Websites Have More Value

Let's get started today on your new website.

Continuing on with my article last week on why you still need a website for your business even if you have a Facebook page, I will share two more reasons.

Your competition has one.  If your competition has a website and a Facebook page and you don’t, then they are ahead of you in that game.  When potential customers are weighing the difference between the two of you, a website packed full of information, photos and graphics is going to carry more weight in credibility than a Facebook page alone that isn’t able to share but a fraction of the information a website can present.

You haven’t posted on your Facebook page regularly in months.  A stagnant Facebook page leaves visitors to wonder if you’re still in business.  Unfortunately, most businesses start off keeping their Facebook pages active, but as the weeks go by, they begin to lax in the posting until it becomes a forgotten task.  A website indicates that you are an active company still in business, and a good website designer should be calling you every few months if they haven’t heard from you, to see what they can do to update the pages to keep up with your business activity.

If you still don’t have a website for your small business or yours is in need of a makeover to bring it up-to-date, then you should call me today to schedule a free consultation.  Don’t put it off another day.  Chances are this is a task that has already been put off for far too long.

Call me now.

Micki – your web gal
connect@michelleharbour.com
804.642-2363
330-591-1070 mobile
www.michelleharbour.com

The Customer is Still King

What is the most important thing you should do in your business to succeed?  You need to make sure each client feels as if they are the most important client to your business.  “The Customer is King” is the old saying, and nothing has changed to make that any less true.  Unfortunately, customer service seems to have gone by the wayside – which in very regrettable.  The good side of that fact is that any business, large or small, who provides extraordinary customer service will surely reap great benefits from doing so.

Large businesses in your area who fail to provide good customer service can get away with that poor service, because in many cases, they are the only game in town – there is nowhere else to go to get their service or products.  Phone companies and cable companies come to mind when this subject is brought up.

But if you’re a small business owner, you can lead in your field by ensuring you go above and beyond the call of duty in all your business dealings – from how your phone is answered all the way to a hand written thank you note at the end of a project.  Locally, I love when I walk in the door of a small business and I’m immediately greeted with a genuine hello, and I truly appreciate the little touches that some retail stores provide with unique shopping bags for my purchases or the offer to sign up to receive their newsletter via email.

If you provide a service in your business, following up with clients from time to time just to check in and see if there’s anything you can do for them will often bring up a little task the client has needed done or corrected.  If it is something you can do quickly and you do so for no charge, you can be sure that you will likely receive a phone call in the near future from this satisfied client who realizes that they are ready to move forward with that next project you had discussed months ago.

In 2012, social media is being used by over 80% of Americans, and those users are making it perfectly clear that they expect their favorite brands and businesses to being doing the same.  That gives you an easy and effective way to work your customer service magic every day of the week if you choose to.

Engage your clients in conversation.  Ask them questions on what more they’d like from you and how you’re doing with your services or products.  If you’re in retail you can share new products you have in and why you chose these quality products to offer your clients.

For service business types you can offer advice and tips that your followers can use and share with their friends – building your reputation and the expert in the field and therefore the go-to businesses when the need arises.

While the world seems to be moving faster than ever before, some things never change.  Everyone wants to know that they matter, and when you make customer service your top priority, it will be the most important and effective marketing tool you can do for your business.

What has a business done for you recently that made them shine in your eyes?  If you’re a small business owner, what do you do to stand out among the competition?

Micki – your web gal
connect@michelleharbour.com
804-642-2363
330-591-1070 mobile
www.michelleharbour.com

Direct Mail vs. Email – Which do your clients prefer?

Do you rely on email marketing through services such as Constant Contact?  Has that worked out well for you?  If you’re not getting the results you had anticipated, perhaps your customers are among those who prefer direct mail over email.

According to a study released on December 1 from Epsilon, 50% of U.S. consumers prefer direct mail to email.  They also found that 25% of all U.S. consumers said that they found direct mail to be “more trustworthy” than email.

When 2,226 U.S. consumers were surveyed for the third Consumer Channel Preference Study, 60% of them said they enjoy checking for mail in their physical mailboxes.  The study refers to that as an “emotional connection” to postal mail.

If you’re rely primarily on email messaging only, you could be hurting your marketing.  The perception that reading email is faster than reading postal mail declined among U.S. email account holders from 47% in 2010 to 45% in 2011.

Do these numbers make you want to review your electronic mail marketing practices?  Which promotion mail do you look at first when it arrives, your email or your physical mail?  Which will you open first if it catches your eye – the email with a catchy subject line or the brightly colored envelope in your mailbox with the catchy phrase?  I’d love to hear your answers.

Micki – your web gal
connect@michelleharbour.com
804.642-2363
330-591-1070 mobile
www.michelleharbour.com

You Need Social Media and a Website

330-591-1070

A business without a website is a business without a face, but because of the cost of hosting and design, many small businesses choose social media over a website.  While that may seem like a frugal idea, it is not good business and could become problematic later down the road.

If you’re putting all your online efforts into Facebook while ignoring the importance of a website, as critical as social media is, you are setting yourself up for some potentially large problems that could cost you wasted time and clients – and in business, those two things equal money.

Owners Rights

You don’t own your Facebook page.  Facebook is free to use, but what if it was suddenly gone tomorrow?  Although SOPA did not pass, many large websites that use information sharing have been shut down without warning in the past month by various government agencies.  Another problem you could encounter could be that something you posted or shared violates a Facebook rule, and your page is shut down by them and be gone when you wake up one morning.  While this isn’t the norm, I have known several businesses that have been shut down by Facebook for alleged rule violation, even though no rules were broken – but with over 845 million users, Facebook doesn’t have the time to investigate every charge individually made against a fellow Facebook member.  If there’s any question of impropriety, Facebook will error on the side of better-safe-than-sorry.

If all your online eggs are in the basket belonging to Facebook, you’re risking all the time and effort you’ve put into putting your page together, (or paying someone to do for you) but when you own your own website, there is no worry of waking up in the middle of a big sales campaign and seeing your only online presence has disappeared completely.

No Control

You don’t have control on Facebook of how your information appears, and we’ve all heard or made the complaints ourselves every time Facebook makes a large change.  When you own your own website, the layout is all under your control and is displayed exactly how you want it.

Don’t Stop Me Now!

Facebook has limitations that you don’t have to be concerned with when you have your own website.  Would you like to use pdf files to share documents with your viewers?  You can’t do that with Facebook.  What about videos?  Video sharing is critical to many businesses, but Facebook limits how long your shared videos can be.  Facebook also has very strict rules concerning contests and certain promotions.  But with your own website you have fewer limitations (only those by law) and you can even include private areas that require passwords for viewing to share certain information or to allow restricted access to particular clients or employees.

Non-Facebook Users

Believe it or not, all your clients are not on Facebook, and even if your page is able to be viewed by those non-users, many people refuse to go on Facebook and if they have no other way of finding you online, you are going to lose their business to a competitor they can find who has their own website.

I’ll share more reasons later in the week of why you must have a website and not rely solely on social media, but if I’ve already convinced you on the important benefits of owning your own website, call me for a free consultation appointment to learn how I can get you started on your own website today.

Micki – your web gal

connect@michelleharbour.com
804.642-2363
330-591-1070 mobile
www.michelleharbour.com

Blogging Trumps Traditional Marketing for Lead Generation

Continuing on with the post I made this morning on my Facebook page regarding the changes in marketing over time, here’s another fact you need to be aware of – especially if you are in the service or tech industry. 

 

Call for a free consultation.

Blogging trumps traditional marketing in a head to head study.  Case in point –

I just read about a small business that thought they’d take advantage of the huge viewership that would be watching this year’s Super Bowl.  The company purchased 3 in-game and 17 pre-game and post-game TV spots in its local market at a total cost of $54,000. The ads used a tracking phone number, so the business knew which incoming calls were a result of the commercial; and it encouraged viewers to visit the company’s homepage. That was the only marketing in the ad campaign integrating the offline efforts with their website or another online presence like social media. According to Nielsen Ratings, their ads were seen by 2.8 million viewers.

Thanks to the ads, the company’s web traffic was up 11% on Super Bowl Sunday and 4% the next day.  Now compare those numbers to these.  During that same time period, including several other inbound leads, the small business’s blog generated twice the traffic as its TV ads brought in, and unfortunately, the ads resulted in no online leads, a meager seven phone calls, and no opportunities or customer conversions.

If you’re in the service or tech industry, you have plenty to blog about.  There is information you can share regularly that will build your credibility, therefore generating leads back to your business.  First you blog it, then you share it on social media – the two work hand in hand with each other.

Blogging is free.  Inbound marketing through social media sites like Facebook or Google Plus are free as well.  When you’re watching every penny of your marketing budget, you need to be smart about what you’re doing to bring traffic to your website and then how you convert those leads to sales.  Don’t ignore social media any longer.  Hop onboard the social media bandwagon – there’s plenty of room for everyone!

Micki – your  web gal

connect@michelleharbour.com
804.642.2363
330.591.1070 cell
www.michelleharbour.com

An Old Dog Learned a New Trick

One of the world’s largest companies is moving away from outbound marketing in its own best interest.

Every since The Great Depression, Procter & Gamble has practiced the rule of not reducing advertising budgets during times of recession. As a matter of fact, P&G has made progress in every one of the major recessions and that was no accident.  When their competitors were swinging the budget axe, P&G actually increased their spending on advertising.  While the Depression and later recessions caused problems for many, P&G came out of them all unscathed; and whenever the economy was down, they ramped up their advertising again.

That practice worked for Procter & Gamble for the past 80 years.  But times have changed, now social media rules, and the international giant has been forced to make a drastic transformation in its marketing practices in just the past few weeks.

The $10 billion annual marketing budget had begun to hurt the company’s margins, and in an already poor economy, P&G has chosen to lay off 1600 of its own staffers in a sweeping cost cutting exercise – many of the staffers are marketers – and are now focusing their marketing on inbound practices, particularly Facebook and Google Plus.  Their CEO Robert McDonald stated that he has chosen to “moderate” his ad budget because Facebook and Google Plus are “more efficient” than the traditional media practices of the past that usually ate up the major portion of his ad budget.

What does this mean to you?  The giant corporation of Procter & Gamble always chose to increase advertising during terrible economic times, and in doing so beat out their competitors every cycle.  In the past two years, the company’s marketing spending is up 24%, despite only a 9% sales increase in its 2012 Q1 earnings and a 6% sales increase over those same two years. P&G saw that it was time for a change.  If they recognized and decided to take better advantage of free marketing through social media sites like Facebook and Google Plus, shouldn’t you?

If you’d like to learn more about how you can integrate social media into your marketing this year, give me a call.

Micki – your web gal
connect@michelleharbour.com
804.642.2363
330.591.1070 cell
www.michelleharbour.com

You DO Need to Hire a Pro to Create Your Website

Call me to discuss a new website for your small business. 804-642-2363

I love creating original design websites for small businesses that thought they couldn’t afford the service.  As a matter of fact, it was at the consistent requests of my advertising clients that I got into web design.

Many small business owners think they can save money by doing their own websites.  But I’ve got some great reason why you should not go the do-it-yourself route when it comes to such an important part of your business.

Today we’ll discuss four of those reasons.

#1  A professional website designer has experience designing websites and you don’t.  In addition to the technical side of website development, professional website designers have ideas and knowledge of how to make your website successful.  They know the steps in order of designing and building a site and how to make the process easy for you.  After all, you have a business to run and designing a website isn’t part of that job.  If you need a professional service, hire a professional to do it.  Website designers do the same thing if their AC unit or car breaks down.  It’s no different.

#2  You don’t have the time.  You know that to be true.  How long have you known  you’ve needed a website and still not found the time to even call someone to get a consultation?  Do you truly believe you’ll have the time to put together a quality website?  There’s a lot of work that goes into creating a website, and a professional has the skills and experience to take on as much of that work as possible, leaving you the time to do what it is you do best – operate your business.

#3  A do-it-yourself website usually looks like a do-it-yourself website. It is standard in appearance and chances are good it will come out looking like everyone else’s does.  It should, in fact, be a good representation of you and what you do and convert users to consumers.

#4  Do it yourself websites often don’t display properly because the do-it-yourselfer is inexperienced in web design and when he or she makes a mistake, they don’t know what to do to correct it.  That can lead to frustration and either they give up or they just rush through to finish the job and aren’t pleased with the final results.

You can’t shortcut the website design process.  If you consider the overall value of a good website and what it can do for your business, you will see that it is worth the investment you will pay to get a quality service from someone who knows what they are doing.  After all, that’s why your clients come to you for your products or services.

Micki – your web gal
connect@michelleharbour.com
804.642.2363
330.591.1070 cell
www.michelleharbour.com

Social Networking for Small Businesses

This is a presentation I gave recently on
using social networking as a small business. It’s basically a summary of all my posts this year on using social networking to grow your small business.

The Importance of Social Networking for Small Businesses

Polling shows that 93% of those asked want their favorite companies to have a presence in social media.  *

• 60% of Americans regularly interact with companies on a social media site
• 43% of consumers say that companies should use social networks to solve the consumers’ problems
• 41% believe that companies should use social media tools to solicit feedback on products and services
• Men are more likely to use social media tools to interact with a company than women (33% vs. 17%)
• 33% of younger consumers (18-34) and those with household incomes over $75,000 believe that companies should try to market to them through social networks.

*These numbers are from 2008 and have most likely increased.

Small business owners are getting the message from everywhere that they must have a presence on Social Media to promote their brand, grow their customer base, and rank higher in search engine results.

Now consider these numbers:

1)    On all but LinkedIn and Wikia, females dominate social media use.  By age, the largest usage by age group are between 18 and 34 years old.

2)    23% of the time spent online is on social media networks and blogs.

3)    Internet users spend more time on Facebook than all the other web brands combined – that includes Twitter, LinkedIn, and Tumblr!

4)    Active social media users have a strong sense of networking and will speak up.  They are likely to write reviews about both online and offline experiences.

5)    Social networking sites reach 60% of internet users across the world.

Although business owners know they need to, they avoid getting started in Social Media because they doubt the value of it and the time involved.

Social media is, in fact, one of the most important things you can do for your small business – because it is nothing more than public relations and building customer relationships.  When you can see social media as just that, you will see it as the important marketing tool it is.

Customer relationships are the number one marketing tool of any business.  When you can build a bond with your clients and make them feel like they have your ear, they will be your marketing reps and bring you more business.  With social media, you can reach out to dozens or even hundreds of your clients with a message and see results almost immediately, and it costs you nothing.

Social networking is the marketing tool of choice and ignoring it is missing out on one of the best direct selling opportunities ever.

Social Networking Sites

There are many social networking sites available, but the most popular for small businesses are Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and WordPress – used for keeping a business blog.  These sites offer many options for small businesses to create profiles and pages where the businesses can then advertise their products and services and build customer relationships. 

The important thing to consider is which network(s) you will use.  You shouldn’t and don’t have to use them all – only those where your customers are and those that suit your needs. Most of us here in the room would do well with a Facebook and Google+ accounts, and maybe a Twitter account.  A few should be blogging regularly.

Businesses that offer technical services can benefit greatly from blogging.  About 250 words per article is the ideal blog length.  When you share your information and expertise in a blog, you not only build your reputation as someone in-the-know for your particular field, but you’ll gain ranking status in the search engines.

Businesses with very active blogs (almost daily postings) see an average of 25% more in sales than companies that don’t blog at all.  Blog sites such as WordPress allow you set up automatic postings to your other social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc) that will notify followers that you’ve made a blog post.  This is a great time saver!

Getting Started

The first rule of social media is – an inactive account is worse than no account.  If you won’t commit to keeping your social media account active with a minimum of three posts a week – one post a week for blogs – don’t open one

You can take a look at businesses in your field and see which social media sites they utilize.  Then monitor their postings for a few weeks to get an idea of what works well for them and what doesn’t.  This is an important first step in determining what course of action you’ll take for your small business.  However, with over 800,000,000 users on Facebook, it’s pretty clear that just about every business can start there and see some gain for their company.

Before sitting down to open your account, prepare ahead of time by having the information you’re going to include in your profile on hand and exactly how you want it.  It’s best to open a social media account with a fully completed profile.  Putting it off almost always means months until you get back to it, and an incomplete profile can be more damaging than no social media account at all.

Your USP is critical as a brief description for you business, especially on Google+, which limits your description line to a few words. Your profile image or graphic should be carefully planned in advance, and you should have at least a couple week’s worth of posts written before opening your account.  It is easy to fall behind in posting, so if you plan ahead and then write a week or two in advance (leaving room for current, relevant posts in-between) falling behind won’t be a concern.

In most cases, you cannot over-post.  The average life span of a social media post is about 3 ½ hours.  After that, most of your followers won’t see the post you made, so several posts a day, depending on your business type, may not be unreasonable.  This, of course, depends on your business type and who follows you.

Finally, we’ll end with this last thought: As big and great as social media is, it is still just another form of marketing and cannot stand alone.  Most people will not just magically find your Facebook or Twitter account.  You must market effectively.  Link or share your accounts everywhere: in your email and letterhead signatures, on your website, on your business cards, in your QR codes, on your brochures, t-shirts, in your advertising, and on promotional give-aways including pens, coffee mugs, gift bags, and notepads.  Users love to follow their favorite brands on social media, but don’t make them go looking for you.  Show them exactly where to find you and then you can really build a relationship with them.

Happy posting!

Micki – your web gal
connect@michelleharbour.com
804.642.2363
330.591.1070 cell
www.michelleharbour.com

Helpful Links:

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/29543/Answers-to-31-Social-Media-Questions-You-re-Too-Shy-to-Ask.aspx

http://www.searchenginejournal.com/5-simple-ways-to-explore-your-social-media-following/39312/

http://www.facebook.com/PhotographyandDesignbyMichelleHarbour

Get on the Social Media Train

It’s Monday afternoon and another work day has come to an end without a post from you and your business on Facebook.

Let’s wrap up our little series on Mistakes to Avoid with Social Network Marketing by discussing posting.  It’s been said that unless you’re a restaurant, no one thinks about your business three times a day, and the way to be effective is to be consistent.  How can you be consistent without being evasive and overbearing?  After all, you want your clients thinking about you on a regular basis.  Facebook is a great way to market your business with consistency and in a non-evasive way.  Be regular with your postings – two to four a week, or two to four a day – depending on your business type.  Before long, your clients will be referring to you as “the exterminator on my Facebook, or the guy I saw on Facebook who cleans chimneys.”

OK, so now you’re convinced that you need to be on social media.  So you have these great intentions and you start off posting regularly.  Then your daily posts turn to weekly, your weekly to bi-weekly and you know where this is going.  You give the excuse of you’re too busy running your business to post regularly.

If you know this is going to happen to you, then hire someone like me who will take on the task of making regular posts for you on your account, handle fan interaction, and do the job the way you would do it if you had the time to.  Because the only thing worse than having no social media account, is having an inactive social media account.

For a free consultation on social media for your small business, contact me today.

Micki – your web gal
connect@michelleharbour.com
804.642.2363
330.591.1070 cell
www.michelleharbour.com

Marketing for Your Own Super Bowl

Did you advertise in the Super Bowl this year?  Chances are you did not.  But consider this – in your town, there are most likely several events every year that are Super Bowl-like for the area, the big event that everyone locally turns out for and folks come from all around to attend.

Do you take advantage of those events to market your small business?  You can really stand out and gain some new clients if you’re clever in your promotions.

Coca-Cola paid $250 million for the rights to be the Super Bowl’s official soft drink for five years, but to run zero commercials while the game was telecast.

Yes, you read that correctly.  Coke paid $250 million and won’t run a single commercial during the game.

What are they doing instead?

Coke tactic is its checkout stand placement and six-pack promotions that invite buyers to call a toll-free number. Coke is it! What?

The marketing campaign encourages consumers to interact with the company, play the game and feel like they are part of the “in” crowd.  It’s clever and effective.

So when the Super Bowl of events comes around this year in your town – be a part of it.  But don’t just run an ad in the paper.  Think creatively about how you can get everyone rallying around your business at the same time and in conjunction with the event. 

It will be a winning touchdown for your team when you think outside the box with your marketing!

Micki – your web gal
connect@michelleharbour.com
804.642-2363
330-591-1070 mobile
www.michelleharbour.com