Hopefully your goals are going well - today the goals you're going to write down have to do with your finances - different than your business - think personal, retirement, debt, things you may really want - you could also put here. Don't just say out of debt - say exactly how much ... ex. I want to pay off my debt of $22,000.00 in five years or seven or ten etc. Another ex. I want to buy (pay cash) for a new Hummer in five years. You get the idea, now go for it.
Next week we're going to work on turning these goals into a reality (think turning mountains into molehills)
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
Did you get those goals written yesterday - if not .... STOP... Do not pass go and don't keep reading. Do that before you continue. Each step builds on the last.
Today - using yesterdays template - write five long range goals you want to accomplish in your family life. Sometimes it hard to quantify love - but you could have a goal like - In ten years I want to have enough money saved for my childs education at the college of her choice. (Insert that dollar amount somewhere in the statement).
Five by tomorrow.
Today - using yesterdays template - write five long range goals you want to accomplish in your family life. Sometimes it hard to quantify love - but you could have a goal like - In ten years I want to have enough money saved for my childs education at the college of her choice. (Insert that dollar amount somewhere in the statement).
Five by tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Today we're going to work on making our first long range goal. By now you should have some notes on where you want things going in various areas of your life. Today we're going to think about business for a moment and make our first long range goal.
You should remember that you don't want to be vague - in other words grow my business beyond my wildest dreams, while that may be good we want some solid numbers. Provide better customer service would be a good goal - but again there is no way that you can see if you achieve the goal. So a good goal would be - In 5 years I want to increase my business by 500%. ... or In 5 years my returns / refunds will decrease to 0.1%.
So today write five long range goals for your business.
You should remember that you don't want to be vague - in other words grow my business beyond my wildest dreams, while that may be good we want some solid numbers. Provide better customer service would be a good goal - but again there is no way that you can see if you achieve the goal. So a good goal would be - In 5 years I want to increase my business by 500%. ... or In 5 years my returns / refunds will decrease to 0.1%.
So today write five long range goals for your business.
Monday, February 14, 2005
Friday, February 11, 2005
Saw this interesting article this week. Its about standards and function - but the main tidbit I got from the article was this.
"Yahoo's Tim Mayer said speed is a major concern, and to ensure fast loading page the company uses standards to reduce file size. Tim went on to say Yahoo's crawlers prefer fast loading sites and that they really don't put a lot of emphasis on validation. They have not seen a correlation between validated sites and good quality relevant sites. "
You can view the entire article here -
http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3482116
We hope you have a wonderful weekend - don't forget your goal homework.
"Yahoo's Tim Mayer said speed is a major concern, and to ensure fast loading page the company uses standards to reduce file size. Tim went on to say Yahoo's crawlers prefer fast loading sites and that they really don't put a lot of emphasis on validation. They have not seen a correlation between validated sites and good quality relevant sites. "
You can view the entire article here -
http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3482116
We hope you have a wonderful weekend - don't forget your goal homework.
Thursday, February 10, 2005
We've talked a bit on making goals - and the benefits of making long range goals - so what areas should you make goals in. Don't worry next week we'll set to work on actually making goals.
Your business
Your health
Your wealth - this is different than business - when do you want to retire... how do you want to retire.
Your family -
Spiritual -
Yourself - what would you like to learn how to do - what hobbies would you enjoy - if you could go anywhere where would that be
Now write these headings down on a sheet of paper -
Your homework for the weekend is to jot down some general things under each heading - think 5 or 10 years from now. Dream BIG!!
Have a good one.
Your business
Your health
Your wealth - this is different than business - when do you want to retire... how do you want to retire.
Your family -
Spiritual -
Yourself - what would you like to learn how to do - what hobbies would you enjoy - if you could go anywhere where would that be
Now write these headings down on a sheet of paper -
Your homework for the weekend is to jot down some general things under each heading - think 5 or 10 years from now. Dream BIG!!
Have a good one.
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
Yesterday we talked a little about creating goals and the proper format - today we're going to be talking about long range goals.
The goal ( :o)) of goal making should be to provide you with some steps that you can take daily to meet them. In order to do this the first thing we need to do is create some long range goals. Like we talked about these can be dreams but they need to be specific as to amounts / times. These global goals don't have to be as specific as short term ones - think 5 or 10 years down the road.
So a good one might be - I want to double my business income in five years. I want to be able to pay for my child's college tuition in 10 years.
Tomorrow we'll talk a bit about the types of goals.
The goal ( :o)) of goal making should be to provide you with some steps that you can take daily to meet them. In order to do this the first thing we need to do is create some long range goals. Like we talked about these can be dreams but they need to be specific as to amounts / times. These global goals don't have to be as specific as short term ones - think 5 or 10 years down the road.
So a good one might be - I want to double my business income in five years. I want to be able to pay for my child's college tuition in 10 years.
Tomorrow we'll talk a bit about the types of goals.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
The next couple of days we're going to talk about some goal basics.
To create a good goal it must have the following components -
1) It must be clearly defined - losing weight is not a good goal - lose 10 pounds by June 1st is. So it must have
a) Specific - think numbers
b) Time - must have a time limit
c) Clearly defined - make more money in my business - that isn't clearly defined - make $1 million dollars by next year is - but not really as clearly defined as I like - we would call that a global goal. Get 20 new customers in 6 months is a great goal.
Lets think a bit about Global Goals - these are long range goals or dreams that you may have.
Homework - keep thinking about goals - but start focusing now on your global goals a bit more - where would you like to be in ten years from now.
More tomorrow.
To create a good goal it must have the following components -
1) It must be clearly defined - losing weight is not a good goal - lose 10 pounds by June 1st is. So it must have
a) Specific - think numbers
b) Time - must have a time limit
c) Clearly defined - make more money in my business - that isn't clearly defined - make $1 million dollars by next year is - but not really as clearly defined as I like - we would call that a global goal. Get 20 new customers in 6 months is a great goal.
Lets think a bit about Global Goals - these are long range goals or dreams that you may have.
Homework - keep thinking about goals - but start focusing now on your global goals a bit more - where would you like to be in ten years from now.
More tomorrow.
Monday, February 07, 2005
This week we're going to begin an in depth discussion of goals - if everything goes well.
If you haven't done so yet make sure to check out the start of our goals guide which you can find in the last issue of our ezine.
http://www.blitzpromotions.com/blitz246-febr05.htm
If you haven't done so yet make sure to check out the start of our goals guide which you can find in the last issue of our ezine.
http://www.blitzpromotions.com/blitz246-febr05.htm
Friday, February 04, 2005
Next week we're going to be talking about goals - so make sure that you stay tuned.
Got this in the email this morning and it's an excellent article on how USA Today gets more subscribers to its newsletter. With a little tweaking it would be valid for almost any business.
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/sample.cfm?contentID=2907
Have a wonderful weekend.
Tim and Lisa.
Got this in the email this morning and it's an excellent article on how USA Today gets more subscribers to its newsletter. With a little tweaking it would be valid for almost any business.
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/sample.cfm?contentID=2907
Have a wonderful weekend.
Tim and Lisa.
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Now you should have a list of sites to contact for possible links -
1) Review their site for how to link - many of them will include clear instructions - ie how to link, who to contact, if you qualify for the link etc.... by the way - you need to make sure you have this included on your site, it will make your life much easier.
2) Contact them using the information they provide in #1. Make sure to chart on your spreadsheet when you contacted them, put their link up, when they put yours up, etc.
If they don't provide that information -
1) Contact them using a contact form or email address - make sure to
a)Address them by name if possible.
b) Explain how / where you will link them.
c) Mention something about their site that lets them know you visited.
d) Include your - link information, how to contact you, what to do if they have questions.
Then do it - it's not fun, it will take a while, but it does help.
Tim
1) Review their site for how to link - many of them will include clear instructions - ie how to link, who to contact, if you qualify for the link etc.... by the way - you need to make sure you have this included on your site, it will make your life much easier.
2) Contact them using the information they provide in #1. Make sure to chart on your spreadsheet when you contacted them, put their link up, when they put yours up, etc.
If they don't provide that information -
1) Contact them using a contact form or email address - make sure to
a)Address them by name if possible.
b) Explain how / where you will link them.
c) Mention something about their site that lets them know you visited.
d) Include your - link information, how to contact you, what to do if they have questions.
Then do it - it's not fun, it will take a while, but it does help.
Tim
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
An excellent article that reviews the things we've been talking about can be found here -
http://www.marketposition.com/mp-1204.htm#ONE
One note when you get the part that talks about links to get first - you can also use those directories as a good starting off point to gather links.
Gather sites that are in similar categories as your site.
Then go to the sites / review their links page and gather some more.
It's usually much easier to gather numerous sites before actually contacting them.
When you gather the site information make sure to get -
URL-
Site Name-
Page rank -
How to link -
Contact Information -
Tomorrow we'll talk some about the contact process.
Tim
http://www.marketposition.com/mp-1204.htm#ONE
One note when you get the part that talks about links to get first - you can also use those directories as a good starting off point to gather links.
Gather sites that are in similar categories as your site.
Then go to the sites / review their links page and gather some more.
It's usually much easier to gather numerous sites before actually contacting them.
When you gather the site information make sure to get -
URL-
Site Name-
Page rank -
How to link -
Contact Information -
Tomorrow we'll talk some about the contact process.
Tim
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
We just posted the Feb. edition of our newsletter - when you get a chance make sure you read it. This week we'll finish Weds. and Thurs. with the how to get links series and next week we'll start working on creating goals.
Here is the link to the newsletter -
Enjoy -
http://www.blitzpromotions.com/blitz246-febr05.htm
Here is the link to the newsletter -
Enjoy -
http://www.blitzpromotions.com/blitz246-febr05.htm
Monday, January 31, 2005
Friday, January 28, 2005
Something to read over the weekend - an article on optimizing not just for Google.
http://www.seochat.com/c/a/Search-Engine-Optimization-Help/The-Various-Search-Engines-Their-Whims-and-Wishes/
We're supposed to get some ice this weekend - and if we do then it may take a while to dig out / get power restored - so we'll see you Monday (or later :o)).
http://www.seochat.com/c/a/Search-Engine-Optimization-Help/The-Various-Search-Engines-Their-Whims-and-Wishes/
We're supposed to get some ice this weekend - and if we do then it may take a while to dig out / get power restored - so we'll see you Monday (or later :o)).
Thursday, January 27, 2005
First what exactly are you looking for when you search for links -
1) Sites that aren't competitors.
2) Sites that look good without excessive popups / ads / etc.
3) Sites that deliver a service for visitors of your site - ie you sell baby gifts and link to a parenting advice site.
4) Sites that have a PR greater than zero - a PR of zero may mean they are in trouble with Google - beyond this don't worry much about PR - think first of #3 - a service to your readers. If it's an excellent site and they have a PR of 1 - rest assured that as word gets around their PR will climb. Conversely if their site is junk and has a PR of 9 forget them because their deeds will eventually catch up with them.
5) Make sure the sites resources page has a clearly visible link for the front page. It is better if it is a text link.
6) Review their links page - do links actually link from the site or do they use a code to link. I would be wary of linking to sites with a code because that doesn't actually deliver you any PR at all.
7) Take a moment to review some of the links from their links page - what are they like - would they provide value to your customers.
Next week we'll talk about the actual process of finding links.
Have a good one.
Tim
1) Sites that aren't competitors.
2) Sites that look good without excessive popups / ads / etc.
3) Sites that deliver a service for visitors of your site - ie you sell baby gifts and link to a parenting advice site.
4) Sites that have a PR greater than zero - a PR of zero may mean they are in trouble with Google - beyond this don't worry much about PR - think first of #3 - a service to your readers. If it's an excellent site and they have a PR of 1 - rest assured that as word gets around their PR will climb. Conversely if their site is junk and has a PR of 9 forget them because their deeds will eventually catch up with them.
5) Make sure the sites resources page has a clearly visible link for the front page. It is better if it is a text link.
6) Review their links page - do links actually link from the site or do they use a code to link. I would be wary of linking to sites with a code because that doesn't actually deliver you any PR at all.
7) Take a moment to review some of the links from their links page - what are they like - would they provide value to your customers.
Next week we'll talk about the actual process of finding links.
Have a good one.
Tim
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Lets review a bit of what we've talked about so far on linking -
Creating the links page.
Can you be peanalized for certain linking practices.
Keeping track of your links.
Creating your linking text.
Getting your website in order.
Tomorrow we'll talk some about the process of getting good links.
Creating the links page.
Can you be peanalized for certain linking practices.
Keeping track of your links.
Creating your linking text.
Getting your website in order.
Tomorrow we'll talk some about the process of getting good links.
Monday, January 24, 2005
Sorry for my absence last week - long story so I won't bore you with it.
Does Google have an aging delay - this article makes some good sense.
http://www.searchengineguide.com/claiborne/2005/0117_sc1.html
Hope to get things back on track tomorrow.
Tim and Lisa
Does Google have an aging delay - this article makes some good sense.
http://www.searchengineguide.com/claiborne/2005/0117_sc1.html
Hope to get things back on track tomorrow.
Tim and Lisa
Friday, January 14, 2005
Hopefully the weather is not too wild where you are - the past week it's seemed like spring time here. Now today it has turned winter time - after thunder storms and high wind yesterday.
An idea of getting prospective links into your inbox can be found at the link below -
http://links-for-you.com
We'll be taking Monday off so we'll see you on Tuesday.
Enjoy the weekend.
An idea of getting prospective links into your inbox can be found at the link below -
http://links-for-you.com
We'll be taking Monday off so we'll see you on Tuesday.
Enjoy the weekend.
Tuesday, January 11, 2005
We all know one of the main reasons for working on linking is to improve our page rank - are there ways you can adversely impact it - certainly - and you can find out more information at the following link -
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=361407
Tomorrow we'll review a bit about what we've talked about so far.
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=361407
Tomorrow we'll review a bit about what we've talked about so far.
Monday, January 10, 2005
Hopefully you had a good weekend. Our pooch of 14 years hasn't been feeling to well lately, he walks around like a drunk man - believe it or not the vet says that is from an inner ear infection. It's like his whole world is leaning to the right... enough about that though. This week (I promise) we'll start / resume our talk on links. Till then I got this in my in box over the weekend -
http://www.strongestlinks.com/directories.php
It is a list of various directories on the web as well as costs involved with submitting your site to them.
Have a good one.
http://www.strongestlinks.com/directories.php
It is a list of various directories on the web as well as costs involved with submitting your site to them.
Have a good one.
Wednesday, January 05, 2005
This week has been a little busier than I expected it would be (not complaining mind you). Hopefully we'll get back into our regular swing by next week. Till then if you have a chance check out our latest newsletter -
http://www.blitzpromotions.com/blitz245-05jan.htm
http://www.blitzpromotions.com/blitz245-05jan.htm
Monday, January 03, 2005
Monday, December 20, 2004
Friday, December 17, 2004
We had talkes some earlier about upselling and cross selling on your site - the following article gives a nice explanation along with ten tips on making it work (or making it work better).
http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/solutions/customer_relations/article.php/3448341
Have a great weekend.
http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/solutions/customer_relations/article.php/3448341
Have a great weekend.
Thursday, December 16, 2004
How is search engine marketing doing? How is it growing. You can find details and a nice report on the following link.
http://www.sempo.org/research/sem-trends-2004.php
The barrel is pretty full today so we'll give you some wrap up thoughts tomorrow and then talk some more about links next week.
http://www.sempo.org/research/sem-trends-2004.php
The barrel is pretty full today so we'll give you some wrap up thoughts tomorrow and then talk some more about links next week.
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
One of the things we need to make sure of before we work on contacting links is to make sure we have our own site in order. Today we'll talk about our links page -
Some people speculate that it is better to name the resources page something other than links.htm. They suggest using something like resources.htm. That however is up to you - if your site has been around a while and your page has some good page rank then don't change it.
Make sure that the links page is linked to every page in your site.
Once you get more than 20 links or so on the page make sure to subdivide that page into individual category pages. Then you want to make sure these individual category page are listed on your site map.
On the links page make sure that you have instructions and requirements for how people can contact you for a link - include html code that they can cut / copy / paste. List the types of links your looking for and one's that you won't accept.
Make sure to include specific steps on how to contact you. As you get questions from potential link partners make sure to list those questions/answers in a mini faq.
Till tomorrow take care.
Tim
Some people speculate that it is better to name the resources page something other than links.htm. They suggest using something like resources.htm. That however is up to you - if your site has been around a while and your page has some good page rank then don't change it.
Make sure that the links page is linked to every page in your site.
Once you get more than 20 links or so on the page make sure to subdivide that page into individual category pages. Then you want to make sure these individual category page are listed on your site map.
On the links page make sure that you have instructions and requirements for how people can contact you for a link - include html code that they can cut / copy / paste. List the types of links your looking for and one's that you won't accept.
Make sure to include specific steps on how to contact you. As you get questions from potential link partners make sure to list those questions/answers in a mini faq.
Till tomorrow take care.
Tim
Tuesday, December 14, 2004
One thing about links before we go further is can links to your site penalize you... let's thing about this for a moment. If bad sites linking to you could penalize you then your competitors would all be putting your links on bad sites. You have no control over who links to you ... only who you link to. We'll discuss this further as we go along on how to choose a site that would be a good link.
A good article discusses this on SEO Chat -
http://www.seochat.com/c/a/Link-Trading-Help/Can-You-Get-Penalized-for-Inbound-Links-to-Your-Site/
The rest of the week we'll talk about choosing sites you want to link with.
Tim
A good article discusses this on SEO Chat -
http://www.seochat.com/c/a/Link-Trading-Help/Can-You-Get-Penalized-for-Inbound-Links-to-Your-Site/
The rest of the week we'll talk about choosing sites you want to link with.
Tim
Monday, December 13, 2004
Friday, December 10, 2004
Hope you enjoyed your week. We're going on a shopping adventure today and hopefully it will all be finished by the time we hit the check out counter. I found this article pretty interesting in my inbox this morning - eight ways to not optimize your site. Some good reading.
http://www.seochat.com/c/a/Search-Engine-Optimization-Help/Eight-worst-search-optimization-techniques/
Have a good weekend.
Tim
http://www.seochat.com/c/a/Search-Engine-Optimization-Help/Eight-worst-search-optimization-techniques/
Have a good weekend.
Tim
Thursday, December 09, 2004
One thing I think many people forget about during the link process is keeping track. It's pretty easy to do -
1) Create a spreadsheet.
2) Across the top list the following - Site - Link page - Page rank - Contact info - Contacted - Link up - Recontact - Recip link - check link.
Site - Name / URL of the site.
Link page - Where their links page is.
Page rank - Page rank of the links page.
Contact info - How to contact them / Form or email address.
Contacted - Date you contacted them.
Link up - Date you put their link on your site.
Recontact - Date you recontacted them.
Recip link - Date your link is on their site.
Link page - Where your link is located on their site.
check link - Every month or two make sure your link is still on their site.
We'll continue or discussion on this next week.
See you tomorrow.
1) Create a spreadsheet.
2) Across the top list the following - Site - Link page - Page rank - Contact info - Contacted - Link up - Recontact - Recip link - check link.
Site - Name / URL of the site.
Link page - Where their links page is.
Page rank - Page rank of the links page.
Contact info - How to contact them / Form or email address.
Contacted - Date you contacted them.
Link up - Date you put their link on your site.
Recontact - Date you recontacted them.
Recip link - Date your link is on their site.
Link page - Where your link is located on their site.
check link - Every month or two make sure your link is still on their site.
We'll continue or discussion on this next week.
See you tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 08, 2004
So on with some talk of getting links - first before we talk about anything you need to decide how you are going to get other sites to link with you.
Let's pretend for a moment that you sell socks online.
Your main keywords are:
black socks
white socks
mens socks
ugly socks
So you need to create some links / link text for each of those keywords - the MAIN thing to remember is that we want those keywords in the link text and in the descriptive text. Another thing is that you do not have to point that page to the index page on your site - after you have a good pagerank on the front page - 5 or 6 - you can start working on targetting individual pages.
So a link for black socks would look something like this -
Black Socks - Black socks and more can be found at My Ugly Socks.
Then create the links for the other keywords. Now when you are seeking links rotate them. More tomorrow on links.
Tim
Let's pretend for a moment that you sell socks online.
Your main keywords are:
black socks
white socks
mens socks
ugly socks
So you need to create some links / link text for each of those keywords - the MAIN thing to remember is that we want those keywords in the link text and in the descriptive text. Another thing is that you do not have to point that page to the index page on your site - after you have a good pagerank on the front page - 5 or 6 - you can start working on targetting individual pages.
So a link for black socks would look something like this -
Black Socks - Black socks and more can be found at My Ugly Socks.
Then create the links for the other keywords. Now when you are seeking links rotate them. More tomorrow on links.
Tim
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
I know I mentioned we were going to be talking some about links - but in reading my email this morning I came across some instructions on creating a Christmas greeting / Movie. You might find it interesting as well.
http://www.informit.com/guides/content.asp?g=msoffice&seqNum=107
Hope you enjoy it as well.
http://www.informit.com/guides/content.asp?g=msoffice&seqNum=107
Hope you enjoy it as well.
Monday, December 06, 2004
Friday, December 03, 2004
Couple of articles of note -
Explorer loses more market share -
http://www.onestat.com/html/aboutus_pressbox34.html
And there is some talk of a Google link dampening change - I think we'll discuss a little more about links in next weeks discussion.
http://www.seochat.com/c/a/Google-Optimization-Help/New-Links-Does-Google-Use-a-Dampening-Filter/
So make sure to read it and next week starting on Tuesday we'll talk more about it.
Till then have a wonderful weekend.
Explorer loses more market share -
http://www.onestat.com/html/aboutus_pressbox34.html
And there is some talk of a Google link dampening change - I think we'll discuss a little more about links in next weeks discussion.
http://www.seochat.com/c/a/Google-Optimization-Help/New-Links-Does-Google-Use-a-Dampening-Filter/
So make sure to read it and next week starting on Tuesday we'll talk more about it.
Till then have a wonderful weekend.
Thursday, December 02, 2004
The federal government is offering a free credit report every year. You can find details at the following site -
https://www.annualcreditreport.com/
It's on a rollout schedule based on where you live.
https://www.annualcreditreport.com/
It's on a rollout schedule based on where you live.
Tuesday, November 30, 2004
I had a client call us this morning excited about getting their first order from their site - they were excited about getting it, but were wondering how someone found them when the site had been only open for a day.
My response to her was to ask the client. Just explain that you're doing market research and ask them how they found you. Some folks won't remember exactly how they found you but others will.
Till tomorrow,
Have a wonderful day. Tim
My response to her was to ask the client. Just explain that you're doing market research and ask them how they found you. Some folks won't remember exactly how they found you but others will.
Till tomorrow,
Have a wonderful day. Tim
Monday, November 29, 2004
Thursday, November 18, 2004
Monday, November 15, 2004
It's Monday - hope your email is bustling with those holiday orders. Seems like the holiday shopping season starts earlier every year. Have you made your site shopper friendly -if not, or if you're in doubt make sure to check out the archives. I can't believe that Thanksgiving is next week.... Not sure yet what exactly we'll be talking about this week but hopefully it will be something useful.
Take care,
Tim
Take care,
Tim
Friday, November 12, 2004
Hope you had a good week. Big news this week is Microsoft unveiled their "new" search engine - check out how your sites ranking for the keywords at the link below.
http://beta.search.msn.com/
Have a great weekend.
http://beta.search.msn.com/
Have a great weekend.
Thursday, November 11, 2004
Got this article a couple of days ago and it's pretty interesting.
Do I Need an RSS Feed?
By S. Housley
RSS has been around for more than 10 years but has only recently become popular. RSS provides headlines and summaries of information in a concise and standardized way.
Benefits for Publishers
1.) Avoid Spam Filters
Statisticians estimate that 70% of the email transferred each day is spam (unsolicited email). With that statistic, even opt-in users risk losing valuable messages in the cesspool of spam. RSS feeds effectively nullify spam as an issue. Requesting feeds allow users to maintain complete control over the content they view. Users can easily opt-in and out of feeds that provide content of interest or importance.
2.) Expanded Reach
RSS allows publishers to reach a number of new and different markets that typically are less crowded with competition. Many small businesses are often slow to adopt or learn new technologies, giving businesses that lead the way a competitive advantage.
3.) Content Syndication
Syndication of feeds increases exposure.
4.) Repeat Visitors
RSS is all about repeat visitors. Users who have previously visited a site often have a stronger connection to the site and are more likely to purchase or trust the information on the site.
5.) Free web traffic
As the internet has evolved, many webmasters have found that what was once free traffic must now be paid for in order to sustain decent visitor statistics. RSS is in a unique position to bring free traffic because they are content-driven, and if they include interesting or valuable information, will pique the curiosity of web-surfers and entice them to visit a particular site.
6.) Less Effort
Newsletters and E-zines undeniably bring visitors, but the effort involved in creating, distributing and maintaining a newsletter can be a burden. Maintaining the list, ensuring the list is clean, growing the subscriber base, updating and removing bad e-mail addresses, all take time. RSS feeds are not burdened with those issues. There are easy-to-use RSS feed creation tools that require little effort, allowing publishers to recycle content, often simply cutting and pasting into RSS feed creation software.
FeedForAll RSS feed creation - http://www.feedforall.com
Consider supplementing existing communication venues with RSS. Place the contents of newsletters into feeds and measure the results. You might be surprised at the added traffic.
Examples of various feeds with different intended purposes -
RSS feed - http://www.rss-specifications.com/blog-feed.xml
Establishing expertise in a specific field.
Business Feed - http://www.notepage.net/blog-feed.xml
Contains product and industry information.
Marketing Feed - http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/blog-feed.xml
Builds relationships, endorses products in industry sector.
RSS has potential to help companies develop strong relationships with consumers and creating brand loyalty with customers. While the world will not end tomorrow, nor will business come to a screeching halt if you don't use an RSS feed, there are a number of reasons online businesses should consider using RSS feeds.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc. http://www.notepage.net and FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com .
Do I Need an RSS Feed?
By S. Housley
RSS has been around for more than 10 years but has only recently become popular. RSS provides headlines and summaries of information in a concise and standardized way.
Benefits for Publishers
1.) Avoid Spam Filters
Statisticians estimate that 70% of the email transferred each day is spam (unsolicited email). With that statistic, even opt-in users risk losing valuable messages in the cesspool of spam. RSS feeds effectively nullify spam as an issue. Requesting feeds allow users to maintain complete control over the content they view. Users can easily opt-in and out of feeds that provide content of interest or importance.
2.) Expanded Reach
RSS allows publishers to reach a number of new and different markets that typically are less crowded with competition. Many small businesses are often slow to adopt or learn new technologies, giving businesses that lead the way a competitive advantage.
3.) Content Syndication
Syndication of feeds increases exposure.
4.) Repeat Visitors
RSS is all about repeat visitors. Users who have previously visited a site often have a stronger connection to the site and are more likely to purchase or trust the information on the site.
5.) Free web traffic
As the internet has evolved, many webmasters have found that what was once free traffic must now be paid for in order to sustain decent visitor statistics. RSS is in a unique position to bring free traffic because they are content-driven, and if they include interesting or valuable information, will pique the curiosity of web-surfers and entice them to visit a particular site.
6.) Less Effort
Newsletters and E-zines undeniably bring visitors, but the effort involved in creating, distributing and maintaining a newsletter can be a burden. Maintaining the list, ensuring the list is clean, growing the subscriber base, updating and removing bad e-mail addresses, all take time. RSS feeds are not burdened with those issues. There are easy-to-use RSS feed creation tools that require little effort, allowing publishers to recycle content, often simply cutting and pasting into RSS feed creation software.
FeedForAll RSS feed creation - http://www.feedforall.com
Consider supplementing existing communication venues with RSS. Place the contents of newsletters into feeds and measure the results. You might be surprised at the added traffic.
Examples of various feeds with different intended purposes -
RSS feed - http://www.rss-specifications.com/blog-feed.xml
Establishing expertise in a specific field.
Business Feed - http://www.notepage.net/blog-feed.xml
Contains product and industry information.
Marketing Feed - http://www.softwaremarketingresource.com/blog-feed.xml
Builds relationships, endorses products in industry sector.
RSS has potential to help companies develop strong relationships with consumers and creating brand loyalty with customers. While the world will not end tomorrow, nor will business come to a screeching halt if you don't use an RSS feed, there are a number of reasons online businesses should consider using RSS feeds.
About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc. http://www.notepage.net and FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com .
Tuesday, November 09, 2004
We talked about Firefox a little last week - Search Day is doing a series on the browser - you can check it out at the following link.
http://searchenginewatch.com/
Also another good article on some obvious web design mistakes.
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2004/nt_2004_11_08_navigation.htm
Have a good one.
http://searchenginewatch.com/
Also another good article on some obvious web design mistakes.
http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2004/nt_2004_11_08_navigation.htm
Have a good one.
Monday, November 08, 2004
Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. I'm not sure exactly what we'll be talking about this week. I guess we'll play it by ear.
I am horrible at copywriting - if you're in the same boat you may want to check out this book from Ken Evoy and crowd -
http://mycps.sitesell.com/blitzpromotions.html
Till tomorrow - we hope you have a wonderful day.
I am horrible at copywriting - if you're in the same boat you may want to check out this book from Ken Evoy and crowd -
http://mycps.sitesell.com/blitzpromotions.html
Till tomorrow - we hope you have a wonderful day.
Friday, November 05, 2004
A few days ago we talked about making sure your site looks good in any browser, below is some evidence to back that up.
http://www.computerworld.com/developmenttopics/websitemgmt/story/0,10801,97176,00.html?f=x259
Now may be a good time - if you haven't already - to see how your site looks using Firefox.
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.
Tim
http://www.computerworld.com/developmenttopics/websitemgmt/story/0,10801,97176,00.html?f=x259
Now may be a good time - if you haven't already - to see how your site looks using Firefox.
http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.
Tim
Thursday, November 04, 2004
A while back there was some discussion about a three click rule - basically it was assumed that your customers would click three times and then leave. Does that rule still apply. Click on the link below for some nice discussion on that subject.
http://www.uie.com/articles/three_click_rule/
Till tomorrow,
Tim
http://www.uie.com/articles/three_click_rule/
Till tomorrow,
Tim
Wednesday, November 03, 2004
So how can you make your site comfortable?
1) Make sure everything is spelled out - make sure they know things like -
a) when will there order ship.
b) exactly what is your refund policy.
c) can they track their order.
d) make sure they know you'll be sending them email - filters etc. block out a lot of mail, make sure that they know the email address you'll be using.
2) Use good descriptions / images for your product. Include the exact size / color / of the product.
3) Make sure you have all your contact information on each page.
4) Explain exactly how the order process will work.
1) Make sure everything is spelled out - make sure they know things like -
a) when will there order ship.
b) exactly what is your refund policy.
c) can they track their order.
d) make sure they know you'll be sending them email - filters etc. block out a lot of mail, make sure that they know the email address you'll be using.
2) Use good descriptions / images for your product. Include the exact size / color / of the product.
3) Make sure you have all your contact information on each page.
4) Explain exactly how the order process will work.
Monday, November 01, 2004
Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Confidence -
So how can you instill confidence in your buyers?
1) Provide testimonials from your current customers. How do you get testimonials? Believe it or not the easiest way is to ask them for one. Some will trickle in on their on, but the easiest way is to email them and ask how they like your product, what can you do to make it better.
2) Include an about us page that tells about you , why you decided to start the business, what makes you different from some of the other folks.
3) Include your phone number and easy to find contact information.
Till tomorrow,
have a good one.
Tim
So how can you instill confidence in your buyers?
1) Provide testimonials from your current customers. How do you get testimonials? Believe it or not the easiest way is to ask them for one. Some will trickle in on their on, but the easiest way is to email them and ask how they like your product, what can you do to make it better.
2) Include an about us page that tells about you , why you decided to start the business, what makes you different from some of the other folks.
3) Include your phone number and easy to find contact information.
Till tomorrow,
have a good one.
Tim
Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Warm and Fuzzy - so what does that mean? There are several different ways that you can make your site warm and fuzzy.
1. Security.
2. Confidence.
3. Comfort.
Today we're going to talk a little about security. Prospective buyers want to know and be assured that -
a) No one is going to take there credit card information.
b) There personal information is going to be safe.
c) They won't be getting spam if they ordered.
So here are some tips -
1) Make sure your order process is secure - make sure that you tell your customers it is secure.
2) Have a privacy policy - tell them exactly what you're going to do with their personal information. Make sure that you explicity tell them what you're going to do with their information (I know I repeated myself, but it is important).
3) Explain to them how and what kind of email communication they'll get from you (and what they won't get).
Tomorrow we'll talk some more, till then have a wonderful day.
Tim
1. Security.
2. Confidence.
3. Comfort.
Today we're going to talk a little about security. Prospective buyers want to know and be assured that -
a) No one is going to take there credit card information.
b) There personal information is going to be safe.
c) They won't be getting spam if they ordered.
So here are some tips -
1) Make sure your order process is secure - make sure that you tell your customers it is secure.
2) Have a privacy policy - tell them exactly what you're going to do with their personal information. Make sure that you explicity tell them what you're going to do with their information (I know I repeated myself, but it is important).
3) Explain to them how and what kind of email communication they'll get from you (and what they won't get).
Tomorrow we'll talk some more, till then have a wonderful day.
Tim
Monday, October 25, 2004
This week we're going to continue our talk on getting ready for the holidays - sorry we missed Friday :o) Below is an article I also think is relavent -
Internet Tip of the Week
by Bob Osgoodby
Information Overload
We receive so much information on the Internet, especially via email, that many times we have difficulty separating the good "stuff" from the junk. Most of us put unsolicited email (spam) in the junk category. By the time we weed through all that "stuff" however, we are approaching information overload, and may give "short shrift" to the really good information we receive.
One way to overcome this very real problem, is to create email filters for things you may wish to read at a future time. For example, create a generic filter for the ezines or newsletters you subscribe to, or one for each. This will then automatically separate this good "stuff" from the junk. You can then keep your "inbox" clean and read the information at your leisure when you are less harried.
Use your email filters to weed out the junk. It only takes a moment or so to create a filter, and this will keep all the repeat spam out of your inbox. The best way to filter spam, is not to filter on the senders email address. Most of these are forged anyway, and are different every time. Pick out some "key words" contained in the body of the message. "Stop Snoring, Own an offshore retirement fund, $16,000+ with ONE $20 gift" just to name a few. Filter out those emails that match your key words.
Some of the spam is one time only and you don't need to be concerned with that. One way to do it, is to create a folder titled "Spam". Every day, instead of simply deleting them, transfer them to this folder. If you see a pattern developing, you can easily pick out the worst offenders, and create a filter for them.
When you subscribe to an ezine or newsletter, don't make a summary judgment that you don't want it. Most publishers try to provide a "variety" of items, and it may take several issues before you both click. Like a baseball player, don't expect a "homerun" every time at bat. Give it a half-dozen or so issues before making up your mind. You may simply get an issue that doesn't appeal to you, but the next might be a winner.
Some people go so far as to set up a separate email account just for their personal use, and another for their ezines, which is not a bad idea. But, if you do this, for goodness sake remember which one you used. Most publishers use list servers for their mailings. You can't unsubscribe from a publication except from the address that they have on file. To prevent the "cranksters" from running amok, they require you to be signed on the address they have on file in order to be removed.
If you decide you don't want a particular publication any longer, try to unsubscribe, and if you get a message that you are not on the list, it does little good to rant and rave. If you're not there, you're not there - period. While most publishers don't want people on their list who don't wish to receive it, they have no idea what email address you used when subscribing.
Most publishers will make an honest effort to remove you from their list, and threats to report them for spamming, will not help them to remove you. The majority of the time the people who complain are using a free email account, and are automatically forwarding the mail to their main address. To compound matters, they forgot they are doing this, and get aggravated when they can't unsubscribe under their main email address.
If you are receiving a publication and cannot unsubscribe, filter their publication automatically into your trash basket. This will save you and the publisher a lot of aggravation.
There is a great deal of information on the Internet. If you approach it wisely, you will benefit. If you don't, you may be suffering from information overload, and deleting some really good information mixed in with all the junk mail you receive.
-----
Did you know that subscribers to Bob Osgoodby's Free Ezine the "Tip of the Day" get a Free Ad for their Business at his Web Site? Great Business and Computer Tips – Monday. Wednesday. and Friday. Instructions on how to place an ad are in the Newsletter. Subscribe at: http://adv-marketing.com/business/subscribe2.htm
Internet Tip of the Week
by Bob Osgoodby
Information Overload
We receive so much information on the Internet, especially via email, that many times we have difficulty separating the good "stuff" from the junk. Most of us put unsolicited email (spam) in the junk category. By the time we weed through all that "stuff" however, we are approaching information overload, and may give "short shrift" to the really good information we receive.
One way to overcome this very real problem, is to create email filters for things you may wish to read at a future time. For example, create a generic filter for the ezines or newsletters you subscribe to, or one for each. This will then automatically separate this good "stuff" from the junk. You can then keep your "inbox" clean and read the information at your leisure when you are less harried.
Use your email filters to weed out the junk. It only takes a moment or so to create a filter, and this will keep all the repeat spam out of your inbox. The best way to filter spam, is not to filter on the senders email address. Most of these are forged anyway, and are different every time. Pick out some "key words" contained in the body of the message. "Stop Snoring, Own an offshore retirement fund, $16,000+ with ONE $20 gift" just to name a few. Filter out those emails that match your key words.
Some of the spam is one time only and you don't need to be concerned with that. One way to do it, is to create a folder titled "Spam". Every day, instead of simply deleting them, transfer them to this folder. If you see a pattern developing, you can easily pick out the worst offenders, and create a filter for them.
When you subscribe to an ezine or newsletter, don't make a summary judgment that you don't want it. Most publishers try to provide a "variety" of items, and it may take several issues before you both click. Like a baseball player, don't expect a "homerun" every time at bat. Give it a half-dozen or so issues before making up your mind. You may simply get an issue that doesn't appeal to you, but the next might be a winner.
Some people go so far as to set up a separate email account just for their personal use, and another for their ezines, which is not a bad idea. But, if you do this, for goodness sake remember which one you used. Most publishers use list servers for their mailings. You can't unsubscribe from a publication except from the address that they have on file. To prevent the "cranksters" from running amok, they require you to be signed on the address they have on file in order to be removed.
If you decide you don't want a particular publication any longer, try to unsubscribe, and if you get a message that you are not on the list, it does little good to rant and rave. If you're not there, you're not there - period. While most publishers don't want people on their list who don't wish to receive it, they have no idea what email address you used when subscribing.
Most publishers will make an honest effort to remove you from their list, and threats to report them for spamming, will not help them to remove you. The majority of the time the people who complain are using a free email account, and are automatically forwarding the mail to their main address. To compound matters, they forgot they are doing this, and get aggravated when they can't unsubscribe under their main email address.
If you are receiving a publication and cannot unsubscribe, filter their publication automatically into your trash basket. This will save you and the publisher a lot of aggravation.
There is a great deal of information on the Internet. If you approach it wisely, you will benefit. If you don't, you may be suffering from information overload, and deleting some really good information mixed in with all the junk mail you receive.
-----
Did you know that subscribers to Bob Osgoodby's Free Ezine the "Tip of the Day" get a Free Ad for their Business at his Web Site? Great Business and Computer Tips – Monday. Wednesday. and Friday. Instructions on how to place an ad are in the Newsletter. Subscribe at: http://adv-marketing.com/business/subscribe2.htm
Thursday, October 21, 2004
I got this article yesterday and thought I would substitute it for what I was going to talk about today - it's still very pertinant - about keeping things simple.
Simplify for Success
The distractions of complexity are everywhere.
Look Around!
Your customer’s business, decisions, interactions and communications with their
customers are continuing to get more complex. Today’s sales landscape offers more
products, more services, more options, more choices and more providers than ever
before. Business is moving at a dizzying pace and people are trying to juggle more
projects, more priorities, more responsibility and more balance.
Salespeople and business owners are trying to manage more customers, more
information, more technology and more distractions that have nothing to do with
selling more products and services.
This is not a picture of doom and gloom but rather a picture of opportunity. This is an opportunity to communicate more effectively, to follow-through more thoroughly and
your opportunity to make your customer’s life easier, and more profitable! To sell
more and increase profits immediately, simplify the following areas:
SIMPLIFY COMMUNICATION and CONTENT.
GET TO THE POINT! Never say in 100 words what can be said in 25 words. The
important part is the substance of what you say rather than how long you take to say it. Simplify by cutting in half any written, verbal or e-mail communication with your
customer. Begin a proposal or presentation by simply stating the three key points
around which you will provide impact to your customer. Be clear and concise in all
that you say.
SIMPLIFY PREPARATION
This doesn’t mean eliminate preparation and start "winging it" through sales
presentations. Break planning into fifteen minute segments and designate a topic
for each block.
SIMPLIFY HELPING THEM BUY
Help your customers buy rather than just trying to sell them. Help your customers
buy in both short and long cycles through the use of multiple resources, decision
making levels and relationships.
SIMPLIFY TONE AND PACE
Repeatedly practice your delivery and presentation with an emphasis on being
conversational. Emphasize the skill of talking with your customer rather than talking
to your customer. Breathing is the key to both tone and pace so insure that you have
plenty of air in your lungs.
SIMPLIFY FOLLOW-THROUGH
When it comes to productive sales behavior, follow-through ranks as the highest
priority. It is the most talked about and least executed activity in the sales toolbox. You will service your customers at a higher level and sell more when you execute on follow-through relentlessly. It is the one or two things you do differently that make
you memorable in the mind of your customer. Never underestimate the power of
urgency and immediacy. Stated simply, you must do what you say you will do
consistently and with greater focus if you want to put significant distance between
you and your competition!
SIMPLIFY THE EXPERIENCE
Here’s the bottom line: Your customer wants you to simplify their life by simplifying their experience! Your customer is looking for every way possible to increase their
sales and improve the profitability and performance of their company. You possess
key strategies, services and products to make these goals a reality.
SIMPLIFY the experience for your customers and get ready to increase your sales,
margin and effectiveness BIG TIME!
Brent Patmos is President & CEO of Perpetual Development, Inc., specializing in
Sales Training, sales seminars and consulting. Mr. Patmos can be reached at
480-812-2200. http://www.perpetualdevelopment.com
Till tomorrow,
Tim
Simplify for Success
The distractions of complexity are everywhere.
Look Around!
Your customer’s business, decisions, interactions and communications with their
customers are continuing to get more complex. Today’s sales landscape offers more
products, more services, more options, more choices and more providers than ever
before. Business is moving at a dizzying pace and people are trying to juggle more
projects, more priorities, more responsibility and more balance.
Salespeople and business owners are trying to manage more customers, more
information, more technology and more distractions that have nothing to do with
selling more products and services.
This is not a picture of doom and gloom but rather a picture of opportunity. This is an opportunity to communicate more effectively, to follow-through more thoroughly and
your opportunity to make your customer’s life easier, and more profitable! To sell
more and increase profits immediately, simplify the following areas:
SIMPLIFY COMMUNICATION and CONTENT.
GET TO THE POINT! Never say in 100 words what can be said in 25 words. The
important part is the substance of what you say rather than how long you take to say it. Simplify by cutting in half any written, verbal or e-mail communication with your
customer. Begin a proposal or presentation by simply stating the three key points
around which you will provide impact to your customer. Be clear and concise in all
that you say.
SIMPLIFY PREPARATION
This doesn’t mean eliminate preparation and start "winging it" through sales
presentations. Break planning into fifteen minute segments and designate a topic
for each block.
SIMPLIFY HELPING THEM BUY
Help your customers buy rather than just trying to sell them. Help your customers
buy in both short and long cycles through the use of multiple resources, decision
making levels and relationships.
SIMPLIFY TONE AND PACE
Repeatedly practice your delivery and presentation with an emphasis on being
conversational. Emphasize the skill of talking with your customer rather than talking
to your customer. Breathing is the key to both tone and pace so insure that you have
plenty of air in your lungs.
SIMPLIFY FOLLOW-THROUGH
When it comes to productive sales behavior, follow-through ranks as the highest
priority. It is the most talked about and least executed activity in the sales toolbox. You will service your customers at a higher level and sell more when you execute on follow-through relentlessly. It is the one or two things you do differently that make
you memorable in the mind of your customer. Never underestimate the power of
urgency and immediacy. Stated simply, you must do what you say you will do
consistently and with greater focus if you want to put significant distance between
you and your competition!
SIMPLIFY THE EXPERIENCE
Here’s the bottom line: Your customer wants you to simplify their life by simplifying their experience! Your customer is looking for every way possible to increase their
sales and improve the profitability and performance of their company. You possess
key strategies, services and products to make these goals a reality.
SIMPLIFY the experience for your customers and get ready to increase your sales,
margin and effectiveness BIG TIME!
Brent Patmos is President & CEO of Perpetual Development, Inc., specializing in
Sales Training, sales seminars and consulting. Mr. Patmos can be reached at
480-812-2200. http://www.perpetualdevelopment.com
Till tomorrow,
Tim
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Load times - Even though many people have high speed internet access, many people don't (about half of your potential customers). If your site takes a month to load then they aren't going to wait.
A great place to check your load times can be found at the following link -
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/services/analyze/
So how can you speed up your site -
1) Keep flash etc. to a minimum.
2) Optimize your images.
3) Use thumbnails if you have a lot of images - make sure that you have two images saved - a large one for when folks click on the link and a smaller one for the thumbnail - many times I've seen sites that have both saved as the same image, that basically defeats the purpose.
Have a good one.
Tim
A great place to check your load times can be found at the following link -
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/services/analyze/
So how can you speed up your site -
1) Keep flash etc. to a minimum.
2) Optimize your images.
3) Use thumbnails if you have a lot of images - make sure that you have two images saved - a large one for when folks click on the link and a smaller one for the thumbnail - many times I've seen sites that have both saved as the same image, that basically defeats the purpose.
Have a good one.
Tim
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
Browser compatability - a while back you could safely design your site for Explorer and forget about it. These days with all the security problems many people are switching to different browsers. The main browsers these folks are checking out are -
Mozilla - http://www.mozilla.org/
Firefox - http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
Safari - http://www.apple.com/safari/ This is apples alternative.
The best thing to do is -
a) download the browser.
b) check out your site.
c) place an order.
How do things work - any glaring problems work on correcting them.
Mozilla - http://www.mozilla.org/
Firefox - http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/
Safari - http://www.apple.com/safari/ This is apples alternative.
The best thing to do is -
a) download the browser.
b) check out your site.
c) place an order.
How do things work - any glaring problems work on correcting them.
Monday, October 18, 2004
Friday, October 15, 2004
Hopefully you learned a bit this week in our series on prepping your site for the holidays - really I should have started the series sooner but better late than ever.
Remember that many times we get blinded when working on our sites - what may be simple and plain for us may not be for someone else. Things we look at day in and day out may be hidden to others. That's why it is extremely important to get feedback - from your friends and especially from your customers.
The next week or two we'll continue talking about some tweaks that you can make to your site.
Have a great weekend.
Tim
Remember that many times we get blinded when working on our sites - what may be simple and plain for us may not be for someone else. Things we look at day in and day out may be hidden to others. That's why it is extremely important to get feedback - from your friends and especially from your customers.
The next week or two we'll continue talking about some tweaks that you can make to your site.
Have a great weekend.
Tim
Thursday, October 14, 2004
Here are some questions to ask the test subject -
1) Was their anything difficult about the order process - if so what?
2) What would be one thing that would make the process easier?
3) Do you have any suggestions for additional products?
4) Could you easily find -
a) Sign up for the newsletter.
b) Toll free / phone number.
c) Contact information.
5) Did you feel secure on the site?
1) Was their anything difficult about the order process - if so what?
2) What would be one thing that would make the process easier?
3) Do you have any suggestions for additional products?
4) Could you easily find -
a) Sign up for the newsletter.
b) Toll free / phone number.
c) Contact information.
5) Did you feel secure on the site?
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
Now some things to consider -
1) How long did it take them to buy the products. If its more than 4 or 5 minutes how can you streamline the process.
2) Did they ever appear to get lost in the process - if they did get lost - where did they get lost at. Did you provide an easy map to get unlost?
3) Did they hesitate any during the order process - why did they hesitate. If something was unclear, what was it, how you can you make it clear.
4) Was it easy for them to find the second product. If not why? What can you do to correct it.
The order process should be no more than two or three clicks at the most to order.
At each stage of the order process - the next step should be outlined clearly - as well as instructions for how to do the current step.
Contact information - including a telephone number - should be provided in case folks get lost along the way.
Security of your site / pages / should be highlighted during the process.
Explain to people what you're going to be doing with their personal information.
Reiterate why they should trust you.
Perhaps include a testimonial or two within the process.
Tomorrow we'll talk a little about some questions you can ask your test subjects.
Tim
1) How long did it take them to buy the products. If its more than 4 or 5 minutes how can you streamline the process.
2) Did they ever appear to get lost in the process - if they did get lost - where did they get lost at. Did you provide an easy map to get unlost?
3) Did they hesitate any during the order process - why did they hesitate. If something was unclear, what was it, how you can you make it clear.
4) Was it easy for them to find the second product. If not why? What can you do to correct it.
The order process should be no more than two or three clicks at the most to order.
At each stage of the order process - the next step should be outlined clearly - as well as instructions for how to do the current step.
Contact information - including a telephone number - should be provided in case folks get lost along the way.
Security of your site / pages / should be highlighted during the process.
Explain to people what you're going to be doing with their personal information.
Reiterate why they should trust you.
Perhaps include a testimonial or two within the process.
Tomorrow we'll talk a little about some questions you can ask your test subjects.
Tim
Tuesday, October 12, 2004
The next thing to do to get your site ready for the holidays is to think of five or so good friends that you know well that aren't your current customers. Invite them individually to your house and give them an assignment on your site - you can't give them hints.
Ask them to pretend they are shopping for "x item". Point the browser to your front page and watch them as they navigate to buy the product. Just before they enter in their credit card information tell them that they just remembered that they need "y item" as well.
The more obscure the "x and y item" the better - ie it shouldn't be visible on your front page at all. Tomorrow we'll talk about some things that you could learn from this experiment.
Tim
Ask them to pretend they are shopping for "x item". Point the browser to your front page and watch them as they navigate to buy the product. Just before they enter in their credit card information tell them that they just remembered that they need "y item" as well.
The more obscure the "x and y item" the better - ie it shouldn't be visible on your front page at all. Tomorrow we'll talk about some things that you could learn from this experiment.
Tim
Monday, October 11, 2004
This week we'll be talking about some more things you can do to your site to get ready for the holidays.
Hopefully everyone had a wonderful weekend, I know we did. It is getting cooler hear and the leaves are starting to change colors. So we know that winter is just around the corner (whether we like it or not).
Tim
Hopefully everyone had a wonderful weekend, I know we did. It is getting cooler hear and the leaves are starting to change colors. So we know that winter is just around the corner (whether we like it or not).
Tim
Friday, October 08, 2004
Hopefully you enjoyed the series this past week. Haley has a day off from school, so if everything goes according to plan it may be a long weekend for us as well :o).
Next week I think we'll continue on some touch-ups you can do in preperation for the holiday season. Hope you have a great weekend too!
Tim
Next week I think we'll continue on some touch-ups you can do in preperation for the holiday season. Hope you have a great weekend too!
Tim
Thursday, October 07, 2004
Spread the word - one of the best methods of promotion is word of mouth. Whenever we get a client referral we know that the "selling" part of our job is so much easier. So how can you get referrals:
1. Ask - ask and you shall receive! When you send a follow up note to make sure your product arrived, and they are satisfied with it ask them to send you more business.
2. Bribe them - you can include that if they send you a new customer and they buy something you'll give them a discount or something free.
3. Make it easy - make sure to include your websites URL / contact information where it's appropriate on your product. You may want to include a small free gift like a magnet, pencil etc. Remember out of site is usually out of mind.
Till tomorrow,
Tim
1. Ask - ask and you shall receive! When you send a follow up note to make sure your product arrived, and they are satisfied with it ask them to send you more business.
2. Bribe them - you can include that if they send you a new customer and they buy something you'll give them a discount or something free.
3. Make it easy - make sure to include your websites URL / contact information where it's appropriate on your product. You may want to include a small free gift like a magnet, pencil etc. Remember out of site is usually out of mind.
Till tomorrow,
Tim
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Why Buy? Some things you need to make sure you do in order to answer this question.
1. Make sure you include testimonials from your satisfied customers.
2. Ensure that your shipping policies, return policies, frequently asked questions are listed prominently on your site.
3. Give them a reason to buy now - today.
4. Explain to them about security and how your order is secure.
5. If they don't buy then encourage them to sign up for your newsletter / literature.
6. Make sure to compare your prices to other sites - if your prices are more expensive make sure to list plenty of benefits / reasons why.
Tim
1. Make sure you include testimonials from your satisfied customers.
2. Ensure that your shipping policies, return policies, frequently asked questions are listed prominently on your site.
3. Give them a reason to buy now - today.
4. Explain to them about security and how your order is secure.
5. If they don't buy then encourage them to sign up for your newsletter / literature.
6. Make sure to compare your prices to other sites - if your prices are more expensive make sure to list plenty of benefits / reasons why.
Tim
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
The big thing to make sure you do this holiday season is to offer folks the option of buying a gift card or gift certificate. Billions were spent last year on gift cards. When you use this you also get two customers instead of one (the person who buys the card - and the person who redeems the card). You can find a ton of vendors (check the paid links) by searching Google - click here.
Make sure to price shop to compare rates etc. If you can't take advantage of it for this holiday season, make sure to put on it next years "to do" list.
Tim
Make sure to price shop to compare rates etc. If you can't take advantage of it for this holiday season, make sure to put on it next years "to do" list.
Tim
Monday, October 04, 2004
We didn't get any questions last week, so we'll continue on as before. This week as you prepare for the holiday rush (which some folks are having right now). We're going to give you a few hints on how to maximize things.
1. Gift cards and Certificates.
2. Why Buy.
3. Spread the word.
Have a great day!!
1. Gift cards and Certificates.
2. Why Buy.
3. Spread the word.
Have a great day!!
Monday, September 27, 2004
Friday, September 24, 2004
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
A little self-serving advertising - if you haven't subscribed to our monthly ezine then now is the time. Full of news that you can use. Use the link below to subscribe.
http://www.blitzpromotions.com/subscribe.htm
http://www.blitzpromotions.com/subscribe.htm
Monday, September 20, 2004
Friday, September 17, 2004
A pretty good blog from the folks that brought you search engine watch can be found here -
http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/
Looks like we may not get as much rain as they expect - so we won't need a boat... maybe just a small raft :o).
Till Monday,
Take care.
Tim
http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/blog/
Looks like we may not get as much rain as they expect - so we won't need a boat... maybe just a small raft :o).
Till Monday,
Take care.
Tim
Thursday, September 16, 2004
I was speaking to some folks yesterday and the topic went to business plans. Business plans aren't really that hard if you follow some templates that are available online. My belief is that without a plan - how can you know how your business is doing?
Details on creating a business can be found below.
Part 1 - http://www.blitzpromotions.com/blitz191.htm
Part 2 - http://www.blitzpromotions.com/blitz192.htm
Part 3 - http://www.blitzpromotions.com/blitz193.htm
We're supposed to get between 5 - 10 inches of rain here tomorrow. We usually flood when we get 3 or 4 inches. Hopefully we won't get that much but if you don't hear from me for a day or two that's what the deal is. I live on a cliff :o) - so the water shouldn't get here but you can never tell about power / phone lines etc.
Stay safe,
Tim
Details on creating a business can be found below.
Part 1 - http://www.blitzpromotions.com/blitz191.htm
Part 2 - http://www.blitzpromotions.com/blitz192.htm
Part 3 - http://www.blitzpromotions.com/blitz193.htm
We're supposed to get between 5 - 10 inches of rain here tomorrow. We usually flood when we get 3 or 4 inches. Hopefully we won't get that much but if you don't hear from me for a day or two that's what the deal is. I live on a cliff :o) - so the water shouldn't get here but you can never tell about power / phone lines etc.
Stay safe,
Tim
Wednesday, September 15, 2004
Did you know that you can learn a lot about your competitors from Google alerts -
.. when they get new links
.. post news
.. change their site
.. etc.
You can learn more about the program here -
http://www.google.com/alerts
.. when they get new links
.. post news
.. change their site
.. etc.
You can learn more about the program here -
http://www.google.com/alerts
Tuesday, September 14, 2004
An excellent article on how spyders work - including a link to the first article.
I'm sure you will enjoy it and learn something (just make sure to explore all the links).
http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3406891
Tim
I'm sure you will enjoy it and learn something (just make sure to explore all the links).
http://searchenginewatch.com/searchday/article.php/3406891
Tim
Monday, September 13, 2004
Hopefully everyone had a wonderful weekend. This week we hope to start working on implementing a couple of those tracking solutions... that is if everything goes well. This week we also plan on doing "best of" for the week - then next week we'll give you some updates on the tracking.
Till tomorrow,
Tim
Till tomorrow,
Tim
Friday, September 10, 2004
A soggy week - but looks like a wonderful weekend ahead!!
We've been getting a good ezine DEMC for several years - check out last weeks issue, especially universal laws and truth.
http://www.demc.com/newsletters/9_8_04.html
An excellent article on the basics of search engines.
http://www.webreference.com/authoring/search_engines/
Also make sure to check out our latest newsletter.
http://www.blitzpromotions.com/blitz241-sept04.htm
Have a good weekend.
Tim
We've been getting a good ezine DEMC for several years - check out last weeks issue, especially universal laws and truth.
http://www.demc.com/newsletters/9_8_04.html
An excellent article on the basics of search engines.
http://www.webreference.com/authoring/search_engines/
Also make sure to check out our latest newsletter.
http://www.blitzpromotions.com/blitz241-sept04.htm
Have a good weekend.
Tim
Thursday, September 09, 2004
Something newsworthy from Overture - seems like they're going to a default broad match in the near future. What that means is that it will be harder to pinpoint those keywords. Details can be found at the following link.
http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?t=14822
http://www.webproworld.com/viewtopic.php?t=14822
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
How was your weekend. ... hopefully you didn't work (the whole weekend) and got to do something fun. Haley and I Beta tested an online game and we had a blast.
Today we're swamped (with work - but I'm definitely not complaining), and we might be swamped with the remnants of the hurricane if the weather folks are right. So updates to the blog my be a little sporadic. What we may do is refer you to some things we've already done.
That is as long as we have power and we're not having storm. We'll try to implement the two trackers next week.
Stay safe!
Today we're swamped (with work - but I'm definitely not complaining), and we might be swamped with the remnants of the hurricane if the weather folks are right. So updates to the blog my be a little sporadic. What we may do is refer you to some things we've already done.
That is as long as we have power and we're not having storm. We'll try to implement the two trackers next week.
Stay safe!
Friday, September 03, 2004
With the holiday weekend coming up, I was curious about the history of Labor Day - if you're curious you can find out more information here -
http://www.holiday-central.net/labor-day-celebrations.asp
We hope everyone enjoys a safe, fun weekend.
We should be back on Tuesday.
http://www.holiday-central.net/labor-day-celebrations.asp
We hope everyone enjoys a safe, fun weekend.
We should be back on Tuesday.
Thursday, September 02, 2004
Tried to post a beautiful comparison here - but it didn't work.
Check out a table with all the stats packages.
http://www.blitzpromotions.com/blog-report.htm
Next week we'll tell you which one's we've chosen for further testing.
Check out a table with all the stats packages.
http://www.blitzpromotions.com/blog-report.htm
Next week we'll tell you which one's we've chosen for further testing.
Monday, August 30, 2004
Talk about fast... the cd for the Windows update arrived today - so instead of 6-8 weeks it actually took 2 or 3 days. I still haven't gotten the courage to upgrade. But maybe in a few weekends I'll have the time to do it right-- you know back up things before hand etc.
This week we're going to be trying to compile the stats packages into a nice table then choose a couple of them to review further. That update should happen within the next day or two.
Have a good one.
Tim
This week we're going to be trying to compile the stats packages into a nice table then choose a couple of them to review further. That update should happen within the next day or two.
Have a good one.
Tim
Friday, August 27, 2004
A few misc. things on this Friday.
Last night we went to a birthday party at our local pool. I've been working with Haley practically the whole summer, teaching her how to swim. Well last night - she just did it - she swam about five or so feet, then more. To me that is a good example of internet marketing. You have to "do" a lot of different things. Many times it may seem that what you're doing isn't worth it, your friends think you're crazy etc. Then everything comes together and you start "doing" it. So DON'T GIVE UP.
Microsoft has releases the big SP 2 update. If you don't want to download it or if you're like me and your internet connection is slow. You can order a CD free from microsoft by going here.
Click Here. I ordered mine today so I'll let you know when I get it. Be warned though, some folks are having trouble with different things with the patch. You can get an idea of those things by checking out the following link.
http://techrepublic.com.com/1200-22-5303956.html?tag=e101
A great article on how spyders and web crawlers work:
http://www.webreference.com/authoring/robots/
Have a great weekend.
Last night we went to a birthday party at our local pool. I've been working with Haley practically the whole summer, teaching her how to swim. Well last night - she just did it - she swam about five or so feet, then more. To me that is a good example of internet marketing. You have to "do" a lot of different things. Many times it may seem that what you're doing isn't worth it, your friends think you're crazy etc. Then everything comes together and you start "doing" it. So DON'T GIVE UP.
Microsoft has releases the big SP 2 update. If you don't want to download it or if you're like me and your internet connection is slow. You can order a CD free from microsoft by going here.
Click Here. I ordered mine today so I'll let you know when I get it. Be warned though, some folks are having trouble with different things with the patch. You can get an idea of those things by checking out the following link.
http://techrepublic.com.com/1200-22-5303956.html?tag=e101
A great article on how spyders and web crawlers work:
http://www.webreference.com/authoring/robots/
Have a great weekend.
Thursday, August 26, 2004
We take a break today to bring you a nice tool you can use for your optimization.
URL Info -
http://www.faganfinder.com/urlinfo
You can use this tool to find out almost anything about a url. It's a great tool to check backlinks.
My suggestion would be to start with your URL - then work on the competition.
See you tomorrow.
URL Info -
http://www.faganfinder.com/urlinfo
You can use this tool to find out almost anything about a url. It's a great tool to check backlinks.
My suggestion would be to start with your URL - then work on the competition.
See you tomorrow.
Wednesday, August 25, 2004
There a quite a few solutions for ROI that would break the bank. Some of those are listed below.
Our focus is to find some that are useful for small business. So you can do your own research on these.
Webabacus - http://www.webabacus.com
Site Intelligence - http://www.site-intelligence.co.uk
Webtraffiq - http://www.webtraffiq.com
SteelTorch - http://www.steeltorch.com
Nedstat - http://www.nedstat.com
WhiteCross Systems - http://www.whitecross.com
Intellitracker - http://www.intellitracker.com
NetGenesis (CustomerCentric Solutions) - http://www.customercentricsolutions.com/
Clickstream - http://www.clickstream.com
Accrue - http://www.accrue.com
RedSheriff- http://www.redsheriff.com
RedEye - http://www.redeye.com
Speedtrap - http://www.speed-trap.com
Touch Clarity - http://www.touchclarity.com
Visual Insights - http://www.visualinsights.co.uk
Till tomorrow have a good one.
Our focus is to find some that are useful for small business. So you can do your own research on these.
Webabacus - http://www.webabacus.com
Site Intelligence - http://www.site-intelligence.co.uk
Webtraffiq - http://www.webtraffiq.com
SteelTorch - http://www.steeltorch.com
Nedstat - http://www.nedstat.com
WhiteCross Systems - http://www.whitecross.com
Intellitracker - http://www.intellitracker.com
NetGenesis (CustomerCentric Solutions) - http://www.customercentricsolutions.com/
Clickstream - http://www.clickstream.com
Accrue - http://www.accrue.com
RedSheriff- http://www.redsheriff.com
RedEye - http://www.redeye.com
Speedtrap - http://www.speed-trap.com
Touch Clarity - http://www.touchclarity.com
Visual Insights - http://www.visualinsights.co.uk
Till tomorrow have a good one.
Tuesday, August 24, 2004
Today we look at two more stats packages -
Sawmill -
http://www.sawmill.net/organization.html
ROI - Possible to track downloads
Normal search stats - Yes
Reports - Yes
Your server or theirs - Your server
Multiple sites - yes with additional cost
Cost - - $139.00 for a single profile.
More pricing details -
http://www.sawmill.net/us_pricing.html
Funnel Web - We look at the Funnel Web Profiler
http://www.quest.com/funnel_web/analyzer/
Their website is difficult to find answers you're looking for.
ROI - Possible
Normal search stats - Yes
Reports - Yes
Your server or theirs - Yours
Multiple sites - No
Cost - - Free - additional cost for modules.
Till tomorrow have a good one.
Tim
Sawmill -
http://www.sawmill.net/organization.html
ROI - Possible to track downloads
Normal search stats - Yes
Reports - Yes
Your server or theirs - Your server
Multiple sites - yes with additional cost
Cost - - $139.00 for a single profile.
More pricing details -
http://www.sawmill.net/us_pricing.html
Funnel Web - We look at the Funnel Web Profiler
http://www.quest.com/funnel_web/analyzer/
Their website is difficult to find answers you're looking for.
ROI - Possible
Normal search stats - Yes
Reports - Yes
Your server or theirs - Yours
Multiple sites - No
Cost - - Free - additional cost for modules.
Till tomorrow have a good one.
Tim
Monday, August 23, 2004
Weekends sure do fly by - Monday is here though whether we like it or not. But the great thing about Monday is your week is like a blank sheet of paper. You can do what you want to with it.
I found a really great newsletter on the web this weekend. The goal stuff is a great gem. You can find it at the link below.
http://www.marketingsecrets.com/massiveissue.html
This week we continue reviewing the stats programs.... why would we spend so much time on this. If you don't know how many / where your visitors are coming from, how can you know that you're improving (or not).
Tim
I found a really great newsletter on the web this weekend. The goal stuff is a great gem. You can find it at the link below.
http://www.marketingsecrets.com/massiveissue.html
This week we continue reviewing the stats programs.... why would we spend so much time on this. If you don't know how many / where your visitors are coming from, how can you know that you're improving (or not).
Tim
Friday, August 20, 2004
Hey it's Friday. Hope you have had a wonderful week.
Next week we should complete the reviews of the stats / ROI programs. Then we'll work on our recommendations.
Here's your assignment for the weekend.
Make a list of your five "best" customers.
Write a letter (NOT an email) to the first one on the list.
Just make it a thank-you letter. DO NOT try and sell them anything.
It can be short / sweet - two or three paragraphs or so. Just thank them for being your customer. Tell them you appreciate them (and why). Make sure to mail it on Monday.
Tim
Next week we should complete the reviews of the stats / ROI programs. Then we'll work on our recommendations.
Here's your assignment for the weekend.
Make a list of your five "best" customers.
Write a letter (NOT an email) to the first one on the list.
Just make it a thank-you letter. DO NOT try and sell them anything.
It can be short / sweet - two or three paragraphs or so. Just thank them for being your customer. Tell them you appreciate them (and why). Make sure to mail it on Monday.
Tim
Thursday, August 19, 2004
Two more stats programs today:
Deep Metrix:
http://www.deepmetrix.com/livestats/net/index.aspx
They have several different programs - we'll focus on the commerce one since we're interested in tracking sales as well.
http://www.deepmetrix.com/hosted/commerce/index.aspx
ROI - YES
Normal search stats - YES
Reports - YES
Your server or theirs - Theirs
Multiple sites - NO
Cost - ~ $200.00 / month
Urchin
http://www.urchin.com
Urchin has different modules that you "plug in".
Here's a nice master list of features.
http://www.urchin.com/products/feature_list_master.html
Again we'll go for the campaign module.
ROI - YES
Normal search stats - YES
Reports - YES
Your server or theirs - Either
Multiple sites - Yes (increases cost)
Cost - around 5 k -
http://www.urchin.com/products/purchase.html
Tomorrow we'll have the weeks wrap up.
Tim
Deep Metrix:
http://www.deepmetrix.com/livestats/net/index.aspx
They have several different programs - we'll focus on the commerce one since we're interested in tracking sales as well.
http://www.deepmetrix.com/hosted/commerce/index.aspx
ROI - YES
Normal search stats - YES
Reports - YES
Your server or theirs - Theirs
Multiple sites - NO
Cost - ~ $200.00 / month
Urchin
http://www.urchin.com
Urchin has different modules that you "plug in".
Here's a nice master list of features.
http://www.urchin.com/products/feature_list_master.html
Again we'll go for the campaign module.
ROI - YES
Normal search stats - YES
Reports - YES
Your server or theirs - Either
Multiple sites - Yes (increases cost)
Cost - around 5 k -
http://www.urchin.com/products/purchase.html
Tomorrow we'll have the weeks wrap up.
Tim
Wednesday, August 18, 2004
Today we're going to look at a couple more trackers.
Free Stats -
http://freestats.com/
ROI - NO
Normal search stats - YES
Reports - Yes
Your server or theirs - Theirs
Multiple sites - No
Cost - from Free (with a banner on your site) to $8.99 / month.
Details on each plan can be found here -
http://www.freestats.com/learnmore.html
CH Web Analyzer
http://www.softngine.com/analyzer/analyzer.htm
Details below are for the professional edition.
ROI - No - but this is just from a quick glance - it may be possible.
Normal search stats - YES
Reports - YES
Your server or theirs - Your Server
Multiple sites - yes see price details below.
Cost - This solution you buy
Pricing details are here: http://softngine.com/analyzer/analyzer_pricing.htm
More tomorrow.
Tim
Free Stats -
http://freestats.com/
ROI - NO
Normal search stats - YES
Reports - Yes
Your server or theirs - Theirs
Multiple sites - No
Cost - from Free (with a banner on your site) to $8.99 / month.
Details on each plan can be found here -
http://www.freestats.com/learnmore.html
CH Web Analyzer
http://www.softngine.com/analyzer/analyzer.htm
Details below are for the professional edition.
ROI - No - but this is just from a quick glance - it may be possible.
Normal search stats - YES
Reports - YES
Your server or theirs - Your Server
Multiple sites - yes see price details below.
Cost - This solution you buy
Pricing details are here: http://softngine.com/analyzer/analyzer_pricing.htm
More tomorrow.
Tim
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
So far we've reviewed the following tracking systems.
Web Trends - http://www.netiq.com/webtrends/products/webtrends/default.asp
Hits Link -http://www.hitslink.com
Smart Tracking http://www.s-tracking.com/
Open Tracker http://www.opentracker.net/
Index Tools - www.indextools.com
Clicked Tracks (hosted) http://www.clicktracks.com/hosted/
You can check the previous days blogs (or check the archives as well).
Pro Analyzer
http://www.proanalyzer.com/
This program is focused solely on ROI
ROI - YES
Normal search stats - NO
Reports - Yes
Your server or theirs - Installs on your Server
Multiple sites - No
Cost - $97.00 (one time)
Click Alyzer
http://www.clickalyzer.com
ROI - YES
Normal search stats - YES
Reports - YES
Your server or theirs - Theirs
Multiple sites - NO
Cost - Varies to traffic - starts @ $19.95
http://www.clickalyzer.com/subscribe.php
More tomorrow.
Tim
Web Trends - http://www.netiq.com/webtrends/products/webtrends/default.asp
Hits Link -http://www.hitslink.com
Smart Tracking http://www.s-tracking.com/
Open Tracker http://www.opentracker.net/
Index Tools - www.indextools.com
Clicked Tracks (hosted) http://www.clicktracks.com/hosted/
You can check the previous days blogs (or check the archives as well).
Pro Analyzer
http://www.proanalyzer.com/
This program is focused solely on ROI
ROI - YES
Normal search stats - NO
Reports - Yes
Your server or theirs - Installs on your Server
Multiple sites - No
Cost - $97.00 (one time)
Click Alyzer
http://www.clickalyzer.com
ROI - YES
Normal search stats - YES
Reports - YES
Your server or theirs - Theirs
Multiple sites - NO
Cost - Varies to traffic - starts @ $19.95
http://www.clickalyzer.com/subscribe.php
More tomorrow.
Tim
Monday, August 16, 2004
Friday, August 13, 2004
This week has flown by - the olympics are coming up this week. Below are some links you might find fun (and useful).
TV Listings - http://www.tvguide.com/olympics
NBC's Olympic stuff - http://www.nbcolympics.com/index.html
The "official" site - http://www.athens2004.com/
Enjoy!
Till Monday.
Tim
TV Listings - http://www.tvguide.com/olympics
NBC's Olympic stuff - http://www.nbcolympics.com/index.html
The "official" site - http://www.athens2004.com/
Enjoy!
Till Monday.
Tim
Thursday, August 12, 2004
It's early :o) - got a couple of additional stats packages to review -
The first is Web Trends. I figured this would be a very expensive one (and they do offer an expensive version), we're going to talk about the $35.00 a month version.
http://www.netiq.com/webtrends/products/webtrends/default.asp
ROI - Yes (if you buy the software version - $495.00
Normal search stats - yes
Reports - Yes
Your server or theirs - Their server.
Multiple sites - no
Hits Link -
http://www.hitslink.com
ROI - Yes (if you buy the software version - $495.00
Normal search stats - yes
Reports - Yes
Your server or theirs - Their server.
Multiple sites - no
Cost - Varies - starts at $14.95 / month - probably figure around $50.00 / month.
http://www.hitslink.com/statistics-pricing.aspx
For some reason I like Hits link.
Tomorrow is Friday!!
Tim
The first is Web Trends. I figured this would be a very expensive one (and they do offer an expensive version), we're going to talk about the $35.00 a month version.
http://www.netiq.com/webtrends/products/webtrends/default.asp
ROI - Yes (if you buy the software version - $495.00
Normal search stats - yes
Reports - Yes
Your server or theirs - Their server.
Multiple sites - no
Hits Link -
http://www.hitslink.com
ROI - Yes (if you buy the software version - $495.00
Normal search stats - yes
Reports - Yes
Your server or theirs - Their server.
Multiple sites - no
Cost - Varies - starts at $14.95 / month - probably figure around $50.00 / month.
http://www.hitslink.com/statistics-pricing.aspx
For some reason I like Hits link.
Tomorrow is Friday!!
Tim
Wednesday, August 11, 2004
Today we review a couple of more stats packages - one note when we get finished we'll offer some analysis / observations / recommendations.
Smart Tracking
http://www.s-tracking.com/
Features can be found here:
http://www.s-tracking.com/features.htm
ROI - NO
Normal search stats - yes
Reports - Yes
Your server or theirs - Their server.
Multiple sites - no
Cost - Price varies according to number of page views - up to 5,000 / month are free.
Pricing details are here - http://www.s-tracking.com/pricing.htm
ROI - NO
Normal search stats - yes
Reports - Yes
Your server or theirs - Their server.
Multiple sites - no
Cost - Price varies according to number of page views - up to 5,000 / month are free.
Open Tracker
http://www.opentracker.net/
ROI - YES - using click streams
Normal search stats - yes
Reports - Yes
Your server or theirs - Their server.
Multiple sites - no
Cost - $16.99 / month Details on pricing can be found here -
http://www.opentracker.net/pages/pricing_detailed.jsp
More tomorrow.
Tim
Smart Tracking
http://www.s-tracking.com/
Features can be found here:
http://www.s-tracking.com/features.htm
ROI - NO
Normal search stats - yes
Reports - Yes
Your server or theirs - Their server.
Multiple sites - no
Cost - Price varies according to number of page views - up to 5,000 / month are free.
Pricing details are here - http://www.s-tracking.com/pricing.htm
ROI - NO
Normal search stats - yes
Reports - Yes
Your server or theirs - Their server.
Multiple sites - no
Cost - Price varies according to number of page views - up to 5,000 / month are free.
Open Tracker
http://www.opentracker.net/
ROI - YES - using click streams
Normal search stats - yes
Reports - Yes
Your server or theirs - Their server.
Multiple sites - no
Cost - $16.99 / month Details on pricing can be found here -
http://www.opentracker.net/pages/pricing_detailed.jsp
More tomorrow.
Tim
Tuesday, August 10, 2004
We'll work on checking two or three stats packages a day -
www.indextools.com Looks like a good package -
They have premium and enterprise versions -
A good comparison of them can be found here -
http://www.indextools.com/products/pricing.html
ROI - yes - enterprise version
Normal search stats - yes
Reports - 100's
Your server or theirs - Their server.
Multiple sites - yes
Cost - Free trial -
Premium version $19.95 / month (50 k pageviews / month)
Enterprise - $49.95 (50 k pageviews / month)
Extra bandwidth costs can be found here -
Clicked Tracks (hosted)
http://www.clicktracks.com/hosted/
They have different products as well - a comparison can be found here -
http://www.clicktracks.com/product_comparison.php
ROI - yes - enterprise version
Normal search stats - yes
Reports - 100's
Your server or theirs - Their server.Multiple sites - yes
Cost - Free trial -
Analyzer hosted $49.00 / month but is extremely limited - extra bandwidth charges also apply.
Analyzer hosted Pro - $239 /month (starts there)
More tomorrow.
www.indextools.com Looks like a good package -
They have premium and enterprise versions -
A good comparison of them can be found here -
http://www.indextools.com/products/pricing.html
ROI - yes - enterprise version
Normal search stats - yes
Reports - 100's
Your server or theirs - Their server.
Multiple sites - yes
Cost - Free trial -
Premium version $19.95 / month (50 k pageviews / month)
Enterprise - $49.95 (50 k pageviews / month)
Extra bandwidth costs can be found here -
Clicked Tracks (hosted)
http://www.clicktracks.com/hosted/
They have different products as well - a comparison can be found here -
http://www.clicktracks.com/product_comparison.php
ROI - yes - enterprise version
Normal search stats - yes
Reports - 100's
Your server or theirs - Their server.Multiple sites - yes
Cost - Free trial -
Analyzer hosted $49.00 / month but is extremely limited - extra bandwidth charges also apply.
Analyzer hosted Pro - $239 /month (starts there)
More tomorrow.
Monday, August 09, 2004
This week we're going to be talking about stats. Without a good stats package / program you're like a fish out of water. With a good package you'll be able to know -
a) where your traffic is coming from.
b) how well your advertising is doing.
c) which pay per click terms are converting (and which aren't),
and much more.
For the next few days we'll be taking a look at a variety of stats packages and comparing them.
Enjoy your Monday.
a) where your traffic is coming from.
b) how well your advertising is doing.
c) which pay per click terms are converting (and which aren't),
and much more.
For the next few days we'll be taking a look at a variety of stats packages and comparing them.
Enjoy your Monday.
Friday, August 06, 2004
It's Friday - :o)
Friday's treat is a list of five good business / promotion blogs to visit.
http://www.webmasterworld.com
http://www.ablake.net/forum/
http://www.friendsinbusiness.com/board1/
http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/
http://www.cre8asiteforums.com/index.php
Enjoy your weekend.
Friday's treat is a list of five good business / promotion blogs to visit.
http://www.webmasterworld.com
http://www.ablake.net/forum/
http://www.friendsinbusiness.com/board1/
http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/
http://www.cre8asiteforums.com/index.php
Enjoy your weekend.
Thursday, August 05, 2004
So what is the best bait - the only way you'll know that is by testing. How do you test - the first thing you'll need is a good stats package. We'll be talking about stats next week - then about testing the week after. For now think a bit about the different kinds of bait that you can use -
- a free newsletter - again like the post you make on forums you want this at least 80% good information and 20% selling your stuff.
- a sales offer - buy 2 get shipping free.
- your pricing - low / high / middle ground which works best.
You get the general idea. Now come up with some on your own.
The folks at Sherpa conducted a survey - you might be interested in the results.
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/sample.cfm?contentID=2780
Till tomorrow.
Tim
- a free newsletter - again like the post you make on forums you want this at least 80% good information and 20% selling your stuff.
- a sales offer - buy 2 get shipping free.
- your pricing - low / high / middle ground which works best.
You get the general idea. Now come up with some on your own.
The folks at Sherpa conducted a survey - you might be interested in the results.
http://www.marketingsherpa.com/sample.cfm?contentID=2780
Till tomorrow.
Tim
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
So you've found the fish, you've learned where they like to hang out. Now you want to think about what kind of bait you want to use. Since you're hanging out with your customers you'll start to realize some of the things they need / want. Things that keep coming up over and over again. Add these offers to your site and use them as bait.
Example:
Say you have a gift basket site. Your focus is on teddy bears. You learn during your wonderings that a lot of people are asking about baskets for people that already own bears. You work on creating a basket that includes accessories (clothes etc) for current bear owners - you also create a jumbo basket that has the bear and some accessories.
Tim
Example:
Say you have a gift basket site. Your focus is on teddy bears. You learn during your wonderings that a lot of people are asking about baskets for people that already own bears. You work on creating a basket that includes accessories (clothes etc) for current bear owners - you also create a jumbo basket that has the bear and some accessories.
Tim
Tuesday, August 03, 2004
A Tip today before we learn more about fishing. While you've been finding places where your fish hang out, did you find any forums. My wife when she first started her site got tons of visitors by answering questions on the forum. Just remember:
- follow the forums posting policies.
- make sure advertising for your own site (at the start) makes up no more than 10% of your reply. As you become "known" on the forum you can increase this gradually, but try to keep it below 30%.
- the best thing is to answer questions. Pretty soon you'll become the resident expert.
Till tomorrow.
Tim
- follow the forums posting policies.
- make sure advertising for your own site (at the start) makes up no more than 10% of your reply. As you become "known" on the forum you can increase this gradually, but try to keep it below 30%.
- the best thing is to answer questions. Pretty soon you'll become the resident expert.
Till tomorrow.
Tim
Monday, August 02, 2004
One of the best search engine news sources is from search engine watch. You can catch the latest updates by going here -
http://searchenginewatch.com/article.php/2148821 Make sure to check out all the links.
This week (Tuesday - Thursday) we'll continue the series on fishing, which hopefully you'll enjoy.
Till tomorrow,
Tim
http://searchenginewatch.com/article.php/2148821 Make sure to check out all the links.
This week (Tuesday - Thursday) we'll continue the series on fishing, which hopefully you'll enjoy.
Till tomorrow,
Tim
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