Friday, July 30  

To niche or not to niche

To niche or not to niche

This post is in response to Aaron's comments on the blog from yesterday

"My question is this: As a web designer, which to you is best... To target a niche (realtors, lawyers, resorts etc.) Or to work for anyone in need of a web presence? In your web design business kit, your way to do business sounds like take in as much work as possible from anyone. Though I've read recently from some of Andrew Neitlich's articles (on SitePoint) that you should target a specific niche. What's your opinion?"

Thanks for the question Aaron.

You have a couple of things to consider here, especially if you aren't a well-established designer.

# 1:  Most businesses fail.  The vast, vast majority.  To start to build a successful business you need as much income in as you can get.

You need to reach as many potential clients as possible.  To limit yourself in the early stages to a specific niche would not be in your best interests.

# 2:  Love the idea of developing your own niche or specialty.  Whenever we make a pitch for new business, we try and demonstrate our expertise to the client by showing them similar work with similar clients. 

Clients often approach us

We've had clients approach us quite a few times because we are widely acknowledged as web experts in their field.

With a niche you can be very specific in your marketing, not to mention it makes it far, far easier to make sales because of your credibility within the marketplace.

So the short answer is this: identify and attack a niche.  But don't put all of your eggs in the one basket especially in the early stages of your business.

Regards

Brendon

As you know, the bit below is interesting!

As you know, the below is interesting!

In my book I mentioned a simple sales technique that you can use when selling something to someone.  The technique is a pretty obvious one and well known.

It's the words, "As you know......" as a lead in.

"As you know Bob, radio advertising is most effective in branding campaigns....."

Bob will nod and say "Yes" almost everytime.  Even if Bob doesn't know.  You see, it's just an automatic response as part of conversation.

And what seems to happen is that the person seems to be likely to agree to your proposal/offer/whatever.

All that was ancedotal evidence

I had the technique shown to me a few years back.  I've used it a few times with some success.  I never thought there was any great study to back it up.  Until now.

Yesterday on my way to and from Sydney, I read The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell - a book concerned with trends and fashions.

In the book, Galdwell mentions a study that showed the very positive impact upon a person when an idea is presented to them whilst they are nodding.  He goes on at length in the book describing how the little things can make a big difference - I found a section talking about how people take their emotional/feeling cues from others to be especially fascinating.

Anyway, it's a great read for those in business, or for anyone interested in how ideas, trends and social behaviours come about.  The link above is to the search result for the book at Amazon.

Cheers and have a good weekend.

Brendon

Thursday, July 29  

Danger - touchy, feely blog below!

Danger - touchy, feely blog below!

Howdy.

I'm in the Blue Room writing this blog.  Now before you get the idea that the 'Blue' Room is something risque, I have to let you know it's a waiting room at Sydney Airport.

I've flown down to Sydney today (just over an hour's flight) for a meeting.  I've don't fly out until 6.30 pm so have some time to kill.  Virgin Blue (the airline) have this room set up where you pay $5 for access.

It's a nice lounge with a bar, food, Internet access, etc.  It's also a bit quieter than the hustle and bustle of the general airport.

This is how the day's gone

This is how the day's gone.  Up at 7.40 am, quick shower and got dressed.  Drove to the airport at 8.10 am.  Walked in, checked in and flew out at 8.50 am.  Breakfast was a large black coffee to wake me up and a muffin.

Off the plane at 10.10 am.  Walked outside where my client pulled up in his car and we drove to a restaurant.  There we had lunch and a couple more coffees.

Then it was into the meeting with a guy I hadn't met before (with my client) and we had a nice chat for an hour and a half. Hope to do some business with his very innovative and fairly new company.  Walked outside to the car, driven to the airport, up the escalators and into the Blue Room where I'm sitting now.

I'm bored..... so I had something to eat (Sushi) and a beer.

I jump on the plane at 6.30 pm and get in at 7.45 pm.  My wife picks me up as I walked out, I should be home by about 8 pm.

"Get on with it you dull, stupid man!"

And you're sitting there thing "What is this crap!!  Get on with it you dull, stupid little man!"

Okay, calm down, I'm getting there!

I've walked about 500 steps today.  I've eaten badly.  I've spent most of my day sitting on my fat *&^$#%*.

If I did this everyday, I'd be a big slob with an ulcer.

Although our businesses - yours and mine - are vitality important to us, to get the best performance over a long period of time we have to make sure we eat properly, exercise, not work crazy hours, relax and take a break when we need one.

Don't lose sight of the fact that we all generally work so hard for the future.  But make sure we take care of ourselves now.  

Have a good night.

Brendon

Wednesday, July 28  

Great example for developing a product

Great example for developing a product

Thanks to Lea and Aaron for the feedback below.

And this is how products are developed - because there's an opportunity right here.   I'm sure there are many, many companies that would like to access the Japanese market (33 million Internet users is a big, big market).  Why not develop an e-book that looks at all of the issues involved and provided recommendations?

I'm sure a product like that would sell well.

And that's a perfect way to develop a product.

1.  Identify the market
2.  See what their problem is
3.  Offer a solution

All because I read some research and Lea and Aaron provided some extra knowledge. 

Developing products or services doesn't need to be a big, expensive undertaking full of market analysis, reviews and consultants.  It can just be a matter of using some commonsense.

Cheers

Brendon

P.S:  To continue this Japanese theme, I'm off to lunch at genki - my local sushi bar!

Monday, July 26  

Looking beyond that 5km radius

Looking beyond that 5km radius

Hello.  Hope you had a good weekend.

My daughter Laura studies Japanese at high school and part of the course is visiting Japan next year.  The school has an exchange thing going, where Japanese students visit here and our students go over there.

This Thursday we are having a Japanese student stay with us for 12 days.  Should be a bit of fun.

I was thinking about that when I read some research today.  The research showed that Japan has had 3 successive months of increasing Internet usage growth.  That is, more and more Japanese are now getting online.  Something like 33,000,000 users.

That's a big market

That's a big market.  And a big market that businesses with web sites can access.

You see, business doesn't just come from a 5km radius these days.  Business comes from all over the world - if you're smart.  Could your business sell to the Japanese?  Could you set up a Japanese language web site?

Think outside the square (or the country) and you'll achieve success.  33,000,000 potential customers.  That's a big, big market.

Regards

Brendon

Wednesday, July 21  

Beaten at Chess by an 11yo

Tuesday, July 20  

When opportunity knocks, the least you can do is answer the door

When opportunity knocks, the least you can do is answer the door
 
Howdy.  Hope you're well, being good and being nice to others!
 
One thing I've got to do on this site is add a search facility.  It's been done, but I just haven't had the time to get the new site up yet.
 
If I did have a search thing, I'd check and see when I posted parts of what I'm about to write.  But I'm just too busy to search through all the posts and/or articles - we'll live people.  Let's move on and I'll write anyway.
 
A gym, a resort and a charity
 
The gym
 
I've written before about how we were doing some marketing for a gym.  Costs about $1,000 a year to join.  And our research showed that 4-5 others joined the gym when a new member told all their friends.
 
As part of our assessment of the gym business, one of the people here rang up the gym.  It was about 3 p.m on a weekday.  She got the message bank:
 
"Please leave your message after the tone and we'll get back to you......your call is important to us!"
 
Well, actually it was important.  But it wasn't treated as such.
 
My staff member left a message - and this is almost word for word - "Hi, my name's Bianka and I've checked out the gyms in the area and I want to join yours.  Could you please call me back on 07 5598 4898 to make a time for me to come in and join up?  Thanks."
 
4 months or so later and Bianka is still waiting for the call.

In our briefing of the client I went into depth on this issue and mentioned that (at that stage 7-10 days had passed) Bianka hadn't received a call back as yet.  I explained to the client that if Bianka was anything...click here for the rest of this blog (I made it into an article because it became a bit long)
 
Cheers and have a good day.
 
Brendon
 

Monday, July 19  

Birthday is an opportunity

How someone's birthday is an opportunity
 
Howdy.  Hope you had an enjoyable weekend.
 
It's my lovely wife's birthday today.  Let me just say this.........she is not 40.  She doesn't look 40, she doesn't act 40, and she's not 40.  (There darling, I said it!)
 
*  Mel had breakfast in bed this morning - it's her birthday after all.
 
*  Mel (that's the wife) gave herself an early minute at 2.40 today.  She left at lunchtime to go off and treat herself and a friend to lunch and shopping.  It is her birthday after all.
 
*  We're going out to dinner tonight - it's her birthday after all.
 
Like most people, Mel sees her birthday as a special day.  She enjoys the day and gives herself little treats because it's a special day.
 
It is a special day to her
 
I write a bit about getting to know your customer better.  About developing a more personal relationship with them so they see that you care.  Well, birthdays is the perfect example.
 
Can you imagine just how great Mel would feel if one of her suppliers to her business acknowledged her birthday in some way?

She would feel thrilled, excited and special.  And she would feel all warm and fuzzy toward the person/business that acknowledged her birthday.  And she would be far, far more likely to use the business in the future.
 
(Mel has a business where she spends a lot, a real lot, on postage.  The local Post Office gave her a picnic blanket for Christmas last year.  She was very surprised and excited to receive it.  It was a $10 gift to a customer who generates them thousands of dollars in profit.  It's no biggie when you think about it!) 
 
Find out your customer's birthdays
 
Run a competition, just come out and ask, do a survey.....get hold of the information then use it to thrill your customer.  It's a nice thing to do and it will help your business.
 
Cheers
 
Brendon
 

Saturday, July 17  

Nothing to do with marketing whatsoever

Nothing to do with marketing whatsoever
 
Howdy.  This blog entry has nothing to do with marketing or business whatsoever, but I thought I would share it anyway.
 
You see, it's the funniest thing I've ever seen and I just have to tell someone!
 
I was at a bar last night with a friend of mine.  We were standing there, having a beer and listening to a band.  All good so far.
 
Some guy came up beside us and ordered a beer.  He was with a woman (they were both about 40 you) and it turned out they were on their first date.  They were having a good night.  The guy was very happy.  In other words, he had already had a lot to drink and all was good in his world.
 
His lady friend went off to the Ladies room.

All good so far.
 
But while she was gone another women stood beside the guy at the bar.  Remembering that he'd had a bit to drink........he thought it was his date standing beside him.  I heard him say these fateful words, "So, would you like a dance?"
 
The new girl on the scene was taken aback for a second but quickly agreed.  They raced off to the dance floor and started to dance away.
 
And now things turn bad
 
So this guy is up dancing with a girl whom he thinks has been his date all night.  So he starts to dance close.  Real close.  Hand on the a$$ sort of close.  They were getting cosy on the dance floor.  Very cosy indeed.
 
Then his actual date for the night returns from the bathroom.  She says to me, "Where did he go?"
 
I said, "I think he's gone to the bathroom." 
 
Heh, it's a guy thing!  I was trying to save this poor, stupid man.
 
But to no avail.

After about 30 seconds his date spotted him on the dance floor, dancing with the other woman. They were dancing close still.  Too close.
 
This guy's date for the night marches up to him, confronts him, slaps him hard (real hard) across the face, brings her knee up to a very sensitive spot (ouch!) and storms off.  The girl who this guy was dancing with also storms off in confusion.

And this poor guy is gasping for breathe in the middle of the dance floor, eyes watering, face stinging, unable to have children, not knowing what the hell just happened.
 
Me??
 
I'm at the bar having quite a chuckle.   I wanted to explain to the jilted woman but she wouldn't have believed me. Anyway, I wanted to stay clear of that lethal knee.
 
Now that's funny.
 
Have a good weekend.
 
Brendon
 

Friday, July 16  

Newsletter focus

Can I ask a favour?
 
The latest edition of the SitePoint Tribune newsletter has just come out.
 
The newsletter has been going for 300 editions or so and was written by the co-founder of SitePoint, Matt Mickiewicz.  It is well-recognised as one of the premier newsletters on the web.  SitePoint have over 137,000 subscribers to their newsletters!
 
The big change from this week is that the newsletter is now written by a new guy called Brendon Sinclair.  Yep, that's right.  They've asked me to write the newsletter.
 
I was flattered that they asked and have already started on my 2nd edition.
 
When I write stuff I tend to lose objectivity.  Can I ask a favour?  Can you please read the newsletter and give your honest feedback on the content and/or the writing?
 
I'd like to have a good idea if what I'm writing is effective enough.
 
Thanks.  You can subscribe at www.sitepoint.com (scroll down the bottom) and you can also look at the archives (should be there in a day or 2) from there as well if you don't want to subscribe.  (If you do subscribe and want to unsubscribe straight away, there is a link at the bottom of the page on the right).
 
Send any feedback to me at brendon@tailored.com.au.
 
Thanks if you can help - and have a good weekend.
 
Brendon 

P.S:  And don't be cynical and think I'm getting you to read so they get extra subscribers.  With 137,000+ readers they don't need my help!

Thursday, July 15  

Why you don't want to be # 1

600 great reasons why you don't want to be # 1

Hello. Hope you day has gone/is going well.

Here are 600 very good reasons why you don't want to be # 1 on Google Adwords. The Adwords are the ads on the right hand side of the search results on Google. Let's say you type in "mobile phones" - here are the results.

To the right you'll see ads under the "Sponsored Links" heading. They are the Adwords.

How it works is advertisers can get in and nominate what search terms they want their ads to appear with. The advertiser who bids the most, gets the highest position. Easy.

In theory, the top position (# 1) would be best.

After all, more people will click on the top result (and they do. Our research shows a very strong increase when you have the top position.). But that's not always are good thing.

Adwords are great - they generate a lot of visitors if done right and can be very useful.

So let's get back to that top position. Top position = more clicks = more visitors.

No. Sounds good in theory. But in practice. What I'm about to write could save you (or make you) thousands.

It involves a little maths, but not much so please bear with me.

* Let's assume # 1 position gets a 10% click through rate (that is of every 100 people who see your ad, 10 will click on it and visit your site).

* 5% of your visitors will buy your product.

* Your product sells for $150.

Let's assume your budget is $120 per day for Google Adwords.

Let's assume it costs you $1.50 to get that top spot.

That means you'll get 80 visitors ($120 divided by 1.50)

5% buy. That means you make 4 sales and have gross sales of $600.

====================
Using all of the same assumptions above, lets not get top position.

Let's get position # 4.

Let's assume that will cost just 75 cents per click (that's 75 cents everytime a person clicks on your ad).

* let's assume # 4 position will get a click through rate of 3% (that is of every 100 people who see your ad, just 3 will click on it and visit your site).

All the other aspects are the same: 5% of visitors buy, your product sells for $150, your budget is $120 per day.

You'll get 160 visitors ($120 divided by .75)

5% buy. That means you make 8 sales and have gross sales of $1,200.

Simple, huh?? I'm good, huh?? I'm using bad grammar, huh??!

This is how it is because the ratio of people who buy stays the same. The only way it would be advantageous to be # 1 is when your advertising budget is unlimited (or you're doing it for branding purposes, etc).

And here's the kicker........as if you didn't know it was coming!

We don't need to assume the above. It's all true. All solid figures from a test we did with a site yesterday. They were the ad costs, the conversion rates, the sale price, etc.

Test everything you do in marketing your product. We now know how to make our client an extra $18,000 a month.

And now you do too.

Cheers

Brendon

Tuesday, July 13  

How to burn bridges in 1 easy step

Burning bridges - a simple "How-to" guide

Howdy. I was reading an advertising industry web site I subscribe to (I subscribe to the magazine and the web site access comes free with that) when I read of an advertising agency dumping their client. Not the usual way it goes, but there you have it.

The boss of the ad agency was quoted as saying: "We work with a fantastic line-up of clients, but every now and again someone comes along who thinks they know more than we do."

He went on to say the client was not significant and represented less than 5% of billings.

Okay, all together now....................mmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeoooooooooooooowwwww!

Burning bridges.........then poisoning the water!

Business is hard and tough and can be very frustrating at times. And no-one gets it right all of the time. Sometimes dear reader, sometimes I even make mistakes. Hard to believe, sure. But it does happen.

But I don't think I'm going to burn bridges like that ad agency guy did.

A smarter move for him may have been to simply say publicly, "We didn't feel we could continue to provide the highest quality work due to a range of factors - it was time for both of us to move on and try different things. I wish them all the best."

Because not only did the agency guy stop any chance of working with that client ever again, he has also shown his agency to be very difficult to work with. Potential new clients would be wondering:

* How come this guy went off like that?
* What if he does it again and drags our business into the mud as well?
* How hard is he to work with?

Stuff happens. Deal with it and move on. And don't take things so seriously. You'll give yourself an ulcer.

Don't burn bridges. There is no value whatsoever except making you feel better. And like they say in The Godfather, "It's not personal, it's business."

Cheers.

Brendon

Monday, July 12  

The office

This is where we work

Jo went off this morning to test out the new camera and has put together a page to show you where our offices are and what they look like.

Click here for the tour.

Cheers

Brendon

P.S: Although in the photo of me I look like my hair-line is going back, it is not! I have a fine head of thick, wonderful, luscious hair.

Saturday, July 10  

Taking it with a smile - the case of the lost $50

Taking it with a smile - the case of the lost $50

Howdy. Slow day here in Queensland. I've had a very relaxing day and have just called into the office for a few minutes to tidy something up when I thought of a good post (I hope it is anyway).

The digital camera we've always used has been a bit of a pain. It's getting old, the pics aren't as high res as we'd like, etc, etc. So I thought I would buy a decent new one.

Waiting for a Minolta

My preference is a digital SLR (Canon EOS), but after speaking with the guy who owns a camera store in our building, I decided to just buy a cheapie and wait to have a look at a new super-duper Minolta SLR that is being released in October or November.

After a bit of research I decided on a Canon PowerShot A75.

So off I go to a few stores and compare prices. I ended up buying it from a store (I'll call the store "Harvey Norman"......because that's its name) for $450 Australia. Quite a nice little camera and I've been thrilled with the quality of the pics it takes. That was Friday afternoon at about 4 p.m.

Today I was reading the morning paper with my breakfast when I open up to a page where the same Canon PowerShot A75 was advertised on special for $399.

In the exact same store that I purchased mine just 20 hours earlier! D'oh!

Brings to mind a few questions:

1. Should the salesperson have told me to wait and buy the camera the next day?
2. Should the store advertise that they are just about to have a sale on digital cameras?
3. Should I go in and ask for the discount?
4. Should I be angry with the store?

My thinking is this:

1. Yes, if she wanted to take a punt on building a long term and profitable relationship with me. That was a tad short-sighted on her behalf. If she had told me that the sale was coming up (or better still just given me $50 off on the spot) I would be a customer and an advocate for life. I would always go in knowing they had my best interests at heart and would give me the best deal possible........even if they weren't.

2. Maybe. Would be nice to give customers the information so they can feel like they are getting the best deal. Having said that, I'm sure many people would not buy because a sale was coming up tomorrow and they might wait. In that time of waiting they might lose interest. But then again (!), having a sale coming up might positively influence people to make a decision to definitely buy rather than be "just looking".

3. Nope. I made the decision to buy and I have to live with it. On our eczema cream web site, whenever we have a sale we have about 20 customers who order after the sale has finished and who ask if they can have the discount even though they missed the sale.

We give it to these people everytime. We're trying to build a relationship based on loyalty and trust. And it works.

4. Nope. 2 reasons why. a) If that makes me angry then I'd lead a pretty stressed life! Stuff happens. Move on. b) It's typical and no biggie.

The perfect scenario.

The perfect thing to do here would be this (and we do this with our eczema sales):

* Look at who purchased the product that is on sale in the 24 hours before the sale.

* Contact those people and refund them the money they would have saved if they had of waited 24 hours. (The store could give the refund or a $50 credit/gift voucher on the store - valued at $50 for the customer, but only costs the store $30.)

Imagine the loyalty, positive word of mouth and just plain great feeling the store would create. Those customers would never buy anywhere else!


One guy, a mirror, a camera and an unsteady hand.

We have people coming for dinner in an hour or so, so I'd better get home and make myself beautiful! As you can see by the pic above from the new camera, I have a bit of work to do. I was going to put up a clearer picture, but with my shaking hand result here you can't see the wrinkles of my 37 year old face!

Have a good night.

Brendon

Friday, July 9  

Know the culture

Knowing the culture - the case of the Reality TV guru

Howdy. Here in Australia we have a show called Big Brother. It's where they toss 12 people into a house for 12 weeks and film their every move.

Each week a person is voted off by the viewing public.

The eviction happens on live TV on a Sunday night.

The type of people who vote to evict people in these sorts of shows are typically teenagers, and more precisely teenage girls.

Here's a pop quiz.

Who would it be best to ask about who is going to be evicted next week?

* Teenage boys
* Teenage girls
* 18+ yo women
* 18+ yo men
* Melissa the Orthodontist who lives next door to me

If you chose teenage girls...............you're wrong!

The best person to ask who is going to be evicted on Big Brother is Melissa (she of the dodgy film choices - see Monday's blog).

Melissa loves Big Brother and watches it a lot. but that's not the reason she can tell who is going to be evicted each week.

Melissa knows because she does this:

Kid hops into the dentist/Orthodontic Chair - I made that up. I have no idea if it's called an "Orthodontic Chair".

Melissa starts chatting to the kid to relax him/her so they don't start freaking out (Please note: I said him/her to cover both sexes. I'm not suggesting that Melissa's patients are some strange half girl/half boy mix. Or that she treats 2 patients at once to save money!).

Melissa's first question is: "So who do you think will be evicted in Big Brother?"
The kid then tells Melissa what they and all their friends are thinking about the people in the Big Brother house and who they are voting to evict.

Over the course of a week Melissa sees lots and lots of kids. And they all tell her who they love/hate/like/despise in the Big Brother house.

Melissa has never been wrong in her selection of who will be evicted each week.

She chose a guy called Wesley to be evicted last Sunday. But a girl called Bree was evicted. Was Melissa wrong? Nope. Some clown at the phone company made a mistake and they miscounted the votes.

Wesley should have gone

It was really Wesley who should have gone. So the show's producers stuck back in this Bree girl and evicted the "...insipid, pretty boy, Mr. Boring, Wesley."

Heh, not my words.......that's how one of Melissa's patients described him!

It's about knowing your market

Just because you or I or your friend or my mum or your brother don't like a product or need a service, doesn't mean that it's not the perfect product or service for a lot of people.

It's a matter of immersing our businesses into the marketplace, into the culture, into the demographic that is interested in our products.

If you sell swimwear, there's not much point in having a store in Alaska. (BTW, if you want to see the worst way possible to display clothes on the web, take a look at the way they do it on this site....boring.)

If you sell Ugg Boots, then you're probably not going to have much luck selling to eldery people who live in the tropics.

Know your market and your business has a much greater chance of success.

It's been a busy week here with a few things happening and at 6.35 on a Friday night I really have to go home and kiss the wife and tickle the children.

Have a good weekend.

Brendon

Wednesday, July 7  

Nature versus nuture

Mother Nature's power - and what it means for your business

Good morning. The steak last night, at a place called The Nine Pines, was just lovely, thank you for asking!

Before we went out for dinner my wife had gone off and done what she calls a "Big Shop."

That's where she goes to the supermarket with our daughter, they each grab a trolley and they proceed to fill both trollies to the top with food. The bill comes to anywhere between $500-600.

The house is then well stocked with the essentials and the non-essentials. In between these "Big Shops", she buys food in quantities of about $150 a time.

When my wife plans a "Big Shop" she gets most excited. She's happy all day long - which is a rarity (married men reading this blog are going "I hear you brother!"). She loves doing the "Big Shop".

That's nature.

As a woman she has an instinctive need to see food in the pantry, food in the fridge and food in the freezer. It's a survival mechanism, I guess from way, way back.

As a guy, I have an instinctive need to drink beer and ogle women.

Just kidding.......I ogle beer and women!

As many men will atest, they feel a strong urge to be a provider. You'll often see guys struggle emotionally if their partner earns more money than them (despite our enlightened times). Seems to devalue their self worth and chip away at their self esteem.

Again, that's nature.

So what does this have to do with marketing your business? Plenty, I'd say.

At it's basest level, you could position your product to meet those underlying needs of humans. If you are selling a portable BBQ, your pitch to a woman might be "The kids will be well fed with one of these."

Your pitch to the husband might be a little different, "The family will be impressed when you bring home a big steak to toss on the BBQ."

Corny examples, as usual, but I think you get the drift.

Different strokes for different folks. We all need to subtly change our offer for men and women. But more than that, we need to change our offer for every sort of different market segment.

And the most effective way to find out what would work best on your customers is to ask some question. My favourite is, "Mrs. Smith, what sort of car do you have? Why did you decide to buy that sort of car?"

If Mrs. Smith answers that question then you have made a sale practically. Because if Mrs. Smith says she bought the car because:

1. It's safe
2. It has a CD player
3. It has roof racks
4. She likes the colour

...then your offer is going to be a car that:

1. Is safe
2. Has a CD player
3. Has roof racks
4. Is the exact same colour

Adjust your offer (and how you offer it) to meet the needs of your market. It's in people's nature to keep doing the same things.

Cheers.

Brendon

Tuesday, July 6  

Client testimonials and the power they yield

Client testimonials and the power they yield

Good evening. I've just about finished for the day and am just about to leave to go out for dinner at a local restaurant that does the world's best steaks.

I received a testimonial letter today from a client for the brag wall. She actually sent 2 and told me to choose which one I liked the best.

Here's the first one.....

"Dear Brendon

I would like to thank you and the crew at Tailored for all the help you have given us in the design and setup of our website and corporate image.

Since our web site has been online, I must report a net decline in interest from our customers. They consider it "gushy" and "self-interested". Nevertheless they have mentioned that it has taught them what they won't be doing themselves. One of them actually said "I'll bet this was put together by a drunk clown".

But as they say in business, any publicity is good publicity, so we are relying on this to see us through. Clearly it has worked for you for a number of years."

It finishes off in much the same way!

The second letter was a little more serious and far nicer...

The second letter was a little more serious and far nicer about us!

================
"Dear Brendon

I'd like to thank you and Joanne for developing our amazing website. We are absolutely delighted with the look and functionality of the site, which really sets us apart from our competitors.

We have had much positive feedback from our clients and colleagues, and our business has grown and developed enormously since we went online.

We will definitely be recommending "Tailored Consulting" to our friends in future.

Wishing you all the best and we look forward to continuing our business relationship with you.

Yours sincerely

etc"
================

Jo and I discussed which one we would put up. Jo wasn't so keen on the funny one being on display to clients in case someone thought it was serious. And even if they didn't, it might make us look frivolous.

So we put both letters (framed) up on the wall, side by side. My thinking is that when clients do read them, they may help our positioning as not taking ourselves too seriously. We're not a stuffy corporate type business and I think there is value for us in demonstrating that to clients.

But I could be wrong. And Jo, as usual, could be right!

I think it's important to make our business friendly and approachable. Things like this can help. People don't feel intimidated if they perceive us as being down to earth and with a sense of humour. And if people feel comfortable with us they are more likely to engage our services.

And I suspect that might be true for your business too.

Have a good night. I'll have a glass of red for you!

Brendon

Monday, July 5  

The right stuff - the right tools for the job

What I learned from Jack this weekend

If you happened to read Friday's blog you'll know I went and saw the movie Troy.

My next door neighbour is Melissa. She gave the movie the "Melissa 4 stars" as she calls it and convinced me to go and see it. I saw Melissa on Saturday - she came over for a coffee - and asked her for the $14 it cost to see the movie.

What a crock that movie was. It was like watching a 2 1/2 episode of The Bold and the Beautiful (not that I'm admitting to watching The Bold and the Beautiful).

But I still went and saw it even though I had read some poor reviews. All because Melissa had recommended it. A personal recommendation is better than all the advertising, all the reviews and all the hype put together.

In developing your business, implement strategies that will assist in generating positive word of mouth recommendations amongst your customers. The result can be long term business growth.

Golf, football, cricket

On Saturday I played a game of golf in the morning and then went to a football game in Brisbane on Saturday night. That was closely followed by a few beers and a hangover on Sunday. Sunday morning I was dragged out of bed to take the boys down to the local cricket nets for a hit.

Jack, my 11 year old son, loves his cricket. Cricket is similar to baseball, except you use a hard ball and 'bowl' it (good players can hurl at up to 100 miles an hour). Jack has all the gear - you'll see in the photo below he has the leg pads, gloves, thigh pad and a helmet. He is also wearing a 'box' to protect the Sinclair dynasty in the future..... ;-)

I said to him, "Jack, you've got every bit of gear you can."

"I need all this to play my best."

Which is true. With a bit of protection he can get in front of the ball without the fear of instant agony if he does get struck.

I was thinking about that this morning in relation to that media database we subscribe to. Last week I used it to send out some media release (to 47 media places). This morning I received a couple of calls from journos following up for a story.

I'm like Jack with his cricket gear. I need that stuff - the media database (not to mention the fax machine, an email program and an Internet connection) - to do my best. If you haven't got the right tools then you won't be able to play at your best.

Just ask Jack.

Make sure you spend your business $ on the right gear. Gear that generates you profit.

Cheers

Brendon


Jack Sinclair with all the right gear

Saturday, July 3  

Brag Wall

Howdy. A few people have asked "What's a 'Brag Wall' Brendon?"

Here's part of our Brag Wall - it's a great way to demonstrate your expertise to client and to lessen their perception of risk in buying from you.


Part of our Brag Wall - signed photos of high profile clients, copies of magazine covers involving our clients, letter of endorsement, etc.

Cheers

Brendon

Friday, July 2  

Publicity, reciprocity and service

Give and you will receive
I'm a star!
Give yourself plenty of time

Hello.

Mel and I played some clients (Ross and Karen) yesterday in Night Golf and then went out for dinner later. They're a lovely couple and we get on well. We played 9 holes for $1 a hole and, although I don't want to blame anyone (!), it was Mel's fault we lost!

Today, Ross called to let me know he was speaking with a person in his industry who wanted a web site. Ross said he mentioned my name and told the guy he would get me to ring. So I'll follow that up on Monday.

On the way back to the office I called into a client's factory to pick up some products of theirs for a product shoot. The client handed over $190 worth of product and said "When you've finished give them to your daughter, I'm sure she would love them!"

2 things happened in the same day that continue to prove one of the great laws of the land. The law of reciprocity.

When you do nice things for people without any obligation, they feel like they have to reciprocate in some way.

Your motivation is everything

It's probably important here to say that we aren't nice to our clients just so we get more work or free stuff! We do it because we are trying to add value to their experience with us and because they are just plain nice people and we're happy to help.

I think if you faked it, it would be pretty obvious.

On with the shoe....I'm famous

I'm famous! It's about damn time I made the pages of one of Australia's leading celebrity magazines! After all, I'm gorgeous, controversial, talented.....did I mention gorgeous???

If you in Australia, do the following:

* Rush out and buy Who magazine
* Turn to page 51 & 52 - it's a 2 page spread article titled "Tycoon in a T-Shirt."
* Don't worry about reading about my client or looking at the pictures, this is about me, me, me!
* 2nd column, 6th sentence down - read those next 3 sentences!!
* Am I famous or what???!

Okay, maybe not.

One of the clients we manage is featured in Who magazine and I get a very small (okay, microscopic) mention in the article as the guy who manages him and I get quoted saying

"...(Herald's approach) is no fluff. He's got a very conversational style. People love him because he's so approachable."

Just a small mention (and the business name wasn't mentioned). But being a decent sized feature plenty of people have read it and it's generated 4 calls to me for this guy to speak (he is a business success who now does a lot of public speaking).

Amazing what a little bit of positive publicity can do.

Come on, lie to me. It's what I want.

Speaking of media, I subscribed to one of the media databases we use yesterday. It costs quite a few bucks to be a subscriber ($500) and for that I become the proud owner of a password that gets me access to the online database.

When I subscribed again (online) the system spat me out an email saying I would have my password emailed to me within 24 hours (but if I had ordered after 4pm it would be the next day - I ordered at 9.30am).

That's fine. No biggie for me. They manually process the credit cards to be sure they are paid and then shoot out the passwords. Fine.

But it wasn't fine.

I was waiting on the password so I could get access and assumed it would be sent first thing in the morning after it didn't arrive by the time I went home yesterday. Again, no biggie.

By midday today it hadn't turned up.

So I rang this place and the person on the phone said:

"I haven't processed the cards yet. I'll do it now and email the password. You'll have it within 1/2 hour."

And it didn't arrive. About an 1 1/2 hours later it showed.

That's pretty poor for one very good reason.

That business doesn't have the systems in place to consistently do what it promises.

If the systems you have in place will provide the result within 24 hours 100% of the time, tell your customer whatever it is you do will be completed within 48 hours. Give yourself plenty of time to get the job done and allow for any little problems that may crop up.

That way you'll exceed 100% of your customer's expectations.
They'll think your smart, effective, efficient and trustworthy.

And if someone rings up and has a whinge when you don't do what you've promised, then fix it immediately (i.e. drop everything you are doing). And provide a little something special - maybe a box of chocolates with a "Thanks for helping my business get better" note.

Okie Dokie. That's it for tonight. I'm off to the movies to see Troy.

3 things to take away here I hope:

# 1 Be nice to your clients - they'll return the favour
# 2 Get yourself a media strategy - it's free, easy and can provide huge results
# 3 Ensure your systems are in place to deliver consistent results - then give yourself plenty of get the job done, so that you a) cover for any mishaps, and b) exceed their expectations every single time.

Have a good night and a good weekend. And stop spending so much time in front of your computer screen and go for a walk, to a movie or to the pub!

Cheers

Brendon