Business

Websites Are Inventions

Entrepreneurial types everywhere probably do the same thing I do. They read the news and see one opportunity after another. There are so many opportunities that the biggest problem is trying not to see them all so you can actually focus on one, or two, or three. Four (or five) at the most. (generally)

I read the news and I read about opportunities in health care, finance, construction, non-profit, entertainment, travel, and in ministry. And that’s just one day’s worth of headlines. The truth is that there are thousands of things that will never change as long as people walk this earth. People will always need care, shelter, entertainment, escape, a place to give, and a place to worship and be ministered to.

These things are constant, will always be needs that must be filled, and are just a few of the biggest and most general. You can dial in the focus as close as you want.

As long as the constants remain, and they always will, then there will always be limitless areas of improvement and limitless ideas to make things better.

Some of those ideas will happen. Some of those areas will be improved. Some of those improvements will result in massive change. Some of those massive changes will be massively good for everyone.

That’s why we stay focused on the Internet. That’s why we’re looking for people who want to build “problem solving machines” online. We use the word website, but to us it really means “invention”.

What can we invent to solve your problem?

Focusing on What Won’t Change… and what will.

“I very frequently get the question: ‘What’s going to change in the next 10 years?’ And that is a very interesting question; it’s a very common one.

I almost never get the question: ‘What’s not going to change in the next 10 years?’ And I submit to you that that second question is actually the more important of the two — because you can build a business strategy around the things that are stable in time. …

In our retail business, we know that customers want low prices, and I know that’s going to be true 10 years from now. They want fast delivery; they want vast selection. It’s impossible to imagine a future 10 years from now where a customer comes up and says, ‘Jeff I love Amazon; I just wish the prices were a little higher,’ or ‘I love Amazon; I just wish you’d deliver a little more slowly.‘ Impossible.

And so the effort we put into those things, spinning those things up, we know the energy we put into it today will still be paying off dividends for our customers 10 years from now. When you have something that you know is true, even over the long term, you can afford to put a lot of energy into it.”

– Jeff Bezos – Founder and CEO of Amazon.com

Use Caution With Email Personalization

Email marketing is a great tool and one that businesses and organizations of all types should take advantage of on one level or another. However, just like every other form of customer communication, it’s not without a few danger zones.

One of the areas to watch out for is personalization of your emails. This is the process whereby the computer automatically inserts the first name or other personal info into an email where you say to. The problem is, the computer doesn’t apply common sense, that’s up to you.

Danger Zone: Clearly Impersonal Emails Personalized

If you look closely enough, you’ll see that this email (which looks nothing like an email) says “Dear Tim” right before some words that sound nothing like an email.

Some people just like the sound of their own name and I’m right there with them, but other than some tiny potential endearment just because I see my name, using it in this email makes no sense at all.

There is no “personal” to this email. It looks like a web-page, it reads like a web-page, it essentially is a web-page that was delivered to my email inbox. Do they really think that I’m going to believe that they wrote this and arranged all these pictures and links, just for me?

Danger Zone: Email list “name field” problems

How does the system know what name to put in that spot anyway? It uses the information input into a form when the recipient signed-up to get the emails. The problem is that people don’t always follow instructions.

I, for example, might decide to use the name of my company, Crazy Tree Media, instead of my name in a form. I might not feel like giving out my name at the time. So, from then on, I will get emails from that company that say “Dear Crazy” at the beginning. Thus confusing me and making me think the email is from my wife.

If you have time to go through your entire list looking for things like this and fixing them, or at least being aware of them, then you can make the call. But sending out a personalized mass email to a list you haven’t looked through name by name is, IMHO, more trouble than it’s worth.

Weigh The Benefit

When writing an email to be sent to the masses, I often ask myself… what is the real benefit of personalization on this email. Sometimes it’s really a big deal. If you’re trying to make your email sound like it really is to just one person, it could be the way to go.

But at the same time, I think it’s possible to alienate people by using any form of automated “trickery”. If it’s clearly a mass email, give folks some credit for knowing the difference. If it really is personal, then you probably won’t be using a mass email system anyway, right?

Knowing How to Answer: What Do You Do?

The following little imaginary interaction is something I would normally keep to myself. Just a thought exercise. Wouldn’t want people thinking I have a multiple personality disorder or anything…

But the truth is that many of our clients face this same process themselves and for some, coming up with the answer isn’t easy. That’s the nature of new things. If you sell on Etsy, it’s hard to say “I sell ___ on Etsy.” because so many people don’t know what Etsy is.

If you’re a professional blogger, it’s even harder because of the minority of people who know what a blog is, the vast majority of them think of it strictly as a hobby. So, to them, you might as well be saying “I’m a professional scrapbooker”.

Yet the need is there, especially if your business is a full-time income, to be able to quickly explain what you do. Below, I’ve copied and pasted a little written exercise I did this morning. I think it’s a good exercise for all business-owners to work through every once in awhile:

What Do You Do?

(italics are my imaginary business guru – that’s him above – he’s mean and whacks me with a stick when I mess up)

Explain what you do for a living in thirty seconds…go:

I own a company called Crazy Tree Media. We build eCommerce websites and business blogs. We also publish a few websites of our own where we sell advertising and products. (what about the felt and Etsy shops)

Okay, that was not so good… try again:

I’m in the media business… er. I’m in media…. er. Online Media.

{Whack!}… This is pathetic… you have to be able to succinctly state your work. Even if it is far-reaching or widespread… again!

What do you do?

My wife and I own a few websites that sell online. We also build eCommerce websites and business blogs for others.

Again!

What do you do?

We’re professional bloggers. (I almost ended that with a question mark!)(insert quizzical look from other person here) Do you know what a blog is? We write online, it’s much like a magazine, like a trade publication…

Stop! Again!

What do you do?

(I used to be able to just say “I’m a remodeling contractor.” and that was it. Next question was usually ‘What type of remodeling?’ or “Really, we’ve been wanting to add-on”…)

{Double whack}…. Stop rambling! Again!

What do you do?

We build marketing machines online.

(quizzical look)

We help people build businesses by teaching them how to use their websites, blogs, and social media effectively.

Good.

A New Outlook

As a result of this exercise, I now have this new statement: We build business marketing machines online. And that really sums it up. That’s what we do.

okay then…