The first thing I did was go to each website to learn more. And, without even diving into the details of the apps, I was taken aback by a very impactful difference in the marketing sequence that immediately said one vendor gets it and the other doesn’t.

Here’s what I saw when I clicked over to the HighriseHQ website:

There were a series of short instructional videos on a singe page that did a great job of walking me through the major features of the app. Within minutes, I got all the information I needed about the product.

Next, I clicked over to the NetSuite CRM homepage and here’s what I found:

Ugh! No details, no demo videos, no tours…unless you’re willing to pay them by giving them something of value, my e-mail address, for the privilege of hearing their pitch and getting a trial that requires you to enter a bunch of information on the next page, BEFORE being given access to anything.

Yeah, I get why they’re doing it. They’re trying to build their list.

It’s one thing when you’re talking about a highly individualized, high-ticket service that would make personal interaction during the sales process far more critical, even value-added, for both people. But, grabbing info, so you can squeeze prospects by phone or e-mail because you’re not confident that your presentation will deliver enough value on a commodity-based product = not cool.

It’s like the web version of the old “pay to receive my catalogue” scam.

Attention Companies: CONTACT INFORMATION IS CURRENCY!

You can’t do this and expect to keep winning when you are going head to head with a number of competitors (also SugarCRM and ZohoCRM) with very good products who don’t play those same games. Especially, when your solution is priced above the savvy competitor with a far better, free, value-added, non-confrontational, completely ungated sales process.

Note to everyone who wants my business and my money…

Don’t make me pay to hear your pitch.

So, what do YOU think?

Let’s discuss…

Scenario #1 MegaCo.

An international consumer goods company is looking to explore new ways to market it’s product in a tough economy. They learn about this new social media/Wed 2.0 thing and, even though the people in legal are massively freaked out about employees running around, talking smack and causing potential PR debacles, they give the okay for marketing to “explore” social media.

So, MegaCo goes out to it’s ad agencies and even a few “specialists” to get the 411. And, of course, the big questions they keep circling back to is the very same question nobody who wants to take their money can answer in a remotely convincing way…”what’s the ROI on social media?”

The agency and other consultants come up with all sorts of valid points about building community, opening lines of communication, improving customer feedback and even mining social media for product research. All good stuff, but still, MegaCo is having a tough time biting the social media bullet. So, rather than ramp up something real, they allocate a teensy bit of money to play around because who knows, maybe it’ll work. And, besides, GiantMegaCo is doing it, so they don’t want to be late to the party…if there is a party.

Maybe someday there’ll be an ROI connection, but as of right now everyone’s telling them, “you just can’t measure it like that.”

Scenario #2 – Mountainbike Madness

Mountabike Madness is a local bike shop run by two college friends, Mario and Eva. It’s a real business with a great product and it’s growing nicely. But they’re always interested in finding new ways to get customers to the shop. Along with trying out street teams, the local pennysaver, mailings, sandwich boards and a bunch of other marketing ideas. Eva gets the idea to start to play around with twitter.

Actually, she already has a personal account. So does Mario, so they’re familiar with the nature of conversation in the communities, because they’re already regular users. So, they set up a Mountainbike Madness account and use Mario as the name associated with the account.

They use twitter’s search function and a number of other tools twice a day to find people in their neighborhood who either have some variation of the word bike in their profile or their tweets. They broaden it out to various forms of outdoor activities, too. They see what these potentially likeminded folks talking about, then follow them and join in the conversations they are having.

They also start to share all sorts of funny, quirky, edgy quotes, ideas, and stories. And, here and there, they throw out tweets about instant giveaways for the first person to tweet their favorite rider, grip or trail. They do daily or weekly specials on bikes, parts, clothing and other schwag. They share cool tips and riding strategies and aren’t afraid to show their personalities. They announce weekly Rave Rides where everyone has 4 hours to show at a particular trailhead for an epic group ride. And, once a month, they do a one-day 20% off twitter-only sale from the back of a truck and you have to be following them to know where it will be.

After 3 months, they can track twitter related sales to an average of 30% of daily sales and total sales have gone up 20% since starting on twitter. Not only is it great for the community, for customer service…they’re using social media to put money in the bank.

That all elusive ROI that MegaCo will likely never be able to quantify is trackable income for Mountainbike Madness.

The truth about social media and ROI…

Right now, small businesses have a huge advantage over big business in actually being able to convert social media conversations into dollars and cents. Here’s why:

Small business:

• Can be less censored – They don’t have to wade through layers of social media do/don’t policy and legal sign-off on every tweet, update, post or comment. And, in social media, people respond to real and spontaneous. So, it’s much easier to build the conversation
• Can have a personality – All too often, the voice of the company that filters through to social media is almost entirely devoid of personality. People connect with color, not gray (unless you live in NYC).
• Only needs to connect with hundreds or a few thousand, not hundreds of thousands or millions – If a small business connects with a few thousand people, that could make a huge dent in it’s business, making it worth the effort. A large business may need to connect with millions to feel the same impact and that may well not be worth the effort from an ROI standpoint
• Can tap into local energy, events, traditions – By having a shared experience based on the local community, it’s a lot easier for people to bond with the voice of that business
• Can implement instantly and tailor highly relevant offers – When it’s one person behind the mic, it’s way easier to carry on a real, spontaneous conversation and also create an ongoing series of highly local, highly-relevant and time-sensitive offers that will convert followers into customers.

So, if you’re a small business or solopreneur Career Renegade and you’ve been wondering about the value of this wacky thing called social media, fact is you’ve got a huge advantage over large corporations right now. You have the ability to actually convert time spent on social media into money in the bank. And, have a lot of fun doing it.

So, what do YOU think?

Anyone have a story like Mountainbike Madness to share?

Let’s discuss…

Why don’t I get more traffic from google and other search engines?

The answer often has multiple layers, but one of the biggest is having poorly-written, low value content that’s not relevant to your business, product or service. At least, not relevant…”in google’s eyes.” This often leads to the next question, which is:

How do I know if google thinks my website is relevant?

Again, there are many factors to look at, but here are two fast and easy ways to see (a) what google thinks your website is really about, and (b) how relevant/valuable they think your content is.

In today’s post, we’ll answer the first part, “what does google think your website is about?” Then, in part 2 of this series, we’ll show how you can tell whether google thinks your website’s content is relevant and valuable.

Using the Google External Keyword Tool

Google has a free keyword tool that lets you see what search phrases or “keywords” google is associating with your small business’ website. This is immensely powerful, because it essentially tells you what google thinks your website is “about” and what terms google is “ranking” your site for.

To use this tool:

• Visit the free keyword tool page (as pictured below),
• Click on the radio button on the left that says, “Website content,”
• Enter your web address or url in the field on the right,
• Check the box underneath that says “Include other pages on my site linked from this URL,” and
• Hit the “Get keyword ideas” button

Wait a few seconds, then underneath the area where you entered your website, a new section appears that lists keywords that google believes represent your website, followed by a list of suggested other keywords.

Here’s what pulled up when I did this for Entrepreneur.com:

We’ll talk about what to do with the suggested keyword list in a later posts, but for our purposes today, just take a look at the first section that appears underneath the section where you typed your website address. Notice how “on target” the keywords are for Entrepreneur.com. They do a great job of describing what the website is about. So, when people google these keywords, Entrepreneur.com comes up in the search results.

Do this for your website, then ask whether the keywords listed are the ones you want your website associated with. If so, you’re in good shape. If not, you may need to rework your content to let google know what your website is really about and give it a better shot of pulling up in the search results when people google what you’re selling.

Be sure to tune in next week for part 2, where I’ll share a simple way to see whether google thinks the content of your small business’ website sucks or rocks.

The dreaded “SEO,” a/k/a Search Engine Optimization.

It’s the stuff of legends, secret tactics that make google want to round home with your blog every time you publish a post. Words, phrases and settings that send you barreling to the top of the first page on google for every keyword you want to be associated with and direct a mad torrent of organic traffic your way. Black hat, white hat, pink hat, bling cat. It’s hugely powerful…but so damn confusing.

That is, until now. Remarkablogger to the rescue!

Last week, my friend and colleague in blogging, Michael Martine released his WordPress SEO Secrets program. As the title implies, it’s for bloggers who use the WordPress platform, largely because that platform supports one of the most powerful and popular SEO plug-ins, All-in-One SEO.

Now I’ve had that plug-in installed for quite some time, but never used it, because I never really got how it works. And also, because I love creating headline and content for humans, not for SEO bots. Which is why Martine’s training is so cool. It actually showed me how to be able to keep cool, people-power headlines and content, while making straightforward tweaks “behind the scenes” and finally using the All-in-One SEO plug-in to turbocharge my SEO efforts at the same time. And, that’s pretty sweet.

SEO and human interest can finally live in harmony!

The other thing I like about WordPress SEO Secrets is that it’s highly focused on a limited number of tactics, kind of taking the Pareto’s law approach by giving the 20% of the stuff that yields 80% of the results. And, because a ton of people are visual learner, Michael’s included a series of videos that literally walk you through how to set up the major things he talks about in the book.

It’s simple SEO for WordPress and simple makes me happy.

There’s a bunch of other stuff thrown in, mp3s, other ebooks and stuff, but I got what I needed from the core of the training.

So, is this for you?

If you already have every post on your WordPress blog nailing front page positions on google for your keywords, it’s probably not for you. It’ll be too basic. And, if you’re an absolute newbie to SEO and barely know what WordPress is, it’s great info, but you may need to stop here and there to look up a few definitions. There is a fair bit of jargon in the written materials.

Still that should not dissuade you, because within Martine’s course, you’ll discover user-friendly and highly specific WordPress SEO information that, implemented religiously, could have a huge impact on your blog’s organic search traffic. I’ll be going back through my archives to do what he says and reporting back in a month or two on the results for both blogs.

In the end, WordPress SEO Secrets gets a solid thumbs up from me…

Now, who wants to help me go back through every post in my archives and tweak them to quadruple my traffic, lol!

[PS - I am not an affiliate for this program]

If you have a car that you park on the street, we’ve got these wacky alternate side the street parking regulations that require you to move your car a few times a week so the street sweepers can come through.

Miss the cutoff time by minutes and you end up with a ticket or a big, fat, 1-foot-square neon yellow window sticker that labels your car a scarlet no-parking violator. And, if you don’t remove it right away, the sunlight bakes it onto the window, making it really tough to get off.

Which is why I’ve had two on my car for the better part of a year (FYI – I blame social media for both, lol!).

Now, imagine my surprise when, after leaving my car in the lot in midtown for a meeting, I returned 3 hours later to find my car…sans stickers. The attendant had scraped both windows clean in my absence.

I didn’t ask him to. He didn’t know me. I didn’t expect or pay him to.

He just did it.

Talk about service. That one act accomplished a few critical things. One, it ensured that I’ll return to that same lot for my next meeting in the area. And, though he didn’t ask for it, it landed him a $10 tip. Because in doing me an “unrequested and unexpected” solid, he took care of something I’d been loathing and putting off for months and simultaneously primed my reciprocity pump.

How could I not reciprocate in some way?

Whether it was kind hearted generosity or a premeditated act designed to get me to open my wallet, we both walked away a little happier in the end. And, that’s okay with me.

So, my question is…do YOU surprise your customers by going way beyond what they’ve asked you to do…and expect you to do?

What can YOU do do make someone’s day in an unexpected way that might build good will and, potentially, improve revenue for your own venture?

It’s called the Big, Bad Implementation Gap…and it’s the biggest dream crusher on the planet. Thing is, I’m determined to help you…personally…get out of your head and, probably for the first time in your life, start taking the daily actions needed to launch or grow your renegade vision into a serious, family-worthy living.

A little over a month ago, I posted a survey asking how I could best make myself available to turbocharge your personal quest. Thanks so much to all who responded, your answers were invaluable.

Based on that survey, I’ve created  3 ways to stop talking about all the cool things you’d like to do and…

Work directly with me to make them happen

And, even cooler, there’s an option for every price point…even donation basis!

Click here now to visit the new “Work with Me”
page and see which option is right for you

(Or,  just click the Work with Me tab up top)

The first is from New orleans’ Naked Pizza, a neighborhood pizza place that reported 20% of revenue coming directly from twitter with spikes as high as 69% on days where they hit twitter with a serious campaign. Here’s a sample from their tweet-stream…

Notice a few things:

• One, it’s a person, not a robot.
• Two, that person is ENGAGING in conversations nonstop.
• Three, they’re not just pimping pizza.
• Four, they have a personality.
• Five, every once in a while, they sneak in a playful promo that revolved around the community.

Fun stuff. Then, when you click on over to their website, one of the first things you notice is it’s built to proactively built community through social media, with Facebook and twitter buttons and the Share This app above the fold.

Next up, Rascal House Pizza. Dunno what their percentage of pizza sales from twitter is, but I’m guessing it’s not even enough to measure.

Here’s a sampling from their twitter stream…

This same stream is repeated with little variation all day, every day. It’s about as spammy as it gets. It’s using its twitter accounts not to build community, but to hock what appear to be completely unrelated affiliate products (FYI – the iPhone offer they promote all day doesn’t even connect to a live link). And, scrolling back 10 days, there was way not a single “@.” Translation – All spam, no engagement!

And, everyone knows spam doesn’t taste good on pizza.

Similarly, when you click on over to their website, it’s devoid of any type of social media driven community building efforts.

Funny thing is, Rascal House is actually a much larger franchise operation that can afford to invest way more in doing it right in 2.o. And, they make in fact make great pizza and have great service. But, if that’s true, then there’s a massive disconnect between the message they’re sending through social media and the product or service they’re giving customers, face to face.

Where does this leave us?

If you’re a local biz, before writing off social media as just another time-wasting fad, you might be better advised to embrace it and figure out how to turn engagement into income. And, when you do, take a bit of time to learn how to do it right. Because if you don’t…your competition will.

Thoughts?

It’s Wuthering heights meets Spongebob, but edgier and with a Quentin Tarantino fast cut Miller Time energy. It’s The Four Hour Workweek meets Fried Green Tomatoes, but set in Little Havana and with a bit more of a Catcher in The Rye slash The Secret thing happening. And let’s not forget, “it’s the next Hemingway, Brando, Jobs or Ablom.”

People want to frame and pitch you in the light of other massive successes to give context in the hope that you’ll ride reputation of the legends you’re being compared to.

Sounds cool, shorthands the pitch…only it’s garbage.

Strike that. It’s worse.

Because implying you’re the NEXT something or someone simultaneously diminishes the value and power of you being the FIRST you!

It tells people from the get go that you’re derivative.

It strips away the extraordinary opportunity to rise to the challenge of defining who you are, demonstrating the value of your own unique contribution and proving to the world that you’re not the next anyone. You’re the first you. And that’s enough to get you where you’re going and then some.

So next time you or your rep are tempted to shorthand how you’re magically delicious and utterly different, do it by framing yourself as the first big you…not the next big someone else or the coolest elements of other peoples’ work,

Kapish?

Do enough people want to buy what you’re looking to sell to call it a business?

For example, you may have a hidden passion for designing biodegradable hemp thimbles decorated with organic dyed cashews, but do enough other people want to buy those suckers to make it a business? This is actually one of the biggest missteps folks make in launching a small business—thinking you are your market.

Sometimes you are, many times you think you are…but you’re not. So, rather than invest a boatload of time, energy and money in launching something built around your own belief that a sea of people with the same mad passions as you exist, do a bit of research.

Ask these two giant questions:

• Does the service or product that I create through my passion solve a strong, emotionally-invested problem for other people? And,
• How many other people? Is there a large enough, regularly renewing market of people who are:

1. Willing to buy what I’m selling,
2. At a price that will make it worth the effort?

If the answer is yes, you’ve got a potential business on your hands.

But, if the answer to either of these questions is no, you’ve got a serious business model challenge.

Does that mean you abandon your passion-driven quest to make a living doing what you love? The answer is…maybe. There may, in fact, be certain quirky passions that are so solitude driven and so oriented away from community and problem solving that they’d be extremely difficult to build a living around.

But, far more often, there is a way to go about your passion differently in an effort to discover or sometimes even create the demand and community needed to turn it into a business.

As I mention in Career Renegade (the book), take a serious look not only at the activity itself, but the:

• Culture surrounding the activity
• Need for community surrounding the activity
• Need for products or service that solve a problem in the community or provide a rallying point
• Available modes of access to that activity, and
• Informational and educational needs of that community

In the end, it all comes back to finding the genuine (read “not fabricated”) intersection between what makes you come alive and what enough people are willing to pay for. Clear that hurdle and you take a big step toward the process of turning your passion into your profession.

So, what do you think?