Leverage Blog: How to Exploit the Web.

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.

 

Bitty Browser: (Another) new way to spread your message online

I came across the Bitty Browser today, a small browser that you can add to a website or, in this case, a blog.  It can be configured to display any site or blog you choose or organize a blogroll, and access to search.

Cool and interesting?  Of course.  But more importantly, what's the marketing value of the tool to your business?  Here are my top-of-mind ideas:

• Cross-promote blogs and websites.
• Add "Portal" features (search, news, etc.) to retain visitors and encourage repeat visits.
• Keep your site (and your brand) fresh *

* This is the big one.  Let's talk about how this tool can help communicate to your customer that you're a leader in your industry.  Are you providing your visitors with easy access to information that will position you as a thought leader?  Can this tool reinforce the message that innovation is standard at your business, and that your competitors are standing still?  Get creative, think about your customer and what they want to see, to know.

Also to note:  Non-technical staff can configure (and update) the Bitty Browser in no time flat.  The marketing strategy requires some thought, but the moving-forward execution is easy.

Oh, for this post I've set the BB to Wheel Media, my web design shop for small-business.  Surf away.

Blog Marketing Best Practice: Contributors

Guy Kawasaki has a great example of one my favorite blog marketing tactics, one I'm calling Contributors.

On the 4th guy did an interview on his blog of Adam Lashinsky from Fortune Magazine.  It's super-successful in the blog medium for at least two reasons:

1. Smart questions, smart answers, smart people.  As with blogs, websites and all marketing messages, good content is key.
2. Sort-and-sweet.  Blog readers don't want a white-paper  (although they would appreciate a link to one.)  They want news that's current and on-topic, small nuggets of information, and/or sources of research.

Who do you know that can provide a sharp idea or observation for your blog?  A thought your readers would value?

Ask your peers to contribute by telling you something wise.  The interview format is great, but a brief quote will work well also, and your contributor will appreciate the visibility.

The rising tide lifts all boats, no?

Blogging: Will it catch on?

This just seen on a bus in Sacramento:

Blogs being advertised on the side of a bus?  With the marketing budget of AT&T (and others, I'm sure) building awareness about blogs the medium will get a head-of-steam in no time.  AT&T has so much faith in blogs they're spending big bucks just to promote the category.

Wow.

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New in Search Engine Marketing: Pay-Per-Call

When I discuss search engine marketing (SEM) strategy with clients we evaluate the opportunity/impact/expense of two core tactics:

• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

A new tool called Pay-Per-Call is being rolled out by Google and Yahoo! and I've added it to the list.

Pay Per Call adds a phone number to paid search results.  Calls to a toll-free number are forwarded to the advertiser's business and are tracked and billed by the search engine (or their partner.)

The service is very new so listings are hard to find...so far.  The opportunity is great for simple services, like a florist. This searcher/customer is less interested in comparing flower shops and more interested in ordering a bunch.  For most B2B firms however-- an example might be aircraft sales-- the visitor is going to be clicking-on website links to evaluate the business; they'll be less-likely to just pick up the phone and say I'd like to buy a plane.

Pay-Per-Call is now on my radar.  Learn more here.

Clean design sells the product

Seth Godin drew my attention to a great side-by-side comparison of effective design.  And for those of you short on time (all of us,) it's a short online flash movie.  Take 120 seconds out of your day:

If Microsoft packaged the iPod.

Note that in 2005 an iPod sold every second, so we know the design is on target (as well as the product and merchandising.)

 

When I think about web design, I think about how I can clean up the page.  How I can include fewer images, lists and features?  Can I shorten the headline?  Our goals is to help the visitor focus on one clear, compelling idea and be inspired. Once inspired, they will dig deeper and find that feature list and detailed description, and call us.

The Long Tail

Simply put, the Long Tail is a look at the company of tomorrow.  Maybe.

It's a theory advanced by Chris Anderson, the Editor-in-Chief of Wired Magazine, that makes a strong case for specialized business-models. Niche-companies with focused, highly-targeted services can compete with giant companies...and win.  So what does this look like from a 20,000 foot view?

1.  The internet makes it possible to target a very specific customer. (Example:  Pay-per-click advertising on search engines enables a niche business to target the specific words that describe their services...and not spend a dime on the rest.)

2.  And the search engines now make it easy for customers to find a very specialized company. (Example:  A Google search for "Environmental consulting company in Oakland, CA." This person knows just what they are looking for-- in this case a certain-type of company in a specific location.)

3.  The website behaves like a salesforce. (Example: An online tour introduces the firm's service, FAQ's anticipate objections and respond, quote-request form set expectations about pricing,  live-chat makes an instant conversation easy for the prospect...more.)

4.  If product inventory is online, you don't need a warehouse.  And you don't need shelf-space.  The Long Tail theory doesn't suggest that brick and mortar businesses will disappear, only that niche-businesses will spring up-- and do very, very well.

5.  You can listen to your customer like never before.  (Example:  Blogs.  The enable you to demonstrate your expertise, ask questions, gather feedback and refine your offering.)

Keep Long Tail on your radar.  Read more at The Long Tail.

We're not living in the Information Age

Paul Saffo, a Forecaster at The Institute for the Future (IFTF), Stanford professor and all-around guru recently declared we're not living in the Information Age. He calls it Media:

"...In the old media, all we could do was press our noses against the Glass and watch.  This new world of personal media- the web, the internet etc. - not only delivers the world to [our] living rooms, but everywhere.  And we get to answer back.  And we're expected to answer back.."

Media more accurately describes the exchange aspect of today's information.  The interactivity.  And this is impacting every business out there,.  You can sell tires or manufacture parts or design buildings--  regardless of industry, your customer expects to interact with you pre- and post -sale..and they expect you to answer back.

How will your customer expect to interact with you tomorrow?

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Of note:  The web design agency I created for small business three years ago is called Wheel Media.  Was I prescient, or just lucky?

 

Web 2.0

Why should the small-medium business exec. care about web 2.0?

Because the venture capital firm Draper Fisher will be funding the web 2.0 startup TagWorld?  (Props to Michael Arrington for the news.) Not exactly.  Web 2.0 is important because it will impact the way your customers work with you.

Web 2.0 describes a new generation of websites that are more dynamic. Rather than a solitary experience, like reading a newspaper online or browsing through a catalog, these sites enable visitors to interact with each other.

For example, think about a photo-sharing site where visitors can upload vacation images.  A web 2.0 site enables other visitors to post a comment on each photo.  And each photo can have keywords associated with it (called tags) to make it easy for people to find the photo (i.e., paris, eiffel tower...) And visitors can group together their favorite photos for everyone to see.  And the site will show everyone what is most popular at that moment.

Wow. Visit Flickr.com to experience it.

The more users that add their opinion the more visibility the information will garner.  Communities are forming around special interests, and the trend will continue.

What will the online communities that develop around your companies product or service say about you?