It’s Black Friday, is Your Website Ready for Cyber Monday? 5 Tips.

I’m probably “one to talk” about this right now, being that I’ve been so wrapped up in projects for the past month that I’ve yet to even clear up the to-do list for this site, but I wanted to help you guys prepare over the weekend for what’s known as the busiest online shopping day of the year.

Now, before you click off, remember that even if you’re writing a blog or aren’t selling products as part of your business, there are still lots of ways you should prepare your site for this Monday.

1. Triple check your navigation. Run reports to check for 404 errors (and don’t forget to update that custom 404 page, just in case) and fix links where applicable.
2. Check your design and layout for problems. Did you insert some code a while back that screwed up your site’s layout but you never got around to fixing it? Is your sidebar too cluttered, distracting visitors from the important stuff?
3. If you’re selling products or services, create a “Cyber Monday” special (a discount, package deal, etc.) and make sure that it’s clearly highlighted on all entry pages to the site. Make a new banner or button, and make it the focus for your visitors.
4. If you’re not selling products or services, develop a shopping list or page using your affiliate links. I’ve got two on my b5media blogs right now, and while they’ve only been up for a couple days, there have already been purchases made. Every little bit helps, of course.
5. Promote special sales promos or pages in social networks like Twitter or FaceBook. If people are shopping online, they’re bound to be chatting up friends about deals and specials they’ve found. Toss yours into the mix and keep the conversations flowing so you’re not looking like a ridiculous spammer. If you’re not on Twitter or FaceBook yet, you’re missing the boat, so move that task above all of these first and foremost.

This list is of course not exhaustive, but it’s 5 major things that you actually might have the time to do over the weekend before Cyber Monday hits, that just might make a world of difference.

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Re-branding your business.

Image by Alex Osterwalder via Flickr

After nearly four years as “Anubis Marketing”, I made a decision to grow my company outward. It started as a simple design, SEO, and internet marketing business, but has since grown to so much more than that. It was time for a change.

I explain my logo here, which really has a lot to do with the naming of the new company, but what it boils down to is that I felt I needed a better representation of myself and my company than “The Egyptian God of Death and Resurrection”. Haha, that wasn’t my initial goal, but since Anubis has the head (and sometimes the body) of a hound (greyhound), it was something that meant something to me. The problem was, it was only a positive meaning to me, as a greyhound owner, and to the rest of the world well… not so much.

Ginkgo trees symbolize longevity, wisdom, and life. That’s more what this business is about, more what I’m about. I love the leaves, so it made sense to me. It should make more sense to others now, too.

So here I sat with this idea to change my company name, and now I have to deal with four years of incoming links to my old site. With the posts and pages and information on that old site. One good thing is that it was built on WordPress, so I can import the old posts over here, but now comes the trouble of letting my RSS subscribers know about the move and doing a permanent redirect from there to the new site, so that the search engines know where I am now, too.

Not that this is all that much trouble, mind you. It’s just a little scary sometimes. There are chances I could lose subscribers if I don’t write that post on the site compelling enough. There are chances I could lose new visitors who click a link expecting to see Anubis Marketing and find themselves at Ginkgo Consulting. There are chances that I won’t, too. So it’s a little unnerving, but it’ll be okay.

Other Changes

Along with the website changes, there are other things I’m implementing into the new business, like fee structure, payment programs, and services offered. Since I’ve had so many new experiences and projects, I wanted a new way to manage everything to help make it easier.

Eventually, I plan to offer “one stop shopping” for programs. If your site needs a “cleanup” on design for example, you’ll be able to come to the site, pay for it, and we can then hammer out the necessary details via email. Rather than spending my time “selling” a package or price, the goal here is to make it smooth and seamless by letting you know up front what’s included in full detail.

I’m also planning on offering premium WordPress themes that can be purchased right from the site and will be emailed directly to you upon payment. This is for people who might only need a “base” layout for their site, but prefer to do all the customizations and implementations on their own without paying additional fees for programming or development.

So, it’s an exciting time for me! I’m looking forward to our growth and expansion, and I’m seeing great things to come!

Have you ever put your blog or business through a major overhaul like this? Please share your story with us in the comments section!

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7 Steps to take when gearing up for a conference

I really tried to get way too much accomplished prior to attending the Blog World Expo 2008 conference in Las Vegas last week. I was in the process of upgrading the business, changing the name, offering more to potential clients, and get the new company website up. It was a LOT to take on in a very short period of time.

Looking back, I keep wondering if I should have kept the old business site up to date, handed out the old cards, and gone on from there. I met so many people that I directed to this site prior to it’s completion that I wonder if they’re out there thinking, “What the hell is this chick about?”

No matter what your industry, it’s quite likely that you won’t be the only person you know at a conference. At BWE there were probably close to two dozen associates, clients, and “coworkers” of mine I was going to meet up with there, and then of course they were going to introduce me to others I’ve yet to meet. That’s when the business cards came out. I twitched with every one because this site wasn’t finished, and I tried to explain that while this is a new brand for me, I’m not new to the industry at all. (I’ve got over 7 active years in the field and like most, over 12 years of “hobby” in it.)

So here’s a guideline of what I did in preparation of the trip, but learn from me, and start on this list as soon as you know you’re attending (rather than a week before the event)!

• Make a list of tasks and prioritize them. Despite feeling like I was taking on too much in my situation, making the list really helped a lot. I crossed things off when I completed them and left still feeling somewhat accomplished. It was a really good feeling to leave with 90% of my list completed.
• Refill your business card holder. Okay, so you’re going to be bringing a lot more cards with you than your holder can carry, but make sure you have a good solid stack of them to take along. I had mine tucked into every pocket, my bag, and even some in my badge holder. I didn’t have time to order mine ahead, but I made a batch of about 150 of them to take with me. The rest are on order from VistaPrint right now. (You can get some really great deals there, including free cards if you’re a new customer!)
• Make sure your website or blog is up to date. This one might take a little more finesse if you’ve got a static website that hasn’t been updated or re-designed in a while. I’ve had clients come to me for a “freshening up” with a fairly tight deadline, so it can be done. If you’re blogging, get some stuff up about the upcoming event, and if you haven’t blogged for a while, get a good backlog of posts up there. (This is one of the items on my list that didn’t quite make it, and I regret it.)
• Do some research on the city you’re going to. Obviously in Vegas there was TONS to do during off-conference hours. I’d never been before, so everything I did was exciting, and was often planned by others in my social circle. But even if it’s a city you’ve been to before, there may be some new stuff or other events going on since you were there last, so check it out and see if you can make some tentative plans. I wound up going to see a show and watching the fountains at the Bellagio over drinks with a client one night… way cool!
• Queue up your inner salesperson. No, I don’t mean you should have some rehearsed, repetitive “line”, but make sure you put your best foot forward and wear a smile, know what you’re looking to explain about your business to new contacts, and make the most of that 15 seconds you’re going to have to introduce yourself.
• Pack your bags and leave lots of room. Checking up on the city will help you decide the type of clothing to pack, but keep your load light. You’re going to come home with “stuff” and you’ll need the room in your bags. Be it conference materials, schwag (coffee mugs, stickers, binders, etc. all labeled with exhibitor logos), or gifts for the kids, you’re going to bring stuff home with you, guaranteed.
• Be early for your flight, take off, and have fun! All pretty self-explanatory, but it boils down to triple checking your travel arrangements, making sure you have all your financial stuff organized and in order, your documents and receipts for things like airfare and hotel rooms, and so on. Nothing can ruin the fun of an opportunity like this more than losing your identification or spilling coffee on your boarding pass!

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Attention – New York Based eCommerce Businesses: “The Internet Is No Longer The Wild West of Commerce”

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo made an announcement today that protects consumers making purchases via the internet, saying quite flatly, “The Internet is no longer the Wild West of commerce.” This measure defines online and Internet purchases as equivalent to catalog/mail and telephone orders when it comes to buyer protection.

From Cuomo’s website:

Last year, more than 1,000 consumer complaints were submitted to the Attorney General’s Internet Bureau regarding failure to deliver goods ordered online or other improper conduct related to online purchases. The measure affords online consumers the same protections as those who make purchases over the phone or through the mail. Those protections include:

* Orders cannot be accepted for merchandise which cannot be reasonably anticipated to be shipped within 30 days.
* All advertising and promotional materials must prominently feature: the legal name of the company, complete street address and details about what conditions in which a refund will be issued.
* If products fail to ship within 30 days, the company must clearly provide the buyer with the opportunity to cancel the order and receive a refund or receive substitute merchandise.
* Companies must maintain records of all complaints of failure to ship merchandise or provide advertised services.

As far as I’m aware, this new law applies to products only (as opposed to services), but I’m sure that’s the next step in this state. Cuomo’s been cracking down on a lot of things since taking office – this is just one more consumer-minded direction, but every single business owner who offers a product for sale on their website needs to know about this.

What confuses me just a little is that I wasn’t really aware that this was any more a problem for online business than it was for traditional mail-order business. But I suppose that there will always be people who find the legal loopholes – and this new law closes off the circle completely.

Assemblyman Jack McEneny said, “The bill would protect consumers who shop through the Internet by requiring that their purchases be delivered in a timely manner. Internet businesses will no longer be able to evade the clear intention of the law that has long applied to all other businesses.”

So – to all my clients and NY based business friends – it’s time to start tightening up the proverbial belts!

Who’s The Boss? YOU.

I’m sitting here scanning through my feedreader on this lovely Memorial Day (waiting for the grill to get cleaned up and ready to use) and I found this post by Andy Beal (oops!) Jeremy Luebke of Marketing Pilgrim about preparing your business to be able to survive without you. In it, Jeremy points to a super inspiring post by QuadsZilla over at SEO Black Hat. (Don’t worry, I’m not changing hats…)

I think it’s the goal of many a business owner to be less “hands on” and more “executive”. I think that no matter what your current situation, if that’s not one of your goals, it should be. Sure, doing the work yourself ensures that it gets done the way you want it to – but sometimes you need to let go and have faith in others to do their jobs the way you want them to. After all, if an employee anywhere doesn’t do their job, they get in trouble. They don’t do it enough and they get fired. So why would they want to be that way? It’s not feasible for every business to start off with a full staff. Freelancers are great for part-time or contractual work, and in this day and age it’s almost easier to outsource work than it is to manage a brick-and-mortar office with schedules and insurance and unemployment and all that mess. In terms of preparing your business to function without you (be it due to an illness, or maybe you’re in the military, or just that you feel like becoming more “executive” than “hands on”) I think Andy hit the nails right on their heads. These are some things I myself plan to work on.

• Create a will and a living will outlining my desires for the business.
• Put everything under an LLC/Corporation so I am only a stock holder and not an owner. Should I die, the only thing that must be willed to a family member is my stock. Domains, Adsense, etc do not have to be transfered to a new owner.
• Create a living document that is updated quarterly with all the companies assets like domains, hosting accounts, revenue accounts, both business and personal email accounts, etc (with logins for each) laid out in plain english. This document will remain in both the hands of my family lawyer and a safety deposit box.
• Create another document outlining the day to day operations of all websites and future plans. Describe how they operate, what systems they are built upon, and and detailed technical specifications whether obvious or not.
• Slowly wean myself off doing the day to day operations such as content creation, link building, user moderation, server maintenance, etc by hiring freelancers or in house employees if money permits. Start to work “on” my business and not “in” my business.

Like Jeremy, I feel that creating a document outlining day to day operations of all sites and future plans is one of the most vital items in this list. As well as a document that’s updated quarterly that lists all assets like domains, accounts, and access to everything laid out in plain English. I know that right now, there is no individual other than myself with information or access to any of this stuff, and honestly – these posts sort of scared me a little. I’ve not only invested my money and time into this business, but I haven’t laid out plans for the business to continue in my absence, so that my family or anyone who works for me could continue to grow and profit from it.

So I’ve decided – my plan for tomorrow is to get my business more on track with my becoming an owner and executive. I’m not planning on getting sick or having an untimely death – but my plans do include taking some nice, well deserved vacations and NOT bringing my laptop with me. I owe it to my clients to have them continue to get the service they rely on my company for when I’m not around, just as much as I owe it to myself to just relax a little more.