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!

Your website is stale.  It sucks.  It was supposed to be a means of attracting new clients in your target market.  But that never happened.

Let me take a moment to underline that a website is a tool. If you don’t use the tool, why have it?  An outdated website reflects badly on your business.  It says your either; 1) too busy/lazy to update it,  2) you don’t care, or 3) your out of business.

That being said, I think it’s important for you to understand that marketing online TODAY requires your website be a “hub” of your communications. Engaging and nurturing relationships.

How Do You Create A Hub?

It’s so easy to lose focus on activities that bring the greatest return for you.  (Like writing) Sure, I get sidetracked all the time – but staying focused, putting out good content that engages my followers keeps me stuck in their memory. That is where we ALL want to be!  Right?

Looking to the future of your website and beyond, here are thoughts to consider:

1. Content is the most important piece of your website.
   Not your design, colors, photos or anything else. You can have the ugliest website ever and still have tons of traffic if your content is relevant and authoritative – Google will see to that.
2. Make the content easy to find.
   Today’s website platform will most likely be WordPress which has category, search, and archive widgets. Use them.  (And don’t forget to tag & categorize your content)
3. Consistency.
   Lord knows I suck at consistency! I go in spurts – I’ll write great blog posts for a couple weeks then burn out. An interesting fact is that my older articles still bring traffic. I have one from 2005 that consistently shows up in my “most read” stats. So, do the work! Even if you have 1k excuses – do it anyway.
4. Sharing.
   Wordpress has tools that automatically Tweet, post to FaceBook & LinkedIn (and anywhere else) you want. And most people think you only need to share once. Not true! I was on a call yesterday with Guy Kawasaki and he automatically sets some of his stuff to tweet/post every 8 hours for a day or two. Each re-tweet would have a couple hundred clicks… So it pays to re-tweet your own stuff at different hours. (The web never sleeps!)
5. Engaging.
   Remember ANOTHER 80/20 rule – 80% helping, 20% promoting. Take time to thank people for following you. Comment, comment, comment, comment, and continuing comenting on other people’s stuff. Blogs/tweets/FB/LI. Not only does it open the door for communication, your comment creates a back link to your site – Google Goodness with a big red bow!
6. Consider Mobile users.
   Read these 2 posts I wrote about mobile marketing here: http://thewebcoach.net/in-u-s-31-own-smartphones-is-your-business-mobile-ready/ and here http://thewebcoach.net/web-coach-tip-mobile-marketing-strategies-and-7-tips-to-get-you-started-plus-wordpress-mobile-themes-and-plugins/
7. Schedule your “feed me & share” time.
   FIRST thing in the morning when I have coffee I open up my Google reader and skim over the news of a few chosen resources that give me inspiration to write. That usually gets the wheels turning and an article is born soon after.  If you have to get up a half-hour earlier to make this happen – DO IT!  It’ll be the best 30 minutes you spend each day.

After my article is written, then open up everything else on my computer – share my article, check in w/my social homes, engage, and then go on about my day.  I check twitter while waiting to pick up my kids, while dinner is cooking (be careful! I lost track of time and went to the grill to find this.) And before bed.  Sometimes if I’m watching TV in the evening I’ll bring my laptop and check in during commercials.

Many people talk about limiting your time online to XX minutes… But then, I feel that time becomes “reactive” time. I’ve only got 15 minutes to answer these messages, OMG! I’ll never make it! You should be ENGAGING during this time.

Save the responding to tweets/fb to 1x a day. Most people are satisfied if you get back to them within 24 hours. So spend your time looking for ways to help/engage your peeps. I pretend I’m a social butterfly with rainbow wings and pixie dust. Hey, whatever it takes! LOL!

I think Mars Dorian got it right when he said:

A lazy person does barely any work.

A good person does the work when he feels like it.

A digital crusader does the work EVEN when he doesn’t feel it.

So, don’t skip “the work” when you don’t feel like doing it. That’s amateur, and that ain’t you!

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

A website can just be a digital piece of real estate unless you use this one tactic that will serve as the foundation of your website.  Google loves websites like this and your competitors will have one heluva time trying to compete.

The bottom line is that blogging is like sex.  You can’t fake it. You can’t fake passion. You can’t fake wanting to engage with the public. If you do, it will ultimately be an unsatisfying experience for both the blogger and their readers.”

–Kevin Anderson, Freelance Journalist & Former BLOGS Editor for the Guardian

Powerful quote wouldn’t you say? Yes. Very much so.

This comes back to one of the most effective activities you can do for your business – writing.  And, I’m not talking about writing a thesis. I mean a heart-felt 400 to 500 word article about what you know.

Fact: Blogs keep growing in volume and VALUE.

Writing articles/blog posts can only increase your status as an expert in your field.  Just ask Jeff Herring, known as “The Article Marketing Guy.”

Jeff sez:

Article Marketing provides the 5 components your need for online success no matter your niche. Article Marketing is your vehicle for Content Creation, Online Visibility, Traffic Generation, List Building, and Product Creation. With Article Marketing you can master all 5 of these components faster, easier and with less overall human effort.

Hey! less effort – I like that!

Some people freeze up at the thought of writing.  They think they’ll be penalized by the grammar police.  What really matters is getting your ideas down on paper/word document.  Let me give you some numbers to help you get over the fear.

Fact: Writing articles about what you know and posting them on your blog can increase your site visitors by 55%. *

Companies who blog generate 67% more leads per month than those who do not.**

Companies who have greater than 51 articles, create 77% more monthly leads.**

Blogging frequency has a direct and SIGNIFICANT impact on lead generation.**

Fact: Bloggers are “Morning People”

79% of blog readers read in the morning as opposed to 64% at noon, 51% in the evening, and 40% at night.***

Blog reading peaks around 10am, and LINK sharing around 7am.  Comments peak at 8am.***

One of the greatest writers on earth is Dan Kennedy.  Dan usually begins writing around 5am because that is when he has chosen to block out time to write.  Ideas floating around his head or not.  Sick, sleepy or sluggish. It doesn’t matter – he makes no excuses.

Bottom line: commit to writing, blog early and often.

*Source: Hubspot, 2010**Source: Hubspot,  State of Inbound Marketing and Lead Generation Report, 2010***Source: The Science of Blogging 2010

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!

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

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

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.

By, C.J. Hayden, MCC, Wings for Business, LLC

http://getclientsnow.com

Why is it that some consultants, coaches, and other independent professionals have all the business they need, while others struggle by with only a few clients?

Is there a hidden secret no one is telling you?

The answer may be simpler than you think. In this special report, you will discover three things you may be doing now that can actually prevent you from getting clients, how the Persistence Effect can liberate your marketing, and one simple habit you can begin today that may bring you all the clients you will ever need.

I’ve been working with self-employed professionals like you since 1992, helping my clients, students, and readers to make more money with less effort, and teaching them how to earn a better living doing what they love. Please take a few moments now to read these five simple ideas that can change your marketing forever.

WHEN LESS BECOMES MORE

It’s easy to think there is some hidden secret to marketing your business or professional practice. There are so many books to read, classes to take, and mentors, coaches, and consultants you could hire that it makes the process seem mysterious or overwhelming. But there is a simple answer and it’s the first of five secrets I’m going to share with you.

1. Choose a set of simple, effective things to do and do them consistently.

The real key to successful marketing is picking just a few simple, effective things to do and then doing those things consistently. This is how you can build your business more quickly by doing less.

Imagine that you were trying to fill a water barrel with a drinking glass. You would have to make trip after trip, going back to the faucet over and over. In marketing, this is like doing a little bit of networking, some haphazard follow-up, trying to get some publicity, giving a talk, buying a booth at a trade show, placing an ad, then writing an article…

Instead, why not use a bucket to fill your barrel? You can carry more water while making fewer trips. Instead of spreading yourself thin with a dozen different marketing strategies, you could simply do some networking with consistent follow-up, give some talks and follow up with those you meet, and that would be it C just three strategies: networking, public speaking, and following up. Your barrel fills faster, and you’re less tired.

Trying to do too much is one of the ways you may be sabotaging your own marketing efforts. Stop-and-start marketing can actually prevent you from getting clients. It wears you out running back and forth. You never spend enough energy on any one approach to really make a difference, but instead you make yourself less efficient and effective in all areas.

THE PERSISTENCE EFFECT AT WORK

If you limit your marketing activities to what you can realistically do well, it becomes possible to give your marketing the essential quality of consistency. Instead of just hearing from you once, people begin to hear your name over and over. They begin to think of you when you’re not in touch and send you referrals. But to make this happen, you have to do the work. Positive intentions alone won’t create clients without more help from you.

2. Rely on the Persistence Effect, not on magic.

When you begin to move purposefully in a specific direction, energy is created and things begin to happen. There is an interesting phenomenon that occurs when you get serious about marketing in a focused, consistent way. You begin to get results in unexpected places.

The phone rings, and it’s a prospect you spoke to three months ago saying they are suddenly interested in working with you. You go to a networking meeting that seems like a complete waste of time, and run into a hot new prospect in the elevator on your way out — who wasn’t even there for the meeting you went to. You get an exciting referral from someone whose name you don’t recognize. It’s almost as if the universe has noticed your dedication and decided to reward you.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that these out-of-the-blue opportunities are accidents. There is a direct connection between the level of effort you put into marketing and the results you get out of it — even when it seems like the results are completely unrelated to your efforts.

This marketing phenomenon is so common that I have named it the Persistence Effect. If you persist in making ten calls a day, every day, you will get business, but it won’t all come from the calls you made. If you consistently attend one networking event per week, clients will appear, but not necessarily from the events you attended. Don’t worry about why it works; just know that it works. And don’t confuse the Persistence Effect with magical thinking. Just creating a positive intention for something doesn’t have this kind of payoff. You have to do something about it.

USING PULL INSTEAD OF PUSH

Another way you may be preventing yourself from getting clients is refusing to choose a niche for your business or private practice. I know, I know, you don’t want to limit yourself. But the truth is that having a niche doesn’t limit you; it focuses you. If a client shows up at your door, of course you can choose to work with them, regardless of whether they fit into your niche. But to be effective at marketing, you need some kind of organizing principle for your outreach activities. The universe is too big to market to all of it.

3. Choose a niche and become known for it.

Returning to our metaphor of the water barrel, not having a niche is like running all over town to different water faucets instead of coming back to the same one each time. Even if you do have a bucket instead of a drinking glass, it’s inefficient. And worse, you might not even be able to find the faucets in all those unfamiliar places.

Not having a niche means that attracting clients is impossible. You must spend all your time pursuing clients; there’s nothing that brings them to you.

Your niche can be a target market, a specialty or both. For example, your target market might be “executive women” or “high-tech companies.” Your specialty could be “career transition” or “productivity improvement.” Having both a target market and a specialty to define your niche is ideal, e.g. “executive women in career transition,” or “productivity improvement for high-tech companies.”

When you identify a niche that works for you, you can become known in that niche. That way, clients start calling you. Usually, you begin by networking in your niche and ultimately graduate to writing, speaking, or teaching to establish yourself as an expert. Keep in mind that networking is not just going to a room and exchanging business cards; it’s creating a pool of contacts from which you can draw clients, referrals, resources, ideas, and information

You don’t have to wait for word of mouth within your niche; you can create it, by actively reaching out to others who are either in your niche themselves or serve your niche by what they do. For example if your niche is helping small business owners become financially successful, certainly you want to network with entrepreneurs and self-employed professionals. But you should also get to know accountants, small business attorneys, staff at entrepreneurship centers, career counselors, psychotherapists, business bankers, newsletter editors, merchant card providers… anyone who comes in contact with your niche on a daily basis.

Meet with them, call them, write to them, write for them, speak to them, and teach them. Following the first rule of choosing a few simple things to do and doing them consistently, this is completely within your grasp if you focus on one narrowly defined niche. If you leave your niche too broad or try to “cheat” by having several niches, your client universe becomes too large and you are once again spread too thin.

SELL THE SIZZLE, NOT THE STEAK

Imagine you went to an auto mechanic, and he told you he was going to lift the hood of your car, shine a light around, and move some parts up and down. Does this sound like a service you would pay for? Of course not. What you want to hear from the mechanic is that he will fix your car. If you’re not telling clients about the results your work produces and the benefits they will get from it, they will never see the value of it.

4. Market the results of your work, not the process you use.

If you were in my profession of business coaching, and someone asked you, “What is coaching?” you would be unlikely to enroll a client by saying, “We meet by phone for half an hour each week and talk about your goals.” That’s just the process – where’s the value?

A slightly better answer might be to say, “Coaching is a process for helping you get what you want.” Now you are stating some value. But an even better answer would be not to market “coaching” at all, but instead to market higher earnings, improved selling skills, or more fulfilling work. You would respond not with a definition, but with a statement of benefits: “I help my clients learn to make more money with less effort.”

Instead of offering tax preparation, an accountant could invite you to “save money on taxes.” Instead of selling logo design, a graphic designer could suggest “get your business noticed.” Rather than proposing a company retreat, a trainer could promise “improved teamwork and cooperation.”

Whenever possible, market benefits your clients can place a dollar value on. You’re asking them to write you a check, so if they can’t see a monetary benefit, they are much less likely to do it. In a corporate environment, talk about improved productivity or employee retention. With individuals, describe the benefits of a healthier lifestyle or better relationships. People need to see your service as the answer to an essential need they have. If you allow it to be something that’s just nice to have, you will either limit your market to clients with a budget for luxuries, or you’ll limit your rate to only what people will pay for something that’s nice but they don’t really need.

HELP IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK

One of the most overlooked secrets to successful marketing is getting a hand from the people you already know. If you’re new, maybe you are waiting to become more successful before telling more people about your business. Or perhaps you have made up a rule that your personal life is supposed to be separate from your business. But the truth is that the people who already know you are likely to be the best contributors to your success.

5. Ask the people you already know for help.

If you always remember to tell everyone you know what you are doing and ask for their help, that one simple habit may bring you all the clients you need. Go through your address book, checkbook, holiday card list, club roster, and alumni directory, and count up how many people you know that aren’t yet aware of your business. Begin reaching out to those people with cards, letters, e-mails, or phone calls and let them know about what you do.

Instead of just asking for client referrals, treat these people as part of your network. Remember that networking is creating a pool of contacts from which you can draw clients, referrals, resources, ideas, and information. You can expand your network by asking the people you know who they know and contacting the people they refer you to.

In my earlier example of a niche serving business owners and self-employed professionals, I suggested getting to know accountants, small business attorneys, etc., as a way to become better connected in that niche. What if you were to ask your friends, family, colleagues, and all the people you do business with who their accountant is? Then get to know all those accountants. This is networking within your niche.

Always look for how you can make a relationship reciprocal. With other businesspeople, send them referrals whenever you can. If you have always referred people to your own accountant, instead give them three names and ask them to call all three before deciding. If you don’t know what the other person might need, ask them, “What can I do for you?” Get a network of people out there working for you so you don’t have to work so hard.

WHAT TO DO NEXT

I hope you have found the ideas in this report helpful. If you don’t yet own a copy of my book GET CLIENTS NOW!, I’d like to invite you to purchase it at http://amazon.com and sign up for Donna Payne’s Get Clients NOW! Seminar scheduled for September 1, 2009.  REGISTER HERE.

Lately, I’ve had many conversations about SEO n’such with people who are looking for the quick fix to get high Google rankings.  These kinds of people HIGHLY annoy me, because I have always preached content and article writing is really the only organic way.

So as I preach from my SEO pulpit, I know now that FriendFeed and twitter are both darlings of Google.  So get out there are start sharing what’s in your noggin people!

Go forth… Twitter, Facebook and Friendfeed! 

And, now Hutch’s post =======================

Three Reasons You Need to Be on FriendFeed *Now*

by Hutch Carpenter

FriendFeed has got to be one of the most innovative companies around these days. It seems every week, it’s hatched something new with its service. That alone makes it worth being there.

Then there’s the interactions. When those are rocking and rolling, it’s a lot of fun. Even a few Likes and comments are worth the experience. Of course, not everyone is engaged enough on the service to fully benefit from that. Which is something I completely understand, by the way.

I’ve got three reasons you should be on FriendFeed now. Not for the conversations. Not for the real-time experience. But three reasons that will be valuable to you personally.

The FriendFeed triple play.

#1: Google Juice

You likely know the background of much of the FriendFeed team – Google. Yeah, these guys know search. Even more importantly, they know something about how Google manages search.

So it comes as no surprise that FriendFeed can rank pretty highly in Google search results. Here’s a favorite example of mine.

Alex Scoble (yes, Robert’s brother) is planning his wedding reception. One candidate location for the reception was the Hillsboro Cultural Arts Center. But the managers of that location were not very flexible in working Alex and his fiance. On FriendFeed, Alex posted about the Hillsboro Cultural Arts Center, with some comments explaining why he was not going to use them. It’s not a flattering portrayal of the Center.

Well, check out what a search on the Center’s name returns: Alex’s FriendFeed entry is the #6 result.

Not something that Center wants in their search results, but a great way for Alex to let others know about his experience with the Center.

Read the rest of Hutch’s post here