Wamwaw

The Right Question

Wamwaw — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 17:08:01 +0000

“How do I get more people to visit my website?” I am asked this question a lot.

Success is not about how many people are opening your website.

What if one million visitors went to your website, looked around and did nothing? How could that help you reach your goals?

Having a successful online strategy isn’t about getting more visitors. What’s important is that the right people are getting your message, and that there is an actionable goal waiting for them once they arrive.

Start asking “How can I get the right people to visit my website and how does that help me reach my goals?”

This is why targeting and messaging are important.

Wamwaw — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 23:26:25 +0000

We all wish that our contact list was full of potential customers. The truth is there are a mix of people from different backgrounds, relationships, and needs. Your contacts aren’t all the same. That’s why it’s so important to target and segment your marketing.

At the very least, you need to create a marketing plan for three groups:

a) Your contacts that don’t want what you’re selling and will never buy from you. Among others, this could be friends and family. Still valuable, they’re just not your direct customers.

b) People that might buy from you but you just haven’t met them yet. You need to get permission to talk to this people. This is your growth opportunity.

c) Your contacts that want to buy what you are selling. These are your current costumers and leads.

Most businesses focus solely on “group c” and that is good news for you. If you have a better, well-rounded marketing plan, you are going to do better than your competitors.

Online or offline, remember to target your marketing!

3 Tips – Use Social Media to Grow (Without Selling a Thing)

Wamwaw — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 15:15:26 +0000

I’ve worked for years with some of the most successful and largest organizations in world. From nonprofits to big corporations, leading organizations focus on one thing – the bottom line. That means that they are not only focused on income but they care deeply about how they SPEND money. These organizations know that controlling costs is the key to faster growth.

Whether you’re a small business owner or a Fortune 500 CEO, you should be looking at Internet and Social Media for ways of reducing your cost of doing business. Investing now will let you offset costs for training, support, and office space. Here are three tips to get started:

Use Camtasia software (or Jing) to record PowerPoint presentations at meetings. Post these videos to your internal website (for employees) or YouTube (for Customers). This will let you reduce the need for repeat meetings and conference calls even as you grow.
Use Ning to create a private social network with blogs and forums so that employees and customers can interact. You’ll be surprised at how quickly customers start answering each other’s questions. By monitoring the forums, you can also measure trouble spots — so that when you do invest in training you’ll know exactly where to spend your money for top ROI. Plus, you may uncover areas of need where you can create products and services.
Use Basecamp and Google Apps for project planning, creating documents, and other essential tasks. This will open the door to virtual employees or reduced hours in the office. It will also create transparency for you to monitor employee performance and project deadlines.

Have you had success using social media for bottom line growth? Post a comment and let us know.

Tips for Building Your Social Media Plan

Wamwaw — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:46:43 +0000

If you’re trying to grow your business or career using social media and the web, you shouldn’t start by asking what tools to use. The first step is figuring out who you want to talk to and what you want to say. I hope this video helps.

Is your website actually costing you customers?

Wamwaw — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 21:40:28 +0000

You’ve probably seen “Flash” websites. They’re the ones with cool animation and moving parts. With a good design they can look pretty awesome, and that’s why creative types love to build them. However, if you’re serious about growing your business you should probably think twice about using Flash.

Understanding why Flash isn’t good for your business is as simple telling yourself a little story…

There is a technique that professional designers use called “personas and scenarios.” It’s simply a way to find real-world uses for product or service (things like websites). The designer imagines a potential customer and tells a story of how they end up using the product. Is the interaction successful? If not, why?

This storytelling technique isn’t only for professionals. You can use it to improve your website and business:

Here’s an example of “personas and scenarios” in action:

Who? Imagine two friends are having coffee. They decide to grab some wine and dinner.
Who else? A restaurant with a Flash website.
Friend one: “Where should we go?”
Friend two: “You might like [insert restaurant one here]. They have Italian food.”
Friend one: “Expensive?”
Friend two: “Let’s check out the menu.”
They pull out a mobile phone and open up the website. It’s Flash so they get an error.
Friend two: “How about [insert restaurant two here].”
And so on… the customers just move on with their conversation.

It’s that easy to lose a customer.

Keep in mind that Flash doesn’t load on most mobile devices. Cell phones, iPod Touches, and iPads are increasing popular for surfing the Internet on the go. If your business relies on people who are out and about (retail, food and beverage), your website might be doing more harm than good.

On the flipside, how would new customers affect your business? What changes can you make to win more customers?

Understanding why Flash isn’t good for your business is as telling yourself a little story…

There is a technique that professional designers use called “personas and scenarios.” It’s simply way to find real-world uses for product or service (things like websites). They imagine a potential customer and tell a story of how they ended up using the product.

This story telling technique isn’t only for professionals. You can use it to improve your website and business:

Here’s how it works:

Imagine a restaurant with a Flash website and a lost business opportunity:

· Who? Friends having coffee decide to grab some wine and dinner.

· Friend one: “Where should we go?”

· Friend two: “You might like [insert restaurant one here]. They have Italian food.”

· Friend one: “Expensive?”

· Friend two: “Let’s check out the menu.”

· They pull out a mobile phone and open up the website. It’s Flash so they get an error.

· Friend two: “How about [insert restaurant two here].”

· And so on… the customers just move on with their conversation.

It’s that easy to lose a customer.

On the flipside, how would new customers affect your business? What changes can you make to win more customers?