General Internet Marketing

Like Excel: Try Numbers Instead

Friday, March 19th, 2010

A little over a year ago I made the move from PC to Mac, not at home, but in the office. I had used Mac for about two years with my family prior to this switch and I slowly grew to love the ease of the Mac operating system. We could build simple Web sites, modify photo’s, video chat with family, and a myriad of other non-work things.

But Macs couldn’t work in the office, right? I believed I couldn’t be fully functional in my day job because I’m an accountant and accountants use Microsoft Excel for everything. Excel has been my program to do everything; a staple of my daily work life. However, early last year I got a MacBook as my main office computer, purchased Excel for Mac, and slowly Mac began to make my work life much better.

Life was good because I had the operating system I liked and the usefulness of Excel for Mac. Yet it just didn’t seem right. Let’s be honest, the Mac version of Excel isn’t the same and it takes a little getting used to. Like Tiger Woods on his wedding night, my eyes began to wander. I wasn’t happy and was ready for a breakup.

The challenge was finding the next spreadsheet solution. Everyone uses Excel because it’s assumed to be the best but, thankfully there’s something better: Numbers. I can’t believe I even said that out loud, I’m sure every accountant just felt a needle poke them in the back. But it’s true, Numbers is a better program.

What’s great about Numbers is the simplistic way to integrate tables, graphs, and text. Unlike the Excel method of one sheet with thousands of cells, Numbers lets the user start with a blank document with one table. The table can be manipulated to the exact need, yet the document stays clean. Then, if you want a graph below or beside the table, just add it and the same is true with a text box. It’s like working with a hybrid of PowerPoint and Excel.

It’s just too easy to use. So, I’m an accountant that likes Numbers. Have you used Numbers before?

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Hours vs. Results

Friday, September 18th, 2009

Recently an Internet marketing client, here in Central New York, asked us for a report of hours we’ve worked on a contract. We are providing them with search engine optimization and pay-per-click management. It’s a common request and one I’ll dutifully respond using our project management system.

However, what value does reporting hours really provide? Is the client working with us to work hours or are they looking to improve their Internet presence and increase their return on investment? What’s more important, fantastic analytic data and increased sales or validation that your vendor worked X number of hours? I believe it’s somewhere in the middle.

First, there is no reason to hire an Internet marketing firm if they don’t help you increase your bottom line. A good Internet marketing should both fill your sales pipeline and, depending on your business, close some deals too. The best reason to move your money from traditional marketing and advertising to Internet marketing is the specific measurable results that web analytics provides.

Alternatively, an Internet marketing is really providing experienced, highly skilled labor. A few months ago I wrote the skills an Internet marketing person needs to be successful. The truth is that sometimes the data doesn’t look good and a client will want to know why. The first place to look is the Internet marketing firm and see if they really did any work. Ask them. Hours worked is fine but do they have a plan, are they meeting deadlines, and what projects do they have lined up?

Measure what you want but I recommend you first look at the data. If you’re not satisfied then go back and look at the work performed. What else do you think should be measured?

Tags: data, General Internet Marketing, hours, measure, results
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Should an Internet Marketing Company Standardize?

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

Standardization can be a way for an Internet marketing company to offer the same quality of service to every client regardless of contract size or employee providing the effort. On the other hand, standardization is difficult to implement and maintain. Furthermore, it is potentially foolish to try to use the same Internet marketing strategy for a denture cleaner retailer versus a government biomedical testing agency.

Quality is critical but how do you ensure the highest level of service is offered?

Take this example; at Site-Seeker believe we should run three ad copies for each ad group in a Google AdWords program and incrementally replace poor performing ads. We operate this way because it’s what we’ve always done. Yet we don’t have a written policy or a procedure to validate that we’ve implemented this across the board. Furthermore, we don’t have an agreed upon standard of what is poor performing ad nor do we have a timeline in which to measure.

Many of our manufacturing clients are ISO 9000 certified. This sends strong market signals to their customers about a certain level of quality. But we all understand the difference between the manufacturing 1 billion precision ball bearings at Six Sigma accuracy versus a uniquely customized marketing solution for each client.

Six Sigma, Total Quality Management, and ISO 9000 are all great tools for management to validate quality but are the necessary in the fast changing world of Internet marketing? Furthermore, it may be too time consuming to measure every data point and prepare a report; time is money. Maybe there is a better way for.

Instead of pursing standardization you might be better off seeking shared information.

First, each Internet marketing strategy is based upon the individual client needs, relationship, and resources available. Most clients expect a level of effort not a canned answer to a specific problem. Subsequently, you might want to look at each situation individually with an unique solution.

Once that solution is implemented you should probably document your lessons learned. What techniques worked? Which strategies failed? Was this a situation where on page content needed to be shortened? Why? There are probably a thousand other questions that could be asked. Recording those thoughts is important.

Next, you probably need to validate that your idea was the right one. You might have seen good data from what you accomplished but how do you know if was the best solution? One way is to ask your fellow employees or research one of the thousands of Internet marketing blogs. Maybe you can read a book or listen to a podcast. Either way, validation will help solidify if your ideas were right.

Finally, it’s very important that you tell someone about what you’ve learned. Take advantage of your company’s systems, training sessions and internal meetings to tell your findings. In addition to telling you can also listen and learn from your fellow team members. If you don’t get your message out to the masses then someone else may miss an opportunity to provide the latest trick of the trade.

How do you think you can best maximize your quality while offering customization to every single client?

Tags: General Internet Marketing, quality, standarization
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