Interview on Internet and Online Marketing

Thanks Rob McNealy (@RobMcNealy on Twitter) and the folks at StartupStoryRadio.com for interviewing me on internet marketing and how to find a good firm for your business.

Take a listen and enjoy!

Is Email The Best Way To Ignite Viral Marketing?

Everyone talks about how they want to “create” viral marketing - and I’m still very dubious that it can be caught in a bottle.

However, after listening last night’s to the most recent episode of Net@Nite with Amber MacArthur, I noticed something very interesting about Jibjab - a company that has actually been around for almost ten years doing online entertainment.

They push their newest content, especially their political cartoons - down the pipe of their 400,000 person email list.  That they didn’t buy.  That they amassed on their own on their site.  So in some ways, that email list has the same effective reach as mass media outlets.  And they’ve made a business model out of their cartoons through subscriptions for ecards - a surprisingly large online industry.

When you have the gasoline in the can of 400k people - and another video they did with Weird Al had another huge list - it makes perfect sense why their good content stands out from the other good content.

Sometimes, with all the new tools coming out, people get caught up in the shiny - and forget about the foundational items that work.

Is the web finally going mobile?

As I type this (or tap if you will) from my iPhone after installing the new Wordpress app I can’t help but wonder if mobile might actually catch on in the U.S.

I’m not going to be absurd and say it’ll happen tomorrow; but it WILL happen, in my opinion, when the competitors to the iPhone catch up for the mainstream masses; or, conversely, if Blackberry loses it’s top position. What are you doing to be ready for mobile?

Is It You, Or Is It Just Me?

One of the most common calls or complaints I get from folks about whatever service provider is that their site is down for some reason or another.  Although there is shaky hosting out there, it’s actually usually the user (but through no fault of their own); whether it’s a router acting up, a browser hiccup, or something - especially in business environments when there is the all-too-common situation of too many people trying to get their internet access through a tiny little pipe, so connections time out.

To quickly find out if its you or if it’s the host, check out this uber-simple site.  It’ll tell you quickly and efficiently.

Why (Some, Mostly Big) Businesses Don’t Get New Media

Saw a report today from the USC School of Business around social media and online initiatives - and the information was great.

All in all, the biggest reason why there isn’t an embrace of new media yet is that they don’t understand it… not to mention new media is still levels the playing field because the level of adoption of companies under 100 employees is higher than any other segment.

Following those reasons, we also see cost/staff issues (funny, as it’s usually cheaper and there are some great vendors out there to make it happen) as well as network security (seems like not a well-asked question; is it a concern of leaks or a technical concern?).

Big business in general didn’t always correlate new media to a competitive advantage; this tells me that this is the greatest opportunity for the small (Tier 5, Tier 4, etc) companies to use new media to establish beachheads and superiority in the online space before the big guys catch on.

That said, the three things that they saw most useful across the board was online video, RSS, and podcasting. (Editor’s note: glad we picked those areas to focus on) and blogs were near the bottom of perceived usefulness (Editor’s note: can’t pick’em all).

I’m sure, since it’s lack of understanding as the lead cause, since these decision makers don’t always use these tools themselves they fail to see how their employees and customers can benefit.  This USC information basically backs up what a pseudo-competitor (and overall good guy) said:

“They either get it or they don’t.”

My take is that those who don’t see it need to get on the clue train at the next station as it’s already left this one, if they want to be relevant and make money in the future.

The reality is that this is the way a whole generation of people connect; the playing field has changed.  From here on out, there is a line in the sand; a top-down approach as the past has been is less and less effective.  Of course, it still blows my mind that in 2008 over 15% of businesses we talk to over 10 people don’t have a website yet and close to 70% haven’t updated theirs in the last year.  It’s just not seen as a vehicle; it’s many times seen as a static brochure… and then they wonder why they don’t get any results.

I remember vividly a meeting a couple years ago where the potential client (this is more of a Web 1.0 story, but applicable) who was convinced nothing was wrong with their e-commerce store, even though they were only getting a couple hundred dollars a month on their $100,000 investment (obviously denial is not just a river in Egypt).

Their premise was that since no one told them their store was bad (it was atrocious - no product descriptions, no pictures, no search) that it’s not the problem.  Of course, online customers don’t always tell you it’s bad - most times they just leave and tell their friends.

They had no statistics or tracking package, no way to see where people abandoned their carts, what people did.. but it was still fine.  They did it their way with no input from their vendor; they did the graphics, the text, everything themselves because they knew what customers wanted.

Suffice it to say, they’re still failing in ignorant bliss.  Sad to see, but it’s their choice.  Go take their business from them, as the great equalization is still in effect.

What Everybody Ought To Know About Selecting a Web Firm

Was talking around the shop the other day about some of the challenges we see folks face - and one of them is when they select the wrong team for the job, and what projects we know we need to turn down.

I’ll be the first to tell you that we’re the wrong guys to hire for a billboard.  And also tell you that an accounting firm or an IT infrastructure company are probably the wrong folks to hire for your interactive or website needs.  They might know code (which is important - we strong believe those creating the interactive should know how to implement it) but they probably don’t know the creative part.  It’s not their passion - they’re travail de vie (pardon my rusty french).

Take a look at the sites you regularly visit - does your site have the refinement of those?  Does your site look, feel, act, and give the information that those do (of course adapted for your field of work?

Our logic - and experience - on this is simple.  If your roof is leaking, do you call a plumber?  No, you call a roofer.  Yes, there might be water involved - but that doesn’t mean the skills translate.

It’s tough buying things when you don’t know what you’re expecting… there have been more than a few times when I felt at first I was flying blind.  But it’s important to find that influential - or influentials - of people you trust that will give you honest advice as well as put the logic filter on your brain and do some research to find the right partner.

Getting Smart About Domain Names

.com, .net, .org, .tv… brandable, keyword rich… which one is best to select?

The not-so-easy answer is - it depends.  It depends on your niche, what is available, and what is brandable.

However, there is one thing you shoudn’t do - create alphabet soup.

We two weeks ago talked to someone who was convinced that the initials of three different things were the right way to go, because they made sense.  Unfortunately, they only made sense to him.

You need to select your address carefully - in some ways, like you would a retail spot.  Different streets and different neighborhoods mean different things to different people, as well as you want to make sure who your neighbors are.

If you’re going to select something other than a .com name (as they’re usually first to be picked up) is what does your neighbor do?  Is it a competitor?  Is it content that if someone did goof and type in the wrong extension they wouldn’t be horribly surprised?

What are your tips?

How To Give Away an Article To Get Value

There is a lot of debate in the “give to get” community about how to give away something but also get something - like a lead - from it.

Some have eschewed the idea altogether - saying that giving away a white paper or article or something is a waste of time.

And I think not. I think it can have tons of value to you, if you understand that the online business world is not about scarcity, it’s about quality.

Let’s cover what not to do.

Don’t stick up your potential visitors. What do I mean by stick up? No, you’re not robbing them of money but you’re trying to grab their identity - and when you provide nothing for it except the hint that you might get a whitepaper or something interesting - you’re going to get a lot of Elmer Fudds and abandonments (and no, they’re not going to tell you they left).

Don’t make me contact you directly to get it by phone or otherwise. I won’t, and most people won’t.

Show your value by putting the first third or quarter of your valuable genius on your web site as HTML. Search engines will love it, and you will have captured the reader wanting more (again, this goes back to quality - it has to be good or it won’t work. And you can create good. You can create great).

You then insert your low-friction (as small as it possibly can be while getting the information you need to contact them) information form there.

You’ll get much better responses as they - your audience - will be engaged. If you’re really slick, have your programmer give them the rest of the document after form acceptance, right in-line with what they’re reading, as well as give them the option to keep a well-laid out, branded PDF version with your logo inserted with class.

That means once per page, at a reasonably small (yet readable) size. Put your contact and copyright information on each page as well - since they love what you have to say and find it valuable, you should let them talk to you!

Don’t be so concerned if your competition reads it - they will. And you should be reading theirs. Your potential customers are going to have them side-by-side anyway. Again, win with quality - and win the business.

Technorati Tags:
Web Design, how to give away stuff, give to get value, how to give away content

Use The Right Kind of Designer

I don’t mean offense to many qualified print designers out there…

But dealing with a printed page is much different than a website (not saying one is better over the other). Their requirements are diverse.. as an interactive guy, it amazes me the ability that print designers have to take into account paper stock, finish, weight… a myriad of issues to create fabulous, eye-catching pieces.

However, I’ve seen those same designers do things on the internet like stick the navigation for a web site below the fold so you have to scroll to it, design with imagery that will take forever and a day to load… just as starting points… so in short, they’re different animals completely and their requirements need to be respected.

Not saying someone or a firm can’t do both; but I wouldn’t hire a print designer who didn’t have a PMS swatch book and understand how to use it just like I wouldn’t hire an interactive guy who didn’t understand about load times and how to optimize an image properly to make come up as fast as possible while still looking good (restraining myself here from telling a bevy of horror stories on both sides).

So when selecting a designer or team, I think that you will save yourself time and money if you have it done by people experienced in the type of medium you’re working with.

Security Counts: If it’s in the Cloud, It Could Become Public

Usually I reserve my security counts to Wednesday, but I think this one is very appropriate considering the timeliness of today’s news that Facebook has had a little leak in regards to allowing pictures to be shown that were supposed to be private (by the way, MySpace had one earlier).

Although, for the most part, there is a low chance that your photos of the keg party or even of just your kids you don’t want to have online becoming public due to one of these breaches, it’s important to realize that there is that possibility and to take that account when you put stuff online.

This also shows what is now an old axiom for the web… if you are very public about your “new” security features, you’re almost hanging a sign on your door that says, “try me.”

And the reality is that nothing is hack-proof… you just try to make the wall as high as possible.  Much like copy protection and DRM… they don’t stop counterfeiters, or even for that matter, hinder them.

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