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In order for your website to deliver a regular stream of new business it needs a regular rotation of fresh content and updates. In addition to a dependable content management system that enables non-technical users to manage updates you will need bodies, human beings to keep the store shelves straight.

Your dream team

The number of people you assign to website maintenance duties will vary depending on update frequency, the number and variety of required changes.  Simpler business models can get away with a single site manager but more complex sites will require a larger team with more diverse skills. No matter your organization’s size below are some categories of content that will require your team’s attention:

1. General updates: Home page changes, product promotions, etc will require regular updates to keep repeat visitors engaged.
2. Newsletter management:  A veritable digital magazine, your newsletter will require an editor to decide what makes it into each addition, someone to write stories, add images and links.
3. Blog updates:  Blogging once a month or even once per week won’t cut it if you want to build a loyal following.  Think production of three to five new posts per week, editing, offsite promotion for each post and now we are at the front door of a successful strategy.
4. Email response:  That’s right if visitors can inquire, they will and you had better be prepared to respond.
5. Online store updates:  Someone has to manage store items, track orders, manage fulfillment, provide customer service, etc.
6. Tracking/reporting: To determine if your web strategy is working you have to know how it affects traffic numbers and conversion rates (the % of visitors taking a desired action).

What to look for…

I know this is a lot more than you expected but you would be hard pressed to find a successful business devoid of hard work.  No matter how you cobble together your team (outsourced or internal manpower) the team needs to bring these skills to the dance:

1. Graphic design skills:  Images are a huge part of your message; so the ability to edit, crop and adjust artwork is important.
2. Copywriting skills:  Perhaps the most overlooked but most important skill is the ability to write in a persuasive way.  Hey, the goal here is not pretty pictures but sales!
3. Organizational skills:  All of this effort takes coordination and working towards hard timelines.

If your website is going to inspire buyer trust, generate repeat visits and drive new business having a capable maintenance team in place is an indispensable piece of the model.

Bonus prize inside

Bringing on the right virtual assistant, one skilled in the kung-fu of web maintenance can be a boon for small shops with limited resources.  Listen to our seminar to get the skinny on working with virtual assistants to maintain your website and download the seminar audio file and next action worksheet while you’re at it.

I define a system as a series of repeatable steps leading to a predictable outcome and to their detriment its the one thing most businesses don’t use to generate referrals. Most rely on what Internet marketer John Jantsch calls accidental referrals and I refer to as “hope and pray” referrals where you do a good job and hope the recipient passes your name along. Accidental referrals do happen but you can’t count on them to materialize and because there is no process to ensure they occur, the result is infrequent unpredictable cash flow.

The best referral system

The most powerful referral system by far is the referral exchange alliance where you agree to exchange referrals with 2-3 businesses who sell a complimentary product to your target audience. With these relationships referrals pass without much work because your partner’s client’s already want your service and the same is true for your customers.

Alliance partners are motivated to send you referrals because they know you will do the same; they sell a product that compliments yours so referrals occur automatically and because they sell their service to the same customer base as yours you will get fewer tire-kickers. This system flat out changed my business overnight.

Empower your referral network

Once your dream team is formed, add a section to your website to fan the referral flames and consider including the following content:

1. Program details: To sell prospective partners include information explaining the benefits and details of the referral alliance system.
2. Partner newsletter: Send a short monthly newsletter to your network partners with tips for generating more referrals, a motivational message to keep them fired up along with updates on referrals generated by the network.
3. Partner links:  Add links to partner sites and promote this page to your site visitors to create “no work” referrals.
4. Add a Forum: Add a community forum for alliance members to share referral lead ideas, stories about new relationships and to train new alliance program members.

Follow this approach and you will soon be wiping “I need more customers” off this years to do list.

How do you generate referrals?

It is survivors law that if you are in business you need customers to buy but how you go about making this happen is the difference between a business that soars or sinks. Anyone who knows me understands that I live by the rule “you get what you give” and until you have made a meaningful investment in helping your prospects, you haven’t won the right to introduce your products or services. Thanks Mr. Rogers for the lesson.

The other day I started following someone on Twitter who from his status updates (Tweets) seemed like an interesting enough person; that is until he started sending me pitches for a service he recently launched.  That’s right not even a hello or how are you doing?

The strategy of help…

Up front if you live to serve, to help; you will be rich in relationships, trust, authority and not to mention restful sleep knowing that you are not viewed as the newest con-man on the scene. From a monetary standpoint the strategy is equally effective as reciprocity kicks in and those you helped really work hard to return the favor by offering referrals, service trades, helpful resources and purchases.

On your website…

Replace a few of those “buy now”, “order this immediately” and related pitches with free information that can help your customers and clients. A free ebook, educational article or tips sheet will serve as the necessary handshake giving you the right to make the ask.

The next time you get frustrated after receiving a bad report from your accountant, find a charity and donate your services. Its the cure for what ails you and your business.

Who is the last person you helped?

My company recently donated the development of a new website to a local non-profit and while explaining the workings of the new system to the founder I blurted out, “how do you plan to let people know about your new site?”  After several seconds of silence and head scratching, I shared these thoughts below.

1. Notify your mailing list:  Send an email announcement to your mailing list asking subscribers to visit the new site and forward the url to contacts they feel could use your services.  This works particularly well if your site is filled with useful “Ah-Ha” moment, educational content instead of pushy sales pitches.
2. Send a Press release:   Send a press release to your local media announcing the site launch.  Remember the media does not care about your business, so make your site launch pitch relevant to the publication’s audience. If you are pitching your story to the newspaper’s business section try an angle like, “Local firm beats recession using new web strategy…” Nowadays papers are always interested in recession beating stories.
3. Reach out to hot prospects:  Send a website launch announcement to any hot prospective clients currently in your sales funnel. Again, make it relevant to your contacts, many of whom really don’t care that you have a new website but they might be interested in new features that would benefit them as a client.
4. Tap online, social networks:  Spend a bit of your social capitol and partner with Twitter, FaceBook and LinkedIn fans on a meaningful announcement to their online spheres of influence.

Okay, I have “talked” enough…What is your experience?

I am willing to bet that  you fantasize about the day a flood of prospective customers hit Google researching product information and your website shows up in the top 5 search results. This fantasy is soon crushed when the reality sets in that millions of other site owners accross the globe are also competing for that coveted spot in the search engine’s results.

One of the best ways to win search engine favor is to blog. Blogs produce an abundance of a search engines favorite food, text. In addition, blog content updates can be distributed through RSS feeds (read definition) and if your feed is distributed through a service like Feedburner (see details), then search engines are notified of updates immediately vs the 4-6 weeks it normally takes for search engines to index your site in response to your direct request (more on indexing). In short, a Feedburner enabled blog is exponentially more search engine sticky than a standard website, even if the site is tricked out with the latest rooty tooty fresh and fruity search engine optimization modifications.

Now if that blog of yours is integrated into your site vs operating as a stand alone entity, then your website proper can benefit from a traffic rush from Google searchers. The morale of this story is add a blog today so prospective customers can’t help but come your way. That was a horrible rhyme but you get the point.

From the title of this post you might think I am trying to help spread the word for big box retailer IKEA about their strategy to start selling eco-friendly products like solar panels.  The idea is pretty cool, but I am more interested in illustrating a mistake I see a lot of firms (large and small) making by neglecting to use their website home pages to feature attention-grabbing company news blurbs.

The folks over at Inhabit and others are blogging about IKEA’s developing eco-strategy but there is no visible mention of it at the IKEA site.  I will be the first to tell you to repurpose your broadcast Television video on the web but tell me what is more interesting; the headline, IKEA the first retailer to sell solar panels in stores or watch all of my tv commercials?  The morale of the story here is to constantly comb your organization for interesting, cool ideas and when you find gold let the world know.  Don’t bury the news in your online newsroom for journalists who happen upon it.  Add a catchy headline to your homepage to advertise exciting news to the world. Heck, have your web developer add a little RSS code to the page to instantly ping search engines about your great news.

How do you use your website to spread the word?

As website developers I and my staff are frequently asked how to better market the websites we create. Below are some great resources to get some of the basics and to stay on top of new web marketing trends.

Web Marketing Today (Click Here):
This site is filled with a lot of very sound advice and the publishers are great at evaluating new trends. With so much information it can be a bit difficult to navigate but the time spent getting familiar with the site

I pride myself on my ability to come up with creative marketing and business development ideas but I recently met an entrepreneur who matched my enthusiasm and knack in every way; so I had to share her perspective with you. Donna Maria Coles Johnson is an award winning attorney, blogger, publisher and helps women and families successfully manage home and business through her Indie Business Radio Show. She is the founder and President of the Indie Beauty Network, a membership based trade organization providing business services to 700+ cosmetics manufacturers nationwide.  

Anyone who knows me has heard my mantra, “how would you market your business if you had a television station, radio outlet, magazine and newspaper totally dedicated to your business?”  Mrs. Coles is the living embodiment of this ideal and has seen fit to impart some of her wisdom and experience with us.

Q:  What has web video done for your business?
 
Video allows me to reach more people with the Indie Business messsage of self-sufficiency and empowerment. The message is powerful on its own, and whether it was my blog, radio show or magazine, it has always been well received. But video is a medium that engages the senses more completely than the others. Video allows me to share in a way that not only educates and informs, but is also entertaining. Additioanlly, video allows me to connect with people in a memorable way. I often hear from viewers that, when enjoying one of our videos, they have been made to feel like they were chatting with me over tea, and like I was speaking directly to them. Now that’s powerful! Finally, because my husband is a long-time video professional, it has also allowed me to collaborate more with him so we can expand the business beyond where either of us could take it separately.
 
Q:  How do you use video?
 
Four ways. First, by sharing an empowering and heartfelt message that I feel is important. For example, at the start of the New Year, I taped a segment called, “Ready, Aim, Fire” to get people excited about moving their business into 2008.

Second, I create packages that share Indie Business owners’ personal stories. I usually do these on location, just as a news reporter would, interviewing the Indie Business owner, showing video of them at work and sharing a bit about how they successfully combine their family responsibilities with their business ones.
 
Third, I use it to promote other things I am doing. For example, if I am having an especially exciting guest on Indie Business Radio, I’ll tape a “program note” to encourage viewers to tune into the radio show and enjoy the show live.
 
In each case, we load the video to social networking sites so that it can be played by millions of people the world over. This promotes our message and our work while we are asleep. Technology is great for that!
 
Q:   If someone is considering web video, where should they start?
 
They should start by setting goals. What do you want a video to do for you? I have seen too many videos thrown together at the last minute that make a business owner look so bad that even if what they are promoting is good, it’s ruined with bad video. So set a goal first. For example, if you are a self help author, perhaps you want to use video to promote your book. A 60-second promo message is great, especially if it includes a testimonial or two from some sincere people who can vouch for how your book has helped them. On the other hand, if you own a yoga studio, you’ll probably want less of you talking and more video of people in your yoga studio performing yoga routines and enjoying healthful time at your location.
 
A combination of things must come together for a good video: a good camera, appropriate lighting, proper makeup, a good set, good sound quality, and a powerful and organized message. Because good video is more than just “pointing and clicking,” I suggest engaging the services of a professional who can get to know your business and help you not only produce a professional quality video, but who knows enough about your business and your goals to actually help you script and produce the video.
 
Start small at first. Even 45 to 60 seconds is long enough if your message is powerful and professional.
 
4.  When does do-it-yourself video work and when should you bring in a pro?
 
Do it yourself video works for your hobby or personal ventures. But if you have a business, and you are using your video to generate sales leads, you have to have a quality product. Not many people are going to pay for your product or service if you are not professional, and if you have an unprofessional video, you will not look like a professional. This is why it’s important to have a goal in mind. If you are short on cash, start with a goal and a plan in place to recoup that cost as quickly as possible so you can start to enjoy a profit sooner rather than later.
 
Having said that, I realize that everyone has to start somewhere and that not everyone has the budget for a professional quality video. There are plenty of free or low cost resources online to help you make your own video until you get to the point where you can afford to engage a professional. You can get free video at archive.org or veer.com. You can get free music at freesounds.com or go to myspace.com and find some music you like and ask the musician if you can use it. Then get “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Making Videos” by Steven Beal, a great book to get you started.

30 minutes ago I appeared on a teleseminar with Internet PR phenomenon, Joan Stewart where I covered 9 Clever Ways to Use Video to Become a Publicity Darling in your Industry or Community and let me tell you I am even more psyched about the opportunity to use video to get the media to cover you.  The speed of Joan’s questions, audience queries and the general energy of the seminar did not allow time for me to share some “horse’s mouth” input I received from a local print publisher on this subject, so I will share the Q and A here.  

The reality is that print publications are trying hard to determine how to remain relevant in world where people are flipping through less paper in their media consumption and web video is the publisher’s tool of choice.  Gerald Johnson, Publisher of the Charlotte Post Newspaper weighs in with his opinions.

Q:  Would your publication feature web video content produced by local citizens if it was of acceptable quality (video and audio) and directly spoke to the interests of your consumers?

Gerald:  Yes. We look at it as being paramount to “letters to the editor”. It is a great way to expand your audience and your community reach.

Q:  What should business owners consider to successfully pitch video stories to the Charlotte Post?

Gerald:  It is important to:

1. Have knowledge about the current demographics of the publication.
2. Know who we are targeting to expand our current reach.
3. Get an understanding of our corporate and editorial culture.
4. Pitch us on how your video stories fit who we are and where we going (1, 2, & 3)