How to Raise the Bar in Your Own Company

Every once in a while, we stumble on something that truly resonates with our own ideas about how to run a successful small business.

I can’t remember where I found the link  for this video. Most likely, it originated in a tweet and I clicked through to find Jason Fried’s post “The Bar for Success in Our Industry is Too Low” featuring David Heinemeier Hannsson’s talk at Startup School 2008.

All I know is that I’ve watched the video several times over the last few days. Though there are many differences between our industries, the problems we face are quite similar. When it comes to working online, there are so many expectations that act as obstacles to our success. We live in a new media world of “free,” “instant success,” and the work week that’s over before lunch hour every Monday. It’s creating high expectations with little commitment from our clients and ourselves.

The most important points: Read more

Evaluating Your Customer Service

“All I want is one widget.”

For the client, it’s simple and direct.

They need something, they call, someone answers the phone takes their order, sends the product with their invoice and boom: they have their one widget. They’re happy. They tell everyone they meet that they’re happy.

People understand that you’re a great company to work with because no matter how simple the need, you fill it.

“All they want is one widget.”

For the small business that doesn’t understand this and needs to sell widgets by the hundreds per client to increase their profits, it’s a hassle.

The client is demanding just one small widget, the commission is low, the quoting process is long and drawn out, so you push the client need to the bottom of the list.

You’ll get back to it once you’ve filled the orders of your “important” and “big budget” clients. So, the client calls again. You tell them you’ll get back to them as soon as possible and, once again, the client waits. Their need becomes more urgent and they watch their deadlines slip past, but still no call. Now, they’re not happy. They vow never to return.

They tell everyone they’re not happy and not to bother contacting your company. The people they talked to continue to spread the word about your shoddy customer service to their own contacts.  The potential for lost clientele continues to grow.

People start to understand that you don’t value their business and your focus is on pleasing only the big budget clients.

So, if you’re a small business or entrepreneur, how do you handle your client needs?

Do you rank them based on potential value, first come first serve, or do you treat everyone the same because your main goal is to have happy customers, no matter how big their budget, spreading the word about your customer service.

Why Ignoring Sales Page Design Can Lead to Low Sales Conversions

Okay, your copy is perfect now. You’ve spent days finding the perfect order, toiling over the placement of bullet points, red text and yellow highlighting, but even you don’t like the final product.

Believe me, if the page itself is a jumbled eyesore, visitors will bounce before they read what you have to say.

Here are a few tips to make sure that your sales page design makes your words look even better:

1. Sales Page Template

First on the list is the web template of your sales page. If you know about about design, then no problem. If not, there are plenty of businesses out there that sell simple affordable sales page templates.

Surf around the internet a bit and take a look at some of the top selling products. Visit sales pages that you’ve bookmarked in the past. Look for products that continue to sell. You’ll notice that their copy is laid out in a way that complements their product. If your page looks cheap, that’s the impression your giving of your product.

When it comes to sales page design, you really have two choices. You can either get somebody to custom-design a template for you, or buy a ready made version. There are hundreds of them out there, and they don’t cost a fortune.

2. Sales Page Graphics

Once you have the sales page template ready to go, you want to concentrate on the graphics. If you’re selling digital information products, you’re going to need e-covers. If your info product requires a lot of colours, images, and extra elements, it can take hours to create something that looks professional. Packages that include DVDs and other pieces can be even more difficult.

If you’re not good at design, don’t try and create the images yourself. Many design businesses sell prepacked e-cover and product cover design packages that you can customize and reuse. Or, if you’d rather hire a designer instead of fussing with the software, there are many freelance designers that sell e-cover design services.

Just remember, once you have all the elements in place and you finally launch your sales page, you’re goal is to drive visitors to click the “but It Now” button. Opting for an unplanned, badly designed page in the beginning will prevent you from selling your product, no matter how great it is.

3. Customer Testimonials

Finally, there are testimonials. The best testimonials include photos, audio or video. So when you receive a rave review from one of your customers, don’t forget to ask for a photo, snippet of audio or short video. Some folks won’t provide any of those and that’s okay, but the more photos and media you add to your new sales page, the more professional it will look.

Create testimonial boxes that complement the colors of your page and don’t distract the reader. Don’t get me wrong, testimonials are an important selling tool, but boxes that are too large, un-centered and contain garish colors can take away from the sales page copy that you’ve carefully constructed.

So, even if you do only one or two of these simple things, you’ll be surprised how much better your sales page will look. In the process, you’ll get more potential customers spending more time on your page, which will result in more sales.

Don’t underestimate the power of a first impression. It may be the only chance you get.

Pamela Weir is a Content Copywriter. If you are looking for a sales writer with experience creating sales pages, squeeze pages, website content, and press releases, please visit her Copywriting Services page for information.

Interaction Builds Business Communities

As I discussed in The Future of Public Relations, blogs, social networking, and podcasts have changed the way people get ideas, share information, communicate, and respond. The web’s interactive communication style has changed how people want to learn, connect, and build relationships. Conversations are crucial to growth and the development of innovative ideas.

There are a couple of easy ways you can provide interaction on your website without having to invest in, build and maintain a forum or membership site.

Create and Maintain a Blog

Blogging forces you to analyze and organize your ideas, beliefs, and opinions, and how they are relevant to your business and market. Researching topics and developing relevant posts gives you the opportunity to evaluate current trends and design solutions for your customers.

Hosting a blog allows clients to pose questions about business topics, provide input on developing issues and engage others in conversation. Clients and prospects have the opportunity to hear new ideas not only from you, but also from others who are involved in the blogging community.

Comment sections are critical to a blog’s success and are a feature that not only allows, but encourages people to post their own ideas and replies. If you reply to everyone who comments, visitors will be more likely to leave new comments or continue the conversation. Analyze your most popular topics and pay attention to statistics that show you where people are coming from, and factor all of it into your marketing planning.

It can be hard to sustain a conversation, especially on a blog, when you don’t have anything interesting to say. If you find you are getting stuck and are groping for something to write, it may be a signal that you need to draw ideas from other industries, or ask others to post their own ideas to your blog. Consider asking some of your clients to post their own topics. Not only will this give them some free publicity, but it may entice their own readers to visit your blog as well.

Develop Free Teleseminars or Webinars

If you don’t have the desire to post regularly to a company blog, you may want to consider hosting remote seminars.

Organizing and running regular interactive seminars for clients and prospects enables you to learn what is on your clients’ minds and demonstrate that you are concerned about recent industry issues. You can host and direct each session yourself, or you can invite other  industry experts and speakers to come and discuss important issues that will add value for your clients.

You can start the sessions by posing what-if questions that challenge people’s assumptions, and let the conversation develop and take on their own direction. To promote real discussions, use themes that center around “Why?” and “Why Not?” questions. Encourage debates centered around new ways of understanding client issues.

Wrap up by asking your clients if they think you should spend time developing one or more of the ideas that emerged from the session. Ask whether that would be of value to them. Consider recording each session and offering the audio files as an incentive for joining your community.

If your participants know that they are involved in developing solutions they are more likely to become loyal members of your community.

The Point: Add More Value

Nothing builds relationships better than regular, meaningful conversations. Initiating and deepening relationships is more important than conventional marketing’s goals of pushing “awareness” and generating “sales leads.”

To have these interesting, meaningful conversations, you must have something to say. Develop fresh points of view and create new metaphors and language to express them. The message itself is only the beginning. Its value exists only if you dedicate yourself to initiating conversations with clients and prospects.

The Future of Public Relations?

Last week, Jason Falls sparked a debate about the future of Public Relations in his post Social Media is the Responsibility of Public Relations.

Falls points out, many companies don’t have the resources to employ Social Media specialists and must rely on internal resources to create and maintain consumer and business relationships online. He suggests that social networking must become a function of Public Relations.

In my mind, social media is essentially public relations in the online world. Divide the category up by component — blogs, social networks, microblogging, podcasts/Web TV, wikis/collaborative software — they each ladder in some way to a component of public relations — writing, corporate communications, community relations, media relations, event management.

I agree.  As people demand more from brands and service providers, Social Media is enabling us to connect with our prospects and customers in very meaningful ways. Blogs, forums and social networking are changing the way companies interact with customers. Our communications are becoming more targeted and personal. We can expand out market coverage and create the opportunity to interact directly with the people who purchase our products. Moreover, companies that make the effort to adopt current technologies will gain an advantage over their competitors.

Solutions for Small Business

So what is the solution for the small business that does not have a Public Relations, Marketing or Social Media department?

Companies incapable of meeting the ever-increasing demands of Public Relations will need to outsource most of their Social Networking functions. In the future, Social Media Specialists will be in high demand as more companies realize the importance of these activities. For those of us willing to learn new technologies and participate, we have the ability to create manageable internal social networking strategies. If we want them to be effective, we will need to acquire the appropriate skills and dedicate ourselves to the ongoing process.

As media outlets become smaller, we need to find new ways to gain publicity and get people talking about our companies. We can’t always rely on media contacts to relay our positive image. We need to create continuous strategies we can monitor and alter depending on our observed results. Through direct contact, we have an opportunity to discover what our customer wants, gather relevant ideas and present a solution to their immediate problems.  If we create valuable connections, and refrain from using Social Media as another medium for our sales pitch, we have the opportunity to use these interactions to create a positive public image and develop desirable product.

Falls predicts:

Social Media will evolve into components of a sophisticated public relations effort.

Businesses that have clearly developed Social Media strategies, and use both Marketing and Public Relations resources, will be further ahead than companies that ignore online networking, or misuse it as a form of advertising and promotion. The main purpose of social networking is to create ongoing conversations. Companies that do not participate in the conversation, or use it solely as a means to push products in the faces of potential buyers will fail.

As more and more of our potential customers are using social networks to evaluate businesses and brands, we need to learn how to start conversations, build relationships and grow communities.

What do you think?

Pamela Weir is a Marketing Copywriter. If you are looking for a sales writer with experience creating website content, press releases, media one-sheets, and warm letters, please visit her Copywriting Services page for information.