Tuesday, October 31  

Get Response Recommendation Removed

Get Response Recommendation Removed

Having a fair bit of online experience I get asked a lot about products and services to recommend.

One of the ones I used to recommend on this site was www.getresponse.com - an autoresponder service.

I No Longer Recommend Get Response

Please note that I no longer endorse or recommend Get Response in any way. They've been removed from this web site.

We've just utilised them again for a client and had an awful experience that has cost us many, many hours and lost us a fair bit of money. Get Response's response was essentially to say "We fixed it" when they hadn't.

Handful Of Products I Recommend

As mentioned, we recommend just a handful of what we consider to be the best product in their niches:

• Search Engine Optimization ebook (and here's my video review of that ebook)
• Google AdWords ebook review (and here's my video review of that ebook)
• Online newsletter service - Constant Contact
• The most brilliant and useful kit (right) for web developers starting their own business ;o) - written by me, but that wouldn't influence my thoughts!

Please note that the 4 recommended products above do pay what's called affiliate commissions - that means I get paid a small commission if you visit and buy after reviewing them from this site (assuming you've never seen the sites before).

Hope the above is useful.

Cheers

Brendon

Getting The Bad Service I Expect

Getting The Bad Service I Expect

I bought a decent video camera (Canon) about 8 months ago. 3 weeks ago, Tina couldn't open it to get the tape out.

So off it went to get fixed. 3 weeks ago. They said it would be 3 weeks. We rang today - 3 1/2 weeks.

The Canon rep said it would be another 3 weeks away.

That's a 6 week wait for what I assume would be a 30 minute repair job.

How come we let companies get away with that? I guess it's because we expect the service to be crap.

All they're really doing is meeting the expectation.

Brendon

Labels: business marketing

Monday, October 30  

Is This Irony - Or Just Stupidity?

Is This Irony - Or Just Stupidity?

I've just purchased Seth Godin's new book "small is the new big."

A big part of Seth's philosphy is being remarkable in the product or service you offer (in how you provide it).

When I bought the book the conversation with the sales assistant went like this:

Me: "How you doing?............. Having a good day? ............... Just this book please."

Her: Rings up the book and holds out her hand.

Me: I hand over the cash - "Thanks so much."

Her: Hands me the book back.

Me: "Thanks a lot. Have a good night."

She didn't utter one word.

Meant To Make You Money

Sales assistants are meant to make you money. Not make the buying experience so poor that you won't return.

But I'd bet the business owner would say"But she's only 17 years old and really cheap to hire."

She might be cheap to hire, but I'd bet she is very expensive to keep.

Cheers

Brendon

Labels: business marketing

Triing To Get Better

Triing To Get Better

My son Jack and I completed the Noosa Triathlon yesterday. I did the 1.5 km swim and the 40 km bike ride, whilst Jack (14 yo) finished off with the 10 km run.

That's us left, about 10 minutes before the race.

It was Jack's first triathlon (aside from some really small kid's races) and he loved it.

And doing the triathlon did something really important for him - it got him to understand that he can do these sort of races. Because with close on 5,000 competitors in the race, it can be a very intimidating race.

But once we got into the thick of things - with registration, racking our bike, getting numbered and knowing where we needed to be by race time - he saw that organisers make it as easy as possible and that there are plenty of people to help.

Experience Helps In Triathlons & Business

Because once you've experienced something, it's so much easier to do it again and again.

And now Jack has done one of the world's biggest triathlons, he'll look at a transition area with anything less than 3,200 bikes and think "Heh, this race is smaller than Noosa - I can do this."


We Went Okay

We went okay - I did the swim (really tough, rough 1.5 km swim) in 30.06, then the 40 km bike in 1 hr, 24 mins, 58 secs (which included a very slow 5 min transition) and then Jack ran the 10 km in 57.41.

All up we did 2:52:46 - not bad for an old bloke and his kid. We've already planned how we can knock 10 minutes off that time next year! (4 mins off transition, 4 minutes off run, 1 min off bike, 1 min off swim).

Cheers

Brendon

Friday, October 27  

Vitamins And Dietary Supplements (Or Eat Right)

Vitamins And Dietary Supplements (Or Eat Right)

A mate asked me yesterday how much training I do to be able to do the Noosa Triathlon.

I swim 2 km a day and either cycle 50 km or run 10 km.

It ends up under 2 hours a day - I mentioned to him that getting the right vitamins and dietary supplements intake (whether in his diet or from a chemist) was the first step in getting healthy.

Once you're eating right, slowly introduce exercise into the equation and in 4-5 weeks you'll be amazed at your fast and healthy weight loss.

Once you have the weight loss, the exercise is incredibly easy (you're so much stronger and fitter and lighter).

Why not start today?

• no beer,
• no crap food,
• drink water and
• go for a 10 minute jog or a swim.

Do 11 minutes tomorrow.

I have this theory about fat people - they're quite happy to be fat, otherwise they'd do something about it.

If you don't want to be fat do something about it.

Cheers

Brendon

More info: Vitamin supplements

How Doing Only A Little Works

How Doing Only A Little Works

My son Jack (right) turned 14 in September which makes him eligible to compete at the Noosa Triathlon - one of the world's best (and biggest triathlons).

So Jack and I are doing the event as a team - I'm doing the 1.5 km (about 1 mile) swim and 40 km (25 mile) bike ride and Jack is doing the 10 km (6.2 mile) run.

Jack and I went for an 8.5 km run last night and my 12 yo son Harry tagged along on his bike. He was amazed "Jack, how can you run this far?"

A Little A Day

Jack's been training for a month or 2 for the race - he started off with a 20 minute slow jog.

• 2 days later was another slow jog.
• 2 days later was another slow jog.
• 2 days later was a faster run for 20 minutes.

All easy stuff. Nothing dramatic. No huge secret.

And on it goes.

Jack's done a 10.5 km run this week and a quicker 8.5 km run.

Interestingly, last night's run was a very slow jog - as slow as we could go basically. And it was still a minute faster than Jack's fast run over the same distance last week.

Things get easier.

It's The Same With Marketing

And it's the same with marketing your business - spend 20 minutes a day on it each and every day and you will see results. Every now and then spend an hour on it. Then back to 20 minutes.

And just like Jack's running, before you know it the marketing is even easier and the results even better.

Cheers

Brendon

Labels: business marketing

"I'll Send It Immediately"

"I'll Send It Immediately"

I'm doing some working for a marketing client and for us to start this work - which he says is "extremely urgent" - all we need is for him to send us one- (1) file from his computer via email.

• I've emailed him 3 times requesting the file.
• I've called him twice.
• I even offered to drive down to his office and get the file myself if that helps.

Every time I've contacted the client he's said "I'll send it immediately."

But it doesn't happen.

I'm trying to figure out why - after all, it's essential (so he told me) that we start marketing his business immediately.

Distractions Hurt A Lot

And I think I know the answer - you see, the usual day to day problems crop up and distract him. They distract him from doing the only thing he needs to do to get his business to where he wants and needs it to be - market his business.

As much as we all try, I think most of us get distracted from doing the truly important things.

Do you?

Brendon

Labels: business marketing

Thursday, October 26  

Need To Edit Images - Image Editor At The Right Price

Need To Edit Images - Image Editor At The Right Price

And the right price is FREE.

Many of us struggle with editing images, especially when we need a few more tools that the basic editors, but not so many functions that the software costs many hundreds of $.

Well, Paint.net started as an undergraduate senior design project mentored by Microsoft - intending to replace MS Paint.

A very simple (but powerful) tool for image editing.

Well worth a look.

Cheers

Brendon

Wednesday, October 25  

Secrets Of Newsletter Success

Secrets Of Newsletter Success

I've just been reading some material from usability expert Jakob Nielsen of Use It regarding online newsletters.

Two interesting facts:

1. The average time spent reading an online newsletter is 51 seconds
2. 67% basically ignored the introduction

The bottom line - make your newsletter interesting - personalise it, use humor and keep the waffle to a minimum!

Cheers

Brendon

Labels: business marketing

Tuesday, October 24  

FAQ - Mumbo Jumbo Or Does It Make Sense?

FAQ - Mumbo Jumbo Or Does It Make Sense?

A client asked me something yesterday that a few people have asked me over the years.

He looked at the navigation and asked "What's FAQ mean?"

FAQ stands for Frequently Asked Questions - it's a fairly common abbreviation on web sites.

I wonder just how many people don't know what FAQ stands for - thus making it an irrelevant navigation device on a web site?

It's a great reminder that we have to closely analyse all aspects of a web site development.

Cheers

Brendon

Monday, October 23  

30,000 Reasons You Should Speak For Free

30,000 Reasons You Should Speak For Free

As you might know I bit of public speaking to business groups, universities and the like.

Although it takes a lot of time and energy to put together a speech - a minimum of 2 days up to 100 hours work for a 20-30 minute speech - many of the speech I do are done at no charge.

I did a free speech last year to a business group. Today I measured that we've generated $30,000+ in work for the business from the contacts we've made from me doing that speech.

If you're looking to expand your business, here are 3 easy steps to take:

1. Do a public speaking course
2. Write 2-3 great speeches relevant to your area of expertise
3. Go out and get some gigs

It's a no-brainer.

Cheers

Brendon

Labels: business marketing

Friday, October 20  

The Top 2 Ways To Increase Your Web Site Profits

The Top 2 Ways To Increase Your Web Site Profits

1. Get more target, well-qualified visitors to your site who want to buy what you sell - that's done through search engine optimisation (getting high ranks) and Pay per Click advertising (i.e. Google AdWords).

2. Increase the number of people buying - do that by getting more to your site at the same conversion rate (visitors per sale), or increase your conversion rate. That's done by giving a better offer and having quality web copy (just like the heading of this blog probably got you reading).

Check out Show # 48 18 October 2006 on Tailored Podcast for more information on search engines.

Cheers

Brendon

Why You Need To Keep Your (Online) Nose Clean

Why You Need To Keep Your (Online) Nose Clean

I had a lunchtime meeting at a cafe yesterday with a fellow I've done a little work for. We were chatting about us doing a little more work for him.

One thing that became clear throughout the meeting was that this fellow knew an enormous amount about me, about this business and about the work we've done. And the reason was simple - he'd read a lot of this site.

And with a blog that's been going for 3 1/2 years+ there is a heap of information here.

A Girl At A Football Match

Earlier in the year I met a woman at a football match and had a chat. She emailed me the next day to say "I didn't realise you were famous!"

Mmmmmm :o)

A Referred Professional

A friend just referred me a service provider for a project we're doing - the first thing I did was do a search for this person and see what I could find out.

That's what a lot of people do - boyfriends, girlfriends, employers, businesses, etc.

It's very important that you manage your online identity - and by that I mean everything that is online regarding you - very, very carefully.

Because the odds are that someone will find it. Maybe not now, maybe not next year...........but remember that it could well be there forever.

Cheers

Brendon

Thursday, October 19  

Web Analytics from the Victorian Goverment

Web Analytics from the Victorian Government

The Victorian government has a great site online to share online resources and info. One resource outlines Web Analytics. This is good stuff, its nice to see Australian state governments getting up with the times!

The page on Web Analytics talks about Key Performance Indicators etc, and links off to a lot of other resources you might find useful.

Just a thought: in one part of the report, they say:

A key philosophy of Web 2.0 is that websites should always be in beta version. They are never 'finished'.

Nevermind the Web 2.0 buzzwords - no website is ever finished, no matter what "version" of the internet it uses! The best way to keep visitors coming back to your site is to keep the content fresh, so you should always be updating it. (Keeping a blog on your site, be it personal or business orientated, makes this very easy)

Wednesday, October 18  

Online Movement Gathers Momentum In Australian Small Business

Online Movement Gathers Momentum in Australia!
eMarketer.com summarises the "Broadband Barometer 2006" report, and points out some interesting finds. Key points:

• 90% of Australian small and medium businesses (up to 199 employees) now use broadband internet connetions, and 98% have some kind of internet connection.
  
• Dialup use is down from 20% last year to only 6% this year.
• Small/Medium businesses are really getting on the VOIP bandwagon - up from 1% last year to 19% this year.

That is some great information - so how does it affect you? Here's one way - if you're a telco, expect your profits from phonebills to continue dropping significantly!

Tuesday, October 17  

Sheet Metal Buying Influences

Sheet Metal Buying Influences

I've just come from a meeting with a guy who has a sheet metal business in Brisbane. Now sheet metal is, simply, the forming of sheets of metal into thin and flat pieces.

Foil is an example of really thin metal, pieces of metal thicker than 1/4 inch are plates.

Anyway, this fellow has his successful metal business in Brisbane and was telling me the impact of some of his branding strategies.

Branding Strategies

1. His business has a new purpose built sheet metal factory just outside Brisbane (replaced a really old dilapidated building)
2. His reception area is beautiful - he's spent a lot of time and effort having it look very welcoming and very professional
3. His entire team wear professionally designed shirts with his business branding insitu

Impact on Customers

He told me that the impact these changes have had on his customers has been significant.....click for more on Sheet Metal Buying Influences

Cheers

Brendon

Monday, October 16  

Ooooooops - Foot In Mouth Strikes Me

Ooooooops - Foot In Mouth Strikes Me

I gave a speech on Friday night to Business students at a local College's Gala Business Awards Night. There were 100 students (16 year olds mostly) and about another 60 teachers, sponsors, mentors and the like at the dinner.

Just like I try and do on this blog, I wanted to give some concrete examples to back up what I was saying. I mentioned Virgin's Richard Branson.

Then things got messy:

"......because they've developed the brand in such a way that you expect to have a good Virgin experience. It's great to have a good Virgin experience....."

Oooooops.

• That's when the titters of giggling began.
• About the same time my face went bright red.
• About the same time I started fanning myself saying "Man, it's suddenly very hot in here. Who turned the air-conditioning off?!"

It's Important Your Speech Is Memorable!

Oh well! At least the speech was memorable.

If you do any public speaking the main aim is to entertain.

Top 10 Tips

Here are the top 10 public speaking tips from the Toastmasters web site - all good stuff.

My pet hate is # 7 - "Don't apologize."

I'd guess that 80% of speakers apologise for their speech as the very first thing they say.

The start of my speech on Friday night was to mention how good it was that I could write my own introduction - "Just how fantastic am I??"

And I mentioned that I'd preferred to be welcomed to the stage with 3 cheers - which I duly received after leading the audience into it!

I'm such a poser that it defies belief.

Brendon

Friday, October 13  

Referrals Are Good Business

Referrals Are Good Business

We have a very busy schedule at the moment with numerous projects underway and quite a few requests for proposals regarding web site development.

It's always the way, but bears repeating, that people most likely to have us develop their web site are those people referred by our current clients.

You see, being referred by a trusted 3rd party reduces the perceived risk of the person dealing with us.

Generating referrals should be an integral part of just about any business' marketing strategy. Is it part of yours?

Cheers

Brendon

Thursday, October 12  

A Trick For The Unwary

A Trick For The Unwary

My two- (2) sons - Jack (14) and Harry (12) - and I raced a 5km fun run on Sunday. I managed to grab Jack with about 20 metres to go for an easy 2 second win! (Sure, I couldn't stand for about 4 minutes after, but that's beside the point.)

Harry trotted in 7 minutes later.

Jack and I are training for the world-famous Noosa Triathlon later this month and thought it would be a nice run for him (I'm doing the 1.5 km swim and 40 km bike ride, he's doing the 10 km run.)

We're entered and ready to go - just tonight I jumped online and did a quick Google search for "noosa triathlon".


I Don't Really Read

Like most people I don't really read - I skim across the page. That's why I clicked the 2nd result down and started looking.

I printed off the 28 page Competitor booklet, as well as noting a few other dates and times so I could start to get organised.

It was only 15 minutes into my reading that I noticed I was looking at all the information from last year!

Yep, all the info from 2005 is still on web and very easily found via a search engine.

I wonder how many people will turn up on November 6, 2006 to do the race that was held on October 29!

If you have a repeating time relevant event, best to delete it at the start of the new event and start afresh rather than run the risk of having available confusing information.

Cheers

Brendon

P.S: I would add some photos but having trouble with the uploads at the moment.

Wednesday, October 11  

Why You Might Like To Be Top Of The Search Engines

Why You Might Like To Be Top Of The Search Engines

(This post of from our latest newsletter edition.)

We're doing quite a bit of search engine work at the moment - that is, we're working on sites to help them achieve a top search engine ranking.

It's really easy to quantify the benefits of search engine work. Here's an example I discussed with a client a few days ago:

* A site is in a niche whose main product attracts 80,000 searches per month.
* 3% of the people who visit that web site buy the product.
* The product sells for $60.

If we get the # 1 position for that main search term here's what will happen.

1. 33,600 visitors - 42% will click on the # 1 position
2. 1,008 sales
3. $60,480 sales per month

Perfectly quantifiable.

Which means that our client can look at the amount we've quoted him, look at our track record, look at the potential rewards and make an informed decision on the Risk/Benefit ratio.

Cheers

Brendon

Tuesday, October 10  

Should I Tell You Everything?

Should I Tell You Everything?

See that blog post below - the one where I tell you what my favourite Google AdWords book is and where to see my review?

That's what's called an affiliate site - that is, if you see my review and click through to buy the book I make a % of the sale from the seller.

Should I disclose that when I make the recommendation?

Mmmmm, not sure.

I kind of figure that people who read this site appreciate the value we provide and trust me not to recommend dodgy products.

I don't of course (!) - I only recommend a couple of web products and what I do recommend are the best of what I've seen (and I've seen a lot).

Pay Per Post Controversy

There's a new service out called PayPerPost.

It's essentially a marketplace where bloggers (people writing blog posts just like this one) write positively about a product/service/company for a fee.

I feel that will compromise the integrity of the value of what's written. After all, if you knew I'd written this post because a company was paying me $20 you'd take the information I provide on limited trust.

And that doesn't seem right to me.

But Isn't The Google AdWords Blog A Commercial Post Too?

But then again, I wrote about the Google AdWords book on Friday and I get paid for that (if you read it, visit the site and then buy the book). And that seems like the same thing to me.

I guess it all comes back to what value the writer provides on an ongoing basis and how much you trust the writer when he praises a product or service.

I Disagree, But Then I Kind Of Do It

So whilst I disagree with being paid to write a positive blog post, aren't I really getting paid for some of the blog posts I write by being an affiliate for the products I mention (I'm only an affiliate for a few products).

Oh dear. I need to think about this one!

Brendon

Friday, October 6  

My Favourite Google AdWords Book

My Favourite Google AdWords Book

I mentioned the huge growth of online advertising in the post below.

Thought I should point you in the direction of what I've found to be the best "How To" book on Google Adwords.

Visit the video review I did here - it's a 7:30 min video
Visit the transcript of the video here - go down the bottom to click through and look at the book.


Hope that helps.

Brendon

Labels: search engine promotion

UK Online Advertising Grows 40%

UK Online Advertising Grows 40%

Online advertising spend in Britain totaled a staggering 917.2 million pounds ($1.72 billion) in the first half of 2006.

That's a growth of more than 40% over the previous year according to a new study by the Internet Advertising Bureau in the U.K.

Click here for more info.

Paid search took up most of the spending pie with 58%.

Paid search advertising - such as Google AdWords - is growing for 1 simple reason. It works.

Are you using paid search? Time to take a look if you haven't.

Cheers

Brendon

Labels: search engine promotion

Thursday, October 5  

Inspirational

Inspirational

My son Jack and I are doing the Noosa Triathlon later in the month as a team. I'll be doing the 1.5 km swim and the 40 km bike ride, Jack will be doing the 10 km run.

That's Jack and I on the left during a recent bushwalk - the background looks fake, but it's real dense bush.

We went for a 30 minute run last and had a chat about the races I've done previously - I've done lots of endurance events from the brutal Ironman Triathlon to marathon swimming (20 km+), to marathon runs, to multiple sport endurance races (they call it multi-sport races these days).

I was telling Jack about Ironman Triathlons.

Just Try To Survive

I remember the 1st one I did I came to the realisation pretty early that I wasn't racing anyone else in the field - I was just trying to survive. It's a race that takes just about everything you have.

I can only look in awe at what Dick Hoyt and son Rick have achieved. I can only imagine the magnificent feeling that they have as they cross their many finishing lines.

This is a short video (4 min 13 secs) showing the remarkable father-son bond between Dick Hoyt (father) and Rick Hoyt (son), and their inspirational journey together to complete an Ironman triathlon.

The video.

Brendon

P.S: And thanks to my online mate John Hopkins of Melbourne's leading video and podcast production studio Kilmartins for the heads up.

Wednesday, October 4  

Griffith University Students Page

Griffith University Students Page

I've just delivered a talk to University students on the power of the web as a communication and sales tool.

For those students visiting here, and for anyone else interested in the subject, I've put a page together with all of the sites, research references and more that I mentioned.

Griffith University page here.

Hope that's of some interest.

Cheers

Brendon

Tuesday, October 3  

Managing Your Brand Online - A Quick Case Study

Managing Your Brand Online - A Quick Case Study

I'm about to talk to a University (College) class tomorrow on the power of the web as a communication and sales device.

A big part of anyone's web presence is ensuring their brand is maintained the way they like it. This cowboy to the right knows how to brand, but it's real hard online (not allowed to poke people with a red hot branding iron for one).

And it's hard because it's very difficult to control what is said about you - that can be a great thing when people are saying nice stuff, but not so great when it's negative stuff.

Here's a terrific example involving us (Tailored) from today:

On the well-known Internet forum at Whirlpool, we've been suggested as a company that can meet the needs of a guy who is having trouble finding a web development firm.

The guy looking to get the work done doesn't like the look of this site (everyone bags the look of this site - Tina is trying to get time to do a redesign but we won't let her).

"....they have hardly any experience...."

And then Dave from Adelaide comes in and says "If good quality work is what you are after then you are right not to go with them (Tailored), they have hardly any experience in creating complex, visually appealing web portals.

"If you want some one to build you a website as complex as you have listed then avoid tailored like the plague."

Dave From Adelaide Has No Idea About Us!

I don't know Dave from Adelaide but I can just about guarantee that he doesn't know our client list and he doesn't know what sort of sites we mostly do. And if we dig a bit deeper it looks like this is Dave's image site (I'm no designer - as Dave points out - but I reckon my site looks okay compared to his! But I love his online photos of Australian events).

So when we know those 2 things, it's pretty clear that Dave's in no position to make a relevant or useful judgment about us. But he does anyway.

You Can't Control What People Say About You

And that's the thing about the web. You can't control what people are saying about you.

And they'll say lots of different things - let's take Dave again. Dave then goes on to say nice things about my kit - so he's not all bad :o)

This Post Is An Example Of Brand Management

This post is an example of brand management in action - notice how I've:

1. Made potential clients/customers (visitors to this web site) aware of a negative story about us. It's very effective when you show people the bad stuff about you - shows you're not trying to hide anything.

2. And then I've addressed it in a fairly logical way.

3. And then I've been very slightly aggressive towards Dave (by bagging his site) - that's a useful technique to show you're standing up for yourself and to generate some visitors to this site by people who link over from that forum.

Internet Marketers Start Flame Wars

You'll often see pure Internet marketers say really outrageous and/or offensive things just in order to start a flame war. What that then does is increase visitor numbers to their site (everyone likes a good fight) and increases their sales. They work on the premise that any publicity is good publicity.

Notice how I didn't say "Yes, we do large portal sites". We do develop huge databased sites - one is being finished off right now for one of Australia's largest councils.

But all that will do is get people to say "C'mon then, show us" and that will waste our time getting involved in an issue that has no commercial benefit to us (we don't want any new clients at present).

Hope that all makes sense.

Cheers

Brendon

P.S: The other benefit of getting involved in online discussions like this is Dave's site has just gotten 3 links from this web site with the anchor text:

• Dave's image site
• online photos of Australian events
• his site

And those links help his web site increase its search engine rankings.

P.P.S: As an aside, as at 6.30 pm Oct 3, the forum post has been viewed 159 times. 52 visitors have linked over from there to here.

So that's 52 web/tech savvy people who have been exposed to this site and me as a brand and who have been influenced by what they read on the forum and what they see here.

That's quite a few for just 1 simple forum post.

Leveraging Value - Tell The World

Leveraging Value - Tell The World

I was speaking to a national level athlete about sponsorship earlier this week and mentioned a simple example of how she could leverage some very simple aspects to provide excellent value to her sponsor.

Many athletes rely on sponsorship to help them continue their chosen sport. For every Adam Scott out there, there are hundreds of struggling pros.

A Simple Example

Here's what I said:

"The picture of you looks to be you accepting a prize. That's great.

What you need to be doing next time you get up to receive an award is be wearing the sponsor's t-shirt.

Okay, let's assume you wore the sponsor's t-shirt when you received that award.

You have now provided value to the sponsor and, importantly, you can quantify it by saying to the sponsor:

1. When I won the XYZ race I wore the company shirt - I wore the shirt pre and post race and was seen by about 600 people on the day. As you can see from the photo, I was presented with my 1st prize in front of 300 fans. 300 fans saw me as the winner and say the brand t-shirt on the winner.

2. A picture of me in my sponsor shirt is on this sport web site - that page has been viewed 1,534 times by my sport enthusiasts.

3. I've mentioned you (the sponsor) in my acceptance speech. Estimated audience 300 fans and fellow competitors.

4. The sport magazine published my photo wearing the shirt in their monthly magazine - readership 52,000.

Your brand has been seen by 54,134 people because of me wearing the shirt. The vast majority of these views were extremely positive (the brand being associated with the winner of the event the person was interested in)."

=====================

Providing value is great as an athlete or as a business.

It's equally as important to measure that value and tell your sponsor or customer how much value you have created for them.

If they don't know it's as if it never happened.

Cheers

Brendon

Monday, October 2  

Is Your Site About To Move Up? Find Out Here

Is Your Site About To Move Up? Find Out Here

Google PageRank is a measurement of how good your site is. Basically, the higher the PageRank the better your search engine rankings (doesn't work exactly like that, but that's the basic principle).

Google is currently updating the published PageRanks.

The PageRank of a site can be viewed by you if you have installed the Google Toolbar.

If you want to check your future PageRank now you can do it with the tool below.

Future PageRank Tool © SEO Chat™ URLValid URL Cheers, Brendon

1 Simple Way To Increase Sales - Face It, I Know What I'm Talking About!

1 Simple Way To Increase Sales - Face It, I Know What I'm Talking About!

I've always said that personalising a web site works wonders.

Here's another example, though not hugely scientific:

Pee Wee Bit.com is a site selling horse bits. Alister, the site owner, has had a video screen-shot of Pee Wee on his home page since the site was launched.

He has since added a few more videos to the site and took the video screen shot off the home page.

The minute he did that the sales stopped.

After a week or so he put the screen shot back on the home page. His orders immediately started up again and conversion rates returned to previous levels.

Personalising Works

Personalising your site works - personalise your site and your orders will go up. That's just about guaranteed.

Cheers

Brendon