Weird topic, coming from a web development firm, right? It's definitely a little off the wall, but I think it's helpful for people to read about. In talking with prospective clients about starting a new project, I hear the same fears expressed over and over. It's somewhat of a hindrance in gaining people's trust because of their past experiences.
Here's our top 7 reasons why people don't like web developers:
1. My web developer doesn't listen to me.
Having trouble getting your web designer to give you what you want? You're not alone. Many times a web designer or any kind of graphic designer will have a pre-conceived idea in his head about what he thinks your project should look like. Or maybe he just didn't really pay much attention when you told him what you needed. The design he created may look great...but it's not what you were looking for.
We try really hard at Fresh Look to make sure you get what you want. We'll certainly give our opinion...but the end result has to be something that you're 100% happy about.
2. My web developer is impossible to get in touch with.
So you are planning a big event in 2 weeks, and you need to have an announcement posted to your website. Problem is, your web developer isn't answering his phone or emails. Having a hard-to-reach developer is a terrible problem. You need updates, and you need them timely.
When trying to decide on someone to handle your website, make sure there is something in your contract about how long it takes to have updates made. 2-3 days is a good range usually, and same day updates are always very nice.
3. My web developer is really far away.
It's pretty common to have a web development firm in another state or even country do your website. The nature of the business doesn't necessarily require a face-to-face meeting. However it's also sometimes nice to be somewhat close to your developer, even if it's just a couple hours away. This isn't a huge issue for most people, but going back to #2, it makes it harder to get in touch with them sometimes when they're far away.
4. My web developer speaks "techie" at me.
This is something that we try REALLY hard not to do, but sometimes even the most customer friendly web developer can get lost in techie-jargon. Don't get too mad at us...we stare at code all day long.
At Fresh Look we are experts in business and marketing, not just pure website building. We understand where you're coming from, and most importantly we know web users and what appeals to them.
5. My web developer disappeared
This is a major problem, and unfortunately fairly common. There are a lot of "here today, gone tomorrow" web developers out there, especially in the freelance world. It's a bad situation to be in, as often times they have usernames and passwords that you need to take care of your website.
Our advice - make sure that you keep track of your own usernames and passwords, even if you don't think there's a threat of your developer disappearing. Another good idea is to ask for a copy of your website on a CD for backup purposes.
6. My web developer is too expensive
This is all relative of course...but a lot of people do not realize what a fair price for web development is. Obviously there are different definitions about what "fair" is depending on who you talk to, but some prices really are outrageous. Maybe because it's a relatively new industry (the internet as we know it is only about 20 years old), or maybe because it's just too much of a hassle to look for a cheaper, reliable web developer...who knows - but lots of people overpay.
7. I didn't get what I wanted
This is not always the fault of the web designer...sometimes it's just a lack of understanding on the part of the client. However, it's important that the developer clearly communicate to the client exactly what it is that they'll be getting as a final product. Obviously they won't know exactly what it will look like before the project starts, but they should clearly understand how it will work, how they will maintain it, etc.
Our hope is that you won't be able to relate to this topic at all, because you've only had fantastic experiences with your web designer. But either way, hopefully you'll be able to avoid any unfortunate run-ins in the future and who knows...maybe next month we'll have a new article "7 Reasons Why People Love Their Web Developer".
Monday, April 26, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
A Fresh Look at Facebook Ads
Recently we got a chance to talk with Jack Lowe, President of EcoEternity Forest. EcoEternity utilizes Facebook ads as a part of their marketing strategy and drawing traffic to their website. Below are some questions and answers that were shared that Fresh Look thinks our clients may benefit from.
1. Mr. Lowe, can you briefly describe your company and the services you provide?
EcoEternity Forest LLC runs a chain of four green cemeteries in North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania for cremated ashes only. People lease a place at a tree where their ashes or the ashes of a loved one can be interred at the roots of a tree in a biodegradable urn. Over a period of three years the urn degrades and the roots of the mature tree take up the nutrients from the ashes creating a living memorial.
2. What role does Facebook ads play in your marketing/advertising strategy?
For those 50 and older, Facebook is the medium we use to encourage potential customers to visit our web site.
3. Why are they so effective?
If you craft your ad correctly, you get interested parties to self select themselves as interested potential customers. Then you only pay for those who are interested in your product or service.
4. How difficult is it to set up a Facebook ad?
Very Easy! But to make it more and more effective, you will go through a number of iterations as you see how potential customers respond to different ways of crafting your ad. Then you have to think about where geographically you want to advertise. To what demographic you want to advertise. It helps to have someone assist you in the marketing decision process.
5. Is it expensive to run a Facebook ad campaign?
Expensive is a relative term. It does allow you to tightly control your advertising budget. It has been for us exceptional value for money.
6. Do I have to have a marketing director or substantial marketing budget to effectively use Facebook ads?
No, but a marketing director might help. Marketing on Facebook is high psychology. You cannot just throw up an ad and expect it to be effective. You have to keep trying new things to see how effective different aspects of an ad are. It is also high systems analysis. You think about your targeted audience and you try something that you think will appeal. Then you measure the effectiveness or lack of effectiveness of your modification. Then try another improvement and measure again. This is where a marketing director or some marketing consulting might assist.
7. Any last comments or encouragements to our readers?
Facebook is very effective narrow casting (targeted marketing). Facebook ads are great value for money. You pay only for the hits you get. But you still have to make the ads effective. Facebook is a medium for advertising not an end in itself.
1. Mr. Lowe, can you briefly describe your company and the services you provide?
EcoEternity Forest LLC runs a chain of four green cemeteries in North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennsylvania for cremated ashes only. People lease a place at a tree where their ashes or the ashes of a loved one can be interred at the roots of a tree in a biodegradable urn. Over a period of three years the urn degrades and the roots of the mature tree take up the nutrients from the ashes creating a living memorial.
2. What role does Facebook ads play in your marketing/advertising strategy?
For those 50 and older, Facebook is the medium we use to encourage potential customers to visit our web site.
3. Why are they so effective?
If you craft your ad correctly, you get interested parties to self select themselves as interested potential customers. Then you only pay for those who are interested in your product or service.
4. How difficult is it to set up a Facebook ad?
Very Easy! But to make it more and more effective, you will go through a number of iterations as you see how potential customers respond to different ways of crafting your ad. Then you have to think about where geographically you want to advertise. To what demographic you want to advertise. It helps to have someone assist you in the marketing decision process.
5. Is it expensive to run a Facebook ad campaign?
Expensive is a relative term. It does allow you to tightly control your advertising budget. It has been for us exceptional value for money.
6. Do I have to have a marketing director or substantial marketing budget to effectively use Facebook ads?
No, but a marketing director might help. Marketing on Facebook is high psychology. You cannot just throw up an ad and expect it to be effective. You have to keep trying new things to see how effective different aspects of an ad are. It is also high systems analysis. You think about your targeted audience and you try something that you think will appeal. Then you measure the effectiveness or lack of effectiveness of your modification. Then try another improvement and measure again. This is where a marketing director or some marketing consulting might assist.
7. Any last comments or encouragements to our readers?
Facebook is very effective narrow casting (targeted marketing). Facebook ads are great value for money. You pay only for the hits you get. But you still have to make the ads effective. Facebook is a medium for advertising not an end in itself.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
8 Reasons to Create an e-Newsletter with Constant Contact
Want to incorporate a very inexpensive tool into the arsenal of your internet marketing budget? Having an e-Newsletter is an excellent way to market your business. There are a lot of programs you can use, but in this post we're going to talk about Constant Contact.
Here are some great reasons why you should consider Constant Contact for your email newsletter.
1. You can try it free for 60 days
This is obviously one great reason, and if you're even remotely considering using an email newsletter, this should be enough to convince you to try it out. 60 days gives you enough time to get the feel for the program and see if you like it.
2. It brings more traffic to your website
Trying to promote a new product or service on your website? An email newsletter is a great way to advertise it. In our newsletter we like to link users to our business workshops and articles pages to keep them informed on what's new. It can also be a good reminder to your customers about your services. It's possible that someone was planning on visiting your website to find information on purchasing something or hiring you for more work, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. A friendly little newsletter with great information and links to your website will just give them a very subtle reminder that you're still there.
2. Easy to use templates
Whether you're an HTML wizard or new to the whole computer thing, it's easy to create a nice looking email in Constant Contact. You can also add pictures and links very easily. It takes an hour or two to get your email campaign set up initially, but once you have everything in place it only takes a few minutes to send out the next batch of emails.
3. Good technical support
We found that the technical support from Constant Contact was very good. This is probably the biggest benefit of using Constant Contact over other service providers. We also received a friendly sales call after we signed up to see if we had any questions.
4. Statistics
This is my favorite reason. It's fun to see when people open your newsletter, and what links they click on. Gives you a really good indication of what works and what doesn't. You can also see what emails bounced back, got spammed, forwarded, and who opted-out.
5. It saves lots of time
How does it save time you ask? By managing your contact list for you. Just add the new emails to the database and Constant Contact will take care of the rest. When you want to send out a newsletter, it will sent it to everyone in your list. It even personalizes it by putting the recipients name at the top of the email, which also helps keep the email from being sent to spam.
6. Users can easily opt in and out
It's important to have good email newsletter etiquette. If someone decides they don't want your emails anymore, they should easily be able to opt out. Constant Contact adds a link at the bottom of every email to easily do just that.
It's also just as easy to opt in. You are provided with a piece of code that you can put on your blog or website so that people can easily sign up to receive your newsletter. Speaking of which...if you want to receive our email newsletter you can do so on our sign up page.
7. Emails won't get sent to spam as much
If you sent out mass emails through a regular email account like Gmail or Yahoo!, it's more likely to get sent to the spam folder. Long story short - with a program like Constant Contact it's much less likely to happen. Plus if it does happen on the rare occasion, you will know it and you can ask whoever didn't get your email to add your email address to their recipients list.
8. It's not expensive
After the 60 days you have to pay, sadly. But it's $15 a month to start out with, which is a pretty low price considering how helpful it can be in drawing traffic to your website.
We highly recommend sending email newsletters to clients, and Constant Contact is a good way to do it. Also as a side note, there are plenty of really good other programs out there to choose from. Here is a very helpful blog post that compares some of the more popular ones, including MailChimp which is free if you have a small contact list (less than 500).
Here are some great reasons why you should consider Constant Contact for your email newsletter.
1. You can try it free for 60 days
This is obviously one great reason, and if you're even remotely considering using an email newsletter, this should be enough to convince you to try it out. 60 days gives you enough time to get the feel for the program and see if you like it.
2. It brings more traffic to your website
Trying to promote a new product or service on your website? An email newsletter is a great way to advertise it. In our newsletter we like to link users to our business workshops and articles pages to keep them informed on what's new. It can also be a good reminder to your customers about your services. It's possible that someone was planning on visiting your website to find information on purchasing something or hiring you for more work, but just haven't gotten around to it yet. A friendly little newsletter with great information and links to your website will just give them a very subtle reminder that you're still there.
2. Easy to use templates
Whether you're an HTML wizard or new to the whole computer thing, it's easy to create a nice looking email in Constant Contact. You can also add pictures and links very easily. It takes an hour or two to get your email campaign set up initially, but once you have everything in place it only takes a few minutes to send out the next batch of emails.
3. Good technical support
We found that the technical support from Constant Contact was very good. This is probably the biggest benefit of using Constant Contact over other service providers. We also received a friendly sales call after we signed up to see if we had any questions.
4. Statistics
This is my favorite reason. It's fun to see when people open your newsletter, and what links they click on. Gives you a really good indication of what works and what doesn't. You can also see what emails bounced back, got spammed, forwarded, and who opted-out.
5. It saves lots of time
How does it save time you ask? By managing your contact list for you. Just add the new emails to the database and Constant Contact will take care of the rest. When you want to send out a newsletter, it will sent it to everyone in your list. It even personalizes it by putting the recipients name at the top of the email, which also helps keep the email from being sent to spam.
6. Users can easily opt in and out
It's important to have good email newsletter etiquette. If someone decides they don't want your emails anymore, they should easily be able to opt out. Constant Contact adds a link at the bottom of every email to easily do just that.
It's also just as easy to opt in. You are provided with a piece of code that you can put on your blog or website so that people can easily sign up to receive your newsletter. Speaking of which...if you want to receive our email newsletter you can do so on our sign up page.
7. Emails won't get sent to spam as much
If you sent out mass emails through a regular email account like Gmail or Yahoo!, it's more likely to get sent to the spam folder. Long story short - with a program like Constant Contact it's much less likely to happen. Plus if it does happen on the rare occasion, you will know it and you can ask whoever didn't get your email to add your email address to their recipients list.
8. It's not expensive
After the 60 days you have to pay, sadly. But it's $15 a month to start out with, which is a pretty low price considering how helpful it can be in drawing traffic to your website.
We highly recommend sending email newsletters to clients, and Constant Contact is a good way to do it. Also as a side note, there are plenty of really good other programs out there to choose from. Here is a very helpful blog post that compares some of the more popular ones, including MailChimp which is free if you have a small contact list (less than 500).
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