| LED Digest 2451: Business Strategy and Tactics |
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================================================== The LED Digest Moderated Discussion List "Effective Online Advertising, Since 1997" Data > Information > Knowledge > Wisdom www.GetWebContent.com/LED : the LED's Key Sponsor The Web's Most Experienced SEO Content Providers. www.SEOToolSet.com/training/ : the LED's Premier Sponsor Bruce Clay's Search Engine Optimization Training & Certification ================================================== List Moderator: Published by: Adam Audette LED Digest adam, led-digest.com http://www.led-digest.com .............................................. July 18, 2007 Issue no. 2451 .............................................. .....IN THIS DIGEST..... ===== NEW ====================== <Moderator Comment> ~ Strategy and Tactics --== ByteShark Object Search Engine ==-- ~ John Smart "His project is interesting..." ==== CONTINUING ================= --== The False Economy of Amateur Work ==-- ~ Maty Matyszak "Another of those topics which makes the LED so interesting." ~ Michael Linehan "...I vigorously advocate the idea of partnership." --== Facebook & LinkedIn? ==-- ~ Nathan Holley "And as much as I HATE the thought, this may be the start of a brand new Internet." --== Offline Action: Print Catalogs? ==-- ~ Kerry Branham "IMHO you are overanalyzing the marketing of your business." ======== NEW ====================================== <Moderator Comment> Seth Godin says that, "Nine times out of ten, regardless of the industry, strategy is a byproduct of a series of tactics." Lob Strauss, the gold rush and DRM http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2007/07/lb-strauss-the-.html Like Strauss selling jeans, lawyers are selling lawsuits to keep the retainer cycle going. Filling out forms and sending them off, a digital version of Strauss betting on pants instead of gold. It's an interesting analogy. But what about the theory? Do YOU have a strategy in business, or is it a consequence of your tactical approach? I think it's worth discussing. -Adam -------------------- From: John Smart Subject: Image search engines I got a UCE the other day, telling me that my site (InternetDesign.com) had been indexed by this new image search engine. Given the nature of that site, it was not something I wanted - anyone grabbing images from that site would only get them to use them without my consent - it will not bring any sales. Other sites I have are a different story, so I sent a mail (expecting some automated nonsense to come back). I got a human reply! From a nice guy! His project is interesting. It contains technologies that make my head spin! So I am sending this just to share - if you want your site indexed on an image search site, visit: www.byteshark.com Small now, but Google was small once! and if we are looking for incoming links, well - if his site gets indexed... John Smart InternetDesign.com A Human Touch in a Digital world. ======== CONTINUING =============================== From: Maty Matyszak Subject: False Economy > ... is it better to hire an expert when you can afford it -- > absolutely. But the issue is knowing enough to see > when the expert is selling used cars or really knows > their stuff... - Bruce Clay, LED Digest 2449 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1855/190/ Another of those topics which makes the LED so interesting. As I see it, there's three kinds of website. There's the ones that start with a budget of tens of thousands of pounds, with a complete marketing plan etc already in place, the ones that start with an internet connection and two spare hours in the evening, and the small business that feels it's 'got to be on the web'. Most of the 'two hour' sites start small, and the vast majority - justifiably - stay that way. Some of the big ones burn through their huge initial budget, and then become zombie sites, with owners unwilling to lose their initial investment, but unwilling to put more money on a horse that won't run. Some businesses are never going to get back more than a certain return, without re-creating themselves entirely, no matter what their website. (Joe's Hardware, Nowhereville; The ancient Bithynian Sword Handle exchange ..). Major investment in SEO would waste money in each of these cases. The fact is, some (most?) web sites aren't going to make it into the big time, no matter how great their SEO, design, or marketing, because the original premise for their existence is flawed. If I were to sink $20,000 of SEO into another 'great' social networking site, for example, I doubt it would fly. So my point is, if you go the DIY route, you lose nothing but your time. Pay the big bucks, and you had better be reasonably sure your site is worth it - to others. There's a third alternative, which we took. Do enough web work, take some courses, read a lot, experiment a lot, spend a few years lurking LED digest ;) and eventually you stop being a 'wannabee webmaster'. You can become one of those 'pros' - we started as a 2-hour operation. Our Lada is not a Lexus (yet) but its moving into the upper executive class, and we are not planning to stop working and learning till we have a Rolls Royce Corniche. Oh, and the hours we spent learning the trade? Yup, these now earn us a nice return as our company (we got big enough to incorporate along the way) now manages websites for others who don't have the time. Maty Matyszak knowyourcat.info -------- new post - same topic --------- From: Michael Linehan Subject: False Economy Some points on this topic... > Here's the thing. I'm betting no SEO/SEM can tell me who my > typical customer is or why they buy what they do. Anybody? - David Spahr, LED Digest 2450 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1856/190/ Absolutely right, David. Which is why I vigorously advocate the idea of "partnership". You have your specific knowledge of your products, who your clients are and what they want. An Internet marketing specialist has all kinds of general knowledge about how to express what you have most effectively, how to respond to clients' needs in the most powerful manner, and how to plan and implement the utilization of various marketing methods. Effectively joining your "specific" and the specialist's "general" is what creates the magic. > ... and I can't help but wonder what the difference > would be if I could have my site actually "finished" > -- put together by a professional. - Tom Anson Well, one client was on the point of folding the business after dribbling along for ages. A relatively small investment completely turned that around. She has since doubled her prices and even with that is booked six months ahead. Thing is, the site looked the same afterwards, and the technology was precisely the same. More design and more technology are not usually the answer. I would suggest the answer to such problems lies in three areas - truly strategic planning, crafting the site as a powerful marketing / sales tool, and effective promotion. > It's not all that smart to spend what you > don't have on spec. That's a gamble that > I don't care to make (again). Very wise and absolutely appropriate. Yes, there are huge numbers of unintentional and intentional shysters in every field of human endeavor - from plumbing to yoga to SEO. But sometimes, if one wants to produce change, one must take a risk. It's a matter of balancing risk and return - because absolutely nothing can be guaranteed, as such, to produce a return. Even if you got a prize of a free full- page ad in the New York times composed by a very high-end professional, we can't *guarantee* you'd get a single client. The thing to do is to choose as wisely as possible. Spend enough to get some result. When that is shown, invest some of the profit back into producing more profit. Once you are producing increased profit, reinvesting is a no-brainer. It's the first risky step that is the difficult one. In considering detailed points though, I'd like to reiterate perhaps the most fundamental question --- is a different result desired? If it is, something different must be done. Then the only question is to determine / decide what that "different" is going to be. Michael Linehan, Marketing Alchemy www.marketing-alchemy.com ============ Sponsor Message =========== Search-engine optimized content is not for everyone. People whose goal is to be a raging web failure don't need it. Everybody else does. To read how and why http://GetWebContent.com/LED does SEO copywriting better than anyone else, click http://GetWebContent.com/why-and-how-we-seo-your-copy.php. ============ Sponsor Message =========== -------- new post - new topic --------- From: Nathan Holley Subject: Facebook > Creating facebook and MySpace and Linkedin and other > such accounts - is this beneficial? Do we want to do this? - John Smart, LED Digest 2450 Love the tongue-in-cheek tone of this post, John. Reminds me of George Costanza saying, "Was that wrong? Should I not have done that?" to his boss when he's busted for frolicking with the cleaning lady on his desk after hours. Yes, we probably should. But will I? No never. I'm like an enigma online, I try to keep myself hidden. For others with marketing needs, social profiles are nearly essential I'd think. And as much as I HATE the thought, this may be the start of a brand new Internet. Already we have people talking about how messaging via Facebook and other platforms is replacing email (heard that theory today from a friend, who still finds email essential), how it's the new walled Internet, etc. I think it's going to change drastically, and this is an early sign that we're moving from a search dominated Internet to more of a social, vertical Internet. To whit: - Things are going more and more local, vertical, and away from global. Social networks reflect that. Maybe not truly local but definitely "niched" and tribal, geeks with geeks, biz with biz, whatever. - It's all about me. The blog epic, now social sites, are massively egotistic. - It's all about us. Like above, but the new reality TV show is... social sites. The Internet. There's a lot more to it, but I'm too lazy to write about it right now. I'm too busy being a hermit in my office, staring at the sea, and figuring out ways to profit from this fad / epic change. Not sure yet - but this is a start: NFO is the New SEO http://www.insidefacebook.com/2007/07/16/inside-facebook... By the way, my points above were stolen from this great post: 10 things we can learn from Facebook: http://susanmernit.blogspot.com/2007/07/fads-of-ther-moment... Susan's an old Netscape VP, and she knows her stuff. It may be an ugly blog, but the points are right on the mark! Off to the pub, Nathan Holley -------- new post - new topic -------- From: Kerry Branham Subject: Print catalogs > Just managing the catalog production and distribution > is hard enough. Adding a second pricing layer really > explodes the challenge. Rube Goldberg would love it. - Dirk Johnson, LED Digest 2450 - http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/1856/190/ Dirk, I've been following your thread, and find your comments quite interesting. That being said, IMHO you are overanalyzing the marketing of your business. I would highly recommend looking at what the big guys do to see their model. It's not always pricing that is a factor. For instance, I have been selling reproduction antler lighting products for nearly 10 years. I came across a manufacturer who was working to get small businesses to sell take on and sell their product. I liked what they had to offer, and began to offer their product line via my website. Sales were fair to middlin for a few years. One day I received a call from the manufacturing facility's owner telling me that the prices were going to increase. I inquired as to why, and he said that Cabela's (For those of you who don't know who that is, they're a sporting and home goods mail order giant that now has several large brick and mortar locations around the country) was going to take on the product line, but said the pricing structure was too low for the consumer. I thought that was strange, but had no choice if I wanted to continue to sell the products. I increased my prices, but opted to still sell the products for less than Cabela's and actually did enjoy increased sales for a few years. Now, Cabela's still has a much larger sales volume than me, and it's mainly because they send out two or three thick catalogs per year, as well as numerous smaller catalogs from time to time. Take a look, also at both Coldwater Creek and Victoria's Secret. Coldwater Creek is mailing out at least four different catalogs per month. Victoria's Secret mails out a different catalog just about every day! How do I know this? I work part-time as a mail carrier. I see first-hand what companies are sending out, and how often. My point is that direct marketing must work or these companies would not be spending the huge amounts of money they are on these efforts. I don't think the pricing structure is as much of a factor as just getting the name and product line in front of current and potential customers. Why does Coke or Pepsi need to advertise? To keep the name in front of people. What's the downside? Direct marketing has quite a large cost associated with it. However, with the right business plan you can raise the money needed to build the business that way. I guess I need to get on the bandwagon and follow my own advice! Regards, Kerry Branham K-S Marketing/Rustic Creations www.everythingrustic.com ------------------------------------------------------- The LED Digest is sponsored by: GetWebContent.com The Web's Most Experienced SEO Content Providers. Free no-obligation proposal: http://GetWebContent.com/LED SEOToolSet.com Bruce Clay's Search Engine Optimization Training & Certification Join the certified SEO directory: www.SEOToolSet.com/training/ The Archives: http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/126/189/ Subscribe: http://www.led-digest.com/content/view/52/187/ Unsubscribe, Change Email, or Hold / Resume Delivery: http://www.led-digest.com/content/category/4/17/201/ (c) Copyright 1995-2007 Orange Wheel, LLC. All Rights Reserved. ----------------------------------------------------------------- "Nurture your mind with great thoughts." - Benjamin Disraeli |
