Search engines have nearly ruined customer service. It seems that everyone wants to be No. 1, but few people want to act like No. 1. Here’s a good article that represents what I mean.

Ask yourself if doing business with your company is easy from the customer’s point of view. You can have the best search engine optimization in the world and if your customer service is lousy then it won’t matter. You can have the sleekest web design in your industry, but if customers can’t navigate or have trouble finding what they want then it won’t matter. If they have trouble finding your phone number or reaching someone to answer their questions when they call then it doesn’t matter that you have a pretty website ranked No. 1 on Google for the most valuable key term.

The most important thing in business, even a Web business, is customer service. Make the customer happy and you’ll keep them long term. Frustrate them and they’ll find your competition.

Blame it on Google. They went Chrome.

Yes, Google is introducing its own browser, but that’s not the subject of this blog post. Instead, I’d like to discuss how they are marketing it - through an online comic book. How innovative!

Yes, this is a great concept and it’s the kind of online marketing that companies need to be thinking about doing these days. It’s creative, it’s informative, it creates a buzz. My guess is that Google’s online comic book marketing their new browser, aptly titled “Chrome”, will get a lot of inbound links. Not just because it’s Google, but because it’s good marketing. The comic book is well laid out, well thought out, provides lots of useful information, and breaks down technical jargon into everyday language. If your company isn’t doing this kind of marketing online then you need to study Google’s playbook.

Look, bottom line: If you’re going to succeed on the Web then you need to get creative. Stop doing the same ol’ same ol’. Here are 10 easy things you can do today to help you get more creative in your marketing:

1. Stop listening to negative talk. If anyone says you can’t, just close your ears because I know you can.
2. Subscribe to as many RSS feeds in your niche as you can. And read at least three of them each day.
3. See something someone else is doing? Like it? Doesn’t matter; use what others are doing if it is successful. Adapt it for your own situation.
4. Break a glass. No, not literally. Just do something different. Anything. Surprise yourself. It doesn’t even have to be business related. Eat breakfast at the same coffee shop every morning? Well, tomorrow go somewhere else. Break a window.
5. Keep a journal. Write every day. Even if it’s just two sentences. Reflect on what you are doing.
6. Spend 5-15 minutes a day brainstorming for new ideas. You won’t get to them all and don’t try to. At the end of each week, review your brainstorming lists and highlight the top 5 that show some promise. Make a plan to implement them.
7. Read a book. Hold it in your hands. It’s old-fashioned, but it’s also relaxing.
8. Tell someone you love them. Trust me, it works.
9. Resist an impulse. Any impulse. If it’s something you would normally do then break your routine. It’s better than breaking windows.
10. Take a successful person to lunch and listen to everything they say. Ask questions.

Sometimes all it takes a small and simple thing to give you an idea that will rock the world.

Templates are a double-edged sword. On the one hand, you can build a website fast using a template and make it look the way you want it to look with no problems. But not all templates are created equal.

The one thing to look out for when you use a template is the source code. You want to make sure the template is easily crawled by the search engines. Otherwise, it won’t matter at all how attractive your website is.

A good template should be written with html, not Flash, and not primarily in Javascript. CSS and php are OK, but in my experience they work better as support rather than primary code. I’ve seen good templates based on tables, though you get a lot more code with tables than you do with CSS and that will increase your code-to-text ratio. Still, if you are building a local website where the competition is slim then that won’t matter much. In a more competitive field you might opt for the CSS over the tables.

The best way to use a template, however, is to modify it for your own purposes. You might take a template and use it exactly as it is, but I’d recommend altering it whenever possible for several reasons:

1. You don’t want your website looking like everyone else’s. While it is highly unlikely that two people in the same industry will pick the exact same template and make their sites look just alike, it is possible. Take the extra step to prevent that by altering your template somewhat.
2. A modified template is more unique. You will undoubtedly have special needs that will have to be considered. Altering a template to meet those needs will make your life on the Web much easier.
3. You learn more. When building your website, you don’t learn anything by taking a template and using it as it is. You’ll learn a lot more about coding if you practice and the best practice is on a template where the code is already laid out for you, but you have the option to modify it. That way, if you screw something up you can alway go back to the original version and start over.
4. SEO. This is the most important thing. Not all templates are SEO-friendly. You want yours to be. By modifying the code, if your template doesn’t start out search engine friendly then you can make it search engine friendly with the right modifications.

That’s it. Have fun with your new web template.

Will Critchlow has some interesting thoughts on whether or not existing businesses starting to do business on the Web should build from the ground up or build their Web presence on the backbone of their brick and mortar reputation. This is a very good topic and I’ll tell you what I think in just a minute. First, here’s Will:

There are a few situations where I would disagree with the conclusion that you always get a mess when you add new marketing to old businesses - particularly in SEO - understanding the basics of SEO (not even linkbait etc. but just keyword research and basic technical on-page SEO) can be enough to form a valuable sales channel for old-school businesses.

In other words, he is somewhat disagreeing with Seth Godin, a recognized expert on new marketing. I think I’m with Will on this one, though in principle Seth is correct.

When it comes to marketing online, you cannot compare it to off line marketing. They are two different things. The way you reach people online is completely different than the way you do it off line. It requires a different approach and sometimes that approach is counter-intuitive to what successful marketers off line are used to. That’s why many traditional marketing agencies don’t do so well online.

Will goes on to discuss link building and SEO. He has an interesting suggestion regarding viral marketing techniques online. I think that kind of marketing online can work for a lot of businesses if some thought goes into it. An example he gives is this one for a dating website.

That approach will work for many businesses, but what if you have a traditional real estate business, or a law practice? Can that type of marketing work? I think so, but you do have to give it a lot of thought. You obviously don’t want to talk about dating a unicorn, but you may be interested in a humorous take on ambulance chasing if you have a personal injury practice in your town. Or maybe you can make fun of real estate agents and drive people to your real estate website.

Online, people like to see things that are entertaining. If you can get them to laugh, especially at you or themselves, and capture their imaginations then you’ll get much further. You may set up a separate website to do that or you might just add a folder to your current site. Either way is fine, but the bottom line is, advertising online is not like advertising off line. You have to think outside the box, and sometimes way outside the box.

Should your domain name be your brick and mortar business name? Many businesses, when they go online to build their first website and start marketing, will assume that their business name should be their domain name. But not necessarily.

Let’s say you own a lumber company named Jack’s located in Denver, Colorado. All the locals simply know it as Jack’s and when they are ready to go buy lumber they just say, “I’m heading on over to Jack’s.” Do you want your website domain name to be Jacks.com?

Chances are, that’s already taken. But you may be tempted to find other variations of the word Jack’s that fit with lumber. The obvious would be jackslumber.com. If it’s not taken then it could be the best bet for you; but what if it is taken? What then?

It’s much more important to have a domain name with your most important keyword in it. In other words, if you had a choice to have a domain name with the word “Jack” in it versus a domain name with the word “lumber” in it then you’d be better off with using “lumber.” The reason is because you want to rank for your important keyword as much as you can and as high in the rankings as you can. While the domain name is not the most important part of your web rankings calculation, the search engines do consider domain name. It’s just one of the criteria that they look at.

Therefore, when coming up with a domain name for your company, try to find one that best represents your company brand and that uses your most important keyword. It’s OK even to create a separate brand online that will serve as an extension of your off line business.

Every once in awhile I run across a blogger who says don’t do this or don’t do that because it’s a waste of time. Perhaps it is, for them.

As an example, one blogger recently commented that Twitter is a total waste. Well, would people be doing it if it were? I mean, there are thousands of successful business people on Twitter every day. That doesn’t mean you should be using Twitter. It just means that those business people have found a use for it.

I’m all for making your own decisions. I think it would behoove every business person to study the options available and pick the ones that are right for you. Need a blog? Only you can decide that. Need to do some forum posting? Maybe. Have the time? Give it a try.

It’s all about trying new things, seeing what works, ditching what doesn’t, and keeping your business afloat. Aren’t you doing that anyway?

You run a small business and it’s thriving. Your offline division is cranking out the steam and your online business is picking it up as well. But you have little time for your family. What do you do?

Well, first, you have to keep some balance in your life. And I mean real balance. You’re not just managing a business. You’re managing a life. So let’s break it down.

As far as time management goes, there are two times that you need to manage: Now and Future. That’s not what you though I was going to say, is it? But it’s true. You have commitments today, right now, but you also have deadlines that may be a week away, two weeks away, or a month away. And you know that you’ll get more business that will cut into the time that you have to manage those. So you need to organize your time management tasks into Now and Future.

In areas of life and business, you have your family, you have your offline business, your online business, your community, friends, your church, other civic activities, and you may even have political commitments. Whatever the case, you need to break it down and organize your channels. All of them have Now and Future aspects, don’t they?

Consider your offline business and online business separate entities because they do have different needs and concerns. They require different approaches.

When you organize your time, figure out what needs to get done right now. Assign a priority to each task. Immediate, Important, Somewhat Important, and If I Can Get To It works. You may create your own categories, but I highly recommend this.

What you do is you create a list. In your list, code your tasks with your priority rating for that task. Also, try to imagine how long that task will take you - 5 mins., 2 hours, etc. Next, note which box, or channel, it fits into. Is it related to your offline business, online business, charity work, family? Make sure you note this.

You can create your list of tasks the first thing in the morning, but I’d recommend doing it the night before, either just before you go to bed or just before you leave the office. It should be the last thing you do for the day. That way, when you start the next day, the first thing you do is consult your list and see what needs to get done. Try to finish one important task in each channel category of your life each day. In other words, do the most important and immediate tasks first for each category, but if your family life only has “maintenance” items for that day (ie no birthdays, weddings, promises to keep, etc.) then at least do that. Do one thing in each channel every day.

It’s important to do one thing from each life channel every day because if you make that phone call to your sister then it’s a morale booster for you and for her. You both benefit and you will be more productive in the long run.

By prioritizing each task in your life this way and ensuring that you spend a little time each day in every channel where you have commitments, you will be more fulfilled, more productive, and much happier.

by Diane Autey

One of the most effective marketing tools for speakers, authors and service providers is a 1-2 page “sell sheet” or “one-sheet.” Printed in full-color on 8 ½” x 11” coated paper, it stands out in pocket folders and at trade shows and professional association meetings. It’s a great conversation-starter when you hand it out in person or at networking events.

The Trick? Say it Quick
It is best to write in “sound bites” – brief statements and lists of key benefits. Direct your messages to your target audience. Tell them, “What’s in it for me?” Include a combination of paragraphs, statements, bulleted lists and credibility-building testimonials and/or credentials.

Well-written sell sheets include:

• Attention-grabbing headline
• Company logo and name
• List of services or key features
• Client testimonials with company logos
• Photos and graphics
• Biography or company description
• Contact information

If you’re an author, include your book cover(s). If you’ve been published, include a list of publications, article titles and dates. If you’re a speaker, list the topics you address.

Have it Professionally Designed
Effective use of graphics, text, images and colors will make it or break it. Graphic designers think visually and can make your words come to life. A professional, graphically appealing presentation is well worth the investment.

Print it Digitally
If you’re printing less than 1,000, digital is the way to go. The quality of digital printing is so good nowadays that only the experts can tell if a piece is printed digitally or conventionally. Unless they’re in the industry, your customer’s can’t. The price has also become quite reasonable as the technology has improved.

Use your Sell Sheet to Open Doors
The sell sheet won’t make the sale for you, but it’s a powerful door-opener and conversation starter. It boosts your professionalism and credibility in the eyes of your prospects. Along with your business card, use it at every opportunity and you will generate more business.

Diane Autey, President of Projects Done Write, specializes in projects with depth and complexity that impact a company’s bottom line. Diane can be reached at diane@projectsdonewrite.com or 612-716-7642.

If this survey is correct then your small business could be in jeopardy.

In addition, PayPoint found that among 1000 consumers, just 3 percent of online shoppers are likely to trust a small online business with their money, preferring to shop with larger online brands. A further 81 percent say they have doubt about the security credentials of small, unknown companies.

In order to be taken seriously by your prospect customers, you’ve got to convince them that they can trust you. How do you do that? One way is to make it appear as if you are larger than you are. It is difficult to succeed online if you look like a small business.

Keep in mind that this is true of online-only businesses. If you are a local business with an internet presence and you are targeting local consumers to drive them to your brick-and-mortar store then your strategy will be slightly different. But if you are an online-only business and you are targeting consumers globally, it makes sense to spend time branding your company and appearing larger. How do you do that?

Here are some ways you can make yourself look bigger than you are:

• Make your URL a keyword-targeted brand
• Have a customer service number where people can call you and answer the phone in a professional manner using your business name and personal name with a “How may I help you” greeting
• Include an online chat feature
• Go to great pains to ensure your customers that you provide security for their private information

People like doing business with people so keep it personal. But they want the security of doing business with a large company so be professional. There is still some skepticism about doing business online. Alleviate people’s fears as much as possible.