Web Marketing for Small Business

What is Google Apps?

Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:33:00 GMT

If you've got a Smartphone (iPhone or Android etc), then I'm sure you've heard the word "apps". Afterall, what makes these phones so useful is the ability to download apps to do things that you want or need to do.

Let's start with "what exactly is an app?"

An app is short for Application. In other words, it's a program that can run on your Smartphone (or computer). So when you decide you need something, you visit an app store (or Android Store - in case Apple tries to sue for copyright) and search for an app that can do what you need. You then download it to your Smartphone (or Computer) and start using it. The best bit is that as this app is improved by the Developers, these improvements will be downloaded to your Smartphone or Computer to ensure you always have the latest version.

Oh! and did I mention that in many cases these apps can be free or available for a small download fee or monthly subscription. You no longer have to pay a high upfront price to get some software to help you in your business.

So now we know what an app is, "what is Google Apps?"

Google Apps is a collection of Google Applications that are grouped together into one account. These applications are:

Gmail
Google Calendar
Google Docs
Google Sites
Google Videos
Google Groups

So what does that mean to you as a Business owner?

Well it means that you can manage a large portion of your business online. The key things you can do that I believe will help many Small Businesses operate day to day is:

easily set up email accounts (using your domain name) for your key staff. You and your staff can then easily sync these emails across multiple computers as well as your Smartphone.
have a calendar to manage your appointments etc and easily share these with your key staff so they can see when you are available (and make appointments for you). Similarly, they can share with you.
have access to your contacts wherever there is internet. Also easily share these with your key staff.
create and edit or upload and edit documents (think word, excel, publisher etc) to your account and allow others to view and edit. You can then view any edits and accept or reject. A great way to collaborate on a document without the continual backwards and forwards of emails and versions.
take quick videos on your Smartphone and then upload to your video site so your staff can then view them. This could be to show how you want a particular job completed or a training video.
create a business intranet where your staff can communicate with each other.

This is just a few of the things you can do. But honestly, the potential is nearly endless. At the very least, you can get all the functionality you would get if you bought a Server and created a proper secured network at your business. Except where you would need to pay thousands of dollars to get a Server with the required programs etc, with Google Apps you can get it all for FREE. That's right, you can get this for FREE. But if you want to really take advantage of it (and not get the advertising), then you need only pay US$50 per year per user.

But wait, it gets better!

Remember at the start we talked about what an app is? Well that's where the real functionality of Google Apps comes into it's own. Not only do you get the Google Applications, but there is a whole world of Developers out there who are continually developing new applications that work alongside (and integrated with) the Google Applications.

As an example, at Probity Web marketing we use an app for Project Management. This great app allows us to create and assign a task to one of our staff members from inside our Gmail account. That means that if you email us with a request for your website, we can immediately create a task for this and assign it to the best person for the job whilst we are still reading your email. Then we can keep track of this in the main program.

But this is just one example. There are apps for bookkeeping, invoicing, timekeeping, CRM's, eMarketing, Surveys and the list goes on. Why not browse through the marketplace and see for your self.

So what are you waiting for?

You can find out more and sign up for your FREE account here. Or if you would like to talk to someone about it, I'm more than happy to discuss the benefits with you. Just give me a call on. I really do believe that this is perfect for small business that is growing beyond a couple of key staff.

Look out Coolum, Probity is here!!!

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 04:13:00 GMT

Well we've finally finished our move to Coolum Beach on the Sunshine Coast and are raring to go. As we mentioned in the previous post, we have been in a holding pattern for the last year and a half, but are now 100% focussed on growing our clients' and our businesses. Whilst we may have been in a holding pattern as far as chasing new clients went, we used this time very well developing our knowledge and systems for helping Small Business get the most out of the Internet.

So if you are serious about growing your business, give us a call to find out how we can help.

Stay tuned for more regular posts on the wonders of the Internet. You'll find out about SEO, SEM, Facebook, Google Apps, Youtube, Feedburner, Twitter and Google plus to name a few.

Well it’s been a while, but I’m back!

Sun, 15 May 2011 14:00:00 GMT

Back in 2009, my wife decided that she wanted to take on a Property Management position on the Gold Coast. As I’d dragged her along on my many business pursuits for over 5 years, I felt it was only fair that I supported her on this one. Not only did this entail a move from Brisbane to the Gold Coast, but also meant I had to help out around the property we managed.

To achieve this, I had to downsize the business a bit and focus on existing clients and any that happened to stumble upon me (pretty much referrals).

Was it a worthwhile experience?

It most definitely was. It not only helped my wife achieve something she wanted, but also allowed me to take some time to focus on my business overall direction. As I’m sure you’re all aware, when you are madly keeping up with the increasing workload of a growing business, you sometimes stop seeing the forest for the trees. I was definitely in this situation and felt a bit like a dog chasing his tail.

Having the time to sit back and reassess, meant that I could change the overall business vision and mission and put strategies in place to make these happen.

So what’s changed?

Firstly, I decided that the business was trying to provide too many services, when we didn’t have all those services covered by someone we inherently trusted. This meant that in many instances, I wouldn’t offer a solution to someone that I knew they could use, because I wasn’t 100% convinced that we could supply it.

So now we focus 100% on the Internet (which accounts for our name change from Probity Partners to Probity Web Marketing). Our vision and mission are:

Vision:
“To be the leading Web Marketing and Support company for Small Business in Australia.”

Mission:
“Probity Web Marketing provides all services a Small Business will need to get the most out of the Internet and have a complete Digital Strategy.
We seek first to understand the client business and then focus on generating Sales and Leads as well as integrating their business with the Internet in the most cost effective way.”

In other words, we now focus on helping Small Business get the most out of the Internet. Whether this is a website, social media, Adwords, eCommerce, eMarketing, online management platforms or a combination of everything.

So if you’re confused about the Internet (don’t worry, you are certainly not alone), give us a call to arrange a time to help you understand how easy it is to get some great results.

What’s the future hold?

My wife is coming close to finishing her contract, so we will be making a lifestyle move to the Sunshine Coast. Not only will this put us where we have wanted to live for some time, but also means that I will be back focussed 100% on the business and looking to grow. So you can rest assured that if you become one of our clients, we will be able to give you the same high level of service we gave our limited client base over the last 2 years.

Whilst we may have had limited clients, we have been doing some great things for them and have learnt a lot as well. So be sure to check out the case studies of some of these to see what we did and what can be possible for your business.

How does Small Business in Australia use the Internet?

Sun, 15 May 2011 14:00:00 GMT

I noticed when I got back to blogging, that my last blog post was about the Sensis eBusiness Report 2009, so I thought it would be a good idea to get the latest report and see what’s changed. This report was compiled by Sensis in September 2010 and involved telephone surveys to 1800 Australian Small Businesses. Read the full Sensis eBusiness Report here.

Once again, this has been a very interesting read and once again leaves me shaking my head in bewilderment at how many Small Business Owners just aren’t serious about growing their business. I’m a firm believer that if you aren’t growing, then you are going backwards as everyone else around you grows.

To help show what I believe are the relevant points in this report, I will look at 4 key areas:

Use of Business Websites
Use of eCommerce
Use of Mobile Phones
Use of Social media

The use of Business Websites

Firstly let’s look at what percentage of business and individuals use websites for specific tasks. Please note: the percentage in brackets is how much this has grown from 2009.

Business

Look for information on products and services 91% (-1%)
Look for suppliers of products and services 88% (same)
Pay for products and services 81% (+2%)
Access online catalogues 79% (same)
Place orders for products or services 79% (same)

Individuals (private use)

Look for products and services 82% (+4%)
Pay for products and services 65% (+3%)
Ordered products or services 64% (+3%)
Use social networking sites 56% (+15%)

So as you can see, a large percentage of both businesses and individuals use websites to help them make a buying decision and then to actually make the purchase - and this is growing every year.

Yet only 60% of Small Business have a website and amazingly 29% have no intention of getting a website. So if you have no intention of getting a website, are you really serious about growing your business?

Furthermore, of the 60% of the Small Businesses that do have a website, 73% felt it increased their effectiveness through helping people find them, promoting online and getting more business and sales. Interestingly, more focus was on being found and promoting than to increased business and sales. I would argue that as a small business, increased business and sales should be your primary objective to having an effective website.

The use of eCommerce by small business

eCommerce is basically using the Internet to buy and sell products and services (this may not necessarily be through your own website). Firstly, let’s look at the percentage of small business that use the internet to buy and to sell.

To Buy

Look for information 86%
Place orders 74%
Pay for Orders 76%

To sell

Display Information (eg. Have a website) 60%
Take orders 58%
Receive payments 70%

Of those businesses that do take orders on the Internet, 47% say it accounts for over 10% of all their sales (with 13% saying it accounts for over 50%).

So in a nutshell, we have 74% of businesses using the internet to buy goods and services, but only 58% of them actually taking sales from these businesses online. Overall only 62% of businesses are trying to sell online and 34% have no intention. Once again, this beggars belief. Is it just me, or is this a huge opportunity?

A common excuse I get is “my business only sells to local people and the internet is only for selling to broader markets”. Yet, the survey found that of those businesses selling online, 86% sold to the local market and 52% sold within their own state (52% sold interstate and 27% sold overseas). So this makes this argument obsolete I would suggest.

Use of Mobile Phones

The survey found that 96% of Australians have a mobile phone and of these people 41% use the internet on their phone. So what are they using the internet on their mobile phones for?

Looking for maps and directions 67%
Looking for information on products and services 56%
Looking for suppliers of products and services 45%
Ordering products and services 17%

So as you can see, Mobile Phones are becoming just as important as normal internet. This is increasing at phenomenal speeds as more of us get Smart Phones and Tablet Computers. But I will go into more on this in a future blog.

Use of Social Media

This has been quite a growth area for several years now and looks to continue into the future. It’s also an area that I think still has some learnings on the best way for Small Business to get the most out of it. I personally believe that it’s a great strategy for some businesses, but not all. So don’t get caught up by someone trying to sell you an expensive program to set up and manage your social media.

But let’s look at the statistics. Overall 56% of Australians use a social networking site and of those people, 52% look at it at least once a day. However, only 10% of business use social media, but of those, 60% believe that it has a positive impact on their business.

So this shows that Social media is definitely something that any small business serious about growing and achieving their maximum potential needs to embrace. But as I prefaced this section, it’s not for all and doesn’t just include Facebook and Twitter.

So does your business have a Digital Strategy?

Are you getting the most out of the Internet? Or do you stick your head in the sand and hope it will just be a passing phase and it won’t work for your business?

If I can briefly put in a plug for our services, you may be confused to hear that we are not interested in those businesses that don’t have a website or have no intention of getting one. I originally believed that I could help all small business, but after much pain realised that some people you just can’t help. So my objective here is not to try and convince those of you with no website (or intention to get one) that you should, but to help those of you already with a website work out the best way to make it work for your business. So if you’re not happy with your results (or worse still, don’t know your results), contact us to find out more.

Small Business - Technology and the Internet

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 14:00:00 GMT

Sensis undertakes a quarterly Questionnaire on business confidence for Small Business, called the Business Index. The June 2009 questionnaire focussed on how Small Business was utilising technology and the Internet. It had some very interesting results that I thought I would share with you.

Business Computer Ownership

97% of all businesses used a Computer
The highest usage is Communications & Business Services, Finance & Insurance and Health & Community at 100%
The lowest usage is Building & Construction at 90%

Business Internet Connections

95% of all businesses use the Internet (up from 34% in 1998)
Finance & Insurance the highest users at 100%
Building & Construction the lowest at 87%

Business Internet Usage

The main use for Internet in Small Business (97% of connected businesses) was email and communication
92% use it to look for information on Products and Services
83% use it to access Online Directories (such as Yellow Pages)
78% to place orders for Products and Services
78% to pay for Products and Services

Consumer Internet Usage

90% of Households have a Computer with 85% having Internet
78% of all Australians used the internet to research Products and Services
61% ordered Goods and Services
41% used a Social Networking Site
41% read a Blog
27% belonged to an Online Community
The biggest increase in usage for the last 12 months was the number belonging to an online community (up 7%)

So what does this all mean. Well to be blunt, it means that if you don’t have an Internet Presence, than you are not being serious about growing your business. But don’t worry if you don’t have a website, only 56% of Small Business have a website.

Now forgive me as I get onto my Soapbox, but I find this astounding. The Internet is arguably the fastest growing area in our life. More and more people are using the Internet for not only research, but connecting with other people and businesses. This is only going to grow as Gen Y becomes more influential in Society. Yet there are still a large number of businesses out there refusing to get on board.

Recently we’ve seen businesses seize opportunities with Government funding in Water tanks, Solar Panels and Insulation and develop their businesses to take advantage of these. Yet many of these same businesses are still resisting the Internet.

So as Professor Julius Sumner Miller asked – Why is it so?

This is the million dollar question, but I believe that it boils down to 3 main reasons:

Don’t really understand the Internet and what it takes to develop an Online Marketing Strategy
Believe that it’s expensive
Or just refuse to embrace technology

So if you don’t have a web Presence, I ask you – which one are you?

Download the full Sensis eBusiness Report

Ignorance versus Indifference

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:00:00 GMT

I heard a great joke the other day, that i just had to share with you:

"What's the difference between Ignorance and Indifference"

"I don't know and I don't care!!!!!"

I would argue that this could sum up some Small Business Owners when it comes to the Internet.

Is Social Media a Fad, or should you get on board?

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 04:51:00 GMT

I came across this amazing video on Youtube with interesting Stats on Social Media. It reinforces my opinion that any Business that is serious about growing into the future should focus on their online presence. The Internet (and Social Media) is here to stay, so don't get left behind.

If you don't have time to watch the video, some of the key points to come out of it are:

By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers
96% of Gen Y have joined a social network
Social Media has overtaken porn as the #1 activity on the Web
The years taken to Reach 50 millions Users:
- Radio - 38 Years
- TV - 13 Years
- Internet - 4 Years
- iPod - 3 Years
- Facebook - 100 million users in less than 9 months
- iPhone applications - 1 billion in 9 months.
If Facebook were a country it would be the world’s 4th largest between the United States and Indonesia
China’s QZone is larger with over 300 million using their services
1 in 6 higher education students are enrolled in online curriculum
80% of companies using LinkedIn as a primary tool to find employees
The fastest growing segment on Facebook is 55-65 year-old females
Ashton Kutcher and Ellen Degeneres have more Twitter followers than the entire populations of Ireland, Norway and Panama
80% of Twitter usage is on mobile devices…people update anywhere, anytime…imagine what that means for bad customer experiences?
Generation Y and Z consider e-mail passé
What happens in Vegas stays on YouTube, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook
The 2nd largest search engine in the world is YouTube
Wikipedia has over 13 million articles. Some studies show it’s more accurate than Encyclopedia Britannica and 78% of these articles are non-English
There are over 200,000,000 Blogs
54% of bloggers post content or tweet daily
Because of the speed in which social media enables communication, word of mouth now becomes world of mouth
25% of search results for the World’s Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content
34% of bloggers post opinions about products & brands
People care more about how their social graph ranks products and services than how Google ranks them
78% of consumers trust peer recommendations
- Only 14% trust advertisements
- Only 18% of traditional TV campaigns generate a positive ROI
- 90% of people that can TiVo ads do
Hulu (a TV Show Download site in the US) has grown from 63 million total streams in April 2008 to 373 million in April 2009
25% of Americans in the past month said they watched a short video…on their phone
According to Jeff Bezos 35% of book sales on Amazon are in Downloadable format
24 of the 25 largest newspapers are experiencing record declines in circulation because we no longer search for the news, the news finds us.
In the near future we will no longer search for products and services they will find us via social media
More than 1.5 million pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared on Facebook…daily.
Successful companies in social media act more like Dale Carnegie and less like David Ogilvy Listening first, selling second
Successful companies in social media act more like party planners, aggregators, and content providers than traditional advertiser

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:18:00 GMT

I’ve just started reading Stephen Coveys “8th Habit” book and must say that I am inspired. If you haven’t read (or listened) to any of Covey’s stuff then I would definitely recommend it. It’s probably the most powerful stuff I have come across (up there with napoleon Hill).

In fact, his “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” was the inspiration for most of Probity Partners Values Statement. So with this inspiration in mind, I thought I would write this month about the 7 Habits and give my take on it.

So what are the 7 Habits?

The 7 Habits are:
1. Be Proactive
2. Start with the end in mind
3. Put first things first
4. Think Win/Win
5. Seek first to Understand and then to be Understood
6. Synergise
7. Sharpen the Saw

1. Be Proactive
This seems pretty obvious, but is very often forgotten in our busy business lives. I believe we are all guilty of it, just at different levels. It basically means that we should always strive to be proactive rather then reactive. That is, be proactive at making change happen rather then reacting to change when it is thrust upon you. The best current example of this would be the doom and gloom of the “Global Economic Crisis”. Many people reacted to the media portrayal of this and became negative about their business. Rather then being proactive and looking for the opportunities that they could take advantage of. A Proactive person is in charge of their destiny.

2. Start with the end in mind
Yes, you guessed it. We all need goals. A successful business needs to have an overall vision that you work towards, otherwise where you end up is left to chance. This is true for even small projects. Take the time to quickly decide what it is you hope to achieve and then set about achieving it.

3. Put first things first
This goes hand in hand with Habit 2. Once you know what you want to achieve, you need to plan out how you are going to get there. Otherwise, you might get ahead of yourself. This doesn’t always mean a formal plan, but may simply be a to do list you keep in your head.

4. Think Win/Win
This is one of my favourites. Whenever you are negotiating with someone else, always aim to get a solution where both parties win. Never set out to rip people off and take advantage of them. This may work a few times, but will ultimately catch up with you. I’m sure we’ve all seen great ideas get destroyed by somebodies greed.

5. Seek first to understand and then to be understood
This is similar to the saying “you have 2 ears and one mouth, so use them in that proportion”. Most people want to put their side forward first (this includes sales meetings) and leave little opportunity for the other party to put forward theirs. A great way to get the best possible outcome is to really understand the other party’s issues first, before trying to fix them. This is especially true in a heated exchange. You will be amazed at how much people calm down when you simply listen.

6. Synergise
This replaces compromise. Often when dealing with people you may not get consensus (think price in a sales meeting). In these circumstances, we generally compromise to get an agreement. However, the very definition of compromise means that one party must lose out and what they really want (think habit 4). Synergise means to brainstorm to come up with a solution that is better than the first. One that means that both parties win. In a Sales Meeting you may not budge on price, but throw in an additional product or service. These may cost you very little, but mean a lot to the customer, leading to a Win/Win situation.

7. Sharpen the saw
This is probably my favourite and one that I can struggle with at times. It’s best explained by something that happened to me recently. When we build an online shop website, we need to organise the products into a spreadsheet ready for importing into the site. The price field needs to have “AU/” put in front of the price to signify that it is in Australian Dollars. Every time I set up one of these spreadsheets I start by trying to work out an easy way to add this to the 100+ products, but after a few minutes decide I’m wasting time and add it individually. This can take hours. The last time I had to do one, I decided to take the time needed to find the solution (Sharpen the Saw). After 30-45 minutes I had found it and it took me 10 minutes to complete the job. Now if I had done this the first time, I believe I would have saved close to a week of my time. So the moral of the story is, don’t let yourself get that busy doing stuff (sawing), that you don’t have time to work out a way to make it easier (sharpening the saw).

I hope you have enjoyed my take on these Habits. I believe that these are powerful and am just now starting to teach them to my 2 young sons, as I believe it will make them better people. I would love to hear your thoughts.

But what’s the 8th Habit?

As I mentioned, I’ve only just started the book, but fully intend to talk about it in the near future. But from what I’ve read, it is “To find your voice and inspire others to find theirs”.

The 13 Pillars of Internet Marketing and SCRIBD!

Fri, 29 May 2009 07:55:00 GMT

For sometime I have been a fan of David Blain and have probably referred him to some of you. He is Scottish (we won't hold that against him) and has a really good take on Internet marketing.

Anyway, he has just released his latest version of "The 13 Pillars of Internet Marketing". This covers what he considers are 13 key strategies to maximise your internet marketing and is a really easy read as well as being incredibly informative. He has released it on a site called scribd.com, which is a really interesting site. It is essentially a Youtube site for Articles.

So I thought the best way to show you both, would be to embed David's article in my blog and you can then see both. So here it is - enjoy!

The 13 Pillars of Internet Marketing The 13 Pillars of Internet Marketing David Bain A comprehensive introduction to internet marketing and search engine optimization for marketing managers, business owners and entrepreneurs

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Marketing Business & Law tips seo

Check out our NEW Web Solutions!!

Tue, 12 May 2009 02:58:00 GMT

Previously at Probity Web & Print, we have focused solely on our Online Business Websites (using the GoodBarry Platform) as I believed that you'd be mad to want anything else. However, we have still from time to time, met people who really just want a simple 5 page Brochure site with a Contact Us Form. In these cases, we have referred them onto other Web Businesses that do these Brochure Sites. With Dan becoming a Partner, we have reviewed our current offerings and have added the following solutions:

Online Brochure Site

This is simply a Brochure Site with 5 Pages and a Contact Us Webform. It is a cheap way to get your business a Web Presence with low ongoing costs (hosting is only $10/month). We are offering these sites for only $550 including GST, but have a special introductory offer of only $440 inc GST for the month of May only.

Build your Own "GoodBarry Powered" Online Business Solution

This is the platform that we used on all of our previous sites. It is incredibly powerful and allows you to have pretty much any functionality a Small Business would want on the Internet. This includes Email Marketing, Online Shops, Secure Zones, Online Database, Easy Build Webforms, Blogs, Forums and much more. You can now build your own GoodBarry site by choosing from our Templated options. Unlike our usual Custom Designed sites, these are templated sites and you are responsible for building them. The good news is that you can sign up for a FREE 30 day trial to check it out and then when you want to go live, simply pay us $120 inc GST. For this, we will help you redelegate your Domain to your new site, submit your site to Google etc and set up your Email Accounts and auto responder addresses. To get started go to our Online Business Builder.

Domain and Email Solution

Our Reseller Agreement with TPP Internet means that we can now offer Domain Registrations (or Renewals) at $30 for a 2 year licence. If you have a Domain already with another Reseller, we can easily transfer it over to our system for Renewal (don't get caught paying more, they are all the same). We can then combine this Domain with an Email Hosting Package for a further $30. This includes 5 Email Accounts, 2 GB Disk Space, 10 GB Data Transfer, Webmail, Anti-Spam and more. That means for only $60 inc GST you can have your own email accounts. So if you currently use a Bigpond, Yahoo, Optusnet or similar email address - STOP promoting their business and start promoting your own.

FREE Website Support

We have always prided ourselves on our ongoing support to our Clients. In fact, many of our Clients have come across from other Web Businesses, because they were frustrated with no support (or if it was available, it was charged at exhorbitant prices). Our clients can simply contact us and we'll help them make changes at usually no charge. However, we have decided to formalise this a bit so that it is fair for all parties and so that we can promote it to our Clients who aren't taking advantage of it. So from now on, we will provide up to 1 hour of FREE support a month as part of your monthly hosting. This may be simply talking you through how to do something, or even doing it ourselves. To access this simply email support@probity-web-print.com.au and we guarantee to get back to you with a response within 3 Business Hours.

Additional Website Maintenance

What we have found is that our Clients that work their websites do well and those that just leave them do no better then a Brochure Site. So if you are going to take advantage of our GoodBarry websites, then you need to work it. For those clients that either don't have the time, or struggle with technology, we now offer a Maintenance Solution. We have modelled this on Bookkeepers, so you simply pay us for any time that we spend maintaining your website. This could include updating your content, changing your designs, adding new Products, setting up your Email Newsletter Campaigns, Optimising your site, updating your Blog or managing your Social Media Integration to name a few. We will simply discuss with you at the start of each month what needs to be done and expected hours and then charge you at $55/hour for general maintenance and $88/hour for Graphic Design changes. We truly believe that you will recoup these costs through the increased effectiveness of your website.

So if you've been thinking about improving your Internet Marketing, give us a call and we will help you get the option that suits you best.

Where does your Website fit into your overall Marketing Strategy?

Tue, 12 May 2009 02:55:00 GMT

Your website isn't your be all and end all of Marketing. As much as I stress the growing importance of the Internet in your Marketing Strategies, it is still only a part of it. This month I wanted to discuss where your website fits in and what are the advantages.

Lead Generation

This is generally what people think a website is all about. They think that if they get a website, people will find it and then contact them to buy their Product or Service. This does happen, but probably not as much as you'd like to think. To achieve this, you really need to take Search Engine and Website Optimisation seriously (can be expensive) and consider Google Adwords etc to drive traffic to your website.

Credibility

Websites are becoming more and more important for your Business's Credibility. The majority of people will research your business on the Internet to decide if they trust you enough to buy from. A recent builder client of ours lost a sale because the prospect couldn't find out anything about him on the internet.

Support other Marketing Strategies

Websites can improve on your other marketing strategies. A good example of this is Yellow Pages Online. You and your competitor ads all look similar, but if yours has a link to your website, then you have more chance of converting the sale. Our clients with Yellow Online ads, get a lot of visitors to their sites from these ads. Similarly, Google sponsored research showed a large number of prospects viewing a newspaper ad, will conduct further research online before purchasing from that business. See the full report here.

Customer Support

We all know that your easiest sale comes from existing customers, so make sure that you look after them. Your website can be used for such a thing, with Support Forums, Feedback Forms, Downloadable Forms & Info Sheets, Secure Zones and Customer Support Ticketing to name a few. Use you website as a way for your customers to communicate with you.

Email Marketing

I've saved the best for last. I truly believe that email marketing is the one must have in any business. Research shows that if you don't contact your customers and prospects every 90 days, they will start forgetting about you. And if they forget about you, they may buy from someone else. Email Marketing allows you to easily (and virtually for free) send out regular Newsletters with useful info (and maybe some buy triggers) to your database. It is even more effective if you use it in conjunction with your website.

These are not all the ways you can use your website, but is hopefully enough to help you stop thinking about websites as purely a lead generating tool. With the growth of the internet, you need to start thinking of ways to use the internet to improve all that you do. If you haven't talked to someone who is up to date with the latest technology in the last 2 years, then you should.

Download the Website Strategies info sheet for a more info.

Poking fun at Twitter

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 08:13:00 GMT

In a previous blog post about how Twitter can help market your business, I mentioned that it was originally designed to keep Gen Y up to date with their friends. Now I personally find this concept incredibly strange and way over the top. Which is why I loved the video below when I stumbled onto it on Youtube. Now as much as I laugh at the original concept of Twitter, I do believe that it has potential in a business sense (see my previous post).

I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. Afterall, Business isn't always about being serious.

What is the relationship between advertising in Newspapers and Online?

Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:42:00 GMT

I recently came across an interesting Research report that was conducted in October 2007. It was commissioned by Google and they wanted to see what the relationship was between Newspaper Advertising and Internet searches. What they found was that 44% of respondents stated that they head performed further research on Businesses or Products that they saw advertised in a Newspaper. Of that 44% who researched, 67% conducted the research online (Internet). Furthermore, of those that researched further, approximately 70% went on to use that Business or purchase that Product.

Now admittedly, this is a US research and it is over 18 months old. But I would suggest that Australia isn't that much different to the US and if anything, the last 18 months would probably see an increase to this as Internet Usage grows overall.

So do you have a Website?

If not, don't you think it's time you stopped resisting and caught up with the way of the future. More and more people are using the internet to not only research Businesses, but to also purchase products. If you don't get on board, you will be left behind.

Download the Newspaper/Online Marketing research summary.

Can you help a great cause?

Mon, 09 Mar 2009 14:00:00 GMT

Why not book into the 2009 "Camp Quality - Supper Club"?

The Chandon Supper Club has become one of Camp Quality’s most successful and exclusive fundraising events and is one of the hottest tickets on the social calendar.

The Chandon Supper Club is a unique fundraising experience marrying fine wines, intimate dinners, secret destinations, glamour, a big party and a generous serving of pure fun and energy.

Through the generosity of restaurants, caterers, venues and hosts in each city we aim to raise $1 million nationally in 2009. This money will help send up to 2,000 children with cancer on a camp where they will have the opportunity to have the time of their lives, forget about their illness and concentrate on being a child again.

To learn more, or to book, download the Brochure including a booking form. Similarly, check out which Restaurants are participating and are still available to book.

I appreciate that times may be tough and that you may already have given to the fund raising appeals for the Fire and Flood victims. But if you can afford to, this is a very worthwhile cause as well as a great way to really have a great time.

What are the requirements of a Champion Team?

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 14:00:00 GMT

This is an oldie but a goodie. If you've been receiving my Newsletters for a while, you would have received this before. But I thought, given the previous article, it was worth repeating. Afterall, if you downloaded the previous article, you would have read that one of the keys to the Cashflow Quadrant was to surround yourself with a great team of people who will run your business for you.

But how do you get that great team?

There are 6 key requirements to developing a Champion Team. These are:

A Good Leader
Common Goals
Rules of the Game
Code of Honour
100% Participation
Support for Risk Takers

To learn more about what each of these entail, simply download the info sheet on Building Champion Teams.