Posts Tagged ‘B2B Internet Marketing’

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Things to Consider When Planning Your Website

Monday, March 16th, 2009

For some of you the thought of planning your website might be a foreign concept.  Please don’t let that statment get you upset, it is simply a reality.  Most companies put very little thought into the structure and flow of their website and the results reflect that lack of thought very clearly.  If you are a company that has taken the time to think through the structure and flow of your website … CONGRATS! I am sure you are seeing excellent results.  Even if you have, this post might help you improve those results.

The best way to tell if you have an effective website structure and the flow of your site is working is by looking at the analytics of your site.  If you don’t currently have some type of analytics program on your website, DO IT NOW! You can get a Google Analytics account set up for free and have it installed on your site within minutes.  I understand that looking at your website statistics can be an overwhelming task since you will be presented with such a vast amount of information.  Don’t worry.  We’ll make it easier for you by pointing out what is the most important information to focus on.

What is your Bounce Rate?

A bounce rate is a term used in website traffic analysis.  It essentially represents the average percentage of initial visitors to a site who “bounce” away to a different site, rather than continue on to other pages within the same site.  Basically, if your bounce rate is 65% for example, that means that 65% of the people who arrive at your website are leaving your site without making even one click deeper into your website.  If you had a store and knew that high of a percentage of people that stepped into your store left without looking at anything beyond the first display they saw, you’d do something about it IMMEDIATELY!  Why wouldn’t you do the same thing with your website?

Each Page Must Have a Purpose

When you’re planning your website and developing the site map , it is extremely important to spend time thinking about each individual page of your site and ask yourself the question, “What is the purpose of this page?”  When a visitor arrives at your website they have a goal in mind and know what it is they are looking for.  If they immediately get the sense that it is going to be challenging to locate that information, they will leave.  If you’ve taken the time in the planning phase to clearly identify what the purpose of that page is going to be and you’ve created content which will answer the questions the visitor is looking for, they are far more likely to dig deeper into your site to find more information.  That is if you’ve made it easy for them to dig by having a clear navigation path.

Logically Lead Your Visitor to Take the Next Step

When you are creating content its important to keep in mind “What’s Next” in the mind of your visitor.  If, for example, you have an organization that is focused on spreading an idea and gaining further awareness of a particular social issue.  The content on the page should cover as many angles of this issue as possible and give a clear, compelling explanation as to why your organization feels the way it feels.

This is where you can take the opportunity to provide a clear path to the next steps. If your visitor wants to get involved in your cause you should provide a clear link within the content to a page on your site that allows them to view and sign up to volunteer for upcoming events.  If your visitor is a potential donor, you’ll want to provide an easy way for them to click a link within your content that leads them to a page which has the purpose of providing them with all the benefits they’ll receive by becoming a donor.  If your visitor is analytical and would like deeper information on something which you have found to be a fairly confusing part of the issue, you should provide a link in the content to another page which gives much deeper information on that aspect of the issue.

I am sure this makes logical sense but the challenge is it also takes time and thought to accomplish.  Well, it’s worth it!  Unless you are happy with 65% (or much worse in some cases) of your visitors leaving your site without looking at even one more page of your site, then you need to take the time and effort to work through this process.

I’d love to get some feedback from you on this issue.  If you’ve already taken the time to plan your website in this fashion … Please share your results with us.  If you have questions, please feel free to leave those as comments as well or you can go to our “Ask the Web Marketing Expert” page and submit your question.  We’ll follow up with a blog post that addresses your question.

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Posted in B2B Internet Marketing, B2C Internet Marketing, Online Business, Website Development | 1 Comment »

Does Social Networking Really Work? You Tell Me!

Friday, January 23rd, 2009

I received an email about three weeks ago regarding a potential interview opportunity with a gentleman ( Martin Meyer-Gossner) from Germany (at the time I thought he resided in the Netherlands).  He was looking to talk with someone who had expertise in Web Strategy.

You may ask, “Is this a relative or someone you met while travleing?”   Nope.  I’ve never left the North American content and this is someone whom I’ve never met.  This connection happened through my use of Linked In.  I am not even an avid user as I prefer Facebook as my primary social networking tool of choice.  The beauty of social networking and the Internet is it makes the world very small and opens up opportunities that we would have otherwise never knows existed!  This “smallness” of the world also creates an opportunity for businesses to create revenue opportunities in other parts of the country or even the world who aren’t experiencing such bleak economic conditions.

This story goes even one step further.  I update my status on Facebook periodically throughout the day to let people who are within my network know what I am doing.  Well when I was going through the interview I changed my status to let people know I was getting interviewed by someone from CBS in the Netherlands and that interview was going to be placed in a Web Strategy blog.  Well within about 10 minutes the interviewer had commented on my Facebook status and corrected me by letting everyone know he was from Germany!  :)

I think this is an excellent example of how Social Networking can help you expand your business opportunities and tremendously increase your geographic reach.  The sky is truly the limit!

So…  Does social networking really work?  Leave a comment and let me know if you have any similar experiences.

Pete

Ps.  Click here to read the interview and leave a comment if you’d like!

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Posted in B2B Internet Marketing, B2C Internet Marketing, Online Business, Website Development | 1 Comment »

Opportunity + Planned Consistency = HUGE SUCCESS!

Thursday, April 3rd, 2008

I figured since we are in the early stages and focusing on developing the proper mindset for your online success, I’d bring up a couple things I like to focus on that get me extremely motivated. When you are first beginning to focus your attention on your Internet initiative it is exciting, and at times can seem a bit overwhelming. There are so many ways you can attack your share of the market online, it’s easy to stall out trying to decide the best way to do it.

My advice is just do something!

The amount of people online that buy your products or services grows every single day! Not only that…those people are going to the Internet and letting you know EXACTLY what they are looking for and how often. With this information, and a little work, you can identify markets which your competitors aren’t even catering to!

The beauty is there are very few companies that take the time to focus on these facts and therefore overlook the HUGE opportunity in front of them.

DON’T BE ONE OF THOSE COMPANIES!!

Doing something will put you ahead of 95% of your competitors. Putting forth consistent effort towards a well thought out Internet Marketing plan and you can elevate your company amongst the elite in your industry. You may think this is hype, but it isn’t. You have access to an unlimited, world wide market and an extremely cost effective medium to interact with them as if they are right next door!

Keep these points in mind if you ever begin to get frustrated. The price you’ll pay will be minuscule compared to the return you’ll receive from putting forth planned, consistent effort for the next year and beyond!

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Posted in B2B Internet Marketing, B2C Internet Marketing, Online Business, Website Development | No Comments »

Let your passion fuel your new Internet business initiative

Saturday, March 29th, 2008

Alright! Now you have taken the time to determine exactly what you want with no boundaries and you’ve also taken the time to figure out what results you’ll need to produce to attain this goal. Personally I believe you should feel more excited than ever since these two foundational steps are typically skipped right over by most companies which leads to their next experience in the process…FAILURE!

Well, you know what you want, you know what it will take to get there, and you’ve given yourself ONE FULL YEAR to get there. Now what? This time can be scary since there is so much to be done. At times you’ll feel as though you have a million things to get completed and not enough time to get it done. Other times you’ll feel as if you’ve been working so hard and you don’t have much to show for it.

Know this: IT IS NORMAL to have these feelings.

Remember this: Continuous, consistent effort will get you where you want to be EVERY TIME!

It certainly matters if you are continuously, consistently doing the correct things but you don’t have to worry about that. We’ll make sure you are doing EXACTLY what you need to do.

I mentioned at times you’ll feel overwhelmed and you might even feel like quitting since “there is no way you can find the time to accomplish your goal.” These are the times you need to look back at what you are shooting for and let your passion for the attainment of those goals fuel your business.

What’s that? You aren’t passionate about succeeding on the Internet?

Come on now… for the past few years all you’ve been saying is how you wished you were making what all those other companies are making on the Web!

The real question you should be asking yourself is: Do I have what it takes? The answer to that question is: Absolutely!

You’ve already taken the most important steps in the process and you are getting ready to take off in your new Internet intiative. Don’t focus on where you are in the process, continue to focus on the end result you are looking to achieve. I know this stuff sounds basic and fundamental. It is! Some of the simplest things we need to do require the most reminders.

You are not going to be doing this on your own! We will be here for you every step of the way. If you have questions about anything you read in this blog, simply leave a comment and we’ll answer it for you. We also encourage you to leave any comments regarding successes you’ve experienced. We really enjoy hearing those.

We have helped over 400 companies with their online businesses in the past 8 years and are very excited to reach out and help hundreds more over the next 12 – 18 months. Make sure to click the link in the right hand column so you can be emailed each time we update this blog with the next steps in the process.

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Posted in B2B Internet Marketing, B2C Internet Marketing, Online Business, Website Development | 1 Comment »

Developing the proper mindset to maximize your online revenue (PART 2)

Friday, March 28th, 2008

I am hopeful you’ve recognized the value in brainstorming and coming up with a “no holds barred” version of what you want to accomplish on the Internet. Over the years we all become conditioned to settle on our goals due to the obstacles which appear in our path. After numerous failures and rough spots we begin to arrive at the point where we think, “If I could just make enough to get by I’d be happy.” Arriving at this point isn’t a bad thing as long as you don’t reside there for long. You would never tell your kids to make sure their expectations and hopes aren’t too high, so why should you think that way about your future? Why shouldn’t you be allowed to accomplish everything you dream of? The only way you won’t is if YOU stop yourself from doing it.

Ok, ok let me get down from my soapbox for a minute. :) Now that you’ve taken the time and written down what it is you’d like to accomplish, it’s time to begin to take action towards the accomplishment of this goal.

The next step is to determine what it is going to take to make this goal a reality. There are a few different ingredients which will be necessary to make this goal a reality and all of these will be crucial for you to possess the proper mindset to maximize your online revenue.

TIME ALOTMENT

Alright, in this “microwave world” everyone wants everything immediately and without much effort. If you happen to be searching through Google to find the latest, greatest GET RICH QUICK scheme…you’ve come to the wrong place. Success is arrived at by paying a price and there is no true way to avoid paying the price. The Internet certainly presents an opportunity to arrive at success much quicker than any other medium in existence, but it still takes time.

I will assume you followed the instructions of PART ONE thoroughly and your goal is fairly lofty. If that is the case let’s approach PART TWO accordingly. I want you to plan on investing the next one year towards accomplishing this goal. I am not saying you’ll need to invest every waking hour of the next year into the accomplishment of this goal. I am simply saying you will need to commit to taking steady actions over the course of the next twelve months towards the attainment of this goal. You may find yourself doubting whether it will happen or not (especially in the beginning), but I believe if you do these first two steps properly, and truly develop the proper mindset, you WILL MAKE IT! This simple process is absolutely 100% tried and true and has helped thousands of people succeed on the web. The only way you won’t join the ranks of the thousands of successful companies, is if you give up.

Now that you’ve committed to work toward attaining this goal for a minimum of ONE FULL YEAR, let’s look at what it is going to take. This is simply a math equation and once you complete it, you’ll have the basic foundation set and you can begin to take steps towards making it a reality. Let’s, for the purpose of this post, choose a goal of generating an additional $500,000 of revenue through the website. I am sure for some of you, this isn’t a very lofty goal and for others this may seem like an overly aggressive goal. If you are thinking this is “overly aggressive,” please go back to PART ONE and start over. :) Remember you are supposed to suspend disbelief and determine what you truly want, not what you think is realistic.

Ok, back to ingredient two. Now that we’ve determined the goal to be $500,000 of additional revenue let’s break that down based on incremental goals.

Monthly Goal – $41,666

Weekly Goal – $9,615.38

Daily Goal – $1,369.86

Hourly Goal – $57.07

I am sure now that you’ve broken those numbers down they don’t look nearly intimidating as the initial number of $500,000. Better yet, you get to use every day of the year to establish these numbers. Unlike your normal business, the Internet not only doesn’t take a day off, it doesn’t take a minute off. It is easy to take the stance of, “come on now…hourly income goals? That seems a bit silly.” REMEMBER: This is a process and right now we are only on the planning phase where we are getting in the correct frame of mind. Not only that, we haven’t even completely determined how we are going to use the Internet to generate this revenue.

Alright. Now that we’ve decided what our goal is and broken it down to very manageable, measurable goals based on the next twelve months, let’s look at how your current product offerings come into play. The best way to do this is to figure out how much annual revenue each of your clients is worth. This is a simple math equation and can be figured out by using the following formula.

Total company revenue in past 12 months (divided by) Total clients billed in same time period (equals) average client value

This formula needs to be based on total sales and not simply what you’ve done on the Internet. It doesn’t matter if you don’t even have a website, this information needs to be established. Let’s say, for example, you generated $500,000 within the past twelve months and you billed a total of 120 clients over that time period.

$500,000 / 120 = $4,166 average annual client revenue

I am sure you’ll find some clients that generate close to zero revenue and others that account for a large portion of your total revenue. The 80 / 20 rule always applies. The important thing is to figure out how many clients it will take to hit your goal. Once you’ve determined this number you can break it down in the same way we did for the the revenue.

Monthly goal – 10 customers

Weekly goal – 2.3 customers

You’ll see we didn’t go as far as we did with the revenue, but I am sure it looks very manageable! Remember this, we’ve done this exercise based only on your CURRENT company product offerings! As we work through this process we’ll soon uncover some additional revenue generators which you may have never thought of.

First things first though….

YOU NEED TO HAVE THE PROPER MINDSET or you’ll never make it anywhere. If you’ve done these steps for your own company and now feel as though you are ready for the next step…let’s go. If you are feeling even one bit of “doubt,” go back to PART ONE and start over. I cannot put enough emphasis on how important it is to begin in the right spot mentally to avoid many frustrations and the temptation to quit.

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Posted in B2B Internet Marketing, B2C Internet Marketing, Online Business, Website Development | 1 Comment »

Developing the proper mindset to maximize your online revenue (PART 1)

Saturday, March 22nd, 2008

Many companies simply don’t take the correct mental approach to developing their online strategy.  Without this, the foundation will be weak and the opportunity for success can be greatly diminished.  It is easy to SAY you want to make a whole lot of money on the Internet, but fully developing a plan and having the patience for it to play out is much more difficult.  Let’s face it…we are all VERY busy running our companies and overseeing the day to day operations.  Launching a new Internet initiative can seem to be a monumental task that will require much more effort than it is worth.  Many companies find themselves overwhelmed early in the process, and quickly abandon their initial plan.  Although they may not realize it…this abandonment may be costing them thousands or even millions of dollars. 

Great business leaders become great because they are effective in setting initiatives and delegating responsibilities in such a way that the initiatives can be accomplished with as little disruption to the normal course of business as possible.  Even if you haven’t reached the level of a “Great Business Leader,” you can at least do what they do, and soon become what they are.  

IDENTIFY WHAT YOU WANT

It is easy as a leader to focus on what you NEED in your business rather than what you WANT.  Due to this, many companies reach a plateau because they are constantly working on getting enough money in the door to cover their financial responsibilities every month.  Once they have reached this goal, they find themselves running to make sure they can do it the following month.  They are so busy meeting their needs, they don’t have the opportunity to determine what they truly want.

The first step in the process of developing the proper mindset is to sit down and take the time to write out the specific outcome you would like to receive.  The natural instinct will be to allow reality to creep in and you will resort to listing out the items you need.  It is VERY important not to fall in this trap.  You can look at this time as a “dream session,” but know that once this dream session has been completed, you will definitely be taking the time to implement a plan utilizing your available resources to accomplish this outcome.  You may find it difficult in the beginning to shake off the tendency to reign in your dreams, but with a little practice, you will find a new level of energy and excitement as you take the time to go through this exercise. 

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