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Recently we shared a client’s Web site makeover, and suggested you step back to look at your Web site with fresh eyes. If you did that and realized your site is looking a bit dated, what’s the first step toward a redesign?

It may surprise you to learn that the first steps to creating your new design have nothing to do with the look of your site. That’s right, although it’s the first thing we see, it’s actually a secondary consideration. So, what should we consider?

1. How’s your current site working for you? Is your information presented in a way that’s easy to find? What’s the purpose of your current site?
2. Which pages on your current site receive the most traffic? Why? Are these the pages that you want to receive the most traffic?
3. Are you happy with your search engine ranking?
4. What size browsers do most of your visitors use? (from Google Analytics)
5. What’s the purpose of your current site?

Now let’s begin talking about your new site:

1. What new information (content) will be added to your site? Do you need or anticipate needing e-commerce capabilities? Will your new site’s purpose remain the same? Describe your target customer / viewer.
2. How frequently do you plan to update your new site? Do you want to maintain your own Web site or have the developer perform all updates? Depending on the answer to these last questions, we’ll direct you toward either a static HTML Web site or a content management system (CMS). We use, love, and recommend WordPress for clients who want to update their sites themselves.
3. With those questions out of the way, we can now plan the basic architecture of your site – what content can be re-used from your old site, what needs to be added and where, and how the navigation should work.
4. Finally, we arrive at the starting point for the actual design (the look and feel) of your site. Describe any ideas you have for your site’s design. Think about colors, images, and text, but also consider how video might fit into the mix and what elements would help your site be more socially interactive.

Overall, take the time to fully evaluate your current site and to carefully think through your new site’s architecture before beginning the design process. The end result will be a well-planned site that clearly communicates your message in a logical, useful format. Then turn your attention to its design to bring your content to life.

Part of our service offering is affordable business Web site design and hosting. The screen shots below show our most recent Web site makeover for our client, GrassWay Organics. This site is built on the WordPress blog platform and uses a customized premium theme. This is a combination public / membership site, meaning that several pages are only accessible through membership in their association.

Grassway Organics Before

Grassway Organics After

In the market for a Web site makeover? Contact us today for a free, no obligation Web site review.

Here’s another example of the design process … Web site design, this time. We’ve just rolled out a new Web site home page design for Sprue Brothers Model LLC. Sprue Brothers is an online hobby retailer for scale model builders. The “sprue” in the business name is significant. All plastic scale modelling parts arrive on a frame called a sprue. The store’s logo reflects this and now so does the Web site.

Before and after screenshots are below:

Before Website Redesign

New Home Page Design

My husband (and team member), Gerald, came up with the idea of sprue borders. Our graphic artist, Scott, took the concept and ran with it. I put it together as a working Web site. Despite a few technical glitches, this was a fun project that came together quickly. It’s also one that will continue to improve over time. Gordon, we hope your new landing page serves you well.

Have you looked at your Web site lately?

Is your Web site in need of a face lift? Believe it or not, most Web sites would benefit from a makeover every couple of years. It’s not only the look of a site that can become quickly dated, but also the technology running the site. If you’re doing your own Web site coding in Dreamweaver or FrontPage, and you’re not a code geek, your site is also likely accumulating excess bits of code … stuff that doesn’t really seem to cause any problems now, but give it time … it will.

So take a few minutes this week to review your Web site from the eyes of a first time visitor. Does it portray your business the way you’d like it to? If you’re using a blog rather than a static Web site, is your blog installation up-to-date? Do your links all work? And if you know what you’re doing, take a look under the hood and check your HTML coding. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, ask me.

Another Reason to Subscribe by Email to Inside Line

We’ll have a free gift for email subscribers to Inside Line this week. Mum’s the word … can’t tell you what it is until it’s ready to go, but I will say that it’s NOT some bonus offer for buying some guru’s Internet marketing course. In fact, it’s not even educational … just something to use and enjoy, and the only string attached is that you must be a current email subscriber to Inside Line. Are you an email subscriber yet?

No doubt, you’re being bombarded right now by every sales call imaginable, most of them trying to sell you either search engine optimization (SEO) services or advertising space. Since the second week of January, our phone has rung daily with someone selling one or the other.

Since, like most of us, you’re probably considering your next purchase of ad space, let’s focus on advertising today. Yes, it’s a HUGE topic, so we’re going to take it back to its most basic premise: Advertising is Salesmanship.

Let us emphasize the point. The only purpose of advertising is to make sales. It is profitable or unprofitable according to its actual sales. It is not for general effect. It is not to keep your name before the people. It is not primarily to aid your other salesmen.

“Treat it as a salesman. Force it to justify itself. Compare it with other salesman. Figure its cost and result. Accept no excuses which good salesman do not make. Then you will not go far wrong.” ~ Claude Hopkins, Scientific Advertising

This is an especially important point for the small business owner to remember. We can’t afford to waste dollars with advertising campaigns meant to spread awareness of our businesses. Before we consider any advertising campaign, we’d better be reasonably sure that we’re making a good investment, one that will make the cash register ring repeatedly.

Mr. Hopkins goes on to say, “There is one simple way to answer many advertising questions. Ask yourself, ‘Would it help a salesman sell the goods?’ ‘Would it help me sell them if I met a buyer in person?’”

Remember that when a salesperson calls on a prospect, he or she is speaking to one individual. Do the same in your advertising … focus on one typical buyer, not the mass of people you hope will buy your product or service. When composing your ad, speak to the one man or woman who is likely to want what you sell.

Dan Kennedy lists 10 rules for advertising in his book, “No B.S. Direct Marketing: The Ultimate, No Holds Barred, Kick Butt, Take No Prisoners Direct Marketing for Non-direct Marketing Businesses.” (Don’t you love that title?) I have them taped to the wall directly above my monitor and I refer to them often. I won’t repeat them all here, but I’ll give you a preview:

• Rule 1. There will always be an offer or offers.
• Rule 4. There will be tracking and measurement.
• Rule 5. Whatever brand building occurs will be a happy by-product, not bought.
• Rule 9. Results rule, period.

For Further Reading:

• Scientific Advertising by Claude Hopkins (free e-book download, provided courtesy of The Copywriter’s Roundtable)
• No B.S. Direct Marketing: The Ultimate, No Holds Barred, Kick Butt, Take No Prisoners Direct Marketing for Non-direct Marketing Businesses

Did you know that small businesses are responsible for the majority of new jobs created in the United States? Small businesses, including micro-businesses, make a huge impact on our local economy. We hear much more about big business, but where would we be without the small business owner striving for excellence in our local community? So today’s post is dedicated to the small business owner … all of you, whether you’re the only employee or you employ many. Thank you! We (collectively) couldn’t do it without you! If you feel the same way, take a few minutes to encourage and thank a hard-working, small business owner this week!

Our team at Zero To Sixty Marketing is dedicated to helping you, the small to medium-size business get results from your marketing efforts. We’re not out to win the next “Addy” or any other award, for that matter. Our award is your success. It’s the RESULTS that we’re after. And we’re not afraid of taking an unconventional route to get there.

If you’re not already a subscriber to Inside Line, now is the time to sign up! Upcoming article topics from our team include: building your brand (it’s about far more than your logo and marketing materials), using e-mail marketing effectively, direct response advertising, social media marketing that works (specifically for the small business owner), and more about how to create a variety of effective leave-behind pieces.

What small business marketing topics would be most helpful to you? What are you struggling with? Either comment below or respond privately via our contact form. We appreciate your feedback! Thank you!

Photo Credit: Budding entrepreneur by Robert S. Donovan on flickr

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Are You Losing Profits Due to Inconsistent Follow-Up?

Following up with leads is more than just a process – it’s an art. In order to be effective, you need to design a follow-up system, and stick to it, EVERY DAY! If you don’t follow-up with your prospects consistently, INDIVIDUALLY, and in a timely fashion, then you might as well forget the whole follow-up process.

Follow-Up Through Email List Marketing Increases Your Profits

Following up with each lead individually, multiple times, but at set intervals, and with pre-written messages, will dramatically increase sales! Others who use this same technique confirm that they have all at least doubled the sales of various products! In order to set this system up, though, you need to do some planning.

Develop Your Follow-Up Messages

First, you’ll need to develop your follow-up messages. If you’ve been marketing on the Internet for any length of time, then you should already have a first informative letter. Your second letter marks the beginning of the follow-up process, and should go into more detail than the first letter. Fill this letter with details that you didn’t have the space to add to the first letter. Stress the BENEFITS of your products or services!

Your next two or three follow-up messages should be rather short. Include lists of the benefits and potential uses of your products and services. Write each letter so that your prospects can skim the contents, and still see the full force of your message.

The next couple of follow-up messages should create a sense of urgency in your prospect’s mind. Make a special offer, giving him a reason to order NOW instead of waiting any longer. After reading these follow-up messages, your prospect should want to order immediately!

Phrase each of your final one or two follow-up messages in the form of a question. Ask your prospect why he hasn’t yet placed an order? Try to get him to actually respond. Ask if the price is too high, the product isn’t the right color or doesn’t have the right features, or if he is looking for something else entirely. (By this time, it’s unlikely that this person will order from you. However, his feedback can help you modify your follow-up letters or products, so that other prospects will order from you.)

Watch the Timing of Your Follow-up E-mail Messages

The timing of your follow-up letters is just as important as their content. You don’t want one prospect to receive a follow-up the day after he gets your initial informative letter, while another prospect waits weeks for a follow-up!

Always send an initial, informative letter as soon as it is requested, and send the first follow up 24 hours afterward. You want your hot prospects to have information quickly, so that they can make informed buying decisions!

Send the next two or three follow-up messages between one and three days apart. Your prospect is still hot, and is probably still shopping around! Tell him about the benefits of your products and services, as opposed to your competitors’. You will make the sale!

Send the final follow-up messages later on. You certainly don’t want to annoy your prospect! Make sure that these last letters are at least four days apart.

We recommend AWeber for automation of your follow-up email list marketing campaign. Learn more about it on our DIY Business Email Marketing page.

Following up effectively seems complicated, but it doesn’t have to be! So many potential customers are lost because of poor follow-up;  don’t you want to be one of the few to get it right?

Image Credits: Osbock on flickr and Hummingbird by Images by Hawkeye

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Never leave your customers hungry!

Do you have a follow-up strategy for online customer inquiries, one that includes adding your prospect to your email list for future marketing efforts? If your Web site is working as it should, you’re receiving product or service inquiries on a regular basis. But after you’ve delivered that first reply with the information your prospect requested, do you send him any further information? If you’re like most small business owners, you don’t.

When you don’t follow that initial message with additional information later on, you let a valuable prospect slip from your grasp. This is a potential customer who may have been very interested in your products or services, but who lost your contact information, or was too busy to make a purchase when your first message reached him.

Often, a prospect will purposely put off making a purchase to see if you find him important enough to follow-up with later. When he doesn’t receive a follow up message from you, he will take his business elsewhere.

Are you losing profits due to inconsistent and ineffective follow-up?

Following up with leads is more than just a process – it’s an art. In order to be effective, you need to design a follow up system, and stick to it, EVERY DAY! If you don’t follow up with your prospects consistently, INDIVIDUALLY, and in a timely fashion, then you might as well forget the whole follow up process.

Honestly, this has been a weak area for us, but we’re addressing this issue head-on. We already use AWeber for delivery of the e-mailed version of Inside Line, but we have yet to use that service to set up a specific autoresponder series to provide information to people who contact us about products or services. I’ll blame it on lack of time, but that’s an omission we can no longer afford … and I’m betting that you can’t either, especially when it’s so easy to set up and get the ball rolling.

Stay tuned because I go into greater detail in our next post. Meanwhile, we’d like to hear about your follow up challenges. Let us know why you’ve delayed your follow-up, or what you’ve implemented to correct that.

Related Pages: DIY Business Email Marketing

It’s so easy and dangerous to get caught up in and pulled into a small, confining box by the thing you sell. Your product, your service, your place. Easy to forget how little anybody cares about that, when you care about it so much.” ~ No B.S. Insider’s Connection, September 2009 Edition

It’s no secret that we no longer do business the same way. Price comparisons are easy on the Internet. It’s where we do our research before making the purchase. Price drives customer choice, making yesteryear’s value proposition irrelevant. Yes, thanks to the Internet and intense competition from previous non-contenders, many products and services have become commodities. This changes everything.

Competing with Loss Leaders

For example, the plumbing shop selling quality fixtures now competes with loss leaders at Home Depot, Lowes, or any number of Internet stores, even when the end result is MORE expensive for the customer. Consider the time spent comparison shopping, only to learn later that the faucet you bought uses plastic, throw-away parts that can’t be repaired by your local plumber, or the low-priced water heater you purchased isn’t really that simple to install. Ever try to solder a pipe when the water shut-off doesn’t quite stop the trickle of water?

What about the hobby industry? At last year’s iHobbyExpo in Chicago, brick and mortar retailers expressed outrage over the abundance of inexpensive hobby products available online. “We can’t compete!” was their battle cry.

Another relevant example is in the specialty sign industry. Customers tend to research their options online, but make their purchase with the lowest price vendor. Service for that sign isn’t even on their radar.

Examples of this are rampant in our own industry. Some will always view copywriting, graphic design, and website development as commodities. You CAN buy it cheaper in India, the Phillipines or Vietnam. Some of it is even good! Much of it isn’t.

Adapt to the Changing Marketplace

In each of these examples, the businesses that will make it are those who step back, remind themselves “It’s not about me,” and adapt to the changing marketplace. Get over you. Get into them! What does your market want? What do they need? How can you help?

The plumbing shop with an educational blog and a strong Internet presence is head and shoulders above the competition. They can use that blog to educate potential customers about the difference between quality and throw-away parts. Tell readers how to do it themselves … once we see all the work that’s involved, we’re more likely to call you than actually do it! The key is a strong Internet presence. Remember that we research our options online. We’ve got to find you on Google, Yahoo and Bing. Once we find you, reel us in with your information, your personality, your work ethic, a great offer we’ll still remember 30 days down the road. Get us on your email list. We may still buy our next toilet at Home Depot, but when we can’t get the darned thing to stop leaking, you can bet we’ll be calling you.

Likewise, to the hobby retailer with no Internet store … why not add e-commerce to your business plan? What’s stopping you from competing on the Internet retailer’s turf? If that’s where your market is buying, why are you resisting something so fundamental? Get on the bus!

You may have noticed that we’ve taken our own advice. One of our markets is the small business who needs help, but has a very limited marketing budget. We’ve addressed that need in three different ways:

1. As a virtual marketing firm, we have little overhead and we pass our savings on to our customers.
2. We offer affordable small business acceleration packages, designed to provide the most bang for the least buck.
3. Do-it-yourself marketing solutions are our recommendations for quality, vetted marketing products, ones that we use ourselves. We earn a small commission on each sale, making it possible for us to offer ongoing education in this format.

What are you doing to adapt to the changing needs of your market? How has your market changed in the past few years? What would you like to see more of in Inside Line?

Photo Credit: .Larry Page on flickr

Does your business location show up on Google Maps? If so, are you fully taking advantage of it? If not, why not? It’s free, easy and totally painless … an easy task that will improve your search results even if you don’t have a Web site!

First, let’s find out if you have an accurate listing. Go to http://maps.google.com and search using your business name. Not there? Just add your business directly through the Local Business Center.

If you find your business, review your listing. Clicking on the name of your business will bring up a white information bubble with a “Claim your business” link or if you’ve already taken that step, an “edit” link.

Once you’ve claimed your business listing, Google will verify that you’re the business owner by phone (immediately – an automated call) or you can choose to have them mail you a postcard. We’ve done it both ways, but the phone call route allows you to get it done all in one sitting. Once this step is complete, you’ll be able to log-in and optimize your local business listing.

Your Google Local Business Center listing should bring up an accurate location, phone number, and Web site address at the very least. But you should also include hours of operation, payments accepted, photos and even video. Notice also that your customers can review your business right from within Google Maps, but it will also pull other reviews from 3rd party review sites on the Internet automatically.

To create an effective listing, make sure to submit your:

• Company/organization name, physical address or PO Box, and phone number
• Web site and Email address
• Business description – make use of the information you wrote last week when you defined your business
• Categories – Choose categories that accurately and specifically describe your business. This helps you show up in the searches where you want to be found.
• Hours of operation
• Payment options
• Photos and videos – this will help you stand out from the crowd!
• Any additional details that your prospective customer would find useful

Do you have questions or comments about Google Local? Is this information useful to you? Let us know with your comments below.

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This past week my husband and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary. We had hoped to “go someplace special” and we did … we did the tourist thing from home. Nearly every day had a new destination within driving distance and every evening we were back in our comfortable bed. Our staycation was inexpensive, educational, quite relaxing and a lot of fun.

We’re blessed to live in an area rich in historical significance, although as an adult it’s easy to forget all those lessons learned in grade school about our past. Wisconsin’s Fox River Valley is known for its paper production, including Kleenex, disposable diapers, feminine products, and fine writing paper, Oshkosh Truck (supplier of military and industrial vehicles), Pierce Fire Trucks, and the Neenah Foundry (for its manhole covers found ’round the globe). What I didn’t know before this week was that the Hearthstone, a beautiful Queen Ann Victorian mansion that graces the corner of Prospect Avenue and Memorial Drive in Appleton, was the first private home in the world to ever be lighted by electricity. We had always known it as the first home in Appleton to get electricity, but it’s a much, much bigger story – and quite fascinating.

Other day trips included the 1,000 Islands Environmental Center in Kaukauna, where we hiked along the Fox River and observed Blue Herons, an abundance of ducks and geese and other birds, as well as Carp with their huge mouths taking up their entire face as they fed along the algae. We spent a relaxing afternoon at High Cliff State Park, taking lots of photos and marveling at the number and variety of spiders along the trail. I’d have preferred marveling at birds or just about any other form of wildlife, but my husband is into photographing anything that moves and he was fascinated. We spent another afternoon just driving around … drove the short distance to Green Bay then watched as one of the big coal freighters maneuvered itself so that it could be loaded … then proceeded southeast toward Manitowoc and drove along Lake Michigan.

On the day of our anniversary, we visited the site of our wedding, the Little Chapel in the Woods in Little Hope, Wisconsin. We were married on its front steps in a small outdoor ceremony, with only our extended families in attendance. Now we had the place to ourselves, so after taking a few photos in that picturesque setting, we sat down in the chapel and thanked God for 30 wonderful years and asked his blessing on the next 70 or so years we hope to have together. (Yeah, we plan on hanging around until we’re really old geezers!)

Our only staycation expenses were gas, dining out, and a small amount for admission to museums and state parks, yet I feel we did our part to strengthen our local economy. We ate at local restaurants, including Cannova’s and Cranky Pat’s in Neenah, Pullmans Restaurant and Atlas Coffee Mill in Appleton , and Stuc’s in Town of Menasha. Each of these are excellent, by the way. Cannova’s was romantic with delicious food, a nice atmosphere and live music (classical guitar, saxophone, piano and soft vocals). Cranky Pat’s is more of your classic pizza joint, very good pizza and Fat Tire Ale (among other beer choices) on tap. At Pullmans and Atlas Coffee House, we had our choice of dining in or outside on their patio … great food, nice atmosphere at both places. Stuc’s is our most local pizza joint. Their Baron simply can’t be beat … our pizza of choice for picking up hot and enjoying at home in front of the TV. Yes, every vacation needs at least one TV night … right?

I’ll close this staycation commentary out with a small business marketing thought. Can your business capitalize on local tourism in some fashion? How can you encourage the citizens of your home town to view your offerings in a new light? Or looking at it from the other angle, what can you do to strengthen your local economy? We didn’t have the budget for an anniversary trip to Hawaii, but we sure weren’t disappointed with our low-budget staycation. In addition to spending our dollars locally, I’m telling you about it. Notice the links to each destination mentioned. That’s not done on a whim. I’m hoping you’ll go check them out … then go and do likewise with the businesses in your own community!

If you notice that things look a little off on this site today, that would be because we’re in the middle of site maintenance and a remodel. We’re kicking it up a notch – fixing some behind-the-scene problems we’re having with our theme, improving the design, adding new service offerings and a portfolio of our team’s work.

Be sure to check back soon or better yet, subscribe to our blog’s feed to see the new and improved Zero To Sixty Marketing Web site.