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March Newsletter

Welcome to our first newsletter for the year. The whistling winds of change can be heard in the distance. We hear the rumbling sounds of a slow down in the economy and, with an election impending, a certain restlessness has afflicted the populace.

It is times like this that the pessimists take flight, but the wise among us keep a calm and level head and look to the opportunities and, for example, how they can leverage their website to become a more effective sales and marketing channel for their businesses.

The difference between the pessimist and the wise is attitude.

In this newsletter:

• How to turn your website into an effectives sales and marketing channel for your business
• Significantly improved internet connection
• What impact will the new economy have on the bricks and mortar economy?
• "An absolutely barking mad offer"
• Can you help me please?
• Do you need more traffic to your website?

How to turn your website into an effective sales and marketing channel for your business

In our December issue I wrote that I would be running workshops at the Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce on “How to Turn Your Website into an Effective Sales and Marketing Channel for Your Business”. Well, these workshops are now running, and by the time you receive this newsletter we will have completed our second event.

My reason for running these seminars is because the Internet is having a greater impact on our lives with each passing day. This means that things will never be as they have been. It is resulting in a change to how people do things and run their lives. You may not particularly like this, but these changes are happening and will continue to happen regardless of whether you want it or not. The momentum is now unstoppable.

It is therefore more important than ever before to learn how to use your website and leverage it effectively for your business. Long gone are the days of just having a website. Now it is about learning to work the medium for your business advantage, of learning to service your customers in a different way and in a way that is convenient to them. These seminars are all about giving you the knowledge and the confidence to see what you can do, and what you need to do.

I would really love you to come along. But please remember, seats are strictly limited. Visit our website now to book your workshop.

These seminars are held at the Wellington Regional Chamber of Commerce, on Level 28 of the Majestic Centre, 100 Willis Street.

Next workshop:

Wednesday, 23 April, 5.00pm to 7.00pm

Significantly improved internet connection

You will recall that in January I wrote to you advising that because of the serious and continuing connectivity issues we had been facing with our upstream ISP, we had made the inevitable decision to change providers.

A change like this has to be carefully managed as there are so many variables to consider and things always take longer than you anticipate. It is not just like pulling out the plug and replacing it with another. I am happy to report that things generally went very well (and a big thanks to Lloyd, who managed most of the change over), but there were a few issues that we had overlooked. These related to the very few of our clients who manage their domain names themselves. To those who were affected in this way, please accept my apology.

No doubt you will have noticed, as I have, that we have had extremely good uptime since the change as well as significantly quicker access times as well.

What impact will the new economy have on the bricks and mortar economy?

Over the past couple of weeks I have been doing a bit of research and catching up on a few reports. One report was from AC Nielson and was looking at the uptake of broadband in New Zealand. There are a few interesting points that made me sit up straight.

In 2007, 24% of homes had a broadband connection, and 33% had a dialup connection (another 11% did not know what type of connection they had). The focus of the report was on these "broadbanders".

As a trend the survey indicated that those who have broadband, 63% had made at least one transaction during 2007, and 39% had spent more than $500 on purchases from New Zealand websites. These broadbanders are spending more and often that their dialup conterparts.

This year we will see the tipping point with the number of broadband home users exceeding dialup users.

Living for your customers convenience

What is really exciting is the implications that online spending activity will have over traditional forms of retailing. People are living busy lives and want the convenience to do things in their own time, not at a time determined by when a shop is open or not. It therefore probably stands to reason that stores that do not offer this type of online convenience will miss out, while those that do will reap the reward. However, it is not just about the selling online, but using the internet as a means to service your customers as well.

Well, that’s fine if you are selling products, but what about those who are selling services? Lets look at the bigger picture - not directly at the spending, but why people are spending online. The reason we are spending more on the internet is because of the convenience it brings, it enables us to do the things when we want.

A website makes it extraordinarily easy for you to engage with your visitors and tell them how you can provide the solutions they want. And, your website can be delivering that same message every hour of every day.

“An absolutely barking mad offer”

My friends tell me the numbers just don’t stack up and that I can’t afford to do it. But I have done it anyway!

Up until 18 April I am offering a free gift with every website we develop. As you will have probably realised, I am not the type of person to be messing around with something of the magnitude of a bottle of wine or a set of ginzu steak knives. I am talking of a gift that you will remember for a long time.

I do hate to say this, but as they say in the TV commercials, "But wait, there’s more!" I am offering you the choice of three valuable gifts to select from. As you will imagine with an offer like this there are some conditions, but nothing you would not expect.

And who said there was no such thing as a free lunch?

If you know of others who may be wanting a website, refer this very special offer to them. You may not get the free gift, but anyone who you refer, who gets a site developed by us, I will shout you to dinner for two at Café Istanbul.

To find out more about this very special offer, visit our website. But, please remember, this is a limited time offer.

Can you help me, please?

Later on this year I will be conducting some research that will include an examination of what search engines people use to search for information. In order to get an immediate feel, I would very much like your help. I have developed a small survey using surveyMaker in which I would like to find out what search engines you use and why.

Can you help me please, by clicking here (Sorry, no link available as this survey only open to recipients of our newsletter) to respond to the survey. There are only nine easy questions to answer and should take you no more than two minutes to complete. In the next edition of our newsletter I will give you the overall results. In the mean time, thanks for your help.

Taking part in this survey will also show you the versatility of surveyMaker. If you are interested in what surveyMaker can do, call me now and I will set you up with a demonstration account to try.

Do you need more traffic to your website?

Often when I talk to people about their website a regular topic is their need for more traffic (the need for their site to be optimised for high rankings on search engines). The reason why people say that they need more traffic is because they are getting little or no sales or enquiries from their site.

No one can deny that getting targeted and qualified traffic coming to your site is a good thing - and the more the better. But what is more important is what happens to the traffic that you already have got coming to your site. Why are these people leaving?

There is no problem about increasing the volume of targeted and qualified traffic coming to your site. But, if you cannot convert any of the traffic coming to your site now, what makes you think you are going to be any more successful when we increase the volume of traffic?

Turning lookers into buyers starts with the content or your website. Your content must engage your visitor, it must understand and answer their questions and show that you have the ability to solve their problems.

You need to remember:

• No one is going to buy from you if they are not sure that you understand and can solve their problems.
• Content is King! Targeted content is the means by which you tell your visitors that you understand their issues and can solve their problems.