Along the same [...]]]> If you’ve noticed the “+1″ by sites in search results or on ads and wondered what it was, it’s Google’s way of letting you recommend websites or companies. Kind of cool, assuming some black hats out there don’t figure out a way to spam it and give a website unwarranted pluses.

Along the same lines, I heard a piece on the radio recently about Google’s new Plus program which is only being tested right now. It’s similar to Facebook, but they’ve designed it to be much easier to use, especially with regard to having a single identity but having “circles” of different groups, like family, colleagues, customers, etc. And, for me, the biggest deal is that they’re promising that if you want to delete your account, it gets deleted entirely from their server. That’s the exact opposite of Facebook, which I’ve grown to hate for its intrusiveness and how difficult they make it to protect one’s privacy. I think it’s fine for businesses, but it’s way too Big Brother for my personal life.

Rather, I want to talk about what your business card says about you and your business.  I saw a great piece about this today on CBS’s Sunday Morning  and my own business cards are now going to become scratchpads.  

My [...]]]> No, I don’t mean putting your picture on your business card – though a lot realtors do that. 

Rather, I want to talk about what your business card says about you and your business.  I saw a great piece about this today on CBS’s Sunday Morning  and my own business cards are now going to become scratchpads.  

My first year of business I had fabulous business cards.  They were a nice heavy card stock and a nice grass green color – the same color as the star on my Truly Texan website.  (I never wanted Truly Texan to look like it was a site selling Texas gew-gaws so I didn’t opt for the traditional red, white & blue.) 

 Anyway, the cards got compliments, attention and numerous people commented over the years about how easy they were to find in a stack or Roledex.

By the time I ran out of them, I had fortunately reached the point where I was no longer looking for clients, and when I couldn’t get that same green card stock, I went with a rather boring tan.  After we moved, I still had hundreds of the new cards left and for years now have been handing out cards with crossed out information and scribbled changes.

What a horrible example of taking pride in one’s work, right? 

I constantly preach about a website being credible and representing your company in the best possible light–to the extent you can possibly afford.  Now, I realize the same is even truer about business cards. 

After all, you give someone a business card, generally because you want them to go to your website.  So if your business card is cheap and doesn’t intrigue or interest them in the least,  why would they bother to visit the website?

And, if you’re like me, and not really looking for thousands of clients, all the more reason, you can afford to spend more money per card, in order to impress those few people you really would like to add to your customer base.

And with that, I’ll close, and start working on my new cards.

Your website’s purpose is not to make you happy.   The goal of any commercial website is to get customers.   This is one of the hardest things I have to deal with in my business.

Clients have an idea or even a very specific design and color scheme that they want to [...]]]> Short answer:  It “ain’t” you, buddy.

Your website’s purpose is not to make you happy.   The goal of any commercial website is to get customers.   This is one of the hardest things I have to deal with in my business.

Clients have an idea or even a very specific design and color scheme that they want to use and, since the client is always right – supposedly, I’ll try to subtly tell them it might not accomplish what they want, but some people simply don’t pick up on subtle.

One way to see if your website’s design is a help or a hindrance is to see how much time people spend on the first page they enter the site on.  This is not always the home page, contrary to what many people think. 

If people are spending less than 2 seconds on the entry page and then leaving the site, you should assume that your site design needs some work. 

Examples of problems along this line that I’ve encountered (details changed to protect the ignorant):

• The client’s favorite color is yellow.  Yellow is one of the harder colors to show on the web because monitors are all different.  What looks yellow to the client may look gold or orangey to me and beige to someone else.   Stick with web-safe colors.
• The client likes some other business’s web site.  But the other business is in a completely different line of work and their type of layout is great for them, but not appropriate for my client’s business.
• The client hates change.   Yes, what we know is so much more comfortable than what we don’t know – to most people.  But consider this:  in 1995, almost no one had heard of the Internet or had a pc, much less an iPhone.   Times change.  Just because your website was ideal in 2006 doesn’t mean it’s ideal now.

If you’re really brave and will not take it personally, ask your webmaster what they really think of your website.   I don’t care if the webmaster is me or someone else.  If they are at all experienced, they will have a good idea of what your website should look like.  Your job is to trust them and quit worrying about whether you like it or not.  You should be proud of your web site, but, remember, it’s just a website.  It’s not you.  Trust your webmaster to create a web site that shows you off to your best advantage -even if you don’t care that much for it.

And,  ideally, you and your webmaster can come to an agreement on design.  Maybe you don’t love it, but would you rather love your web site or have customers?   Your choice.

 Fine print: One free consultation per billing address.  [...]]]> If you’re an existing client, i.e. I host your site on my server in Dallas (not my cheap DIY sites), or I manage your website on a monthly basis (mgmt plan), simply comment on this posting and I’ll give you 15 minutes of free SEO analysis on your website. 

 Fine print: One free consultation per billing address.  Offer ends August 31.

This will be interesting.   I’m betting not one client comments, which would really be the utmost complement because it means they rely on me.  But I’ll be just as pleased if some do because that will mean some of them care enough to look at this on occasion for whatever reason.

(All comments are held for approval, so spammers, just go away now.)