Owner: The everyday marketing blog URL:http://www.joi.co.nz/BlogRetrieve.aspx?BlogID=45 Join Date: Mon, 19 Feb 2007 04:20:29 -0600 Rating:0 Site Description: What you can do today (right away) to win and retain clients Site statistics:Click here
the power of charisma 2007-02-19 01:00:00
Charisma. You either have it or you don't? well yes and no, you can build on it and you can certainly give your business some charisma
(it's easier to build charisma on the web). I watched the Last King of Scotland yesterday. The movie is based on the novel by Giles Foden and set in the 1970's this is the story about a young Scottish doctor who, in search of adventure, travels to Africa, where he becomes the personal physician and eventually the confidant of the charismatic but ruthless Ugandan dictator Idi Amin. Forrest Whitaker plays Idi Amin and is one of my favourite actors. In fact I watch any movie with him in it, he's a good actor and more importantly he has charisma. We've been talking to clients about building charisma into their websites via blogs, put 'you' out there and get in touch with like minded people, no one wants to deal with a blank piece of paper. Blogs are a good way to give your business an identity and it will really help you think - that's what writin Read more:power
How to make your efforts known - one idea 2007-02-18 01:00:00
If you recognize a problem and you're doing something about it, it's often a good idea to let your clients know that you are doing something about it, as it may not always be obvious.An interesting read from Marketing genius ...A friend told me about this today, and the story immediately made me want to share it with fellow marketing geniuses across the blogosphere. It's a great example of effective, low-cost direct marketing. It is also a case of "making lemonade out of lemons." Here in Charleston, our mall has been battling some negative publicity lately about thievery, break-ins and vandalism that has taken place inside their parking garages. To combat this they have stepped up security patrolling on site. The trouble is: no one sees the patrols most of the time. Moreover, no one notices when nothing happens. We do not notice when crime does not occur. The mall management company decided to place handbills on the windshields of the cars of mall shoppers. Not every car ... just
chance encounters and the best pizza 2007-02-16 01:00:00 I had the best pizza while on Holiday in Napier. It wasn't the perfect crust, generous cheese or fresh seafood that made the best pizza I've ever tasted (eventhough it had all that), it was Tony, the dude who made the pizza (who owns Antonio's pizza in Napier). We got to Antonio's Pizza at 11p.m, right after watching Blood Diamonds. Hungry, slightly disturbed and resigned to having cholesterol with bread and lettuce (McD's) we were happy to see a pizza place still open (pizza is healthy, mind food). It looked like any pizza place, old fashioned red checkered table cloth, sample pizza trays so you could pick the right size. And then there was Tony. The first time I saw Tony I thought, haha what a dead ringer for Billy Connolly. Then he started speaking and he even sounded like Billy Connolly. We ordered, sat at the table, Tony came by, lit a candle then stood by our table and started chatting (we were the only ones there). It turns out Tony was from NZ, but lived overseas most of h Read more:chance
Jazz festival at Mission Bay on the 16th Feb 2007-02-16 01:00:00 If you like Jazz (and you're in Auckland this Sat 17th Feb) there's a fantastic jazz festival on in Mission
Bay. Starts around 6.30ish till late. Last years was fantastic - some amazing! talent (and good food), leave early as parking is pretty bad. Also on Sat and Sunday the Devonport Food and Wine Festival. Chet Baker image from. Chet let's get .... lost. Read more:Jazz festival
A romantic idea - Linkedin 2007-02-14 01:00:00 I received this twice yesterday. funny. I like the idea of a customised ipod, I like the idea of a customised 'everything'. Anyway happy V day (I also like that it's called V day). If you've always wanted to know a little more about LinkedIn, Scott Allen has a good blog on - LinkedIn. Before you invite someone to your LinkedIn network, you must :1) Like them 2) Trust them3) Never use the standard invitation templates by Linkedin (write your own introduction)4) Read what Scott has to say on how to turn down a Linkedin request (politely) as it's an important part of growing your network. I can't think of a more romantic
way to say you rate someone by inviting them to be LinkedIn on V Day (kidding I think).
why be rude when you can be polite 2007-02-13 01:00:00
When someone frustrates you, it's so easy to fall back on being rude, it almost feels nice to tell them exactly what you think with any word that appropriately describes your feelings at the time. Very easy but not so smart. When dealing with another business being 'polite
' will save you a lot of time and get you what you want. The problem with being rude, it only makes you feel good for a minute then you have the great pleasure of watching an often self destructive domino effect. The person you are 'rude' to will naturally not be as helpful the next time, this will annoy you even more, so you'd probably get 'rude' again, this gets their back up, the next time they probably won't be too receptive to you again and what would you do? get even ruder. Well this could go on and on and of course eventually you'd tell everyone you know about this company that sucked. Then you'd move on to another company, one day they'd do something that annoys you and you'd get 'rude' again
Your clients don't care about what you want! 2007-02-12 01:00:00
Summer is definitely here! I had an outdoor meeting today, patting a very nice cat (office spaces are really changing - yay). We got to chatting about testimonials and how important they are to give you 'touchable' credibility on the web. My client didn't want any testimonials on his website though. His reason was " I cringe whenever I see testimonials on any website and it puts me off, as if you have to ask for testimonials and put them up that's tacky and just wrong". Everyone is entitled to their opinion and if testimonials put my client off then hey it does, nothing wrong there. BUT does it put his clients off? that was my argument, you may not like something but that doesn't mean your clients feel the same way. A year ago we were commissioned to design a website for an accountant, she liked pink, she wanted it girly, she wasn't just targeting women (that would have been a good niche). She was targeting new business owners - pink? I don't think so. She loved pink, some of
How to write without sounding self serving 2007-02-10 01:00:00
Michael writes :How can I write my title without sounding
self serving? This question comes up often.
David Eason, asks, "What is the best way to identify a problem and solution in a title without pointing fingers at competitors' equivalent products and without sounding like a press release for your own product?"
Simply put, do not mention your company or product in the title. It is also better to focus on benefits in titles rather than problems. For example, if you were selling high speed video processors that are 25 percent faster than the competition, you might want to say something like this: "Accelerating Video Processing: The Case for Next Generation Video Chips"
This would be preferable to some problem title, like "The Downside to Current Video Processors" or a company focused title, like "XYZ Chip's New Speed Processor Accelerates Video"
By focusing on benefits, you actually draw your reader in.
Watch who you get advice from 2007-02-09 01:00:00 When I first started Joi Design, you wouldn't believe how many 'well meaning' people said 'there are too many web designers around' 'you should just get a job and work your way up, running a business is hard'. And did I mention, these were well meaning people, there were some people who didn't mean well. If you are starting a new business, be prepared for comments that may sway you and just give you that hairy peach pit feeling (nice peach but you get to the end and argg what's that hairy bit!). The worse thing is, no matter how confident you are, a little bit of negativity may seep in, so its best to (from the start) choose very wisely comments to value and comments to think of as hairy pits. Yes, there are many web design companies around - but mine was going to be a brilliant web design company, and I wouldn't be doing it if I didn't think so. I was going to own a 'happy' business, help other businesses and make lots of money doing it, it was and is my plan. That's wha
We are the machine - web 2.0 2007-02-08 01:00:00 The story of Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us, best viewed with a glass of wine (needs sound), I'm sending my partner this for valentines day.
Your business self 2007-02-07 01:00:00 I met a guy today who wanted a website. He told me he had about a year to live but really wanted to do something, so instead of sitting at home waiting to die, he thought he'd continue working. He wanted to know if a website would bring him more work, I said yes. He was happy with that. Then I said but not in one year. It takes time to build up 'noise' around your website, by adding the right content, community and monitoring what people are doing on it. He then said "you know I've never had a website and everyone does, so I thought I should get one, I don't really want too much work from it". I sensed that he didn't really care if it brought him money, he wanted a website because everyone did, he didn't have long left and if a website was one of those things he wanted a 'first time' with, then he should get one - I didn't know him well enough to say that, now I wish I did. As you can guess, it's one of those meetings that really threw me off.In the last 4 years of running J
Adam on 'what is RSS' 2007-02-06 01:00:00 Adam Broadway is one of the clever guys behind a remarkable company called Business Catalyst. His human thoughts on 'what is RSS' below. And I know he's human, as I've actually met him ( pretty special to actually meet someone in person huh ).
There are two definitions to RSS! Depending on who you ask its either:
- Rich Site Summary (RSS)
- Really Simple Syndication (RSS)
Which ever definition you prefer, its a way of efficiently publishing news and information to be 'readily read'!
Think of RSS like your own private newspaper, and you turn to the pages you want to read using an "RSS reader".
The RSS Reader checks to see if there have been updates to any of the RSS feeds (contributors) you subscribe to! (Typically subscription to RSS content is FREE, but not always. And some RSS Readers are free, but not always.)
You know how you use a TV to view different 'Channels'. Well an RSS reader is like your TV set. You choose the channel you want to 'watch' and the TV set displa
How to nuke a potential client with one email 2007-02-02 01:00:00 I recently bumped into a unique promo tool that would really suit some of our clients. I wrote to the guys that produced the tool for pricing and samples. Dialogue below ...Dear Joi,Thank you very much for your interest in our new promotional product.
In the attachment you will find all required information about this product and if you would like us to provide you with samples please send me your transport account nr. and I will arrange the transport this week.best regards, Serge Note: that last line got me confused so I ignored it, but thought hey yes samples would be great, the product costs a minimum of 10k for the smallest quantity you can order, so I can't recommended it to my client based on pretty pictures alone can I?----------Hi Serge,
Some samples would be fantastic to show our clients, our address is POBOX 7229 Wellesley Street, Auckland City, New Zealand
Regards,Joi----------Serge's reply:
Please send me your Accountnr of the transport company you are working with (DHL T
That 18 year old will be your client soon 2007-02-01 01:00:00 Frequently, a client will say "I have an older target audience" "my clients don't really have computers". Well, you're not really future proofing your business if you're only thinking a few years ahead, that '18 year old' will be your client soon, are you preparing for that? MySpace was the top search term in 2006 not Pamela Anderson :) and it's not just teenagers who frequent MySpace (social networking sites). Read more and subscribe to Emarketer's newsletter for a good, quick look into web trends (thanks for the link Adam), Adam says: I don't have a blog, but I'm thinking about starting a new competitive craze for the web, called a Glob. It's an anagram of blog and the idea is that a Glob is something you want to say, but is stuck like a glob in the back of your throat! Never actually being heard or read. Everybody's 'Glob page' is then really easy to maintain!My friend Simon Young has a great blog and is very interesting when you catch him on messenger: read more on t
What's your bubble wrap strategy? 2007-02-20 01:00:00
Found this on Michael's blogIn today's mail a yellow envelope appeared. It was from CapitalOne Small Business Solutions.
The letter was among about 5 others in my box. I was about to toss it, until…
I felt the envelope and it appeared to have something inside. Perhaps a gift??
As I tore into it, I saw a sheet of paper with bubble-wrap glued to it??? The rest of the letter was an offer for a credit card.
Actually, I was impressed with the genius behind this direct mail piece.
WHY? Because CapitalOne knew I would most likely open the envelope if it appeared to have something valuable inside.
So, my question to you: What is your bubble-wrap strategy? What are you doing to get folks to open your emails, read your white papers, …? Does bubble-wrap cross the line?This is an age of junk messaging. You need to stand out.
How can you get folks to your materials? Let's hear what you have to say. (have your say on Michael's blog)rediscovered a fantastic song I have on loop - The Blo
how to say hello on email 2007-02-21 01:00:00 There are many things you can do on email and a few things you shouldn't:1) Don't write in CAPS as it's seen as shouting. I thought this was obvious, but we do have a number of clients who always write in caps, they don't mean to yell, they just don't realise.2) It's nice to say hi, so you could start a sentence with Hi Joi. If you're exchanging lots of emails on the same day then you can drop the hi and get straight to the point. Just like you wouldn't start every sentence with hi in person, on email its accepted as well.3) If you need to say something on email that can be taken the wrong way add a simple smiley :) so your reader knows you meant what you said on a softer note. Of course if you write in caps and then add a smiley, it will just be seen as sarcastic :)4) Don't go over the top with the smileys or it becomes less powerful5) Make sure you add a signature on every email with your full details, how many times have you looked for an email in your inbox just for contac
search engines do not like casual sex 2007-02-22 01:00:00
We sent this newsletter out recently, we've received tons of feedback and emails from it. One reply below :
Hi I sent you news item to a chum in the states here is his reply:
"Would you tell this man/woman that I can get ANY website in the upper half of the first page within 48 hours."
(He charges US$200 to do it). I don't want to get into the 'witchery' involved in doing the above, he needs to make that $200 reallllll fast it's not going to be a long term job. Do read the article and google more articles on social networking, book marking - read lots, it's the fastest way to find out what's changing and LOTS of things are changing when it comes to ranking, searching ... being ... Read more:casual sex
, engines
, search engines
Skype - for small businesses 2007-02-23 01:00:00
Dane Carlson on 3 ways to useSkype
for small businesses
1. Customer SupportGot a small business online? Want to offer some customer support without spending a fortune on telephony costs? Skype's graphical click-to-call SkypeMe buttons are ideal for this. Create your SkypeMe button (free account needed) and embed the code in your website, weblog, template, email, or wherever you want it to appear. When someone views your web page (or email message), the button will indicate whether you are online and accepting Skye calls, busy, or offline. If you're on the go and want to receive calls, just leave your Skype client running and set call forwarding.
2. Sell your ServicesYou've got information that other people can use, and with the Bitwine Skype add-on you'll be able to leverage that information into an income stream. Whether you're a lawyer, a mechanic, or a talented collector, there are people willing to pay for the information you have, and using Bitwine makes selling that i
Give me a human any day? 2007-02-26 01:00:00 I think I look like this portrait by Gavin Hurley (Auckland artist), minus the tan, add a moustache, it's pretty disturbing. The Duck Tape Marketing dude talks about the human
factor below (should you take it out of the equation?) ... A lot is made about the tacky GoDaddy ads that cause a stir during the Super Bowl each year. GoDaddy founder, Bob Parsons, has indeed landed on a way to get attention. By polarizing and even infuriating some portion of his market he is able to live off the buzz and capture the noise of the crowd.
But, in the Web 2.0 world we all live in, what really sets GoDaddy apart is people. Even someone like me, who enjoys a dysfunctional relationship with technology wants to pick of the phone and talk to a real live person when something goes wrong. GoDaddy gets this like few others.
Heed this warning Web2.0ers, when you scale, if you don't invest in people who can fix a client's problem, the end is near. GoDaddy has over 1,000 customer service reps who can and
bringing up your website 2007-02-27 01:00:00
My nephew Campbell, also known as (Cambo). He's 5 months old, every time I see him he looks different and does the strangest things. And his parents are hilarious/scary, the stories they tell about him range from pooping, teething and some other things I have blocked out.Websites are a little bit like babies. Grow with it, give it the right attention, at the right stages and you'll build yourself a well adjusted website
that everyone wants to play with. And people really need to play on your website, think of your website as a playroom, why would you choose one over the other - the toys. What toys do visitors to your website want to play with? Free whitepaper, subscription to your newsletter, information that sucks them in, the right images to keep things interesting. Babies aren't the only ones with a cute attention span, if you look around you, most grownups like being entertained - and played with.Campbell's mum, Kirsty is printing this blog entry out for his scrap book, it's
Thinking about increasing your prices? 2008-03-03 18:00:00 I found a great article by Bernadette Doyle, author of 'How to Charge What You're Worth and Get The Fees You Deserve', Bernadette helps self-employed and small businesses become Client Magnets! As obvious as it sounds, the trick to raising prices is confidence, her practical article below:
Last week I got two emails from subscribers about the same topic. "I need to increase my prices but I'm nervous about telling clients." The other said, "I'm really struggling with charging my new fee having increased it for the first time in three years. Logically I know it's quite OK and well within the band of what others charge, but I feel so uncomfortable...I know I'm putting people off when they phone because I cringe internally when they ask how much I charge."
The problem here is
Who are you 'nice' to? 2008-02-27 18:00:00 I had two clients email me today about an urgent job they needed done - ASAP meaning please drop everything else and do this for us now. They weren't being 'a pain' at all, I could see how it just came up and it would help them greatly if we could do it right away. The problem was, we only had a small window of time to take on any additional work, as we're working on several jobs that must be completed by the end of today. I looked at our schedule and realised we could only take on one of these ASAP jobs and the other one will have to be done tomorrow.I hit reply and started typing "Hi... sure send me the images and we can complete this in 2 hours..." then something made me stop. Of the two clients who emailed me, one has always been fantastic to deal with, always full
How to keep your subscribers - bloggers! 2008-02-16 18:00:00 I found this on the idiots guide to blogging, obvious things you can do to keep your subscribers - but hey obvious isn't always that obvious is it!Tips to retain subscribersProvide the best content possible. As long as your subscribers read and enjoy what you write, they will not unsubscribe. Be helpful. Be informative. Be whatever it is that made your readers subscribe in the first place.. and be consistent.
Write eye-catching headlines. Many subscribers decide which articles they want to read by choosing the headlines that appeal to them and skipping over the others. Write something that will grab their attention (but also tell them what the article is about).
Also, don't begin your headlines with the same word(s) all the time because the reader will begin to scan over similar ti Read more:bloggers
Owning a business and the air traffic controller 2008-02-12 18:00:00
As a business owner do you often feel like an air trafficcontroller
who gets no breaks for lunch because a plane may crash? When this happens, try focussing on what's important ...
" life has meaning, when we control it, rather than when it controls us.. "- Anonymously Known (and admired)image by wardomatic Read more:Owning
New Google search views 2008-02-02 18:00:00 Introducing experimental views
for search resultsPosted by Andrew Hogue, Uber Tech LeadThere have been a lot of recent improvements to web search, but the appearance of results themselves has been pretty constant -- 10 or so web pages in a vertical list. Frequently this is exactly the right format, but for some searches you need more options and more control. That's why we've created our experimental search page to let you try out some of our newest ideas.You may have noticed our "alternative views" experiment showcased last May. This lets you visualize your search results in new ways, and we'd like to highlight some of the features we've recently added.Map viewSuppose you're scouring the web trying to find out about math conferences happening in your state. Or you'd like to sit back and e Read more:Google
The Battle for screen real estate 2008-01-29 18:00:00 Designing web pages is challenging. Unlike almost any other media, a web design's integrity is compromised by the nature of a fluid medium. In other words, just because you want something to look a certain way doesn't guarantee it will — differing browsers, resolutions, screen
sizes, monitor calibrations and operating systems all distort the experience.
The one good habit I've picked up over the years: learn to compromise. Compromise, however, should be done intelligently and accountably.One of the more contentious issues in web design presents itself when deciding where specific elements should go and how much space they should occupy. This is especially true in cases where politics (read: Who's the most important person in the room?) rules. In print, such as in catalogs, they often loo Read more:Battle
People who live and work in small spaces ... 2008-01-27 18:00:00
... can apparently still have plants and flower pots now ... checkout this cutout of a vase that you lean against a water-glass with a flower in it. Makes me think of other things I can make cutouts of :) Tiny living is an interesting site for micro livingfound this on Read more:spaces
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