How much are you willing to spend per lead for your sales efforts? Often, we only consider the cost per marketing piece (e.g. my postcards only cost me $.40 each). More often, we forget that some mediums are the more costly than we could ever realilze.

It is no doubt that search is the most effective way to draw traffic to your website. The right strategy of pay per click advertising with search engine optimization strategies can significantly reduce your average cost per lead.

What sounds more compelling to you from a cost perspective?

Chart Source: Search Engine Marketing, Inc. Mike Moran and Bill Hunt.

Resumango

My kids want a Nintendo Wii for Christmas. There is no way that I will buy them a game console… but Santa can. Of course, that means that I get to be Santa’s helper… just to make sure it gets purchased in time and is set up appropriately.

In November, my wife told me to go to Target or WalMart and get a Wii… they only costed $250.

Like most good fathers I know, I procrastinated.

I figured if they are available today for $250, they will be available tomorrow for $250. After all… how could anyone ever charge more for the product

Finally, a few weeks later, I started to look around. I looked at Sam’s Club. I looked at Costco. I looked at Target, WalMart, EB Games… I looked everywhere.

I found nothing.

“Sorry, we’re out,” was the mantra. 

Well, I couldn’t dissappoint the children (and by now, I became the hunter and ‘had’ to make my kill… no matter the cost). After all, how would Santa look if his procrastinating assistant didn’t come through with the “goods.”

I turned to EBay. I found countless Wii Consoles… only for double the sticker price. I kept calling stores…. but the only consoles I found were on EBaby… for double the sticker price.

We have friends who say that if you can figure out when the stores receive shipments, you can stand in line and wait to see if you can get one. Sometimes that works, but I also work… a lot… there was no way that I have time to do that.

But, come on, it is for the children, after all.

So, I finally succumbed.

I placed my bid with confidence.

I overpaid by double.

Santa can save face.

The children will have a good Christmas.

Plus… I like cool video games anyway.

If you are a regular reader of my blog, you will understand that I am a big proponent of business blogging. Personally, I am not such a big fan of personal blogging, but to each his own.

I believe that business blogging can provide some significant opportunities for sales and marketing that are often not considered. In my post titled “Expose yourself a little” I talked about how business blogging can provide a level of transparency in your business. I recognize that many companies really don’t understand the benefits of being transparent to customers… but I don’t really think that is the reason why companies don’t blog.

One thing that I have noticed about business blogging is that most business blogs that are company sanctioned appear to be very well rehearsed. It is obvious they have taken the time to proof-read (or at least often that is obvious). They will often take the time to make sure that the wording matches their marketing message. Often, it looks like very dry marketing information.

The reason I think that businesses don’t blog on a regular and consistent basis isn’t the tools, isn’t the transparency and isn’t the fact that they think three or four people have to reveiw it before it gets posted.

I think the reason is it is too hard to come up with fresh, new content. It is too hard to simply be disciplined in writing. It is very time consuming.

I understand this. If you look at my blog, you will notice that my blog posts reduced in quantity about two months ago (hopefully not in quality). It wasn’t because I changed my philosophy on blogging. It wasn’t because I have less to say. The reason I have reduced my blog writing is simply because I have run out of time.

Two months ago, I started a new business venture (three actually). I spend so much time with web development, website content writing, business management, strategy meetings, financial planning meetings, client discussions, etc. that I simply don’t have the time I’d like to devote to writing.

The fact is, I see the value in writing my blog (in fact, the majority of my current business can be directly related to the writing of my blog). Because I see the value in the blog, I make time to write… even if I have to stay up a little longer to get something written.

Most businesses don’t see any value in business blogging. They can’t see an immediate return on investment, so they simply don’t want to take the time. When I started blogging about 8 months ago on this particular site, I didn’t see any immediate return on investment, but I do now.

Until business managers are willing to look beyond the way they have always done something and try something new, business blogging won’t be mainstream.

I am seeing more and more businesses start blogs. I am curious to see the form it will take in the next few years. Will businesses blog because it is expected or because they truly have something to say?

We’ll see.

Web development has gone through some significant changes over the last 20 years. I remember when I started working with web development in the 90s that most of the people that I knew that became web developers fell into two categories.

Category 1: Graphic Designers who learned HTML, ASP, etc

Category 2: Programmers who learned how to use graphics programs like Photoshop.

More often than not, these are mutually exclusive skill sets. More often than not, you can learn to be proficient at both, but not spectacular at both.

There are some people that can truly be very good at both, but a programmer uses logic to design and a designer uses creativity to design. Neither is bad… just often are mutually exclusive skill sets.

Because of this divide in skill sets, the last few years has seen a turn in how web sites are developed. Specialization has become key to the modern website. Graphic Designers focus on their core competency and Programmers focus on their core competency.

This is great because now you can get spectacular design and competent programming (although I still think that the majority of the graphic designers that are out there still think that designing for web interaction is the same as designing for static media).

But, what is forgotten?

There are many different views on what Web 2.0 is about. I think that it is about providing relevant information when and where it is needed.

What this means is that Content IS King.

Search engines (for the most part) really don’t care about how well a site looks graphically. Search engines (for the most part) really don’t care about how well a site is programmed. Search engines care about content. They care about fresh, relevant content.

It is the importance of fresh, relevant content that has driven web 2.0 technologies such as blogs, user forums and wikis. The problem is that, although there are millions of of bloggers, forum users and wiki readers, business still hasn’t adopted this as a viable way to create content for a web site. And, the fact is, I don’t think that the main content of a business website should be based on a blog or wiki (unless you are a blog site <like this one> or Wikipedia). Blog content should supplement, not supplant good website content. Blog content is good, but there is more to business than a blog.

Content IS King.

So, what do you do with that statement? What does that mean?

Web developers focus on two different things. One is the design. The other is the programming of that design. And, for the most part, they understand the importance of content; they just don’t know how to write that content. That is why there are a number of content management systems that have become available.

Blogging

If you are a blogger, you can get free blogging platforms like Wordpress (this site uses Wordpress) or Blogger.com. If you don’t like those options, you can pay and go with Typepad. The problem is that those platforms don’t really provide much for a fully integrated business website… they can get you a blog (which is a great way to write and post content), but not much of the other functionality you may want. Most people will build a website separate from a blogging platform then integrate one of the existing blogging platforms to their current site.

But since we are talking about content being paramount here, we need to talk about a fully integrated website with all the content you will need.

Designer/Programmer

Of course, one way is to program the website - get a graphic designer and a programmer (or you can go old school and get the “one guy that does it all” like the boss’ nephew who built a couple of sites when he was in high-school). You tell the designer/programmer what you want, they mock it up and put something up for you. Often, they will ask you for the content or they will make it up as they go. You can actually get a pretty low cost site this way, but the design and functionality is likely second to a lot and the content will be very weak.

Template

Another way that you can get a site is use a template from the company where you get your hosting from or other various free template sites. Usually, these templates are very limiting and can get you a web presence, but nothing fancy. Nothing impressive. You are responsible to figure out how to integrate blogging, forums or other functionality yourself. You simply put up your content yourself and you have a web presence. Again, you have to write your content.

Content Management System

But, if you want a fully featured website, you would look into a content management system. Some systems you can get for free. Drupal, Joomla and PHPNuke are some examples and each has advantages. You can also pay for a content management system like Bizzuka or NeoReef.

Now, a content management system manages content… it doesn’t write content. In fact, one of the sites above has a quote on their front page that says, “We got tired of paying a Web developer every time our [content] changed….” indicating that the content management company doesn’t provide the content… only the way to add and change content more easily.

What is the right way to go?

If you are interested in something fully functional and want to do a lot yourself, a content management system is likely the right way to go for your company web presence. Which is better? Which platform do I develop using? Which one should you use?

The fact is, it doesn’t matter. As long as the content management system has the features you want, you really shouldn’t care what system you use…. might as well use a free one. You probably will want to hire someone like me (shameless plug) to get the initial configuration done so that you don’t have to learn that part of it.

As far as I am concerned, you should be far more concerned about the content on your site. The graphic design is easy compared to the content. The programming is easy compared to the content.

Content IS King

The largest problem that web developers have is they don’t know how to write content. The largest problem that businesses have is they don’t know how to write content.

Content IS King.

I can’t stress that enough. If you don’t have the right content… the right amount of content… the right kind of content, then it will leave your visitors saying, “Oo, Ah, Huh?”

Yes, design is important. Yes, functionality is important. Yes, the programming is important.

But, Content IS King. If you don’t have the right content, search engines may not find you and people won’t come. If you don’t have new, fresh, relevant content, people won’t come back.

Content is hard

It is especially hard to write your own content. Content is more than a blog. It is more than a few lines of text. For your business, it has to be professional. For your business, it has to show that you are an authority on what you do. If your website doesn’t communicate your professionalism and credentials, you would be better not having a web presence at all.

If you can’t write your own content (and be honest with yourself) then you can find someone to write the content for you. Or, you can just get a web developer who knows how to do it all for you (yet another shameless plug).

What is more important… that you do what you should or that you make people think that you do what you should?

When you make a committment to do something for your customers… make sure you do it.

You shouldn’t have to worry about getting caught doing something you shouldn’t. Then you don’t ever have to say things like, “I am sure it was just that one incident” or “no comment.”

I love to listen to internet radio. I am a big fan of Pandora. Also, there are certain apps that I have that need to run all the time. The problem is that I don’t like it when the item clutters my task bar on my Windows machine (if only I could just move over to my Mac on everything).

I found a cool little app to help me get the clutter out.

Check out Minimize to Tray. It is a $10 app that allows you to minimize your window to your system tray instead of your task bar. That way you can have it available, but not cluttered with the other 10 windows you have minimized to your task bar. I have been using it for a month now and highly recommend it.

A few months ago, I found a site that lets you be paid for viewing advertisement. I had been meaning to write a blog about it all this time, but just haven’t found the time. The site is Agloco.

The concept is that if you are willing to have advertisement visible on your desktop computer, you can get a portion of the advertising profits. You could even get greater income by referring people to sign up for the service… sounded a lot like multi-level marketing.

At the time I found this site, I installed the tool bar. I was pretty unimpressed. The tool bar was a pain to deal with… I couldn’t move it to my other monitor to be out of the way; it was just too obtrusive. The toolbar didn’t even show all the ads. I only got credit when I was viewing a website, and then I couldn’t really tell how much credit I was getting.

Of course, the builders of the site tout that you get a share of the company and that you can get cash and other benefits.

So not worth it for me.

The biggest question I had was, “Does it really provide a relevant advertising platform for companies to be willing to pay for?”

This morning, I received an email from the company.

Dear Corey,

    We would like to update you on the status of AGLOCO’s operations.  We continue to believe in the AGLOCO concept, but our revenue is currently not sufficient to give Members a meaningful distribution. And though there are increases in membership, the resulting revenue is not enough to support operating costs.  As a development team we are unable to continue to use our savings to fund the operations.  If any Member would like to pursue continuing the operations of AGLOCO, you may contact us at agloco1@live.com .

   We would like to thank every Member for supporting our effort to bring a piece of the Internet directly to the user.  We hope that we can find a way to keep the operations going.

AGLOCO Development Team

Sounds like they are saying, “We have failed at making this idea a reality, so if anyone wants to bail us out, make an offer.”

There are two possibilities for this failure. First, they have a terrible sales team. Second, advertisers simply don’t see the value.

I think it is the latter.

It was too much of a pain for me. I don’t want advertising on my desktop. Some possible, future payout is not worth having a portion of my time taken up with dealing with some stupid toolbar. I struggle with desktop real estate enough as it is trying to get all my work done… the last thing I was is a loss of 15,000 square pixels to some advertiser I never intended to click on in the first place.

At least they didn’t address me as, “Dear Valued Customer…”

100 years ago, Henry Ford introduced the assembly line. A Model T could leave the assembly line in 98 minutes.

What a revolution.

This allowed for the Model T to be sold for $825… reduced to $360 by 1916.

Standardization of parts and processes allowed for this success. In fact, this allowed for Ford Motor Company to sell 15,007,034 Model Ts between 1908 and 1927. That record stood for the next 45 years.

The fact is, standardization in manufacturing is just as important as standardization in business. By standardizing on one platform, you can streamline your business to provide greater operational efficiency.

No doubt, you already standardize in certain areas of your business. You require your employees to use the same vacation request form. You use the same sales forms, invoices and statements.

The more standard processes you build, the greater your operational efficiencies.

Find the areas that you can standardize and you might be surprised how much more efficient you can be.

Last post I talked in depth about print management. There are a number of tools available that you can use to manage your print costs. Many of the tools that are available cost some money and can provide different benefits to your organization.

I tend to think that Web Jetadmin is HP’s best kept secret. The management capability from an IT perspective allows for you to control many aspects of your print environment. These management capabilities allow you to decrease your costs and increase your operational efficiencies.

I mentioned in my last post that there are three key areas that can allow you to positively affect your bottom line. These three areas are standardization, consolidation and location. The largest advantage of properly optimizing your print fleet to these areas is that you can utilize a tool such as Web Jetadmin to manage many of the features of the print devices on your network.

Here are just some of the things that you can do with Web Jetadmin. You can configure your devices remotely via the network (adjust print modes and network configuration settings). Of course, you don’t need Web Jetadmin for this, but Web Jetadmin provides you the ability to configure settings for multiple devices at one time rather than having to know the IP or MAC address of all the devices on your network. The real advantage to it is that it will automatically identify all the supported devices so that you don’t have to worry about it.

But, network management is only one part… a very small part. Other things that you can do with the tool is automatic meter reads. You can know the volume of any device on your network with the touch of a button. When you know your volume and your costs, you can know what your cost per print is and begin to consolidate your costs.

Another thing you can do is have email notifications when a device has a problem. A problem like a paper jam or when toner needs to be replaced. You may think, “Well, won’t I know if I have a problem with my print device?” Well, you may not if you are responsible for managing many devices on your network. If there are two print devices within walking distance of your employees, they may find that it is easier to simply reprint and walk to a different printer than it is to report that there is a problem with the device.

In addition, there are multiple plug-ins or add-ons that are available for Web Jetadmin. From integrating security to automatic device version upgrades. From Universal Driver deployment to many third part applications.

Where I think the largest benefit of using Web Jetadmin in your environment is that if you develop a partnership with a company that can provide you the supplies and maintenance service on your device, the system can automatically order toner for you when toner levels reach a certain level. The system can automatically notify the service provider there is a problem with the system. Utilizing HP’s Web Jetadmin in this manner can provide you with a significant increase of productivity but can also help you to reduce your management costs.

The best part is, it is free. If you have one or two HP devices on your network, it may not be worth the time to learn how to use it. If you have more, I definitely think it will be worth you time.

Go here to download:

In my last post, I mentioned that I did a little research on HP. While I think that HP missed an opportunity to further the discussion with their customers, I think that they do many things very well. One of the areas they have been very successful in is print management. In indicated in my last post I was researching HP’s Web Jetadmin… I’ll share my views on that in my next post. I thought I would take a moment to define print managment a little and how you can reduce your operating expense by employing an effective print management strategy.

The Challenge in Printing:

It is interesting to me that most organizations simply underestimate their cost of operation for their printers and copiers. According to a recent Gartner Group study, organizations underestimate their costs by as much as  50% and will spend up to 3% of their total annual revenue on document output. Fortunately, the bulk of my business is web development, so I use very little paper and print very little, however, I have found that most companies that claim to be paperless or who have employed an electronic document management system find they may even exceed those numbers.

The Solution:

The key to successfully getting your costs in line is by developing a strategy that can reduce operating expense and increase your overall operational efficiency. There are three key areas that can help you to increase productivity and decrease costs.

Standardization
The larger your organization the more likely it is that you will have multiple printer/copier types on your network. You may have the “free” printer that came with the Dell computer, the printer you brought from home, the multiple inkjets, the departmental printers and of course, the ever present copier. Each of these devices have different maintenance requirements. Each of these devices have different toner and supply requirements. When maintaining these devices, costs can range. The costs for color printing can be as high as $.60 per print or for b/w printing as high as $.10 per print… and that may be for toner only. Standardization can help you to provide the same maintenance and support for all your devices, plus limit the differing toners and supplies that you have to purchase.

Consolidation
Your employees love personal convenience. Interestingly enough, everyone who has their own print device “needs” that print device. The accountant who claims that security is paramount… “No one should be able to see my prints.” The sales rep who says, “I can’t waste time by walking across the office.” The marketing professional that says, “What I print is so much more important that my device should be reserved for my use only.”

While there may be legitimate reasons for users to have a personal print device, most of the time they are simply bogus. With the technologies available today for document printing security or quality of color output at a reasonable price, most of the devices that organizations use to print from don’t need to be private and personal. Often, the higher the volume that you put on a print device, the lower the cost per print. Consolidation helps you to make sure that you optimize your print volume across your print devices.

Location
As mentioned above, the more volume that is placed on a printer, the likelihood is greater that it is more cost effective. Fewer departmental printing devices (and where volume warrants it a full service copy center in your office) can help to contain costs. Fewer devices are easier for IT to manage, easier for supplies to be maintained and easier to reallocate as necessary. The key, however, is to make sure that the devices are located appropriately. You don’t want a $50 per hour employee spending 10 minutes to pick up a print. Make sure that you appropriately analyze where those devices are located so that you can make sure that you optimize their location going forward.

How do you do this?

Well, start by doing an analysis of your print environment. Know what your costs are. Know what it takes to produce your documents now. Know how people are using your devices. Understand your current problems… only then can you solve them.

Many people find it beneficial to ask for help. Find an organization that will do the analysis for you. Some will do it for free with the hope they can sell you their product. Some will charge a fee and give you a great report in the end. Some just do a bad job.

I used to provide these services, so I understand them, but don’t provide them anymore. If you need a reference of where to go, drop me a line and I’ll put you in touch with someone in your area that can help you out.