If you’ve been practicing Internet Marketing for any length of time, you’ve probably heard somebody say, “The money is in the list.” What they’re referring to is of course, your email list. The larger and more responsive yours is, the more money you will ultimately be able to make from it. While this is true in all business, it’s especially true if your business online.

Here are our top 4 reasons for wanting a large, responsive email list:

Traffic On Tap
You can generate traffic to an offer almost instantly. One of the things I love about email marketing is the short feedback time. If we send an email out on Tuesday, the bulk of the responses will be received by Thursday. In the marketing world, where it may take months to measure things like ROI, this turnaround is almost instant. Think about how long it takes to drive business traffic through a magazine ad!

Partnership Possibilities
By yourself, you are only going to be able to grow your business to a certain level. If you want to truly breakthrough, you need partners. A large email list makes your business much more attractive to potential partners. It indicates your influence and can be enticing should you send something to that list on their behalf. A 12 person list isn’t going to get anyone excited about working with you.

Market Research 101
These people are your customers and fans, ask them questions about what types of products and services they want, and then offer those products! The larger your list, the better cross-section of your market you have communication with.

Social Proof
Show off a bit! If you can show that you have a lot of subscribers, people are more likely to join. They feel like if they don’t, they’ll be missing out on something. If you land on a page that says “More than 10,000 members can’t be wrong!” be honest, you’re probably going to check it out.

In honor of Star Wars Day (May 4th, as in May the Fourth Be With You… get it?) we decided to share with you some of Master Yoda’s wisdom with you, and relates to web design it does.

“Much to learn you still have.”

Web Design, just like the internet, is perpetually evolving. You must be willing to both stay on top of and embrace new trends and technology.

“You must unlearn what you have learned.”

Like the last sentiment, you need to bear in mind that things are constantly changing. Just because something was working for your site six months ago, it may not be working for you now. Don’t get stuck in a rut!

“Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose.”

Yoda must have had his site crash harder than an X-Wing in a Dagobah swamp. I’m pretty sure he’s talking about backing up your website. Often.

“Always two there are, a master and an apprentice.”

Yoda brings up a good point about master and an apprentice. If your website is important to your company’s marketing efforts, commerce and overall bottom line (which it should be) then it’s important to seek an expert’s wisdom when starting out and maintaining your site.

“Control, control, you must learn control!”

When creating a website for your business, it’s important to make sure that all content (that includes text and images) are absolutely relevant to your business and products. Purple unicorns are beautiful and majestic, but do you sell them? Do you groom them? No. If it’s not relevant to your business, don’t it on there. No purple unicorns. Control.

“Size matters not, … Look at me. Judge me by size, do you?”

If you could master SEO the way Yoda masters the power of the Force, size wouldn’t matter. However, for Google, it does. The more pages you have on your site, the more “important” you are to search engines. By continuously creating blog posts, you grow the size of your site, thereby upping the chance of improving your search engine rankings.

“When 900 years you reach, look as good, you will not.”

He’s got a point. Not many websites stand the test of time. It’s important to sit down often and reevaluate the content and design of your site.

“Do or do not… there is no try.”

Though we’d hate to disagree with Yoda’s most iconic quote, when it comes to web design there must be a TRY. Split testing, trying new designs and updating regularly until you figure out your website’s sweet spot is absolutely essential.

In need of a website Jedi Master? Be sure to contact Black Dog Studios with any questions!

Image courtesy of Wookiepedia

Yesterday was YouTube’s 7th birthday. The video sharing site has accomplished a lot more than your average seven year old. Looking over some of the numbers left us pretty impressed, and we got to thinking about media adoption rates and thought it would be a great subject for a blog post.

You may be thinking to yourself : “That’s great, but why should I care about media adoption rates?”

Like a lot of statistical data, it isn’t the number itself that is so important, but rather what the statistic tells you about your business or the market you serve. If you’re a business either currently using or thinking about using internet marketing, media adoption rates are important numbers to keep an eye on.

Let’s take a look at the adoption rates for common forms of media:

• Radio 38 years to attract 50 million listeners.
• Television 13 years to attract 50 million viewers.
• Internet 4 years to attract 50 million users.

Woah.

Let’s get more specific:

Facebook launched in 2004 and…

• Hit 1 million users in less than 1 year.
• 3.5 years to attract 50 million users.
• In April 2012, it hit 901 million users.

Twitter launched in 2006 and…

• Currently has 140 million users.
• Sees 340 tweets per day.

YouTube launched in 2005 and…

• 60 hours of video are uploaded every minute.
• 4 billion videos are viewed a day.
• Over 800 million unique users visit YouTube each month.

Again, while the numbers (millions?! billions!?) are impressive, we need to look at what they say. It’s obvious that the internet is THE way that people communicate today. With those staggering stats, can you believe we are living in a world where almost half of small businesses still don’t have a web presence? When creating your next marketing campaign, keep these numbers in mind. Include campaign elements that incorporate these sites (and their millions of visitors). Need some help? Don’t be afraid to reach out to us for more information on how to create a tailored and powerful internet marketing plan.

Goddess of Wisdom? More like Goddess of Cuteness!

Name: Athena
Human: Mike
Favorite Toy: The “wubbie”
Favorite Treat: Blue Buffalo Blue Bits
Favorite Website: www.blackdogdev.com (of course)

A call to action (CTA) is a button or text on your site that prompts a user to take an action like, like sign up of your list, download a report, make an appointment, etc.

You can have the best product or service in the world, but if nobody takes that next step you are effectively out of business. An effective call to action is crucial for a company’s web success.

When I need to place a call to action for my site for one of my clients I use a 7-step checklist that I created and will share with you.

1. Be direct

It’s pretty simple; if you don’t tell people what you want them to do they won’t do it. You need to effectively take them by the hand and tell them what is the next step. If they weren’t interested they wouldn’t be there in the first place so don’t be shy about it.

2. Use the right words

Never ever use a button that says “Click Here”. People don’t click buttons that say click here. Instead, use words that tell what will happen or what the user will get when they click the button. Phrases like “Download Now” or “Instant Access” are much more effective because they establish trust. It becomes an effective call to action because the user knows that when they click on “Download Now” that they’re going to download now.

3. Make it POP

Another element that seems obvious, but is often not the case, is that the call to action must stand out. You need to make the viewer see it so you need to make it obvious. The two rules of thumb to accomplish this goal are to make it graphical and make it red. People can’t help but to look at things that are red.

4. Keep it “above the fold”

We’ve all seen those really bad websites that seem to scroll down forever. Thankfully most web designers know better now, but that doesn’t mean we’re entirely out of the woods. There is still a very common mistake being made on sites across the web; they are burying their calls to action below the “fold” of the page. That means that you still have to scroll down to see them. Even if it’s only a short ways, you don’t want to make the viewer scroll to see the call to action because of they don’t, then they won’t see what they’re supposed to do next. If you want to be sure that your call to action is seen by every visitor to your site, then keep it in the top 700 or so pixels of your site. Any lower and you run the risk of it disappearing.

5. Better yet, put it in the top right or left

Eye tracking studies have shown that the upper right and upper left corners of the page are where far more eyeballs will look than any other part of the page. If you want to be 100% sure that the call to action doesn’t get lost, then stick it right at the top.

6. Design the CTA so it fits with the page design

If your landing page says “Download Now”, then make sure the user can download your stuff. If you are dishonest and make them jump through hoops or when they click “Download Now” if something – anything – else happens, then you will lose their trust and their business.

7. Test

Something as simple as changing the color of the call to action button or the image used can have significant effects on the conversion rate. You could improve your rates by 10% or more just by using the right color. Experience and outside studies can give a solid head start for making the correct choices, but there is nothing better than actual, live testing. Always test colors, imagery, placement and text to see what works best.

Of course there is no guarantee that visitors to your site are going to do what they’re supposed to and buy your products. But by taking a little extra time and preparing your site with the best call to action buttons possible, you will maximize your site’s potential you will gain much higher clickthrough rates and conversion numbers.

We’ve all heard that having goals is important, but why? Why do life coaches, business coaches and personal development gurus all begin working with clients in the realm of goals?

The short answer is because goals are critical for strategic growth.

Early on in my business life, and my life in general really, I didn’t focus on goals. Over the course of 10 years I was able to build what I considered to be a successful business. The problem, though, was that I didn’t have the right goals and the result was that I couldn’t so much as take a vacation without everything quickly grinding to a halt. I was the center of all activity in my business and if I was gone it all stopped.

This was a problem for me, and it was definitely a problem for my lovely wife of 10 years. So eventually I started to really focus on creating the right goals and I started doing a lot of studying about the topic. I’ve read countless books, been to many seminars and even worked with a business coach. After well more than a year of serious determination, I’ve come up with 5 main reasons why I need to have clear goals in my life and the ways they help me. I believe you need them too and here are the reasons why:

1. CLARITY OF MESSAGE

By actually writing down your goals (with a real pen and paper) and reviewing them regularly and often, if forces you to get clear on exactly what you want. Remember that “GOOD” goals are specific, emotional and have deadlines attached to them.

2. FUEL

A good goal has not only the specifics of WHAT you want, but also WHY you want it. This WHY is going to be the fuel that propels you towards your goal. The better the WHY, the faster you will reach your goal.

3. FOCUS

Every business owner knows, every day is filled with people who want your attention and think their issue is your top priority. They’ll pull you in a thousand different directions at once if you let them. Having a written set of goals, and reading them often, makes it very easy for you to stay laser-focused on your desired outcome. You will be able to determine if a direction in which someone is trying to pull you is the right one for you at that moment. When you have that clarity, when you are in “growth” mode, you’ll recognize that if the task doesn’t get you closer to your desired outcome, then you are likely going further away.

4. ACCOUNTABILITY

The first thing I do when I create a goal is to share it with someone. Saying it out loud gives it a boost of power. Tell your co-worker, tell your mom, tell your dog…just say it out loud to someone. Anybody can help you with this, but if you have that one person in your life that will actually push you a little and call you on your BS…then definitely tell that person. He will then become your accountability partner or (for you South Park fans) your accountibilibuddy.

5. ELEVATE YOUR STANDARDS

The single, most obvious fact that I discovered once I started creating and reviewing my goals for my life is that the greater the goals I set, the greater the goals I achieved. It may sound so obvious that it’s silly, but it’s surprisingly easy to forget and it’s something you have to keep in the front of your mind while making your goals.

When a lot of people look back at their achievements in life they mention 3 or 4 large achievements; graduating college, getting married, starting a business, etc. For me though, I am constantly focused on trying to elevate the level of all my goals. I ask myself “how can I do this better?”, “how can I get this faster?”, “how can I produce more of that?” and so on.

GOALS ARE THE KEYS TO YOUR SUCCESS

Since becoming aware of the strength of goal setting, I’ve found that I get much farther in both my personal and professional life when I keep these 5 reasons in my mind for why I need goals. I write them down, tell someone about them, frequently review them and work like mad to achieve them. I recently took my first 2-week vacation in years and you know what? My business was still here when I got back and it’s better than ever before.

To close I’d like to share a favorite quote of mine from Jim Rohn “If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.”

Write those goals. Succeed.

What is the difference between a successful website and a complete flop? I know it sounds like the start of a joke but it really isn’t funny. The answer is the ROI (Return on Investment).

Topics to be covered today

1. What is ROI
2. How is ROI calculated
3. Optimizing ROI

This is probably one of my favorite topics because this is often times the topic that grabs my client’s attention the most. Goals and audience definition are incredibly important but unless you really get into it, the value isn’t always clear in the beginning. When we talk about ROI and a businesses “bottom line”, people perk up. SO PAY ATTENTION!

ROI is short for Return On Investment and it is a measure of how much return you got back from an initial investment. The higher the ROI the better the campaign.

ROI is calculated as follows:
ROI = (Investment Gain + Investment Cost) / (Investment Cost)

Investment Gain – What you got back from your initial investment
Investment Cost – The initial investment

Example:
If I spent $100 on a banner ad and because of that banner and I make $100 profit – my ROI would be 2.
If, on the other hand, I spent $100 on a banner ad on a different site and made $0 profit – my ROI would be 1.

An ROI of 1 is breakeven. so if ROI > 1, you made money. If ROI < 1, you lost money.

In the online world we will typically see ROI calculations for marketing efforts like:

• PPC advertising
• Display advertising
• Email marketing

But this isn’t all that we can calculate ROI for. ROI can also be calculated on indirect marketing activities such as:

• Web site maintenance/additions
• Lead generation
• SEO efforts (remember with SEO we are improving the site, not paying for traffic)
• etc.

The big key when optimizing campaigns to maximize ROI is to not make a lot of changes at once. In the online world we can usually see results quickly so make one small change at a time and see how it affects your ROI.

Items that you can modify include, but are not limited to:

• distribution channels (switch from Bing to Google to Facebook)
• modify ad headlines
• increase the number of posts to your blog
• the time of day your ads are showing up
• the market you decide to target (re-read yesterday’s email)
• etc.

The daily take …

1. ROI is a measure of campaign success
2. Calculation is a ratio total investment + profit divided by the total investment
3. ROI > 1 is good, ROI < 1 is bad
4. When optimizing your ROI, only make small incremental changes and track them (they won’t all be good)

If you have any questions about any of this please feel free to email me or call.

Topics to be covered today

1. Audience definition
A while ago I was starting a marketing campaign for a client and after a nice long chat about goals the question comes up: “So who is our target market”?

The client answers, “Everybody that has a business”.

WRONG! Defining your audience is a crucial step in marketing (online and offline) and unfortunately, this is a step that most people never go through. They assume their market is everyone and they move forward without any precision in their campaigns. Lack of precision WILL result in lack of conversion.

Your audience is going to determine

• your keywords
• where you go to market your product/service
• how you position your product/service
• the product/services that are complimentary to yours
• and so on

SO … The more information you have about your audience the better off you will be able to address them and the problems/issues that they may be facing.

Things to look at when determining your target market are

• Geographics (location, climate, pace of life, etc)
• Demographics (age, religion, income, education, marital status, etc)
• Psychographics (attitudes, beliefs, emotions)
• Technographics (technologies used, etc)

Audience Definition Example:

Bad
All Businesses

Ok
Small to medium businesses based in California with annual revenues in excess of $1M

Better
Woman-owned businesses in the pet food industry, based in California with annual revenues > $1M. Organization size less than 10 people experiencing rapid growth over the past three years.

Can you tell the difference? When your target market is sufficiently defined you should be able to picture them in your head. Once you have this level of understanding of your audience – your keywords
will get better because you can craft them to appeal to a specific trait. With better keywords you will get more targeted traffic and with more targeted traffic – your conversion rates will be higher.

Sound simple? It can be if you practice.

I almost forgot – it is OK to have more than one target market as well. You just want to run through the audience profile for each one.

The daily take …

1. Audience definition will help you precisely target your market(s)
2. 4 areas to look at when defining your market (Geographics, Demographics, Psychographics, Technographics)
3. When properly defined you should be able to see a mental image of your customer
4. It is OK to have more than one target market

Coming Up … What’s up ROI? Calculating Return on Investment.

Below is a sample email from our “30 Tips in 30 Days” email series. If you would like to signup for the free email series you can do so here.

Topics to be covered today …

1. Search Engine Optimization vs. Search Engine Marketing
2. Two categories of SEO
3. Why is SEO important

OK .. here we go.

What is Search Engine Optimization?

Search Engine Optimization is actually a subset of a larger marketing effort called Search Engine Marketing. To give you a better idea as to how this all works, let’s start there.

Search Engine Marketing includes all marketing efforts that are tied to, you guessed it, search engines with the goal of increasing search engine rankings. Increased search engine rankings lead to increased search engine exposure and since 86% of all traffic online comes from search engines in one form or another*, this is where we want to be.

Search Engine Marketing can include:

• SEO (search engine optimization)
• PPC (pay pe click advertising)
• online display advertising
• article marketing
• PR
• etc.

We could easily write a post or three on each of these topics but we want you to get back to work at some point in time so we will save these other topics for another day.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the act of improving your website to gain higher visibility in the search engines. SEO can be broken up into two main categories:

On-Page and Off-Page optimization.
On-Page optimization includes all of the changes that you can actually make to the pages on your site to make it more meaningful for search engines:

• page title tags
• meta descriptions
• keyword rich content
• alt and title tags on images
• internal page linking
• sitemaps
• etc.

Off-Page optimization includes all of the tasks and improvements that happen on other sites.

• inbound links (links from other sites back to yours) – local business listings
• reviews on review sites like Yelp, etc.
• directory listings
• etc.

Both On-Page and Off-Page optimizations are needed if you want to boost your website’s organic search rankings. As we dive deeper into this email series we will be talking about some of these topics in
much more detail.

The daily take

1. SEO is only a part of a larger online marketing campaign called Search Engine Marketing
2. SEO can be broken up into two main categories – On-Page and Off-Page optimizations
3. SEO is important because it helps you gain ORGANIC (non-paid) rankings in the search engines. Without this you have to pay for it.

Coming Up … Market Research: Who is your target market really?

Source: Website Usage, Brand Effectiveness and Consumer Perception Statistics, February 20, 2010

This is an interesting question that all businesses should ask of their potential web developer. The answer that you get will tell you two VERY important things.

1. Are they listening to me? Do they actually answer the question correctly or do they answer another question that they are thinking of such as “What will be the most difficult task?” or “What are the key graphical features of the site?”. The key phrase that we want to stress here is “most important aspect”. Some people may think we are splitting hairs here or strictly dealing with semantics but the ability for you and your website designer to communicate with each other is crucially important. If they didn’t listen to this section what else didn’t they listen to?
2. Do they understand the purpose of the site. To bring it back to terms I like to use … Do they comprehend my GOAL. The goal of a website is in essence its purpose for being. This is the foundation on which your scope will be created and site will eventually be developed. If the developer doesn’t fully understand your goal(s) for the site – it will never be a success. It can’t be.

When all is said and done don’t be afraid to ask questions. You are paying your developer good money to create your vision and realize your goals. A good developer will understand this and will not mind one bit.