Thoughts on Building a Business

For sometime I have been a fan of David Blain and have probably referred him to some of you. He is Scottish (we won't hold that against him) and has a really good take on Internet marketing.

Anyway, he has just released his latest version of "The 13 Pillars of Internet Marketing". This covers what he considers are 13 key strategies to maximise your internet marketing and is a really easy read as well as being incredibly informative. He has released it on a site called scribd.com, which is a really interesting site. It is essentially a Youtube site for Articles.

So I thought the best way to show you both, would be to embed David's article in my blog and you can then see both. So here it is - enjoy!

The 13 Pillars of Internet Marketing

Previously at Probity Web & Print, we have focused solely on our Online Business Websites (using the GoodBarry Platform) as I believed that you'd be mad to want anything else. However, we have still from time to time, met people who really just want a simple 5 page Brochure site with a Contact Us Form. In these cases, we have referred them onto other Web Businesses that do these Brochure Sites. With Dan becoming a Partner, we have reviewed our current offerings and have added the following solutions:

Online Brochure Site

This is simply a Brochure Site with 5 Pages and a Contact Us Webform. It is a cheap way to get your business a Web Presence with low ongoing costs (hosting is only $10/month). We are offering these sites for only $550 including GST, but have a special introductory offer of only $440 inc GST for the month of May only.

Build your Own "GoodBarry Powered" Online Business Solution

This is the platform that we used on all of our previous sites. It is incredibly powerful and allows you to have pretty much any functionality a Small Business would want on the Internet. This includes Email Marketing, Online Shops, Secure Zones, Online Database, Easy Build Webforms, Blogs, Forums and much more. You can now build your own GoodBarry site by choosing from our Templated options. Unlike our usual Custom Designed sites, these are templated sites and you are responsible for building them. The good news is that you can sign up for a FREE 30 day trial to check it out and then when you want to go live, simply pay us $120 inc GST. For this, we will help you redelegate your Domain to your new site, submit your site to Google etc and set up your Email Accounts and auto responder addresses. To get started go to our Online Business Builder.

Domain and Email Solution

Our Reseller Agreement with TPP Internet means that we can now offer Domain Registrations (or Renewals) at $30 for a 2 year licence. If you have a Domain already with another Reseller, we can easily transfer it over to our system for Renewal (don't get caught paying more, they are all the same). We can then combine this Domain with an Email Hosting Package for a further $30. This includes 5 Email Accounts, 2 GB Disk Space, 10 GB Data Transfer, Webmail, Anti-Spam and more. That means for only $60 inc GST you can have your own email accounts. So if you currently use a Bigpond, Yahoo, Optusnet or similar email address - STOP promoting their business and start promoting your own.

FREE Website Support

We have always prided ourselves on our ongoing support to our Clients. In fact, many of our Clients have come across from other Web Businesses, because they were frustrated with no support (or if it was available, it was charged at exhorbitant prices). Our clients can simply contact us and we'll help them make changes at usually no charge. However, we have decided to formalise this a bit so that it is fair for all parties and so that we can promote it to our Clients who aren't taking advantage of it. So from now on, we will provide up to 1 hour of FREE support a month as part of your monthly hosting. This may be simply talking you through how to do something, or even doing it ourselves. To access this simply email support@probity-web-print.com.au and we guarantee to get back to you with a response within 3 Business Hours.

Additional Website Maintenance

What we have found is that our Clients that work their websites do well and those that just leave them do no better then a Brochure Site. So if you are going to take advantage of our GoodBarry websites, then you need to work it. For those clients that either don't have the time, or struggle with technology, we now offer a Maintenance Solution. We have modelled this on Bookkeepers, so you simply pay us for any time that we spend maintaining your website. This could include updating your content, changing your designs, adding new Products, setting up your Email Newsletter Campaigns, Optimising your site, updating your Blog or managing your Social Media Integration to name a few. We will simply discuss with you at the start of each month what needs to be done and expected hours and then charge you at $55/hour for general maintenance and $88/hour for Graphic Design changes. We truly believe that you will recoup these costs through the increased effectiveness of your website.

So if you've been thinking about improving your Internet Marketing, give us a call and we will help you get the option that suits you best.

Your website isn't your be all and end all of Marketing. As much as I stress the growing importance of the Internet in your Marketing Strategies, it is still only a part of it. This month I wanted to discuss where your website fits in and what are the advantages.

Lead Generation

This is generally what people think a website is all about. They think that if they get a website, people will find it and then contact them to buy their Product or Service. This does happen, but probably not as much as you'd like to think. To achieve this, you really need to take Search Engine and Website Optimisation seriously (can be expensive) and consider Google Adwords etc to drive traffic to your website.

Credibility

Websites are becoming more and more important for your Business's Credibility. The majority of people will research your business on the Internet to decide if they trust you enough to buy from. A recent builder client of ours lost a sale because the prospect couldn't find out anything about him on the internet.

Support other Marketing Strategies

Websites can improve on your other marketing strategies. A good example of this is Yellow Pages Online. You and your competitor ads all look similar, but if yours has a link to your website, then you have more chance of converting the sale. Our clients with Yellow Online ads, get a lot of visitors to their sites from these ads. Similarly, Google sponsored research showed a large number of prospects viewing a newspaper ad, will conduct further research online before purchasing from that business. See the full report here.

Customer Support

We all know that your easiest sale comes from existing customers, so make sure that you look after them. Your website can be used for such a thing, with Support Forums, Feedback Forms, Downloadable Forms & Info Sheets, Secure Zones and Customer Support Ticketing to name a few. Use you website as a way for your customers to communicate with you.

Email Marketing

I've saved the best for last. I truly believe that email marketing is the one must have in any business. Research shows that if you don't contact your customers and prospects every 90 days, they will start forgetting about you. And if they forget about you, they may buy from someone else. Email Marketing allows you to easily (and virtually for free) send out regular Newsletters with useful info (and maybe some buy triggers) to your database. It is even more effective if you use it in conjunction with your website.

These are not all the ways you can use your website, but is hopefully enough to help you stop thinking about websites as purely a lead generating tool. With the growth of the internet, you need to start thinking of ways to use the internet to improve all that you do. If you haven't talked to someone who is up to date with the latest technology in the last 2 years, then you should.

Download the Website Strategies info sheet for a more info.

I recently came across an interesting Research report that was conducted in October 2007. It was commissioned by Google and they wanted to see what the relationship was between Newspaper Advertising and Internet searches. What they found was that 44% of respondents stated that they head performed further research on Businesses or Products that they saw advertised in a Newspaper. Of that 44% who researched, 67% conducted the research online (Internet). Furthermore, of those that researched further, approximately 70% went on to use that Business or purchase that Product.

Now admittedly, this is a US research and it is over 18 months old. But I would suggest that Australia isn't that much different to the US and if anything, the last 18 months would probably see an increase to this as Internet Usage grows overall.

So do you have a Website?

If not, don't you think it's time you stopped resisting and caught up with the way of the future. More and more people are using the internet to not only research Businesses, but to also purchase products. If you don't get on board, you will be left behind.

Download the Newspaper/Online Marketing research summary.

I recently joined Facebook, purely as a Business Marketing exercise. With Social Media becoming such an important part of an Internet Marketing Strategy, I thought I should start to seriously look into it. Afterall, I can't sell Online Business Websites and promote the use of the Internet to grow your business, if I'm not doing it myself.

From what I can see, Facebook is no different then going to Networking Breakfasts, except it's easier, cheaper and better for your Waistline. Basically once you have signed up, you can then join the various Networking Groups that are already set up. These have titles such as "The Brisbane Small Business Group" or "Brisbane Networking Group". Or perhaps you might like to join an International Group.

Once you have joined a Group, you can then post messages to that group, but more importantly, you can approach other members to see if they would like to become a friend. Now I know many of you will cringe at the whole "become a friend" thing, but in business terms, it basically means that they are willing to go onto your Database so that you can communicate direct with them. Better yet, many of the members of the group will contact you to see if you want to become a "their friend". Whenever this happens, it's reciprocal. So you start building your database of contacts.

Now the rules of Networking on Facebook is the same as Networking face to face. That is, you don't go in there and start flogging your Products and Services. You go into there to build relationships. Once you have developed that relationship, you can then start promoting your products.

Now if you are like me and much prefer to meet face to face with someone, then this is possible too. Many of these groups will organise get togethers, so that the Members can meet.

If you want to be really pro-active, why not start your own group. This can be based around anything, as long as there are other Facebook users with a similar interest.

Lastly, the other advantage of joining Facebook is a personal one. This is something that I never contemplated when I joined. Since joining 2 months ago, I have been contacted by at least four people that I haven't heard from for over 20 years. Simply by putting my education info on my profile, I am getting contacted by my old class mates. Some of these were great friends that I just lost touch with after School (the problem with growing up in a small town and moving away).

So why not take a punt and join up. At the very least, you might connect with someone from your past that you'd forgotten all about.