Last week I was a featured speaker at the Indiana Small Business Fair. I don’t normally do trade shows, so this was a bit of a new experience for me, and I learned a lot of valuable lessons in the process. Here’s what I learned:
1. Candy on the table is a surprisingly powerful draw, but you may end up taking some home.
We took one too many bags of Hershey’s Kisses and ended up bringing it home with us. As a self-professed chocoholic, I have had to ask Leo to hide the remaining sweets, to avoid having to roll myself to my next speaking engagement.
2. The week following the event will inevitably be packed full of meetings.
It seemed to me that people attended the Indiana Small Business Fair for one of three reasons: to network for their business, to look for a job, and to learn about how to start a business. I don’t often network locally, since my client base tends to be international, but this week, I’m spending an inordinate amount of time running out to meetings with interesting and cool people I met at the event, to talk about their businesses and how Business in Blue Jeans can help, to discuss how we can add them to our “Denim Dream Team,” and to just chat and get to know each other. I love connecting this way, but I have to confess that I’m already looking forward to next week, when I have some time to get some work done.
3. People do weird things after an event like this.
I’ve gottena lot of marketing materials sent to my inbox since the event and it appears to be from people who simply went to the event, picked up a ton of business cards, and then, without meeting anyone, went home and sent out a blanket e-mail to everyone. Now, to me, that’s weird. This kind of marketing doesn’t make sense to me. Without talking to people or taking the time to learn about their businesses, it’s unlikely that you know if those people really are your target market. I can tell you that I am definitely not in the target market for many of these folks, and their marketing efforts aren’t just unsuccessful at getting my business, these tactics actually make them look bad.
4. When you do a speaking gig and people like it, others will follow.
I’m currently in discussions to speak at the Simply WOW Expo and the National Black MBA Association meeting, as well as a few others. This makes me endlessly happy, because I absolutely love public speaking.
5. At events like this, you will meet some amazing people.
And I did.This was a fun event for me, and I loved meeting several of my local e-zine subscribers in person and getting to chat with the wonderful business owners in Indianapolis. Kudos to the organizers!
Come to the Indiana Small Business Fair on Tuesday, July 21, 2009. The event is being held between 8:30 and 5:30 PM and there’s an after hours networking event from 6:00 to 8:00 PM. I’m doing a seminar at 12:30 entitled, “5 Ways to Optimize Your Business and Increase Profitability.” I’ll also be available for questions all day long at the Business in Blue Jeans booth.
Indiana Small Business Fair
July 21, 2009
Indy West Conference Center
400 N. High School Road
Indianapolis, IN 46214
Last time, I talked about why a strong web site is crucial to your business. Today I’m going to talk about five components your web site needs and why you need them. Bear in mind, however, that these five aren’t the only components you need. At the end of the article, I’ll mention a couple of other things you may want to include.
Now, you can’t just slap these components on a web site and have something great. You’ll still need some solid graphic design, good usability and ease of navigation, plus you definitely want to make sure your design, copy, and code are developed using principles of search engine optimization. With those cautionary notes aside, let’s dive in to the five components you need for a successful web site.
1. Opt-In Box
If you’re not capturing your visitor’s details with an opt-in box, you’re missing one of the greatest marketing tools available online today. An opt-in box is a place where people enter their name and e-mail address (or just their e-mail address, but I’ve found it’s useful to have more information), and then they subscribe to your e-mail newsletter or e-zine (pronounced “EE-zeen”). You can start building a relationship with your subscribers with regular, useful contact (defining “regular, useful contact” is a separate article in and of itself).
2. Who you are Generally speaking, if you’re selling either a product or a service, you’ll want your customers or clients to trust you. Part of building trust is sharing a bit about you and how your company got started.
3. What you do
Obviously, if you want to sell your products or services, you’ll need to talk about them. This is where good marketing copywriting comes in handy. If you’re not good at writing marketing copy that converts visitors into buyers, hire someone who knows how to do it well. Investing in good copywriting can make all the difference.
4. Sticky content Sticky content refers to any content on your web site that attracts people and keeps them there, kind of like flypaper. Consider your blog, articles, audio and videos, and other resources, to be the flypaper that keeps visitors “stuck” to your site. The longer they stay at your site, the more likely they are to convert into buyers. There is, however, a point where your content will hit critical mass and can be too sticky. If you give too much away, your potential buyers won’t need to buy. They’ll settle for the freebies and never convert into sales.
5. Contact Information Potential clients and customers will want to know how to contact you for several reasons. If they can contact you, they can buy from you with the assurance that if they experience any troubles with the product, they’ll be able to ask questions or process returns easily. Also, they can ask you questions before they buy. There’s a long list of other reasons customers and clients may want to contact you, and they’ll feel safer buying if they can contact you easily. So provide at least phone and e-mail, and if you can, provide a physical address as well. If you work from home, don’t post your home address. Instead, get a P.O. box or a box at the UPS Store and post that instead.
Bonus: RSS Feed If you have a blog on your site, set up an RSS feed, which will make it possible for people to follow your blog using an automatic feed of your blog, that goes into their RSS reader. This means people can read your blog, even without coming to your web site, which is a great convenience to your readers.
If you’re selling products or services online, in addition to these five components, you’ll do well to invest in a shopping cart system and a payment processing system. Forcing potential buyers to contact you to get purchasing information ensures that those buyers will go elsewhere most of the time. We live in a high-demand, instant gratification world. If someone is shopping in the middle of the night or on a Sunday and they want what you have to offer but they can’t get it when they want it, they’ll buy it from someone else who can deliver instantaneously. Don’t give your potential buyers a reason not to buy from you.
So how do you implement all this stuff? How do you get a web site with these components, plus good design, good usability, and strong SEO? Next week, I’ll talk about how to hire a web firm to design your site. I’ll tell you how to educate yourself so you know enough to ask the right questions and know when you’re getting the right answers, how to balance value and price, and what red flags to watch out for.
For most businesses, a web site is one of the most important investments you can make. Entrepreneurs are either overspending or underspending on their web sites, and many have no idea what they’re doing or why. So today I’m going to talk about why a good, solid web site really matters to your business, and in the next three weeks, I’ll follow up with articles on the core components your web site needs to work well for you, and how to hire a solid web firm to build your site affordably.
1. Your web site reflects you as a business owner and professional.
If your web site looks professional, your potential clients will think you’re a professional who has enough clients and enough income to have a site built for you. If potential clients visit your web site and it looks half-assed and home-built that’s how they’ll perceive you.
If you’re a web developer, by all means, build your own site, as that will reflect your capabilities. Everyone else, hire a solid company that can do a good job, not just in building your web site, but in getting it seen and in building it wisely to maximize the traffic you’ll get.
2. Your web site can mean extra local business.
Even if you’re primarily brick and mortar, having a solid web site can mean extra business. Local clientele often perform seaches online and find your web site, encouraging them to walk into your store. If they find your competitors and they look more reputable or solid than you (or if they have a web site and you don’t), you’ll lose business, just because of your web site. And, when you’re mentioned in the media or on review sites like Angie’s List, you’ll need a web site to help people find you.
3. Your web site can mean global business.
Did you ever think about getting orders from Australia or Malaysia? Launching a fantastic web site means you’ll instantly become a global business, allowing you to expand your clientele to a much larger audience. Your web site is visible in almost every country around the globe, and that means you expand your potential client base by millions. You’ll still want to keep your target market in mind, but an international audience may still find you appealing.
4. Your web site can generate media interest.
If a journalist is looking for an expert in your field to quote for an article, s/he is more likely to choose the business owner whose web site looks professional and clean than someone who looks like they don’t really know what they’re doing. And as most of you know, a mention in the media can be powerful for your business!
Don’t do your business a disservice by putting up a shoddy web site. Take care and invest wisely in your business web site by hiring someone who knows what they’re doing. Next week I’ll talk about what components you need in your web, then, I’ll cover how to hire a web company, and finally, I’ll talk about how you can help your web design team as a savvy consumer.
1. Candy on the table is a surprisingly powerful draw, but you may end up taking some home.