Morality in Business

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Donna Forbes

Once upon a time, if you gave up something of yourself so that someone else would have a better life, they were indebted to you. Regardless of what you thought of them. You may even hate them. But if they saved your life, you were in their debt.

Not so now, it seems.

You can give your boss your kidney and then get fired. The reason she got fired was that she could no longer perform her duties as a result of the surgery to remove her kidney.

Now, I don’t care what you think of the person, if they have done something that invasive and you have a better life as a result, you should have the decency to be greatful – for life (literally!).

But I have heard the opposite view expressed (by a member of the audience on The Wright Stuff) whereby, if the person is not performing well and is not fulfilling their employment role adequately, you are entitled to sack them. Especially if you are a small business and have to cut costs. Business and moral obligation are two different things – apparently.

It’s an interesting one to mull over but one to give a great deal of thought to. You certainly need to clarify the situation before going into such a deal. I have not seen anything about payment for the kidney, maybe that part of the story would shed a different light on it.

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Spotting Spam

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Donna Forbes

Most of the spam we receive is very obvious. It’s full of typos, spelling and gramatical mistakes.

The better ones can look quite authentic but we receive so many emails that it becomes ludicrous.

Spotting Spam – Key points to look out for:

  • A lot of emails from different sources but all using the same layout. A kind of ‘insert name here’ formulaic appearance.
  • Do you have an account with that company or did you make a purchase from that company? If not, don’t open it.
  • If you do have an account, check the email style against any genuine mails you may have received from that company, does this new one follow the same style? If it does, do not use the click option to go to the website. Instead go to the site directly in your usual manner.
  • If there is a ‘click here’ button of any kind, hover your mouse over it and you will be able to see the path the link takes you to. Invariably, this will not be for the site it is purporting to link to, or it may have the name of the company followed by a dot and then something else.

The golden rule, of course, is NEVER give any personal details in response to ANY email you receive out of the blue.

Banks are a common target for spammers as all of us have a bank account of some kind. Paypal and Ebay have had problems in the past. The latest one seems to be BBB.

The Better Business Bureau is a well established corporation founded in 1912 to help define good business practice in the US and Canada. So, it’s good reputation has made it a good target for the spammers. But the spams are quite good so, if you receive and email out of the blue saying that they have had a complaint from one of your customers, don’t worry about it, they haven’t:>)

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Interruption Advertising Doesn’t Work Any More

Posted on June 15, 2011 by Donna Forbes

There was a time when the ad break was the welcome moment when one of us rushed off to put on the kettle or popped to the loo. Ads were mini films that people got to know and many an advertising catch phrase found its way into every day conversation.

These days we have on-demand TV and fast forward and mute buttons. An advert is an unwanted interruption in the programme we’ve chosen to watch. I’m amazed at how long it is taking TV advertisers to work this out. They should try watching their adverts with the mute on or in >>FF. There are very few that pass those tests.

Another interruption comes via the phone.

“Hi. My name is Dan Smith, I’m calling on behalf of [insert name here]. How are you today?”

It really is time they upgraded this call centre training manual. On the other hand, I’m glad they don’t because, as soon as I hear “How are you today,” from a complete sttranger, I know I am about to be prepped for a thinly disguised sales pitch. They always deny it, of course, saying that it is “a short survey for market research purposes”.

Yeah, ‘course it is.

None of us likes to be interrupted, especially when the object of the interruption is trying to sell us something!

So, as marketers, what can we learn from this?

We have to turn it on it’s head. We need to get people to want to listen to us. And that means delivering something they want.

Rather than trying to persuade people that we are better than Joe Bloggs or that Gadget ‘X’ will revolutionise their life, give it a bit of thought and try to offer something that they probably want.

Are you selling a service?

Then a blog is a great way to let people know about you for two reasons:

1) Regular helpful information will be read by your customers because they want to be kept informed.

2) It is a quick way for your customers to recommend you to others so that they can get a feel for the kind of business you run.

White Papers that have really helpful information are also good. They get you a reputation for knowing your business.

If you are offering good advice, remember to make it easy for people to pass on your site to others. Add Share buttons, Facebook pages, Twitter links, and other social networks. The easier you make it the greater the chance of people spreading the word about you.

Are you offering a Gadget?

If you can’t offer hands on, make a video. Make several. Get your own company page on You Tube and make films that will appeal to different audiences.

Send your gizmo to magazines and e-zines for a review.

Still note sure? Have a chat with me and we can to look for appropriate marketing opportunities.

 

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Generic Personas vs Quirky People

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Donna Forbes

What’s wrong with people? Nothing, in my book. So I’m having a problem with this concept of selling to ‘personas’ instead of people.

Sticking on my old hat and shaking a stick at whomsoever, “I’m old enough to remember when people mattered so much that we had Personnel Departments set up specifically to look after them.” Somewhere along the way they became a resource, and the PD became HR, which took out all the personality. It’s much easier to manage resources than it is people because it cuts out all the quirky bits.

And this is my problem with personas. It’s too generic. Yes, I know that large companies have to aim at the LCM and the only way to do that is to merge people into personas. I know that they have to be able to shift all the boxes quickly because they will be out of date next week. I know its all about the global market and so on.

But the moment you make people nothing more than personas, you end up with a solution that by default is going to be bland. Anything that appeals to the masses cannot be quirky. In the end there is no real choice.

So I shall stick to dealing with people with all their fiddly bits ad quirks because that’s what makes the designer’s job interesting :>)

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The Cookies Crumble

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Donna Forbes

I rather like it when I go to visit a regular e-commerce site and a message pops up on the screen saying, “Hello Donna, these are the things we have selected for you to look at today.” It’s like going into a shop and being greeted by familiar counter staff who understand your shopping habits and might tempt you to look at something a little different.

Websites do this by means of a cookie. This is a text file embedded in our browsers that stores information about our previous visits to that site. In itself it is quite harmless, unable to do anything invasive to our computer. So why is it now the object of an EU directive?

Well, it seems that these files are not necessarily a secret between us and the e-store. They can also be picked up by spyware and, thus, our personal information can be stolen and used by others to get a picture of our browsing habits.

Not good.

And “Not good,” says the EU. The directive, which came into effect on 26th May, wants this potential security breech to be removed. The ICO has given webmasters a year to comply and make the necessary changes.

For futher information, you can read the anouncement here: ICO gives website owners one year to comply with cookies law

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Making a Successful Email Campaign

Posted on May 25, 2011 by Donna Forbes

1. Emphasize the familiar. People are quick to junk emails. If you have built up a recognised brand, make sure this is what people see first. Build on that trust so that they read further.

2. Don’t ask too much in one email. Build a campaign with three emails each with a call to action. Each email should take the reader deeper into the subject matter. The first might be to follow on social media (this will give you some feedback). The second to sign up to the cause, the third to buy into the cause in some deeper way. Campaign emails should follow about a week apart to build the momentum – any longer than two weeks and people will have forgotten the previous mail.

3. Keep it simple. Complicated subjects should be broken down into bite sized chunks. Reinforce these chunks by saying the same thing in different ways. This also applies to the related web pages. People will not read a book but they will read a synopsis. Let them choose whether to read the book.

4. Avoid all possible confusion. Check and recheck how the email/webpage can be read. Make sure the website landing page is directly related to the subject of the email.

5. Prioritize the call to action, keep it consistent throughout the campaign. Make it easy for people to see how to support your campaign. And make the click button look interesting and 3D.

Source: Extrapolated from MarketingSherpa

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Google’s New Algorithm

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Donna Forbes

As of 11th April, Google’s new algorithm arrived in the UK. Reports I have read so far seem to be in favour.

The reason for the new algorithm is that Google wanted to weed out poor sites that were heavy on content but had little relevance. Anyone who has searched for information about ‘wall papering’, for example, only to find pictures of someone’s dog wrapped up in wall paper with a rambling  explanation about how he ended up like that, will be glad to hear this.

The new algorithm has been designed to look for relevant content which is good news for well optimised sites – and good news for my customers:>)

It is not good news for rolling magazine sites which offer snippets of information under generic banners, nor is it good for voucher and directory sites since there is very little in the way of content. Some are ‘in serious negotiations’ with Google as a result.

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Pay Per Click (PPC) and Google Adwords

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Donna Forbes

It is easy to be tempted by Google Ads and Pay Per Click. I tried it. The £50 voucher they give away is gone in next to no time! And you have easily spent another £100 before you start to question the value.

It works well for larger companies who have a big advertising budget. If you are used to paying for adverts in magazines, then the cost of Google Ads will seem very reasonable. If you are hoping for a kick start with cheap advertising, forget it, especially if you are up against big pockets.

Essentially, you get into a kind of Ebay bidding war over page position. Google will tell you how much you need to pay in order to get a specific word in the top or side banners. It sounds cheap: 50p for this word; £1 for that, and you can limit how many times in one day you are likely to appear so as not to spend all the budget in one day, etc. It all sound very feasible.

But the big boys have gone for the automated bid option. So, every time you raise your bid a few pennies, they automatically raise theirs to beat it. In the end, the only satisfaction you get from your first £100 is knowing you made your competitors pay more for their clicks.

Tests that follow eye movement over a page have shown that most people are search engine savvy and don’t bother to look at the top or side bar ads because they know they are ‘just paid-for advertising’. People prefer to hunt out their goal themselves believing they will get a better deal.

Having said that, these ads will attract some consumers with little knowledge of how browsers work. So a lot depends upon who is the target audience and how niche the product. Of course, if the product is too unique, no-one will be searching for it.

In the end, nothing beats good website optimisation. Attract the search engines by telling them what you are about in the way they can understand it. Use social networks. Blog about it, etc.

But, if you still wants to pursue PPC and have a few hundred spare, make sure you have a good ‘landing page’, i.e. that the paid click goes through to a snappy informative page that is NOT accessible via the usual links, only by the paid-for click. That way you can track what happens to the traffic that lands on it. The landing page needs to include an irresistible ‘call to action’, such as a form or phone number, with a special offer, a coupon, one-time-money-off, etc. Make it an exciting experience for the clicker. Then, you just might get a lead.

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White Papers and Search Engine Optimisation

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Donna Forbes

White Papers also help the search engines to find you. But, although the search engines can read PDF file format, the files are not optimised for the search engine robots to understand.  So it is best to take the salient points, the nuggets with all the key words, and publish them on a page for the robots to find. Publish just enough so that the visitor will want to download the  full PDF article – then you can track it.

White Papers are a good way to collect names and addresses so plan this early on. People don’t like signing up to anything if they are not sure how good it is so a sign up page before receiving anything can be a stumbling block for some people.

Think about the subliminal  message.  Freely give information makes it look as  though there is much, much more to be given. Once your White Papers have a good reputation you can add a sign up form and collect names and addresses before giving the full article.

In business, we frequently find ourselves saying the same thing to all our prospective customers, so make this information available as a White Paper. Once people have seen something for free and know that it is good, they will be happy to sign up for the deeper and more worthwhile papers that you have to offer.

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Blogs and Search Engine Optimisation

Posted on May 24, 2011 by Donna Forbes

Talking of links and search engine optimisation, you need to think about your blog address. Blogs count in SEO these days. They are great because the content changes more frequently than a website which tends to remain static for longer.

Optimise your blog entries by creating articles that have your keywords in the title and which get repeated early in the text.

Blogs work SEO better if they are part of the website address i.e. http://www.yoursitename.co.uk/blog. If you use a separate blog engine you will be advertising your blog provider, not your own site. Since you are going to be using the blog to gain followers, keep it under your own banner. You will probably find more info about this on your cpanel. Many providers will offer an add on free of charge.

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