Elsie Roach Website Design

The 3 reasons why there’s no website… is this you?

Elsie — Thu, 12 May 2011 20:42:14 +0000

I love small businesses; the people behind them are intelligent, creative, hard working, and focused! But I worry when I see them working harder than they have to on every aspect of their business.

They’re wearing all the hats and making things happen as best they can, yet they haven’t begun marketing online with a website. Having their own website could really take a load off their shoulders plus give them a whole new world of customers.

Why don’t they have a website? These are the 3 reasons I’ve come across…

1. They don’t know what to do.
They’ve been in business long enough to know there’s always a steep learning curve with something new – the technical details, the marketing details, the necessary insider info.
Very true. A real amateurish-looking, poorly laid out website can do more harm than good. A website should be more than one page filled with ads. Building a website is something that can be learned and some aspects of it are easy, but it takes time. Which leads to objection #2.

2. They don’t have the time to mess with it.
They don’t have time to learn what to do, time to get it going, time to keep it going.
Agreed. That’s why there are companies like mine that specialize in setting up your website and even keeping it updated if you want.

3. They can’t afford to.
Their business is just starting off or they’re not in the position to afford “luxuries” like a website.
A website is a necessity today and I would argue it’s better to get it up as soon as possible so it can help bring in clients. People like to check your company out online, it gives them more of a sense of who you are, and they like to buy online. A website means customers are global, not just local, and that should tell you your chance to profit from your website can far outweigh the cost of getting a website designed and “put up”.

I hope it doesn’t sound like I’m harping, but adding the online component to your business is so important. It gets me jazzed because I know how to put it all together and make it work for you.

Regards,
Ryan Shaw
860-309-5330

Graphics mistakes that will lose you business

Elsie — Thu, 12 May 2011 20:41:21 +0000

So you’ve finally taken the plunge and put a website up. Congratulations, it’s a wise move!

“What? You did it yourself?

“Let me take a look… oh… ummm…”

Does your website scream amateur? It might be that you did put your site together yourself or you got your cousin, Charlie, who knows a little more than you do, to put it up for you.

Now cast a critical eye over it, as if you were your customer. While you may be proud of your newfound graphic skills, you may actually be scaring potential customers away.

Simply put, a professional website header and other graphics make your online business face professional by association.

If your graphics look, well… lame, then everything else is suspect too, even if you do have valuable information on your site.

A site’s graphics are so important, but often overlooked. If you’ve gone to all the work to bring new people to your website, don’t you want to leave a good first impression?

Take a look at some of the websites you like to visit and check out their website header, their “buy now” buttons, and the other graphical elements.

* Are they in keeping with the overall theme of the business?
* Are they pleasing to look at?
* Do the graphics in the content make the site easier to read?

The good news is you don’t have to be a graphics artist to have a professional-looking website! I can reveal my resources or arrange to have it done for you to save you time and hassles.

You can email or call me anytime to discuss this.

Regards,
Ryan Shaw

860-309-5330

Can your business pass this online reality check?

Elsie — Thu, 12 May 2011 20:40:53 +0000

Here’s a reality check, or checklist, regarding your business. You can mentally tick a Yes or No to each of these…

__ I have a website that perfectly showcases what my business is.
The face of your website is the face of your business. It should reflect what your business is and does, and what your values are. This is important to remember as more and more people search via the Internet.

__ My website has professional graphics and design and looks beautiful.
Image is important. It doesn’t have to be all slick and over-the-top but it should be professional enough to be engaging and evoke trust.

__ New people are visiting my site every day.
People, aka traffic, are important to your business. Get that traffic through various marketing methods.

__ I sell products from my website.
You’re not just selling products but also your services and your brand.

__ I look at my site’s stats and know where my customers are coming from.
Knowing how people are finding your site means you can beef up the weak areas or put extra time and resources in the strong areas.

__ I use social media and there are links on my site.
At the very least you’ll want to consider getting on Twitter and putting up a Facebook fan page.

__ I collect names and email addresses of my site visitors so I can market to them down the line.
This is huge! Offer something people want in exchange for their email address and you’ll have a targeted list of people who are interested in what you have to offer.

__ Other websites have links to my site.
This is called backlinking and it helps your site get higher up in the search rankings. The better your site sits in Google, the more traffic you get.

Don’t feel bad if you marked many of these No. You’re not alone. But you can turn that around and make these all Yeses and get ahead of your competitors. I’m here to answer your questions.

Regards,
Ryan Shaw
860-309-5330

Can video be the easy answer to growing your business?

Elsie — Thu, 12 May 2011 20:40:10 +0000

Many businesses have figured out that placing videos on their website is a good move.

Why? Because it builds the brand name, showcases them as an expert, puts real people behind the name, speaks to new customers, gives important information, offers real live customer testimonials, brings in new traffic, and increases sales.

Here are some types of videos YOU could use to grow your business:

* Customer testimonial videos with real people giving their honest feedback. This is the social proof that will help you sell more products or services.

* A brief video introduction into what you do. This is like a video version of your elevator speech.

* A brief walkthrough of your website video. Show them the page tabs and the search function so they can find what they are looking for on your site. Also show them the contact page so they can ask questions or leave feedback.

* How To videos. Perhaps you can show potential customers how to use the product or you can explain how to purchase the best product based on their needs.

* Question and Answer videos. Take the typical questions you get and make a video answering them. This shows the customer you care, and also cuts down on your time having to repeatedly answer the same questions via email.

Video on your website can have a tremendous influence on your business, but there are some details you should know regarding how to get the maximum impact from your media efforts.

Please give me a call if you realize the potential of using video and would like to discuss it further.

Ryan Shaw
860-309-5330

Getting Traffic with Facebook Ads

Elsie — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 01:21:05 +0000

Facebook ads give you an added way to get more traffic from the Facebook website without having to spend a lot of time gathering friends. You can use Facebook ads to promote affiliate offers, your own products, or even a fan page in order to gain more fans.
One of the best features of Facebook ads is their incredibly robust targeting system. You can target by location, gender, age, relationship status, political views, education status, workplace, and even by specific keywords. This targeted system absolutely blows other similar systems like Google AdWords out of the water; because you can target the exact demographic you’re looking for.
You can get clicks very cheaply. Their current minimum CPC is $0.01, but you aren’t likely to get clicks for that. Still, you could get clicks much cheaper than through AdWords. Plus, the traffic typically converts much better.
They have a tracking system called Facebook Insights that will help you gather data regarding the effectiveness of your ads. You can find aggregate data by age, gender, and geographic location under the Responder Demographics category. You can find out psychographic information under the Responder Profiles section. And the Advertising Performance report lets you export various metrics you can find in your account such as impressions, clicks, and click-through rates. You can even see this information by unique user and performance data specific to ads.
One of the most important elements of a Facebook ad is the photo. They have some specific rules regarding photos, so don’t choose anything to racy, and make sure the photo is well-suited to the topic of your ad. The photo should draw attention and entice people to read the rest of your ad.
The headline is also vital. Be sure you give people a reason to click in the headline. For example, you might offer a free report that gives people some basic information about a subject, then you can use that report to sell them a product.
As long as you’re targeting the right demographics and you have a great photo and headline, you should get very good results from Facebook ads. Even better, the traffic will also typically convert better than traffic from AdWords and other ad networks!

Facebook Terms Of Service Guide for Marketers

Elsie — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 01:19:48 +0000

It’s very easy to get on Facebook and start marketing, but you should know there are Terms of Use (as with all services you use currently) so the service can maintain a certain standard of quality. If you break the rules, you could be banned.
1. Don’t advertise without permission. You can’t advertise blatantly without repercussions, so you have to know how to do it covertly.
2. No pyramid or multi-level marketing schemes.
3. You will not infringe on someone else’s copyrights. This means you will not repost something someone has posted and claim it as your own. Not only is this plagiarism, but also all of the content provided by each user is protected intellectual property. The original user providing the content has full control and access over the information. If it’s posted on Facebook, it is copyrighted, for all intents and purposes.
4. If you are creating a Facebook application for your marketing, then you will not ask for unnecessary information. Additionally, any information you acquire can’t be shared or sold to anyone.
5. None of the pages on Facebook allow for any type of unregulated third-party advertising or search boxes.
6. You must respect all privacy requests.
7. You must abide by all laws.
The safest way to advertise on Facebook is through their CPC or CPM advertising tools; any content you are advertising on Facebook can be reported and you can be blocked or disabled. There is a complete list of prohibited content on the Advertising Guidelines page (http://www.facebook.com/ad_guidelines.php).
Also, remember that Facebook loves honesty. Your account on Facebook is based on the honor system; they don’t do any checks until requested by officials who have legal enforcement powers and jurisdiction for the area in question.
What this means for you is that you should not engage in false advertising. When you advertise something, it should be exactly as described. You should not be deceptive when bringing people to your site. You shouldn’t engage in any aggressive marketing tactics or internet tactics, such as disabling the back button or inundating the user with pop-ups and pop-unders.
Facebook does not operate on a “free speech” platform; anything can be edited if they deem necessary since it is a private community, as in “not run or administrated by the government”.

How to Get More Facebook Friends

Elsie — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 01:18:34 +0000

The biggest problem in trying to get attention to your campaign is the lack of friends you may have. If you don’t have friends, then you don’t have anyone to market to. There’s an easy solution to this problem.
Facebook works on a “connected” foundation; it’s easier to get added if the person you are trying to add seems to have a connection to you. If you don’t get too involved in Facebook games, you can establish ties by playing some of those games, going to the various forums for those games, and then add anyone that has requested to be added.
After you get a few hundred added like that, then it’s a matter of the “six degrees of separation”. You will find that the people who are active on Facebook will have some common interests with you, including your product.
The safest way to add friends is to send a special message when requesting authorization. You should add something like “For XYZ Game” if you saw them posting on the game’s page. Most games on Facebook will have links somewhere near the top or the bottom of the actual game screen to visit the forums on the creator’s website. Most popular games and applications will have a special forum to find more “friends” because most of the games on Facebook work by cooperation.
Another good way to get friends on Facebook is to just enter information about you. You should try using some keywords about some activities you do or interests you have, then you can click through to those Facebook pages and try to add those people you find there.
Finally, you can use your email account. Facebook will allow you to import the contacts from most major email providers, such as Windows Live Hotmail, Yahoo!, AOL, Comcast, Skype, SBC Global, Verizon, and most others. When adding contacts like this, it will ask you for your username and password. There is also a disclaimer that says Facebook will not store your password; it’s just to automate the invitation process.
You should be careful to first add a lot of people who are wanting to be added, then you try for some random people who are not seeking additional friends. If you get rejected by too many people, Facebook will flag your account.

How to Use Facebook Fan Pages

Elsie — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 01:14:58 +0000

Fan pages are an extremely important tool for Facebook marketing, but too many people use them incorrectly. If you don’t use a fan page the right way, it’s not going to be very effective for marketing.
One thing you must realize about Facebook is that the typical user does not respond well to in-your-face aggressive marketing. Someone joins a fan page because they are interested in the subject, not because they are hoping to receive a ton of advertisements.
In order to get people to join your fan page and pay attention to it, there must be a purpose. That purpose should be something that is beneficial to those who join, not just to your own business.
Many people join fan pages to leave feedback about products or services they really like or really hate. Make sure you give them the opportunity to do that, and try not to censor posts too much. Facebook users are extremely sensitive to censoring, and they will notice if you delete negative posts.
If possible, use your fan page for things like contests, giveaways, discounts and coupons. This will get people to pay more attention to your fan page, because it will give them a reason to visit your fan page often.
Encourage users to share your fan page with their friends. This will help you get more fans without having to request that people join directly. People are much more likely to join a fan page if it is recommended by a friend than if they are asked to join by whoever runs the fan page.
Don’t neglect your fan page! Always interact with fans. Answer their questions, post interesting links, and stay active. People won’t keep visiting your fan page if they feel it has been abandoned, so make sure you stay very active and check it for activity every day.

Six Facebook Marketing Tips

Elsie — Sun, 06 Mar 2011 01:13:52 +0000

Facebook Marketing Tips
Marketing on Facebook is something many people would love to do, but most people feel it is too difficult or time consuming. That’s not the case. Marketing on Facebook is actually a very simple process if you understand the intricacies of doing it right.
Here are some tips you can use to market effectively on Facebook:
1. Use Facebook for its intended purpose. Facebook was created as a social network. Many marketers forget this point, and they use the site to post link after link. Not only does this tend to make people tune you out, it could also eventually lead to your account being banned. Use the site to socialize, and drop links only occasionally. This will result in more people paying attention to what you have to say, letting you get a higher sales rate whenever you do post a monetized link.
2. Be useful. People don’t want to be friends with someone who only takes and never gives. They don’t want to do it in real life, and they don’t want to do it online. Be sure you’re giving people value, and that you’re offering them much more than you’re taking.
3. Make use of fan pages. On a fan page, you have much more leeway to perform marketing functions. Set up a fan page for your business. Attract people to join your fan page with giveaways, freebies, discounts, etc.
4. Get your Facebook friends on your email list as soon as possible. This will allow you the most leeway to market any way you want, without having to worry about being banned by Facebook.
5. Don’t forget to fill out your profile. If you don’t add a photo and you don’t fill out your profile thoroughly, you may find that many people will refuse to be your friend. People will automatically assume you are a spammer if your profile is incomplete.
6. Never do “drive-by linking”. This is when you make a post with no purpose other than posting a link to a sales page or an affiliate link. Instead, link to a blog post with a review, a video, or some other valuable content. You can post your link there. This will make your friends happy, and will also make Facebook happy.

Design Your Own Favicon

Elsie — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 12:46:22 +0000

Click here to go to the page to design your own favicon. You can create your favicon from a picture in many formats. Your favicon is only 16px by 16px so it is best if you resize your picture to a small picture around 32px by 32px. That way you will get a much clearer favicon. A favicon is the little icon that shows up on many websites in the address bar of your broser. It lets people know they are actually on your site. You can see my favicon in the address bar at the top of your broser page. :>)