Unfortunately, most people have absolutely no idea how to determine whether they actually get any real value out of having a website. Let’s fix that today: read on for a crash course in measuring your website’s success.

What’s a Conversion Point?

Whenever a visitor to your website makes a choice, a conversion point exists that generates two metrics:

1. Cost of Conversion. For the sake of this article, we’ll skip over this particular metric — just realize that it exists and is an important metric to keep track of when you decide to start paying to generate traffic (via online and offline methods).
2. Rate of Conversion.

The key is to identify your business’ significant conversion points which, if chosen most often by visitors, will lead to the achievement of your goals. (More on this in future posts.)

Conversion Rate

Google’s dictionary defines a conversion rate as “the number of visitors who took a desired action divided by the total number of visitors in a given time period (typically, per month).”

Formula: Desired Action / Total Visitors = Conversion Rate

For example, if 1,000 unique visitors were driven to your website from a search engine and 10 of those visitors signed up for your newsletter, then your newsletter conversion rate would be 1.0%. (As a rule of thumb, you should be shooting for a conversion rate of at least 2%.)

In general, a conversion rate is calculated whenever a desired action occurs by a visitor to your website. The most crucial conversion rates are those directly associated with the achievement of your business’ goals.

Examples include:

• A visitor types in their email address and clicks “submit” to join your newsletter.
• A visitor subscribes to your blog via RSS or email.
• A visitor clicks their browser’s “back” button to leave your website.
• A visitor buys your product.

The most important metric: Sales Conversion Rate

For most businesses, sales are the lifeblood of the company. Without them, nothing else really matters anyways.

Formula: # of Sales / Total Visitors = Sales Conversion Rate

For example, if the 1,000 unique visitors generated 20 sales, then your sales conversion rate is 2%.

So, what does this really mean?

Rather than simply putting up your website and blindly waiting for customers, you should be constantly tracking your conversion rates. (Tip: Google Analytics is a free, easy way to automate the tracking and reporting.)

As a rule of thumb, you should constantly aim for a conversion rate of around 2% (or higher). Anything lower, it’s time to start testing new ideas to raise this number. If you’re already at 2%, it’s time to dig a bit deeper into the newsletter, RSS and other conversion rates and see where things can be improved further.

Spend your the vast majority of your time increasing conversion rates — this is the most effective use of your time. Simplify your decision making: If you’re working on something that isn’t improving your conversion rates, stop and move on to the next thing.

Image Credit: batega

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Call it what you want: customer loyalty, customer retention or anything else under the sun. Stickiness transforms the average business from a transaction-based model to a more lasting, mutually beneficial one in which companies improve their own revenues and margins by maintaining a win-win relationship with the customer. It may sound like yet another hand-wavy strategy, but it’s really not — let’s run through a few tactical ideas:

• You’ve probably got a website. So, why’s it so hard to subscribe to RSS feeds or newsletters? I may not be ready to buy anything today but sign me up for one of your lists and keep me updated with tips that are relevant to me. Do this right and it’ll be obvious that your product can solve my needs, I’ll buy it when I’m ready.
• You probably sell a product. So, why don’t I hear from you after I’ve bought anything? If I’ve bought from you once, it’s reasonable to assume that I might be interested in buying from you again — talk to me! Stop being a product focused business and become a product-and-long-term-service business. Guarantee the benefits of your product to me over the long run and do stuff to help me get those benefits.
• Your competitors probably sell something similar to you. So, go the extra mile and solve a particular problem for me in a unique way. The Trunk Club sells clothes, just like most other clothiers, but they actually do most of the work for me.

Look, we’re not talking about rocket science here — in fact, you’ve probably heard tons of advice on how to build your business. The problem is that many entrepreneurs either do too much of the wrong thing or, worse, sit around as they figure out what to do next.

The key is to focus on doing something, anything, to actually build the business — for most people, improving the stickiness is the most effective place to focus your efforts.

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The lesson: Building your business creates the brand. The unconscious process of forming your brand comes out of unrelenting passion, not unending spin.

Ever heard of Starbucks? Contrary to what you may have heard or thought, Starbucks never sought to create a brand. Instead, the company passionately sought to create appreciation for a better tasting cup of coffee. It was, in fact, as basic as that.

Starbucks was too busy sourcing and roasting the highest-quality coffee beans to think about branding. Starbucks was too busy educating customers on how and why they should appreciate a stronger, bolder, more flavorful cup of coffee to think about branding. Starbucks was too busy creating a comforting and welcoming place for people to exhale than to think about branding.

Last week, I met Ryan Moede with Viget Labs (a web strategy firm based just outside of Washington, DC). He told me that before they accept a particular client, the Viget team asks themselves if they’d ever become employees of the client company. Unless the answer is yes, they won’t proceed. Rather than taking just any work that comes their way, they’re relentlessly focused on building their business with the right clients — the branding inevitably follows.

So, the first thing to do is to start ignoring all the “professionals” out there that advise you to spend hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars on “creating” a brand for your company. Instead, focus your efforts on being the best at what you do — the brand will follow.

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I met with him for a second time earlier this week and peppered him with some more questions before we discovered the problem: He shied away from picking a particular niche because he thought it would limit his profit margins or customer counts. He’s not alone — unfortunately, I see this far too often.

Here’s the thing though — why be a small fish in a ginormous pond? It’s far smarter to be the big-ass fish in the tiny little pond. Less is more.

Mark Vadon, Blue Nile’s co-founder, was quoted in a recent BusinessWeek article:

I want to be the best in the world at one thing. I don’t want to be half-assed at a lot of things.

Most businesses suck when they try to do too many things — cut down the number of things you do and your margins shoot through the roof. Every small business that I’ve consulted has told me that once they narrowed their focus to a specific niche, their sales skyrocketed.

In fact, when my own construction company decided to stop actively looking for commercial work, our residential sales skyrocketed. Once we focused on the few things we did better than anyone else, everything got better — more clients, more money and, most importantly, less stress.

How do you define your niche? To start, determine one thing that you do better than anyone else. Not sure? Ask people who know you well. I bet they can come up with at least one thing that makes you a rock star. If you need more help, Geekpreneur has some tips on ways to find your niche and I recently included a few more tips here: the importance of being the best at what you do.

By narrowing your focus, you’ll start to be seen as the expert in your industry. Which instills confidence in your customers and brings even more people to your door. Doesn’t get much better than that.

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It’s no secret that most people have a hard time talking about money — just look at how many bloggers write about ways to ask for raises at work or save $100 on your next purchase. Sure, it’s great if people use the advice but most people won’t, so why keep beating the proverbial dead horse?

The point is not to avoid asking for the discount but to know exactly what to do when that tactic fails.

The art of asking for more

Next time you’re negotiating, try asking for more. I use this tactic when buying cars, dealing with vendors or bargaining with street merchants and it works every time — despite what you might believe, most businesses would much rather give you something more than reduce the price. When your request gets shot down, don’t walk away pissed off — ask for something more: get them to throw in something else. (Tip: If you’re buying a car, you can usually get floor mats and your first few service visits absolutely free — ask for them after you think you’ve gotten the price as low as you can go.)

What businesses are thinking

At a 10% discount, a typical firm would need to sell 50% more units to keep the same profit on the bottom-line. Costs also increase in the “discount” game, so companies can literally discount themselves out of business. Instead of cutting cash out of the deal, they’d rather add value to whatever you’re buying — this “value added” proposition means they can “give away” something that won’t come out their profits. Done right, it adda to the customer’s experience and that’s the key to getting that customer back.

Oh, and one more thing

Use this tip when you’re negotiating your next pay raise. If the conversation gets bogged down before you get to the number you want, start asking for other perks instead — extra vacation days, telecommuting perks or educational reimbursements. It’s all fair game.

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What’s the point of having an accountant, can’t I just use software and advice from the internet?

After doing my own taxes through college, I’ve realized that most of the off-the-shelf software out there will get you pretty good results. In fact, most average accountants won’t do much better than the software you’re probably using — if you’re happy doing your own taxes and can take the time to research the latest tax laws, you’re a better person than I. Good luck to you.

For the rest of us, we’re pretty busy and we understand that leaving stuff like this to the right professionals can be the best decision you can make. Besides, you go to a doctor when you’re sick and you go to the lawyers when you get sued, why not go to a good accountant when you need to worry about taxes?

Taxes and the shades of gray

Take a look at a typical tax return and you’ll soon realize that there are thousands of ways to interpret the tax rules. It’s pretty clear that filing taxes can be more of an art than science.

Average accountants will take a conservative approach by default. In my experience, only one accountant I know mentioned deductions from retirement accounts or luxury vehicle purchases. (Incidentally, he’s been my accountant for years now.) Note: If you’re getting nervous at the very thought of bending tax rules to your advantage, you probably ought to stop reading immediately — this post isn’t for you. For the rest of you, what you need is a bulldog accountant that has creative ideas on how to bend tax rules to your advantage.

Sure, bending the rules might seem shady but the point is that bending the tax laws is beyond the comfort zone of most people, including me. That’s why you need to find an aggressive accountant to do the work for you (and sign his name at the bottom of the return) — aggressive, while staying safely within generally accepted accounting principles, of course.

Fishing for Accountants

The key to finding great people is to ask the best people around you for their contacts — this works especially well if you know a number of successful entrepreneurs. Even if they can’t give you the contact information for the person they use, they’ll surely have some dirt on the accountants to stay away from.

If this doesn’t work for you, the next best option is to simply start combing through the phone book and interviewing. Sure, this will suck up a lot of your time but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Loaded Questions: The Art of Interviewing Accountants

Interviewing accountants is pretty straightforward but you need to understand that they will charge you for their time. Don’t start setting up in-person interviews until you’ve whittled the list down to the top 1-2 that you like.

Keep it simple, your goal for the interviews is to understand two primary things:

1. Do you get along with the accountant? You two are going to have a number of personal conversations over the next couple of years, make sure your personalities match. My rule of thumb: I won’t do business with you unless I can see myself drinking with you.
2. On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being the most aggressive), how conservative/aggressive is this accountant? Ask specific questions about your current financial situation — use real numbers. Better yet, bring in an old tax return and ask the accountant what they would do differently. You’re looking for creativity — is he asking good questions about what you might be able to deduct? When you ask about something the accountant disagrees with or warns against doing to save taxes, make sure his explanation makes sense.
3. Be the bullshit detector: ask questions that you already know the answer to. (This is a big one, don’t forget to do this!) I usually ask about the deductibility of new vehicle purchases under my business entity. I’m not looking for him to agree with me 100%, I just want to gauge his response against my knowledge on the issue.
   

Get yourself the right accountant today and you won’t be repeating this process for years at a time. Better yet, you’ll save yourself tons of time and money in the long run — and you’ll have a trusted partner to bounce ideas off of down the road. Oh, and one more thing: the really good accountants just happen to know everyone — I’ve been able to get leads for future clients, early access to business owners looking to sell out and references for lawyers, doctors or anyone else I might need for my own plans.

What else do I need to tell you? Stop wasting time, dump your crappy accountants and start getting ahead.

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What “the next level” actually is varies depending on who you talk to but the good news is many of the factors that block reaching it are surprisingly the same. In almost every case I’ve seen, the elements that had fueled your earlier growth have run out or been forgotten. You hit a wall.

There are no “magic bullets”

You need three things to keep your momentum going:

1. A system geared up for the next level. Take a good, hard look at yourself today — are there manual processes or other tasks that can be automated, delegated or even ditched altogether? From Chapter 8 of 4HWW: Refine rules and processes before adding people. Using people to leverage a refined process multiplies production; using people as a solution to a poor process multiplies problems.
2. Clear, specific and measurable goals. You need to put your goals in writing and systematically review your actions to make sure you’re heading in the right direction. (Download this worksheet to help you define your goals and track your progress: The Getting Ahead Guide: Goal Jumping)
3. Relentless execution. Getting ahead doesn’t happen by accident — it takes hard work to get there. Accept this fact and simply move on.

Combine these three things and you’ve got everything you need to keep moving to the next level. Just remember, getting ahead is a marathon not a sprint.

Image Credit: JOE M500

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Here are three tips for cutting your costs immediately:

• Ditch the underused gadgets. Knowing exactly what you have is the first step — classify things by how often you use them. It doesn’t have to be complicated, simply look for anything that you don’t use on a daily basis. Some examples of this would be old cellphones, DSLR cameras that you don’t use every day, old computer monitors, extra laptops, unused printers and scanners. Sell or donate these immediately.
• Manual processes are your enemy. Filing receipts, paying bills, checking voicemails — there’s no limit to the number of administrative tasks we have to deal with every day. If you haven’t already, get yourself a virtual assistant and start offloading tasks. Why do something yourself when you can have someone else do it for you, usually for less than $15/hour. (Check out the Ultimate Virtual Assistant Guide for more details.)
• Avoid overpriced (and unnecessary) contracts. First, take a look at your cell phone bill — you’re likely to have many unused features on there that are eating you up. I call my cell phone company at least once a year and ask them to review my past statements to see if it makes sense to modify my contract in some way. Most times, a small adjustment to the minutes or SMS credits on the account will save me at least $20/month. For the rest of your contracts, use the A La Carte method to save yourself some money or simply renogitiate your contracts — there’s no harm in simply asking for a discount.

So, take a few minutes to try these out for yourself — the people I’ve talked to have saved at least a few hundred dollars per month and freed up hours of wasted time each week. All it takes is a few simple things to make it happen.

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Yep, now my secret’s out but I’m not worried. I’ll continue using it because most people don’t want to be known as the person that bothers people on vacation.

Learn to take advantage of a distraction-free day and work like your hair is on fire.

Do nothing except finish the project. Hey, you could have been on vacation, so it’s okay to neglect everything else, to put your email on vacation autorespond and your phone on voice mail and to beg off on the sleepy weekly all-hands meeting and to avoid the interactions with those that might say no…

And then finish it. Finish the website or the manuscript or business plan or the suite of tools. No, this isn’t a great week to do outreach or make a pitch. That’s not the goal. It’s to finish that project that’s been stuck too long. Finish it or cancel it.

The key to using this strategy effectively is to make sure you don’t overuse it and ensure that the right people know what you’re actually doing with your time. At the very least, make sure that your boss and/or your clients know exactly what you’re up to.

Now go enjoy a full day of productivity and don’t forget to take an actual day off from time to time.

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Bill came in. I thought about how strange it was that he had two legs, two arms, one head, etc. - almost exactly like a regular human being.

So, maybe Bill isn’t the right person to compare ourselves against but the point is that the people around you need to easily recognize that you are a real person, just like them.

When I was first starting out, I pretty much ignored returning emails and phone calls under the impression that I was simply “too busy” for it. Then one day I realized that people had stopped coming to me when opportunity knocked, and it hit me: I had to make myself more accessible if I wanted to get ahead.

“So, how do I become more accessible?”

First, make sure you give people multiple ways to get in touch with you. If you’re reading this, you probably have a cell phone, email account, Facebook profile and a Twitter account. Use them.

Then, make sure you actually reply like a human. It’s that simple.

Well, not really, but it’s a start. Here are some extra tips for you:

• Visibility creates opportunities. People will never know how great you are unless they know you exist. Use blogs, Facebook, and your voicemail greeting to start getting your personal brand out there. (You did rethink your personal brand, didn’t you?)
• Be reachable. Let’s be honest, you probably have an account on nearly every Web 2.0 site out there. OK, maybe not every one but you probably do have an email, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, or FriendFeed account. Just use them.
• Show your face. You can’t get ahead by sitting behind your computer all day. Get out there and start meeting people. You know the saying - a picture is worth a thousand words. Start putting a face to the name by actually meeting the people you interact with online.
• Respond promptly. Most people are on deadlines. The more quickly you can follow up when someone contacts you, the more likely they will return the favor. If you have the time, respond to messages right away.

We’re all busy. Some days it seems like you’ve got neverending phone calls to return and emails to answer, but it’s time to stop making excuses.

I wake up at 6am every morning to catch up on email because I know that the people I’m replying to are still in bed — they can’t possibly reply back to me immediately with a one-liner. Stick to your schedule and keep the lines of communication open, the results will be well worth it.

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In my experience, some of my most productive moments occur when I take a break and waste a little time.

Just remember that there’s a fine line between using your downtime effectively and stealing time or resources from your employer, family or friends. First and foremost, if you’re getting paid to do a job, that work needs to be your top priority. Don’t forget about your family either.

With that being said, there are some ways to use your legitimate downtime to focus on getting ahead.

1. Exercise: This is the best way to spend your down time. A good workout gets your mind off of things and gets your body in shape at the same time. Try to get into a routine of working out at least 2-3 times a week for 30 minutes — it’s easier than you think and you’ll probably gain some new perspectives on yourself in the process.
2. Change your environment: A change in scenery is well worth the effort. It can be as simple as heading over to a new coffee shop or taking a weekend getaway. Putting yourself into new situations tends to give you a new perspective on things.
3. Read a book: There’s nothing like holding a book in your hands and flipping through the pages. Pick up a book from time to time and get a new perspective on things. I’ve been picking up books from the Personal MBA’s recommended reading list and running through them on the weekends.
4. Go offline: This can be as effective as you want it to be. Some people simply turn off their laptop while others ditch technology for the weekend and go cold turkey. Personally, I’ll grab my notebook & trusty pen and head off to a local coffee shop. Using a nice pen and paper is much more relaxing than you might think — seeing your thoughts on paper tends to help you see them from a totally different perspective.
5. Take a Nap: This is a tough one — I’ve found it hard to not feel guilty for taking a nap in the middle of the day. Despite what you may think, your body needs rest from time to time. Don’t feel bad for taking a 15 minute nap on the couch. You’ll bounce back with more energy than you think.

So, continue screwing off — just make it worthwhile in the process. If you’ve got any other ideas on how to effectively waste time, I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

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Life is short. Too short to not enjoy yourself, both at work and at play.

I know what you’re thinking (because I used to think the same thing): Life can’t always be fun and games. True. But that doesn’t mean that you can’t take roll with the punches.

Besides, no one’s ever been on their deathbed and wished that they had worked harder.

Most people think that work is not meant to be fun, and those are the same people that work themselves into the ground, stress themselves out, and end up absolutely miserable (if you think stress in your work life doesn’t find its way into your personal life, you’re sadly mistaken). Trust me, I’ve been there.

The next time you’re feeling overwhelmed at work, stop and take a breather. Go joke around with a coworker. Leave early and spend some time with your family. Do whatever it takes to lighten your mood, and you’ll get back to work feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world.

The key to a well lived life is to avoid taking things so seriously. Just accept that unexpected things are going to happen and have a good time along the way. Besides, unexpected problems are rarely as bad as they actually seem.

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Successful blogging is really about doing a few (seven, actually) simple things right and avoiding serious mistakes along the way. Don’t forget to grab the free checklist at the end of this post, it’ll save you hours.

Here’s what you need to know:

1. Get tips from other bloggers. Despite what some people might have you believe, blogging isn’t new anymore — Technorati is tracking nearly 113 million blogs now. So, why not learn from the pros out there and avoid reinventing the wheel? When I decided to start this blog, I spent 2 hours reading nearly every post on Problogger, Copyblogger, Remarkablogger and Performancing. These guys are giving away nearly everything you need to know, for free. After reading all of those, I can confidently tell you that the secret to a great blog is incredibly simple: Help People. That is, help people by sharing what you love (and what you’re good at), and the rest will follow. The more value your blog provides, the more likely it is to succeed. Really, that’s all there is to it.
2. Discover the quickest way to provide a TON of value. I’m going to let you in on another big secret: The blogs that focus on dominating a single market usually destroy the blogs that try to be the best at everything. Focus on what you do best and then tell the world about it — widen your lens, narrow your focus. Find out what you enjoy offering the world and the remaining steps are going to be easy. This is exactly why you need to devote as much time as it takes to this step. Failing to focus, failing to choose one discipline and stick to it, is exactly what leads most blogs to mediocrity.
3. Form your team. The magnitude of your success depends on the number of kick-ass people around you. Instead of relying on your own brains, tap the collective wisdom of a number of smart people. I’ve learned that it’s really not hard to get mentors to help you - I found bloggers that I knew and asked them for advice. (Let me take a second to thank two people that provided a ton of great advice: Ramit Sethi and Chris Yeh. Thanks, guys!) So, go find your goal buddies - today.
4. Don’t waste money (or anything else). I didn’t waste money on paid blog hosting or custom designs. It’s simply not worth it when you’re first starting out. Sign up for a free blog at Wordpress.com and move on to the next step. Seriously.
5. Just get started. I know many people that have great ideas. I know far fewer that are actually successful. The problem is that they never even got started. Don’t fall into this trap. The sooner you start, the quicker you will actually understand what works and what doesn’t. By the way, don’t waste time thinking about which one thing to do - the choice doesn’t matter, just do something. I forced myself to simply sit down and start writing - you need to do the same.
6. Don’t become technology’s bitch. Sure, there are a ton of great Wordpress plugins, editors and gizmos out there - ignore them all. They take away precious time that you should be spending on writing and creating new content. Here’s the key: exploit tech only when you know precisely how it can help accelerate your ability to get ahead. (Here’s how I avoided becoming technology’s bitch.)
7. Get used to the work. I hate to break it to you: Plain old hard work is the best way to get better - it’s really that simple. You’ve got to have the self-discipline to stick to your blog for the long term. It takes patience, passion, vision and a little bit of luck but you’ll get there.

So, there they are — the seven steps I followed to get this blog to where it is today. Follow this process for your own blog and you’ll get further than you have ever imagined.

Introducing: The Skimmer’s Checklist to Blogging Success

Save yourself some time, pick up a free one-page checklist to learn everything I think you should know about successful blogging. All you have to do is sign up for my newsletter below and download the checklist immediately!

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When we’re in a miserable situation, the logical thing to do is to get out of it, right?  So why do many of us stay in jobs we despise?  Or maybe you have a friend who drives you crazy complaining about his job while making excuses for not sending out his resume.  Why not do something about it already?

In a word: energy.

Dragging yourself to a job you hate takes effort.  Being civil with a crazy boss and the lazy jerks called co-workers takes effort.  The job itself is boring and repetitive, so staying on task takes effort.  By the end of the day, you’re worn out, so you eat whatever’s handy and go to bed.  From here it’s a downward spiral because you’re not replenishing your energy.

The next day you get up and go through the same routine again.  Now what happens when you have a boring repetitive routine?  Your mind goes on autopilot.  Sometimes habit is a good thing.  If you had to relearn how to tie your shoelaces every morning, how much would you accomplish with your life?  In this case autopilot is dangerous because you’re locking into a self-destructive pattern.  Getting out of the rut is a classic catch-22 because you’re required to exert yourself when your personal energy gauge is pointing at empty.  The trick is to start small, taking one step at a time.

• First listen to yourself. Are you joining the gripe sessions on work breaks?  Are you whining to all your friends about how tired you are?  Positive affirmations work by programming your mind through repetition, and negative affirmations work the same way.  Every time you tell someone you’re tired, you actually make yourself feel more tired.  So stop.  If your co-workers won’t change the subject — apparently some people get an addictive adrenaline charge from complaining — find something else to do on your breaks.
• Then shake up your routine. If you normally wear dark colors, wear something in a lighter color.  Take a different route to work one morning.  Drink a different beverage on break.  Eat a decent supper, or at least pick up better quality fast food.  Little victories lead to bigger ones.  The more you stay off autopilot, the better you’ll feel.
• Make a plan. Time wasted on whining is better spent brainstorming ways to escape.  Make sure your friends understand you’re talking about a real life escape.  I’ve discovered the hard way that some people love to daydream out loud with you, but they have no intention of doing anything.  To them it’s just part of hanging out, sort of like playing Dungeons & Dragons without dice.  (If they’re happy with their own lives, they’re being ultra polite in not telling you that your dream of telecommuting is rather lame as fantasies go.)  You need someone who’ll hold you accountable.  If you can’t find a serious goal buddy, consider getting a life coach.
• Finally, carry out the plan. Where do you want to be?  What specifically do you need to do to get there?  Break it down into simple steps.  Take a step every day.  Even if you just send one networking email or make just one phone call, you’ll have moved forward.  Some days you’ll have more momentum.  Some days you’ll have less.

Just keep moving forward.

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