I’ve posted a contest over at 99designs.com and I’m inviting you to submit your best work. Winner gets $300 bucks.

But even better, if your design is selected as the winner, there is a very good chance that I’ll have more and more work for you - work that will be offered exclusively to you first.

My last graphic designer wasn’t reliable, so I had to fire him. Are you reliable and good at what you do? Here’s your chance to make money- both now and in the future.

Friday is the kids’ last day of school. It’s a half day - they’re off at 11:30. So I took the day off. I’ve got a 9AM meeting, then going to go pick up the kids and take them to do something fun.

Someone suggested that I take them to Purina Farms, just about 45 minutes or so from the house. Sounds fun.

So today I looked up their info, and got a nice little surprise. Page not found? Ouch.

As more and more people go online to look for local deals, check out products online before buying locally, etc, it is becoming more and more imperative that your website gives more than just information about your products.  Getting them to your website is a great first step.  More traffic means more face-time with potential customers.  More face-time means better branding. It’s all good, but it isn’t all paying the bills.

In order to pay the bills, you need conversions. 1000 people to your website doesn’t guarantee 100 or even 10 sales.  Once they see your products, are they engaged to find out more?  No?  Why not?

Every single product page on your website should have some sort of ‘find out more’ button.

• Click here to find out more about our blue widget
• Want more info? We’re glad to help
• Need a blue widget for your home? Let us find you the right one

Something needs to encourage them to click.  And once they click, they provide their email, phone or other way of contacting them.  Now you’ve turned that casual visitor into a warm lead - and you’ve got a way to communicate with the customer, thus fortifying your position as the subject matter expert of blue widgets (assuming you really know what you’re talking about).

Engage the visitor with a button on each product page.  Try to make the subsequent form that they fill out as short as possible, and with a little fancy coding you can even put the name of the item in the form for them.  Make it easy, thank them once they submit the form, and make sure you get back with them in a decent amount of time.

Personally I dump all of these inquiries to a database where I can keep track of them, and I also note down their referrer if its available.  I email myself (web designer) and the store owner a copy of the inquiry so they can follow up quickly.  Lastly, I send a thank you email, customized with the product name, to the potential customer.  Another opportunity to get my clients brand in front of them.

What are you doing with the visitors to your site?  Don’t just sit back and expect them to call.  Engage them, get some info from them, and provide outstanding customer service.  Even if they don’t end up buying from you, you still had the opportunity to make more of an impression on them, and that’s worth a lot.

Wanted to say hi to DeWayne and Jennifer over at Premier Shutters and Blinds. They do custom window treatments in St. Louis and attended my final SEO class this week.

Also a shout out to Howard with the Big Missouri Biker Bash.  He’s working on marketing a website for a huge biker rally in Saint Louis.  It looks like a fun weekend!

Thanks for coming to my class, folks!

Donny Deutsch’s show The Big Idea is one of my absolute favorites to watch.  He’s very inspiring and just keeps on truckin’ day after day with his “you can do it” attitude.

The only thing about his show that irks me is that he never has people on there that simply provide services. All of his guests for the ‘Minute to Millions’ segments (and others) are people with real physical products to sell.  Sure, it makes better television when people can see what they’re buying, but he’s missing an entire part of the business world - services!

Funny thing is, he’s an ex-marketing exec.  Marketing is a service industry!

C’mon Donny, have me on your show.  Let’s show SMBs that there’s more than just having the product.  You’ve gotta market that thing through conventional and online media.  You’re alienating a ton of SMB owners who sell services!

Just a few examples:

• Plumbers
• Grass cutters
• Web Designers
• Taxis
• Printers

These businesses are important too!

Next Wednesday is the last time you’ll be able to attend my presentation at the local library on SEO.  After that, I’m hoping to hit the main stage at at least two events this year.

I love public speaking.  There’s a rush getting up in front of tens or hundreds or thousands of people and explaining something that you are passionate about.  I hope to be able to do that this year for SEO.  In particular, local SEO.  Its a hugely untapped market, and the potential for businesses to explode is there - if only they SMBs knew about it!

An open letter to all small and medium business (SMB) owners

Dear Mr. Business Owner,

I heard a rumor from a buddy of mine that you were currently thinking about getting a website going for your company. Congratulations - I think that is a wonderful thing! The future of your business very well may lie in the decisions that you make when building your website.

My buddy told me that you haven’t decided yet on an individual or company to do your website. He was asking me if I had any tips, which I do. I hope you don’t find my questions and tips too intrusive on your business, but if you want a truly functional and revenue-producing presence online, it’s going to be necessary.

1. Can you navigate the web easily?
   Sometimes I meet SMB owners who are a bit proactive online - just enough to get them through the things they need to do. They can do email and stumble through Yahoo! to find what they need. They aren’t the typical Internet user, in fact most SMB owners, in my opinion, are less computer savvy than the average Joe.
   You may want to consider taking some free classes at the local library or civic center on computers. Most of them offer keyboarding basics, Understanding the Internet, and even basic Word and Excel classes. Sign up for them all. It’ll help you and your web designer, I promise.
2. Speaking of designers, have you picked one out yet?
   You may have already started probing your business friends and family members about potential designers. Your cousin said that his neighbor’s boy is good with the Internet, so you’ve got one possible lead there. There’s also a guy in town that runs a local town-hall type website, maybe he could help you out too.
   Let me go ahead and say it now - hire a professional. Yeah, I know, they expect you to pay real money. Duh! If you bought a billboard down on the highway, would you ask your cousin’s neighbor to go paint something on it? I hope not!
   This is by far one of the most important decisions of the entire process. Choosing a web designer who can make a pretty website isn’t enough. You’re going to have to find one that understands the marketing end of web design, too. If you don’t you’re going to end up paying more in the long run. I’ll assume you don’t want to do that!
   Here are some things you should ask a potential designer:
   • Do you do keyword research prior to starting the site?
   • Do you use templates or design the site from scratch? (Using a template isn’t a deal-breaker, but it’s nice to know if your site will end up looking like other industry-related websites. You don’t want that.)
   • Do you build the framework prior to starting the design? If so, is it keyword specific?
   • Do you provide hosting, or can you refer me to a reliable hosting company? (yeah I did it)
   • After you build the site, are you done, or will there be monthly fees/maintenance? (If he says no, you may actually be in trouble!)
3. Are you committed?
   I recently had an appointment to meet with a guy who started a new taxi service in town, and he wanted a website. I talked to him a few times and we set a time to meet. Well, when I showed up, the guy was busy with another client. He told me to ‘wait here’ and he’d be back. Fifteen minutes later, I left.
   If you aren’t committed to getting a website, or you don’t have your $h!t in order, don’t waste your designer’s time. Shoving off your designer like that is like telling him/her you don’t value their time. Bad idea.
4. Speaking of commitment, are you committed for the long haul?
   Getting a cute little website up isn’t enough to run a business. Sure, you’ll have your own .com and you’ll think you’re great, but really - why are you building this site? To get accolades or to make money?
   If you aren’t willing to stick it out with monthly marketing fees/costs for at least a year, you may be simply helping out your competition. They’ll know in an instant that you aren’t serious, and they’ll steal all those hot leads that could have been yours.
5. Lastly, do you have someone that can provide content (or ‘copy’) to the designer?
   Nothing is worse than hiring someone to do a website and not providing them with one ounce of text to put on it. Do you think a web designer knows the first thing about your industry? Probably not. And it’s not their job to make stuff up. Its yours. So make sure you or someone on your staff can promptly provide information to your potential designer. Don’t make them wait.

Mr Business Owner, I really wish you the best with your endeavour. Don’t get discouraged by the overwhelming amount of pre-work that goes into getting a website.

Like your Dad probably told you, It’s better that you do it right, than do it twice.

Sincerely,

Will Hanke
WillHanke.com