Panic-Driven News Offers No Solution
Posted on January 29, 2009 | Tags: Commentary
I subscribe to Dan Kennedy’s marketing newsletter each month. For those who don’t’ know him, Dan’s the author of many books on marketing, sales and business. This month’s issue opened with a partial list of retail store closings slated for this year. Ann Taylor, 117 stores; Gap 85 stores, Foot Locker 140 stores, Bombay 384 stores. And the list goes on, totalling nearly 2,000.
However, in the spirit of American entrepreneurship that Dan embodies, he points out the opportunities presented by this news.
First, Dan predicts a “renaissance of the independently owned, local business.” Secondly, the epic shift of retail distribution to ecommerce will simply accelerate, presenting massive opportunity for online retailers (affiliates?)
Rather than react to the constant diet of bad news offered by mainstream media, Kennedy offers a different perspective to the entrepreneur-minded. After all, before the days of easy credit weren’t we all just a bit tougher? Toughness, and ability to sell and seize opportunity rather than wallow in defeat is the American entrepreneurial mindset that that is the backbone of our economy. Listening exclusively to the mainstream media exclusively would defeat that mindset.
If the news reports are to be believed, there’s just no hope and we’re heading for bread lines. But wait: aren’t these the same folks who stood by and said nothing while subprime mortgages were handed out like candy at Halloween? Aren’t these the same folks who supported the administration’s march into war with nary a word of question? And aren’t these are the same folks who exhaustively covered escalating gas prices and then ignored gas prices as a story when the plummeted?
True journalism no longer exists in most mainstream media coverage. So, like the “friend”, family member or employee who constantly relays bad news, news media should be taken with a grain of salt. There’s no denying the statistics of layoffs, unemployment and tougher economic times. But a steady diet of bad news only creates panic. Panicked individuals own businesses and make bad decisions.
Fortunately, there are CEOs and small business owners who choose to find solutions rather than panic. My friend, Joy Gendusa, CEO and founder of the Inc 500 company PostcardMania, is one such business owner. With over 160 employees, rather than panic, Joy has retooled her services in order to better compete and not laid off employees.
Shouldn’t stories like Joy’s be covered as well as the bad news?
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The Seven Traits of an Expert
Posted on January 22, 2009 | Tags: Commentary
As someone who has worked with more than five hundred experts, authors, CEOs and opinion leaders from all industries, I’ve rubbed elbows with every type of expert and pr personality. Over the years I’ve observed them all to share some fundamental traits. You’ll find these traits summarized below. Read more
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Top 5 Reasons to Switch to Wordpress
Posted on January 7, 2009 | Tags: online pr, online public relations
First time website owners or those looking to upgrade their older site won’t go wrong using the Wordpress platform. Here’s the Top Reasons to Use Wordpress. I’ve avoided the use of tech-speak, so for those tekkies, pardon our avoidance of terminology.
1.The search engines will recognize your site much faster. With other platforms, it can take a while for a new site to be found by Google, Yahoo or MSN. Not so with Wordpress. Right out of the box, your site is friendlier to search engines. That means your prospective customers will find you much faster.
2. You can change and update content easily. In the old days, you had your tech person put up your site and considered it done. That doesn’t work today. You need to constantly add fresh content to keep up with the game and Wordpress is so user friendly that you can do it yourself. Our clients get a one-on-one orientation tutorial with Trevor, our wordpress wizard. From that point on, adding or deleting content from their site is as easy as using a word processor.
3. Free Training and Support. Unlike the static website platforms that require “html” knowledge, if you want to become independent of any technical help to maintain your site, there’s all the free help you can get online. You can find documentation and online forums where you can post just about any question and get help. Most of my clients don’t have the time for this, so we offer ongoing maintenance support and/or tutorial with Trevor, our wordpress wizard.
4. The design capabilities are unlimited. If you have a static html site right now, we can switch it over to the more search engine friendly Wordpress format and keep your same design. The only difference is you’ll have the ability to update it more easily and your site will play better with the search engines. No matter what you want your site to look like, it can be done in Wordpress.
5. It’s versatile. Websites have come of age with regard to their ability to influence your offline business. 75% of people now say a company’s website influences their buying decisions. Video, audio, written word, pictures …. all of these convey the message and image needed to influence your prospects. With Wordpress, all of these mediums are possible.
Limited Offer ‘Till Jan 31. Right now Online Offline PR is offering a custom designed Wordpress site that’s got all of the search engine ready gadgets and tracking gizmos already loaded on it for $1197. That’s like buying a laptop with Microsoft Office pre-loaded. It also includes a walk-you-through- the-site tutorial over the phone with Trevor and the guidance of a twenty-year veteran PR (that’s me). Contact me before January 31st if you’re interested.
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Is Your Website Killing Your Sales?
Posted on January 6, 2009 | Tags: pr, public relations
Using PR tools like positioning and being real to your intended customer is part of ensuring all that effort and money spent to drive traffic isn’t wasted on a site that’s turning away would-be customers.
Per actual survey 75% of web users are making judgments about your organization’s credibility based on your website alone. This is so much easier to see in a brick and mortar business. A furniture store that has inventory set out randomly with no predesigned flow for you to walk and no intended ambiance won’t convey credibility, even if the quality of their furniture compares with Ethan Allen. Today’s website now have the same demanded of them.
The excellent book Web Design for ROI tells much more of the story.
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