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Getting More Out of Your Website |
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Written by Jeff Barkacs
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Tuesday, April 28, 2009 7:34am |
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There is no doubt that search engine optimization is extremely important to your website's vitality, but today going to talk about promoting your site and using it as a sales tool. You can put a whole lot more information on your website then you can get out through any other advertising media. So, why shouldn't you use it? There are three very important items that one needs to remember to get the most out of your website investment.
1) Promote your website.
Your site is a sales tool. It's out there 24/7, accessible by anyone with a computer. Of all the ways to advertise, the internet is by far the least expensive. You can post detailed information about your company's products or services along with pictures, testimonies and so much more, but they have to know you're there. Every time you run an ad on any other medium mention your website. Give what info you can in 30 seconds or 3 x 4 display ad then send them to your website where they can get more detailed information. Now, you've got the people who aren't online (a dwindling number, to be sure) and the majority can visit your website and " virtually meet you."
2) Keep your website up to date.
Consider getting or switching to a content management system (CMS) website. CMS sites allow you to go in and update information yourself, from where ever you are. Change pictures or video, write articles, advertise sales, have coupons, sell product... well, you see where this can go. The point is, fresh content rules! If you're passionate about your business, you could hammer out one small article about your area of expertise every week. That gets visitors coming back, keeping you in their minds more than your competition. And return visitors are more likely to become customers.
3) Returning visitors increases loyalty.
Now, you've got them coming back. They're getting to know you. They're starting to look at you as a friend. That's the power of a web presence, but it requires effort. You must look at that site as a tool. Tools look great from a hardware store shelf, all shiny and having all the latest gizmos, but it isn't until you use the tool that you find out just how cool it is and you begin to imagine even more uses. However, to use the tool requires work on your part, but you don't mind because of the benefits you reap from using your tool. Okay, enough with the metaphor or simile or whatever. The point: There is no other medium available that can do what a managed web presence can do for your business. The internet ain't going away. Use for conducting business will only increase. The time to begin using this powerful medium is NOW.
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10 Customer Service Tips For ALL Businesses |
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Written by Jeff Barkacs
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Wednesday, April 22, 2009 12:00am |
 Well, I just had a most unpleasant experience with Charter Communications. I have one of those DVR boxes. Well, actually I'm on my third DVR box. The first two didn't work. So, I had a technician come out again about three weeks ago and replace the DVR box yet again. I get an e-mail of my bill and it is $35 higher than normal. "How can this be," I ask myself. So, I call the 800 number to get a hold of a Charter representative. I get operator ID UMD. What a rude young man. First of all, this guy kept insisting that I had created a four digit pin and that if I couldn't remember this pin then he could not talk to me about my account. Now, I don't ever remember setting up a four digit pin, but if I did it would have been the same four numbers I use for most of those pins. It was not. Then he got belligerent with me saying, "Sir, I'm sorry that you don't remember setting up this pin, but you did and I need to have this pin before I can talk to you. After five minutes of going back and forth like this I'm starting to get a little steamed. He has me go online, log onto my Charter account and find a PDF version of my bill. (I try to keep it green. I don't have them send me paper bills anymore). So, we find this security code, which is a foreign number to me, and we begin to discuss the bill. So, he's going down line by line explaining all these things and I said, "I can read. What I want to know is why is there this $35 service call on my bill?" He tells me that's because a technician must have come to my house and I don't have in-home wiring insurance. I explained to him about the DVR boxes, and that they assured me that I would not be billed to have this guy come and replace this box for the third time. Well, this young man was not going take that, by God, and I was going to have to pay that bill and I informed them that I would not. I had even asked to speak to a supervisor. He told me he couldn't let me do that. I hung up. When I called the number again, I got a very pleasant young lady. When she was asking all my security information she asked for the last four of my social security number, which is what they've always asked for. I asked her about a pin number and she said yes some people do establish a pin, but most people just use the last four of their social. Great. I then explained to her my problem. She goes away for a couple minutes, comes back and informs me that the matter has been resolved. The $35 has been taken off my bill. Just like that.
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Webdesign companies charge too much for CMS sites |
Why are you paying more for dynamic sites?
 I'm going to let you in on a little webdesign secret. You see, webdesigners have traditionally had a nice little recurring income from clients coming back to them and asking "please can you add this to my site" and similar things. The fact is, with CMS driven sites being so much easier to maintain from a client perspective, they now have less need to go back to their webdesigner and asking for things. So the webdesigners think: hey, if I'm not going to have this recurring income anymore, I need to charge more as a compensation for lost income.
At Dominion Marketing we don't feel that this is very fair or transparent. We charge for the actual work we need to do for you, resulting in low prices for advanced dynamic sites that many others charge much more for. Our extras are priced "a la carte" so you know ahead of time what you want, need and can afford. Of course, these extras can be added at any time. And we train you to begin doing your own website updates, to whatever degree you feel comfortable. Let us show you what we can do. Email or call today!
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TV Commercials: Imaginative or "Cookie-cutter"? |
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Written by Lou
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 30 years ago, when I sold airtime for a network TV affiliate in a small midwestern market, the station's production staff was young, inexperienced and had few resources. We joked about them having a book of generic commercials into which they could simply cut a new voice-over and insert a different client's logo and contact information into the graphics. The advertiser would be shoe-horned into bank spot #3, car dealer #14, restaurant 9, etc.
Assigned to a territory about an hour and a half from the station, management decided it would be more cost-effective to let me write, cast and produce my own spots. Believing that my clients deserved better than mundane and boring, I strove to create for each one a spot that was both original and viewer-retentive. I loved doing parodies of popular ads for Taco Bell, Sears Diehard batteries, Timex watches and others.
I conceived the "Price Stripper" I.D. for a car dealer, consisting of a blond in a fur coat stripping down to a bikini, while she voice the copy. For another dealer, we drove a car into The Lake of the Ozarks "Remember, when it's time to trade, drive into Lake...Lake Chevrolet-Olds in Eldon". A spot for an upscale restaurant was done in pantomime as champagne was poured into two glasses and a red rose was placed in front of the woman, as romantic music was playing in the background. There were, of course, many others.
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DOES YOUR EMAIL SIGNATURE MAKE A LASTING IMPRESSION? |
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Your email signature is more than just a virtual business card. If utilized effectively, it can also be a great and inexpensive tool for marketing and branding your business,  growing your database, and even generating leads. Here are a few tips to help maximize the full power of this simple, but often overlooked, marketing marvel:
Create Consistency – According to marketing experts, your email signature should be short and sweet, which means between 5 and 7 lines of text. Just be sure to include at minimum the following information: name, title, company name, phone number, and website address. Some companies include an email address in their email signature, but others see it as redundant since the email is coming from you. Either way, it is essential that everyone in your organization is consistent about it, and follows the exact same format.
In other words, your email signature should look like a uniform company stamp of which only the names and titles change from person to person within the organization. That's the first step in branding your name and image. And it's the easiest part of creating a consistent experience.
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