This is just a quick, no frills video I created in less than 5 minutes for one client.

Ever land on a web site and jump back because you were startled by sheer horror of what you were seeing?  I have. Here are 6 examples off the top of my head - continue with caution! :)

1. Flimsy, Limp Handshake - this person has no confidence. They are so worried about "what if" they miss opportunities.   #FAIL.
2. Obnoxious Salesman - Pop-ups, flashing text, lots of bold graphics. #FAIL
3. The Programmer/Techno Snob - usually has mystery meat navigation, information is hard to find and scarce. #FAIL
4. Ultra ADHD - Too many choices, and so much junk that you get a headache trying to find what you want. #FAIL
5. Simple and Shy - extremely plain.  No call to action, or visually appealing anything to get you revved up about what they have to offer. #FAIL
6. The Wannabe - copies what other marketers are doing without understanding WHY they do it. They just want to make a fast buck.  #FAIL

Anyone can create a blog/website.  Over 20k are created every day.  Doesn't mean they should though.

Let me ask you... what are all 6 flawed marketers missing?

ENGAGING with their prospects.  Be where your customers are.

To be engaging means...

Always being LIKE-ABLE.
Do you know someone that everybody likes? Pleasant with an attractive personality. Is that person humble? A servant to others with a joyful attitude of giving?   Is this you?

Always be TRUSTWORTHY.
Do what you say you're going to do.  Be in integrity.  Think of businesses that are trustworthy... Amazon, Zappos, Apple.  Companies that have the distinct reputation for extraordinary customer service and satisfaction.  Have you done what you say you're going to do?

Always be ANSWERING.
Answering questions, responding to inquiries, offering solutions.  Be fast and frequent.  Typically 24 hours is a respectable turn around time.  How can you set up a system to always be prompt?

Always be THANKING...
...people for their RT's (re-tweets), comments, or sharing your material.  Stay in a state of Gratitude.

Always be LINKING.
Linking your content to your social media accounts, like twitter.  Twitter makes it easy for your peeps to RT or re-tweet your link to expand your reach.  And, think of others! When they RT, their @twitterhandle is tweeted too, so don't use all 140 characters.  Save at least 20 characters for the re-tweeter's handle to show up on your tweet too.

Always take PHOTOGRAPHS.
Facebook is the worlds largest website and what do most people spend time doing? Looking at pictures! So always take photos of events and opportunities - a cell phone camera is fine.

This is totally up to you! You can engage your prospects, build relationships and create evangelists for your business or not.  Or, you can continue to do the 6 Flaws and "interruption marketing" to piss your prospect off.  Whatever you do, just make sure you're in alignment with your visitors GOALS.  Help them solve their problem quickly and painlessly as possible. Your website isn't about you, it's about THEM

Now It's YOUR Turn! What are your thoughts? Post below, I'd love to know what you think!

You may have noticed strange looking squares on signs, magazines, billboards, webpages, and more commonly, store shelves. These squares are QR codes. QR (Quick Response) codes are kind of like a barcode, similar to what you see on every day products. Many QR codes have URLs and other hidden information that can be very helpful to research a product while you’re mobile.

Susie Blackmon's QR tag

QR codes have become so popular because nearly everyone has a camera phone, or “smart phone.”  If you have a smartphone, more than likely, you already have a QR code reader.  All you have to do is take a picture with a QR code-compatible application, and you will be taken to a site with more information about whatever it is your looking for.

A couple examples of their use might be to get the layout of your favorite theme park (Cedar Point @cedarpoint doesn’t have one on their website – tsk! tsk!)  Or, maybe you strike up a conversation with a really cool gal and she has a QR Sticker on her laptop or car.  Instead of digging for business cards, you can snap a pic of each others QR code to import contact info.  Easy peasy, lemon squeezie.

QR codes may look like complicated gibberish, but they’re easy to create. I created mine by going to the ZXing Project web site, selecting CONTACT from the drop down, entered my deets, and clicked on Generate.

To read more about QR tags check out these pages:

13 Creative Ways to Use QR Codes for Marketing – Fast Company
7 things you should know about QR Codes – Educause

Get QR software for your Blackberry, iPhone, or Droid.

**UPDATE** May 17, 2011

Mobile bar code scanning has increased by 4,549 percent in the first quarter of 2011 on a year-over-year basis, according to a Mobio Identity Systems study.  Women also show a higher interest in using QR codes, accounting for 68 percent of users.

For marketers, this means QR codes can provide a way to have an ongoing conversation with consumers.

“QR isn’t a one-off medium anymore,” Mr. Binns said. “Marketers can change their QR codes in ads each day, week or month, and have an ongoing dialogue with their consumer.”

Have you gotten YOUR QR code yet? 

More info about QR codes:

How to make your QR codes more beautiful @Mashable

Dubai to Give Every Building a QR Code

Starbucks & Lady Gaga Team Up On Scavenger Hunt

Now It’s YOUR Turn! What are your thoughts? Post below, I’d love to know what you think!

**Editors Note**  Cathy Goodwin is an exceptional copywriter that establishes a connection to your visitors, communicates your value and motivates prospects to buy. I HIGHLY recommend her!

Business owners who promote themselves with online marketing often neglect the “about us” page. If you own a service business or work as an independent professional, your “About” page will be especially critical to your success. Prospective clients want to get to know you before they make a hiring decision, so they may turn to this page right after they come to your website.

Many business owners make these 3 mistakes when they write their “About” page. They list facts in obituary style; they include irrelevant information; or they omit to add a personal flavor that prospects will want to find.

First, begin by identifying why you are the single best resource to solve your niche’s most urgent problem. You might list facts but it’s important to relate the facts to your expertise. Sometimes it’s difficult to see the relationship between your hobby or college major and your current business. That’s where an objective viewpoint can help. Ask your clients, friends, and mentors. Often they will make these connections readily.

Second, limit your “About” page to information that is directly relevant to your business. You need to be scrupulously honest but you don’t need to share every aspect of your life.

The decision on what’s relevant will be related to your field. If you got into trouble as a teen, your experience may be relevant if you work as a life coach or child psychologist. If you are a business coach this information will be less relevant and may actually backfire. It’s always a judgment call.

Finally, be sure to add a personal flavor to your “About” page. Include elements of your life that present you as a friendly, competent three-dimensional person. Your clients want to relate to you as a human being, not a one-dimensional robot, but they don’t want to know the most intimate details of your life.

One business consultant includes information about community activities because he wants to show that he gives back. He realizes his contribution to nonprofit organizations will show that he is a caring person with integrity.

Another consultant writes extensively about her family. She finds clients often relate to her experience as a wife and mom. She also finds she gets more comments about her cats than just about anything on the About page.

Remember to review your “About” page at least once a year. Your facts change. Your kids grow up and you may get a new dog. You also may need to change your content as your own business changes and new facts become more or less relevant.

Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., is an online copywriter who helps business owners get more clients and sell more products online. Download The Case Of The Missing Website Profits and discover 3 clues to why your website isn’t working (and 3 red herrings that lead you down the wrong trail). http://www.CopywritingDetective.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Cathy_Goodwin

Going Dark? This is an old phrase from my phone company days.

In Las Vegas, there are a mind boggling amount of circuits going to casinos, hotels, businesses, government agencies and so on.  All are priority #1, and many have a redundant fiber optic network backup that is “dark” meaning there is no data running on it, it is just sitting there dark “just in case.”

Often, in our everyday lives we are called to more pressing matters and we go ‘dark’.  We don’t have a redundant network to back us up, and our online colleagues, friends, and clients wonder if we fell off the earth.

Here is a recap of GigaOm.com’s post 6 Ways to Revive a Dead Social Media Channel

1. Address your absence.
2. Begin again as if starting all over.
3. Reach out to fans and followers who have engaged you lately.
4. Begin re-posting consistently.
5. Reply, comment and acknowledge your followers quickly.
6. And last but not least: Map out a social media calendar.

My partner Kym and I offer Twitter Management for a few select clientele, and their social media calendar looks something like this:

What’s happening this month? Monthly promotions, testimonials, local activities, people, business or organizations you want to promote.

Weekly/Daily topic schedule.  Myth Monday, Technology Tuesday, What? Wednesday, Thank-you Thursday, Fun Friday.

RT (re-tweet) sources: StumbleUpon, Digg, industry leaders, vendors, and related current events to piggyback.

We all want to appear sharp and on the cutting-edge of whatever our gig is, and by creating a calendar, no matter how hokey it feels, is the best way to keep ourselves on track.

Now it’s YOUR turn.  Go on now… get busy!

1. Thou shalt use WordPress for your website/blog.

2. Post to your blog often.

3. Use social media - Facebook, Twitter.

4. Use lots of videos.

5. Be real and personable.

6. Make sharing easy.

7. Create a kick @ss  freebie that over delivers.

8. Always respond to comments.

9. Sharpen your saw.

10. Create evangelists.

BONUS: Learn to sell.

• "The Irresistible Offer: How to Sell Your Product or Service in 3 Seconds or Less" by Mark Joyner
• "Integrity Selling for the 21st Century: How to Sell the Way People Want to Buy" by Ron Willingham
• "Little Red Book of Selling: 12.5 Principles of Sales Greatness" by Jeffrey Gitomer

1. Don’t waste your web site’s real estate with a lot of high-tech clutter. With social media today that can happen easily – add a widget here, another widget there… pretty soon, it’s cluttered like the television show “Hoarders”. Your visitors will miss your whole sales message and bail.

2. Don’t forget to demonstrate Social Proof. This means testimonials.  Be careful though – new FTC guidelines require you to secure the permission from the individual to use their testimonial in your copy.  I always do AND, put the full name, and website url of the person giving the testimonial.

3. Don’t use run-on sentences. Sentences should be no longer than 10 words. You only have so much time to get your visitor’s attention and interest; make every word count.

4. Don’t assume that everyone will automatically understand what you have to offer. BE OBVIOUS! Use powerful words and examples to get your point across.

5. Don’t write your strongest point or benefit only once. You should repeat it at least 3 times because some people don’t get it right away. (how many times do you have to tell your kids to clean their room…5-6-7 times?)

6. White space is good! Don’t push all your words together on your web site. People like to skim; use plenty of headings and sub headings. Bold key phrases to make your copy “scan-able.”

7. Don’t write crap your target market isn’t interested in. If people are coming to your site to find info about knitting don’t include soccer content.  Not to be confused with “life-streaming.”  People who are following you on twitter, Facebook, etc. DO want to know what you’re doing.

8. Don’t give me a headache with your 20 different fonts and colors all over your web site. Use the same fonts, text sizes & colors, etc. If a site looks to “complicated” to read, your prospect is sure to bail and never return… worse yet, you could be “stumbled” on stumbleupon.com or submitted to websites that suck for having the worst site ever!

9. Cut out the jargon. Don’t use words your visitors might not understand. People are not going to stop and look in a dictionary, or Google the “word”, they will just go to another site. (If my 15 year old daughter can’t “get” the concept of my copy, I start over.)

10. Make your website POP! Don’t let selling words and phrases go unnoticed. Highlight important words and phrases with color, bolding, italics, underlining, etc.

11. Don’t omit your social media homes. aka. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Digg, Delicious, etc.  If you do people will think you’re behind the times.  Social media has been around long enough that most everyone online has adopted some form of social interaction.

Donna Payne is the Chief Web Coach of The Web Coach.net and is known as the gal to call when you’re feeling overwhelmed by the internet. To spend more time with Donna experiencing Web technology, Small Business Coaching and Marketing in the most SIMPLIFED way possible go to http://thewebcoach.net. Get the Business Breakthrough You Need by scheduling yourself for a free 30-minute Business Breakthru Coaching call.

Really quick, here’s 3 action steps for you:

1. Start writing! 300-500 words is fine. At bottom of article is your “resource box,” be sure to put your 10 second commercial with a link to your NEW BLOG. (see #2) Post your articles to ezinearticles.com, blog, newsletter, read aloud to make a podcast, and Youtube video, post on facebook and twitter.

1. Go to WordPress.com and sign up for a free blog. Doesn’t have to be anything fancy. If you get stuck – call me 419 775-7424
2. Grap a copy of Get Clients NOW! By CJ Hayden – create your own 28-day program and work it!

This is a really quick and inexpensive way to get yourself online.

Website needs change over the years.  In order to succeed and stay up-to-date with trends, you’ll want to read and implement these 7 powerful success tips for your website in 2010 .

1. Your copy is most important. I imagine this will never change – it’s definitely worth your time to learn how to write your own persuasive and powerful sales copy or hire a copywriter. Take a look at two greats like: Dan Kennedy and David Ogilvy. Both are accomplished authors – go buy their stuff and absorb it all.
2. Ease of use – for heavens sake, don’t make me think! I don’t want to guess or look very hard for information on your website. If you don’t understand what I mean, go read “Don’t Make Me Think” by Steve Krug. Take notes.
3. Your social media contact info – Yes, I’m going to stalk you. Of course your website positions you as an upstanding person, but I want to know the *REAL* you. How do you interact with friends and customers? What do people post on your Facebook wall?
4. Testimonials – candid, unrehearsed and off-the-cuff testimonials can only build your credibility. When you do good work – get a testy!
5. Single point-of-entry – make it easy to do business with you. One simple way to be introduced to your world of products and services is thru a single point-of-entry. Woo me, seduce me, and make me fall in love and spend my money!
6. Are you a Go-giver? Nothing is more attractive or sexy than a person who gives freely and unconditionally. Yeah, really. Have you read “The Go-Giver?” by Bob Burg and John David Mann?
7. BLOG – I want to know how you think. If you’re not blogging by now – get started. I want to do business with a person of character and integrity. Your blog can tell me exactly what kind of person you are.
   

What are Your thoughts?