Focus – Focus – Focus
While my wife does the shopping I usually head over to the magazine isle and browse through the latest issues. Most of the time I just browse – but every now and then something catches my eye – like this line in the editorial in this months Profit Magazine, "It’s said that great companies focus on doing just one thing really well."
I have blogged on focusing your business before. But, it is worth repeating. In tough times, many businesses are trying to diversify – to find that one ‘Silver Bullet’ that will make the business profitable. Too often the result is not focusing on what they do well but trying to do a bit of everything.
This strategy never works.
Changing the focus of your business can be a ‘good thing’. However, the operative word is focus. Don’t try to do everything. If what you are doing now isn’t working you have two options. Either continue to do what you are doing – but do it better. Or, try something else. Trying to do both is not an option.
Posted: April 16th, 2009
Author: Michael Regan
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How To Drive Away Customers
In a resent post, Matt Cutts – the Google WebSpam guru talks about a problem he had over a data storage device from Data Robotics. The problem was NOT with the device, but an ill-concieved plan to increase revenue by charging for firmware updates.
Of course this is only one example of companies alienating their customers. It has only been a few weeks since Facebook was force to retract their changes to their ‘Terms of Service’ by complaints from their customers.
Historically, things weren’t any better. Coke lost millions with the introduction of ‘New Coke’. Back in late 1950’s sales at Ford tumbled when the Edsel was introduced.
Making chances that benefit you or your business instead of those that benefit your clients is the easiest way to drive away customers. Making changes becuse you ‘think’ you know what the customer wants, as was the case with ‘new Coke’ and ‘Edsel’ is another great way to dirve customers to your competition.
Keep your focus on what your customers really want. (Ask them if you are not sure.) And, make changes that truely benefit your clients – not just to serve the interests of your business.
Posted: April 15th, 2009
Author: Michael Regan
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To Die By Sudden Weath
In his poem "The Ballad of Blasphemous Bill", Robert Service lists "sudden wealth" as one of the many ways a man can die. For businesses as well, suddenly having your business "take off", can cause many problems. In some cases, it has cause businesses to fail.
As your business struggles to stay alive, it is a good time to consider the future.
By now you should have a good idea if you are going to weather this economic storm. If you are – consider the business landscape once the crisis has passed. Some of your competitors will have disappeared – will you be able to handle the increase in orders?. Some of your supplier to may have also scummed – do you have alternate sources? Will you need more space? More staff? How will you finance your growth?
These are only a few of the questions that will need to be addressed. Each business is unique. Only you know what problems are likely to face your business and your area. By all accounts – you have a lot of time to get ready. But, the sooner you start thinking about these problems, the less likely you are to die by "sudden wealth"
Posted: April 10th, 2009
Author: Michael Regan
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Tracking In Store Sales
At a presentation I did recently, I was asked how you track how much your website is contributing to in store sales. This is a very important point – so instead of a quick post I wrote an article Tracking Website Generated Sales. The article contains ideas for making the connection between visits to the website and in store sales.
Posted: April 7th, 2009
Author: Michael Regan
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The major ad agencies have found viral marketing and, some at least, are getting it right.
Viral advertising is the ultimate example of Albert Lasker’s unwritten contract that the ad MUST entertain. For that entertainment we will view the advertiser’s message. With viral advertising, not only will we watch the message, we will share it with our friends.
But, there are rules!
Viral advertising grew out of the ‘DYI’ videos that were posted to sites like YouTube. Even when we know the ad took hundreds of hours and tens of thousands of dollars to produce – it must look as if it is something anyone could have done. It must not lose the ‘common touch’ that is the basis of the viral video.
And, the message must be subtle. Take this video for Geico. The product is never mentioned. The only reference to the product is the Geico spokes-gecko. And, even that is almost hidden in the background.
Getting your message viral can increase traffic to your site but more – it increases brand awareness. Keep the video entertaining and the product message subtle.
Here are a two more examples of good viral advertising:
Extreme Sheep Herding
T-Mobile Dance
A few years ago I saw an article saying Google had applied for a patented on the concept of basing search results on the users response to the items. The particular application quoted in the article was to base future results on how long a user spent on a page before returning the the search engine. Since then Google has refined the technique to what we now see as personalized search.
Personalized search means your search results are based on your past searches. For example if you are trying to determine the position of your website on the search engine results page (SERP) and continually click on the page once you find it, you may see it rise to a higher position. The search engine has learned your preference for that page when used with a specific set of keywords. Now, the SERP you see has no relevance to that seen by other users searching for the same term.
This means that a high SERP position can no longer be used as the ultimate measure of a websites success in bringing traffic to a site. As personalized search becomes more refined the differences between what you see and what your neighbour sees for the same search results will become more varied.
Search engines are already doing a good job of geo-targeting search results. (see Island Pizza Beats Pizza Hut ) So, a search for a plumber here in Comox is not going to give the same results as a search for an plumber in Victoria or even Campblell River.
So, how do you measure the success of a site? Qualified traffic!
Traffic by itself is a rather useless measure of a sites success. Qualified traffic, users that remain on the site, view at least two pages or, better yet, take some action that will lead to a sale, is the only true measurement. of success.
We still need to use the tools to view the SERP position for someone who doesn’t have a history with your page or keywords. And, we still need tools to get the results of searches from different geographical areas. But, these results now have to be viewed through the lens of personalized search.
A while back I posted a blog on Talking Urinals. Charimin, the toilet paper people, have taken this idea one futher with their new social network website Sit or Squat identifying and rating public toilets around the world. (I am not making this up).
The site is geo-targeted. The user first sees the Charmin branding page and can either search for a location or go to a map based on their current location. The map, powered by Google, has the usual icons each icon indicates one or more public restroom. The toilets are added by visitors to the site. And, in addition to the address you can also include a picture of the toilet and a 5 star rating system.
There were some minor glitches in the site – long addresses don’t always display properly, but other than that the site was pretty smooth. And, there are apps available for using the site with an iPhone or Blackberry.
This is a great marketing idea. It shows how some creative thinking can greatly expand brand recognition without being seen as ‘advertising’.
Charmin has a history of ‘non advertising’, advertising. Since 2000 it has had a campaign of cleaning restrooms and state fairs in the US. However, this idea gives them a much larger, international audience. (Including places where the Charmin brand might not be that well know – like Moscow in the Russian Federation.)
Using technology to increase your brand awareness is a cost effective marketing technique. It is not just reserved to large corporations – small businesses can benefit from this strategy as well. All you need is some creative thinking.
BTW – Vancouver Island is currently a ‘public toilet free zone’ – Let the restroom wars begin.
Posted: March 26th, 2009
Author: Michael Regan
Posted in branding, marketing | No Comments »
Are You a Commodity
Wiki defines commodity as “something for which there is demand, but which is supplied without qualitative differentiation across a market.”
We were hired to do some SEO on an existing real estate website. In researching the term I found that most realtors in the area offered essentially the same service. They all had listings from the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). And, they all had some feature properties, usually ones where they were the agent for the seller. A few were trying to differentiate by price. But, most were affiliated with a larger organization which set standard fees.
In short those real estate agents are now commodities.
Don’t let this happen to you!
In any market, but especially in poor economic times, a commodity sells by luck and price. Luck, in that the consumer is likely to choose the first one available. And, price for those looking for a bargin with little concern for service or extra value.
To stop becoming a commodity, highlight the difference between you and others in that market place. And, focus on a niche within the market. In our local real estate market two niches are doing fairly well. High end properties, and low end properties. One has low volume and high profits while the other has higher volumes but lower profits.
By focusing on your niche market you can stand out from the crowd.
Posted: March 17th, 2009
Author: Michael Regan
Posted in marketing, sales | No Comments »
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.