This has nothing to do with business – just take 6 minutes to relax and enjoy:
Stand By Me as performed around the world.
Enjoy.
Archive for the ‘commentary’ Category
Under Construction – NOT!
Posted: May 8th, 2009
Author: Michael Regan
Posted in business, commentary, web design | No Comments »
Finally, made it home from my holiday. Spent a LOT of time driving. This being spring, much of the driving was in road construction zones, constantly slowing down, speeding up and watching for flag people. All-in-all not very enjoyable.
We all know road construction is necessary. And, while we might not enjoy it – we all put up with it. However, ‘Under Contruction’ is something you should never see on a website.
Web page that waste their clients sites with links that go nowhere or to the all too common – “Page Under Construction” message have no place on any website – particularly a business website.
Keep your website professional – check that links still work and never – EVER – link to an “Under Construction” page.
The Web Turns 20
In March 1989 Tim Berners-Lee created the worlds most successful ‘mashup’. He took two ideas, hypertext and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and created the World Wide Web.
While others have made vast fortunes with his idea, Berners-Lee never patented the idea and never received any monetary reward. Instead he joined one of a very select group of people who changed the world. Infact, he is among an even smaller sub-set that lived long enough to see the effect of the changes he made.
He changed the world in a way that possibly even he didn’t understand at the time.
It is not the technical achievment that merrits praise. If history teaches us anything, it is when the time is right the invention will come. And it is usually the first one to the patent office that get the glory.
Berners-Lee’s changed the world when he gave away his idea for others to build on.
And those builders followed his example. The first web browser, Mosaic (now FireFox), free. The most common web server, Apache, free. The most common online database, mySQL, free. The world’s largest index of webpages, Google, free to use. And, the worlds fastest growing encyclopedia, Wikipedia, free to use.
Some, like AOL, tried to fight it with proprietory systems. But, as big as they were, the idea that access to information should be free was bigger.
Berners-Lee made the World Wide Web free and the world has never been the same.
Race For The Bottom
Posted: March 11th, 2009
Author: Michael Regan
Posted in business, commentary, marketing | 3 Comments »
The squeeze is on small business.
Customers have stopped spending and many businesses are starting to panic. All too often this results in poor decisions. And, while only you can decide what is right for your business you MUST take the time to evaluate the effect your actions will have on both the short and long term.
The ‘knee jerk’ reaction to falling sales is falling prices. As businesses struggle to reduce inventory, margins are cut and prices are slashed. And, while this may increase cash flow in the short term it may be devastating in the long term.
As with most crisis, there are those that are ready, and those that aren’t. While no one could have predicted the speed and depth of the current crisis – the fact that there would be a crisis was obvious. As far as we know, only the universe expands forever. Everyone knew, or should have known, the economy would, if not collapse, at least slow down. Those businesses that prepared are going to be fine.
What about the 99.9999% who didn’t prepare?
You need to look at your whole marketing strategy. The strategy you adopt now will set the tone of your business for years into the future. What is your marketing advantage now? How can you change it to bring in customers now? How will that change effect sales in the future?
Just as nothing expands forever, nothing contracts forever with out becoming a Black Hole. The economy will come back. When it does, the decisions you made now will effect whether your business will also come back.
While you want your business to survive – not all businesses will. Made that decision early and review it often. It is better to close while you can retain some of you capital than watch it all disappear in a lost cause.
Don’t race to the bottom. There are those that will under cut you. Unless you are a WalMart – selling on price alone is a poor strategy.
Take the time to consider all your options.
You Can Get Anything You Want
You may not remember Arlo Guthrie’s song about “Alice’s Restaurant.
Getting what you want is getting harder and harder. Manufacturers are cutting back on their product line and retailers are stocking less. But these are not the only reasons you may not be able to get what you want. In a recent post, “Looking For Yes“, Seth Godin talks about how attitude often prevents getting a sale.
I found that out yesterday when I was in my local Staples store looking for a netbook computer. (I know nor a big ticket item.) When I told the sales person that I wanted the Acer Aspire One running Linux, I was not so politely told that it only came with Windows XP and was then ignored.
On to the competion – another ‘Big Box Store’ — Future Shop.
Same question – same answer. But, the sales person pointed out a Hewlett Packard netbook running Linux. I didn’t know anything about it – so I took the information and checked it out. Turns out it is a pretty good unit. So tomorrow, I will buying one.
Staples had the same unit at the same price. In fact, it was on display right next to the Acer. The salesperson could have pointed that out to me – but he didn’t. Guess where I will be going to buy the netbook?
It Takes Work
Posted: February 19th, 2009
Author: Michael Regan
Posted in business, commentary, marketing | 1 Comment »
Do a Google search for "get rich internet" and you will get over 28,000,000 hits. Most want you to buy something. But, I will give you the secret.
Nothing to buy – no forms to fill in — FREE FREE FREE!!!
Just click here for the answer.
Splish – Splash
Posted: February 17th, 2009
Author: Michael Regan
Posted in commentary, marketing, SEO, web design | No Comments »
There was a post in one of the Google groups I belong to about splash pages. The group was for web developers, and the person was asking about integrating a spash page into WordPress.
This was the second time I had come across someone interested in a Splash page in the last two weeks. The first was from a potential customer who wanted us to do some SEO on her Splash page. The rest of the site was Flash and she wanted the Splash page to carry the SEO for the rest of the site. When we couldn’t convince her to redo the site without the Splash page – and the Flash pages as supplements to a regular site, we gently refused the job.
Splash pages were concieved, rather poorly, as an introduction to the main site. Think of your website as a store. Have you ever seen a store with someone guarding the door saying:
“You can’t come inside until I waste your time telling you nothing about our product or what we do. Thank you for listening — you may now enter the store.”
Sounds like something out of a Seinfeld sketch.
“Salesmanship-In-Print”
Posted: February 16th, 2009
Author: Michael Regan
Posted in business, commentary, marketing, sales | No Comments »
This week on The Adge of Persuasion, Terry O’Reilley talked about Albert Lasker, considered the father of modern advertising. He talked of Lasker’s contract with his audience that in return for listening to the advertising message – they would be entertained or enlightend.
Lasker owes part of his success to a chance encounter with a former Canadian North West Mounted Policeman (NWMP) by the name of John E. Kenedy. It was 1905, the store goes that Kennedy, who had turned his hand to copy writing, sent an note to A.L. Thomas, the head of the Lord & Thomas advertising agency. For some reason, Lasker, who was a junior partner there at the time, got the note. In the note Kennedy promised to reveal the meaning of advertising. Intrigued Lasker agreed to meet with Kennedy.
Kennedy summed up advertising in three words – Salesmanship in Print. The meaning of print has changed over the years, but the basic message is the same.
Your website has two functions marketing and sales. Too many sites focus only on the marketing. Thinking once potential customers reach their site sales will follow. — They won’t!! Your site needs to advertise your product. You need that "Salesmanship in Print" working for you 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
Kennedy worked with Lasker for a while creating some of the fundamental concepts of modern marketing. And, after a hundred years, his ideas on marketing are just a true as today as the were then.
I Can Finally Afford It
Posted: February 15th, 2009
Author: Michael Regan
Posted in business, commentary, marketing, sales | No Comments »
When asked why he robbed banks Willy Sutton quipped, “Because that is where the money is,”.
In these hard economic times businesses have been slow to learn this lesson. Advertising and marketing are focusing on a demographic that has less and less disposable income and discretionary spending.
Who should businesses be focusing on? Well — people like me.
We are 55+, we have retired or will soon retire; we have inherited or will soon inherit a sizable estate; and while the stock market has hurt our nest egg — for the most part, we are doing quite well.
We are different from our parents generation. A generation that survived a depression, a world world, worked hard all their lives to retire at 65 and die a few years later. We are healthy and expect to stay that way for another 20 or 30 years. However, we are starting to realize our own mortality. We might have something set aside ‘for the kids’. But, they ain’t getting all of it.
Like any group of this size we are a diverse lot. We want to save the planet – but that Cadillac sure looks nice. We don’t need a 35 foot motorhome, 25 feet will work fine, but it better have all the ‘beels and whisles’. Those jet-skis look like fun, how about a kayak, or maybe a sailboat. And PLEASE, don’t make me sit in a cramped airplane seat – give me some leg room and a little luxury – I can finally afford it.
Microsoft vs Yahoo vs Google
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