Audio, Video and Other Media Enhance a Website
November 5, 2010 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
As media consumption grows, finding other media for your website becomes more important.
Visitors prefer to choose when they get information as well as how. The addition of audio and video makes websites more relatable. A host of options exist in the “other media” world:
Audio. Use audio effectively and judiciously on your website. A quote from a high-ranking company official makes perfect sense in a media room. Background music, welcome messages, and sample speech excerpts are all becoming more common. Once you know your target audience you can determine if audio files are appropriate.
Video. Online video is exploding. Almost 60% of all web traffic is now video. Take advantage of this marketing channel to boost traffic on your website.
Streaming media. Dozens of widgets exist to convert your twitter streams, for example, to a live stream. Justin.tv allows users to produce and watch live streaming video tv. Ustream.tv lets users broadcast 24/7 to the world from mobile phones and computers.
Digital Photos. Photos dress up plain text and encourage visitors to relate to your message. Take care to get permissions and give proper credits in all photos.
Annimation. Animation graphics or Flash media are popular options to add entire web page sections.
One thing’s for sure: there’s no shortage of media. How will you choose to enhance your website?
Need a different approach to your marketing? Today’s topic is day thirty-three of a 45-day step-by-step marketing master plan. Choose to take your business to a new level topic by topic, day by day, with specific actions, based on clear worksheets. Act now to maximize your time and return on time invested. As a result, you’ll be in an entirely new position this time next year.
Blog Categories Increase Blog Effectiveness
November 3, 2010 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
Once you’ve analyzed keywords and know their importance, assigning categories for your blog becomes easier. Still, it’s a process.
Categories form the navigational structure of a blog. Yet, little pre-planning goes into the category section. In other words, categories get no respect.
I first thought about blog categories when preparing material for The Six-Week Marketing Master Plan. ProfitMeister listed more than 30 categories. I cut the number to 12 and began to use tags.
My plan assigned each post to one category. Two to four tags gave it further definition.
After a time lapse for consideration, I now see more category changes. Some thoughts and action steps to consider:
- Intuitive categories get attention. When I review ProfitMeister, marketing is a category so broad it could hardly be intuitive. Social media marketing might be a more descriptive category. Action step: Ask yourself if your categories are intuitive.
- Near-duplicate categories add no value. For example, I have a category of “independent business” as well as one for “entrepreneur.” While the two aren’t mutually exclusive, one broad category could encompass most of those posts. Action step: Review and revise categories to eliminate duplication.
- Outdated categories waste valuable blog real estate. In another ProfitMeister example, three categories received no 2010 posts. Note to self: 25% loss of effectiveness. Action step: Plan an editorial calendar to focus on each blog category monthly at the least.
- Inconsistent categorization frustrates visitors. My review showed me some posts improperly categorized. A resource for example, was also listed as a vital point; more than one marketing post was about public relations. Action step: Resolve to use categories more effectively in the coming year.
Need a different approach to your marketing? Today’s topic is day thirty-two of a 45-day step-by-step marketing master plan. Choose to take your business to a new level topic by topic, day by day, with specific actions, based on clear worksheets. Act now to maximize your time and return on time invested. As a result, you’ll be in an entirely new position this time next year.
Edit and Fine Tune Your Website
November 1, 2010 by Mary Ellen · 4 Comments
Seth Godin, bestselling author, entrepreneur and agent of change, riffed on the difference between process and events:
“Dating is a process. So is losing weight, being a public company and building a brand.
On the other hand, putting up a trade show booth is an event. So are going public and having surgery.
Events are easier to manage, pay for and get excited about. Processes build results for the long haul.”
Although Godin was referring to the process of social media, his definition of process applies also to websites. In today’s world, your website is a process.
Just as you change, just as your relationships change, just as your business changes and evolves, your website must change. Get over the fact that it’s “finished,” or “re-designed.”
Case in point: A company stopped making changes to its website when a new developer took it over. The home page’s headline copy, “coming soon,” took the business through five weeks of build out, grand opening and the first month of business.
Do you agree or disagree with this solution? Did anyone notice?
Edit and fine tune your website copy on a regular basis. (HINT: Update the copyright to reflect the current year. People notice.)
Spruce up your site. Clean it up. Change the links. Freshen the copy.
Evaluate your offer. Is it still compelling? Ask the opinion of an expert.
Here’s the question for the day: Does your website accurately reflect who you are and what your business can do? If not, edit and fine tune.
Need a different approach to your marketing? Today’s topic is day thirty-one of a 45-day step-by-step marketing master plan. Choose to take your business to a new level topic by topic, day by day, with specific actions, based on clear worksheets. Act now to maximize your time and return on time invested. As a result, you’ll be in an entirely new position this time next year.
ProfitMeister Founder completes the Ultimate Blog Challenge
October 31, 2010 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
Never, since starting the ProfitMeister blog in 1996, have I blogged for 30 straight days.
The Ultimate Blog Challenge proved itself motivator enough for that to happen. I finished. I graduated a better person. Let me explain.
In summary:
I found discipline. In spite of the commentary in my head about my posts, I continued, posting through doubt and questions each of which stopped me previously.
I found momentum. The exercise of a daily write with the #blogboost tweet forced production. I couldn’t let myself down. I chose to complete my personal challenge.
I found a way. The editorial calendar of my 45-day plan opened my mind; it was no longer a question of what I would write. Instead, it was when. Many of my posts were written early in the day. A couple of times, however, I forced myself to finish a post as my final exercise of the day.
I found feedback. Responses from other members of the challenge caused me to delve deeper, think more clearly and in the end, write more. I appreciate input even more, thanks to the comments I received. Thanks to those comments, I made and will continue to make specific changes on my blog.
I found inspiration. Because of UBC I read new posts, discovered new topics, met new friends. I moved outside my comfort zone, even if for just a bit.
I found results. I discovered, thanks to looking at Google analytics, which posts got more readership and when.
I found celebration. I’m proud to say I finished.
Bottom line: I made it! Thanks to Michelle and Michele for putting the idea out there and encouraging all of us to get it done. Woooo Hooooo!
Today’s topic is not connected with my 45-day step-by-step marketing master plan, except that finishing any plan is a necessary component. For those who are following this series, I’ll complete it in a slightly less intense mode. I’ll blog three times per week beginning tomorrow.
Audit Your Website and Upgrade Accordingly
October 30, 2010 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
A student mentioned “The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles,” by Steven Pressfield. I owe a debt of thanks for the suggestion. Like many entrepreneurs, I look for signs. I opened the volume to a sign, an excerpt from page 154:
“The Territorial Orientation
4) A territory can only be claimed by work. When Arnold Schwarzenegger hits the gym, he’s on his own turf. But what made it his own are the hours and years of sweat he put in to claim it. A territory doesn’t give, it gives back.
Your website is important territory.”
As I prepared this post, I noticed something on my own site: the old company name (Connecting Point Communications) showed at the top of a lesser page more than nearly a year after I’d changed my brand. I’d missed it.
That, more than any admonition I might make, says it best. Audit your website.
Make certain that every link works. Dial every phone number. Click every icon. Have a professional proof each sentence. Review the privacy policy and make sure it’s still so. Check the copyright.
Ok. You probably get those pieces of an audit. (I digress. Here’s a post I wrote a couple of years ago about Internet Respiratory Infections.) The words “Audit your website” from a marketing pro are comparable to the doctor who says, “Take two aspirins and go to bed.” Without action, both are meaningless commands.
You know bigger challenges exist. A website is a 24/7 storefront. Some questions to uncover your challenges include:
1. Does the content of my website work for me? Still?
2. Is the structure good so that visitors can quickly and easily navigate each page? Have I looked at this navigation in different browsers?
3. What am I asking my visitors to do? Is the message clear? Do the results prove it? What do my analytics show?
4. Is the design up to date? Have I upgraded photos, and graphic presentation elements?
5. How do I know what’s true now?
Good luck with your audit. Let me know how it goes.
Need a different approach to your marketing? Today’s topic is day thirty of a 45-day step-by-step marketing master plan. Choose to take your business to a new level topic by topic, day by day, with specific actions, based on clear worksheets. Act now to maximize your time and return on time invested. As a result, you’ll be in an entirely new position this time next year.
Lateral collateral?
October 29, 2010 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
In football, a lateral pass is a sideways or backward pass. Similarly, lateral collateral refers to materials that send your message sideways or backwards.
You cannot afford to let such a mistake sink a potential sale. Enhance your credibility by eliminating lateral errors like these:
-
- Obviously outdated pictures
- Generic clip art
- More than one version of your logo
- Unmatched logo colors, graphics, fonts
- Incomplete materials (address missing, website missing, etc.)
- Inaccurate personnel summaries (personnel no longer with the company)
- Product sheets with old, discontinued items
- Paragraphs that no longer accurately depict your company
- Outdated company profiles in directory listingsSpelling errors, typos or omitted words
All materials must carry “the look,” making for a consistent presentation of your company and your brand. From letterhead, postcards, magnetic signs, nametags and internal communication, products to collateral pieces and external communications like advertising, website, customer service communications, co-branding communications, direct sales communications.
Make a list and check to be absolutely certain no part of your brand is derailing your communications. You can make this kind of collateral material audit easier if you resolve to set up a digital file for all materials.
Keep one master, up-to-date folder. (NOTE: For consistency, make sure all employees can access these materials on a shared drive.)
How do you avoid lateral collateral? Ever had a collateral mistake torpedo one of your sales?
Need a different approach to your marketing? Today’s topic is day twenty-nine of a 45-day step-by-step marketing master plan. Choose to take your business to a new level topic by topic, day by day, with specific actions, based on clear worksheets. Act now to maximize your time and return on time invested. As a result, you’ll be in an entirely new position this time next year.
Autopilot Anyone?
October 28, 2010 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
I put off writing a post about automating your web presence because I have a love/hate relationship with automation.
When it works, automation goes unnoticed in my life. Oh, don’t get me wrong. I appreciate the fact that posts show in Google Reader, for example. I enjoy using a single dashboard, such as Ping.fm, to conveniently post to several social media sites. I don’t give a lot of thought to the mechanics of how it happens: it simply works.’
But, when automation doesn’t work, it’s beyond frustrating: Facebook pages with feeds that fail to update, automated notifications that never get through, emails that never arrive, software that doesn’t sync, auto unsubscribes that won’t. I could go on and on.
Once I give my attention over to what’s wrong, I can’t help but imagine dozens of additional problematic scenarios before it’s fixed. I named this process “terriblizing.”
Many people spend more time terriblizing than the time it takes to move a project forward. (Count me guilty on that one if technology is involved.)
As I considered the list of terribles, I realized another side of automation causes me to think twice about using it: I’m referring to the robot portion of automation: autopilot.
Yes, I know automation can augment your presence on the web. But misused, automation is worthless, insulting and ignored.
How many updates do you see repeated in multiple channels? Read it on Facebook, then on Twitter, and then LinkedIn too. Is there a real person behind the message? Does it make sense to say the same thing multiple times?
Are you scrambling to do everything? Guilty of beginning a blog and then dropping it for a full 30 days with no post?
Does automation bring you focus and then overwhelm as a result?
Are your sales messages automated?
Do you tweet questions when you’ve no intention of responding?
Once I realized the “why” behind my nagging sense of unease with automation, I started making some changes.
As of today, my Twitter account no longer sends a canned automatic message when someone follows me. I promise to look at my new followers and engage the ones I relate with.
My Ping.fm group is no longer selected by default to post on the big three social media networks. Instead, I promise to more carefully consider my updates and post them differently for each channel.
I haven’t tackled Facebook yet, but those automated postings that don’t update are going away soon!
I’ve only just begun. In fact, I just reorganized my Google reader with some new folders!
There are dozens of tools to help you automate your web presence. Just don’t forget, it’s all about people and your relationships in the first place.
Need a different approach to your marketing? Today’s topic is day twenty-eight of a 45-day step-by-step marketing master plan. Choose to take your business to a new level topic by topic, day by day, with specific actions, based on clear worksheets. Act now to maximize your time and return on time invested. As a result, you’ll be in an entirely new position this time next year.
Review Twitter Profile for Strong Presence
October 27, 2010 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
Building a good Twitter bio takes thought. Even though you have only 160 characters, you may be challenged to fill in your profile quickly and effectively without pre-planning.
Before beginning, make a determination about your strategy.
Is your Twitter account primarily for business or personal use? Your answer will affect how you begin to build brand. For example, if you’ve elected to use Twitter for business, you may want to use at least one keyword in your profile.
Include these items in your Twitter profile:
What you do or what problem you solve
Personality
Personal or business comment
Exclude these kind of things for stronger Twitter profiles:
Sales pitches
Religion, politics, sex
If you’re unsure about how your Twitter stacks up, grade your Twitter account. What grade did you get?
Need a different approach to your marketing? Today’s topic is day twenty-seven of a 45-day step-by-step marketing master plan. Choose to take your business to a new level topic by topic, day by day, with specific actions, based on clear worksheets. Act now to maximize your time and return on time invested. As a result, you’ll be in an entirely new position this time next year.
Ruthless Reading Saves Time
October 26, 2010 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
No shortage of content exists: books, magazines, white papers, newspapers, case studies, websites, and more stack every office and most homes. Unless you read ruthlessly, you probably feel overwhelmed. What does ruthless reading look like?
Pare the magazine to what interests you. Tear out the articles you think you may want to review. Cancel subscriptions that no longer interest you.
Read with a highlighter – splash color across paragraphs that may be of interest later. Write in the margins. Use post-it flags to draw your attention back to your notes.
Scan indexes first and read only articles of interest.
Read a book out of order; read first the chapters that relate to your topic.
A good bit of business information continues to be written in pyramid form: lead paragraphs contain the most important details. Read those and get the overview of the article. Ignore the rest.
Set aside time to read for fun and read anything that you choose for that purpose.
Finally, read to better yourself. Facebook? Read the profiles of those you admire. LinkedIn? Same thing. Read, not to copy, but to upgrade your own efforts.
What are you ruthlessly reading today? And why?
Need a different approach to your marketing? Today’s topic is day twenty-six of a 45-day step-by-step marketing master plan. Choose to take your business to a new level topic by topic, day by day, with specific actions, based on clear worksheets. Act now to maximize your time and return on time invested. As a result, you’ll be in an entirely new position this time next year.
Rework Your Email Signature for Effect
October 25, 2010 by Mary Ellen · Leave a Comment
Your relationships depend on how people view you. An e-mail signature contributes to all-important online perceptions.
I believe a signature block is a mini billboard. For that reason, I’ve always been in favor of using a line above the name to tell more about what you do.
Example:
Do-it-Yourself! “Six-Week Marketing Master Plan”
An easy, step-by-step action plan to boost your business in one hour a day!
Mary Ellen Merrigan
505-280-9772Blog: http://www.ProfitMeister.com
http://www.MerriganGroup.com
http://www.sixweekmarketingplan.com/
Given the proliferation of clutter, I’ve re-thought that strategy recently. The signature above is quite long. It includes three different URLs and a selling message.
In the interest of taking my own medicine, something I frequently suggest on this blog, I offer the following streamlined guidelines:
- Use a professional signature block. Provide enough information for people to contact you: name, position, company and contact info. Granted, most of us have multiple emails, phone numbers, social media contacts and URLs. Pick one of each. Use colons and pipes to shorten your information if need be. Include your mailing address only if you expect a snail mail reply. Include a legal disclaimer only if your company or position requires that you do so.
- Avoid HTML. (Although it looks pretty, it takes forever to download on the mobile!) I don’t need your Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook profiles, either. Send me plain text. All too often, special stationery and graphics clog up the memory in my email program.
- Shorten or drop the signature block for replies.
- Select recognized fonts. Some fancy fonts don’t come through on all platforms. And a graphics-only signature is also problematic because it sometimes doesn’t come through at all.
- Use an e-mail address with your domain name if at all possible. Since not all e-mail programs include the address in the heading of the e-mail, repeat it in the signature block for convenience.
- Show your full URL rather than a hotlink for effectiveness.
- Don’t attach signatures. A v-card or signature attachment is frequently seen as spam. When in doubt, leave it out.
Example: My new signature:
Mary Ellen Merrigan
Smart Marketing Strategist | Merrigan Group LLC
505-280-9772 | MaryEllen at MerriganGroup.com | http://www.MerriganGroup.com
Blog: http://www.ProfitMeister.com
Take just a few moments and check your signature. How does it shape up?
Need a different approach to your marketing? Today’s topic is day twenty-five of a 45-day step-by-step marketing master plan. Choose to take your business to a new level topic by topic, day by day, with specific actions, based on clear worksheets. Act now to maximize your time and return on time invested. As a result, you’ll be in an entirely new position this time next year.
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