Take two entrepreneurs.

One is a middling success. Doing OK, not great. Keeps things safe as a priority. Growth in single digits, has been that way for a while.

The second entrepreneur has made and lost millions.

Which of these business people do you most relate to? Continue reading Are You Willing to Bet on Yourself?

Tags: advertising, education, finance
Posted in Business

With companies of all sizes cramming into the blogoshpher bubble like circus clowns in a VW bug, the results are just about as frightening — although, nothing is a freaky as a clown, let alone tons of clowns. (Shudder.)

Kidding aside, the threat these poor excuses for blogs pose to the more serious in the sector is real. It seems that so many late-to-the-game corporate blogs just want to look like they have content, so they flood their feed with PR and poorly constructed ad copy.

By clogging the search engines with 1,000’s of stripped-down press releases, these PR-churns mess with their own ability to succeed (assuming they offer content on anything other than clowns). That’s right, filling the void with noise ends up drowning everything out.

So how can the corporate machine wise-up and kick the lackluster habits?

With content, of course!

The minds over at Buildify came up with a couple of suggestions for getting rid of ad copy and fake bloggers, and I couldn’t agree more. Cut the posers out and add a little meat to the flimsy ad copy.

But is hiding the ads behind information going to clean up the mess on the search engines, or just confuse everyone more? My vote, as it is with most things having to do with social choices, is that the masses will still miss the point and the companies will keep churning out the posts, but now with more fat.

Continue reading Don’t tow the line: Simple ways to clean up that company blog

Tags: company blog, corporate blogging
Posted in Blogging, Business

There is not day that goes by without hearing someone talk about their business value proposition or branding statements. I am not sure if it is only me, but all I hear when someone starts doing that, is the same empty statements that do not mean a whole lot.

The same thing happens when I go to conferences. Actually, it is usually worse there. People introduce themselves in a well rehearsed manner everyone giving their 30 second elevator speech about what they do.

Just think about it, how many companies you know claim they help clients increase revenue, reduce costs, increase efficiencies, manage process better, etc.

Continue reading Value proposition, branding statements, blah, blah, blah

Tags: branding statements, synergy, value-proposition
Posted in Business

In my first post, I discussed the first seven areas you should evaluate your ecommerce options. The areas we covered in the first post are:

1. Out of the box features
2. Time-to-market
3. Ease of migration from current systems to new platform
4. Ease of integration with external and internal systems
5. Scalability issues
6. Ease of customization (branding, change of look and feel, etc.)
7. Upgrade challenges with an ecommerce package

In this post I discuss the other 6 areas you should consider when choosing an ecommerce option:

Continue reading E-commerce implementations: 13 areas to evaluate your ecommerce options - part 2

Tags: ATG, custom development, Ecommerce, ecommerce packages, ElasticPath, etailers, osCommerce, Sterling
Posted in Business, Ecommerce, Sales & Marketing, Technology

Anyone who sells anything will likely at some point come across this scenario.

“My neighbors cousins nephew can do it cheaper”

“I only have $20 for the website now we have bought those full color brochures … do you want one? I am trying to get rid of them”

“Our business cards are green because the CFO’s wifes fortune teller told her it was a lucky color”

In the first example the person was confusing the low cost of a 14 year old local lad building the website translating into good value, whereas we all know that just because the kid can code doesn’t mean they will see any business from it.

The second example sees the hapless customer wasting their entire marketing budget on brochures because, well, everyone needs a brochure, right? Right? All too often I have seen companies spend thousands on brochures that have ended up in so many trash cans, but not spent anywhere near the same on their website.

Finally, the value of advice should be even more critically analyzed. Following bad advice could be the worst risk your business could take, which as you know, could cost you dearly.

Posted in Business

Companies have three main options to choose from when it comes to implementing an ecommerce site:

• Custom build the e-commerce website
• Choose an e-commerce packaged solution
• Go with a hosted ecommerce solution

Each of those options has advantages and disadvantages. And while there are no correct an absolute answers in this area, there are some common approaches to select the best solution that will coincide with the business’s mission and objectives. A solution that works well with one business model might not be the best option for a different one. You also should consider the short and long-term costs associated with each of these options. The combination of benefits and costs should influence your final decision of which approach to choose.

Continue reading E-commerce Platform Selection: 13 Areas to Evaluate E-commerce Solutions - Part 1

Tags: ATG, custom development, Ecommerce, ecommerce packages, ElasticPath, etailers, eterprise ecommerce, osCommerce, Sterling
Posted in Business, Ecommerce, Sales & Marketing, Technology

We are looking to hire for two part time positions. These are perfect for stay at home moms who are looking to re-enter the professional life again!

Sales Executive Position

Successful Sales Executive candidates for Invesp Consulting will posses these core competencies: Passion for Sales, Ownership Mentality, Proven Sales Skills, Confidence, Energy, Positive Attitude and Persistence.

Responsibilities include:

• Develop and aggressively grow sales in designated geography through prospecting, cold calls and relationship development.
• Develop and maintain relationships with existing customers through effective account management and service. Ensure their understanding of our services.
• Maintain a high level of customer service through training and customer support.
• Ensure satisfaction by responding quickly and accurately to problems, concerns or needs of the customers and prospects.
• Help proactively market Invesp to clients in territory and convey the advantages of our services.
• Candidates will work from home and be responsible for attaining specific revenue and account base goals.

Requirements:

• 4 to 6 years of solid account management and sales experience.  Online marketing sales experience preferred but not required.
• A proven inside sales and account management track record.
• College degree.
• Technical skills to include, Microsoft Office Suite including strong use of Outlook and Word. 

Key Skills and Qualities:

• Candidates must have a winning attitude and be able to work effectively in a self-motivated environment.
• Clear communicator with a winning personality.
• Superb organizational skills.
• Well organized, with strong relationship building capabilities.
• Proactive, results oriented, self starter.
• Ability to quickly assess needs of customers

Please note that this is a part time job with 25-30 hours per week.

PR Consultant Position

Invesp consulting is seeking to hire a PR consultant to assist in the public relations area.

Responsibilities include:

• Develop a focused media relations plan that promotes brand awareness and positions the company as an industry leader.
• Develop and grow relationships with targeted media/reporters.
• Identify and create opportunities to obtain media coverage for Invesp Consulting
• Identify and create opportunities to obtain conference speaking engagements for Invesp Consulting
• Develop media supporting materials (fact sheets, response statements, news releases, event outline)
• Candidates will work from home on part time basis and be responsible for attaining specific goals.

Requirements:

• 5+  years of public relation experience. 
• Online marketing experience is preferred but not required.

If interested, please send your resume to careers@invesp.com

Tags: career, jobs, part time jobs, stay at home jobs
Posted in Business, Miscellaneous

I hate popup blockers and find them quite annoying; but then who doesn’t? And although it is hard to find users who are “okay” with popups, some sites continue to use them ignoring the basic usability and conversion principles. But of course, that shouldn’t seem too strange since experts in the industry are recommending that ecommerce sites continue the popup practice. We came across a “recognized leading expert in web site usability and ecommerce marketing strategies” who gives the following advice to ecommerce sites that are trying to get more information about site visitors. Our expert recommends:

aggressive in collecting e-mail addresses, especially if it intends to eventually cease using direct mail as a touchpoint. For instance, it could use pop-up screens to capture the e-mail addresses of forum participants and of people who abandon searches or shopping carts

Continue reading Popup Hell

Tags: Ecommerce, marketing, popups
Posted in Business, Conversion Optimization, Sales & Marketing

• What is giving companies with seemingly zero revenue, multi-million dollar valuations?
• How did I show an extremely savvy and blue chip company that their $60k loss making project was in fact worth over $2million in the positive?

I will give you a clue; it’s not what you know but who you know.

Or rather, it’s who is willing to listen to you.

So many businesses see marketing as an expense. The costs come right off the balance sheet as outgoing expenditure. In fact, a better way to think of marketing is as an investment.

When you think of an investment you get into the mindset of putting money in to get money out. The aim is to get much more out than you put in.

Look at lots of advertising though. It’s money out but nobody knows if it is coming back in. “We have great visibility”. “It’s about getting your name ‘out there’!”. Yeah, all well and good, but who is buying?

So this is where we decide enough is enough and start building assets. You likely have a huge asset right under your nose.

Want to know what it is?

Your list.

Or, rather, lists.

People have bought from you or given you permission to talk to them. Do not underestimate the influence and value of this.

Common sense dictates that these lists are worth their weight in platinum, but many businesses neglect or even ignore their lists. At best they treat newsletter subscribers exactly the same as their customers.

That’s like keeping your cash under the bed instead of in an interest bearing savings account.

Pull your lists out, polish them up, and put them to work!

Posted in Business

I experienced one of the most valuable lessons in the late 90s when I ran my first business, Quill Publishing. At Quill we had achieved the majority of our business and financial goals and had taken great strides to carve a nice niche for ourselves. Everything seemed to go exactly how I had envisioned and hoped.

Until one day…

Continue reading 8 Lessons you should learn from your online competitors

Tags: blogs, competition, competitve advantage, marketing, online-marketing, SEM, webinars
Posted in Business, Sales & Marketing