For Your Own Safety

onI just found a new toy - Google Website Optimiser

CS Thompson — 2008-07-26T00:57:43Z

I just stumbled across a new tool from Google - Google Website Optimiser. Released publicly on April 4, 2007, I feel like I've been living under a rock or something not to have heard about this. I'm not yet sure on it's full features, but as I've explored it, it allows you to create split A/B and multivariate testing of your website content. The point? Testing to see which pages, and which content is going to deliver you the best conversion and ROI.

According to the Google press release:

"As part of our continued commitment to help advertisers make smart business decisions, we are happy to announce that the Google Website Optimizer™ application is now available to AdWords advertisers worldwide. Google Website Optimizer is designed to help website owners increase conversions such as sales, sign-ups or downloads. This multivariate landing page optimization tool enables marketers to test different ideas for web page content such as different headlines, promotional copy, or images. The application provides easy-to-read reports that enable advertisers to see which variation resonated best with their site visitor. It is a self-service application that enables website owners to set-up and run multivariate landing page experiments."

Press release dated 4th April 2007

If a website has any sort of website statistics installed on it, this sort of activity is nothing new, a day to day part of online marketing, conversion and optimisation. It will be interesting to see if Google has broken this down for those of a less geeky vein, and what it offers that Analytics doesn't.

Either way, for anyone serious about success on the web, when Google talks, listen!

I'll keep you posted on my experiments...

Purple Cows and Permission - The only 'P's that matter in marketing

CS Thompson — 2008-07-26T00:48:30Z

I've been revisiting Seth Godin's "Purple Cow" lately and its a must read for anyone in any aspect of business. In summay it says this:

Much of traditional marketing doesn't work anymore
It doesn't work because people are bombarded with marketing messages and its too hard to cut through the haze
It doesn't work because it is not targeted, and is wasted on the wrong people - the early and late majority
Its easier to sell to people who have already bought from you
Marketing should not be an add on - it should be built into the product concept and design
The Purple Cow, is a remarkable product, one that stands out from the from the bland majority.
Marketing efforts should be concentrated on innovators and early adopters - they are the ones who are willing to try new things and will spread the ideavirus.

There's a lot of the 80/20 rule thing here. This needs to be applied to marketing efforts - focussing on what is most important and yielding results, and not just on things that are done for the sake of being done.

Its difficult to summarise Godin, as his writing is so succint as it is. If you haven't got this book get it, today. Its about $25 in paperback and you get a bonus book with it. Seriously, you need this book!

More thoughts on this to come...

There’s no time to make it perfect, just do it! - Episode 3 of For Your Own Safety

CS Thompson — 2008-06-27T09:24:01Z

In this episode I focus on the opportunities that may be lost by not getting involved in social media, or taking to long tweaking sites or applications or anything that you can think of.

Standing still and not getting involved is actually the most dangerous thing that you can do, because you'll be left behind

The four safety tips for this episode:

Do something - there's no time to wait until it's perfect.
Test, test and retest.
Be honest about mistakes.
Don't be too 'precious' about your projects.

Lessons from Google - Part 2

CS Thompson — 2008-06-06T23:54:40Z

Continuing on with things I got out of the Google story...

Do something no one else is doing. This is normal choosing your niche stuff. Google went into search at a time when other companies didn't see any market. They were focused on producing portals that attempted to be everyone's gateway to everything on the net i.e. Yahoo! and MSN. This leads to the next point...
Be really good at something, then you can be good at everything. When they started out, the Google guys focused just on being the best at producing relevant search results to searchers. That was it. They went against the trend of producing portals. Now, they seem to have their mark on everything on the web; news, video, open source programming, health research venturing into offline business ventures too. Once one can conquer one field, it seems it is possible to move on to new territories.

More to come...

Lessons from Google - part 1

CS Thompson — 2008-06-02T08:23:48Z

I've just finished reading The Google Story. It was a really inspiring read so I thought I would share some of the insights I gained from it.

Don't spend more than what you have to on what doesn't matter, but spend everything you can on what does. In several instances, the company could have spent loads of money doing things just like other companies and spending money on things they thought they needed to. Instead, they saved money on things they could do cheaply themselves, and invested as much as they could in the things that made their service unique. Without this, they couldn't have acheived the rapid and massive growth that they have.
Go viral with a really remarkable product. I don't know whether the founders of Google ever read anything by Seth Godin, but they certainly practiced his ideas. They created a truly remarkable product, and spent virtually nothing on marketing and advertising. They gained new customers just from the referrals of satisfied users.

the story continues...

My Apologies

CS Thompson — 2008-05-21T22:35:03Z

For anyone who viewed my blog over the past week, my apologies. In attempting to add google analytics and webmaster tools to my site I stuffed up the design of the site.

By the way, the stats that Google Analytics deliver are awesome!

Launch of the 2008 Online Effectiveness Survey

CS Thompson — 2008-05-14T00:05:59Z

Today I launched a new initiative for our business, and we're calling it the 2008 online effectiveness survey.

So, what does that mean?

Well, we're asking business what activities they are engaging in online, and what is working for them. Its a very brief survey, more of a poll, but we're hoping to get some general trends and correlations out of the data. From this, we're going to produce a report for participants about some current "best practices".

In addition to this, we're offering a free website evaluation for anyone who wants it, with takeaway search engine optimisation tips.

Further, we're going to give away a $2000 strategic marketing planningconsultation to one business that takes part in the survey.

Any excuses?

Marketing outside and inside the fishbowl - Episode 2 of For Your Own Safety

CS Thompson — 2008-05-12T20:46:16Z

In this episode I chat about the the social media marketing fishbowl, connecting inside and out of it.

This is episode 2 of the podcast For Your Own Safety - the 4 minute online marketing podcast with real life examples of WHAT NOT TO DO and 4 safety tips.

My 4 Safety tips for this episode were

Stay in the real world,
Don't make a meatball sundae out of it,
Earn your way into the conversation,
Know your audience and the space you're in.

My thanks to CC Chapman, Mitch Joel, Joseph Jaffeand Seth Godinfor inspiration and ideas.

The Death of Traditional Advertising

CS Thompson — 2008-04-29T15:42:26Z

Cam Beck, over at Marketing Profs, recently wrote an insightful post called "The Publisher's Paradox: Why Traditional Advertising Models Are Dead"

The traditional publishing model for newspapers, magazines, etc has been to create great content, and sell advertising space on it. The author recounts how the digital scene has turned this model on its head.

Consumers now expect to get access to great content, not pay for it, and not be interrupted by advertising while consuming it. This is leading towards the decline of some traditional media giants, and the way advertising has been done.

Some marketers and advertisers have countered this trend by just getting bigger, louder and more in your face. This reaction is not the way forward however.

The author leaves the way forward open for discussion, offering only two things to survive in the new scene "content and the slow art of customer seduction". At first I found this offensive, but taken in context, it means that people don't buy you on the first look, {for the most part}. You don't enter a long term relationship without knowing something about someone.

Personally, seduction has all kinds of negative connotations for me, involving sleaziness and persuasion. But the point is simple. The way forward in marketing, advertising and selling, is to provide valuable information, and to build a relationship over time. We are going to have to become more creative about the messages we send, and the way we introduce them. It certainly is not going to be interruptive marketing though.

Viral marketing by a genuis

CS Thompson — 2008-04-25T18:04:20Z

Seth Godin has to be one of the most forward thinking marketers around, what ever he writes is worth reading. He has authored books such as The Purple Cow, Permission Marketing and more lately, Meatball Sundae. You can get one of his books FREE, in ebook format. To download his manifesto on viral marketing and idea viruses click the link. This has been out there a while but I only came across it recently and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Respect your list of lose it! - Episode 1 of For Your Own Safety

CS Thompson — 2008-04-21T00:28:06Z

This is the very first episode of the podcast For Your Own Safety - the 4 minute online marketing podcast with real life examples of WHAT NOT TO DO and 4 safety tips.

In this episode I chat about the dangers of email marketing and looking after your list. You can play or subscribe from here or in itunes.

... or just be human

CS Thompson — 2008-04-15T23:19:47Z

"... or just be human." This was the closing comment of a recent post of Seth Godin's, after riffing about an impersonal note he received from a mail merge from a large corporation.

It got me thinking about how screwed up the whole marketing thing can be. Obviously, he meant, just be a GOOD human, because it would be so very human to do the normal marketing thing, and push our agenda, expound our features and benefits.

Really great marketing should remove our agenda. It really should be personal, not just "personalised". We should keep in mind that being a human at its best, is when we show more concern for others than for what we are selling. That they are a human with feeling, fears, loves, hates, concerns, needs. Our product or service is most probably not at the top of the agenda...

I believe that the really great marketing of the future is not just going to get better at putting ourselves at the top of peoples agenda, at interrupting, at reminding. The really great stuff is going to be when we show interest and concern in what others are interested in and concerned about.

Maybe then we get the right to talk, as one human to another.

Do everything with design in mind

CS Thompson — 2008-04-06T00:38:53Z

Do everything with design in mind. That design should be to communicate in the easiest and most concise manner to your audience, to make it as easy for them to understand, talk and buy from you. To get them to do the one thing that is most important, be that to sign up, or buy, or give you permission to contact them.

I was at an internet marketing seminar today which was jam packed full of general information I already knew :p We had the opportunity to hear from a very successful Australian marketer. The information provided was great, but I had heard it all before.

What really stuck for me though, was making the process as simple as possible for your clients and customers.
Don't make them jump through hoops to register with you or buy from you. If they're on your site, or reading your email or ad, then they have an interest in what you have to offer. So make it easy, idiot proof, so simple that a kid could process the order.

If you're going to set up a website, decide in advance exactly what it's purpose should be. Each and every page should have a purpose, a design, an intended goal...

and I'll tell you that for free

Marketing Outside of the fishbowl

CS Thompson — 2008-04-06T15:44:00Z

CC Chapman has this really great description about social media and the people who play in it - his calls it the fishbowl. Its like those who know and use social media tools are connecting with other like minded people in the same space. But its actually a closed off environment. This is especially true of virtual worlds like second life, but goes for anything. Those who know about use it, those who don't use it, don't know what they don't know!

Now apply this to marketing. My problem is, that my ideal client is highly unlikely to be listening to a podcast or reading my blog, or connecting with me on facebook. They probably dont even know what those things are at this point. Yet these are the people I want to work with, people who I can help to educate and navigate the new media space.

So, I have all these really great tools in my kit for connecting and communicating with people, however the poeple I want to talk to are not online, not LinkedIn, they probably think squidoo is a kids toy. Do I have to use non new media technologies to market to these people about why they should be using online tools and new media...maybe?

What happens if they then ask me, well why are you using old media tech if you're promoting new media know how. Awkward, Any ideas?

"The thing about free"

CS Thompson — 2008-03-23T23:24:14Z

Seth Godin did an interesting post (nothing 'remarkable' about that, Seth, you should do something on the problem of becoming so regularly remarkable that you aren't remarkable anymore, if such a state is possible) called "the thing about free". It discusses the value of using 'free' in marketing. A summary could be that giving something away for free will win you the attention of your audience briefly, but that we value those things that we pay for, even though the fee may be nominal.

This is extremely relevant to the field of online marketing as almost every decent website you see is offering something for free, whether its information on a blog (such as this one), or free newsletters, free evaluations, reports, the list goes on. This is a standard tactic, one which I use myself and encourage clients to utilise.

I've often heard people from various walks of life discuss the value of free things. The conclusion usually ends up placing the same value on that which is not paid for, as advice unasked for. It is about respect, if something costs you nothing, then you most probably won't value it, "easy come, easy go" style. The difficulty that I find in the current marketplace is that everyone else is giving something away for free, and clients and customers expect it.

This is certainly not some kind of absolute truth, but marketers and sales people always need to take care in their generosity. I like to be generous, and give of myself and my time, but I know that I need to keep in mind that if there isn't some kind of cost to my time, advice or services, then they are probably going to be wasted on the recipient anyway, because they will not value it enough to take action on it.

Brand ownership, domain ownership

CS Thompson — 2008-03-14T22:02:39Z

How much is Melbourne worth? Someone in America thinks its worth about $200,000, melbourne.com that is, reports the smh.com.au technology section recently, in an article about the loosening of rules surrounding the ownership and trading of .au domain names.

Domain name ownership is a basic insurance level of retaining control of your brand online. Why bother buy mybusiness.net.au when you already have mybusiness.com.au? Although extension like .net are less used by searchers and consumers, registering these domains is a great way to protect your corporate identity online.

Emarketing Mistakes

CS Thompson — 2008-03-14T21:55:16Z

Emarketing can be such a powerful tool but so easily abused. The gains you receive may quickly be reverse by its overuse or misuse.

Last week my wife receive a message from her tertiary institution informing her (and every single other student) about how they were going to pass on her email address to a third party company so that they could send marketing information.

The email introduced the company and highlighted some products and benefits, which were in themselves valid. However, people had to opt out rather than opt in to receive this communication.

Personally, I think that on an ethical level, this is dubious. The school obviously stands to profit by selling their list to the third party. But the point is that people had to opt out, and it gave them 2 days to do so, some people would not have even got the message by the time their details had been sold onwards.

When people give you their contact information, they are placing trust into your hands. Don't abuse it by handing it on to someone else for a quick buck.

The problem is, that the list becomes one of such a lower quality. People who receive this message that has been passed on without consent will have a lower propensity to purchase the products of that company than they otherwise would have. They may infact even be annoyed to receive these messages.

What they could have done was to write a message saying "this organisation supports the school, they have some great products and a special offer for people who respond to this message, you can opt in to receive useful updates on ... topics and frequent special offers." The people who were already predisposed to purchase those products would have loved it. The other would have ignored it, but not been annoyed when they encountered this brand in the future.

So, engage in emarketing with caution, and what ever you do, make sure you send useful information that the people you are communicating to are interested in.

Our firm has a specific solution that is integrated with your website and client database. Click here for more information

Brand New Site for TMC

CS Thompson — 2008-03-14T21:51:52Z

This week our brand new company site went live. We are offering great website design, flexible content management and ecommerce options, graphic design and marketing services. We operate out of Chifley Tower, right in the centre of the Sydney cbd. Focussed online communications is what we provide to clients, assisting them to navigate the myriad of possibilities in internet marketing to produce real and effective results. We have free articles providing useful information on improving your the effectiveness of your online marketing efforts, available only to our members. Plus, by joining our site you will receive our monthly newsletter and access to discounts on marketing services. So check it out at http://www.thompsonmarketing.com.au/

A new record - our changing world

CS Thompson — 2008-03-14T21:50:35Z

A new record was set in Australia with an artist single topping the charts just on digital downloads. Rihanna has taken the number one spot with Don't stop the music before a single physical disc has been sold. News.com.au reports that some music stores have stopped stocking physical singles altogether. This is the trend, you can download movies and tv programs straight to your media player, chooses the content you want, no ad breaks to sit through. What does this mean for your business? Consumers are searching for products and services online, and more and more they are purchasing there. The current era has been called the information age, but consumers are no longer just using the internet to find information about products, services or companies, but to purchase. They expect choice, they expect to be able to get it now. Is your business placed to take advantage of this trend. I hope so!

Simple website management

CS Thompson — 2008-03-14T21:48:18Z

I love using the content management system (CMS) of my website. If you are creating your web pages, page by page, then you are still living in a technological dark age. Within hours I have created more than 10 categories, 30 pages, uploaded pictures and articles. Its simple, its awesome. Go to www.websitegurus.com.au/ to find out more or check out our offers at http://www.thompsonmarketing.com.au/