This summer, on Wednesdays and Thursdays at the Wehrenberg theater in Arnold Missouri, you can bring your kid and watch a kid-themed movie for free.  First come, first served, no rainchecks.

What a brilliant idea.  Their marketing team hit this nail on the head.

• Moms (and Dads) can give their kids something to do during summer break
• Moms (and Dads) will spend money on snacks
• The theater makes money that otherwise would have never been made by opening the theater at ‘off times’ that they are normally not open
• Families are exposed to the theater’s branding and a positive experience (free for the parents, fun for the kids)

This is the kind of thinking that most marketing people don’t get.  Or worse yet, upper management freaks out at the word “free”.  Thing is, they’ll be way ahead on this deal by offering these free movies.  Good move, Wehrenberg!

Every designer screws up. Somewhere in that ever-growing website of yours is a link that goes to a page that doesn’t exist. Perhaps the designer fat-fingered it. Maybe he made a link with the intention of making the new page. Whatever it is, its fubar’d now.

So in the very likely event that a customer clicks on that link, and gets the generic 404 page from their browser, its your designer (or you, if you’re the designer) who gets the credit for losing that customer. Bad bad.

I’m sure you’re not interested in losing customers, not even one. So make sure you have a 404 page that’s not only there, but one that’s helpful too. Here are some tips to make the page better.

• Match the layout with your current site
  Make the page look like any other page on your website, but with a nice little message that tells the user that they’ve encountered a page that doesn’t exist. Match the headings, the text size, everything. Basically we’re going for a page that looks nothing like the big bad error that it is.
• Notify the User of the Error
  This would be a good time to explain that someone screwed up (you may want to put it a little kinder than that). Assure the visitor that this isn’t a common happening. You could even go a little further and tell the user that someone has already been notified about the bad link (which your designer/SEO will see in any server log/analytics report or on Google Webmaster Tools) (also see this script for emailing the webmaster important info)
• Give the User Some Options
  Don’t just tell the user the page is gone, give them some fodder to help them figure out what you screwed up.
  • If you’re a good coder, you can perhaps take apart the bad URL and suck some keywords out of it, do a search for related pages and list those for the visitor
  • Give them a nudge to use the search box (which you’ve included on the 404 page)
  • Provide them with a nice sitemap that gives them plenty of options to find what they were looking for in the first place (see Apple’s 404 for a great example)
• Put Your Contact Info on the Page
  Good lord, do I have to tell you this? Assuming its not already in your header, give them a way to contact you. This may be a good thing, as you’ll find out immediately about the broken link, and you’ll also have a warm lead that you can coddle and caress to your hearts delight.

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.

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

With your business doing great, and the revenues up, who has time for customers? I mean, all they do is complain and ask you to show them things - and you’ve got better things to do, right?

Truth is, you’d better make time for customers. Beyond the obvious ‘They’re the ones paying the bills‘ there are many other reasons to pay attention to them.

Take Seth Godin’s post today about answering the phone. True, the most important job in a business just could be answering the phone. I’m the first to admit that I don’t always do this right, but I’m getting better. The phone answerer for some small businesses is also the owner, so what Seth says about the lowly being the ones doing the groundwork isn’t always true. Nonetheless you get the idea.

Customers come to you for a reason. Perhaps they liked your storefront. Perhaps they thought your sign or a recent flyer was pretty. Maybe they were referred by a friend who told them to ‘just go up there’. Maybe they stumbled across your website and liked what they saw (and by that I mean physically liked it, the layout, the colors, the ease of navigation).  The reasons may be fickle, but as soon as they walk in, your opportunity is huge.

No matter the reason, they came - and they want (in most cases) to give you money. And in many cases, this may be their first time to your store. You’ve been coming there for years, day after day.  You’ve noticed (but ignored) the cobwebs on your AC unit. You’ve seen the dirty and scuffed floors from all the product you’ve been moving in and out. (Those darn boots!) You’ve noticed (but ignored) that odor that the furnace puts out every winter.

But the customers notice. They aren’t just there to purchase something, they are there for the experience. The shopping experience (particularly for higher value items) is an adventure. Spending any amount of money needs to be pleasant and fun. It’s exhilarating to spend, and you should cater to that.

Mr. and Mrs. Small Business Owner, take a minute to step back today. Check out the place from a customer’s point of view. Start in the parking lot, examine the front door, and enter with your eyes darting around. Try to see what they see. Visit your business as an experience, not as your job. Ask customers to fill out a survey, not just about the satisfaction of their product, but of the entire experience.

And speaking of satisfaction, if you really want to be proactive, ask them for suggestions.

The board members at Starbucks, the uber cool coffee company, noticed a downward trend in their customer satisfaction (probably judged primarily by their declining sales). So instead of selling off their stock, or going to some marketing company that can pull together a whiz-bang campaign, they went to their own customers for ideas. They launched MyStarbucksIdea.com, a site where their customers can visit and submit new ideas to the coffee giant.  The website is doing great, and the ideas are pouring in.

Starbucks is listening to their customer.  And you know why?  Because as you’ve said a hundred times before, they pay the bills.