How to find clients on LinkedIn
Why your website should always include a call to action
When you launch your new website, have you ever thought about its purpose? What do you want to get out of it? What do you want visitors to do? I often get clients telling me: “We don’t use our website for getting business, it’s just an online brochure”. But it doesn’t matter whether you do or don’t rely on your website for new business. It’s still a vital tool for engaging with your customers. Your website should always have a call to action.
Why you should consider a UI expert when designing your website
You know your website is overdue for a redesign. The design looks tired, the fonts are old fashioned, and the images are unsuitable. So you think a new design is going to get punters flocking to your site? Wrong.
When companies decide to have a website redesign, they often view it as a simple equation:
1. Get an eye catching design
2. Pay someone to get more traffic to my website
Result = lots of sales
If you think it’s this simple, you’re in for a big disappointment.
How to engage with your audience on Twitter
When I’m notified that someone is following me on Twitter, the first thing I want to do is find out who they are and what they’re talking about. If the subject matter is relevant and of interest, I will follow them, but if their Twitter feed is nothing more than links to their own articles and products, I lose interest. Even worse are followers who tweet every five minutes.
Connecting with other people on Twitter is no different than connecting with people in real life. When someone has something interesting to say, you listen, and when someone engages with you and asks you about yourself, you want to respond. Conversely, when you’re stuck in a room with someone who does nothing but talk about themselves, you want to run a mile!
How user friendly is your website?
When you’re having your website designed, have you ever asked yourself the following questions:
- What do I want to achieve from my website? Do I want more subscribers? More sales? More enquiries?
- Have I set any targets for achieving these goals? E.g. 25% of new business enquiries should come from my website.
- How will I measure my goals?
The sad truth is, most website owners I come across don’t have answers to any of the above questions. They know they would like more enquiries through their website but have little idea how to go about it. Few website owners even know how to access their web statistics.
A website is more than just an online brochure, it’s a vital sales tool that works around the clock, advertising your business. If you do the following preparatory work before your website is designed, it will go a long way towards ensuring a successful outcome.
Brainstorm Design celebrated its 10th Anniversary
This summer marked the 10th anniversary of Brainstorm Design. Since 2000 we have expanded from a one-man web design agency to an internet consultancy of eight, which specialises in growing businesses online. In order to commemorate this auspicious landmark, we had a drinks evening at the White Lion Pub, East Finchley. Thank you to everyone who attended!
How to network properly
You’ve just started up a new business. So how do you get more leads?
Well, you could employ a telemarketer to make some cold calls for you that might lead to an appointment. But it typically takes about 20 calls to get an appointment and several appointments to get a sale, so that’s a very expensive option for a new business.
You could invest in some pay-per-click adverting, but you could end up spending more on advertising than you get in sales.
Or you could invest in search engine optimisation so that people find your website, but it can often take several months and several thousand pounds of effort until people searching for your products find you on Google.
But there is one other way that doesn’t take a huge amount of effort and that doesn’t break the bank. And that’s Networking.
How do you find new business? Why not take part in our poll?
My recent blog post on cold calling attracted some very heated responses, with many of you arguing that cold calling had a useful part to play in new business development and that no amount of social networking could replace it.
Is cold calling a thing of the past? YES. Start social networking instead!
In my professional work, I have noticed three major trends taking place during this recession:
- Companies have cut right back on print advertising and have shifted their marketing spend to pay-per-click advertising where it’s easier to measure the return on investment.
- Cold calling has gone out of fashion with most companies and even the sales gurus regarding it as a complete waste of time and money.
- Networking has mushroomed, with numerous networking groups both online and offline set up over the last few years.
This last development is by far the most interesting one. Whereas in the past you would spend all day on the phone cold calling companies in order to get an appointment, today you can get that same appointment by using social networks.
Looking to sell designer clothing online? BigCartel may be the solution for you
If you design your own clothing and want to sell it online, you’ll need an internet shopping cart where products can be displayed and customers can make a purchase.
But most shopping cart software requires some coding skills and this may require hiring a programmer for several hours.
Fortunately, there is a much easier way to get your product to market if your budget is tight. BigCartel offers a shopping cart that can be set up in minutes, doesn’t require any programming skills, and doesn’t require a merchant account to process customer payments. Best of all, you can try it for free.
