Scout for Success

Techtrepreneurs - Step Awaaaay From the Machine!

I recently added up the number of business-related hours that I have spent in front of my computer over the last couple of months.  I was surprised at the total. Like many small business owners who provide technology and Internet-related services I expected the number to be high, but not that high.  It occurred to me that I had not participated in any elective, non-computer related, purely personal interest activities for quite a while, so I decided it was time to break out of my rut and enjoy some real world, low-tech, meet-new-people time.

To accomplish that, last weekend I attended The Cozy Library Extravaganza at the Warren Newport Library in Gurnee, Illinois. The Cozy Library is a website I designed several years ago for my good friend and mentor, Diana Vickery. Immensely popular with readers, the site is devoted to her reviews, recommendations, author interviews and a wealth of other information related to the genre of cozy mysteries. (You can learn the definition of a cozy mystery by visiting the Cozy Library website.) The extravaganza was sponsored by the library and included an informal panel discussion of books, writing and writing techniques, along with anecdotes from eight visiting authors from around the country. It was fascinating to hear the personal stories of these authors, and learn more about what inspired their creativity and how they went about turning their ideas, plots, and characters into the written word.  I was surprised at how much the outlining, organizing and character development techniques varied from person to person.

I thoroughly enjoyed the three hours I spent at this event. I’ve been writing myself since I was a child, and continue to grow my business on a foundation of services related to writing.  I actually relished being away from my computer for an entire afternoon, and engaging with friends and acquaintances old and new to discuss books, authors, personal interests and writing in general.  I went home that day feeling refreshed, inspired, and fired up to continue pursuing my writing goals.  Though I know that most technical entrepreneurs, or techtrepreneurs, also have lives away from their workstations, I suspect that many of us have to make a concerted effort to fit these entertaining and purely social forays into our busy schedules.

I also believe that many entrepreneurs and small business owners, especially those who delve regularly into the blogosphere, enjoy and utilize the written word in their work.  Two books that I always keep close at hand are Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones - Freeing the Writer Within (1976) and Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird - Some Instructions on Writing and Life (1994).  Many of you are likely already familiar with both works; for those aspiring writers who are not, I highly recommend them.  They each speak to the heart of writing, rather than dwelling on theory or technique.  Writing is about telling stories and communicating with others; as business owners we are constantly telling the story of what we have to offer, how we serve, what our products are, the why and how of what we do, and the benefits we offer our customers.  In an age of email and online written exchange of ideas, books like these can help to make you feel more confident about writing freely, and less self-conscious about expressing yourself and your ideas.

Copyright © Kimberly Washetas - 2008

Revisiting The E-Myth Revisited

About four years ago, my friend Billy Cochrane and I were sharing driving duties on a 10-hour roadtrip from Jackson, Mississippi to a trade show in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  In addition to being a great friend, Billy is also one of my first ecommerce website customers (VintageKnives.com) and the van was loaded with his wares along with my marketing materials.  Having started our businesses around the same time, we spent a while talking about some of the entrepreneurial challenges we were both experiencing, before I suggested we take a listen to a CD audio-book I had purchased for the drive.

The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber turned out to be a revelation for both of us.  The sub-title might be a little daunting (Why Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It), but the advice turned out to be relevant and business-altering for both Billy and myself.  From growing pains to muddled systems to fear of leaving your comfort zone, the author dealt with these and other common small business issues in a straightforward way.  His examples and ideas about establishing systems and processes were insightful and helpful.  The chapter about working on your business, not in it, was especially thought provoking.

This is not high-falutin’ stuff.  Gerber uses a fictitious small business model to illustrate his points, but while the dialogue may seem simplistic to some, I found it easy to follow his concepts and thought processes.  Highly recommended for entrepreneurs and small business owners, especially those just starting up or in a quandry about what their “next steps” should be.  Also available in book form, but with time at a premium for most of us, the CDs were much easier to absorb.

Seven Low-Cost or No-Cost Marketing Tips for Leveraging Your Small Business Website

So you’ve finally gone and done it - you’ve made an important investment in the vision you hold for your growing small business by having a professional website developed to help market its products or services. The site is attractive, informative and the programmer and content developer have made sure that its underlying code and pages contain the all-important keywords, descriptions and other elements needed for effective search engine optimization.

1. Stop at the local office supply and order an inexpensive, self-inking stamp with your website domain name, in bright red. Use the stamp on every envelope or piece of paper that leaves your office, from invoices to bill payments to holiday greeting cards.
2. Send an email announcement to all your current customers, vendors, business contacts, friends and family. Provide a link to the new website and invite recipients to spread the word by forwarding the email on to other people who could benefit from the value and benefits your products or services offer.
3. Change your after-hours or on-hold phone message. Let callers know your new business website is up and running and extend the invitation to visit it for more information and resources. Spell out the website name if needed.
4. Issue a press release about the launch of the new site. Be sure to mention the types of information and resources the website provides to visitors, along with any plans for keeping the site content dynamic and expanding it as your business grows.
5. Hang a banner with the new website domain name in your reception area, waiting room - or on the front of your building! Put up posters announcing the new site in all visitor-accessible areas.
6. Include the new website domain on every piece of advertising or marketing collateral. Be sure that the site is included when your phone book listings, business cards and stationery are updated, and that it is prominent in every newspaper or magazine ad you place.
7. Talk up your website, and encourage your employees to do the same. Mention the website to new callers or when networking, and use it to provide directions, maps or access to common information that staff may formerly have needed to provide over the phone.

Copyright © Kimberly Washetas - 2008

The Links & Resources Page of Your Small Business Website - Build a Good One, They’ll Come Back!

Whatever the nature of your small business, never doubt the appeal that well-organized, related information can hold for your website visitors. When it comes to finding reasonably reliable resources about a particular product, service or industry topic on the Internet, separating the wheat from the chaff is probably the most-time consuming aspect of the search. A robust Links & Resources page on your website can be a powerful tool for encouraging bookmarking and delivering return visitors to your site. It’s also a page that you or your website developer can easily update regularly.

Whether you sell a product or a service, there is almost always a resource on the Internet that would be of additional interest or helpful to the customers or prospects who visit your site. Below are some examples of solid Links & Resources content. Be sure to categorize related links together; your visitors will appreciate not having to scroll through a miscellaneous hodgepodge of Internet sites:

Professional affiliations, organizations or licensing bodies
If you belong to or are licensed by any specific organizations (i.e. the local bar association, engineering society, state licensing agency), provide links to their websites. You’ve likely worked hard to achieve membership or licensing; promote your business’s affiliation with these industry associations.

Complementary products or services
Own a pet store? Link the pet motel down the street. Operate a hair and nail salon? Link the local tanning spa. This also provides the opportunity for networking with other small businesses to exchange reciprocal links, another powerful technique to ratchet up your website in search results.

Industry white papers or articles about industry trends
If the information was interesting to you as the business owner, it’s bound to interest a portion of your visiting prospects or customers as well.

Civic, community or charitable organizations supported by your business
Being a good corporate citizen is something to be proud of. Let visitors know that your business sponsored the local Little League team, participated in the building of the local playground, or contributed to a community fundraising effort, and link the websites of those groups.

Two final suggestions: Spell out the title or name of the page or website you are sharing with visitors and hyperlink from that - don’t present a list of full website addresses for them to click on, even if you preface those with the title of the resource page or site. There’s no need, and it just looks tacky. And always, always have the linked page or website open in its own browser window. You’ve worked too hard to bring visitors to your website to lose them when they close the browser on a courtesy resource that you have shared.

Copyright © Kimberly Washetas - 2008

Customer Testimonials - The Treasure Hiding in Plain Sight!

If you are like many small business owners, you spend a good portion of your operating budget marketing your company. Common methods include placing ads in newspapers, magazines and phone books, developing websites and the strategies to drive customers to them, buying billboard space, sending direct mail and more. Billions of dollars are expended annually on these expensive marketing initiatives, with varying levels of success.

Yet even as small business owners dig deeper to find the dollars to deploy on high-priced advertising, they often neglect the golden marketing opportunities in the nearest file drawer or on the company bulletin board: unsolicited customer testimonials!

Handwritten notes from happy customers, flowery thank you cards - even glowing emails extolling the virtues of the company’s service, employees or products. Yes, these are read and smiled over, perhaps passed around the office or read out loud at the “go team” weekly staff meetings. After that, all too often they are relegated to the customer’s file or the wall of the break room, perhaps saved to a hard drive and forgotten.

What a shame. These are the kind of marketing opportunities that no amount of money can buy, the heartfelt appreciation of a satisfied customer who took his or her own time to acknowledge the value of your company’s products or services.

It’s time to take a few minutes of your own time and go digging for this gold. Challenge all staff to recollect those notes, those cards and emails from days gone by, and scavenge the office to locate them. At your next staff meeting read them out loud and enjoy them again, boosting pride in the business and employee morale in one fell swoop.

Now it’s time to put that treasure to work. First, select the comments and excerpts that best acknowledge the qualities you want your business to be known for. Then, decide on the best way to feature the testimonials prominently in various facets of your marketing. You could turn them into graphic drop-ins, with quote marks and attractive fonts, and add them to your website or next brochure. Insert some of them strategically in presentation slideshows - big and bold, each on its own separate slide for greater impact. Have your next newspaper or magazine advertisement showcase the quote, with your company’s website and number directly beneath it. Make that testimonial stand out and grab the attention of your next prospective customer!

However you use them, at minimum attribute testimonials with the customer’s initials, or first name and initial. Before using a customer’s full name and town or company name, get written permission. Many people are reluctant to have their full names displayed publically, or their companies may have strict policies about endorsements. Make copies of all testimonials and keep them in a secure place in the event you need to validate them; attach attribution permissions as appropriate.

Most of all, as you head into the future, be sure to celebrate each new testimonial and share it with your employees. If a specific staff member was praised or credited, acknowledge that stellar service to everyone who works for you. By making each thank you or “job well done” an event, you promote the value you place on high quality and premier service to every member of your organization.

Copyright © Kimberly Washetas - 2008

Developing a Small Business Website - The “Big Four” Fundamentals of Website Success

The time has finally come when most small business owners realize that a well-designed business website is not a luxury or option, but a very necessary marketing tool in a highly competitive marketplace. By observing a few fundamental principles, your small business website can serve as the cornerstone of your marketing program - without draining your advertising and technology budgets.

The “Big Four”

There are four critical elements that every small business website needs to contain, whether it is being custom-designed by a professional developer or created using an online website development tool.

1. Attractive, professional appearance
With all the reasonably priced website builder programs now available on the Internet, a limited budget or lack of technical expertise is no longer a bar to establishing a business website. If you don’t think you can afford the services of a professional website designer right now, many domain registrars, hosting services and companies like Yahoo! offer reasonably priced and attractive template-based business website builders. Most of these programs are designed for non-technical users and will walk you through the basics of creating your business profile for publishing to the worldwide web.

By all means, retain the services of a reputable, professional website designer if your budget allows - but if it doesn’t, in the interim make use of one of the less costly alternatives and step up to the custom-designed level down the road. If you are in business you need a website NOW!

2. Streamlined navigation
There is nothing more frustrating to prospective customers than having to slog through a maze of misleading page names, overblown content and poorly linked sub-pages to find what they are looking for. As the searching seconds tick away, each one brings you closer to a lost sale and you can be sure that prospect won’t be coming back to try again.

Whether you are working with a professional web designer and content developer or creating your first business website yourself, be sure to sit down with pen and paper at the start and draft an outline of the site’s navigation structure. When building your initial website, keep things simple: an introductory home page, an overview of your products or services, a page providing some background about your business, and of course, the “Contact Us” page.

Again, you can always enlist the services of a professional designer and/or content developer at a later date. If you continue to put off publication of your business website while you debate about every page or sub-page you should add to the site, it will never get published and you will lose out entirely. Get the basics out there NOW and supplement that information later.

3. Well-written, informative content
Poorly written, confusing or inaccurate content will cost you sales by reflecting poorly on the professionalism of your business. If you are not a writer by trade or nature but need to create the initial content yourself, keep it brief and to the point. Provide descriptive information only for the time being, and expand on that at a later date when you can enlist the services of a professional content developer.

If you are working with a professional at the start, be sure that person understands who your target audience is and what you are trying to convey to them. Make sure your website visitors know on the Home page what your business does and which of their needs it can fill. Expand as appropriate on the other pages of the site, keeping in mind that the goal is to generate interest and sales leads, not to create an encyclopedia about your product or service. Sprinkle your content liberally with the “key words” or phrases that you think your prospective customers will be using to search for your services.

As another, non-visible aspect of site content, if working with a website developer make sure those key words are included in the meta tags of your site. These tags are part of the underlying programming code of your website, content that your visitors won’t view but the search engines will. It’s important to get these right, so odds of your site appearing in a prospective customer’s search results are higher. If you will be using a template program to build your website, be sure it has an option that allows you to add at least 6-8 keywords and a brief description of your business.

4. Graphic interest
Last but not least, remember that visual images are powerful selling tools, whether they are logos, photos of the products you sell or concept photos representing the services your business provides to consumers. Pictures can also generate interest in your business by putting a face to a name, as in including a photo of yourself or a group photo of your staff on the About Us page of your site.

If you have good quality pictures of your products, you can certainly use them on your website. If the quality of the photos you have is not quite up to par, it would be worthwhile to invest in having new photos taken by a professional photographer with the proper equipment and lighting. Remember, a picture really is worth a thousand words.

If you want to obtain very reasonably priced concept photos to represent your business or services (a group of smiling children for a daycare website; multi-colored buckets of paint for a painting business), be sure to check out iStockphoto (at http://www.istock.com). The pricing is great for these royalty-free photos and images, and the download process is a snap.

Now spread the word!
Once your business website is up and running, get the word out! Add it to your stationery, stamp the address on the outside of every envelope that leaves the office, email all your current customers and vendors with the address of your new site. Encourage them to visit and invite their input and comments. Add the web address to every print ad you run and tell callers about it in your voice mail greeting. Start using the website as the tool for business building it is designed to be, and watch your business grow!

Copyright © Kimberly Washetas - 2008