Tag: e-pproachability

Why your marketing is no longer enough

For all you marketers out there, I’ve got good news and bad news.

THE GOOD NEWS IS: The world is flat, the barriers to entry are low and the opportunities to leverage new ideas are ENDLESS!

THE BAD NEWS IS: your marketing is no longer enough.

Here are six examples:

1. SHTICK is no longer enough. The word shtick is defined as “A characteristic attribute, talent, gimmick or trait that is helpful in securing recognition or attention.” The challenge is, shtick won’t sustain you. Sure, shtick is catchy and cool and clever and fun and different; but it’s not enough.

REMEMBER: Shtick might get you in the door, but only substance will keep you in the room.

Is your marketing a Tootsie Roll or a Dum Dum?

2. WEBSITE is no longer enough. Websites used to be fancy, expensive tools only possessed by the technologically elite. Not anymore! Now, any 10 year old kid with the right software can create a website in under an hour. So, combine that trend with the expansion of social networking and blogs, websites are no longer enough. You need a web PRESENCE. A interconnected network of different sites, all pointing to the baseline, i.e., your original site.

REMEMBER: Be an octopus, not an earthworm.

Does your marketing have enough tentacles?

3. SATISFACTION is no longer enough. Who cares if your customers are satisfied? The real question is, “Are they telling their friends about you?” See, customers EXPECT to be satisfied. That’s par for the course. That’s like getting a C+. If you REALLY want to make a name for yourself, think of your customer service as having three levels: satisfaction, loyalty and INSISTENCE. Strive for the last two and you will create fans (not customers) for life.

REMEMBER: Satisfied customers don’t tell their friends about you.

And if clients aren’t actively telling their friends about you, this might happen.

4. SOLE CONTACT is no longer enough. If a customer comes to your website, she expects to be able to call, fax or email you instantly. And, get a human response. But again, that’s standard. With the advent of instant messaging, widgets, messages boards, blogs and other cool forms of online communication, that’s no longer enough. The best, most approachable and most ACCESSIBLE businesspeople make themselves available via multiple media.

REMEMBER: Don’t give customers a reason NOT to investigate you further.

Instead, do stuff like this.

5. SOLE DELIVERY is no longer enough. Text-based marketing is SO 1994. This is 2008, Holmes. Your customers’ attention spans are diminishing daily. Not to mention, we live in a “My Culture” where customers call the shots. So, you need to appeal to them with multiple modes of content delivery like video, audio and RSS.

REMEMBER: Customers don’t read anymore. They scan.

Or, they watch videos like these.

– – –

Ultimately, when it comes to marketing, something things are just no longer enough.

Something to think about.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What aspects of marketing do you think are no longer enough?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
If you’d like to know what the most important word in marketing is, email [email protected] and I’ll gladly (attempt to) enlighten you!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
[email protected]

How many people blogged about YOU this week?

Tune in to The Marketing Channel on NametagTV.com!

Watch video lessons on spreading the word about your company!

19 Ways to Build Buzz about Your New Website

Oscar Wilde once remarked, “The only thing worse than being talked about is NOT being talked about.”

So. Who’s talking about you?

Well, if you’re not happy with your answer, perhaps these practices, ideas and suggestions will help spread the word about your new website:

1. FIRST THINGS FIRST:Build remarkability into your ideas before they go public. Are you (already) worth making a remark about?

2. Give it away. If you want it to be viral, (some) of your content HAS to be free. What are YOU giving away?

3. Stop writing. Nobody’s going to read all that copy. Think images, not words. And keep it clean and above the fold. How are YOU using video?

4. Harness the power of ITunes. They have AMAZING marketing and reach a LOT of people that might not ever GO to your site. Podcasting – audio or video – is the key to reaching new audiences via web 2.0. How many people’s IPods are YOU on?

5. Use Digg and Delicious. Screw Oprah. Digg and Delicious are WAY more powerful (and a LOT less annoying) than her. Also, if someone comes to your website and doesn’t know what Social Bookmarking tool are, forget about it. Let the techies and bloggers who DO know what those buttons mean to use them to spread your message. Stop trying to educate the people who don’t “get” social networking. It’s not your job to convert them. Do people Digg you?

6. Use RSS. This is the PERFECT tool for building your permission asset. How many subscribers do YOU have?

7. Make it easy to share. Include boxes and buttons for link sharing, i.e., “Send this site to a friend” and embeddable HTML tags for videos, playlists and pictures. Are you making your website really, really easy to share?

8. REMEMBER: It’s not how many people come to your site, it’s WHO comes to your site. Eyeballs are overrated. So don’t get caught up in traffic, hits and the like. Are you focusing on the number of eyeballs or the RIGHT eyeballs?

9. People. Find raving fans that have big mouths, market to them and then get out of the way. How many fans do YOU have?

10. Build suspense. Whether you use an ezine, RSS feed or blog, have a countdown during the final month before launch. Build anticipation. For example, you could use a screen shot to drum up interest at the end of each blog post. Does anyone even KNOW about your new website?

11. Humor wins. Think about the last time you said or heard someone say: “Dude, you’ve GOT to check out this website!” More than likely, it’s because somebody, somewhere, was funny. What’s humorous about YOUR site?

12. Get ‘em at hello. Two seconds. That’s about how much time you have to convince someone that your website is worth telling her friends about. So, make sure it passes “The Cubicle Test,” i.e., If somebody walked by her coworker’s workspace, would she stop in tracks and say, “Hey, cool! What website is THAT?”

13. THREE WORDS: Other people’s traffic. What joint ventures are YOU working on?

14. Purpose. Don’t make it a website, make it a destination. Assure that people will actually stick around for more than 60 seconds. Make it community based and interactive through message boards, comments and other social networking tools. Keep the feedback loop constantly flowing. How frequently do people come BACK to your website?

15. Story. Make sure your site has a tab, box or content page that includes “Your Story.” After all, that’s all marketing is: storytelling. Because people don’t remember ads, they remember stories. NOTE: If possible, make “Your Story” a video. Let people see you doing what you do. Let people get to know you as a person, not a professional. What’s YOUR story?

16. User generated content. Enable customers to contribute and participate. Allow them to create their own profiles, accounts and usernames. Create a forum where they can discuss, share and upload their own pictures and videos with other users. They will take ownership of your website as their own and tell everyone they know. How are you giving your visitors a piece of the pie?

17. Simple. Simplicity is better, quicker, easier and most importantly, what customers crave. Could your website be explained to a five year-old?

18. Revisitability. Update new content at LEAST once a week, if not daily. This will bring people back again and again. REMEMBER: Websites are like newspapers – nobody wants to read them if they’re two years old. So, consider embedding a blog into the homepage. It works! If I had to do it again, my website and blog would be the same thing. When was the last time you updated YOUR content?

19. Ask yourself three questions. “What’s remarkable about my website?” “Why would someone come to (and stay at) my website for more than 60 seconds?” “Why would someone tell her friends about my website consistently?” Be honest. Are you evaluating your website objectively?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What’s your #1 tip for building buzz about your new website?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Share your secret here!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
[email protected]

Who’s blogging about YOUR website?

Tune in to The Marketing Channel on NametagTV.com!

Watch video lessons to get people talking about YOU!

What does your email say about YOU?

Email addresses are VERY telling.

About your personality.
About your creativity and uniqueness.
About your professionalism (or lack thereof).

What’s more, email addresses elicit certain emotions when people first see them.

Let’s look at a few examples.

NOTE: None of these emails are actually real (to my knowledge). I just made them up. However, if any of them ARE real, I don’t mean to offend anybody. My apologies to Kayla.

1. [email protected]

POTENTIAL SILENT DIALOGUES:

o “He’ll never write me back!”
o “Great. Does this email even go to a real person?”
o “Well, so much for getting my problem answered quickly!”

2. [email protected]

POTENTIAL SILENT DIALOGUES:

o “Who still uses AOL?”
o “Who the heeck is Kayla?”
o “I bet SHE works from home…”

3. [email protected]

POTENTIAL SILENT DIALOGUES:

o “Wait, are two people going to read this email I’m about to send?”
o “Why can’t Steve and Mary get separate email addresses?”
o “Will the privacy of my letter be violated?”

4. [email protected]

POTENTIAL SILENT DIALOGUES:

o “Do I really want to do business with someone who has an email like this?”
o “Can’t this guy get a company email, or does he just sell junk cars from his back yard?”

5. [email protected]

POTENTIAL SILENT DIALOGUES:

o “What does 783 mean?”
o “Is Dave so lazy and uncreative that he needed Hotmail to create his email address FOR him? And is that the kind of person I want to do business with?”
o “Who still uses Hotmail?”

6. m_876#[email protected]

POTENTIAL SILENT DIALOGUES:

o “Is this spam?”
o “Is this even a real email address?”
o “Whose email is this?”

7. [email protected]

POTENTIAL SILENT DIALOGUES:

o “If this lady was such a ‘killer’ artist, wouldn’t she have her own website, and not have to use SBC?”
o “Kind of an uncreative email address for a ‘super creative artist,’ huh?”
o “Wait, what was her actual name again?”

– – –

Look folks.

Email addresses don’t need to be works of art.

But at the same time, they don’t need to be boring.

So, evaluate the perception of yours. Ask yourself how professional, accurate and unique your email address REALLY is, and what the first impression is when someone sees it for the first time.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What does your email say about YOU?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Post a list right here called, “Types of Email Addresses that Really Annoy Me,” along with the PSD’s (Potential Silent Dialogues) that accompany each one.

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag
[email protected]

Do you have MARKET share or MIND share?

Tune in to The Marketing Channel on NametagTV.com for video lessons on creating unforgettable brands that magnetize more business!

95 Things I Learned from Seth Godin’s “Meatball Sundae”

So, I’m on vacation for the next two weeks (my couch).

However, I wanted to keep last week’s tradition alive since the feedback from the Ridiculously Long Lists was so positive! As such, I came up with five more lists. This should hold you over until I return on January 7th.

See ya in ’08!

Oh, and don’t forget to read all the lists from last week:
101 Lessons Learned from 2007
101 Ways to Create a Powerful Web Presence
123 Questions Every Marketer Must Ask
69 Mini Philosophies on Just about Everything
49 Ways to become an Idea Powerhouse

But now for today’s list:
98 Things I Learned from Seth Godin’s “Meatball Sundae”

Which, by the way, goes on sale TODAY. And if you don’t buy it here, your 2008 might be DOOMED!

1. An inbound email is an opportunity.

2. Appeal to the reachable.

3. Are you telling people about me?

4. Assume that every chamber is loaded, that every interaction is an interaction with a critic.

5. Be customizable, upgradeable and discussable.

6. Be on the lookout for everyone.

7. Being well rounded is totally overrated. (Actually from The Dip.)

8. Blogs validate our three desires: to hear our own voices, to be heard by others and to hear what the crowd thinks.

9. Build a permission asset.

10. Build the foundation of your idea around your marketing.

11. Bundling isn’t necessary. It slows people down from finding specifically what they really need.

12. Businesses grow because customers tell other customers.

13. Capture the attention and commerce of the people who truly care.

14. Create a story that spreads from person to person, from blog to blog that moves through a community and leaves an impact as it goes.

15. Create art not to please a gallery, but to please yourself and to please the people who are attracted to your vision?

16. Customers are saying, “I’m not a hostage any longer.”

17. Customers are working overtime to ignore you.

18. Do you quit when it’s HARD or quit when it’s RIGHT.

19. Don’t find 100,000 people, find 10 people each of whom know 1000 people.

20. Don’t hype it up. Just appear.

21. Don’t send users away from your site, claim them as your own.

22. Embed the idea into the experience itself.

23. Embrace the chaos of your industry and figure out how to weave it into a long term asset for the future.

24. Enter the public square and enable conversations.

25. Every interaction with a customer is a make or break proposition. You don’t get a chance for a learning curve. You don’t have the opportunity for the user to overcome initial discomfort.

26. Everyone can be the best in the world at something, they just need to figure out what that is.

27. Everyone picks the best one when given a choice.

28. Find a market that hasn’t been found yet. Create something so remarkable that people in that market are compelled to find you. String together enough of those markets so you can string them together as a business.

29. Given the choice, people want the choice.

30. Going through all the trouble and time to get halfway there is a waste.

31. Humans hate to make commitments because commitment is risk and risk is frightening.

32. Ideas that spread through groups of people are far more powerful than ideas delivered at an individual.

33. If it doesn’t cost your life, it isn’t a quest. (Also from The Dip.)

34. If it doesn’t sound perfect after a sentence or two, it’s easy to glance down at the next ad.

35. If you can’t see a curve, how dare you go into that field.

36. In a free market, we reward the exceptional. (Also from The Dip.)

37. In a transparent world, people avoid the deceitful.

38. In a world of choice, compromised solutions rarely triumph.

39. In a world of choice, nobody picks something that is good enough.

40. In a world of networks, few pick the isolated.

41. Instead of how well you use a paintbrush, success in the world of art is how compelling your idea becomes.

42. Instead of racing around trying to find attention, stand around and allow attention to find you.

43. Instead, focus on creating an environment where other people could have a conversation, work hard to offer enough value that people will choose to have the conversation in your place – and make it from you from time to time.

44. Invest what it takes to be seen as the best in the market you choose to compete in.

45. It’s easier than ever to sell something.

46. It’s not us and them, it’s us and us.

47. Live a story that matches the story you want people to tell other people.

48. Make something worth talking about and make it easy to talk about.

49. Make sure the architecture of your idea is viral.

50. Make sure the FIRST group of people you share your idea with are open to big ideas and have big mouths.

51. Most people, most of the time, want to be like most people, most of the time.

52. Movements are at the heart of change and growth. A movement – an idea that spreads with passion through a community and leads to change – is far more powerful than any advertisement ever could be.

53. Movements come from out of nowhere, from small companies or impassioned individuals.

54. No dip = no scarcity = no value. (Yep, from The Dip.)

55. No dips = begging to be frustrating. (Yep, from The Dip.)

56. Nothing deserves to be viral, it becomes viral if the selfishly motivated consumer spreads the word, and if they’re not spreading the word, there’s something about the idea that makes them NOT CHOOSE to spread the idea.

57. People have control over the attention they give marketers.

58. People who are perceived as the best get rewards that DWARF the people who are third and fourth and fifth.

59. People who really care will find you.

60. Practice a calm and patient approach to permission marketing.

61. Quit or be exceptional. Average is for losers. (Best line of The Dip.)

62. Quitting is winning.

63. Realize that you’re not in charge.

64. Satisfy people who can best leverage your ideas.

65. Selling is about a transference of emotion, not a transference of facts.

66. Settle only for mastery.

67. Some external force has to make you a safe choice, i.e., media, book.

68. Speaking fee range is based on what serves the needs to the person who made the decision.

69. Starbucks offers 19,000 different beverages.

70. Stuff that stands on its own tends to be more remarkable. They have to be, the creators figure, because without a helping hand from a wealthy partner, that’s all they’ve got. It’s their only chance.

71. That’s why being a doctor is worth something – because not everybody’s a doctor.

72. The average length of video is five minutes, but the average length of viewing time is ten seconds. Ten seconds is all you get to prove to the viewer that it’s worth it to invest another ten seconds, and if you get someone to stick with you until the end, you’ve hit a homerun.

73. The distance between the brain of the designer and the ear of the consumer is shorter than it ever was before.

74. The internet doesn’t forget.

75. The Internet has nothing to do with what the movement is; the Net merely makes it easier than every for a movement to take place.

76. The moment your message ceases to be anticipated, personal and relevant, you cease to exist in your customer’s world.

77. The question isn’t, “How do you get Dugg,” the question is, “How do you make stuff worth Digging?”

78. The Web is like Santa Claus, but without the gifts.

79. The world is competitive, and you can only pick one, so why not pick the best.

80. The world now acts smaller and works faster.

81. There isn’t a mass market anymore: you’ll do great if there’s a niche, if your customers have natural peers.

82. There must be something about it that makes the people eager to spread it.

83. There’s not a lot of reason to persist with something that isn’t engaging.

84. Things become viral because the AUDIENCE wants to be viral, not because of you.

85. Today’s spoiled customer is willing to pay almost anything for the exclusive, noteworthy and indulgent.

86. Track attention and monetize interaction.

87. Treat every interaction, service, product and side effect as some kind of media.

88. Trust comes from repeatedly delivering insight and truth.

89. We don’t need to look for things to use our spare time because we don’t have any.

90. We feel safe and secure and validated when we choose the popular records.

91. When you get to the end of the dip, compounding your activity works, but once you’ve earned the respect, keep getting better at the craft, but stop promoting yourself because it takes away from the story – get out of the way so the people who are in love with you can talk about you.

92. Who knew? The Web knew.

93. Within you world, whatever world that is, you can see who is winning.

94. You can buy tiny slices of attention for a fraction of what it cost a decade ago.

95. You can harness the power of thousands of people for very little money.

96. You don’t have the money to command people to listen to you.

97. You’re always on the record, everyone is a critic, and the Web remembers forever.

98. Your people want to be heard

123 Questions Every Marketer Must Ask

Since this is my final workweek of 2007, I’m going to post a ridiculously long list … every day. Be sure to check back all week!

And, don’t forget to read the other ridiculously long lists in the series:
101 Lessons Learned from 2007
101 Ways to Create a Powerful Web Presence

But for now:
123 Questions Every Marketer Must Ask

1. Are other people telling their friends about you?

2. Are other people repeating your “story”?

3. Are people talking about you?

4. Are the very first words out of your mouth consistent with your brand?

5. Are you broadcasting your brand to the right audience?

6. Are you building things worth noticing right into your product or service?

7. Are you concerned with traffic or transactions?

8. Are you everywhere?

9. Are you giving away enough stuff for free?

10. Are you listening to the word of mouth about you?

11. Are you pushing or pulling your customers?

12. Are you specializing enough?

13. Are you starting positive epidemics?

14. Are you still ripping off that lame-ass “Got milk?” campaign?

15. Are you thinking about your non-customers?

16. Are your products positioned, or do they just have clever slogans?

17. Can your target market afford you?

18. Do people know what you do?

19. Do people know what you’re DOING?

20. Do people know what you’ve DONE?

21. Do you find unusual places to show off?

22. Do you have customers or fans?

23. Do you have them at hello?

24. Do you know which of your marketing efforts have been effective in the past?

25. Do you provide a value message to your customers every week?

26. Do you really think anybody is talking about your yellow page ads?

27. Do your beautiful, award-winning marketing materials actually influence customer decisions?

28. Does a lower fee make you more affordable, or less attractive?

29. Does your website offer proof or just list a bunch of adjectives?

30. Has anybody ever done this before?

31. Have people heard about you?

32. How are you allowing customers to participate in your brand?

33. How are you building a following? (If you’re not presently doing this, send an email to [email protected] and I’d be happy to show you how!)

34. How are you building a permission asset?

35. How are you enabling your customers to do your marketing for you?

36. How are you getting permission from people to market to them?

37. How are you making it easy for customers to tell their friends about you?

38. How are you marketing yourself daily?

39. How are you staying in front of your fans?

40. How can you be visible to the highest number of people?

41. How can you become the best marketer in the world?

42. How can you keep marketing, even when you tell customers no?

43. How can you make yourself more marketable in the next year?

44. How could you encourage strangers to break the silence and talk to you?

45. How do you measure your permission asset?

46. How good are you at attracting attention?

47. How many different ways are you interacting with your market?

48. How many different ways can you leverage this?

49. How many different ways did you leverage your media appearance?

50. How many people anticipate your marketing?

51. How many people do you think really read your press release?

52. How much money do you spend on marketing?

53. How much time do you spend on marketing each day?

54. How often are customers retelling your company’s story?

55. If you have to jump through hoops to defeat someone’s efforts to avoid your advertising, is the result going to be worthwhile?

56. If you have to trick people into looking at your advertising, is the result going to be worthwhile?

57. If you showed your idea to a teenager, what would she think?

58. If you showed your website to a five year old, what would he think?

59. If you stopped advertising, would anybody even notice?

60. If you were your customer, what would you LOVE to have from you next?

61. Is anybody else doing this now?

62. Is your idea simple enough that a five year old could understand it?

63. Is your idea so good that other people are copying it?

64. Is your idea so good that SNL would parody it?

65. Is your idea so remarkable that people make fun of it?

66. Is your marketing interrupting or interacting?

67. Is your marketing making music or noise?

68. Are you creating a website or a destination?

69. Are you sharing link love FIRST?

70. Can your business afford not to have a website?

71. Did you buy the domain first?

72. Did you get their email address?

73. Did you register all of the misspellings and accidental permutations of your URL?

74. Do you have a web-SITE or a web-PRESENCE?

75. Do you really care if your non-customers don’t like your website?

76. Does your website honestly reflect your business personality?

77. Does your Website leave a perception of value or vanity in the mind of a visitor”?

78. Does your website scream, “Look at me!” or “Here’s what you were looking for”?

79. How are you getting customers to come back to your website just to see what you’ve been up to?

80. How are you participating in your online image?

81. How are you taking advantage of the infinite shelf space of the Web?

82. How powerful is your online platform?

83. Is content king on your website?

84. Is your website an experience?

85. Is your website something you can proudly reference?

86. What are the Potential Silent Dialogues when people first come to your website?

87. What makes your website a destination?

88. When someone comes to your website, how do you want them to feel?

89. When someone comes to your website, what’s the ONE THING you want them to do?

90. When was the last time you added new content to your website?

91. When was the last time you bought something from spam email?

92. When was the last time you checked your website stats?

93. When was the last time you Googled a word or idea?

94. When was the last time you Googled somebody?

95. When was the last time you invited your audience to participate at your website?

96. Where are most of your hits coming from?

97. Who’s blogging about you?

98. Why aren’t you blogging yet?

99. Why wouldn’t anyone spend more than 60 seconds at your website?

100. Why would someone come to (and stay at) your website for more than 60 seconds?

101. Why would someone give you her email address (and therefore, permission) to market to her regularly?

102. Why would someone return to your website consistently?

103. Why would someone tell her friends about my website consistently?

104. Why would you put links on YOUR website that send customers to someone ELSE’S website?

105. What are three reasons ANYBODY would want to go to your website?

106. What are you doing to stimulate, harness and increase word of mouth?

107. What are you giving away for free?

108. What could you do to strengthen the relationships with your biggest fans?

109. What have you recently learned about marketing trends?

110. What is it about your idea that makes people eager to spread it?

111. What is your total marketing capacity?

112. What part of your marketing makes people stop and ask, “Huh?”

113. What type of marketing will you use?

114. What would the twenty-second word of mouth ‘sound byte’ be if your customer were to tell a friend about you?

115. What’s the most important word in marketing?

116. When was the last time a complete stranger come up to and said, “OK, so, I just HAVE to ask…”?

117. When was the last time you actually bought something from a telemarketer?

118. When was the last time you invited your audience to participate in your brand?

119. When was the last time you picked up Yellow Pages to find a product or service?

120. When was the last time you updated your brand identity?

121. When was the last time you were THRILLED to get junk mail?

122. Why are you marketing?

123. Why are you (still) wasting money on advertising?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What three questions MUST every marketer ask?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Post your lists here!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag

Practices, THEN principles.

No systems. No formulas. Just someone who listens, asks KILLER questions and facilitates creative breakthroughs.

Rent Scott’s Brain today!

101 Ways to Create a Powerful Web Presence

Since this is my final workweek of 2007, I’m going to post a ridiculously long list … every day. Be sure to check back all week!

And, don’t forget to read the other ridiculously long lists in the series:
101 Lessons Learned from 2007
101 Questions Every Marketer Must

But for now:
101 Ways to Create a Powerful Web Presence

1. Blog every single day.

2. Comment on other people’s blogs, especially when they link to your blog.

3. Post at least three videos on YouTube. Make them fun, cool, and most importantly – let the videos show you doing what you do. No more than three minutes each.

4. Post pictures on Flickr of you being yourself, working with clients, doing things you love, and most importantly – doing what you do.

5. Publish at least one article a month on public databases like www.ezinearticles.com. They get AWESOME Google rankings for ya.

6. Write and give away at least one free ebook a year.

7. Any time someone asks to reprint one of your articles, SAY YES!

8. Any time someone wants to interview you for her podcast, blog or newsletter, SAY YES!

9. Post your tour, schedule or travel calendar on your website.

10. Blog every single day.

11. Make use of social networking sites like MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn. Just try not to get addicted. Accept friend requests from everyone.

12. Create a lens on Squidoo.

13. Publish a regular ezine. Share 1/2 of the main article in the body of your email letter and then publish the rest of it online to drive traffic.

14. Google your name, company name and tagline every week. It’s a great motivator to boost your web presence, especially if the only thing that comes up is your high school golf team score.

15. Publish your profile on ZoomInfo.

16. Post pictures of your customers using your products. Great testimonial.

17. Post videos of your customers using and talking about your products. Even better testimonial.

18. Don’t have (just) a website. Have several. Create an interconnected network of various sites that all point to your MAIN site. Think octopus, not earthworm. And think destination, not website.

19. Get yourself on Wikipedia. (This is REALLY hard to do, but it’s a great goal to shoot for.)

20. Blog every single day.

21. If you’re an author, make ebook versions of your books available for download. I say give ‘em away for free.

22. Include a Media Room on your website. This builds your credibility and expertise. Which will attract other media outlets to seek you out. Which will lead to more interviews. Which will lead to more hits on Google whenever someone types in your name or your area of expertise.

23. Interview other people and post the transcripts or audio files online. They’ll take ownership of the piece and tell everyone they know to come to your site.

24. Start an online TV network.

25. Just be remarkable.

26. Give more speeches. Even if they’re free. See, what happens is, the organization you speak for will include your name and bio on their website. They’ll also post the conference agenda as a PDF online, which will come up as a hit on Google when people type in your name or area of expertise. Sweet.

27. Figure out what everyone else in your industry is doing and then do the opposite.

28. Post lots of lists.

29. Blog every single day.

30. Post your PowerPoint slides on Slide Share or your blog. (NOTE: don’t do this if your slides SUCK. And most people’s slides suck.)

31. Capture emails and build your list. Create a permission asset. Emails are GOLD.

32. Register misspellings, permutations and variations of your main URL and redirect them to your homepage.

33. I don’t know much about Search Engine Optimization, Google Ad words and Pay-Per-Click, but I hear that stuff works pretty well. Something to think about.

34. Got a book? Cool. Get it on Google Book Search.

35. Speaking of Google, get lots of Google alerts on your name, company name, product name, etc. This will help you stay current with what’s being said about you on the Web. (And if nobody is talking about you on the web, you’re in trouble.)

36. Review books on Amazon.com.

37. Do surveys on your website and publish the results.

38. Do audio podcasts.

39. Do video podcasts.

40. Then post them on your blog.

41. (And of course, blog every single day.)

42. Google the names of the leaders in your industry. Evaluate their search results. Check out their web presence and see what they’re doing right. Then copy them.

43. If possible, get on CNN. That really helped me.

44. Join organizations, non-profits and trade associations. Get listed on their directories. Also, consider taking a leadership position or becoming a board member. They might even give you your own page on the organization’s website! (NOTE: don’t sign up just to get listed. Sign up to learn, grow, give back and make friends. Let web presence be incidental, not a intentional.)

45. FACE IT: you’re not giving away enough free stuff. Give more. The more you give away for free, the wealthier you will be. More on that theory here.

46. Share link love FIRST. People will be happy to reciprocate.

47. Send blog posts to people who would appreciate them. BUT, don’t ask them to blog about you. Just deliver value. Reach out to someone new. I did this once and the guy ended up blogging about me, which led to about 1 million hits in five days.

48. Learn about Digg and get dug. Unbelievably powerful.

49. Every time you meet someone who says, “Yeah, I’ve heard of you!” or “Oh, I’ve been to your site before,” write it down. Keep a Word of Mouth Journal. Notice patterns and soon you will hit a critical mass.

50. Dude: just be everywhere!

51. Leverage your expertise in every possible way.

52. Tell your story and make sure other people are telling it too.

53. Don’t cheap out on your website. It’s worth it.

54. Every time someone comes to your website, make sure they know THE ONE THING YOU WANT THEM TO DO, right away.

55. Blog every single day.

56. Blog every single day.

57. Blog every single day.

58. Blog every single day.

59. Blog every single day.

60. Blog every single day.

61. Blog every single day.

62. Blog every single day.

63. Blog every single day.

64. Blog every single day.

65. Blog every single day.

66. Blog every single day.

67. Blog every single day.

68. Blog every single day.

69. Blog every single day.

70. Blog every single day.

71. Blog every single day.

72. Blog every single day.

73. Blog every single day. (Any questions on this one?)

74. Install Google Analytics. Figure out where people are coming from.

75. Post in forums. Write intelligent, value-added responses. And have a cool signature.

76. Blog every single day.

77. Personally, I think press releases are WORTHLESS. However, many people have had great success with PR Web and other press release websites. Something to thing about.

78. Have some kind of lead-capturing device.

79. Submit your RSS feeds to Feed Burner.

80. Buy lots of domains and redirect them to your main site until you find another use for them.

81. Connect with other like-minded professionals who are ALSO creating a web presence. Have virtual lunches, regular email conversations and listserve discussions to brainstorm ideas and keep each other accountable.

82. SIX WORDS: Send This Site to a Friend!

83. Google the phrase “creating a web presence.” Read up.

84. Email [email protected] and ask me what the biggest marketing mistake made by entrepreneurs is. I’m happy to share it with you.

85. Figure out your Noticeable Number. Quantify the most remarkable aspect about your business and put a counter on your page that encourages word of mouth and revisitability. (Think McDonalds’ Billion Hamburger Counter).

86. Everything you write (articles, blog posts, press releases) MUST have a response mechanism built into it. Your writing becomes persuasive and effective the moment it compels the reader act upon (not think about) something. Here’s a mini-list of different types of response mechanisms to try:

o Go to this website, login if you’re a first time user…
o Email me with your three biggest questions about…
o Call me for your free consultation on…
o Send me a copy of your…
o Post your best story about…
o Link to this post on your blog, along with your list of…
o Leave a comment with your three best techniques for…
o I challenge you to try this for a week. Email me after you’ve…
o Try this on your blog and then send me the link…
o For a free downloadable ebook on this topic, go to…
o To receive my weekly ezine for tips on…
o Send an email with the words “I need sales!” in the subject line…
o If you’d like to know the rest of the formula, fax your letterhead to…

87. As you can see, I’m big on writing. And not just because I AM a writer. Mainly because writing is the basis of all wealth. Writing is the basis of all wealth. Writing is the basis of all wealth. Writing is the basis of all wealth. (GOT THAT?)

88. Speaking of writing: blog every single day.

89. And use Technorati to promote your blog.

90. Also, think about getting Meebo Messenger. Coolest thing on the Internet.

91. Contribute to entries on Wikipedia.

92. Start your own group on Facebook.

93. Use lots of colorful, singing, dancing pop ups on your website. (No, wait, sorry. Wrong list.)

94. Read Seth Godin’s blog. Do what he says.

95. Read Top Peters’ blog. Do what he says.

96. Read Bob Baker’s blog. Do what he says.

97. Evaluate your website’s hit and unique user ratio. Set a goal to double it within 12 months.

98. Evaluate your present newsletter, RSS feed or other type of subscriber number. Set a goal to double it within 12 months.

99. Just google “Gitomer.” Now THAT’S a web presence!

100. Read the book Naked Conversations. Totally awesome.

101. Read the book The Cluetrain Manifesto. Absolutely the best book ever written about the Internet.

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
How’s your web presence?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
Right here, right now, post your list: Top 10 Ways to Create a Powerful Web Presence. We’d love to see it!

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag

Consultants, schmonsultants.

No systems. No formulas. Just someone who listens, asks KILLER questions and facilitates creative breakthroughs.

Rent Scott’s Brain today!

Why you DON’T need a website

15 to 30 billion.

That’s the (approximate) number of websites that exist on the Internet, according to a research study published by Pandia Search World News.

This statistic leads to four crucual questions every online marketer must ask himself:

1. Why would someone come to (and stay at) my website for more than 60 seconds?
2. Why would someone give me her email address (and therefore, permission) to market to her regularly?
3. Why would someone return to my website consistently?
4. Why would someone tell her friends about my website consistently?

The good news is, all four of these questions have the same answer:

You don’t need a website –- you need a destination.

There’s a MAJOR difference between these two words.

First, let’s talk about the word “website.”

I actually looked up the word website in the dictionary for the first time today.

It’s defined as, “A set of interconnected web pages prepared and maintained as a collection of information by a person, group, or organization.”

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…

(Oh, sorry. I dozed off there for a sec!)

Mainly because a “website” is B-O-R-I-N-G.

Hell, there are like 14,999,999,999 other ones out there besides yours!

See, a “website” is not going to get people to come TO, hang out AT and tell their friends ABOUT anything. It needs to be MUCH more than just information.

It needs to be interactive.
It needs to be participative.
It needs to be updated regularly.

It needs to be THEE source, THEE go-to-place, the El Dorado, The Mecca … for a certain kind of people who want a certain kind of thing.
That’s a destination.

It needs to scream, “Here’s EXACTLY what you were looking for!” and not, “Hey, look at me! I’m a cool, flashy website with a dancing Alligator!”

That’s a destination.

Most importantly, it needs to be the LAST place your customers look for whatever it is they need.

That’s a destination.

Which, by the way, is defined as “the ultimate purpose for which you are destined.”

Wow. Has a nice ring to it, doncha think?

SO, ASK YOURSELF THIS: Do your customers want “A set of interconnected web pages,” or “the ultimate purpose for which they are destined”?

I think you know the answer to that question.

* * * *

Of course, the big challenge is transforming your website INTO a destination.

The first thing you need to do is evaluate your present site. Ask yourself (and your team) these ten questions:

1. Does your site leave a perception of value or vanity in the mind of a visitor”?
2. How are you getting customers to come back to your site just to see what you’ve been up to?
3. Is content king on your site?
4. Is your site an experience?
5. What are the Potential Silent Dialogues when visitors first come to your site?
6. When someone comes to your site, how do you want him to feel?
7. When someone comes to your site, what’s the ONE THING you want him to do?
8. When was the last time you added new content to your site?
9. When was the last time you invited your visitors to participate at your site?
10. Why would anyone spend more than 60 seconds at your site?

OK, now that you’ve gauged the effectiveness of your present site, it’s time to transform it into a destination!

NOTE: this IS an ongoing process. It may take months or even years! So, consider the following ideas simply as starting points. (And be sure to click through to each of the examples to see the principle in action!)
1. Build a permission asset. Seth Godin defines this as, “The privilege (not the right) to deliver anticipated, personal and relevant ideas to the people who CHOOSE to get them.”

So, use ezines, blogs, RSS feeds, widgets, ebooks or subscriptions to build your list. Get their email!

DESTINATION #1: www.gitomer.com

2. Content is king. Whether it’s articles, blog posts, videos, pictures, audio files, transcripts, tips, recipes or PDF’s, have enough content to keep people around.

If you get emails from people who say, “I just spent the last three hours on your website!” consider that a mark of a TRUE destination.

DESTINATION #2: www.faith.com

3. Foster community. With the advent on online social networking, web users are looking for other people with like-minded interests and worldviews to share and connect with.

So, make the site about connecting other people to each other, while occasionally promoting yourself. Make it about them. Give them a platform and they’ll be all the marketing you’ll ever need.

DESTINATION #3: www.squidoo.com

4. Membership. Offer various levels of involvement. Have free trials available. Get people hooked so they come back on a regular basis.

This not only creates subscription-based passive income, but works hand in hand with your permission asset.

DESINTATION #4: www.visualthesaurus.com

5. Regular updates. “Websites” are like newspapers: nobody wants to read them if they’re two years old. So, for your “destination,” consider embedding a blog into the site, or having regular updates, quotes, questions, videos, pictures or other forms of revolving content.

Cause people to think, “I should go back to that site and see what they’re up to today!”

DESTINATION #5: www.mobuzz.tv

– – –

These self-assessment questions and destination examples should be enough to convince you of the following face: websites are meaningless and destinations are magnificent!

So, be honest with yourself. Think hard.

Do you have a website or a destination?

LET ME ASK YA THIS…
What makes your site a destination?

LET ME SUGGEST THIS…
But Seth’s new book. Where do you think I got all these ideas? 😉

* * * *
Scott Ginsberg
That Guy with the Nametag

Enjoy this post?

If so, perhaps I could help on a more personal, one-on-one basis.

Rent Scott’s Brain today!

Sign up for daily updates
Connect

Subscribe

Daily updates straight to your inbox.
Copyright ©2020 HELLO, my name is Blog!