Seth writes an great post about Under New Management notices:
If I liked your store before, now I’m on notice to be careful–it might not be as good.
If I didn’t like your store before, why on earth am I paying attention to your little sign and why should I go out of my way to take another chance?
If you aren’t reading his blog you should be.
This one is almost to dreadful to be true. After having the decency to email a company to let them know you won’t be going with their service you’re insulted by said company. Yup this happened to a couple in New Zealand:
They asked for a simple quote on the cost of a wedding marquee – but lovebirds Steve Hausman and Paula Brosnahan got a vicious email from the hire company describing their planned nuptials as “cheap, nasty and tacky”.
Of course the email has spread like wildfire and the company, The Great Marquee Company, has had to post a statement on their website. The owner Klaus Jorgensen has also sacked the person who wrote the email – his wife!
Really, you’d think people would know better. I suspect The Great Marquee Company is going to need some online reputation management real soon. 😉
Daz over at On SEO Pond writes a great post How many enquiries are you missing out on?
Sadly this happens far too often online too. How many times do you email a company and get no response? Or a response that takes 5 days. I can’t see the point of having a website if you don’t reply to enquiries or take your time in doing so?
Online your website and fast communication is how you are judged. What sort of impression are you making?
I had the pleasure of meeting a new client today. He told me a little about his history (he’s been on TV) and I mentioned I had read some of it after Googling him. He hadn’t heard of being Googled before. Which I also hear from many clients, friends and family.
So question: do you Google yourself?
I came across a person this week who was offering web design services whilst asking how to build a website. Yup, seriously. While most cases aren’t that blatant it does happen far more often than it should.
A professional web designer is your partner in online success. They can help make or break your online venture. So with that in mind it’s vital you hire a professional that, as well as understanding web design, has knowledge about selling online, internet marketing and building brand and business credibility.
One of the hardest parts of selecting a professional web designer is knowing what to look for. So whilst this list is not exhaustive it should help arm you with the knowledge you need to make a wise choice.
As a starting point you want to make sure your potential website designer:
The internet is a fast paced medium and keeping up to date with technology and trends is also important. You’re web designer should also:
Taking into account the tips above, spend some time researching potential web designers and either talk to them on the phone or in person. This will help you get a feel for them, their knowledge and how it would be to work with them. It should also help you determine whether you’re dealing with a professional or not.
Good luck!
I’m a book lover. Everything about books, from their smell and design to the content inside appeals to me. So you can imagine my pleasure when discovering great books about my other great passion – web design. So without further ado here’s 3 of my current favourite web design books:
As much about usability as web design, this book is one of the best resources on building effective websites. As Steve says:
It’s a fact: People won’t use your website if they can’t find their way around it.
A simple, straight forward book focusing on how to make any website better. Again focused on usability as much as web design The Big Red Fez provides real world examples of what it takes to create a website that satisfies your visitors and ensures they keep coming back.
As a relative newcomer to CSS this book provides practical solutions to building a CSS, standards compliant website.
This list is by no means exhaustive but it’s a great start. I’ll keep adding to it as I discover new books I love. It’s also an excuse to keep buying them. 😉
Customers Are Always blog has a great post Enthusiasm, Spirituality, and Karma in Business. I particularly like this quote:
Yes, I truly believe that there is such a thing as karma in business. What you give comes back to you tenfold.
I couldn’t agree more. A number of years ago I did a blog design for a friend, free of charge. Another acquaintance noticed me for that design and recently I have started doing some web design and blog designs for them. Without doing that first site I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t have been recognised by my new client.
I never did the original blog design expecting anything but sometimes what goes around comes around.
I bought two products online last Friday: a tube of shaving cream for my hubby from Hong Kong and a tube of moisturiser for me from Hoppers Crossing (a 15 minute drive from where I live).
Both offered free shipping which, whilst not a deciding factor, was certainly a nice bonus. So which one do you think turned up first thing Monday morning? Nope, it was the shaving cream from Hong Kong. Usually I wouldn’t have expected it until tomorrow. Seriously.
Now I’m not critising the Hoppers Crossing place – I purchase from there regularly and always receive my goods in a timely fashion, but less than one business day from Hong Kong, that’s sensational. It’s the type of online shopping experience I want to tell all my friends about. Thanks StrawberryNET!
Finally having a blog of my own has made me appreciate even more all the bloggers I have read and enjoyed over the years.
Whilst my blog is relatively new I was introduced to blogging early – having designed Peter Da Vanzo’s SearchEngineBlog.com website. Peter was blogging way back before most and I always looked forward to his daily thoughts and comments. Now I can truly appreciate the effort he put into it. So thank you Peter and all those other bloggers who take the time to write truly great, insightful posts. It’s appreciated.
I’m still settling into my own blogging style and still struggle with what to write at times. If anyone has any suggestions or topics they’d love to hear more about please let me know.
I’ve been an editor at Dmoz for years. Over that time I’ve heard more than my fair share of complaints about how hard it is to get a website listed. The single best tip I can give you is this:
Make sure you submit to the right category and comply with the Title and Description requirements! 99.9% of sites I review need to be moved to the right category and have their Title and Descriptions re-written to comply with the rules. If there’s lots of sites to edit you can imagine how time consuming this will be.
Don’t make it hard for the editors. You’ll find your site gets approved far quicker if the only thing an editor needs to do is hit the “approve” button.