Blog – Page 46

Building a Better Website

A friend of mine recently asked for suggestions on a web site she was working on for a doctor. After reviewing it, I realized the site had grown the way many do: when the doctor had some time, or a new thought occurred to him, he added another page to the site.

Some pages explored topics in depth, others glossed over equally important subjects. A somewhat different voice was used in each one, probably because they were written by different people. Aside from a similar graphic treatment, the pages didn’t connect with each other in any way.

What’s more, (click the headline for more)

How to Encourage Larger Orders

I’m always amazed at how few gardening companies try to encourage larger orders. You’d think it would be a natural, since plants and seeds are perfect products for bundled combinations. A fair number of companies offer three or six plants at a somewhat reduced price, but that’s about it.

I recently trolled through a variety of gardening catalogs looking for more imaginative offers that encourage larger sales. Here’s a sampling of what I found. (Click headline for more…)

Frequently Overlooked Pitfalls of Pay-Per-Click Advertising

A prospective client recently asked me why they should use us to manage their pay-per-click (PPC) advertising program, rather than have a college student do it. “After all,” they said, “It seems so easy.”

Technically speaking, it is easy to do pay-per-click advertising….badly. Best case, you won’t know how much money you’re leaving on the table because of what you don’t know. Worst case, you could lose thousands of dollars almost overnight because proper controls weren’t in place. Most likely case, you’ll give up and decide that PPC advertising doesn’t work without giving it a fair shot because you just didn’t understand how to do it right.

That’s where the judgment and experience we bring to the table comes into play. Some of the ways we help include: (click the headline for more)

The Amazing Real-Time Impact of Three Blogs

Today, another case history from the fascinating book I’m reading on business blogging, Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel. This one concerns the power of blogs to transform events in real time. In April 2002, Joe Nacchio, the CEO of Qwest Communications International, was speaking at a prestigious PC Forum industry conference. As […]

How a Blog Increased Sales 300% in 10 Weeks

In my last post, I mentioned the terrific book I was reading on business blogging, Naked Conversations by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel. One of the many interesting case histories discussed is that of a Savile Row tailor, Thomas Mahon, who sells custom suits for as much as $4,000. Talk about a marketing challenge: Mahon’s potential market may be as few as 10,000 people, scattered in all corners of the globe, yet he faces the economic challenges of any other local merchant.

To serve his US clients, Mahon travels to New York a few times per year. If he sells two suits, he pays for the trip. With three, he covers his monthly costs. Sell five suits, and he’s ecstatic.

On Mahon’s December 2004 trip, he sold only two suits. After he bemoaned his luck to his friend Hugh MacLeod, a former advertising executive, MacLeod had a suggestion: MacLeod would start a blog about the tailor and his work.

Ten weeks after the blog launched, Mahon returned to New York. This time, he sold 20 suits and eight sport coats – more than his entire sales for the previous year.

What’s more, thanks to “meeting” a well-connected public relations executive through his blog, Mahon landed coverage in the Sunday New York Times magazine section and CNN. In ten weeks, Mahon’s business jumped 300%. Pretty dramatic, eh?

If blogging can do so much for such a specialized business, imagine what it can do for you.

If you’re curious, you can have a look at Mahon’s blog at www.englishcut.com.

Best Book I’ve Read on Blogging

Hands down the best book I’ve read on blogging is Naked Conversations: How blogs are changing the way businesses talk with customers, by Robert Scoble and Shel Israel. I find myself recommending it over and over again to business owners who want to explore not how to blog, but whether and why they should.

The book contains one case history after another of companies large and small that started blogging, and what happened as a result.

Robert Scoble publishes the popular blog Scobleizer, which came to prominence during his tensure as technological evangelist at Microsoft. He currently publishes a video blog at Fast Company magazine. Shel Israel played a strategic role in introducing popular technology products such as PowerPoint, FileMaker and Sun Microsystems workstations. His blog, Global Neighbourhoods, “follows social media wherever it leads.”

Scoble and Israel are unabashed champions of blogging, for good reason. They explain why blogging is one of the best ways to secure high Google rankings…why it’s called “word of mouth on steroids”….and how blogging is turning the PR industry upside-down.

In upcoming blog posts, I’ll share a few case histories from this fascinating book.

Welcome, Kinsman Garden!

I’m pleased to welcome Kinsman Garden of Pipersville, PA as a client. If you’re not familiar with Kinsman, do check out their web site or request their catalog. They sell all manner of unusual and innovative planters, garden ornaments, tools and more. I’m finding it very hard to refrain from shopping their catalog while working on their account!

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