January 2008

Forefront is an annual publication of
AWebStudio & Jey Associates Marketing & PR

2008 is just around the corner.  With the Federal Reserve projecting an expected slow in economic growth and a slight bump up in unemployment, it's even more important to streamline business operations, incorporate highly targeted marketing and public relations efforts, and focus on proven methods for market growth.

Despite the gloomy forecast, companies such as Hewlett Packard (HP) are projecting solid growth far into 2008. How?  The company plans to continue to fine-tune its cost structure in an attempt to become more operationally efficient. This means operational efficiency is the wave of the future for successful organizations, which is good news for our clients. AWebStudio and Jey Associates are committed to streamlining key areas of operations on our customer's behalf, making overall marketing, website and public relations efforts extremely successful and productive.

We are excited about this year's issue of Forefront.  In addition to providing vital insight into the product research habits of consumers, there are some helpful tips for improving your website's search engine rankings, as well as the pros and cons of outsourcing.  We've even got Craig Harris of Expressions of Excellence discussing the power of up-selling and cross-selling. 

The new year promises to be a fantastic one for the organization that can be competitive in the marketplace and make money in the process.  Our goal as a multimedia Marketing, PR and Web Design firm is to develop a solid marketing plan and strengthen the brand of our clients, enabling them to stand out above the competition. We are known for incredibly creative, cutting edge, prompt, reliable and technologically advanced service. In addition to our main office in Aspen, Colorado, we now have a satellite office in Houston, Texas and are proud to announce the addition of a satellite office in Moab, Utah.  Take a look at our 2008 Service and Fee Schedule. We offer the same great website technology and services, as well as marketing and public relations campaigns, at affordable rates our clients have grown accustomed to.

Enjoy this year's issue of Forefront.  We look forward to doing business together in the new year and many years to come. 

Here's to exponential growth in 2008 ~

Much is written about the pros and cons of outsourcing. The great question of cost is a key area of focus in most case-studies. Is it more cost-effective to hire employees to do a specific job, or to employ an outside vendor? That depends on the job you are trying to get done. In the case of website design, maintenance and search engine optimization, the answer may surprise you. Companies considering the cost-effectiveness of outsourcing versus handling things in-house should also consider the long-term return on investment (ROI), or lack thereof, that the various options offer.

Few small business can underwrite (or justify) an entire website design and maintenance department, which in most cases is what's needed to successfully launch and maintain a well-performing website. Despite this, companies continue to try to keep it within their gates. Nine times out of ten, efforts to get the job done this way continue to fail while website performance continues to disappoint.

Tom Perkins, principal at AWebStudio explained the dilemma companies face this way, "Would you outsource your bookkeeping to a catering company? How about hiring a therapist to fix your car?" Yet, he asserts, this is exactly what companies have been doing for years. They "assign" the website to someone in the organization perceived to have extra time on their hands, or they outsource with extreme financial or functional limitations. Instead of trusting the experts to come up with an affordable, successful solution, they apply unrealistic constraints, take control of how it's done or simply do it themselves.

"What we've found is that companies rarely accomplish what they want with their website. They've gone the route of having the admin handle the website maintenance, or they've asked the video game aficionado on staff (the one with a custom MySpace profile), to come up with a design and somehow get it to work." What happens in these cases is that companies end up unfairly questioning their employee's productivity and ability. Unfair, because that person was never hired to do the job, nor are they qualified.

Of course, having dealt with these issues, some might suggest stepping up in-house efforts: hire an employee specifically trained in web-design. "This can work in the perfect scenario, as long as organizations are capable of allowing this employee to remain focused on the job of the website, and that alone. The long-term costs, with all things considered (employment taxes, pensions, benefits), typically outweigh the benefits to the organization's bottom-line. When companies lose sight of the importance of web design job-focus, it is a lose-lose situation," Perkins says. "The role for that employee gets blurred, and both company and employee are disappointed in the long-run."

"We deal with companies all the time who've hired their own in-house web designer, yet their websites still perform poorly. Their site's function is poor, their content is rarely up-to-date, and they lack the time and resources to get the site optimized (found by search engines and visitors)."

The reason for this issue? "Ninety percent of the time, a company's designated website employee becomes the catch-all for creative jobs at the organization. Anything creative tends to get funneled to that person - the graphic design, marketing efforts, snail-mail and email campaigns, even sales efforts. The employee gets overloaded and overwhelmed, and can't do any one job well. Everyone loses in that scenario, as I've explained."

Additionally, the question of cost down the road can be an issue. Many operate on the philosophy of "start small, do the website in-house, and then outsource when the site becomes profitable or productive at minimum." There is a problem with this approach, however. "Much of our time with new clients is spent fixing the mistakes created by the person before. The most difficult thing for companies to realize is the importance of doing it right the first time." He likes to describe a company's website as a living, breathing organism within the organization, which is built in layers. If the bottom layer is programmed poorly, it effects the entire site and its performance. A website should reflect everything the company offers and represents - but how that's accomplished in the very beginning, from both a design and a programming standpoint is equally important.

To summarize his thoughts on the issue, Perkins says, "Put it this way: If you are seeking employment, and you have the opportunity for the corporate job interview of a lifetime, how would you prepare? Would you let your mechanic dress you?" Well, no, we admit.

"Maybe you'd forget to brush your teeth? No. You'd make sure everything was perfect, from the hair down to the shoe laces. If you ask anyone for help or advice before taking that interview, it would be an expert. You might consult with a personal shopper or corporate stylist." Okay, we concede. Job interviews are your chance to shine, to provide prospective employers a glowing first impression. Should you drop the ball, you can never get that back.

"Your website is your ultimate job interview. Sometimes you only get one chance. Ask the experts. Make sure it is someone who understands you and your business, and let them run with it. You can't even begin to calculate the incredible return on investment you'll see over time. And you'll be glad you did it."

So, how do consumers find out about your products or services? Today everyone thinks that consumers go directly to the web to learn about products and services. But according to a recent survey by eMarketer, consumers are still seeking information in retail stores. The web was the second most popular destination for product research, but retail stores were number one.

It's essential that your web based information is in synch with in-store information, pricing, and so on. If consumers see inconsistencies in pricing, variety, or options, they're likely to frequent another vendor or simply buy on price.

Many retailers are using their websites to capture customer information. This can be done at the store level as well. Ask purchasers and browsers to sign up for a newsletter or coupons that will bring them back to your store.

12 Proven Steps for Top Search Engine Rankings
Steps to get a top search engine ranking for your website.

You may have heard that search engine rankings are crucial - and this is the truth. If your website ranks well in Google, MSN and Yahoo then you are exposed to the greatest pool of Internet traffic available. These search engines together drive over 90% of search market share.

But how to get this rank ? Let me show you very clearly , "How to rank 1 in search engines in 12 proven steps!"

Step 1: Go to the search engine on which you want high ranks.

Step 2: Search the term you are targeting. Example if you want to rank high for "SEO", then search for it.

Step 3: Look at the number one sites title that the search engine is showing you . Count the number of times your search words appear in it. Add this number to your "Analysis" file.

Step 4: Count the number in the description provided by the search engine. Add this number also to your "Analysis" file.

Step 5: Visit the site and count the number of times the term appears there and Add this number to your "Analysis" file. Don't forget to count the number in the META DESCRIPTION tag also!

Step 6: Type the URL of that site in the search with link attribute. Example if www.mydomain.com is number one , then search for "link:http://www.mydomain.com". The search engine will show you the number of other websites that are linking to that site. Add this number to your "Analysis" file.

Step 7: You can also add the same data for the second and third results in search.

Step 8: Open your page which you want to get ranks for in your favorite html editor. Most of the html commands are inbuilt and I don't have to bang my head with HTML codes when I am trying to concentrate on page optimization.

Step 9: Modify your title tags, meta tags so the number of times keywords appear is just one higher than the number in the analysis file . Do the same for the BODY of your page. Enclose the keywords in BOLD tags and sometimes in both BOLD and ITALIC tags .

Step 10: If you have lot of text on the page, then divide it into paragraphs . Before every 2 or 4 paragraphs add a HEADING tag. Don't forget to squeeze in your keywords in this tag! You can use style sheet to make the heading look better on your page. Example <H1 style="font-size: 20px"> will reduce the size of the text in heading to 20 px instead of displaying the ugly large heading.

Save and upload this page to your website.

Step 11: Get your site indexed by search engines . You can submit a sitemap to Google directly at http://www.google.com/webmasters/sitemaps/. Google wants a XML map which is also indexed by other search engines. Generate this map for your site and submit to Google. A free, user friendly tool can be found here. For other search engines link this map from your website's pages. But the XML version is not for human visitors who will be visiting your site. So create a HTML version for them and link this from all your pages. It will use your XML map and create a HTML map from it , count the number of pages on your site, link to all, divide them in categories and also links to your XML map for search engines. Best part it also allows you to add your own website template so your visitors know that this is the same site. Providing a sitemap will help you get your site indexed faster. Google says that you can have 50,000 pages listed in one single sitemap.

Step 12: Start building links for your site. You can do this by submitting your site to web directories. The more sites link to you, the better it is. Remember you have to cross the LINK number in your analysis file. Most directory owners will cancel all your links if you submit twice to their directory.

Now keep checking your back links frequently in the search engines . You can use MSN to get the best idea. Search at http://search.msn.com.

Some would suggest that you need to submit your site to search engines but that is totally unnecessary because the back links will keep bringing search engines to your site again and again. With each visit , they will index more pages of your site .

You must also link to quality sites as this tells the search engines that you are providing your visitors a useful resource and your site must be important enough to refer a quality site.

Best of luck for your site. Always remember, "Write for human visitors and not for search engines."

Would You Like Fries With That?
The power of up-selling and cross-selling.

Recently while navigating an online bookstore I came across the James Frey book popularized by Oprah's book club: A Million Little Pieces. As I read about this book I was informed that "readers who bought A Million Little Pieces also bought the book, "Lies My President Told Me and Pinocchio."

Up-selling and cross-selling are two sales techniques used by professional sales and service staffs to increase sales. Are you making the most of suggestive selling?

UP With Selling
Up-selling refers to situations where your customer buys a product or service, and you encourage them to spend more for additional features or packages. They are upping the amount they are spending, albeit for more or better services or products.

Consider the customer seeking a point-of-sale solution for handling charge cards, yet opts to purchase a deluxe POS model for more money when learning of additional capabilities, security and flexibility.

You are shopping for a bare-bones SUV. The salesperson informs you that soccer moms tell him they love having the model with the DVD player in the backseat for the kids. Thus you buy that model with a fancy video system and then extended warranty too.

Sales Crossing Ahead Cross Selling refers to situations where a customer buys a product or service, and is simultaneously sold related items that often complement their purchase. For example: A customer buys a computer and is then sold training services or tutorial software to go with it at additional cost. Ditto when a man buys a suit and is then offered a color coordinated silk tie and dress shirt to go with it.

While we think of these as advanced sales techniques, they are actually rooted in the power of suggestion. People, once they've decided to buy, are naturally swayed by more and better options, additional value, and the excitement following their initial purchase.

Many customers don't know about additional items or options, or how well they complement the initial item they bought. Up-selling enhances their initial purchase, making them more powerful, capable and effective. Cross-selling similarly enhances their purchase, often maximizing its impact on their business.

Suggestive Selling
Salient in Our Lives Quite frankly, we've been up-sold and cross-sold every day. And it's not necessarily a manipulative process. Consider the following examples: - "Would you like fries with that order?" - "For just 49 cents we can super-size that for you." - "When you buy 2 today you get 1 Free!" - "Would you like to purchase our extended warranty coverage on this? It's only...."

I've worked with customer service staffs afraid to sell, others who felt it was manipulative and smarmy to sell. Yet here's a secret: It's really a form of service!

Service Through Sales
When you up-sell and cross-sell: - You are making informed suggestions as a knowledgeable rep - You are apprising customers of options they may not be aware of - You are often anticipating future needs - It's a way to further help your customer.

To be more powerful, to enjoy more benefits, to maximize the usefulness of the products or services they're acquiring. Remember this, when you are the rep who is selling and serving:

• You are in the business of solving problems, generating solutions and making customers happy, or even happier.
• You are the subject matter expert when it comes to the products and services you are representing.
• To the extent you listen and understand the situation of your clients, customers or constituents, you are ideally suited to provide solutions, recommendations and remedies.
• To withhold this from others would be selfish, and poor service. - Any time you can fulfill more needs, address more issues or solve more problems you are easing your client's/customer's life. After all, they already trust you, like you, and are doing business with you.

So, how does one UPSELL or CROSS-SELL? It's easy.

Let's Play Bridge
After you've completed the initial transaction or gotten the initial indication your customer wants to buy, you can then bridge to the Up- or Cross-Sell: Mr. Randle, while I have you on the line, were you aware you can work in multiple advanced speech manuals at the same time?

Oh, by the way Ms. Kennison, did you know that the book you bought for new hire also has a companion CD for just $9 more?

Mr. Younger, I'd like to take a moment to inform you of a new nationwide program just for businesses such as yours. Incidentally, were you aware that you are 2/3's of the way toward qualifying for a discount on shipping of your office supplies?

Using BRIDGE statements allows you to transition from your initial sale to up-sells and cross-sells. Look anew at the offerings you're selling. For each, what is an up-sell? What can you cross-sell with it?

Make sure your salespeople know the migration paths so they can suggestively up- and cross-sell with ease. In closing, I'd like to thank you for your engagement with this material.

Before concluding, could I interest any of you in a related article on up-selling and cross-selling? Perhaps you'd prefer a training course on suggestive selling? Shall I customize that for you? Consider yourself super-sized!

About the Author
Craig Harrison's Expressions Of Excellence! It helps professionals express their sales and service excellence with style. Contact him at (510) 547-0664, via sales@craigspeaks.com or through www.ExpressionsOfExcellence.com.

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