Leverage Blog: How to Exploit the Web.

Local search and web design: A match made in heaven

I wrote earlier this month about the death of the yellow pages, and author and search guru John Battelle has some great insights on the YP and Yahoo! Local Search today:

Yahoo Local has rolled out an update to its business model for local merchants, and it's looking a lot like what the Yellow Pages do, only online, self service, cheaper, and, well, what I've been on about for a while - a step towards the online version of what the Yellow Pages really need to become...  (Full article here.)

My particular focus is on your business, and using the web to help you grow.  If you feel your customer is using search engines to try and find you (probably) and you buy a local ad (they are pretty affordable,) then you need to differentiate your business from the other guys.

You need a clear, smart, compelling website that inspires your prospects and motivates them to call, to come by, to request a quote.

...oops, I misspoke.  You need a great website to differentiate regardless of whether you advertise on Yahoo!, The New York Times, or by trailing a banner by from a plane flying over the Giants game this weekend.

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Google on your radio

Well, not exactly on your radio, just selling advertising on it.

Yes, with it's acquisition of tech firm dMarc Google is bringing it's easy-to-buy (and easy to target) advertising platform to radio.  dMarc's technology sorts out the complex process of scheduling and placing radio advertising, and over the coming months Google will streamline and simplify it further.

Google's press release is here.

Thoughts on using Flash in website design

I've been involved in an online-discussion about effective business web design and posted a thought that might be of interest to some Leverage readers.  For those in a rush (i.e., all of us,) the bottom-line is in orange.

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Hello bloggers,

My thought on using Flash in business websites?  A little goes a long way.

A little background on me-- I'm the Director of a web design and marketing agency for small business called Wheel Media, so I think about this stuff all day long.

After reading the research on usability and 'conversion' (i.e., motivating a visitor to make contact with you from your website,) our team feels Flash 'windows' strike the right balance.

Here are few examples:

www.lamphier-gregory.com

www.esbnb.com

www.summitmortgage.net

You'll see Flash, which communicates elegance, professionalism and sophistication-- the emotional triggers that turn 'browsers' into 'buyers' --and most copy in HTML, which can be indexed by the search engines.  HTML will also do other things more efficiently, but I'll spare you the fine-points. (You're welcome.)

Kudos to John for mentioning the search engine optimization consideration (SEO); it's critical.  We've found you can have both rank and compelling design-- www.esbnb.com is #2 for their main keyword.  Not every client is willing to invest in SEO, but when they do the ROI is typically (very) good.

Make it a great day everyone,

mr

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Wiki's: What are they?

A Wiki is another form of website where users create the content. The most well-known wiki is Wikipedia, essentially an online encyclopedia created by, well, all of us.  Use it like you would use an encyclopedia (not a search engine.)

Is there a marketing opportunity in wiki's?  Yes, but for most businesses I would say there are other online tactics that will drive more revenue, including email marketing,  blogging and word-of-mouth marketing to name a few.

Wiki's and blogs sound similar, and they are.  The main difference is that a wiki will read more like an encyclopedia, and a blog more like an ongoing conversation.  You can now create a "Product Wiki" on Amazon.com, as dozens have done for the book Freakonomics  (scroll down to the bottom.)

Why does Amazon have forums, customer reviews and a wiki?  Does it sound like overkill?  Yes, there's lots of overlap, but a huge online brand like Amazon understands that they need to give their customers different ways to get involved. Some prefer a wiki, while others would rather write a review. More on how this will shake-out later; things are moving fast.  Wiki's are undoubteldy one more way to leverage the internet.

wiki wiki+marketing small+business smb sme leverage+the+internet

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Where are news and advertising and, well, *media* headed?

A brilliant article in The Economist discusses the future of media, and they do it in a way that busy entrepreneurs will appreciate:  Clear, objective and brief.

The era of mass media is giving way to one of personal and participatory media [...] that will profoundly change both the media industry and society as a whole.

What's the bottom-line for your business?

1. All media is moving online.
2. The Internet (and later, all media) is becoming a place where the user is creating the content-- be it your business, your customer or your kids.
3. By opening your business up to your customers in this way they won't want to buy from anyone else.  You'll be more than a product, but a destination.  More than a service, but an activity.

Old way:  We have magazines, TV, newspapers and radio that send information to us.  We read.  We watch.

New way:  Blogs. Comments. Photo sharing online.  Social networking websites (i.e. MySpace) where the user creates their experience.

Full article-- highly recommended-- here, and thanks to Erik @ Business 2.0 Blog for the find.

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More businesses are advertising online (78% more)

Anything that grows 78% year-over-year is hot, and local ad spending on the web did just that in 2005-- to the tune of $4.8 billion dollars.

Businesses-- some local and some national-- are rushing to advertise on sites like  sacbee.com and sfgate.com, eager to drive customers in Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay to their sites.

What we're seeing from all this investment is more information about how your customer is using the web:  They are flocking to local online resources like The SF Chronicle website.

Where is the opportunity for the Consulting Firm in Sacramento?  For the Contractor in San Francisco?  Search engine optimization (SEO) for your website.  Target the words that describe your products, in the cities you serve, and you'll be leapfrog the competition (and hear from customers that are actively looking for you.)

Depending on your industry, SEO will often provide a greater return on investment than a banner ad on sacbee.com.  How much does it cost?  Tell me a bit about your business here, I'll do the research and let you know.  No sweat.

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Full story here

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Catch your staff in the act

In graduate school I learned the technique "catch them doing good," and it's one of the best best-practices.  Give it a shot.  Maybe even right now.

Think of something your partner or employee did well over the last week and give them a pat on the back.  Don't combine it with a request, just say "great job" and continue strolling down the hall.

Positive feedback in a neutral context has a huge motivating effect.

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Get rid of your old computer junk for free

I received word that there will be 3 chances to get rid of your broken computer monitors, ailing TV's, obsolete printers and ancient PC's.  Yes, you could toss them in the dumpster but the toxic substances will find their way into the water and the bodies of our grand kids.  No fun.

Sacramento's drop-off is this weekend, the 21st - 23rd.

San Francisco's window of opportunity is May 5th - 7th.

Details on locations available at the sponsor's site, Electronic Waste Management.

Thanks to Al at EWM for hosting the event.

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Do your customers want you blogging?

One key to growth is anticipating the needs of your customers.  While it can be a challenge to figure out exactly what new service or product they might need, we can safely say everyone likes information.

The business that educates and informs is often the most trusted, and trust wins clients.  Blogs are a pretty easy way to provide that information and build trust.  To see if your customers want you blogging, think about the questions they ask...

...and then answer them, in your blog, one post at a time.

Still not sure how a blog can grow your business?  Email me.  Let's dive-in.

Fuel the growth of America: Support the Arts

I believe the strength of America as a global business leader in lies in our ability to innovate. (Very simply stated) our core value lies in the creation of products, technologies and new markets that the rest of the world help us produce.

Innovation stems from creativity, and creativity is developed in the arts.

Our schools have all but forgotten about the arts.  There are no classes, no teachers and no supplies.  If we don't get our 8 year-olds painting, designing and building, they won't create the next Google.

And we'll be in trouble.

One answer is a project called Preserving America's Cultural Heritage, which proposes a tiny tax on art sales to fund individual artists.  This is one solution, not the solution.  Let's get the ball rolling, turn the tide, and survive.

Good times: We just launched a blog for this small business

Four cheers for Cyd Kmeto, a counselor, personal-coach and guru (no exaggeration) in Sacramento, CA.  A long-time client of Wheel Media, Cyd approached me looking for a new website.  The conversation went thusly:

Michael:  A new site is a great idea.  Have you thought about creating a blog?

Cyd:  A what?

Michael:  A blog.  A blog is a new kind of website that enables the author to add new content as often as they like without fancy hi-tech skills.  Visitors can post comments to your ideas, and you become the hub of a conversation (online)centered on your work.  The world needs to know what you do...and of course many of those people will become clients.  Exciting stuff, no?

Cyd:  [puzzled look]

Michael:  [optimistic, encouraging look]

Cyd:  OK, this sounds interesting.  Give it to me one more time...

The rest is history.  Well, the future.  The future of small business.  The website and blog compliment each other, cross-market and encourage visitors to come back.  The website is richer in design, the blog in content.

Our blog marketing strategy is one part planning, one part execution, and one part maintenance. I've trained Cyd on the art of blogging and she's running the show now.  Read her at Move Inside and learn more about her counseling practice at www.cydkmeto.com.

Hats-off to Cyd for her vision and willingness to lead.

The death of the yellow pages

A quick thought on the yellow pages:  Even a hot-air balloon won't save them.

I know it's hard to imagine a world without that big book in your drawer, and I know that sometimes it's more effective than a search engine at finding a local service, like a plumber.  Or a roofer.  Or a jumpy-house for your daughter's birthday.  (You didn't forget, did you...?)

But Local Search from Google, Yahoo and MSN will replace the yellow pages, because it's getting better.  Better at presenting all the plumbers in your area, instead of a random few.  In the past local search has fallen-short because we're not getting the results we want...so we turn to the big yellow book.

But the advertising revenue is too great for the search industry to ignore, so local results are becoming more relevant, more useful, and the search-method of choice.

Where is the local-search opportunity for your business?  If you deliver a product or service within a specific regional area you still have time to beat the competition.  How?

1. Build a clear, smart, professional website.
2. Optimize it (i.e., search engine optimization, or SEO) for specific, local keyword searches.

Just showing up in Google's "Local Results" is not enough to win the business.  A one-page website created by a friend is not going differentiate you from the other guys.

I still believe local search is the biggest opportunity for small business on the web.