10 Tips to Manage Criticism by Edward Khoo

Oh sure, you think you nailed that site architecture and that home page reads like pure poetry, right? After all, you wrote it. But that’s the problem. You wrote it. You designed the graphics. You created the keyword list based on those finely-honed intuitive instincts so it must be perfect. It’s your baby.

Fact: you aren’t always right. Fact: some of your ideas just aren’t practical. Fact: a second, third and even a fourth opinion improves even the best-thought-out plan – if you’re willing to listen and learn.

1. Just because you fall short doesn’t mean you failed.

Easy to say, but not necessarily easy to live with. No one likes criticism. No one likes to admit that there’s a better solution, but the fact is, there are always better solutions. Criticism is a tool. It provides different perspectives. It identifies steps that you missed during the first round.

Learn from others. Just because you get push-back from a new client doesn’t mean the client got it right and you got it wrong. It simply means the client has a different point of view – one from which you just might learn a thing or two.

2. Open mind, closed mouth.

This is going to come as a shock but you won’t get it right every time. Ok you’re good, but you aren’t perfect.

You also aren’t a mind reader. Be prepared to revise your thinking and to look at your professional and personal life from a different point of view. Keep an open mind when listening to criticism. And don’t defend your baby. There are a lot of ways to get it right. Acquiring knowledge from others is the best way to learn. It’s real-world, real-time learning, not something you picked up in a school classroom 10 years ago.

3. Become a stakeholder but don’t drive your stake through the heart.

You know, the only way to kill a vampire is to drive a wooden stake through the undead monster’s heart. And you may occasionally run in to a client or colleague that tries your patience to the point where driving a stake through the “idiot’s” heart sounds like a reasonable solution.

Okay, first, it’s not a solution. In fact, your negative reaction to criticism, regardless of the source, will only make a problem worse. It’s important to remember that things like site design, graphics and site text are 100% subjective and sometimes you won’t be 100% spot on.
Take a position. Become a stakeholder in any project or undertaking but don’t cling to your POV with your last breath. There are a million ways to get it right and listening to some constructive criticism from a client, a co-worker, family member or friend may actually move that undertaking in another direction. A better direction.

4. Consider the source.

Who's criticizing? Does that person have authority? Is she better versed in the topic? Is he the one with the checkbook?

Clients want things done a certain way – even if you know they’re dead wrong in their approach. As a knowledgeable professional, you have an obligation to point out flaws in the client’s thinking. However, once you’ve pointed out the flaw and the client still wants it done his way, you’ve done your job. You provided the best consultation you could, you provided the road map to success, but if the guy with the checkbook wants black text against a black background – even after you’ve explained why that’s a problem – you’ve done your job.

5. Learn from anyone and everyone.

There will always be someone who disagrees with your point of view, your suggestions, your designs and your expertise. No problem.

Confident people learn from anyone simply by listening. You don’t have to accept the point of view. Your free will remains in tact. Your opinions remain unchanged.
The key is to have confidence in your abilities, professional and otherwise. With self-confidence, criticism isn’t a threat. It’s a useful tool.

Learn by listening. The more perspectives you see, the better equipped you become when similar circumstances come up next month or 10 years from now.

6. How’s your self-image doing?

Don’t take it personally.

Development is a process, a strategy, a goal or objective, but it’s not about you. Keep your self-image strong and you’ll keep you self-esteem in place.

Emotional intelligence (EQ) is an asset that’s often more important than intellectual intelligence (IQ). Accept criticism and learn from it. The result is a collaboration that delivers the positive outcomes from which all stakeholders benefit.

7. Not all criticism is constructive.

We’ve all met people, or have dealt with clients, who are mean-spirited – men and women who actually enjoy tearing your concepts to shreds. So be it.

Consider the source of the criticism. Consider the value of the criticism. Consider the benefits derived from the criticism. Never stop learning, even from those who are totally clueless. There may be a pearl of wisdom in what these mean-spirited people have to say.

Find those pearls and use them. Learn from them – even if the intent of their criticism is to undermine your efforts. Keeping silent in the face of criticism isn’t easy but it is beneficial to you, the client, the project, the objective.
Accept what you can’t change. It’ll save a lot of sleepless nights, hassles and headaches – especially when you realize that the source of the criticism doesn’t have the experience and knowledge you have.

8. Learn to let go.

You have an idea or concept, a design or strategy that you know is perfect. Okay, maybe it is, but don’t marry yourself to any one way of doing things. Learn to let go. Learn to keep an open mind.

You’ll be a better person for your efforts. Even better, you’ll learn to be a quality service provider when you can let go of that perfect concept and follow a different path. There are lots of ways to achieve success.

9. Recognize your own limitations.

Each of us has different strengths. Each of us has different limitations (weaknesses). Take pride in your strengths and use them to your advantage and to the advantage of your clients, your family and friends.

Accept your limitations and learn from others to lessen the negative impact personal limitations have on your professional career or the growth of your client base.

10. A closed mind never welcomes criticism.

Too bad. If you close your mind to new ideas, differing opinions or points of view, you don’t grow. You don’t get better. You don’t learn.
Criticism is about managing your emotions. It’s also about learning how people think, determining their needs and meeting those needs. Always put the needs of others before your own needs. It makes you a better human being and a better business owner, whether you’re a one-man company working out of a spare room at home or the CEO of a multi-national conglomerate.

Welcome criticism. Even mean-spirited criticism. In the end, you’ll learn. You’ll become a better human being and a better service provider. Think of criticism as a lesson from which you can become better at whatever it is you do.

The development of emotional intelligence isn’t something that’s taught in school. It’s something we learn by living, working with a variety of personalities and adapting to the needs of others.

To grow your business or to grow as a human being, recognize criticism as a positive, not a negative, in your daily routine.

In the end, you come out ahead. In the end, your business prospers.

In the end, you win.


This guest article was written by Edward Khoo, a full time blogger from Malaysia. Follow him @squall768.

Three Hidden Gems for Marketing Your Business Socially by Shell Harris

Small businesses are seizing online social media as part of their efforts to establish a niche and engage a wider prospective customer base.

Social media is not a fad – it is here to stay.

The issue is how to gatecrash someone else’s party with a commercial message that doesn’t get you thrown out of the door as soon as you walk in!

This is the conundrum which established, mainstream social media sites such as Facebook and MySpace are trying to address as they seek to monetize all those surfer eyeballs spending minutes, hours and days on the internet. While this may seem like someone else’s problem, it is in fact every business’ problem – how to engage potential customers as part of their recreational time online.

It is important for businesses to understand that while Facebook, Digg, Reddit, LinkedIn and the rest of the big players in social media, may be grabbing the headlines with multi-million dollar valuations and financing, they are not the only party on the block.

So let’s take a look at three sites you may not have heard of, but they are bubbling under the top division in the social media league.

Kirtsy

Kirtsy (kirtsy.com) caters primarily to women and it’s a good social media site for businesses looking to attract women as their prospective customers.

The site is primarily user-content driven with a substantial amount of third party content added by the users themselves for comment, education and simple fun. Kirtsy focuses on female friendly topics and issues, but they do include forums and self-help groups for dealing with more than just relationships and the site lends itself to infiltration by businesses with something positive and constructive to say on issues such as technology, especially if it addresses a female experience with the issue.

Kirtsy is well laid out, simple to use and makes it easy to register – it stands out because of its focus on women.

Small Business Brief

Small Business Brief (smallbusinessbrief.com) is a good example of how to develop a blog into a social media site – Small Business Brief is primarily a blog, with content centering upon small business issues, however, it has developed beyond a blogger writing posts.

The site/blog stands out because of the quality of the posts and information which is included – it is obviously written well and by people who really do know what they are talking about based upon experience. What makes SBB stand out though is the opportunity for users, eg. your business, to interact with solution provision. If you do have a genuine B2B solution, then SBB has a platform for you to hold forth. If you are a B2C company, you have a community of tens of thousands of small and medium sized business owners for you to tap into, to bolster your own knowledge and experience base.

SBB has some way to go in getting its format better developed, but it certainly shows how powerful even a simple platform can become in the social media niche.

NowPublic

NowPublic (nowpublic.com) is a social media platform powered by citizen journalists who either write, or more usually, share existing content with the rest of the site community. News items are voted up or down, depending on popularity pretty much the same way as we see on Digg or Reddit.

NowPublic stands out because of the diversity of issues which are covered – there is a well organized format which effectively replicates the content of a serious newspaper, and there is a very active community of users and a vocal commentary on stories of consequence.

Consider NowPublic to be an evolution of Digg and Reddit, with a greater degree of organization, much more user-friendly and a very lively community which is not primarily made up of internet nerds, but Joe Public with a passion for issues.

Of course there are dozens of other great niche social sites that can help your business, but the key is finding one that you enjoy and are passionate about. Better to be heavily involved in one social media site than a lurker in many. Who knows, one day you may find you are using social media for more than just promoting your business, you’ll also use it to promote yourself.

Shell Harris is a founding partner at Big Oak Studios, Inc., a Richmond SEO Company and currently manages a team of experienced SEO and search engine marketing experts, helping their client's realize increased search engine visibility, website traffic and online brand awareness. He also writes the SEO Comic, Ranked Hard which pokes fun at the SEO community. Being a former designer, Shell loves working with infographics and you can see some of his favorites at the Infographics Showcase.

What To Do If Your Facebook or Twitter Account is Hacked Written by Donna Gunter

Unfortunately, this scenario is a reality for all of us who use social networking -- it's not a matter of IF your Twitter or Facebook account will be hacked, but simply WHEN. I've been on the receiving end of messages from my friends whose accounts have been hacked. The message typically compliments me on some body part or requests me to click on a link to view a video of myself. Also, there are usually a number of misspellings in the message.


Be very careful when you get those kinds of messages, even when they are coming from trusted friends who would normally not engage in this type of behavior. Many of the messages are linked to a virus or some type of malware that either infects your computer or will gain access to your account and send all of your friends and followers spammy messages. If you do slip and click on one of these links, pay attention to what your virus scanning software tells you, especially if you get a security warning about a site.

If your Twitter account is hacked:

1. Visit Twitter's information page for problem resolution.

2. Log out of Twitter

3. Clear your browser cache (your browsing history and cookies and private info) and close down your browser.

For Internet Explorer: Go to Tools -- Internet Options, and then click on the "Delete" button under Browsing History. Check all of the boxes (except InPrivate Filtering data) and click on the "Delete" button.

For Firefox: Go to Tools -- Clear Recent History, and then click on the down-arrow next to "Details", check all of the boxes, and select "Everything" for the time range to clear.

4. Open a new browser window, log into Twitter, and change your password. You can also use the Twitter password reset feature to set a new password before logging in again.

5. Visit your settings page and check your Connections. Revoke access for any third-party application that you don't recognize.

6. Submit a support request to let them know you have taken all of the proper steps to reset your account and to request that your direct messaging capability be restored. You can also include info on any statuses that weren't posted by you in the body of the request.

7. Update your password in all of your third party applications as well. If a third party application (like Facebook, Twitterrific, Twhirl, etc.) is trying to use your old password to access your tweets, it will lock you out of your account.

If your Facebook account is hacked:

1. Visit Facebook's information page for problem resolution.

2. If you are still able to access your login email address, then use the "Forgot your password" link to prompt an email from Facebook with a password reset code. If you can't access your account, then use the link above.

3. Clear your browser cache (your browsing history and cookies and private info) and close down your browser as described above.

4. Your account could also have been phished/hacked by a phishing web site, worm, or malicious software. To ensure that all is safe again, refer to the "Warnings" section on Facebook.

Take care when using Twitter and Facebook. Trust your intuition, and if something doesn't look or feel right, ignore it or delete it before clicking on it. You will have probably saved yourself hours or headache in trying to restore a hacked account.

Internet Marketing Automation Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals create prosperous online businesses that make more profit in less time. Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==> http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

Making Babies: The Definitive Guide to Improving Your Fertility and Reproductive Health by Jason Jackson N.D. ~A LaMothe Book Review

Some books that come to me in the mail don't hold much of a surprise for me. They are just what they seem, at least if you judge the book by it's cover. Making Babies: The Definitive guide to improving Your Fertility and Reproductive Health by Jason Jackson N.D. certainly has a lot more to offer then I expected. To start, Jason Jackson runs a successful Natural Medicine practice from Brisbane, Australia. He has lectured and consulted extensively on numerous health topics throughout Australia and overseas. Mr Jackson specializes in reproductive health and infertility and is recognized as one of Australia's leading Naturopaths in this area and is an authority in the field of Clinical Nutrition and Herbal Medicine.

The introduction is what really captured my attention: "Over the thousands of years that humans have been able to reproduce, it has been only the last fifty years or so in the industrialized world, with its nutrient-depleted foods, genetically engineered agriculture, chemical processing, drugs, radiation and pollution, that we are now observing massive impacts on our ability to bear offspring, particularly in affluent Western societies." The last fifty years?

With chapters on Male and Female Reproductive Overviews, Preparing for Conception, Stress and Fertility, and yes, Medically Assisted Reproductive Technology (which is considered 'Plan C') I found that Jason Jackson was very adept at covering everything that one would need to know to do just that, Make Babies.

What I was really happy about were the detailed black and white photos depicting not only the human anatomy but also of fibroids, PCOS, IVF Procedure and quite a few more that add value to each chapter.

I recommend Making Babies The Definitive Guide to Improving Your Fertility and Reproductive Health by Jason Jackson N.D. for your office to be used as an infertility/fertility resource guide.

The Facebook Fan Page: 5 Tips to Achieve Fantastic Business Results By Christine Gallagher, MLS, MSIS

I have set up quite a few Fan Pages lately and I have one of my own under LaMothe Services BUT I also have two Group Pages, Infertility Answers and Networking A.R.T. All have a good following however the big difference between the two, Group pages and Fan pages, is the fact that you can only message your entire membership through the Group pages and not the Fan pages. This may put some off who want to use their Fan Pages to send out messages and business updates to their membership following. Group pages demand more interaction where as Fan pages don't rely on other people posting. Using the Wall helps...as does RSSing your blog into your fan page.


Read below..it's up to you to decide!

Sharon LaMothe
Infertility Answers, Inc.
http://infertilityanswers.org/
LaMothe Services, LLC
http://lamotheservices.com/
 
Many small business owners are already on Facebook but are either still not sure that it is a good use of their time, or they see its potential but are just confused about how exactly it can work for them.

Starting a Fan Page for your business may be your answer. But how can you use a Fan Page to achieve fantastic results?

1) The first way to leverage Fan Pages is to set up your Page for success.

One of the first things you need to do when you set up a new Page is to give it a title. A tip with this is to think about using keywords related to your business that you would like to be found for.

You also want to choose a good, clear photo for your Page. Another thing to note is to make sure you have filled out the Info tab on your Page thoroughly with all the relevant information about your business.

2) The second way to leverage Fan Pages is to build your Fan base.

You have to be a little proactive about getting Fans, especially when your Page is new. An easy way to invite people is to use the "Suggest to Friends" link underneath the picture on your Fan Page. Facebook will then pull up a list of your Facebook friends and you would just click on the ones you want to send invitations to.

You'll want to consider people like former and current clients, people you've partnered with in your business, vendors you work with, people who you know have purchased from you before, etc.

3) The third way to leverage Fan Pages is to interact and engage with your Fans.

Once you have some supporters of your Page, you want to encourage more dialogue and interaction between yourself and them and even among each other. The biggest impact comes from simply having conversations with people.

One thing that I do on my Page is to just ask open-ended questions. Asking people to share experiences is another great way to get a dialogue going.

4) The fourth way to leverage Fan Pages is to provide good content.

Offering regular content will naturally encourage interaction because you are giving people something to respond to. You don't need to come up with all the content yourself, either. You might just link to an interesting article or blog post you have found on the web related to your business or industry.

What content like this does is attract comments from your Fans, which is activity that in turn goes out into the News Feed. The more activity on your Page then, the more attention to your Page you have a chance of attracting.

5) The 5th way to leverage Fan Pages is to use them to drive traffic to and from your blog or website.

To do this, you definitely want to list your website in the Info section, and you also want to share links in your updates to your own site.

You can also use an application like Notes to enter your blog feed so that it pulls your posts into your Page. You also want to add your URL to your email signature, and use the free badges and widgets Facebook provides that you can add to your website.

You can check out http://www.facebook.com/facebook-widgets for those. Once you have something like this on your site, visitors can just click on it and they will land on your Page where they can become a fan.

So, if you don't have a Page yet, head over to http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php and start one now. If you do have one set up, use these tips to help make your Page stand out, get noticed, and become a helpful destination for all of your raving Fans.

About the Author: Christine Gallagher, MLS, MSIS, founder of CommunicateValue.com, teaches small business owners and professionals how to conquer the overwhelming aspects of online and social media marketing to increase business and maximize profits. For free tips on how to build profitable relationships, leverage technology and create your own successful online business, visit http://CommunicateValue.com.

4 Tips To ‘UP’ Your Value Line and Boost Biz By V. Summers

In a “changing tide” economy, you need to understand at a deeper level that business owners focused on delivering greater value digitally via the internet are truly reaping some amazing rewards. Why? They have innovated, transitioned and positioned themselves to extend their “value line” by providing even greater solutions to their clients and prospects.

So, what is a “value line”?

Well, simply put, the amount of free knowledge, expertise and solutions via tips, tools and resources about the benefits of your services and/or products that you as a business owner offer digitally and automatically.

In the old economy, this is what the free value line looked like, especially online:

Free value———-> = Client Conversion + Repeat Business

In the new economy, if you understand that the free value line has now been extended, you can align your approach for unrivaled marketing and business success. Here is what the free new value line looks like:

Free value, Free Value, Free Value, Free Value———-> = Client Conversion + Repeat Business

So, if you need to bring more value to your prospects and clients today to continue to grow as a business, how can you do that easily and effectively via the internet?

Take your knowledge and expertise (aka, the capital in your head) and provide valuable insights about the solutions/benefits your services and products provide, and share those golden nuggets with your ideal demographic.

Please find below four time-tested online strategies that will extend your value line and help catapult your business income. I can attest that once I started implementing these proven success formulas, my business began to really boom.

Online value-added strategy No. 1. Offer a weekly or biweekly e-zine. What is an e-zine? It’s an online newsletter delivered through an e-mail service provider into the e-mail box of your prospects and clients. My e-zine is Insights on Business Success. Let’s face it, you know so much that others would like to know.

Take the time to share some of your knowledge and expertise on a consistent basis via this low-cost, user-friendly publishing format, and you will quickly see a transformation not only to your bottom-line income but also on your conversion rate of prospects into clients and added repeat business from your current clients.

Online value-added strategy No. 2. Add some video to your website. Research tells us that more than 60 percent of what is being searched for online is video and that over 200 million videos are consumed per month in the U.S. alone. Get yourself a Flip Video camera and create 5 to 10 videos approximately three minutes apiece, whereby in each video you answer one frequently asked question you get about your services and/or products.

Now be sure to share those videos with all your prospects and clients online and– bam!–you’ve just moved your free value line to the right again!

Online value-added strategy No. 3. Write a Free Report. List five, seven or 10 questions that your prospects and clients should be asking you about your services and/or products. Now, answer those questions and edit these pieces into a five-, seven- or 10-step free report. Once the free report has been written, take your word doc and turn it into an unalterable PDF digital file.

When you have new visitors to your website, share this free report with them via automatic delivery for leaving their name and e-mail address. Now you are automating building a relationship with your ideal demographic, adding extra value for your current client and, again, extending your free value line to the right. Want to see a good example of how this has been done? Visit DesignKrew.com

Online value-added strategy No. 4. Post on a blog. Truth is, people buy from people they know, like and trust. A blog offers you the opportunity to share more of you and your expertise in an ongoing format. If your visitor likes one blog post, she can scroll down to read others. The more you bring value via an ongoing blog post, the more you extend your free value line. Plus, every time you post content, the blog directories pick up your stuff and help drive traffic to you.

Further, when others comment on your postings, it becomes “social proof”–thus creating a community of people who know, like and trust you who are raving fans and will refer other people to your services and products.

The other piece about a blog is that your visitors tell you what they like and what they want, so you can set yourself up for great success and give them what they want! Wow, what a concept!

These four strategies are the most relevant to extending your free value line today online. Practice these time-tested formulas, and you will love the results. Plus, it is fun to be building relationships with your prospects and clients 24/7 via the online world, ‘cuz it never takes a vacation and is always working to extend your free value line even while you sleep!

6 Online Marketing Tips to More Biz By V. Summers

Read and learn. I preach these tips (and should follow them myself...) to all of my clients and it is excellent advice. But don't take my word for it.... Sharon

Ask savvy business owners today what they are doing to take their business to its next level in this current economic climate and you will soon find out it’s all about the online world. These peak performers have identified a golden opportunity to expand market share while also reducing cost through applying simple online marketing strategies. The most exciting part of this skyrocketing industry is that you can easily participate too!

Research tells us that there are more 1.5 billion–yes I said BILLION–online users today, and every three seconds someone new joins the internet community. Statistics tell us that in the next 10 years the online world will create more multimillionaires than ever in history. Will you and your business be one of them?

The funny thing is, once you know the formulas to online marketing, it all seems rather obvious. And every time you log onto your computer, whether it be to visit a website, read an e-mail or a blog, view video or tweet–you understand the online marketing strategies that you are viewing.

For one thing, you can see the mistakes other business owners are making with their online marketing that is costing them time, clients and, ultimately, MONEY.

To help you avoid making some of these costly mistakes, take a look at these six simple tips I put together for you:

KISS: Keep It Simple, Stupid is the acronym, right? Well, in the online world, “A Confused Mind Will Always Decline!” For example, something simple is your business e-mail address. You need to have an e-mail address that matches your business name. No yahoo or hotmail e-mail address such as, Jane@hotmail.com. If your business web site URL is www.janesmith.com, then your e-mail address should be something along the lines of jane@janesmith.com. What does your business card currently say?

Credibility. Build it, and they will come. You always want your business address, contact telephone number, fax number and e-mail address listed on every page of your website and all of your correspondence via e-mail, blog, Twitter, home page, etc. so your prospects and customers can find them easily. Don’t make them search for it. Why? Credibility. You want to build trust with your prospects and customers–to help them understand your product/service and that you are a real business. Let them know you really exist.

WIFM: What’s in it for me? Your website and online marketing efforts need to be geared toward WIFM. One of the biggest mistakes most people make with their online marketing efforts and website is that they make it all about themselves. Your site and correspondence needs to be about giving your ideal demographic of prospects and clients what they want as quickly and effectively as possible. For example, take a gander at your home page on your website today. It should have 75 percent “you” and 25 percent “we,” “I,” and “us.”

Have a professional picture. Branding yourself and your specific service and/or products is essential. Don’t scrimp on a great head shot that you believe will resonate with your ideal demographic. This head shot will be viewed multiple times in different areas on your site, e-zine, blog, video, social media networks, information products, etc. This picture is a representation of you and your business–and has the opportunity to quickly attract or turn off your online prospects and customers. If you don’t have one, make a plan to get one today.

Fonts. Use a single font on your online marketing promotions and website. Too many fonts and sizes will confuse the eye and make them difficult to read. Think of clean, clear and easily consumable when you think of your online promotions. Remember, if you make it difficult or distracting to consume your website content, e-zines, sales pages, blogs etc., you will most likely not have an impact with your online marketing efforts.

No “know, like and trust” to be found. This is a big doozy for many folks who jump online and start sending out random promotions or post a website that is really just one big, fat brochure. Old-school mistakes. In the online world, one of the secrets to success is building your “know, like and trust” factor with your prospects and clients. One of the easiest ways to do this, but least often used, is getting a little personal. Most businesses completely miss the boat on this one. It’s all business with no personal, “humanistic” note. My students have told me the first thing they read is my little personal note when they open their Insights issue each week.

As a business owner, you have surely experienced countless times that people buy from people they know, like and trust. So go ahead, get a little personal and let your prospects and clients know, like and trust you a little bit more.

8 Quick Tips To Improve Your Website By V. Summers

As a business owner, you have an incredible opportunity to get it together when it comes to your website being a key tool to generate traffic, appeal to visitors and, ultimately, provide a powerful gateway to more clients + sales along with more revenue + profit.

So, if you aren’t generating biz from your website, here are a few tweaks you could make to enjoy more traffic and appeal much more to your audience:

1. Valuable content hidden “below the fold.” Research tells us you have seconds to capture your website visitor’s attention. If your visitors need to scroll down your home page to view valuable content about your services and/or products, you’ll most likely lose them. Similarly, if you have a call to action to subscribe to your e-newsletter or blog (which, good God, I hope you do!), place it where it will be visible without scrolling down the page.

2. Jumbled page. Some websites have too much going on; they look unprofessional and, quite frankly, like a hodgepodge of different things lumped onto one site. Others have ads that fill every nook and cranny. What can I say? Such sites are overwhelming.

Today, as small-business owners, you have the incredible opportunity like never before in history to have an online presence for little cost that competes successfully with the biggest players in your industry. Ensuring you have a website, brand and overall look that are professional and uncluttered is essential to driving big sales and big business through your website!


3. No call to action. What do you want your visitors to do when they visit your site? To subscribe? To call your business for more information or an appointment? To leave a blog comment? To buy? Your job is not to give everything you have; your job is to give your visitor enough to take the next step.

Let them know what to expect and, if your request is reasonable, they may very well comply. If you don’t ask, they may not know what to do, and they’ll leave–perhaps forever–without taking action.

4. Distracting ads. Unless you are going to rake in big bucks with pop-up ads, blinking ads, glaring banners, sexy ads, etc.–just leave them off your precious web pages. Why water down your message and brand with these type of ads that yield little ROI?
Remember the saying “KISS’–Keep It Simple, Stupid.” There’s something to it when it comes to ensuring that your website makes you money! If your ads are your content, then please disregard everything you’ve read on this blog.

5. Making it all about you. The old broken-down model of websites for us business owners is one that somewhat mirrors a print brochure and, sadly, a lot of business owners have yet to get the “WIFM” online marketing memo. Meaning, ‘What’s in it for me?’

How many “I’s” and “we’s” do you have on your website’s home page vs. “you’s”? Communicating to your visitor in a value-added direct tone that makes it all about them by emphasizing the “you’s” is a key ingredient to any successful online presence. In fact, go count the “you’s” now on your home page–there should be a ratio of at least 75 percent “you’s” vs. 25 percent” I’s” and “we’s.” Be prepared to be awakened to quick, powerful shifts you can make ASAP with your home page to begin!

6. Difficult to connect. Write for your ideal demographic only. I am not seeking to connect with everyone; I am seeking to connect with entrepreneurs who are committed to growing their sales and revenue and to being more profitable –oh, and are interested in using the internet to help support growth, too. If you visited my website and you are not an entrepreneur or at least not one looking for new marketing and business success solutions–you will not stay on the site very long.

However, if you are my target market, you will stay and most likely subscribe to our e-newsletter list–yep, our “call to action.” That’s what research shows via our analytics.

7. Spelling and grammar mistakes. There ain’t no excuse for bad spellin and grammar. However, I would be fibbing if I told you we haven’t had typos on our home page before, ‘cuz we have.

But you want to do your best to have a system to continually check for these errors on an ongoing basis. We happen to love Microsoft Word in this office and are continually running new content through the program to ensure that we address these errors. Like right now, as I write this article for you!

8. Old content. Fresh content is good for driving traffic via search engine optimization, as Google rewards you for “fresh, relevant, good quality content” and for attracting repeat visitors, along with more business. Think about it, do you really want to work with a company that has old content that looks circa 1999?

The more you see a business grow and innovate, doesn’t it attract you to want to do more business with it? If a business has content that appears the most relevant to your needs today in this current market cycle, doesn’t it also create a level of immediate trust that the business knows what it is doing with its products and/or services? That it is a true expert at what it does?

Your website is kind of like your credit score, in that it’s a moving picture, not stagnant. The more effort you put into it being great, the more business it will drive for you and fuel your overall company growth. You need to remember, as you expand your online presence, that your website will expand with you.

You will learn more about what does and does not work. What to upgrade and what to let go of. This is the beauty of the internet; it is always changing, and it is always open for business. Make a plan to implement these steps and re-review your site on an ongoing basis (i.e., every 30 to 90 days at minimum) to ensure that it upgrades with you as you grow your business.

4 start-up mistakes you must avoid By Steve Strauss for USA TODAY

Q: Steve – I have been watching the start-up series you are part of at USA TODAY. I was wondering if there are any typical mistakes that you see start-ups make that I can avoid. I am new to this entrepreneurship thing. Thank you — Asa


A: It is never fun to make a mistake in business, even if they are inevitable. And worse, mistakes are both more prevalent and more dangerous during the start-up phase of your business because your idea has yet to be fully cooked; the start-up period is, unfortunately, usually the 'error' part of a 'trial and error' phase for you business.

That said, even though mistakes are to be expected, they need not be crippling, or even negative. Not a few entrepreneurs have stumbled into success when they discover ways to make money in their business that they didn't know were possible. For instance, Dr. Spencer Silver was trying to create a super sticky glue for his employer, 3M, when he mistakenly came up with an adhesive that was instead sort-of sticky. What to do with somewhat sticky glue? 3M created the Post-it note, that's what.

So no, not all mistakes are bad mistakes.

But there are some mistakes that can and should be avoided as you start your business:

1. Taking on too much debt: Most entrepreneurs have to take on some debt to fund the dream. That is expected and fine. But you simply must 1) keep that indebtedness to a minimum, and 2) have a plan for paying it back from the get-go.

It will take a while for that new business to begin to generate revenue, and while that happens your debt load will increase due to interest. And the bigger it grows, the more it threatens the lifeblood of your business, your cash flow. Keep your debt low and get out from under as soon as possible.

2. Having no marketing plan: As I am wont to say, starting a new business is like being alone in a dark room – you know you are there but no one else does. The only way to turn on the light, the only way to get people to know you are out there, is through marketing and advertising.

It need not be expensive. There are scores of ways to get the word out without breaking the bank – everything from tweeting to flyers to creating a viral video can work. In fact, over at my site, www.MrAllBiz.com, I offer a webinar called Marketing on a Shoestring (click "Webinars" on the homepage).

Market and advertise your business, and then do it some more.

3. Not choosing well: This may sound a little amorphous, but it's not – it has to do with looking before leaping, and that is always a good idea in business. For instance, some people get so excited about a business idea that they don't really stand back and give it the proper, objective analysis they should. .. and then, for instance, they are surprised that the rent at their store in the mall makes turning a profit quite challenging, or that this franchisor is hell to work with.

Other examples of not choosing well include:

•Partners: Before going into business with someone, do a project or two together. See if your styles are compatible. See if you think about money and growth the same way.

•Vendors: A contract with a bad vendor can doom your business.

•Bad location: It could be too expensive, or maybe it is too off the beaten path.

Choose wisely, grasshopper.

4. Not having a great team: There are 20 million businesses in this country that are one-person endeavors – solo practitioners, freelancers, independent contractors and so on. That is all well and good, but it still does not mean that you have to be totally on your own, and you shouldn't be. The problem with being too independent is that there is not another person around to give you feedback and share the work.

So the important lesson here is to take advantage of the help that is out there:

• The Small Business Administration (SBA) and its Related Small Business Development Centers (SBDCs) offer tons of no-cost and low-cost counseling and seminars.

• SCORE does this too.

• Business schools need businesses with which they can place interns.

• Part-time employees can be hired inexpensibvely.

• Business associates can become an informal board of advisors. Other entrepreneurs can become part of your mastermind group.

Mistakes may be inevitable, but these ones are not.

Making Your Point... Quickly

This article, by Will Craig, is short and sweet and....well...to the point! With Facebook and Twitter and all of the other social media out there you only have a few key strokes in order to capture your audiences' attention before you run out of space. Time is valuable to everyone these days and if you can remember these 4 simple rules you will be able to say what you mean, speak in a language that will be comprehended and remembered and be successful in getting YOUR point a crossed!

Sharon LaMothe
Infertility Answers, Inc.
http://infertilityanswers.org/
LaMothe Services, LLC
http://lamotheservices.com/



Hubbard Glacier July 2009

Making Your Point... Quickly


by Will Craig

The media has changed the way we communicate. If you plan to hold an audience -even an audience of one- you must now think in terms of brevity, pacing, and distinctive language. Below is a formula used by television producers to write 30-second commercials. Keep in mind, this is the language of people who only have a half a minute to sell you something.

Hook
Something used to specifically gain attention, i.e.: headlines in a newspaper, TV and radio "teases," chapter titles in a book. What is the most fascinating, unusual, striking, or funny aspect of your message? That's your hook. Put it up front!

Build Up
Who, what, when, where, and how. Just like the news story that follows the dramatic headline. This is where you explain, reinforce, and prove your point.

Payoff
This is where you drive your point home, ask for the order, or close the deal. This is the reason for the message. The hook and the build up allow you to make your point with impact.

The Point (in thirty seconds)
We live in a headline society. If you can't bottom line your thinking, you won't be a top line success. Everyday your success is being determined by how well you communicate. Marshall McLuhan said, "The medium is the message." In this case, the medium is you. You telecast your own messages and the ratings you receive from your audience determine your success in life.