Capitalize on Phone Calls

Your email list loses 25% of its subscribers on average each year. If you’re not actively growing your list, it’s shrinking. Your reach is diminishing. Your opportunities are fading.

Email continues to be one of the most effective forms of promotion. You can’t afford to have a shrinking list. Here are seven simple ways you can grow your email list quickly.

1. Events

The next time you end up at a trade show or conference, stop working so hard at collecting all the freebies and start growing your email list. No, I don’t mean collecting business cards and dumping those email addresses into your list.

When you meet prospects or possible referral sources and exchange cards, ask if they’d like to get your monthly newsletter. Tell them what types of info they can expect, and how it might help them, their business, or their clients. Make a note on their card to remind you to add them when you get back to the office.

2. Networking

A close relative of trade shows and conferences, networking events prove to be another easy way to grow your email list. Often hosted by your local chamber of commerce or professional group, networking events are usually touted as a great place to meet prospects and potential clients.

While I think they’re somewhat akin to playing the lottery, if you find a payoff or enjoy such events, be sure to work the room to grow your email list. End your conversation by asking your new acquaintance if they’d like to get great industry insights via your monthly newsletter.

3. Website

This may seem absurdly obvious, but there’s a good chance you’ve overlooked it. I wouldn’t be surprised if you don’t have a way for visitors to your website to join your email list. Rectify that immediately.

4. Social Media

Are you making good use of Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter? Be sure to invite your fans, followers, and connections to sign up for your emails. Give them the chance to link to your website to join your list. Better yet, remove another hurdle and go ahead and put a sign up form on your Facebook page.

5. Phone

In the new world of digital correspondence, phone conversations are often overlooked as a means for engaging customers in a long sales cycle. The next time someone calls for an estimate or inquiry, don’t let them hang up without providing you with their email address. Explain how your newsletter will give them the opportunity to learn more about you, your company, and your expertise.

6. Blog Posts

Why not add a footer to your blog posts? Invite readers to get even more great info by signing up for your emails.

7. Email Signature

People can look at your email address and figure out your website address. Why not swap your basic domain name in your email signature for a link to your email sign up page. Make it simple such as domainname.com/emails and make your hyperlink a nice, simple call-to-action.

Want more useful tips? Sign up for our monthly newsletter!

Website Wireframe on an iPad

Would you like a better website?

Would you like a website that truly represents your business? Supports your sales efforts? Generates traffic from search engines?

Or how about this – would you like a website that converts potential clients into qualified leads?

Of course you do! Who doesn’t?

It may seem elusive and out of reach, but it’s not. You simply need to know what’s required to get there. More specifically, you need to know the right questions to ask.

Here are a few critical questions you need to ask. It’s up to you to find the answers.

Why are we doing this?

There are dozens of reasons to redesign your website. Some of those reasons are even good ones. Most aren’t.

We need to impress the CEO. Our competitor’s site looks better. Our largest client made a comment. The new director of marketing wants to make his or her mark. We don’t like our website. Our site is old.

Any of those sound familiar?

On the flip side, your reason for redesigning your site should be to grow your business. Drive more traffic to your site. Generate new interest in your service offerings. Educate existing clients to generate repeat business. Support your sales and business development personnel in the selling process.

What’s the one thing you absolutely need your website to do?

How does our website fit in with our marketing plan?

I’ll be perfectly honest. Redesigning your website alone will not grow your business. It’s not the only point of contact for your potential clients. It can’t replace customer service or the human touch.

Furthermore, it’s probably not the first time they see your logo or hear about your firm. It most likely won’t be the deciding factor for hiring you.

You network. You have referral sources. You send emails and email newsletters. You refuse to give up your ad in the yellow pages. You advertise in trade magazines and you have a great PR firm working with you.

Where does the website fit in the mix? How does it work seamlessly with your other efforts? What percent of your marketing budget and effort should be devoted to your website?

Who is our target audience?

Seems like an obvious question, but it’s not.

Most businesses rarely understand who they’re really targeting. They have a general idea, but no one has asked the necessary questions to define the target audience, and then detail, in writing, who they are and how to communicate with them.

This is a huge mistake and costs companies dearly. This is especially difficult when you don’t know why you’re redesigning your site in the first place. A website that speaks to potential clients is far different than one used to impress your competitors.

What does success look like?

Fast forward to the launch of your new website. Was it a success? How do you know?

If you don’t define success before you get started redesigning your site, you’ll find it very hard to know if the result hit the mark.

Is your goal to win an award for design? Are you looking for a percent increase in traffic? To build an email list of valid subscribers? Generate or qualify leads?

Define success early. Be specific. Write it down. Measure. When you miss the mark, make corrections and keep moving forward.

How much should we spend?

When it comes to redesigning a website, this seems to be one of the most elusive and poorly answered questions.

There are dozens of posts online about how much a website should cost. The problem is, “How much does a website cost?” is the wrong question to ask in the first place.

How much does a car cost?

Do you need basic transportation? Are you touring the country? Are you trying to win the Winston Cup? Seems silly, but that’s not much different than the world of website development.

In Central North Carolina, you could easily spend $600, $16,000, or $60,000.

Instead of asking how much it costs, what you should be asking is “How much will it cost to achieve our stated objectives and grow our business?”

Some business can grow to the next level with a relatively small spend of $5,000. Others need complex solutions requiring tens of thousands of dollars.

Overspending is not ideal, but be more concerned with underspending. Spending a little more than necessary to get desired results still gets desired results. Not spending enough to get any results can be detrimental.

What questions are you asking before redesigning your website?

Users will visit a website several times before making a decision to reach out. In fact, there is often a direct correlation between the cost of your services and the amount of time a customer will spend doing research.

You put in the effort to get people to your website. You network. You optimize for search engines. You have a regular email newsletter. (You do have an email newsletter, right?) But what happens when users get to your website?

What if your potential customers visit once and never come back? What if they check out your home page and never dig deeper?

You can’t afford to lose potential leads because your website isn’t sticky. You need potential customers to be repeat visitors. But how? How do you get your website visitors to come back?

Here are 5 sure-fire ways to get repeat visitors to your website.

1) Make Your Website Easy to Use

Who are you? What do you do? How can I contact you? These are questions we want answered. Can we find the answers to those three questions within seconds?

Make sure your website’s navigation is horizontal, near the top of your home page, and simple. Don’t use clever words when common words will do. Put your phone number on the home page and give us a way to contact you via email. Not everyone wants to pick up the phone.

Keep your website and especially your home page clean. No one wants to sort through a dozen buttons, paragraphs, links, photos, and text buckets. Just give us what we need to know to determine if you’re a good fit. If you overwhelm us, we will leave.

2) Be Helpful

Yes, we know you’re proud of your experience and your accomplishments. That’s great. How can you help me?

Better yet, can you help me right now? Here? While I’m on your site? Right now?

If you can solve a small problem for me now, there’s a better chance I’ll pay you to solve a larger problem for me later.

Do you have tips and insights on your website? An educational blog? Tutorials? Valuable links?

Is there a white paper or How-To Guide I can download? Can I chat with a customer service rep while I’m here?

If you’re going to be helpful, be genuinely helpful. Users can tell when you’re being sneaky or insincere. Don’t waste your time or ours.

3) Make Sure It’s Relevant

If I’m in need of your services to solve my problem, is the content on your site relevant to my problem?  Do you clearly articulate what you do and how you can help?

Is your site current? (Hint: check your copyright line. If it says 2007, stop right now and fix it.)

What’s the date of your last blog post? If it’s older than a month, add a new one, take the blog down, or simply remove the dates from your posts.

Are you an expert? Are you certified or licensed? If so, do you have easily identifiable signs, seals, logos, or links to prove it?

4) Make Your Website Dynamic

Gone are the days of putting your brochure online. Users want interaction. There’s a reason the whole world is on Facebook. It’s not because Facebook has an amazing blog.

Can I connect with you on LinkedIn? Can I check out your Twitter feed or Flickr photos while I’m on your website? Can I comment on your blog posts via Facebook?

Don’t make it cluttered, but do show some signs of life.

5) Hook ’em

Want people to come back? Hook ‘em. Get them to connect with you on LinkedIn or follow you on Twitter.

Better yet, get them to give you their email address. Put a signup form for your newsletter. Write up a helpful tip sheet. Post it to your site and give it away. Just have them give you their name and email before they can download the pdf.

Create a video tutorial. Post the intro or short version on your site and offer to send a link to the full, 20 minute tutorial. Get their info and send them the video. Follow up a week later and see if they have any questions.

The possibilities are endless. What are you doing to get repeat visitors to your website?

You can’t talk to everyone at once. Not in person. Not in an email. Not via your website.

If you can’t talk to everyone, you have to narrow your focus. Larger companies do this all the time. It’s obvious. We don’t question it.

Scion. Godiva. Barbie. FuBu. Old Navy. Whole Foods. Aldi. Audi. Ping.

Can you think of one person you know that could easily be targeted by all those brands? I can’t. They have narrowed their focus. They’ve defined their target audience. To win, you’ve got to do the same.

The cost of marketing to the masses is enormous. It’s inefficient. It will drain you. You will lose.

Instead, narrow your focus. Specialize. Target a small niche, then wow them with everything you’ve got.

21 Questions to Help You Define Your Target Audience.

1. Who do I like working with or serving?
2. Who pays well?
3. Who doesn’t haggle or complain?
4. Who are my repeat customers?
5. What customers would I fire given the chance?
6. Of what type of customer would I want more?
7. Where do they shop online?
8. Where do they shop offline?
9. What websites do they visit?
10. Are they active on social media sites?
11. Where do they live?
12. Where do they work?
13. What’s their level of education?
14. How do they spend their free time?
15. How do they make big purchasing decisions? Impulse buys?
16. How old are they?
17. What are their values?
18. Who are their friends?
19. Are they politically active?
20. Do they volunteer? If so, where?
21. Will they refer you to others?

Next Steps

I could go on, but that’s plenty to get you started. Take 15 minutes to answer these questions. Then do it a second and third time focusing on a different person or set of customers. Give each of the three a persona, a name, even a photo.

Now, the next time you create an ad, write a blog post, or send out an email, focus on one of these targets. Talk to them.

Let me know how it goes!

Photo by Yoshiyasu Nishikawa

Let me guess, you tried Twitter … it didn’t work. You created an account on LinkedIn. Nothing happened.

Maybe you created a Facebook page. You then sent a mass invite to all your friends. You asked them to “like” your page. A few did. Nothing happened.

Same thing with blogging. Same thing with email blasts. You hear about all these things working for other companies. You know it works. (It does work, right?)

Except it doesn’t. You tried it yourself. Nothing happened.

What gives? Is it all just hype?

Well, I have good news and bad news. The good news? I have the answer for you. The bad news? You’re not going to like the answer.

The number one reason social media isn’t working for you is simple. If no one is talking about you offline, no one’s going to talk about you online.

If your customers and clients aren’t fans of yours, they won’t sing your praises at dinner, mention your work over coffee, or tell your story in the break room.

If they don’t believe you can truly help their colleagues, wow their neighbors, or help their relative’s business, why on Earth would they tell those very people about you?

If they’re not talking about you, they’re certainly not going to engage you on Facebook, tweet about you, or respond to your LinkedIn update.

If you want people to talk about you, you’ve got to be remarkable!

Be remarkable! Be unique. Be entertaining. Be an expert. Be personal.

I don’t care what it is you decide to be, just so long as you’re remarkable! And I promise you, if you’re remarkable, social media will work!

What’s remarkable about your business?

Like this infographic? Get more content marketing tips from Copyblogger.

Photo by Ben Grey

Business is about people. People do business with people they like. If you want people to like you, be generous.

Being generous offline can range from a simple, yet powerful, hand-written note, to a free drink or an unexpected upgrade.

Being generous online, however, is still a bit tricky to many small businesses.

It doesn’t have to be complicated. In fact, one key way to be generous online is to simply share valuable content. Give people good advice, specialized information, tools, tips, tricks, or news.

Twitter is brimming with people generously sharing valuable content. Scan the feed of a popular business or personality and you’re sure to see links to hundreds if not thousands of articles.

Let me be perfectly clear, these people aren’t posting links to their original content. They’re posting links to content written and published by others. In essence, they’re an aggregator and filter of valuable content.

And that gets them followers and attention?

Absolutely!

Take a look at @ducttape, @jasonfalls, @beesocialbiz, or @mayhemstudios. Posting links to articles and news isn’t all they do, but it’s a large part. Note, they’re not lacking in a healthy Twitter presence.

The key is to understand your audience and what they need or want to know.

Is your target audience small business owners looking for information on time management, sales, or hiring best practices. Does your audience consist of foodies, looking for great tips on wine, gourmet chocolate, or imported cheese? Or are they do-it-yourselfers looking for home repair or yard maintenance advice?

Regardless of the niche, connecting your customers with valuable content, content that you’ve taken the time to gather and sort, will show your generosity. It’ll go a long way towards building your likability.

Whether you’re on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter, or whether you’re blogging or sending out e-newsletters, put a little effort into sharing a few good links. See what happens!

Want to see what we’re sharing? Follow @BurlapSky on Twitter.

My Twitter Class of '08 by mallix

Do you get the sense that everyone else is on Twitter? Everyone, but you.

Ever taken a sneak peak at Twitter? Created an account just to explore? Checked out a friends Twitter page?

Let’s be honest. It’s weird, right? Odd. It’s like a whole ‘nother world.

I agree. I think it’s weird, too.

But you know what? You get used to it. After a while, the weirdness fades…

For the most part.

I realize most small business don’t understand Twitter. Part of this is due to the ever growing, ever changing list of Twitter terms.

I can’t answer all your Twitter questions in one blog post, but I can arm you with a few definitions. I can give you just enough insight so you won’t feel so underdressed the next time you show up at the Twitter party.

Username (a.k.a Twitter Handle): This is the name you choose to represent you or your business on Twitter. It can be up to 15 characters. Once you pick your name, it will be shown with the “@” symbol in front, e.g. @burlapsky

To Follow: To subscribe to receive updates from a Twitter user. If you’d like to see what we’re posting on Twitter, view our Twitter profile and click “Follow”.

To Follow Back: To subscribe to receive updates from a Twitter user who recently started following you. If you’ve selected to have Twitter send you notifications of activity by email, you’ll get one each time a new user chooses to follow you. If you then follow them, you have chosen to follow back.

A Follower: A user who has chosen to receive your Twitter updates.

Tweet (a.k.a post or update): To send a message to Twitter, either by phone, computer, or other device. A tweet can be up to 140 characters long.

ReTweet (RT): To repost what another user has posted to Twitter. This is used to share one user’s update with all of your followers while giving them credit for their original post. Usually denoted with “RT @username”, but sometimes by “(via @username)” at the end of the Tweet.

@Reply: A public tweet sent from one user to another. You can send messages to other Twitterers by simply including their username with the “@” sign in your message. For example, if you want to send a public message to us, simply start your update with “@burlapsky”.

Direct Message (a.k.a DM): A private message to another Twitterer. If you’d like to send a post to us, without the rest of the world viewing it, simply begin your Tweet with “d BurlapSky”

Twitter Stream: A list of a user’s updates. Each time you Tweet it is posted to your Twitter stream. You can view our Twitter stream at twitter.com/burlapsky.

Hashtag: A way to tag a keyword or topic within a post to give it emphasis and make it more easily searchable by other users. A hashtag is notated with the “#” symbol. For example, if we posted a blogging-related Tweet, we could type “#blogging” so that anyone searching for Tweets related to blogging could easily find our Tweet. Go ahead, click #blogging and see what you get.

Next time we’ll take a look at some practical examples for using Twitter. We’ll explore common practices, Twitter culture, and what you need to know to get started.

Are there any other Twitter terms you’d like explained?

Know someone who would benefit from this post? You can use the buttons below to share.

The Art of Writing

You read our last post about how blogging can help your business. Now, you’re ready to get started. You’re eager to get those thoughts down. To spread the word. To get found, build trust, and be sticky.

That’s great! But, hold on just a second. There are a few things you need to know before you get too far.

Know Your Purpose

If you want to have any amount of success with your blog, you’ve got to know your blog’s purpose!

What’s the point? Why are you blogging? What are you trying to accomplish?

What’s the ideal outcome? How does blogging fit in with your overall marketing plan? How does it support your business?

Without knowing your blog’s purpose, you won’t stay motivated. You won’t stay focused. You won’t see results.

Know Your Audience

Who are you writing to?

Or.

To whom are you writing?

If you don’t know your audience, you won’t know how to connect with them. You won’t know what interests them. You won’t know their attention span. You won’t know how to keep them coming back.

Of course, this is directly tied to your blog’s purpose. Are you writing to prospective clients or industry competitors? Buyers? Decision makers? Small business owners?

Are you writing to heads of households? Mom’s? Dad’s? Teens? Or, twenty-something millennials with college degrees living at home watching The Office while Skyping on their iPads?

Once you have an idea of your core audience. Take time to write down a description. How old are they? Where do they live? How do they gather information and make decisions? What’s their income? Education? Higher purpose?

Then, find a picture representation and attach it to your description. Older white female. Young Korean male. Fashionable. Conservative. Professional. Whoever they are, get a visual.

The next time your ready to write, write to that person. It will make a world of difference.

Know Your Voice

There’s an enormous variety of business blogs online. From Seth Godin, Michael Hyatt, and Chris Brogan, to Duct Tape Marketing, Small Business Trends, and Business News Daily.

Personal vs Professional. Inspirational vs educational. Brief. Lengthy. Funny. Informative. Cynical. Thought-provoking.

All very good. All very popular.

For your business blog, keep your tone of voice consistent with your brand. Your company image. Your positioning.

Stay in line with your defined purpose and your audience.

Is your business relationship driven? Be relational. Are you the industry expert? Impress us.

Are you in Texas, New York, Miami, or Lizard Lick? Where are your clients?

The point here is simply this, take time to think about it. Then, own it.

Fact is, with a little planning and preparation, your blog has a much greater chance of being successful. You, you have a greater chance of winning!

What About You?

Do you have a favorite business blog? If so, leave a comment with a link. We’d like to check it out.

Know someone who would benefit from this post? You can use the buttons below to share.

Jet Truck by Nicholaus Haskins

Blogging isn’t a fad. It’s not dead. It’s not dying. It isn’t going anywhere.

In fact, blogging is a key component of successful online marketing.

Blogging allows you to create quality, valuable content. Creating quality content gives your business a boost.

Here are five reasons why.

Blogging Makes You Look Good

You’re experienced. You’re knowledgeable. You’re an expert. You know your business inside and out. You’re good at what you do.

Don’t hide that from your customers.

Write.

Blog.

Give your customers a chance to sample your knowledge. Help them solve basic problems. Give them something to think about.

They’ll see you as the expert. They’ll want you to solve their problems. What more could you ask?

Blogging Builds Trust

Ever get a hand-written letter or “Thank You” note in the mail?

Ever get junk mail in the form of a typed letter? An obvious mass mailing. Faux signature at the bottom and all.

Which is more trustworthy?

I know, a blog post isn’t the same as a hand-written letter. But a well-written, personable post will connect with your audience. More so than the typical legalese found on most company websites.

Post personal insight and wisdom to your blog every week for two years. I guarantee you’ll build trust.

Blogging Makes You Sticky

When it comes to children and candy, sticky is, well, not so good.

When it comes to your website, sticky is fantastic. You want your website to be sticky.

You want people to come. To read. To stay. To click. To view. To watch. To listen. To learn. To join. To connect.

You also want them to come back.

A good blog is sticky.

A 10 page website updated once every 12 months is wet tape.

Blogging Gets You Found

Blogging adds pages to your site. Pages get indexed by Google. Potential customers search Google. They find you.

You have more related content than your competitors. You get found more often. You win.

Blogging Improves Your Communication

Most of us would agree that we now type more than we talk. Most of us would also agree that written communication is far from what it used to be.

This isn’t about “the good ‘ol days” of the hand-written letter. This is about today’s quick, poorly written emails, and text messages full of typos.

For some aspects of business, that’s fine. We all understand.

However, you’re in the business of selling. Selling your company. Selling your services. Selling your brand.

Poorly written content, proposals, and estimates do nothing for sales.

Blogging improves your ability to organize your thoughts. To write well. To communicate.

Blogging improves your business.

What About You?

Is your business blogging?

If so, feel free to leave a comment with a link so we can all check it out.

Know someone who would benefit from this post? You can use the buttons below to share.