drop your life’s savings into your new business and yet are going to balk when your graphic artist wants $500 and a couple weeks to design your logo.

How much should you pay for a logo: $50, $500, $5000? Your local marketing agency may want $3000 to do it, the print shop around the corner from your office may want $350, your neighbor’s kid, who is a talented artist, will do it for $150, some web site will do it for $99, but then again your sister-in-law just made herself some really nice brochures in Word for her scrap booking club and will do it for free. Which do you choose? Is it even really a question when you can just get it done free? It really boils down to how much you actually care about the image of your business.

Throughout my career I have assumed many roles: the kid creating logos for my neighbors between parties, girls and weed while still in high school, the newbie at the print shop designing logos for business cards (back in days of manual color separations for those of you old enough to remember the print industry pre-computer), the struggling graphic artist hacking logos out of my butt for one of the systematized cheap logo web sites, the hired gun brought in by marketing agencies as a freelancer to assist in creating a brand, and finally as a college educated consultant with a marketing firm helping to develop brands from scratch. (Actually, I was already college educated when I was hacking them out of my butt too but it made for better copy to pace it the way I did. Don’t you agree?)

Logo design really does go much deeper than just being able to draw. At one point someone, either you or a professional, will actually need to put some time and thought into the development of your brand. There may be hours and hours of research put in before a pencil ever touches paper. If you can do it yourself or get someone to do it for free good for you. If not, you’re going to have to pay someone to do it for you. Does your business target men, women, children, teenagers or seniors? Do you want to portray strength, security, technology, wholesomeness or sex appeal? Will a poor color choice be counter productive to the audience you are trying to attract? Does your logo need be scaled down to fit on a pen or pin? Do you need to be able to have it embroidered? There many more questions that need be asked before the artist begins working on a design. If you don’t have a clue as to what they are then consult with someone who does. This can be a graphic artist, consultant, business coach or a fellow business owner. Just make sure that it’s someone who actually knows what they are talking about.

I’ll tell you this right now, if you bring in someone to design your logo who doesn’t ask you any questions beyond what colors you want to use watch out. Your neighbor’s kid may be a great artist but does he know anything about marketing? Does he realize that using certain color combinations may turn people off? Does he know how to figure out which market this logo is meant to target if you don’t? Are you willing to put your companies image in the hands of someone who doesn’t know anything about branding or business. Do you want your logo to be hacked out within 24 hours by someone who doesn’t know anything about you or your business goals because it will only cost you $99? Is your sister-in-law’s idea of a great logo some cool clip art with your name slapped on it (which, for those of you not in the know is an oxymoron because there is no cool clip art).

You also need to watch out for someone who’ll just do whatever you ask them to. Especially if the thought put into it on your part amounts to having your companies name swirling around a triangle. Oh yeah, and that it also needs to have purple in it. And never, never, never just go to someone and say, “I sell widgets, see what you can come up with for me”. We are talking about the first impression most people will get of your business. Your logo is a graphic depiction your business. Put some thought into it beyond just getting it done because you need it for the fliers you’ll be handing out in three days.

Here is something remember.

• Give the designer time to do it properly. Sometimes logos can take weeks and even months to properly develop. Don’t make them rush through it because you didn’t plan properly.
• If your marketing expertise tops out at knowing that you need business cards and stationary then consult with someone who understands marketing. This can be a business coach, consultant, marketing agency, graphic artist or even a fellow business owner.
• Don’t make your decision strictly based on price, base it on what will give your business the proper image. This is likely your livelihood we’re talking about here.

I’m not saying that everyone out there needs to hire a marketing agency to design their logo. There are plenty of professional graphic artists out there that understand the process of logo design is more than just being able to draw. Just realize that there is a process and that you will need to give the process the amount of time it takes to do it properly. If you are not equipped do it yourself then face it, you are going to have to pay someone who is and the lowest bidder may not be the best choice for your business. If your mortgage payment, kids college fund, insurance and retirement are going to be generated by your business then take your branding as serious as it deserves to be taken. Who would rather have perform brain surgery on a loved one, someone who watches ER every week, your family’s physician or an actual brain surgeon? Is your business’s image and identity going to be put into the hands of a professional, teenager, soccer mom, or the lowest bidder? The choice is yours.

Stop Selling and Start Meeting

How to be more effective at business networking functions.

A couple weeks ago I was at a business networking function thrown by my local Chamber of Commerce when a scenario played out that had done so many times before. Things where moving along as they tend to do at those things when I met a young woman who happened to sell vitamins. Well, let me correct that. They weren’t just vitamins, they where a nutritional supplement that no person on this Earth could possibly be living without. As a matter of fact, anyone reading this blog that is not taking these life altering pills must be on borrowed time because, according to her, we’re all basically going to die if we don’t buy her stuff now. The most impressive thing was that she got that whole spiel out in about 30 seconds after going through the perfunctory motions like she actually wanted to get to know me. If it wasn’t for the fact that she caught me while I was in line to get a beer, she wouldn’t have lasted 10 seconds. I told her that I’d keep her in mind and watched her as she hurried off to continue her verbal spamming attack on my fellow Chamber members.

Now, I may have over exaggerated just a little bit but I think you all get the point. How many times have you had a similar experience while out networking? How many times have you had, what seemed at the time to be, a productive conversation interrupted by some marketing rep pitching you in between nibbles off the veggie tray.

Networking is about meeting people with the purpose of developing business relationships and that’s it. It’s not about collecting the most business cards and then relentlessly spamming, oh wait, let me rephrase that, relentlessly following up the next morning with the stock email template you typed out the day before. It’s not about making your sales pitch to as many strangers as you can within an hour. It’s not about handing out as many of your fliers, brochures, CD-ROMs, DVDs or whatever other kind of promotional crap you have. There is a place and time for all that and networking functions are not that place.

When you meet someone new start thinking about how you can help them. Ask yourself how many people you know that may need their products or services. Do you know of any events, leads groups, Chambers of Commerce or anything else that can be useful to them? Is their anyone at the event you are currently attending that you could introduce that person to who may be able to help them out with whatever it is that they do? Can you put them in touch with someone else who has a product or service that they may currently be looking for like business cards, a web site, embroidered shirts, insurance, etc.?

I’ll leave you all with this. The key to successful networking is allowing connections to happen through you rather than having it be all about you. Start putting others before yourself, you’ll be pleasantly surprised and financially rewarded when it comes back to you.