Consider this statement;

“Price is only an issue when there’s nothing else to talk about”.

In many markets, there is nothing else to talk about. A Samsung 80cm TV for instance, is always a Samsung 80cm TV.  So if you’re buying one, price is probably an issue and with the price varying from $490 to $600 it might pay you to show around. 

Price and budget are different. If budget is your key consideration, value for money is the determinant. So if you budget $1,000 for your new TV  you’re going overlook models that are above $1,000. You will find the one you consider to be the best value for your $1,000. The problem is that, at least initially, most people don’t have a budget and need to spend some time sussing out the market to see what their money can buy. This is the research stage and a time when, as the vendor, you’re unlikely to make the sale.

Your research may reveal that you have over budgeted and you only need to spend $895, however if you find you can’t get what you want for $1,000 then you have to either increase the budget or decide which features you’re happy to do without.

So then, when you’re looking to hire a designer for print and / or web design, how do you decide what your determinates are? How do you know if they’re any good, and more especially, how do you know they’re right for you?

Everybody has a friend or family member who does design work. Everybody figures they can get it done at mate’s rates if they go to that person. But if you’re a stable, conservative company and the “friend” has a flair for design but is commercially naive, they could probably build you an attractive website that doesn’t work for your audience; the chances are that you’re not compatible. Using them to save a few bucks, or because you feel obligated to, would be a big mistake.

Thre are many considerations in making this decision, and I’m indebted to folyo.me for providing the most succinct article on this topic I’ve ever read.

Here are the summary points…

• Look at the designer’s previous work to see if you like their style.
• Look at their design structure, it’s not just about how it looks, a better question to ask yourself is, “Does it work from a user experience perspective and will it get you the result you want?”
• Is the design justifiable? In other words, can they explain clearly why they did what they did?
• Is their style and your idea on the same page? (Refer my example above.)
• Can we communicate with each other?
• What is their level of experience? Do they have the right expertise?
• Are they passionate about their work?

There is no answer to the question, “How much is a website?” There are so many variables and it’s not just the number of pages either. I know of companies offering sites from $30 per month and I know of companies who won’t talk to you unless you have at least a $25,000 budget. The best answer I can give to that question is “It depends on what you want”.

From my perspective, I want to know if you’re happy with a single page design meaning each page looks exactly the same, or if you want the pages to look different as do the pages on this site. I want to know about your products or services, your marketplace, your target marketplace; your purpose for building the site, how the website fits into your overall marketing plan and more.

Plus I want to know if we’re compatible. If you’re looking for a grunge design, we’re wrong for each other! Our target audience is bricks and mortar businesses. If that’s who you are, and if you’re looking for a designer who knows how to represent you as a strong, serious, ethical operator, and knows how to help you make the sale, we need to talk!

Call us on 1300 884 757 or drop a note via the form.

The office will be unattended from 4pm Thursday December 22 until 8.30am Monday January 9, 2012 although emails and messages will be checked daily except on weekends and public holidays.

We wish all of you a very merry Christmas and good fortune and success into 2012.

Here’s a list of topics we covered:

• The 3 most important questions you need to ask before you can make any sales.
• The process James has used successfully to land new clients.
• How he doubled and quadrupled the revenue of his clients’ business.
• What consultants really need to consider when setting their fees.
• The best way to discover what you’re really good at.
• How to target and approach the right people to increase your chance of closing the sale.
• And much more.

Here’s the interview - please give me your feedback via our Contact form.

Thanks!

(Left to right in picture: Rozanne Brown, myself, Robert McGrath, Wendy Baker, Jim Baker)

I’ve known Jim for many years and one day recommended he write a book about how to become a successful painter. Initially he scoffed at the idea but some months later, he called me and asked for help in putting the book together. We provided the content and did the graphic design for the front cover and Jim had the book printed.

The book has been widely acclaimed by the industry and has been distributed by Dulux to apprentices. With sales both here and overseas, Jim is seen as a leader in his field for his contribution to young tradespeople.

Jim is focused on customer service and his motto is “The job isn’t finished until the customer says it is” which is a mantra many businesses could learn from.

I can personally endorse his work as he has painted two houses for me, and although we didn’t build his website, you can see it at NotJustAPainter.com.au

Every business needs a unique logo and so does yours. Be aware though that your logo is not your brand.

Brand is the personality that identifies a product, service or company (name, term, sign, symbol, or design, or combination of them) and how it relates to key constituencies: customers, staff, partners, investors etc.

The experiential aspect consists of the sum of all points of contact with the brand and is known as the brand experience.

Unless your brand awareness is very high, and unless it brings you sales by osmosis, spending money on brand awareness is highly unlikely to create leads and sales.  Instead, money should be spent on creating a marketing message that delivers enquiries, leads and sales.

In his book named The End Of Marketing As We Know It, Sergio Zyman wrote to the effect that “Advertising has only one purpose – to sell stuff”. Significant commentary from a man who was writing about his experiences as VP of Marketing at Coca-Cola. If it’s good enough for one of the world’s most instantly recognised brands… (See more about Zyman’s book here.)

Let’s be clear here; we’re not saying that branding is a waste of money, or that it isn’t necessary, it is. Our position is that branding is about your overall appearance. It’s about presenting a common theme of colour, style, and message across your website, business cards, letterheads, advertising, street and vehicle signage and uniforms.

When you come to us for either a new brand identity or a brand make-over, we’re going to look at who you are, where you are, your product / service offerings and your target market. Your customers need to identify with your brand and you should promote it where there is a connection.

There’s no point presenting your business on Internet video if your market is the over 80′s, or in old fonts and colour schemes if you’re selling to the Under 30′s. Likewise, if your website has industrial photos and your target market is householders; your brand image is out of sync.

We love branding, but maybe not in the way you might expect…

This is what she said…

Spam filters normally relay on two main methods to determine if an email could be spam, the first is that they simply look up your SMTP server in one of the many online backlist databases.

The second involves scanning the email contents to look for a number of possible spam criteria which are each given a score based on how commonly they are used in spam email. The email is then given a total score, which if exceeds a predefined threshold, the email is considered spam. Depending on the individual configuration, the email may be placed in a spam folder or deleted.

There are many things that can contribute to a higher score such as the use of HTML to format the email, images, links and commonly used spam phrases (buy now, viagra, etc)

The safest thing to do is make sure you’re only sending plain text, with no links or images, to one recipient, from a trusted SMTP server. But that’s not always possible unfortunately.

http://bacal.com.au/

During my talks I offer people an opportunity to receive one of the many marketing booklets I’ve written. I explain that they are sent without obligation and that I will not be adding people’s names to any list. However clearly I think I’ve explained this, however clearly I explain that I expect the same courtesy, every time I do a talk, someone in the audience writes to me telling me they have added me to their list or does it without telling me.

The same happens when I go to small business networking functions when someone who collects my card adds me to an email list assuming I want their information.

It’s never an accountant or lawyer, never a tradesperson, almost always the person is in the health and wellbeing industry, or is a coach. Almost invariably, they are business newbies or in transition from employment to self-employment, and have an opinion that everyone needs their information.

I don’t have any issues with someone writing to me asking to meet or offering their services. That’s reasonable commercial communication and gives me the choice of accepting or declining. Likewise, it’s perfectly OK if the email promotes a newsletter about a specific topic, inviting me to subscribe if interested.

What I have issues with is an assumption that I want to be on their list. Most people resent being forced to do something, it creates antagonism and they feel awkward in voicing an objection. If something is offered and accepted through choice, there is a far higher likelihood of a positive response and for a financial transaction to result.

What’s worse is when the Unsubscribe mechanism is manual or isn’t clearly defined and the experience is made more stressful when the list owner writes indignantly to ask why you unsubscribed.

Adding people to your list without their permission is not good commercial practise and in fact can end you in unnecessary legal strife if someone complains. Could I refer you to an article I wrote on the topic – http://mediaglue.com.au/2009/05/the-perils-of-email-marketing/ and to think twice before adding me to your list.

If you’re looking for a good, relaible email broadcasting platfor, I encourage you to you investigate AWeber.

Oh, and for what it’s worth, in over 12 years online, I have never added anyone’s name to any of my lists.

Today I’ve been the recipient of two examples of poor email broadcast management.

The first from a company in Brisbane who open cc’d close to 100 people with a very poorly worded broadcast message (the list may have been scraped from LinkedIn) thanking them for their “support”. I don’t know why the hell I’m being thanked for supporting them, I’ve never heard of them, never mind done business with them…

Several people on the broadcast list complained, openly copying everyone on the list and the receptionist from the company sent a poor apology blaming an intern for the error. That only served to ignite the recipients and I’m sure that by tonight, someone at the “digital native” company will have had their butt well and truly kicked. There are at least 100 people who will now see this company in a poorer light.

The second was a broadcast from a consultancy firm advising me about proposed Government changes to contractor legislation. Unsolicited, unrequired, irrelevant to me.

Why do people continue to do this; broadcast to people other than customers or those who have requested the information?

It doesn’t just apply to email broadcasts either, it’s becoming commonplace on social media sites as well.

Please would people learn that there are protocols…

Not funny.

Please note: I am NOT condemning anyone from sending commercial emails soliciting business. Far from it. Like everyone else, we do that and so should you. It’s no different to using direct mail. What I am criticising is being uploaded to a broadcast list and receiving mass broadcasts.

The first is Fire Service Plus constructed for Steve Caunt at Albion Park Rail (just south of Woolloongong).

This site features a shopping cart and a client login to simPRO the trade service job management portal.

Steve gets his kicks driving sprint cars and he sent us some pics. Here’s Steve’s car and a pic of Steve in the winners circle. That’s him on the left.

The next site is Dave Russell’s Urban Design Solutions Dave is a very clever designer and provides laods of useful information on his site which was built using WordPress. Check out his free report, “How to avoid the 7 biggest mistakes made when designing a new home or renovating”

Another interesting site is Mobile Test and Cal which is a service for electrical contractors to have their equipment tested and calibrated.

This site features a service location finder, the ability to check via a Google calendar to book a job and the ability to seacrh for test results via an interface into simPRO Field.

We’ve built several sites for Andre’s family companies and this is what he said about us recently…

“Finally someone that ticks all the boxes!”

“After trying many different web designers over the years, we finally started using James and the team at Mediaglue in 2009. Since then they have helped me pull of some fairly ambitious and creative features on websites, their graphic design is always impressive and technical assistance has been excellent.”

For something completely different, we’d like to show you is a dating site called InviteU2.com.au. It promotes quality singles dating events in Queensland

The site was developed from a design the client supplied and features a complex structure of membership forms and payment facilities.

KL Electrics is another site packed with features. This site features a shopping cart developed using OpenCart, a simPRO client login as well as a second payment gateway that allows their customers to pay their accounts online. All they need to do is enter the invoice number they wish to pay and the site queries simPRO and returns the amount owing and provides the customer to pay using a credit card.

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