A website is not an island. It needs help and support from your marketing efforts. Just because you’ve built it doesn’t mean people will automatically come. So you need to promote your website via print ads, marketing materials, business cards, email signatures, phone messages, word-of-mouth, etc. Below are a few examples of how a top-selling magazine draws readers to its website:

1. Make the Most of QR Codes.

Sometimes an ad doesn’t and shouldn’t say it all. It should leave the reader (potential customer) wanting more. A well-placed QR Code can be the door leading to more information. Next to the code, say something like: “For more warning signs, scan this code with your smartphone.”

2. Be Specific.

Sending people to your homepage is great, but sending contest participants to a specialized landing page all about the contest is better. Continue the excitement by sending them specifically where their interest lies. The URL should be short and sweet — just your domain.com/keyword if possible. Or send people to your Facebook, Google+, or Twitter page to get a conversation going.

3. Get Subscribers, Not Just Visitors.

At the end of an article, intentionally leave out some information. Save that privileged information for members, subscribers. Send it to them in a newsletter that also features other helpful tips and product or service suggestions. A subscriber looks forward to receiving something of value from you. And they are that much closer to becoming a customer. Say something like: “Find 9 more ways to get website visitors at domain.com/newsletter”

These are just three ways to direct people to your website from printed materials. What ways have you found to work for you? Share!

Your letterhead is going out to potential and current customers, potential and current partners, vendors, employees, and others. It represents your organization, and so it’s important that it reflects your public image while conveying essential information.

What Company Letterhead Should Include

Make sure you prominently place your company logo, name, address, phone number, fax number, email address and website address. Other items to possibly include are your tagline and/or brief promotion.

Paper Quality is Most Important

The first thing your readers will notice even before reading (or not reading) your letters is the quality of your paper. So your envelope and letterhead should represent your image. And your choice may be dictated by whether or not you are printing your own letterhead and letters. Common choices for paper are 50# or 60# text, or 20# or 24# bond or writing papers.

Other Considerations

You may also want to consider including a watermark, using exact (Pantone or other) color matching for your logo, graphics bleeding off the page (costs more), paper colors, or custom sizing. Look online for inspiration, but stay true to your own brand.

Check, double check, and triple check your phone numbers and other details. You don’t want thousands of copies of useless letterhead because of a careless error.

How many Twitter followers do you have? How many Facebook fans? Most people have a good idea of their online social popularity. But can you describe how these followers are interacting with your website or blog? How many are actually visiting you and converting to customers?

Track Marketing Campaigns Using the UTM Tag

Google Analytics, free web tracking software, allows you to attach little codes to your links so that you can track just about anything. You can track campaign performance through email newsletter clicks, tweets, banner ads, affiliate programs, pay-per-click, and even offline campaigns. This will help you see which marketing efforts are the most effective and to better target your future campaigns.

You can use Google’s UTM Tag Builder to accomplish this, but I prefer UTM.to because it uses easy, down-to-earth language. You type in your link URL and your campaign details. Little pop-up bubbles tell you how to fill out the short form, and alert you when you’ve messed up the format. You can also get a long or short version of the new tagged-up URL.

Let me know how this works for you.

I’m not a fan of calling companies on the phone for customer service. I’m not a fan of the phone in general. Between the automated phone system labyrinths (“Press or say what you would like … Did I hear that correctly?”) and being given the 3rd degree (“What’s you mother’s birth date? What’s the name of your elementary school?”), I’d rather interface over the net. Now, I know some companies do Live Chat better than others (*coughs* … Comcast you’re slow, and you stink). But you have to admit there’s appeal to being able to respond clearly and thoughtfully without getting cut off, and not having to repeat yourself ten times (“A-as in apple, N-as in nancy…..”). In addition, you can have multiple windows open on your computer and do some multi-tasking while you’re waiting for the operator. So that’s why I think some service and product oriented companies should offer live chat as an option.

I recently installed and tested Comm100′s free live chat software on my website. You register for free and simply install the code for the live chat link on your site. I chose the one you see above. Besides Live Chat, Comm100 also offers Email marketing, Web-based ticket support software, forum software, and other features which are all integrated. Once you register, you go directly to the dashboard, where you can personalize your customer’s experience. You can choose from a variety of Live Chat buttons and a myriad of options for the pre-, during, and post- chat session. There is a rating feature so you can rate the operator’s performance during the session. You can also monitor the chat times and lengths, landing pages, operators, and more.

At first glance, the dashboard is simple. But the more you click around, there is a sophisticated back end which makes this software very powerful, capable, and functional. It has reporting, canned messages, automatic invites, and other settings to make your live chat offering professional and satisfying to your customers. And the extensive, easy-to-navigate Help Desk answers many questions to help you set up a customized application for your business.

I’d recommend you try this web application. It has many more features than that of other free solutions out there that I’ve tried. Check it out for yourself here, it’s quick and easy.

Have you tried this software? What has been your experience?

What about Live Chat? Love or hate it?

Okay, so this was a recent question in a small business forum. I will paraphrase it below then give my response. I also welcome your responses!

I have run an online shop for the past year. Although I only sell one product, there are over a thousand styles available right now. My products are high quality and low price. Most are priced $15.

However, business is not good because I only receive 20 orders per month. Is my product unpopular? Useless? Why aren’t people buying from my site?

I appreciate any suggestions from you.

Puzzled

Great question! I don’t want to disclose this person’s business website. However for the record, their product is for everyday wear. Though only one product is sold, there is such variety in styles, the seller can create a niche market. The web site looks professional and secure for shoppers. The web site also offers several ways to search for what you want.

So what the deal? Here’s my response:

Dear Puzzled,

Congrats on a web site that is well-organized and professional. It even looks as though you have optimized your web site for keywords pertaining to your product. Have you put your name out there? Submit your site to e-commerce search engines so that your products come up in their internet searches. Maybe you can even do some search engine marketing like Google AdWords. Promote yourself with press releases, news articles, email newsletters, videos, whatever you can think of!

Now another thing to look at…. the buying process has to be really easy, there can be no roadblocks or annoyances.  When I clicked on “Add To Cart”, a dialog box popped up saying “You Must Login First.” Then users must sign up for your site just to purchase a tie.

My suggestion is to eliminate this step.  Allow people to “Add To Cart” and to pay as anonymous guests. Then once you have gotten their payment/billing info, offer the option to save them as a registered user in your database.  I hope this makes sense, it will eliminate the alarming popup box that might be discouraging shoppers.

Well what do you think?

According to the WebProNews Staff, about three-quarters of all online shoppers are dissatisfied with their online shopping experiences. In addition, “Nearly 80 percent rarely or never purchase a product without complete information, and 72 percent will take off to a competitor that does supply that information.”

If you offer an online shopping experience, these are sobering numbers. In the article 24 Ways to Get a Customer and Keep a Customer, you will find the top mistakes e-commerce websites make, and how to beat out your online competition. It highlights the importance of the search function and your landing pages.

WebProNews also notes that a study from the e-tailing group listed these as the most important online shopping features to customers:

1.    Product overview
2.    Merchant’s guarantee
3.    Stock status/availability
4.    Quality of image
5.    Customer service links
6.    Product specific information
7.    Long description
8.    Size chart
9.    Toll-free number
10.    Ratings and reviews

Not only do you need these features, but they must be functioning correctly and be simple and intuitive to use. Contact Mindspring Design today to install these features on your e-commerce website.

For the other 14 quick fixes, read:
24 Ways to Get a Customer and Keep a Customer

“Colour is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.” — Claude Monet
“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way — things I had no words for.” — Georgia O’Keeffe

Who makes your business’ color choices and how are these choices made? (Is your logo blue because that’s your favorite color? Does your graphic designer choose colors because they are popular?) What are the colors in your advertising and collateral actually saying about you? And why is it so important?

According to recent research, people are 55% more likely to pick up a piece printed in color. The use of color increases retention by an average of 65%. Using color in printed material increases readership by up to 80%. And color can increase the likelihood of a purchase by 80% or more. (Taken from Color Your Business: Develop a Color Marketing Scheme)

The colors in your marketing materials involve the emotions and senses in a way that cannot easily be explained. Colors can convey information about your brand, visually engage potential clients, and involve their senses, memories, and responses. So it’s important to choose a website or graphic designer who makes adept use of color combinations to help you achieve your marketing goals.

Before I briefly list basic color connotations, please remember: Everyone’s reactions to color will differ slightly based on their personal experiences. Western color connotations will differ from those of Eastern cultures. Almost every color has warm and cool shades. The temperature of the color will also dictate usage.

Red. Strength, passion, excitement, stimulation, energy, attention, danger.

Pink. Youthfulness, romance, energy, fun, sentimental.

Orange. Warmth, energy, whimsy, friendly, vibrant, cheerful, youthful, fun.

Yellow. Happiness, sunshine, energy, optimism, warmth, alertness, enlightenment, creativity.

Green. Freshness, nature, energy, growth, refreshment, healing, tranquility, wealth.

Blue. Trust, loyalty, peace, coolness, dependability, security, serenity, stability, trustworthiness.

Purple. Royalty, wisdom, mystery, spirituality, nostalgia.

Brown. Old-fashioned, earthy, stability, upscale.

Black. Power, mystery, sorrow, strength, elegance.

White. Purity, cleanness, innocence, simplicity, youth, sterile.

Book Recommendation:  A Pantone Color Resource. COLOR: messages & meanings.

For a color consultation or analysis of your current marketing materials and website, call Mindspring Design at (856) 393-0385.

Okay, a bit of shameless self-promotion never hurt anyone. Hey, it’s my blog! So the following is going to be put into my new ads. It’s adapted from The Web Design Business Kit (www.sitepoint.com). Everytime you try a new online marketing approach, document it. Document how much you spend, how long it runs, who responds and who buys. Here it goes:

Free webinar details the secret to web site success…

Often times web sites are developed by cool designers who have little or no interest or understanding in your business needs. What you need is a website that really works.

Mindspring Design is a cutting-edge web development firm. We know how to make a web site that generates leads, positions your business, and increases customer care.

Specializing in:

• web site development
• improving under-performing web sites
• online marketing

For your FREE Webinar: 9 Steps to Building a Small Business Website, or for your free consultation, call (856) 393-0385.

I’m a big fan of Hubspot’s Internet Marketing Blog. They always feature hot topics and offer educational downloads. Hubspot also produces cool videos highlighting inbound marketing techniques from industry leaders. Check out their free Marketing Whitepapers which touch on:

• using Twitter and Facebook
• getting found online
• online marketing

Stay abuzz by adding Hubspot’s Internet Marketing Blog to your Favorites, as it is a valuable resource for small businesses!