Some people - including the wonderful Joanne Kershaw (right) and Chris Van Hoof who donated $200 US yesterday - have been kind enough to donate to the charity.
(Joanne used to work here with us until she zipped off to London with Chris a few years ago.)
No More Thanking You In Advance!
I've just edited where I ask for a donation because I've been reading some research over the weekend (done for charities) that found if you say "Thanks in advance", then people are less likely to donate.
If you have a charity box asking for donations you should have some coins AND notes in the box - that encourages both big and small donations.
This is why many donation boxes are see through.
I Have A List Of Who Has Donated - But It's Not Enough
And I did that because I thought if I left it empty then that wouldn't limit what someone would feel comfortable donating.
I Should List The Amounts Donated
But now, taking on board the research, it seems I should list all the amounts donated. Because that seems to validate people who want to donate lesser amounts by showing them that that would be greatly appreciated.
And by showing the larger amounts:
Jo & Chris' $200 US ($252 Australian)
my son Jack's $250 Australian
then that also says it's okay to donate larger amounts like that.
It's The 2% Things That Make A Difference
Like a lot of things in business, it's the little things that add up to big things.
Listing the amounts donated (that's like having coins and notes in a charity box) may well help encourage donations.
The ride is from Sydney, Australia (whose great icons are the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge) to Surfers Paradise (which is renowned for surfing, surf beaches, and sunshine).
I've just been told by Anthony that this site no longer comes up # 1 on Google.com and Google.com.au when you search for the term "tailored".
Bloody typical! I'm about 5 minutes away from putting up the 1st video in our case study of "How to get to the top of the search engines"!
That's Bad Timing
Talk about bad timing.
Actually I'm not worried - Google's probably making some changes right now to the way they rank web sites and we'll get back to a decent position before long.
The other thing is that "tailored' isn't a really important term to be found for.
The important bit in that headline is "relevant searches".
No good if you're found at the top of Google for "digital cameras" if you sell picture frames.
Much better to be found at the top of a search engine for "picture frames".
I was chatting with an online mate the other day - Seamus at Inspired - and we were discussing how many people miss this fact.
Seamus Hadn't Yet Optimised His Site
He mentioned that he hadn't optimised his site for relevant terms as yet (it's a fairly new web site), so I askled him if we could do some work on it to achieve high rankings for relevant terms.
So that's what we're doing a - simple video case study of what we've done and are doing to make sure Inspired eBusiness gets a decent ranking when someone types in the keywords/phrases that are relevant for his business.
The only downside of all this is you get to see my ugly head more than you probably want to!
Please bear with me - the info should make up for that.
On Friday I played a game of golf with a long-term web client of mine. I picked him up at lunchtime and we drove up to the course.
I parked the car in the underground car park, grabbed our bags and dropped them off at the bag drop (just a 20 metre walk).
We then went and had an enjoyable round on a great golf course. It was a good day........but things were about to change!
We Finished Golf At 5 PM
We finished up around 5 and headed back to the car in the golf cart.
I pulled up at the boot of my car and we both jumped out to get our golf bags from the cart into the car.
When we did that I heard a women call out his name. I didn't take any notice until I felt a bright light on us and turned to see a TV crew - Reporter, Cameraman with lights blazing and Soundman - running towards us for the perfect ambush interview.
They were from a national current affairs TV show.
I stepped back to let my client handle the interview as the rather aggressive female spat out questions at him.
It was fascinating to watch.
Brilliant Work From The Reporter
1. The reporter was brilliant at what she was doing. She didn't care what he wanted to say, she just wanted a reaction - her entire demeanour, body language and intonation was geared to eliciting a negative reaction from my client.
2. The cameraman did an excellent job - just calmly shoved the camera into my client's face (about 6 inches away) and didn't let up.
When my client moved to the side of my car the camera just followed him in and cornered him until he had nowhere to go.
How To Handle The Ambush Interview
1. Stop Whatever You Are Doing.
If you're moving your golf bag from a cart to a car, stop.
Turn and calmly face the reporter and camera.
Take off your sunglasses.
2. Get Your Body Language Right
Open up your stance.
Smile.
Say "Hello, how can I help?"
3. Answer The First Question With Something Like......
"Firstly, thanks for the question and thanks for the opportunity to put our side of the story to you.
It is a very delicate issue involving legal teams on both side, so I'm afraid at this stage I'm unable to provide a full answer. If you'd like to make an appointment I'd be delighted to have a chat."
The reporter will then come back with an aggressive question. To which you say:
"That questions certainly deserves a fuller answer than any I can provide here - if we can arrange an appointment for a more suitable time I'd be delighted to have a chat."
4. Keep Calm, Keep The Body Language Open
The reporter will hammer away trying to get either a sound bite or a reaction. Keep your answers non-committal and explain why you cannot answer fully. Above all, stay calm.
A Fascinating Experience
It really was a fascinating experience watching the ambush take place.
My client didn't do so well, but it was entirely understandable in the very hostile and intimidatory situation he found himself in.
I'd imagine it would be a very rare thing to find yourself doing, but the above tips might help you out at some stage or in slightly different scenarios.
You met the lovely Mel yesterday. Now meet Brendon from Tailored.
How A Screaming, Crying, Bleeding 12 yo Boy On the Side Of The Road Is A Perfect Business Example
How do you do business successfully?
This morning I did a 50 km bike road up the Coast - check out the photos below I took as I went along.
Wrong Side Of The Road, A Bus, A Parked Car & A Kid On A Bike
As I was nearing home I have to ride up quite a steep hill - it goes for about 400 metres. Down the bottom of the hill is the local High School.
Anyway, heading towards me coming down the wrong side of the road was a kid on a BMX bike. A bus overtook me and was trundling up the hill.
There was a car parked on the side of the road.
This kid was flying down the hill on his old bike - must have been doing 40 km. He saw he had nowhere to go between the parked car and the bus, got the speed wobbles and crashed.
I Was The First One To Him
I was the first one to him and by this time he was a screaming, crying and heavily bleeding mess of a kid. He had taken a huge amount of skin off both elbows, shoulders, knees and has a mess of his mouth.
His head was okay because he was wearing a helmet.
I did what I could, a heap of other people then stopped and lots of mum's dropping their kids of to school were comforting him. An ambulance was on its way.
And no, I didn't have the heart to pull out the camera and take some shots!
This Kid Is A Perfect Example Of Doing Business
I was thinking later as I had my shower that this kid is the perfect example of doing business.
You see, it's all about risk assessment/management and Cost/Benefit analysis.
In business, you look at each situation and assess what the benefit is to you.
"If I do this job I'll make $X and have another happy client who might want more business or who might refer me more business."
You also look at the risk.
"What if the client doesn't pay...."
Then you work on minimising that risk. That might be taking a 50% deposit.
This Kid Riding His Bike Isn't Good At Assessing Risk
But kids aren't good at assessing risk. And that's because they don't have the benefit of experience.
It might seem cool to go fast down a steep hill, on the wrong side of the road at 40 km/hr on an old bike.
But I'd be willing to bet that kid doesn't do it again because he now has the benefit of experience to better analyse his risk (and benefits) of what he does. And he knows that if things go wrong - and a lot was against that kid - then the consequences aren't worth the potential benefit.
One of the things I have down the side of this blog is the MyBlogLog 'Recent Readers' - it shows the photo and username of other MyBlogLog members who have visited this site lately.
I just had a glance at it and realised that the guys and gals at Pepperjam are onto me! Click the image below to enlarge and you'll see a photo with 'pepperjam' beside it.
They Know I Stole Their Idea
They know I stole their idea of introducing Mel (below) on the video! They must have checked their stats and saw a few visitors coming over from the link I provided to them.
I stole their idea - make no mistake about. I was about to pick up the phone to call my lawyer and get him to plead insanity (or tell them Mel made me do it) when I visited the Pepperjam blog.
And This Is What They Say About Us
"So, our video project is meant to showcase the people behind Pepperjam - the company’s engine - its employees.
Most recently, an Australian web development and design firm, has decided to take our lead and introduce their staff to the world. CLICK HERE to meet Mel from Tailored Consulting.
We strongly encourage other companies like Tailored Consulting to create videos of their team and share it with the world - if nothing else, it will demonstrate that you believe that your staff is the reason for your success, as we do here at Pepperjam."
Phew!
So I got away with that one.
Nice guys too. Happy to share the link love, happy to share ideas.
I have a client for whom we've done a fair bit of work previously.
The client has a Gold Coast holidays web site that he hasn't performed so well. We've just started today on the site and have begun by editing just the Home Page.
The good thing is the client has another resort web site and we can do some great A/B testing of various strategies (such as use different booking systems) to see what works best.
The fact that I'm excited about this opportunity means I must be a complete marketing and web nerd.
I thought you might like to meet Mel - she's lovely (she's my wife - I've promised to "love, honour, obey and say nice things").
I got the idea of introducing Mel from this web site that has started doing the same thing - we probably need to be a bit more spontaneous (like Pepperjam), but it's a start.
This is Marketing 101 - benchmark against others in the industry and see what they're doing.
That's not quite what a reader reader of this blog said about the brilliant, sensational and just plain fantastic Web Design Business Kit that I wrote.
We're always trying to think of new and interesting ways to demonstrate his product.
Well, Duh..............Do A Case Study
It took us a while but we finally figured out it would be a good idea to use me as a guinea pig regarding my training and the use of his products.
Over the past few days we've been documenting some of my cycling training and how I've used his products. Yesterday I did a 143 km bike ride in 34 degree C heat (that's 93 F).
All the time showing how his products provide the solutions for the various issues.
Readers can ask questions or comment in the comments section - just like they've started to do.
It's an excellent way to:
give visitors the sort of information they want
provide an example of the product in use
generate credible testimonials
encourage interaction with site visitors
Highly Credible = More Sales
Although our end goal is, I guess, to make more sales, David is approaching it from the perspective of "If I can give great information to our visitors that will help them a lot."
Can you use a case study to demonstrate your expertise and help raise your credibility? Because if you can, do it.
Further to this post about your market positioning, here's a little more.
Read the other post. Now look at the example below.
What a whole different feel we have now.
It's the exact same concept, but because we've used a bear it's seems so much nicer. More playful.
It's little things that matter working your brand for maximum effect.
Guy with pants down - a little 'dirty'
If I used a girl flashing - just plain sleazy
Eliminated Sleazy
By using a cute bear (although I wouldn't want to get too close) we've eliminated the offending potential and made it a whole lot nicer - whilst still retaining the funny/quirky/different feel.
This stuff matters because this stuff impacts greatly on your brand and your business, and more immediately like in this example, on conversions to sales.
Hoyt Video Removed - Trademark Grumble From World Triathlon Corp
Dick and Rick Hoyt comprise the simply inspirational Team Hoyt - these guys have tackled some amazing challenges that have to be seen to be believed.
On YouTube there was a video of Dick and Rick competing an Ironman Triathlon (amongst other things). Sounds tough.
But it's even tougher when you see the 50+ year old Dick tow his son's boat in the 3.8 km swim, tie Rick into a special seat on the front of his bike and then cycle 180 gruelling kms and then place Rick into a pram/mobile chair and push him for the full marathon.
That video has been taken down.
Seems that the World Triathlon Corporation has complained of a copyright violation in the video. I assume, but haven't had it confirmed, that the video of them in the actual race itself would be the copyright violation.
Protecting Your Brand At All Costs
Is that protecting your brand? Not sure.
What I do know is the Team Hoyt video was inspirational to millions of people.
And I have no doubt it has inspired thousands of people to take up triathlons or some other exercise. That's not such a bad thing.
But the World Triathlon Corporation don't like a bit of vision or a logo or whatever being used without permission. So they get the video pulled.
Maybe a blanket policy isn't always the best policy. Maybe if something helps your event, inspires people and helps the obesity crisis then maybe, just maybe, you need to let it be.
We've been working on a client's site these past few days and I've been developing concepts for the 'positioning' of the site via the main heading.
That is, trying to find a style that resonates with the site visitors and is consistent with the branding the client has in mind.
The client has a signage/display manufacturing company.
1 Outrageous, 1 Safe
Here are 2 alternate headings I came up with for the Home Page so far:
This is at the top of the Home Page (below the navigation). I've removed the identifying features of the client's site - such as their name.
What do you think?
Bit edgy? Different? Sure to offend some people?
Here's The Safer One
This one is a bit safer.
But will it grab attention? Will it resonate with the target audience?
Both Mel and Anthony dislike the 'Expose Yourself' one. and they're probably right in that it doesn't really fit the way the client wants to position his corporate image.
Because it's that 'fit' that is important - this is what branding is.
If you're in business you need to decide upon a coroporate identity - a personality - and be absolutely consistent with that.
It might be flirty, fun, serious, conservative, quirky, whatever. But it has to be consistent.
I haven't used this stuff before so had a good look at the label to see about dosages, etc.
"...Does Not Contain"
Highlighted on the bottom of the label is this:
Hammer HEED DOES NOT CONTAIN:
Artificial flavors, colors, or sweeteners: wheat, gluten, dairy components, added simple sugars, stimulants, fad ingredients, or anything unhealthy.
If an "energy drink" contains any of the above ingredients, it may cause unwanted side effects that may actually hinder your performance or worse.
Excellent Use Of A Label
Now that is excellent use of the label.
Not only does the label tell you what the product contains, but it also not-so-subtly tells you what it and other products shouldn't contain.
In other words, if other products contain "Artificial flavors, colors, or sweeteners: wheat, gluten, dairy components, added simple sugars, stimulants, fad ingredients, or anything unhealthy" then you performance will suffer.
Simple. Relevant. Effective.
Everything Is An Opportunity
Everything in your business is an opportunity to influence your target market. Don't do whate every one else does - do something different and stand out and get noticed.
Problogger is the site of Darren Rowse (he's a guy from Melbourne here in Australia) and he writes a superb blog about online stuff (mainly blogging). Well worth a look.
It's my ad, it's my ad! (It finally sees the light of day!) (Click image to enlarge)
Is Your Web Site Wearing Protection? Here's How To Get Some
The latest issue of the SitePoint Tribune (that yours truly writes) has just been sent out.
In it I say:
"As a matter of course, my business signs up clients for GMail, Flickr, YouTube and MySpace accounts.
We do this to protect the client's online reputation (to an extent), as well as to be ready to implement strategies as they're needed."
How Does That Protect Clients?
I've had some people wonder "How does signing your clients up for these services protect their online reputation?"
Let's take a client I mentioned earlier in the week - A Clear Direction (financial planners in Brisbane). That's a pretty distinctive name.
Imagine if someone started making offensive videos and sticking them on Google Video and YouTube under the username 'A Clear Direction'?
Or have photos of inappropriate content up on a MySpace account with the username A Clear Direction?
In business, especially as your business gets bigger, your brand is absolutely critical. Any time A Clear Direction gets mentioned it needs to be in a positive way.
Are You Protected?
Are you protected?
Here's a list of sites you might like to create accounts at:
A mate just did this for me to stick on my shirt for my ride. He says it stands for bull %$#@. I prefer to think that he thinks I'm kind of like Superman.
How I Got Ripped Off...Then The Hero Saved The Day
It's funny how it all works.
I tried out Text Links Ads (a link and ad selling service) on January 9. I paid for my ads to appear in what's called the RSS feed of a blogger.
That means that when this person wrote a blog and someone looks at it via their RSS reader (like Bloglines), then my ad showed up down the bottom.
The reader hopefully clicks the link, visits my web site and buys stuff.
That's all well and good........except the blogger I picked to advertise on has not blogged once since I paid for my ads! Not once.
So my ad has never appeared.
So that's crappy. I feel ripped off. Probably because I was.
I Was Going To Have My Revenge!
As a guy who blogs a bit and write a newsletter that gets read by a few people (140,000+) I'm always looking for stuff to write about.
And I was thinking that Text Link Ads was a perfect example of a crap company just sitting there taking money under almost fraudulent conditions.
I received an invoice yesterday for my next month's ads (they must assume I'm a sucker for punishment).
I'll Pass, Thanks......I'm Better Off Investing In Enron
I cancelled my account like this:
==== From: Tailored Consulting To: xxxxxx@text-link-ads.com Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 7:54 AM Subject: Re: Brendon Re: Text Link Ads Invoice #9988
Hello xxxxxxxxxxx
Hope all is well.
I've just received an invoice for the below package I have with you guys.
I won't be renewing.
The reason I won't be renewing is because I've taken the ad in the RSS of http://xxxxxxxxx and they haven't blogged since December 21.
So I assume my ad has never actually been shown.
Could you please cancel my account once it expires on the 9th.
Thanks xxxxxxxx.
Regards
Brendon Sinclair ====
See how nice I am?!
I figured it was only $45 US and that was a cheap lesson on who not to do business with.
The response to that was not "Oh goodness, that's terrible. Let's fix that." The response was:
====
----- Original Message ----- From: xxxxxxxxxxxx To: 'Tailored Consulting' Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 2:30 AM Subject: RE: Brendon Re: Text Link Ads Invoice #9988
Yes, we can do that for you.
Thanks for your business and please let me know if I can help you with anything in the future, have a great day,
====
That's Customer Service speak for:
----- Original Message ----- From: xxxxxxxxxxxx To: 'Tailored Consulting' Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 2:30 AM Subject: Thanks Sucker!!
Thanks for your money sucker!!
If you want be be ripped off again we're happy to take your hard earned money ......if you're that stupid! (And we think you are.)
==== Now Bloody Patrick Has Ruined My Horror Story!
Unfortunately for me, and my nasty side, there is one- (1) smart guy at Text Link Ads (TLA). That's the President Patrick Gavin.
Now Patrick is smart because he realises who pays the bills. He is smart because he keeps his finger on the pulse in terms of what's happening with his customers.
He knows (probably) the lifetime value of a customer.
He knows the importance of brand reputation.
He knows he really, really needs to know why customers cancel.
So, I assume as a matter of course, he sends an email (like the one below I received) to all cancelling customers:
----- Original Message ----- From: "Patrick Gavin - Text Link Ads" To: "Brendon Sinclair" Sent: Thursday, February 01, 2007 4:35 AM Subject: Attn: Brendon Re: Your TLA Experience
Brendon, I'm sorry to see you cancelled an ad with us.
Could you please take a minute and let me know if there was anything we could have done better to improve your experience with Text Link Ads?
Thanks again for your business.
====
And Our Hero Saves The Day
Lesson: always, always, always ask why people cancel.
You, as the Business Owner, care more than your Customer Service staff. Your customer service staff don't care. At all.
They say they do. But they don't.
And they don't care because they still get paid.
Patrick cares because he's trying to build a business, he's trying to build something of value, he's trying to make a buck so he can pay his bills and hopefully have a little left over at the end.
Anyhoo, I sent the same email (above) to Patrick as I sent the Account Manager, but with this note.
-----Original Message----- From: Tailored Consulting [mailto:brendon@tailored.com.au] Sent: Wednesday, January 31, 2007 4:01 PM To: Patrick Gavin - Text Link Ads Subject: Re: Brendon Re: Your TLA Experience
Howdy Patrick
Yep, the reason I'm cancelling is pretty easy.
I paid for ads in the RSS feeds of http://xxxxxxxxxx.
They haven't blogged since Dec 21 last year.
From that I assume my ad has never been shown.
Below you'll see my correspondence with xxxxxxxx, my Account Manager.
====
Patrick's response was a little different to the Account Manager. Within about 60 seconds I received this: "Brendon, I will make sure you get refunded for this, sorry about that!"
16 minutes later I got the email to the right - it's the refund through PayPal.
Your Online Reputation Is So Fragile
4 things have happened here:
1. TLA have done the right thing and offered a full refund. No fuss on my part (I didn't even ask).
2. TLA have stopped me bad mouthing them in every publication I write in - their reputation would have been damaged a bit, all for of a lousy $45.
3. TLA have picked up another sale - because I now perceive Text Link Ads as a half decent business that will do the right thing should things go wrong, I have tried again with a different blogger (the sale: $250 US).
4. TLA get a very positive review (that's this one you're reading) - there's nothing more powerful than a story like this one.
Business gives crap value
Business was going to take the money and run
Business owner goes "Doh! That's not right - we need to fix that!"
Because now you, like me, probably have this view of TLA:
Whilst their processes aren't perfect (it must be hard to make sure those who sign up as a publisher actually publish), if you don't get good value then they'll make sure you're looked after.
Simply Reduce Perceived Risk
And that reduces the perceived risk in dealing with them. Perceived risk is the biggest barrier to buying anything.
Customers who have a bad experience and are taken care of are more likely to rebuy from you and more likely to recommend you to others. Exactly like I have just done.
The web, especially bloggers, can have a very significant impact on your business these days.
Look at Text Link Ads. For a lousy $45 they would have been bad-mouthed to 150,000+ people.
Instead, because of the brilliant intercept of Patrick, they get a positive spin on their business and service.
That helps their brand, that helps their profit and that builds value so that Patrick can sell his business for $25 million next year and retire to an island drinking PinaColadas and watching reruns of Gilligan's Island.
** Winner Web Design Library - Best Book of the Web Industry 2004 **
The Web Design Business Kit is a compilation of everything Brendon has ever done and every document he has ever used to build and grow his business!
It contains two huge ring-bound folders with over 700 letter size (8.5x11) pages, plus a CD-ROM which has everything you need to build a thriving Web Design Business...
To find out more about The Web Design Business Kit click here
I've just edited where I ask for a donation because I've been reading some research over the weekend (done for charities) that found if you say "Thanks in advance", then people are less likely to donate.
