May 10, 2012
You never get a second chance to make a first impression—that’s why I’m sharing the secret contents of The Essential Office Tool Kit for Every Professional.
Don’t forget that your appearance is a reflection of your personal brand—a marketing tip that shouldn’t go unseen. I’ve always taken great care to have the following items in the drawers of my desk and I recommend that you do the same. It’s important to keep and have new business, not scare it away.
7 out of 10 dentists prefer one brand of toothpaste over another, but 10 out of 10 people prefer talking with other people who have fresh breath.
At one time or another you’ll have a meeting with a current or prospective client after the lunch hour. You’d be surprised at how a little bit of floss can go a long way toward making sure the people you interact with will be smiling at what you are saying, and not the piece of lettuce in between your teeth.
Your work environment is just waiting to sabotage your outfit at the most inopportune moments with lint and other unsightly debris. Before a big meeting or presentation, brush your suit jacket, dress shirt or top with a quick back and forth from a lint roller.
Don’t give the wrong impression by showing up to work—or to a meeting—with a filthy pair of dress shoes. Instant shoe wax (available in brown and black colors at most major supermarkets and other retail stores) will work wonders to give you a professional, polished look in a jiff.
Coffee stain from the morning? Spaghetti sauce from lunch make its way onto your outfit? A Tide To Go stick (or other instant stain remover) will work in a pinch. You don’t want your stain to become the focal point of any conversation, so eliminate it from the get-go!
You never know when an unexpected meeting or networking opportunity will pop up, which is why you’ll want to be looking your best and avoiding any unnecessary pitfalls along the way.
Are there any additional items you think we should add to The Essential Office Tool Kit for Every Professional? Let us know in the comments.
A few years ago, I wanted to take my daughter to see The Frick, a museum in New York City. I used to live in Manhattan and I wanted to share my passion for art and museums with her.
Before our trip, I went online and visited the museum’s website. The front page included a dated list of 4 or 5 upcoming events, including a link to the details highlighting an exhibit I knew she’d love.
Fresh, updated content like that is what gives your website vitality, the fifth required element of a viable nonprofit website.
Vitality is about creating the perception that your website is constantly evolving and changing. Obviously you’re not going to change all of your site’s content every day. But regularly updating the content on your homepage is a great way to ensure vitality and keep your website engaging and interesting.
One of the best ways to do this is by creating a team blog for your organization—it’s the single most effective way to regularly add new content, important for both vitality and SEO. I recommend assembling a team and rotating contributors by asking 5 or 6 key staff members to write a new post once a month. Just updating the content on the front page is enough to give visitors the sense that your organization is alive and active, not static and disconnected.
Did you know that the average person will subconsciously decide in less than five seconds if they’re going to click past your front page and/or bookmark your site to their “favorites” menu? This decision is based almost entirely upon the end-user’s perception of the site’s freshness of content.
Posting dated content a minimum of once per week is the silver bullet to vitality. Even if you can’t pull-off a blog, at the very least put together a database of 52 inspirational “thoughts of the week” and have them automatically post every Monday. Even the most novice of web developers can make that happen.
A website that feels fresh will cover-up many other mistakes. Implementing a strategy to increase your site’s vitality has a huge ROI. Get on it today.
May 2, 2012
Mother’s Day is just around the corner, and what better way to celebrate than with a marketing campaign that actually “gets” her?
At 80 million strong, Baby Boomers are the largest generational demographic today. And among Boomers, women outnumber men and they influence as much as 80 percent of household purchases. According to eMarketer, Boomers spend more time and money online than any other demographic.
But here’s what doesn’t make sense—this segment is largely ignored by marketers and advertisers. Many marketers are still wooing the younger, less wealthy consumer markets, and the advertising industry has been slow to update stereotypes of aging and women. That’s too bad because Baby Boomer women are a savvy group of consumers with lots of money to spend.
If you want to capture your share of the Boomer pie, you need to understand these smart and successful women controlling the purse strings. If you don’t, they’ll find someone who does.
Here are some important insights.
Fifty is. Boomer women are aging, but they still cringe at the word “senior.” She’s not trying to be 20-something again, but she doesn’t connect with the stereotype of an elderly grandma, either. Focus your brand messaging on youthful attitudes, embracing your age, wisdom from experience and inner beauty. Hint: Think Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty. Big success.
Many are reaching the peak of their careers and earning potential. The number of businesses owned by women is growing at twice the rate of all U.S. firms. Understand female entrepreneurs and what they need, and you can reach your share of this market. For example, women business owners are more likely than men to rely on the Internet for their entrepreneurial success. What can your company offer to help them succeed?
For a multi-tasking woman, the Internet is not a toy—it’s a tool. Websites that customize information to her needs, recommend relevant products or offer expert advice will win her over. Some marketers falsely assume that women over 50 are not tech savvy. News flash—they are, more than you probably know.
The Boomer generation is huge, spanning a total of 18 years. Some Boomers are empty nesters, but others are in their 40s with children at home. These two groups have different needs. Don’t assume that just one marketing approach will resonate with this broad demographic. Identify which segment you want to target, and craft your marketing message with their needs in mind.
Are women—specifically Baby Boomers—a part of your target market? How have you successfully connected with them?
Functionality refers to the online tools that make it possible, and in some cases even necessary, for constituents to connect with nonprofits via their website. Providing effective online tools is a challenge for many nonprofits, but is one of the most important aspects of creating an engaging web presence.
Nonprofit websites have tools built into them that allow constituents, donors, volunteers, board members and prospects to interact with the organization. These tools give end-users the ability to make donations, view an event calendar, register for an event, sign up to volunteer or maybe even access a private area available only to key people. All of these tools comprise a website’s functionality, and it’s crucial that a site provides functionality for all different types of end-users.
Let’s say I’m on the board of directors of an organization, and I’m traveling during an important board meeting. No matter where I am, I should be able to connect to the Internet and access a web page that includes the minutes from that day’s meeting—maybe even chat with other board members. I’m a much more effective board member when I can stay engaged and connected with the organization I’m serving. Proper functionality is crucial that way.
One example of an important online tool that every nonprofit should have is email marketing. The third party tools on the market today are easy to use, inexpensive, and have a high rate of return. Plus, it’s so easy to measure results. If you don’t have a “Subscribe” button on your homepage and the ability to capture visitors’ email addresses, you’re missing out on an important opportunity.
Evaluate your site’s tools and be sure the functionality is meeting the needs of your users. Your website can look great and serve up interesting content—but if it doesn’t provide engaging tools, your visitors won’t stay long and are less likely to come back.
April 25, 2012
With the rise of the Internet, it’s getting harder and harder to keep up with social media trends. New social networks are popping up faster than a Mafia Wars request on Facebook.
Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn and now we have Pinterest. So we want to know—which social network is most valuable to your brand? You may have claimed your space in all of them, or maybe even none.
Loading ...Have more to say on the social networks that are valuable to your brand? Find freedom of speech below in the comments.
Content is king—we’ve all heard this stated before. And it’s true. But in today’s world, it might be more accurate to say, “context is king.”
Context is about providing information that is relevant and meaningful to site visitors. It’s not enough to just have words on a page. There’s so much content available to people online it can be overwhelming. But in order for the content to create a contextual connection, it needs to provide value by answering a question or informing a reader about something he or she didn’t already know.
Content typically takes the form of articles, blog posts or white papers. But it can also be an FAQ section or other resource heading. It’s important to understand the difference between content and copy. Copy guides us around on a site—like the section headers and page headlines. It’s necessary, but fluffly and meaningless. Content, on the other hand, is the soul of your website. It tells people about your organization, your people, your stories and how you’re making a difference in the world.
One organization that does a fantastic job providing relevant content is the Nonprofit Risk Management Center. They exist to help other nonprofits manage their risk online. They have a very diverse audience and do a great job of delivering content for the wide variety of users they serve.
Read through the content on your site and think about it from a user’s perspective—does it connect with the people you want to reach? Does it offer them something of value? These days, content is not king enough—context takes the crown, and if your content isn’t relevant, you need to reevaluate what you’re posting.
April 18, 2012
Ever wonder why you seem to see some brand’s or friend’s Facebook posts and not others? Well, it’s all thanks to Facebook’s EdgeRank Algorithm. This algorithm controls which posts are displayed in a Facebook user’s newsfeed. Just because your brand posts something, it doesn’t mean it will actually be displayed in your fans’ newsfeeds.
EdgeRank rewards brand pages based on the number of interactions (comments, likes, shares) a particular page or post receives. Posts with a lot of interaction are selected by this algorithm and displayed to the people who like the page. Posts that don’t receive a lot of likes, comments or shares aren’t rewarded, and the EdgeRank algorithm might not share that particular post in a Facebook user’s newsfeed (further hurting interaction and brand engagement).
The EdgeRank algorithm is specifically for Facebook users who have SORT BY: TOP STORIES (this is the default setting) for their newsfeed. Users who have selected their newsfeed to SORT BY: MOST RECENT don’t have to worry about EdgeRank deciding which posts are visible and which ones aren’t, because they will see all of their friends’ and liked brands’ Facebook posts, as they’re posted in chronological order.
To ensure your brand’s Facebook posts show up in your fans’ newsfeeds, you should keep five simple things in mind:
The more interaction you have, the more your posts will appear in your fans’ newsfeeds.
A majority of interaction occurs within the first hour of your post.
Mix it up by posting videos, photos, links to relevant articles or post a poll to increase interaction.
Questions welcome opinions and feedback, making it easier for your post to be viewed as valid and important by EdgeRank.
Reading long posts can be boring. Try to keep it Twitteresque with posts around 100 to 120 characters long.
As with most things on the Internet, formulas are constantly changing—so do your best to engage your audience and interact with them online, and your posts will retain visibility and relevance.
What are you doing now to get interaction on your brand’s Facebook Page?
I’m visually wired and right-brained—I love creative expression. So when it comes to the five required elements of a viable website, design is my favorite one to talk about.
The idea of design has been around since man started drawing on cave walls. Look around you right now. Everything in the room, from the chair you’re sitting on to the light fixtures to the floor covering—all of that was designed for a reason. It was created with a purpose in mind. Sometimes it’s aesthetic. Sometimes it’s functional. Hopefully, it’s both.
Your website should be no different. It should be designed so that it’s clean, simple and straightforward. But even more than that, your website should tell the story of your organization.
Let me give you an example. There is an organization called EDSF, or Electronic Document Scholarship Foundation. By just hearing the name, most think, “What’s that?” The name doesn’t really tell the story. But their website does. Immediately when you get to their homepage, you see pictures of students, three buttons labeled Donate, Scholarships and Education, and a headline that reads “Establish a Scholarship in your Company’s Name At the School of Your Choice.”
The combination of the images, the site’s navigation buttons and headlines all tell you that this is an organization dedicated to providing scholarships to students. Read a little further, and you find out that they are about providing scholarships specifically for those studying in the document management and graphic communications industry. Within a matter of seconds, I know what this organization is about, who they serve and what their story is, simply because they do a fantastic job of designing their site with a purpose in mind.
What about your website—does it tell the story of your organization? If visitors can’t tell what you’re about when they hit your homepage, then your site’s design may need a little creative help.
April 10, 2012
The real success is in what happens after a visitor clicks on your ad. Here are five things you must consider to make sure you have a shot at making them a customer.
It’s easy to get tunnel vision and become obsessed about your PPC campaign, but let’s be real here. None of it matters if a person clicks on your ad and then hates your website. Have clear navigation, stimulating visuals (no, not flash), and make sure your site doesn’t look like it was made in 1998. People do judge websites by their covers. If your website is old, ugly, or not user-friendly, forget about a pay-per-click campaign. You have more important things to do first.
Your home page doesn’t count. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen well-written, targeted, and well-performing ads go to the home page. This is a mistake almost all of the time. By pushing your visitor to the home page, you are not giving any clear direction where they should go to find the information they were looking for in the first place. The longer they have to look, the higher the chances you will lose them—so make a clear and concise landing page strictly about what your keyword and ad are all about.
Ideally, the information you provide them will be exactly what they are looking for, so make sure they know what they need to do next. It’s easy to get lost inside of a website, so make sure you have a call to action, whether it is to purchase an item, view a gallery, watch a video, or fill out a form. In the online marketing world, we call this a “conversion.” You will make the most of your PPC money if you can engage the visitor by offering useful information and resources so they can become your customer now, or in the near future.
If your ad says they get 20 percent off their purchase, make sure it is clear on your landing page about how they get that offer. If you don’t, end users will feel like they were tricked and could leave your website flustered without ever coming back. So, this means you paid to get someone mad at you. I think there are better ways to spend your money.
Try different headlines, change the number of fields you ask in your request form, and test the length of text on your page. You’d be surprised at what small changes can have on the effectiveness and success of your conversions.
Do you have any tips or tricks you’ve learned about landing pages? Feel free to share them in the comments below.
Have you ever asked people in your target audience, “If we were to build the perfect website, what would it look like?” This is crucial––that we understand what the end user is looking for in our website. After all, we’re building it for them, not for us.
Over the next five posts, I’m going to talk about the five required elements of a viable website, something every nonprofit needs to consider as they evaluate their own website.
The first element is structure––this is how a website is put together. Our sites should be built so the end user can intuitively find their way around. It shouldn’t feel like they’re solving a puzzle.
Far too often, nonprofits put a site together from the point of view of an insider. They structure their website according to how they see their organization internally. The problem with this is that the target audience may approach the website differently. If it’s not designed with the end user in mind, they’ll get confused and frustrated and leave.
A well designed website will contain options, including several ways to navigate your site. Helpful navigation tools include a pull-down menu, a search tool and a site map.
• The pull-down menu is simply a navigational menu bar that a user clicks on to see all the major sections of your site.
• A site map makes it easy to see everything on your website in one place. Savvy Internet users will look for a site map first thing when they get to a new website––they know they’re going to find what they’re looking for more quickly.
• A search tool allows users to search for something specific on your website. Google offers a custom search engine specifically for nonprofits to use on their sites, so be sure to check that out if you haven’t already.
The key to good structure and navigation is to ensure that any user on your site can get from wherever they are—to wherever they want to be in three or fewer clicks. Test this out on your organization’s site. More than three clicks, and your site’s navigation needs work.
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