Mar 22

A lot of us get so caught up in running our own businesses
and websites that we forget to take the time out to actually
browse the web any more! Remember what it used to be like
just to float around from one website to the other enjoying
the scenery?

Well - every once in a while you should take half an hour
out of your day to do just that. Float around the web and
see what you can learn from other people’s websites. Peer
over their garden fences, knock on their door and run away -
maybe loiter outside their window for a while to see what
happens.

It’s amazing what faults you can find and learn from to
improve your own website.

"We are expert copyriturs, honestly"

Take this example, from a copywriting website, this is
REAL:

"Copywriting. You release written by an experienced
media relations professional."

"You release"?  Doesn’t give you much confidence if they
don’t even check their own site for mistakes does it?

"The Most Useless Homepage In The World?"

Imagine all the types of visitors coming to your website.
Imagine all the questions they have in their mind.
Imagine all the things they are hoping to find on your
homepage and website.

Now imagine you’re a large company and that thinks it is
above the usual principles of web design. What do you do?
You give visitors to your homepage as little information
as possible, that’s what:

http://www.prweek.com
http://www.virgin.com
http://www.coke.com

"People Don’t Have Flash Intros Any More, DO THEY?!!"

Yes, my friend, I’m sad to report that they do.  Some of
them take so long to load you could have created an entire
website from scratch in the time you wait for them to
appear.

http://www.putterills.co.uk
http://www.italianhomedecor.com
http://www.terrascape.gr (check out the sound!)

Happy browsing!

Mar 15

A large part of Google’s multi-billion dollar annual turnover comes from its nifty AdSense advertising program.  The software enables website owners to drop in a piece of code to their pages that then serves advertisements provided by Google.

It all works dynamically and the adverts that are displayed based on the content of the page.  So if a website owner places the Google AdSense code on a page about holidays then holiday ads are delivered onto the page automatically by Google.

Everybody wins because when people click on one of the ads - the advertiser gets a visitor, Google can charge a rate for the clickthrough and the website owner who is serving the ad gets a share of this revenue.

It’s been an excellent model for all parties concerned and especially as Google has enabled even small website owners to take part which means accumulatively Google’s advertising real estate is absolutely vast.

Is The Monopoly Over?

But there may be trouble ahead for Google as, according to sources at CNETNews, Yahoo! is planning a very similar service to challenge Google’s.

The two search giants have been up against each in the search advertising arena already but it is only now that Yahoo! seems poised to launch a monopoly-breaking attempt on Google’s AdSense program.

This is all great news for smaller website owners as it means the two search goliaths will be vying to provide the best service and offering the best rates to compete for the lucractive ad space.

Mar 9

I’ve long held the belief that there’s no point trying to make your way in this world by trying entirely your own thing if someone has already been down the same road and succeeded.

Now I’m not saying you have to outright copy people but learning from others’ mistakes and successes just makes great sense.

Maybe you already read the odd book now and then when there’s nothing on TV but do you realise the wealth of knowledge that can be literally at your fingertips if you make the committment to setting some time aside for reading?

Can You Manage One Book A Week?

This might sound like a lot at first but start with a short book - or maybe even a report or some other document that you’ve been putting off reading.  Before you know it you’ll be learning more than your competitors about marketing, the Internet, sales techniques, personal development or whatever it is you truly want to master.

But the great part is this - if you read one book a week for the next 10 years you will have read over 5000 books! Can you imagine what impact this level of knowledge and understanding will have for your business and for your life? It will be massive!

Be A Book Worm

Get into the habit of opening a book rather than turning the TV on - you will reap the rewards. And don’t forget to make notes as you go along. Capture what you learn from each book and act on it before starting the next one.

And remember - there are plenty of Internet marketing books out there that count towards your 5000 even though they’re electronic.

Mar 1

Ever since someone came up with the bright idea of automatically responding emails people have seized it with open arms.  But remember - if you are setting an "Out of Office" message you might want to take a few pointers from this lot.

Here’s a random selection of emails right from my Inbox (the names have been withheld!):

"Hello,

This is an automated mail, please do not respond to this message. Thank you for visiting our web site. Your enquiry is being processed. Our business development team will get in touch with you shortly."

Hmm.  Strange - I didn’t visit your website, just sent you an email now you’re going to set your ‘business development team’ onto me.  Run to the hills!

"I won’t be checking e-mail during that time, however rest assured that I have received your e-mail and it is safely in my inbox. I’ll get back to you as soon as possible after my return.
If your request is urgent, please resend your email to one of my colleagues.
(name [withheld]): email@[withheld].com
(name [withheld]): [withheld]@[withheld].com"

So wait a minute.  If you’ve gone away why don’t you get your emails forwarded onto your colleagues or at least let them check your Inbox to save me having to resend my emails?

"Thank You for your email that You just sent to me. I usually respond with 24-48 hours. Be sure to check out my web site: www.[withheld].com For the Highest Quality Custom Made [withheld]. My other web site: www.[withheld].com My ebay store, that has other gift ideas."

So you’re away for a couple of days and while I’m waiting for you to reply you want me to check out all your websites?  Interesting concept..

"Thank  you for visiting [withheld]. Your email has been sent and will be answered in the order that it was receieved. I appreciate your patience and understanding. May your days be bright and sunny filled with the freshwind of peace around you. May your nights shine with the twinkle of stars."

Yeah - peace up maan!  But don’t forget to check your spelling though (see receieved)..

"Thank you for your information, our team will be jumping out of bed right now to deal with your inquiry."

What - are they all there together?

And finally..

"If the message you just sent to  [withheld]@[withheld].com was an update/change to your site, please send the message to  [withheld]@[withheld].com to be completed. 

If the message you just sent to  [withheld]@[withheld].com was a support issue such as a problem you are experiencing with the server, please send the message to [withheld]@[withheld].com

Doing this will allow my staff to take care of the matter quicker, help speed the response time to your message and save valuable time.

You may even wish to add  [withheld]@[withheld].com and  [withheld]@[withheld].com to your e-mail address book.

If the message you sent was not related to either of the above, please ignore this auto response message and I will reply as soon as I am able.

Thank you for your cooperation."

Hey - chill out!  I was just trying to email you, I didn’t expect the third degree..