Orange E-Business Advocate
The article has plenty of interesting facts and tips to get the gears in your brain turning. Here, I will outline what I think are the most important points:
I found this article about a Missouri newspaper that is opening its doors to its readers for suggestions about redesigning the format and style of its paper.
While this is a simple concept, companies often overlook the possibility of asking customers for help in improving the quality of their business. But what a useful, inexpensive way to gather ideas for your business, make your customers happy, and make them feel more a part of your operation. Some businesses may fear this kind of openness with their customers because they could possibly hear negative feedback or get suggestions that just aren't feasible. But a company that values the opinions of its loyal patrons, and tries its hardest to adapt to their needs, will be more successful in the end.
Here's a good idea: start a dialogue with your customers on your website. Ask for their feedback. Give them a way to contact you electronically with comments or suggestions. Post the good ideas on your site, credit those customers, and show everyone how you are working toward improving your business to meet those demands. Get your customers excited about your business and make them feel that their voice is important. Then sit back and watch the rewards.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the art of tailoring a website so that it will rank high in search engines for a certain set of search terms, commonly known as keywords. It is an elaborate and detailed skill, that can only be developed over time. However, for business owners that have just recently started a website, here are a few quick tips for getting off to a good start:
For more informaiton on how Search Engines work and how they have an impact on the success of your website, please visit these websites:
Adding a contact form to your business website is a simple but powerful improvement for acquiring new customers or generating sales leads. Normally I would not make a big deal about what I once thought was a small feature of a website, but lately I've been astonished at how successful the contact form at Family Empowerment Council is. In just one month, FEC has connected with three job candidates and four consumers through this contact form alone. For a local organization with a modest website, that's a successful operation.
What makes the contact form more successful than other methods of contact? For one, submitting a form is absolutely free. It is less work than making a phone call, and surprisingly, more convenient than writing an email. It is the most anonymous, non committal way for a visitor of your website to express an interest and request more information. Therefore, many visitors will feel much more comfortable submitting a simple form than contacting you any other way.
As a business owner, you have to remember that you are the expert on your product or service. A visitor to your website is likely seeking more information about your type of business, may be unfamiliar with the details involved, and wants you (or a competitor) to guide them through the process. By using a contact form, your website can help you collect the information you need to better serve that visitor and turn them into a customer.
A simple improvement to your site, but a win-win for your business and the visitors of your website.
You may be familiar with the popular website Craigslist, where today's savvy online consumer can go to post, browse, or search countless job listings, classifieds, personal ads, and much more. I found my first Software Engineering position in New York City through this simple but powerful site. I know many friends who have found their apartment here as well. Looking for anything and everything? "Check out Craigslist" is the first thing you'll hear from the average twenty-something who knows a thing or two about the internet.
I read a great article the other day on the Online Journalism Review website about how Craigslist has affected the newspapers' traditional classifieds business, what sets the website apart from the rest, and how Newspapers (and other traditional businesses) need to rethink their strategies moving forward. Here is a link to the article:
http://ojr.org/ojr/business/1086222946.php
I think small businesses can also learn from the success of Craigslist (which, by the way, is still only a 14 person operation) and think creatively about using technology to differentiate themselves from local competition. Why don't we see more businesses utilizing technology to increase profits? I think it has to do with the following assumptions on the part of business owners:
Of course, demystifying the web is a core goal of OCEA. We'd like to show businesses in Orange County that it's not too expensive to use technology, it can be used successfully in almost any type of business, and the use of technology will start to have a positive impact in a very short period of time!
You don't need me to tell you this: The Internet is drastically changing how we live our lives. The way we shop, the way we learn, the way we interact, even the way we think has been affected by the numerous communication technologies that make up our concept of the world wide web. As consumers, we are much more savvy about products and services, we hold companies to higher standards, we expect more and we expect to pay less. We have fast-paced schedules and we've come to enjoy the instant gratification of an on-demand ecomony.
What this means: a troubling time for traditional marketing companies. Advertising tactics that were once successful no longer hold true for today's smarter consumer. Television and radio advertisements are expensive, reaching smaller and smaller audiences. Mass mailings and email spam are quickly deposited in the trash can, physically and digitally. Bulletin boards, magazine ads, even bumper stickers... they all compete for our time and attention. These forms of "Interruption Marketing" worked well in decades past, but today's consumer has learned to filter out most, if not all, of this marketing noise.
The question then, is how can a company wisely spend its marketing dollars and have its brand rise above all that noise, be noticed by customers, and generate more business?
I recently picked up a book by Seth Godin that offers an innovative and exciting way to handle this dilemma and reach your customers more effectively. The title of the book succinctly identifies this new era: "Permission Marketing." By getting creative about how you market to customers, and by offering (for free) something that grabs their attention, you can in essence win "the permission" of a stranger to send them more marketing material. This kind of communication will be much more effective for turning strangers in friends, and friends in loyal customers. While I could elaborate on these techniques, I'm just hitting the tip of the iceberg in this new, exciting time... Seth's concept is much better explained in these articles:
http://www.fastcompany.com/online/14/permission.html
http://www.reveries.com/reverb/marketing_strategy/godin/
http://www.zeromillion.com/marketing/permission-marketing.html
He also goes a step further by practicing exactly what he preaches; the first few chapters of his book are available for free download at the book's website: http://www.sethgodin.com/permission/
Please send me an email (joseph @ oceagroup.com) if you are interested in brainstorming creative ways to market to the consumers of Orange County. As I encounter additional quality marketing resources, I will post them here.