Web Success Team

A Makeover for Your "Un-Sexy" Product

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 14:51 GMT

Let’s say you are selling a product that should be doing better but instead could be putting people to sleep. How do you create a buzz and revitalize interest and sales? Here are a few “sexy” tips.

1. Veni, Vidi, Vici, Video - Snazz-up your videos and dare to be outrageous! Ask yourself, “How boring is a blender?” Check out "will it blend" on YouTube. After a series of these cutting edge, hilarious videos, their sales went through the roof, with each video garnering upwards of 2 million views.

2. Create Intrigue and a Culture - Zappos.com at a recent conference, threw a party in a Hard Rock Hotel nightclub in Las Vegas. They invited the Web Success Team and other attendees only on Twitter by posting an invitation code. Those that had no profiles didn't have access to the invitation. This intrigued most attendees and made Zappos the pre party buzz. Once you were at the party you really felt like you belonged and you were part of a culture.

3. Make your website interactive - Short surveys with giveaways, Questionnaires, Ning networking and visitor involvement with others creates a sense of community. Use lively language to make this a fun experience.

4. Create an emotional experience!!!! - Yes and who can forget Kimberly-Clark's Kleenex ads. Are tissues interesting? Now they are!

5. Tell a story - Once upon a time ago... failure, success, a good ending. This still works, consumers want to be romanced.

6. Give your brand a personality - Dare to use a mascot! Be unforgettable.

To stand out above the crowd you have to be prepared to take a risk. After all if you think of Apple and how they got started, since when is a screen with a keyboard sexy? But just look at how far they have traveled: iPhone, iPod and more to come. Inspiration and risk taking always wins. Carpe Diem.

The Matchmaker: The Web Success Team can help you break through with cutting edge and innovative promotions on the web. People will come, people will buy if they are intrigued. They want to be sold to, they want to be romanced. Remember there is a product or service for everyone. The Web Success Team can match it up!

Your website can become an effective marketing hub for your business. To learn more about the power of Direct Response Web Marketing, log on to Why Direct Response.

Contact the Team today for a complimentary consultation at Contact Us or email Bob Speyer at bob@websuccessteam.com. To your web success!

Season's Greetings from The Web Success Team

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 01:08 GMT

The Web Success Team wishes you a happy holiday season and the best for your business online in 2009!

TeamWork Builds Web Success
The Web Success Team specializes in building and marketing direct response websites that take full advantage of the latest developments on the Internet. The Team has an arsenal of effective web strategies, online tools and proven techniques to promote your products and services. And we’ll show you ways to increase the amount of qualified traffic to your site through the expanding “social web” and how to convert visitors into buyers at a high rate of return.

Your website can become an effective marketing hub for your business. To learn more about the power of Direct Response Web Marketing, log on to Why Direct Response.

Contact the Team today for a complimentary consultation at Contact Us or email Bob Speyer at bob@websuccessteam.com. To your web success!

Online Business Resolutions for Your Web Success

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 20:52 GMT

By Stephanie Soule-Maggio

Underperformance is normal for any online business, especially during tough economic times. On the bright side, there are many ways to pump up your business online.

Think about what you’ve always wanted for your company. Your vision has probably already gotten you some mileage but there are always ways to get even more results. Advancing your sales and promotions requires you to keep up with your competition. But this isn’t all you need to do. The most important thing is for you to set challenging yet realistic goals by being more creative with your web marketing strategies. Don’t be afraid to examine your online business and revise your web content to engage your audience. Begin by making a wish list for your online business.

Seven Recommendations
1. Motivation - Don’t get caught-up in the doom and gloom of business being on the slow side. There are plenty of things to work on that should eventually bring in more customers and speed up business. Keep spirits up and stay positive about your web success. Work at your business, not “in” it.

2. Customer awareness - Know what your audience wants. Don’t assume they’ll be pleased with just any offer, especially if one of your competitors is offering the same thing for a better deal. Keep your content and marketing message clear, simple and to the point. Get into the psychology of what customers need, what makes them tick and approach it by saying, “What-does-a-customer-expect?”

3. Prioritized spending - Evaluate where your money is going. Every business has a budget to manage and allocate resources. There are some things worth putting money into if you feel it will help improve your business such as optimizing your site for the search engines and spreading the word about your company throughout the Internet with various web-marketing strategies.

4. Dedicated staff - Passion for your company’s products and services should spread to your employees. Be a leader and project a productive and positive attitude that you want your employees to integrate into their work ethic. If you’re not running a company yourself, go above and beyond for your employer by stepping up to the plate and going past what is asked of you. Improving your individual quality of work will not only benefit you personally, but should help the company you work for.

5. High traffic - We all wish we had more traffic. The efforts to increase your website’s traffic require you to make the time to include areas that can help spread your company’s message and brand online. A few ways to do this is through implementing social networking, article marketing, and blog posts into your marketing mix, and even a cost-per-click campaign to test your market.

6. Effective call-to-action – Your web content needs to be clear and crisp. It should be written to elicit a response from your visitor. It must be benefits oriented, laden with incentives and value added to entice the viewer to make an inquiry.

7. Unique selling proposition - Your marketing message relies heavily on the branding of your online business. Your unique selling proposition should position you to stand out from the competition, must be credible and engage your audience. Think of all the other companies your audience could go to. Why should they come to you? Give them a clear reason to consider your products and services by providing them a solution to their problem or immediate need.

The end of the year is a great time for reflection. Identify your past successes and failures and begin action planning for a brighter future. Be proactive and make your wish list a priority to help your business regain momentum on the Internet.

TeamWork Builds Web Success
The Web Success Team specializes in building and marketing direct response websites that take full advantage of the latest developments on the Internet. We have an arsenal of effective web strategies, online tools and proven techniques to promote your products and services. And we’ll show you ways to increase the amount of qualified traffic to your site through the expanding “social web” and how to convert visitors into buyers at a high rate of return.

Your website can become an effective marketing hub for your business. To learn more about the power of Direct Response Web Marketing, log on to Why Direct Response.

Contact the Team today for a complimentary consultation at Contact Us or email Bob Speyer at bob@websuccessteam.com. Stand out in 2009 with your web success!

Why am I not searchable in Google?

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 17:46 GMT

Dear Web Success Team,

My temporary “coming soon” website went live and I when I type in http://www.mydomain.com I am not on the search engines. Why? I thought I was going to be up there instantly. Help!

Dear MyDomain,

When you submit your site to Google, this is the message you must read from Google:
“We add and update new sites to our index each time we crawl the web, and we invite you to submit your URL. We do not add all submitted URLs to our index, and we cannot make any predictions or guarantees about when or if they will appear.”

To be indexed (listed on a search engine’s free left organic side) by any search engine here is what you should keep I mind:

1. Your pages should have enough keyword rich content for the search engines to spider.

2. All pages must be complete. Do not submit a site with pages under construction.

3. Do not forget to submit a sitemap to Google

4. Upload a robots.txt file

5. It takes up to 3 months to index any site.

6. Search engines change their algorithms every once in a while so your placement may also drop.

7. A search engine is not a phone book. You will not be listed automatically like in the Yellow Pages.

8. In order to get your search result faster you do need to have an effective online marketing campaign in place.

9. For faster indexing try using on-demand indexing

10. To find out if your site is being indexed by Google use this tool.

When all this is done, “patience,” my friend is a virtue.

TeamWork Builds Web Success
The Web Success Team specializes in building and marketing direct response websites that take full advantage of the latest developments on the Internet. The Team has an arsenal of effective web strategies, online tools and proven techniques to promote your products and services. And we’ll show you ways to increase the amount of qualified traffic to your site through the expanding “social web” and how to convert visitors into buyers at a high rate of return.

Your website can become an effective marketing hub for your business. To learn more about the power of Direct Response Web Marketing, log on to Why Direct Response.

Contact the Team today for a complimentary consultation at Contact Us or email Bob Speyer at bob@websuccessteam.com. To your web success!

Inspiration from a beloved friend

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 12:50 GMT

Our dear friend Michael Finley passed away on Dec. 8, 2008, at home after a long battle with Lou Gehrig's disease. Michael was a proud "Microsoftee." He worked for Microsoft as a marketing manager. He was a graduate of Oklahoma State in 1991. For two years, Michael fought with courage and grace and always kept a positive attitude.

He leaves behind a mother, our dear friend, Linda, a beloved wife and two small children. Please help the Web Success Team in their battle to bring awareness to this horrible disease by visiting http://www.lesturnerals.org/.

Here is some information:

The Les Turner ALS Foundation is the only independent publicly supported non-profit organization in the Chicago-area devoted solely to the treatment and elimination of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), better known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

The Foundation has been affiliated with Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine since 1979, where it funds two world-class scientific research programs (Les Turner ALS Research Laboratories I and II) and an innovative clinical care program (Lois Insolia ALS Center).

How to Promote Your Brand Online

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 16:27 GMT

By Janette Speyer and Stephanie Soule-Maggio

Creating a brand online is more than just images and tag lines. You want your brand to do three things: create trust, identity and buzz. Your brand makes a promise. It gives a face to your company name that people will trust to put their faith into for desired results and then brag about your services to their friends who will then contact you.

Since your business is sharing the cyberspace world with millions of others, you need to make your brand stand out. In order for your business to imprint on the minds of customers, your brand must come from the root of your marketing message. This vision of your message comes in the form of your brand, which should be developed in a few key areas of the Web.

Five Areas Your Brand Must Cover

1.URL address: the frontline, it says it all and must identify your company. This is the first time your viewers will be introduced to you even before they set eyes on your website.

2. Keywords: these will help identify you in the search engines so that the proper audience can find you. Your keywords should give an idea of what your company is about. For instance, if you are a travel agency, think of a way to stand out above the competition by picking specialty keywords such as “adventure travel” or “budget travel.”

3. Your website: with a URL address that identifies your company are specialty keywords, your website should now reflect your brand vision and brand promise. With effective branding, your site will give a general idea of your mission and your philosophy. Most of all, your site should build trust with your visitors.

4. Your blog: spread the word. You are now establishing your company as an authority in the selling of its products and services by entering a community that relies heavily on Internet social networking. Your articles should be branded and remain consistent with your company's vision.

5. Social profiles: in every profile, whether it’s Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn, you should have a company seal or icon that will help your visitors remember your products and services.

Once you have integrated your brand into these areas of the Internet and your website, then you should measure your results. Take a look at the areas of impact and discover other avenues to develop your brand online.

TeamWork Builds Web Success
The Web Success Team specializes in building and marketing direct response websites that take full advantage of the latest developments on the Internet. The Team has an arsenal of effective web strategies, online tools and proven techniques to promote your products and services. And we’ll show you ways to increase the amount of qualified traffic to your site through the expanding “social web” and how to convert visitors into buyers at a high rate of return.

Your website can become an effective marketing hub for your business. To learn more about the power of Direct Response Web Marketing, log on to Why Direct Response.

Contact the Team today for a complimentary consultation at Contact Us or email Bob Speyer at bob@websuccessteam.com. To your web success!

Being able to finally track Flash on Google Analytics is massive.

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:41 GMT

Finally, you can monitor how visitors are viewing flash activity on your website with Google Analytics. This will open a whole new range of possibilities. Adobe Flash is a powerful program and with this new tool we are only just starting to scratch the surface.

Here are the links: http://analytics.blogspot.com/, and http://code.google.com/p/gaforflash/ (This is an ActionScript 3 API for Google Analytics data collection.)

The Web Success Team specializes in branding on the Internet. We are a creative online marketing firm, and one of the major obstacles our clients were facing was the design and visual limitations of simple html pages.

Now being able to use flash and to measure conversions with Google Analytics, we anticipate many changes in the Internet marketing field. Although we have yet to see how well these flash pages can rank in the search engines.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our readers!

TeamWork Builds Web Success
The Web Success Team specializes in building and marketing direct response websites that take full advantage of the latest developments on the Internet. The Team has an arsenal of effective web strategies, online tools and proven techniques to promote your products and services. And we’ll show you ways to increase the amount of qualified traffic to your site through the expanding “social web” and how to convert visitors into buyers at a high rate of return.

Your website can become an effective marketing hub for your business. To learn more about the power of Direct Response Web Marketing, log on to Why Direct Response.

Contact the Team today for a complimentary consultation at Contact Us or email Bob Speyer at bob@websuccessteam.com. To your web success!

Free Tool to Diagnose Your Site’s Problem Areas

Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:06 GMT

By Stephanie Soule-Maggio

Want to get a quick, effective and free analysis of your site’s ability to be found on search engines? Remember that driving traffic is one of the key functions of any website. How your site is constructed and optimized for the search engines will affect your site’s overall visibility and performance.

The Web Success Team recommends the free analytic tool, SEO Automatic, that will give you insight into the functionality of your website, what critical factors you need to fix NOW, important but less urgent ones and, of course, a checklist of things your site is doing right! By addressing the inherent flaws or imperfections on your website will improve your search engine page rank.

You can access free automated SEO information with this simple tool that will scan your site for problem-areas. After submitting this quick form once, you will be given immediate access to the tool, which currently has no cost at all. You will also receive an email with the direct link to it for future reference. Simply put in the url of the site you want to diagnose and bingo, it gives you a complete SEO checklist of your site. For example you will see if all your tags (title, description, keyword, header and alt tags) are correct in the coding. And it will go beyond the basics, looking at your sitemap, robots file, internal and external links, page and image sizes, design and styling issues and server problems – and what to do about them!

Even if you are not tech savvy, you can give the report to your Webmaster or SEO guru to comment and adjust your site.

So don’t let all of your good intentions, hard work, time, and energy go to waste by ignoring accessible tools that can rid your site of problem areas. Services like these may not be free for long, so strike while the iron is hot for web success!

TeamWork Builds Web Success
The Web Success Team specializes in building and marketing direct response websites that take full advantage of the latest developments on the Internet. The Team has an arsenal of effective web strategies, online tools and proven techniques to promote your products and services. And we’ll show you ways to increase the amount of qualified traffic to your site through the expanding “social web” and how to convert visitors into buyers at a high rate of return.

Your website can become an effective marketing hub for your business. To learn more about the power of Direct Response Web Marketing, log on to Why Direct Response.

Contact the Team today for a complimentary consultation at Contact Us or email Bob Speyer at bob@websuccessteam.com. To your web success!

Social Media 1, 2, 3…go

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:28 GMT

by Janette Speyer

Time, time, yes I know you don’t have any. Or at least that is what all my clients are telling me when I suggest a Social Media plan to build their reputation and to connect online.

So I thought I would take you through a typical day in the life of a social media user and also a very busy person with a heavy workload. Yes! That would be me.

1. Facebook – Daily avg time: 15-20 minutes. Check out new contacts, read some of the posts, answer an email inquiry and post something myself = The time it take to call one person for business and to answer a couple of emails.

2. Linkedin – Daily avg time: 30-40 minutes. Keep up with connections, answer industry related questions, make new connections = meeting vendors and clients in person, minus the time it takes to drive in LA.

3. Twitter – Daily avg time: 20-30 minutes. 3 posts a day with necessary research. Priceless! I can’t begin to tell you the power Twitter has for business and social relations. If you are on Twitter, follow Starbucks, Jet Blue and see how other corporations are jumping on the SMM bandwagon.

Was that so terrible? Once at work you still have a number of social / networking tasks you have to do to get your work done: phone calls, emails, meetings. How different is Social Media for all this? It is just a point of view.

The Web Success Team specializes in building and marketing direct response websites that take full advantage of the latest developments on the Internet. The Team has an arsenal of effective web strategies, online tools and proven techniques to promote your products and services. And we’ll show you ways to increase the amount of qualified traffic to your site through the expanding “social web” and how to convert visitors into buyers at a high rate of return.

Your website can become an effective marketing hub for your business. To learn more about the power of Direct Response Web Marketing, log on to Why Direct Response.

Contact the Team today for a complimentary consultation at Contact Us or email Bob Speyer at bob@websuccessteam.com. To your web success!

#PubCon 2008...Take-a-ways and Leave Behinds

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 13:39 GMT

Done. PubCon Conference is over. Always good to come here and catch up with my SEO friends. Here are some of my impressions:

Take-a-ways:

1. Parties and networking. Fun, fun, fun. Zappos.com cool place, SEOmoz werewolf game: great ice breaker. I had a chance to meet some people before I got killed by some random black hat. WebMaster Radio and Microsoft SearchBash...breathtaking: acrobats, music, celebrities, Playboy bunnies, was anything missing...I don't think so.

2. New tool: SEOMoz's LinkSpace. Got a chance to see a demo. Cool little tool. When my site was tested I found the dreaded "click here" anchor link on at least 7 of my links. I think I need to invest $79 for this.

3. Search Engines seem to be catering to us, the webmasters. Sweet! I like it this way.

Leave behinds:

1. SEO 101..not. Know your audience. Conferences were a bit on the slow, deja vu side for the seasoned SEO's. Maybe the organizers can find a way to please both groups. Beginners, keep the same classes, advanced more case studies from peers, more lectures from bigwigs.

2. Long winded presenters you know who you are. Dude, move over and share the stage! We want to hear what everybody has to say.

3. Google booth: What's up? what happened to the days you had engineers on the floor that knew something and were always eager to help?

See you next year at PubCon 2009
@websuccessteam

The Web Success Team specializes in building and marketing direct response websites that take full advantage of the latest developments on the Internet. The Team has an arsenal of effective web strategies, online tools and proven techniques to promote your products and services. And we’ll show you ways to increase the amount of qualified traffic to your site through the expanding “social web” and how to convert visitors into buyers at a high rate of return.

Your website can become an effective marketing hub for your business. To learn more about the power of Direct Response Web Marketing, log on to Why Direct Response.

Contact the Team today for a complimentary consultation at Contact Us or email Bob Speyer at bob@websuccessteam.com. To your web success!