inside the office

It seems that one of the biggest things that trips up people new to the social networking adventure is the difference between an individual profile and a Fan Page on Facebook. Let’s take a few minutes to try to straighten that out.

When you sign up for Facebook, you create a profile. A profile should only be for an actual human person – not a mascot, dog, cat, iguana, or spiritual being. This is where you connect with people you know – your friends. You share stuff with them, they share stuff with you and everyone’s happy. Here’s my Facebook profile. Now, if you decide you want to be friends with me, please take time to introduce yourself and tell me you stopped by here first, so I know who you are.

If you have a business or volunteer or non-profit group or church (or WoW Guild), and you want it to have a presence on Facebook, then you need to create a Fan Page. For most, the hardest part of creating a Fan Page is figuring out how to get to them. If you look at the bottom of your browser window, just above your Start bar (for PCs) or Dock (for Macs), there’s a little Facebook toolbar. One of the last icons kind of looks like a blue speech bubble on top of a green speech bubble. If you mouse over it, it should say “Ads & Pages” – click it.

From this page, you have the option to create a new Fan Page for your business/organization/guild. Choose the name carefully, as you can’t change it once it’s been chosen. From there, just enter the basic information that’s requested and upload a picture. Then, tell all your friends (or, at least, those that might be interested) about this fabulous new page so that they can become Fans of it, as well.

Stay tuned for more info on how to use & love you Facebook Fan Page. Got a specific question about Facebook or other social networks? Leave me a comment and let me know…

I love when I hear conversations about social media that contain complaints about a lack of response to marketing messages. Too often, it seems, people tend to focus on marketing and not the social part of it all.

Social media is about building communities and developing relationships. Yes, there is currently a large commercial component to social networking but, that doesn’t mean that the expected elements of social communication are irrelevant in these web based arenas.

Think about this scenario: you’re at a networking event and someone who you’ve never met and knows nothing about you comes up to you and shoves their business card in your hand, and then walks away. How likely are you to want to work with that person, even if you need or want what they are selling? Most people would be more likely to toss that card in the nearest trash can and move on.

Networking is not (or, at least, shouldn’t be) about closing the sale and moving on; it’s about creating and developing relationships with those that might be interested in your services or are connected to and influencers of others that would be interested. People want to do business with people they know, like and trust.

If you were to just jump on the nearest social network, bombard all of your contacts with spammy sales messages and have no interaction with them, you’re not really behaving any differently than the guy that shoves a business card at you. Let your contacts get to know you, share information with them, join into their conversations (when you have something relevant to say), develop a relationship so that they trust you, and let them know that you’re there to help them.

The web used to be a great land of “build it and they will come” options. However, the proliferation of websites for every business venture means that your customers have many more options than ever before. A simple search for the topic of choice will direct an interested party to hundreds of websites. If yours is on the list, what is it about your site that will encourage users to stay longer, to look around more and, possibly, to buy your products or engage your services. Below are a few things that you can do with your website to make your website more user-friendly, and increase your odds of visitors hanging around a bit longer.

1. Consistent Navigation – Having consistently placed and ordered navigation on your website makes it easier for visitors to find their way around your site. Navigation that’s always in the same place on your site, and links in the same order allow the user to feel comfortable in their surroundings. Navigating a foreign place is always stressful – eliminate that stress for visitors to your website.
2. Well Organized Information – Most people agonize about the look and layout of their website but many people forget to consider how the information the site will present is organized as well. Also known as Information Architecture, carefully planning the organization and presentation of your site increases the ability for users to find the information they are looking for on your site. Make sure each page has a clear topic – and only one. Trying to fully inform a visitor about several topics on one page may confuse them and encourage them to leave, quickly.
3. Clear Call to Action – Do you know what you want the user to do when they’re on your site? Let them know! And make it easy for them to do what you want them to. Do you want users to sign up for your newsletter? Have the newsletter sign up form located at the top of your page (preferably on the right side). Do you sell products on your website? Make it easy for users to add products to their cart, and easy to checkout.
4. Use Common Terms for Common Actions – If you have a shopping cart, call it that. Or shopping bag or basket, or some other term that the average person will recognize. It may be tempting to come up with some cute or witty name for your shopping cart, newsletter, or other features on your site but if your visitors don’t know what they mean, it doesn’t do you any good.
5. Write with the user in mind – Who is the target audience of your site? When you (or your copywriter) is writing to copy for your site, make sure you keep your audience in mind. What is their technical or educational level? Writing too simply may turn off highly educated or technically skilled visitors, while writing over the heads of less skilled or knowledgeable users could cause frustration and leave them searching for a website they can better understand.

One of the most comment questions that I get from new web development clients is about what kind of information to include on their brand-new website. Specifically, they want to know what pages and information their visitors will expect to be able to find. Here’s the top 5 pages or information areas that I recommend to new clients:

• Contact info:  Your web site should include an easily accessible, comprehensive contact page with a real address and phone number, not just an email address. If you operate your business out of your home and don’t want to give out a home address, obtain a PO box from your local post office, or other places that offer these types of services, such as the UPS Store. Similarly, there are many services where you can obtain a secondary or alternate phone number for your business without the traditional expense of installing a second line in your home of office. (Stay tuned for a post about these services next week.)
• An ‘about us’ page:  You hope that your index page does a good job of explaining your site, but sometimes consumers want to know what ELSE you do.  An about us page gives you a chance to let your visitors know about you and your company, as well as an opportunity to show off additional services and products that may not be relevant to the website if the site is directed to a very targeted audience.
• Security/privacy policy page:  Are you collecting visitor data on your website? Do you have a newsletter sign-up form, or some way for interested visitors to request more information? What about site statistics – do you have a script that tracks information about your visitors, such as location, type of browser, operating system used, and monitor resolution? I’m guessing that the answer to at least one of these is yes.  So, if you’re collecting any sort of consumer data, people want to know how you use it.  Even if they only skim, just the presence of a privacy policy can go a long way towards building trust with your clients.
• FAQ:  Do you find that your visitors and potential clients ask you the same questions over and over? To save your time, and offer better customer service, you should have a “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQ) page on your site.  Does it have to be called “FAQ”? Well, that’s debatable. If you can address the primary questions, for instance, on your home page, and then link to a page called “Customer Support” or “More Information,” you can win the same customer service points without the sometimes ill-fitting title of FAQ. Don’t forget to update your FAQ (or whatever you call it) if you find you are getting repeated questions from potential customers that aren’t already addressed in this area.
• Site map:  In a perfect world, visitors would have no trouble navigating your site, and will always know exactly which page contains the information they want, and how to click their way there. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. A Site map is a page which lists all of the pages of your site with direct links to access them. Additionally, a well-done, XML-based site map can be submitted to Google for optimal indexing, which can help increase your search engine results. (Look for more information about this in an upcoming post.

I came across this quote the other day:

“Appreciative words are the most powerful force for good on earth.”
Dr. George W. Crane

It resonates with me especially lately because of a gift that I received the other day. A few weeks ago, an associate contacted me, asking about how she could start a blog. She had a great topic that she thought other women would be interested in, and wanted to share her thoughts with others in a similar situation. While a talented writer, she is not at tall familiar with code, and didn’t know where to start. I offered to install the blog software on her server for her and throw in a template or two to help her out. It took maybe an hour of my time, and I was happy to do it.

Last week, UPS arrives at my door with a package. I was curious to see the return address from a popular gift website. Inside I found a trio of Egglings (plants that grow in eggs – how cute!) and a card that read, “That which comes easily to you is valuable to others.” These few appreciative words put a smile on my face for the rest of the weekend. In fact, every time I look at the Egglings, which I still have yet to hatch, I smile again. I just wanted to help out a friend – I didn’t expect anything in return. And yet, what I got is immeasurable.

When was the last time you did a favor, without expecting anything in return? And what did you get? The most powerful force on Earth? I completely agree.

Everything has to get done – but do you have to do it?

Small business owners wear many hats, and sometimes it’s hard to remember to take one or two of them off. Think of your many job descriptions, a determine which ones you really like doing. Out of the remainder, determine which you can outsource to a reliable professional. How about a virtual professional? By delegating some of the chores of running a business, you get to actually do what you’re good at and what you like doing. After all, isn’t that why you started your business in the first place?

Make a date – with your business!

Ask any veteran business owner and they will tell you that the key to being successful is planning. Creating a business plan as part of your start-up can help you determine how much initial capital you’ll need, who your competition is, and how to position yourself for the best exposure. Your business plan continues to be important after you’re up and running – maybe even more so. Make a date with yourself once, twice, even four times a year, to review your business plan. Evaluate what strategies worked and which didn’t, review your current operating expenses, and draft a budget based on upcoming expenditures and opportunities.

“State of the Business” address

The president does it once a year, why shouldn’t you? Review your contracts with vendors and suppliers. Do they still meet your needs? Can you renegotiate for a better rate or larger quantities? Then take a look at your customer arrangements. If you have contracts, review them and determine if they need to be updated to include new policies. Do you need to raise prices to compensate for higher expenses? Now is also a good time to inform your customers of these changes and when they will take effect.

Enrich your mind

Is there a new skill that you’ve been wanting to learn, but don’t have time for a formal class? The opportunities to learn online abound – and many are free. Search for free classes to complement your current business skills, such as bookkeeping or marketing. Or maybe just something for fun. Plus, many cities and towns have Adult Education classes for all sorts of things like cooking, pottery and dancing, for free or nominal charges.

Make a date – with yourself!

Small business owners, especially those that work from home, often find it hard to separate their business and personal lives. If you find yourself falling into this routine, do something about it. Once a week, put time on your calendar to not work. Take time off to get your nails done, have coffee with a friend, or just sit and read a book. If you don’t take time for yourself, you just may end up finding yourself burnt out and your work performance could pay the price.

You’d think, perhaps, by now, that certain things would no longer shock me and yet daily I stumble across websites that make me want to cry. Or fix it. Or just leave. If any of these websites was one that I had navigated to hoping to purchase something, they definitely just lost a sale.
And so began my journey last evening. I ventured to the site for the local chapter of an International business group. Though the site lacked oomph. It looked user friendly and not terribly laid out. Then I started clicking on links. Calendar – dead link. Events – last updated with 2006 events. Hmm. Contact – lists 2006 board names and contact info. Well, the national group wouldn’t still have it listed if the group was defunct, plus someone was paying for their hosting and domain reg, right? So I send an email to their Communications director. Email is returned because address could not be reached. Yeah, this is really not looking good. I looked up the whois info for the domain, and looked up the websites for the admin and technical contact. Admin site is not too bad, but not great, either. Tech contact’s site, however? This person should turn in her mouse and keyboard right now. Clunky, with bad color combinations, tables everywhere, and tiny tiny text. For kicks, I looked at her portfolio page, and checked out some of her “happy clients”. I’ve now got a new group to market my services to.
Just because you enjoy doing something doesn’t mean you’re good at it. I like to garden, and I love to sing, But there’s a reason you haven’t seen me on Martha Stewart or American Idol. Also, just because they make software that professionals use to create something, it doesn’t mean that you become a professional by using it as well. And seriously, if you can’t create pages without tables and with valid code, do not(!!!) offer web design services. Sheesh.

If you’ve ever taken a programming class, you may know that “Hello, World!” is traditionally the first project that you create. Even blogs, as installed on your server, come with the default “Hello, World!” initial post. Well, I’ve decided to stick with the tradition. This, my inaugural blog post, shall remain entitled “Hello, World!”
Web-savvy marketers will tell you that a blog is essential to the success of the modern business. Why? Because blogs, as well as other Web 2.0 tools, allow your customers to interact with you. Gone are the days of one-sided conversations between businesses and their audience. Blogs, social networking, social bookmarking, RSS feeds and podcasts all allow for increased interactivity with your audience. Personally, I’m a huge fan.
Before Web 2.0 initiaitives, the only ways for businesses to know what their customers were thinking usually involved huge amounts of energy, resources, time, and money, for a considerably low return. If you sent out surveys to your customers, how many do you think you would get back? What about organizing a focus group? These methods may absolutely still be applicable to the modern business model, and now there are so many more options to choose from.
Another great plus of increased interactivity? It’s more immediate. I post this blog today, and how long do you think it will be before someone comments? Well, okay. Maybe that’s a poor example because, as a new blog in the blogosphere, it could be a while before someone lands on mine. But consider the immediate impact of posts to blogs for large, well-known companies.
I’m excited to see who comes to visit my blog, and what they have to say. I’m excited to be able to share with my audience the many tips, resources, and business suggestions that are swirling around in my head each day. And as I sign off on this, my maiden blog voyage, I ask you to tune in to more thoughts from beyond…