• Pricing is controlled by the “shopping cart”
• Every company utilizing the shopping cart has the same inventory and the same look
• Prices can be high
• Some shopping carts do not allow names in the URL to be hidden so browsers know that they have “left” the retailers site.

The benefits are:

• The shopping cart is supported by the Shopping Cart Company
• Inventory is updated by the shopping cart as well as prices (retailer doesn’t need to hire staff to maintain inventory
• Some Shopping carts do allow names in the URL do be hidden so browsers don’t know they have “left” the retailers site

So – we recommend that you determine your need, your audience, and your budget and find a shopping cart that meets your needs.

But in our intitial meetings we observe the prospect to determine if the are visual/audio/or kinestic or a combination.   We also specifically ask them how they like to communicate (via phone, email, etc.), and we follow their requests.

So – why am I blogging about this?  Because people are not always aware of their own communcation styles (giving and receiving info). And even more are not aware of what they actually do. At CCS, we are doing some introspection to determine how we can improve our communcation!

SO – to put this issue to rest, as a company we believe that a website should be like a city with many ways to get to the city (trains, planes, automobiles, boat, bicycle, etc).  These “ways” on the web are links from strategic partners, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Blogs, etc.  Now, if you are a big company (city) you may have a staff that can do your marketing for you – they can write blog postings on the company site, their own individual blogs, as well as on blogs that are relevant to the business’s industry.  They can also participate in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.  For small businesses (cities), we always recommend quality over quantity and that the blog be attached to the company website to help with traffic.  – Remember, a lot of browsers will not take the time to go to another website (every click that you need a browser to make lessens the chances of the browser making it to your site – don’t make them work).   Also, if you have a lot of traffic to your blog and it rests on Blogspot, you are driving traffic to and helping Blogspot, and not necessarily your business.

Now there is always an exception to every rule – I just met with a business where it makes more sense for the company owner to establish a separate blog from her company.  But as a whole, for small to medium sized businesses who do not have dedicated staff for online marketing, we recommend that your Blog be where you business is.

1. Be on the red carpet and compete with major brands – can your logo stand up against Coca Cola and not look small?
2. Be able to stand alone without your company name – if your logo is the only the representative “image” of your company, will that image be powerful enough to be identified and remembered?
3. Be recognizable without your company colors – is the image strong enough to be black and white if your colors are green, yellow and pink?

Depending on your answers to the above, your logo, may need to be BIG or small, and the cost of the logo will most likely correlate to the logo size because of the research and creative time that will need to go into development process.

In my professional life, we had a prospect with a project that promised to be the second largest project for us this year. The prospect had a private investor, who wanted us to provide an estimate for which we had no specifics (only that it would need to include animation and games- but not how much), and to tell them what we would build for them, without a budget – just like asking someone to fix your car, without telling them what was wrong with the car or letting the mechanic look at it.  Also, the prospect was unavailable to meet with us as they were busy getting estimates from 15 other web companies.

We respectfully told the prospect that it is not our “business model” to give estimates without determining the customers needs – how could we provide a solution without knowing the problem? Our business methodology has been successful for us – though temptation of big cash projects can be very seductive – we will be disciplined and stay true to what is working.  And we recommend that if something is working well for you, that you ”stick with it too.”

Oprah has a contest, “Oprah’s Search for the Next TV Star,” with the winner being awarded their own program on Oprah’s new network.  The contest has applicants submit video auditions for one of a number of categories.  As an Online Marketing and Web Company, we consider this type of contest is a publicity boon!  Angela recorded a video and her audition is on Oprah.com and now, not only will the contest judges see the recording, but also, anyone browsing the Oprah contest.  (Also, Angela is shown interviewing Creative Carrot Studios’ Tabatha Dickson & Deb Baron – so we too, are appreciating a free publicity boon!)

All businesses should look for opportunities to take advantage of the exposure that can be provided by contests from the Fortune 500.

Please go to the below link, set up and id, and vote for the show you like best. You will need to “register,” go to Browse & vote and select the category Wild Card. We strongly recommend Angela’s Audition! Oh, and you can vote every day! https://myown.oprah.com/login_reg.html?redir=%2Faudition%2Findex.html%3Frequest%3Dadd_video%26entity_id%3D203259770.

1. If you are paying for PPC, or ad works, etc, – please make sure that you have the proper analytics installed in your site to be able to measure what is happening with your website.  Has there been an increase in traffic since you began utilizing ad words?  Are the ad words the words driving traffic to you? How long have the “people” stayed on your website when they have been driven there, by the keyword.  If it is a short time, the people may not have been your prospects and your Ad words may need to be adjusted.
2. Do you have the time or staff to manage the ad words if you have the analytics?  Watching the traffic numbers, and determining what is working and what is not working takes time and discipline.  So – if you are spending $20,000 on ad words per year, but are not effectively interpreting the traffic, conversion rates, site rankings, etc, we recommend that you spend $12,000-15,000 on the paid inclusion and $5,000-$8,000 on marketing support to manage the project. 
3. Don’t skip the Organic Search words traffic. Lots of people skip the “paid” site rankings without even know that the sites are “Pay per Click” – they just skip it because they know it is some type of advertising.  So – it does not make sense to not increase your rankings with Keywords in your source code.

When your business is in need of creating marketing pieces (collateral) for your business, please contemplate the following questions:

1. What is the purpose of the piece
   1. Am I driving customers to go to my website or call me
   2. Am I providing them information so that they do not call me with questions
   3. Am I showcasing my products or services – so I need a  lot of images
2. What is the life span of the piece
   1. Is this an event announcement that has a short life span
   2. Am I wanting them to keep the piece – will need higher quality stock
3. Size of the piece :
   1. What is going to make the most impact (smaller with a neat die cut)
   2. Will the customers really read a tri-fold brochure (most times this is not necessary.
4. What material can this be printed on
   1. Recycled paper is a little more expensive, but the costs are coming down due to an increased demand and the subsequent increased supply (if you use recycled paper, please make sure to put a “recycled paper” logo on your piece not only because it is good PR for your business, but also because it reminds your customers to recycle your collateral piece when they no longer need it.
   2. Can it be printed on something with another use (e.g. putting your logo and tagline on a cloth grocery bag)

We created a feedback form for a nutritionist’s workshop on “Healing Foods” this weekend.  The client requested that the form be small and as the audience can utilizes both sides of the paper.  (The target market for this client is health and environmentally conscious people – so they will appreciate the business’ efforts).

Hope you Marketing pieces are Fabulous!

Businesses should know what bells and whistles come with:

Setting up your website hosting : 

• Is there 24 hour support  & how many support staffers are there (we have a client whose website hosting was maintained by a company whose hours were only Mon-Fri 9:30-5:30, and when the domain “guy” went on vacation, there was no help & we did not receive a call back until he came back a week later)?

Hiring a Social Media Expert –

• Does this person/company really understand all aspects of Social Media or just Facebook?  Can they write with my company’s voice?  Are they providing me with topics that will help drive traffic to my website? (we have a client whose previous social media experts had not ever discussed the business’ target market or determined the company’s ”voice.”)

Hiring a website company –

• Will the web company be providing consulting advice as to what I, as the customer, need OR am I expected to be an internet expert in addition to running my business?  Where are the programmers located? Will I have access to the graphics artists?  Is the sales person still involved after they get a check? 

We receive a lot of customers who are website “gun shy” after being so badly burned before coming to us.  Most of the time, they are surprised by the “bells and whistles” that come with our services.  We believe that if the job cannot be done right, we shouldn’t do it.

I am hoping that the groups whose plans I judged, learned from my feedback. I coached them as we coach our clients – that a business plan is the key to running a business. A website is a business plan brought to life. If the plan is good (considers the viability of, competition, threats, price points, etc) – the chances of having an effective website are also good.

This experience was a great reminder that we need to review our business plan as it is a living document.   A few clues that it is time to review your business plan are:

1. If you have three obstacles for which you have not planned
2. You see a slump in sales
3. You experience unexpected growth and need to bring on staff