We'll present and explain the latest online marketing and web design strategies in a clear, get-to-the-point style, and we'll close the loop: Wheel Media can help you implement nearly every idea you find here.
Grow with us.
OK, so it's not the new, new thing, but on LeverageBlog, I've always fancied the useful thing.
I've found that Social Bookmarking is still unfamiliar to most of my clients, so I've posted another fantastic video from Common Craft to help people along. Hey, click the arrow.
The most common question we heard last week: What is a Podcast?
I'll rely on the talent at Common Craft again, and thank them again for sharing the info. Ready for your first podcast? I recommend the earnest, enlightening stories of This American Life. Find them here.
Great new article in Forbes about how to hire a firm to optimize (i.e., SEO) your site for the search engines. Here's an excerpt:
For small companies that rely on search engines to drum up customers, search engine optimization is an essential part of doing business. While a committed individual can learn the basics of optimization, the process can be complicated and time consuming. But if you're thinking about hiring a consultant, avoid going with a firm whose pitch sounds too good to be true... more
To see some search engine optimization results, see this google search for "san francisco web site design" GO. Wheel Media is our result (and also the SEO firm)
For a product specific search, see this google search for "used anesthesia machines". GO. Anesthesia Plus is the client.
SEO doesn't need to cost an arm and a leg. Get a quick quote here.
I'm sorry to draw you in with such a ridiculous headline. I couldn't resist, because I just discovered a threat to Google. And more importantly, a useful new type of search engines for small business.
Retrevo, is a vertical search engine for consumer electronics. What is a vertical search engine? One that focuses on something specific. Use Retrevo to search for some electronic product, like “D200” (i.e., The Nikon D200) in Retrevo and then in Google, and you'll see why vertical search engines are on the rise. The results are simply better.
Small business owners know that their customers are using their web to do their homework, and Google is where they start. In a few years maybe there will be a vertical search engine as well. The bottom line is that professional websites are what people are looking for-- they inspire customers to pick up the phone. Small time, low-budget websites, well, they make companies look small-time.
With the rise of vertical search engines and local small business directories like MerchantCircle it's never been easier for customers to use the web to find and compare companies.
Companies like yours.
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Thanks to Guy Kawasaki and his blog for the tip on Retrevo. More wisdom here.
Yes, I'm back.
From vacation? Well yes, but that's not important. Wheel Media, the web design and marketing agency that is my j-o-b has been flying high, leaving no time for writing. But I'm managing the growth by finding really amazing people to join us, and that will bring me back to Leverage.
I was pointed to some great ideas from Paul Gillin in BtoB magazine (thanks to David Baker,) and without a lot of commentary I'll throw them out here:
"We hear a lot about blogs, but blogs aren't important. What's important is personal publishing, or the ability to communicate a message to a global audience almost instantaneously. Personal publishing will permeate electronic media, providing counterpoint to mainstream sources and adding depth and color to the conversation.
"We hear a lot about podcasts, but podcasts aren't important. What's important is time-shifted media. The phenomenon that started with TiVo has spread to digital audio and will soon capture portable video. Information consumers will no longer be beholden to program schedules or even their living rooms. Our TV shows will travel with us.
"We hear a lot about RSS, but RSS isn't important. What's important is the ability to subscribe to information that really interests us. RSS is mainly used to subscribe to blog posts and podcasts. But in the future, they will use it to subscribe to ideas."
Simple and smart food for thought.
...yet with all the talk about new Internet technologies I still find it odd that many small businesses don't understand the importance (i.e., the potential) of a website. Most entrepreneurs know everyone goes online to check us out before they call. It's a no-brainer. Yes blogs and podcasts and RSS are valuable communication and marketing tools, but often forward-thinking ideas like Gillin's make me look backward at the foundation-- a plain website with a 1980 design makes a poor first impression.
Anyway, I'm back. More news soon.
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I've got a theory on the Web 2.0 technology boom, and I brought a visual aid. Refer to the chart at left, and let's begin.
OK, right now the number of "Web 2.0" companies is growing like crazy. (See the top line, the thin one.) What's a Web 2.0 company? To keep it simple, let's say Web 2.0 products and services involve social-networks and user involvement on the web. MySpace is one, where the users are creating the online content-- personal web pages-- and connecting with one another.
Flickr is another. Users, like me, upload photos to share, and we label them for others on the site to find and enjoy. (Go here for an expanded definition of Web 2.0.)
These companies and their online "products" are (mostly) amazing, creative and very, very useful.
On my chart thick line is the number of people who understand these new tools and are using them. I'm not talking about being hip and in the know; and I'm not making a value-judgment. I'm talking about people who have chosen to invest the time to learn about and use tools like Flickr, RSS or del.icio.us.
After all, it takes time to integrate this stuff into your life, right? What if you enjoy Triathlons more than technology, like my brother Eric? He's not listening to podcasts, he's running his business...and training for the next race. He's no slouch when it comes to technology, but we all make choices about how to spend our time. Choosing the web over a Triathlon-- one isn't 'better' than the other.
My point is there are tens-of-millions of Americans like my brother, slowly integrating the new technology into their lives. It will take time.
OK, back to the graph. The two lines intersect, and that's good because with adoption we get profitability, which leads to more innovation and more creative, useful products. BUT before they intersect I see this...gulp...downturn. (The cross-hatched area.) I'm a startup veteran, and I helped burn-through venture capital and watched the business turn-out the lights; I've been there, it's heartbreaking. But here's my point about this downturn (and I hesitate to call it that:) It's going to be different this time.
That cross-hatched area on the very scientific graph up there? Not fallout or crash. Not YIKES but more...YOWZA! Why? The people. The people starting these companies are collaborative, open-source thinkers and this will help the consolidation (which will happen) to occur more gradually and with less fallout. These innovators are more patient, less enamored with wealth, more often self-funded and stable, and the VC's funding them are more prudent too. They will merge with one another and will survive.
I'm optimistic. I'm excited. I say YOWZA.
What do you say?
Good things happen to your business when you make the investment. The Long Trail from Seth's Blog:
[...Want to guess what these musical acts have in common?
The Rolling Stones
The Eagles
Elton John
U2
Paul McCartneyThey each made more than $50 million last year, according to Forbes. They accounted for 40% of the top 10 acts. The long trail is what happened...
...The long trail explains why so many unprofitable movies turn a profit when the DVD comes out. The Shawshank Redemption got seven Academy Award nominations when it was released, but disappointed at the box office. Now, after more than 1.3 million reviews at NetFlix, it is one of the most enduring DVD hits ever.
The long trail is a reminder to invest like your product might just be around in ten years...]
Where are you focusing your attention on the web? A non-profit startup called AttentionTrust wants to help you protect (and profit from) your web surfing history. I'm glad they're on our side.
I recently interviewed Ed Batista, the Executive Director of AttentionTrust, a non-profit in San Francisco, CA researching the implications of our online attention, and their work is worth a minute of your time. While still in a research and information-gathering phase, the future implications of this work will be huge.
What we're talking about
Think of the value of online attention in the same way that Nielsen Ratings affect TV: When a 'Nielsen Family' focuses more of it's attention on a particular television program that programming becomes more valuable because advertisers will pay more for it; the same holds true for the web.
The exciting thing about the web however, is that we can collect much more detailed information. What you clicked-on, how long you visited a website, what you purchased. The ability to gather countless hours of information on our preferences is a fantastic opportunity, Ed says, if we can protect it and share it voluntarily.
The opportunity for us, as consumers, is to gather and store our online data-- our attention-- in a private way, and then to identify places we feel safe sharing it. Take Amazon.com, for example. AttentionTrust envisions a world where Amazon might be certified "trustworthy" because they will not misuse our privacy data.
If we voluntarily share our attention data-- our web surfing behavior-- with a trusted enterprise like Amazon they can recommend products we might really enjoy. (And more importantly, NOT send us the "special offers" that we don't care about.)
Less spam, fewer ridiculous popup-ads, and more relevance.
More than just eCommerce
AttentionTrust is not just concerned about smart recommendations for books and CD's. They and the growing community of "Attention Theorists" realize that social networks are built around attention. Imagine being able to find, for example, fathers in San Francisco with kids between the ages of 8 and 11 who play baseball. (Do you know anyone? Let's go to the Giants game this weekend!)
By saving my attention data and making it available (anonymously, of course) within a social context we can use the web to find others that share our interests. Yes,the internet can help create real, personal connections. Imagine that.
Implications for your business
The near-term implication for your business is this: Personal relationships with your customers are critical, and the web is the easiest way to collect and save the information. Help clients to register online and tell you what they like and what they want changed. AttentionTrust reminds us that this type of personalization is what your customer will come to expect from you.
Thanks to Ed and AttentionTrust for sharing their time and, er, Attention with Leverage.
You may have read about the discussions of "Net-Neutrality" in congress recently. If you've missed the debate (perhaps on purpose) I'll provide a high-level review of the issue and throw-in my .02.
Net-neutrality refers to legislation being debated in Congress that would keep the internet free. This activity is in response to cable and telephone companies lobbying Washington to create two access-levels to the internet-- large websites that pay large fees would get priority over smaller sites. The impact? Small (business) websites would load more slowly and be harder to navigate.
Who does your customer blame when their experience on your website becomes harder and slower? Comcast? SBC?
That would be nice, but no. They form the impression that your business is harder to work-with.
A few companies would make a windfall, like internet service providers and telcoms, but the small-medium enterprise would pay the price. This issue has joined the left-leaning moveon.org with the conservative Gun Owners of America, as wild as that sounds. What's more, a Democrat and Republican have teamed-up to draft a net-neutrality bill. This issue has created strange bedfellows.
I suppose my .02 is clear: Let's hope the lobbying skills of a small group of companies don't win-over our Representatives in Washington.
Additional ideas in the NY Times here.
