Over the past 12 months I’ve identified some common myths that have been leading smart, hardworking business owners down all the wrong paths.

There is one common problem across the board.

Lots of people are teaching business owners about the latest online tools and tactics for getting more customers, but almost nothing is said about the unchanging fundamentals that underpin all successful marketing.

So you’re fighting to find more and more time to implement the latest online tactics, all the while wondering why you’re doing more and working harder without seeing the massive results you’ve been promised.

I’m all about the unchanging fundamentals so I think it’s about time someone dropped some truth bombs on the industry.

Here’s what no one is telling you…

1. It Almost Doesn’t Matter What You’re Doing Online

It’s true. It doesn’t matter what you’re doing. What matters is first of all that you’re doing something, and secondly that you are testing and measuring everything you do.

If you test, measure and alter your approach based on the results you’re getting then you are headed for success online.

Most businesses fall down by not measuring their marketing, so they have no idea what’s working and what isn’t.

Whatever you’re doing online now – whether it’s Google AdWords, social media, SEO, email marketing – whatever it is, measure it.

Do more of what is working, stop doing what isn’t working, and start testing something new.

If you’re not actually doing anything to market your business online at the minute then pick something – anything – and start testing and measuring.

Resources to Help You Test and Measure

Use Google Analytics – I hear you, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, Megan. Tell me something I don’t know!”. Let me be clear. I’m not telling you to set up Google Analytics. I’m telling you to USE it!

This means setting up goals to track your conversions. This way you can actually tell what’s going on with your site and your marketing.

Kristi Hines has written a great article here about how to track conversions in Google Analytics.

You should also use the Google Analytics URL Builder tool to track traffic from any link you set up.

2. The Difference Between Tactics and Strategy

The distinction between tactics and strategy is a vital one.

Tactics are all the different things you can do to deploy your strategy – e.g. pay per click ads, SEO, article marketing, social media, video marketing… the list goes on.

But without a clear strategy based on solid fundamentals, tactics are worth nothing.

So spend time clarifying your strategy.

Where is your business going? Who are you targeting with your marketing? How much can you afford to spend to get a new customer? What are you going to sell them and how are you going to maintain your relationship so that they buy from you again and again?

Clarify your strategy first, then see what tactics best fit that strategy.

That’s important so I’ll say it again.

Strategy first, tactics second.

People get caught up in tactics – the latest, shiny, you-must-do-this-or-you’ll-be-poor-forever tactics – and it kills their productivity and progress.

So the next time someone starts telling you about the latest, greatest thing you absolutely must be doing if you want to profit online, stop and think – strategy first, tactics second.

3. Your Customers Are Animals

That’s right, I said it. I said it on the internet, I said it.

Seriously though, your customers are animals. Human beings are nature’s beast, just like any other.

Why am I telling you this?

Because you need to realise that your customers are NOT rational, logical beings.

They are animals.

Emotional beasts.

Listen up: Every single decision your customer makes is an emotional one.

Derek Halpern’s recent interview with Jonah Lehrer, author of ‘How We Decide’ talks about this in detail. They talk about the case of a man who was brain damaged and incapable of experiencing emotion. He was totally rational and the result was that he was pathologically indecisive, virtually incapable of making a decision.

Real Men Cry

Experience tells me that business owners are happy to talk about this on an abstract level but when you start to talk specifically about their customers and their marketing, ‘emotional’ becomes a dirty word.

This tends to be especially the case with men.

They provide a very practical product or service that solves an important problem for the customer.

I talk about every decision being an emotional one and they look at me with eyes that say

“You WITCH! Why do you have to drag emotions into my business, this stealth fortress of manly logic and reason?”.

You can have logic and reason out the wazoo, but your lizard brain is making your decisions emotionally.

Focus on logic and reason in your marketing strategy if you like…

Me? I like to talk to the organ grinder, not the monkey.

So I focus my marketing strategies on reaching prospects on an emotional level.

Stop trying to reason out why prospects are choosing a competitor over you, look at it from their lizard brain’s point of view.

Here’s an example:

One of my client’s is an accountant.

He used to think that the reason customers valued his services was that they got their accounts done on time, and they got a clear picture of their business’ vital statistics, which enabled it to grow and become more successful.

He was DEAD WRONG.

The REAL benefit of his service is peace of mind, and a feeling of certainty and security.

The lizard brain is focused on survival.

Logic tells us that people should and would care about making their business better – and they do – but the lizard brain runs the show. It is motivated more by avoiding pain than gaining pleasure, and what it really cares about is being able to sleep at night without having to be afraid of getting into trouble with the government or the bank.

So my client’s marketing must reflect this. Rather than just talking about the benefits of his service in terms of positive gains, he needs to make sure he talks about the problems and PAIN that he can help people AVOID.

There is one more important point…

No one will ever admit to these lizard brain, emotional decisions.

No way.

We’re human beings, we’re much too clever to behave like an animal.

So what we do instead is use logic and reason to justify the emotional decision we’re making.

The emotional decision comes first, the logic and reason comes second.

You’ve done this before, we all have. Think about it.

Isn’t there a time when you decided to do something and then used ‘logic’ and ‘reason’ to justify why you did it.

I bought a new MacBook Pro a couple of months ago.

Did I really need a new computer?

Probably not.

But I did really want one – the thought of it having it made me feel good.

That said, if you came and asked me why I was buying a new laptop, I had a TON of very logical reasons for why I absolutely needed this thing.

I mean, I’m no fool. I’m not going to just spend money on something I don’t really need because it makes me feel good…

Ok, so I am a fool… but I’m good with that, because we’re ALL fools by design!

And, by the way, there’s a reason I bought a MacBook and not a PC.

And despite what I say at parties, it has nothing to do with rational reasons like performance power and usability.

Simon Sinek explains why beautifully with his Golden Circle in this TED Talk.

So talk less to your prospects about the nuts and bolts of what you do for them and talk more about how it will benefit them and how it will make them feel.

4. YOU Are an Animal

You didn’t see that one coming, did you?

The decisions you make, and therefore the actions you take, in your business are not rational and logical.

They are emotional.

We know this.

Let me start joining some dots here…

The results you get are determined by the actions that you take.

The actions you take depend on how you feel.

Therefore, how you feel determines the results you get in your business.

If I could give you one piece of advice, and only one, that would have the biggest impact on your business success, it would be this:

STOP PRETENDING YOU ARE A MACHINE

You don’t have one hard drive for business and another hard drive for your personal life.

You’re an animal.

Your business juice and your personal juice are all up in each other’s faces, there is no separation when it comes to emotions.

Don’t pretend you’re any other way!

If you have problems in your personal life, you have problems in your business life.

Why don’t you do what you know you should?

One of the easiest ways for business owners to make more money is to start doing all the things they know they should but aren’t.

Why don’t you do what you know you should?

Because of how you feel.

Lots of people are overweight and want to be fitter and healthier.

They know they should eat better and exercise more.

But they don’t because of how they feel.

Eating and vegging out on the sofa makes them feel good. It meets their emotional needs.

The same thing is happening when you don’t make that phone call you know you should, or you put off following up potential leads.

What’s the practical lesson you can learn here?

DEAL. Learn why you do what you do and deal with your shit.

The 6 Human Needs

One of the best things you can do for your business (and your life) is to understand why you do the things you do.

We’ve already established that logic and reason have nothing to do with it.

So what motivates your behaviour?

Tony Robbins has identified 6 basic human needs that we are all motivated by. See which ones you identify with most:

1. Certainty – We all have some need for certainty, comfort and security. Certainty that we can avoid pain and gain pleasure.

2. Uncertainty/Variety – If we were certain about everything and knew exactly what was going to happen all the time, we’d be bored, so we also need some uncertainty in our lives.

3. Significance – We all have a need to feel significant in some way, to feel like we are unique or have a special purpose.

4. Love or Connection – We all have a need to feel accepted, connected and loved. This includes a connection to ourselves, as well as to others.

5. Growth – Everything in the universe is either growing or dying. This includes us, if you’re not growing, you’re dying. It is impossible to be truly happy and fulfilled if you are not experiencing new things and growing in some way.

6. Contribution – A sense of true joy and fulfilment comes from meeting our need to go beyond ourselves and contribute to the greater good.

All of our behaviours are driven by the desire to meet one or more of these needs.

So, right now, think about a problem you want to overcome in your business or life, but you haven’t done so yet.

Now ask yourself, which of the 6 needs have you been meeting by NOT overcoming your problem?

Let’s say your problem is that you don’t have enough time to work on the important things in your business, like marketing and following up sales leads.

You already know that the solution is to hire someone else to do the less important things that you don’t personally need to do, to free up your time.

So why haven’t you done it?

Possibly because you’re a bit of a control freak and you need to be certain that every little task in your business is done correctly.

Or maybe you are afraid of the extra responsibility of employing an extra person and having to pay their salary, so you choose the certainty of your current situation even though you know it is limiting you.

Another possibility is that you actually get a lot from having this problem. Having a big problem makes you feel significant. It also makes you feel a connection to yourself – there’s nothing like feeling sorry for yourself!

Chances are you even get a lot of certainty and variety from it. Certainty that you’ve got this big problem and it’s too hard to overcome. Variety because who knows how it will all work out in the end and what it will mean for your life in the long term.

Are you beginning to see how rational thinking has little to do with how we actually behave?

So what can you do?

Here’s the key – understand why you do what you do. Ask yourself what need you are trying to meet with your actions and then find a better way to meet that need.

Everyone has a couple of needs that they value more than the others, and that is the underlying motivation for almost all your actions.

Ask yourself what two needs are most important for you and find ways to meet these needs that also drive you in the direction of your business goals.

Example:

Let’s say your top two needs are love and certainty (a common and interesting combination, try to fall in love and have total certainty at the same time…). If you want love and connection then you will want to please people and feel accepted.

Is it possible to please everyone all the time and grow your business at the same time? Not a chance. You’ll probably end up working yourself to the bone for other people’s agendas and not get paid what you’re worth in the process.

Now throw into the mix your need for certainty, which is likely to hold you back from taking the risks necessary to make your business succeed.

Your business goals are getting harder and harder to achieve!

Here’s how you flip it

How can you still meet your needs of love and certainty without holding your business back?

You could decide to get your love and connection by first of all connecting with yourself. Value what you do enough to charge what you’re worth.

You can realise that in order to make anyone else happy you need to be happy first and have enough energy to help other people.

So you could decide to set aside time to do the things that will contribute to your happiness, like spending time working towards your business goals, rather than working according to other people’s agendas all the time.

This way you meet your need for love and connection yourself – you don’t need to run around pleasing everybody else to meet your needs.

Next you can meet your need for certainty by being proactive and taking control of the situation.

Rather than getting certainty from not taking risks, you can decide to get your certainty from taking responsibility for your results.

The moment you decide to take control of what happens, rather than waiting to see what will happen to you, you instantly feel a sense of certainty.

So get real about why your business is not where you want it to be…

Identify your top needs, know why you do what you do, and decide how you’ll meet your needs in a way that pulls you towards your goals.

Use the same approach in your personal life so that negative emotions don’t hamper your business success.

This way you can be in the zone every day.

5. Money is Worthless

This is the big truth bomb that no one is telling business owners.

Why would they? They’re trying to sell you products and services that promise to make you more money!

Hear me now:

Money, alone, is worthless.

Money should not be the be all and end all. It should not be your primary goal.

Annie Dillard said “How we spend our days is how we spend our lives”. Now that is a truth bomb if ever I heard one!

How you spend your days is how you spend your life, so you better have a higher meaning for what you do.

In the grand scheme of things money doesn’t matter. It’s a useful resource that you can use to magnify what your life is all about, but in a life without meaning, it is worthless.

Don’t give up on money just yet…

I’m not saying that everyone should shut up shop and go volunteer somewhere. Quite the opposite.

Here’s the deal:

A wise man once said “Life is relationship. The quality of your life is in direct proportion with the quality of your relationships”.

Whatever your business does, your customer’s are human beings and you have the opportunity to have an impact on their lives.

You can deliver your product or service in a way that solves their problem and impacts their life at the same time.

If I help you with your business problems, there will be a knock on effect in your personal life. And if I help you improve your marketing and make more money, you’ll have more resources to impact the lives of your customers. This is why Twiggal exists.

The guy who runs my local corner shop sells groceries. That’s ‘what’ he does. But his ‘why’ is something totally different. You cannot go into his shop and come out without a smile on your face. The guy is just so joyful and full of life, he instantly draws you in. He acts like an antidepressant for the entire community.

And guess what? People go out of their way to go to his shop instead of the many other shops on the same street. Not because of what he sells, but because of how he does it, because of how it makes them feel.

Marcus Sheridan, believes that passion for what you do can explode your business success. People are “out there just looking for someone with a twinkle in their eye”.

I know that if you think about it now, you’ll remember a similar experience you’ve had, because we’ve all been touched in this way before.

Maybe it was a shop assistant, a receptionist, or a waiter or waitress who made what could have been a run-of-the-mill experience into one that enriched your life in some small but meaningful way.

The little things matter. Relationships matter.

So tap into what your ‘why’ is. Find a higher meaning for what you do. And make sure it’s one that is worthy of spending your life on, because a day at a time, that’s exactly what you’re doing.

Harness the power of a higher meaning and educate yourself on marketing and money won’t be a problem, it will be a happy by-product.

What about you?

So now you’ve heard them. The truth bombs that no one else is telling you. Ignore these truths at your peril.

If any of this has resonated with you, then you should download the report I wrote about the 4 unchanging fundamentals that underpin all successful marketing, and start applying them in your business toady. You can download it here (it’s free): The 4 Keys Report

So what do you think?

Have you made any fundamental shifts in your business (or your life) as a result of these truths? Or do you plan to in the near future?

Let’s talk about it. Leave a comment below.

Most UK and Irish small businesses missed out on the eCommerce revolution. That’s not surprising because according to Google at their recent ‘Think Local’ event in London, 70% of small businesses don’t have a website yet!

The mobile marketing revolution is in hand and it’s all about driving offline sales, so it is an opportunity that local business owners should jump on!

There are some key figures every business owner should know:

• 90% of people use the internet to search for something that they then buy offline.
• 38% of UK phone owners have a smartphone. This figure is predicted to rise to 55% in 2012, 65% in 2013 and 71% in 2014.
• 45% of smartphone owners use their phone in the purchase process
• 1 in 3 mobile searches are local searches and of these searches:
  - 42% visit a local business website
  - 41% visit a local business
  - 36% phone a local business

So now that you know that the mobile revolution is under way, how can you take advantage of it? Google says there are 4 keys:

1. Be Found

Claim and optimise your Google Places page. You can follow the instructions on how to claim your Google Places page here.

Other ways to expand your mobile presence is to create a Facebook page for your business and claim your Facebook Places page.

2. Be Relevant

Run AdWords ads specific to your location – Google AdWords gives you the ability to target customers based on location with serious accuracy. You should take advantage of this by creating an AdWords campaign targeted just at people local to your business.

The radius you choose will obviously depend on the nature of your business. Do you deliver or do people have to come into your place of business? Do you offer a product or service that people are willing to travel for? Or do you offer a very local service where proximity is a big factor? E.g. a specialist solicitor can reasonably target a larger area than a local dry cleaners.

It is also possible to create an AdWords campaign specifically for mobile users. Mobile ads with ‘click to call’ buttons can be very effective for local businesses – and like all AdWords ads, you only pay for results, so you only pay when someone calls you.

If you have more than one business location then you should read about the location extensions in Google AdWords here to find out how you can improve your ads.

3. Be Local

Localise your web pages and run ads with local-specific copy. What does that mean? Let me give you an example. Let’s say you are an accountant and you have an office in Ealing, West London and another office in Islington, North London.

Instead of just running an AdWords campaign that targets London, you should create two individual campaigns – one that targets Ealing specifically and one that targets Islington specifically.

We won’t stop at just targeting by location. You should also make the copy in your ads  and the web page the ads link to specific to the location. E.g. your Ealing campaign might have an ad that says:

Ealing’s Leading Accountants
Click now to see what your
Ealing neighbours said about us!
www.yourwebsite.com/Ealing

This ad would link to a page on your website that talks specifically about the benefits you can offer to people in Ealing. And of course, right at the top of the page you would include testimonials and feedback from your Ealing clients (just as your ad promised). Your landing page should also include a strong ‘call to action’, i.e. tell them what to do next – call you or visit your business. Make it as easy as possible for them to take this action.

Whether we’re talking about local marketing or marketing in general, the power of making your message very specific to the group of potential customers you are targeting is not to be underestimated.

This ‘message to market match’ is extremely powerful as it forces (in the nicest possible sense of the word!) people to apply the benefits of your offering to themselves.

4. Be Mobile

The figures at the top of this page show that your customers are searching for you on mobile devices. So once you’ve taken the ‘Be Found’ steps, your customers will be viewing your website on their smartphones.

Here’s the question – have you viewed your website on a mobile phone? Do you know what experience your mobile customers have when they find you?

The easier it is to view and interact with your website on a mobile device, the more success you’ll have in the mobile revolution!

You can build a mobile version of your website that will automatically display on smartphones and other mobile devices. If you have a WordPress based website all you need to do is install a mobile theme for your site.

This is one of the many reasons that we build all our sites on WordPress!

Ready Get Involved In The Mobile Revolution?

Are you ready to take your business mobile? Implement the steps outlined in this article and you’ll be well on your way to mobile profits. If you have any questions as you put this stuff to use, just holler in the comments section below and I’ll help you out.

Want to get involved but doing all of this stuff sounds a bit too complicated? Worry not, that’s what we’re here for – contact us to talk about how you can get more customers using mobile marketing.

Facebook is the second most visited site on the internet after Google so when it comes to setting up a Facebook Page for your business it’s a question of when, not if.

Once you have an effective website up and running that converts your visitors into customers, and you’ve claimed your Google Places page, then the next thing to do to expand your online presence is set up some social media profiles. And there’s no better place to start than with a Facebook Page, or as it’s sometimes known a Facebook fan page or Facebook business page.

In the olden days (and by the olden days I mean a few years ago, Mark Zuckerberg is only just out of nappies after all!) businesses who wanted to get a bit of Facebook action would set up a Profile like any other personal profile or a Group.

These days the Page is king. Facebook Pages have become more and more optimised for business use, allowing you to put your personal stamp on them, so it’s now easy to use them for marketing, lead capture and list building in very effective ways.

Business Profiles are Against Facebook Rules

You can now interact on Facebook as your Page name, so you can do pretty much everything you can do with a profile with your page. For this reason, if you do have a profile for your business I’d advise you to phase it out by getting your friends to like your page and then deleting the profile. A page is far superior to a profile and businesses who have both tend to have a broken, disjointed presence, fan interaction and following.

It is also against Facebook’s terms to use a Profile page for commercial purposes, so there is a possibility that your business profile page could be shut down without notice and all your hard work lost.

So the Page really is King!

To create a Page on Facebook you need to already have a personal account or a business account (if you don’t want a personal profile on Facebook you can create a business account to administer your Page as well as Ads if you decide to run them in the future). So if you need to you can quickly open up a new window and go to Facebook.com and create an account.

Now, let’s get to creating that Facebook Page:

1. Log into Facebook.

2. Go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/create.php

3. Choose what type of page you want to create – you’ll probably want to choose the ‘Local Business’ or ‘Company, Organisation, or Institution’ option. Fill out the details before clicking the ‘Get Started’ button.

I’m creating a page for Sing Tonicity who do therapeutic voice work and song so I selected the ‘Company’ option – that’s the route we’ll follow for the rest of this tutorial.

Don’t overthink it – choose whatever category fits your business best but don’t worry if you get it wrong, once your page is created all of these settings can be changed at any point.

4. Upload a profile picture. This image will always show at the top left of your Facebook page so it’s a chance to incorporate some branding and expert positioning into your page. Your image must be at least 180 pixels wide (the image I use in this example is 190 x 308 pixels). Once your image is uploaded, click the ‘Continue’ button. 

5. The next step Facebook guides you through is ‘Get Fans’ where you can invite your friends to ‘Like’ your new page. BUT, right now all your page has on it is a profile picture so it’s best to hold off and invite your friends AFTER the whole process is complete and your page is full of info and looks great. So for now, just click ‘Continue’.

6. Add the basic info about your business. Bear in mind that while you may only look at this once, it’s highly likely that EVERY new visitor you get to your Facebook page will look at what you’ve written to see what your business is all about. So make it count! Don’t just give a personal history of your business, talk about what your customers want to hear – what do you do for them? What are the benefits of what you do?

7. That’s the initial set up done! Easy, right? Facebook now shows you the ‘Get Started’ section of your page – you can come back to this later by clicking the ‘Get Started’ link under your profile picture. Facebook might think you’re done but I’ve got more work for you so keep reading…

8. We need to flesh out the information about your business so click on the ‘Edit Info’ link at the top of the page (if you’re having trouble finding the ‘Edit Info’ link then click on the ‘Edit Page’ button at the top right of your screen and then click on the ‘Basic Information’ link on the left hand menu). On this screen you can fill out all the information about your business. Again, as you write this focus on the customer who will be reading it and make sure you tell them what they want to know.

Remember I said you can change the category of your page later if you need to? Well this is the screen to come to if you need to change it now or in the future.

You can also explore the settings options in the left hand menu – you have much more control over a Page than you do over a personal Profile. If you need to change any setting on your page, this is the place to come.

9. It’s time to add some photos to really set your page off! Click on the ‘View Page’ button to go back to the Get Started page. Click the ‘Photos’ link under your profile picture to add some pictures to your page. If you have a personal profile on Facebook, this will all be very familiar to you. Be sure to add at least 5 images because Facebook will use 5 of your photographs at the top of your wall and info pages. You can even use images with text in them to act as mini ads for your products and services.

10. Now she’s sucking diesel! Your page must be looking pretty sweet by now so the only thing left to do is start inviting your friends to ‘Like’ your page. You can do this from the ‘Get Started’ page. You can also publicise your page by adding a link from your website and your email signature, emailing your list of customers and prospects as well as taking every opportunity to let people know you’re on Facebook.

Your first target should be to get 25 fans (‘likes’) because once you hit 25 you can claim your username, aka your vanity url, so you can start directing people to www.facebook.com/YourUsername.

Make your username the same as your business name if possible – it helps you maintain a consistent profile across the internet and it looks more professional.

Become a Facebook Page Super Ninja…

Watch out for part 2 of our Facebook series, which shows you how to optimise your Facebook page to get more ‘Likes’ by adding a custom landing page.

You should click here and like us on Facebook now to be the first to know when new articles are published… Click here to see our optimised Page in action.

If you run into any problems setting up your Facebook page leave your questions in the comments section below.

{Image Credit}

What would you say if I told you that your website doesn’t generate sales for 4 reasons and those reasons are:

1. You’re boring

2. You’re cheap

3. You’re a negative creep

4. You might as well be dead

Yowzah! Sounds harsh right? Well, friends are allowed to be harsh when they’ve got your best interests at heart, so hear me out for a minute and then we can kiss and make up at the end.

“We need to talk… about why your website is bombing”

1. You’re boring

If your website isn’t as vibrant and evolving as the rest of your business then from an online visitor’s point of view you’re boring and staid. If you use your website as a static bio rather than as an active marketing tool then of course it isn’t going to generate sales.

If you don’t update your website regularly with fresh content then your visitors won’t interact with it, which is just as well because they’re unlikely to find in the search engine results pages for the same reason.

If you’re not convinced, think of it this way – would you put an ad on a billboard and leave it for years without changing it, especially if it wasn’t working?

2. You’re cheap

A lot of websites fail because the business owner has a short term mindset and makes ‘cheap decisions’.

If you think of everything in terms of what it costs you and forget to think in terms of what value it’s going to add then you’re doomed. Whether we’re talking about websites, employees, marketing or materials – if you make cheap decisions YOU’RE DOOMED. [Life lesson bonus: this principle applies to every aspect of your life]

And I’m not just talking about money. Being cheap with your time and energy is just as destructive.

Reason number 2 could equally read ‘You’re Afraid’, it’s the same thing. Cheap decisions are made out of fear and desperation. The golden rule of sales is never make a call if you’re desperate. So it follows that you should never make a decision if you’re desperate.

There are lots of businesses out there with a website that is static, has little to no SEO and isn’t optimised to generate leads or make sales, all because they didn’t want to spend too much money or waste too much time on their site. And so they went with a cheap and easy option, rather than a sales generating option.

And here’s the thing, the cheap option always works out more expensive in the end. In business and in life.

You’ll spend more money, more time and more energy trying to fix the cheap option than you ever would have spent on the alternative. And the alternative would have been making you money in the meantime.

3. You’re a negative creep

Lots of business owners have decided on some level before they even begin that this internet thing doesn’t work, not for their business anyway. If you’re not using the internet to grow your business, see if this sounds familiar.

You don’t believe your website can generate sales. You’ve dipped your toe in the marketing and advertising water over the years and nothing really worked out for you, nothing made a dramatic difference.

So, whether it’s conscious or subconscious, you don’t believe that any of it really works, websites and online marketing included. If this is you, be aware that subconsciously you make all your decisions through this filter and manifest the reality you’ve created in your head. So it’s important to keep the faith!

4. You might as well be dead!

Friends are allowed to be harsh. Hang on to that thought for a minute while you ask yourself if this sounds like you when it comes to your website.

You’re too old, bored, preoccupied or drunk to try. And for all you’re doing you might as well be dead!

Here’s the deal. Life isn’t easy. Making money isn’t easy. Running a business isn’t easy. Hell, sometimes getting out of bed doesn’t seem all that easy. [Wow, I'm really uplifting you here]

The point is, if you want to do something well you need to work at it. So of course your website doesn’t bring in the big bucks if you got someone to build it and haven’t looked at it since. To get your website making sweet sweet music you need to learn how to play it. You need to invest yourself in it, learn a little about how online marketing works, what makes a good site, how to get visitors and what you need to do to convert them into customers.

It’s simple. If you invest yourself in it and learn a little, you’ll see results. It won’t happen until you work at it, but nothing good does. The most worthwhile, rewarding and fulfilling things in this life are not the easy ones. But you already know that, that’s why you’re an entrepreneur.

To learn about specific things you can do to generate leads and sales online, sign up for our email updates below. It’s all free (see, friends do get more than just abuse and harsh truths around here).

{Image Credit}

You’ve got a local business and you want more customers. Don’t we all. Here are your options:

1. You can get under the covers and have a little cry about it, or

2. You can start expanding your online presence to reach the 97% of consumers who search online to buy locally.

Crying is good for you, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a bit of a downer, so let’s talk about number 2. Claiming your Google Places listing is one of the easiest ways to expand your online presence and make it really easy for people to find you online. It’s also one of the most underused channels for businesses. Most local business owners either aren’t aware of it or they don’t recognise the power of it, so if you set up the basics then you’ll probably be hitting the big leagues while the other guys are still mopping up their tears! There is greater awareness in some industries (e.g. hotels, bars and restaurants) but even then the listings are often unoptimised and underused.

There are multiple local listings you can claim for your business but the biggie is your Google Places page. Google Places, used to be called Google Local and it is essentially an online business directory with the results displayed in Google Maps. If you search on Google with a local keyword, something like ‘Accountants Derry’ or ‘restaurant in Camden’, then you’ll see a Google map in the search results with different business listings in the results. As local searches account for a bigger and bigger percentage of online searches, Google are changing how they display results, placing a greater emphasis on local results. These days you’ll see that even if you search for a local service but without a location in the search term, Google will still display Google Places results. E.g. If you search for ‘solicitor’ in Google, it will automatically detect your location and give you local  Google Places results.

With a well optimised Google Places page it’s possible to appear at the top of Google, for search terms that normal websites can’t even compete for any more because the Google Places results take precedence over the regular, organic results.

How To Claim Your Google Places Page

So how do you claim your Google Places page and take advantage of this sweet candy? Here’s a step by step guide:

1. Go to Google.co.uk and search for your business name and location, e.g. ‘Claremount Accountants Derry’

2. You should see a listing for your business next to a map, click the link next to your business name that says ‘Place page’

3. This is your Google Places page; near the top of the page it says ‘Edit this page’ – ‘Business Owner?’. Click on the ‘Business Owner?’ link. (Note: If your page has already been claimed the link will say ‘Owner-verified listing’ instead) 

4. You must now sign in to your Google account, or create one if you don’t already have one

5. Choose the ‘Edit my business information’ option and click continue

6. Fill out your business information (address, phone number, website address and up to 5 categories that best describe your business)

7. Fill out your location details

8. Select your opening hours and payment methods

9. You can add photos and videos if you have some (you can come back and add them later if you don’t have them to hand)

10. Click the submit button

11. Choose your verification method; phone tends to be the most straight-forward. As soon as you click the ‘Finish’ button you will receive an automated phone call from Google that will tell you a PIN code you can enter on the next screen to verify your listing. Note that the phone call will be made to your registered business phone number; this is to ensure that only the business owner can claim the places page. If you’re not in your premises you can choose to have a PIN code sent in the post. If you chose this option, your places page won’t be updated until the PIN arrives and you enter it to verify the account.

A question I get asked a lot by business owners is whether the internet is ‘dead’ for their type of business. Often this question arises because the small business owner has set up a website and waited for the flood of new business to arrive but it never comes!

Another common thing I hear from business owners is that they have a sneaking (or not so sneaking) suspicion that their marketing doesn’t work very well. So that begs the question ”Does marketing just not work in my town/industry?”

First of all let’s clear a few things up – the answer to both these questions is NO.

On the other hand, a lot of what we’re led to believe by web designers, marketing consultants and advertisers is not true. It’s not just a case of get a website or buy some advertising and wait for the flood of new customers to come banging on the door!

There are plenty of small businesses who are using their website and marketing techniques to bring in more business than they can handle. They are able to do this because they understand the secret - the secret of an integrated approach.

I’ve made a full length training video for you on this subject so that you can use integrated online and offline marketing to transform your business in 2011. You can watch it here:

http://www.businessbff.co.uk/fe/6417

In the video you’ll learn what integrated marketing is, why and how it works and how you can start to implement in your business right away (even if you’ve got no website and no marketing strategy at the minute), and you don’t have to be a tech geek or marketing genius to make this stuff work for you. It’s just a series of simple steps that any business owner will be able to implement.

So go and watch the video I made for you here, shut the door, turn off your phone and start making notes – this stuff really does have the power to transform your business. The first time we implemented it in our business I was blown away by the simplicity and effectiveness of it.

[image credit]

A 2010 study by BIA/Kelsey* found that 97% of consumers now use online media when searching for products and services in their local area. This is crucial for all local businesses owners to know. In the past the majority of small business owners thought that it wasn’t important for them to have a website because they serve a local area of people who can find them offline – these local customers are now looking for you online and if you’re not there to greet them with a smiling face and a compelling offer then that’s 97% of potential customers that you’re missing out on. The world is changing, the economy is changing and people’s buying habits are changing, whether they’re buying goods or services, business to consumer or business to business. Small local businesses that have recognised this are changing too and they are thriving as a result. The money is still out there, people are still spending, you just need to be in the place where they are looking and offer a great product, service and experience. We’ve put together a free report that explains why your local business needs a website right now and the key considerations when setting up your web presence in order to do it effectively and profitably.

You can download your free report here: www.twiggalyoursite.com

* The BIA/Kelsey study, March 2010: http://www.kelseygroup.com/press/pr100310.asp

Image used above: The Chicken Shop by ‘part time production unit’ available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic Licence

The workings of a website can be a very mysterious thing if you’re not a loser web designer. You’re busy running your business and doing what you do best, not reading up about the ins and outs of setting up websites. Luckily for you, that’s pretty much all I do; I am that loser. Most people recognise that in me and I get asked about how to set up a website a lot. Usually people get really excited about getting a website, they’ve got tonnes of ideas for it and they want to get it going right away, so they find a domain name they like and try to buy it. This is where it all starts to go wrong… they get offered what seems like 100 different add ons and hosting options, none of which make any sense and this is usually the point where I get a call! If you know what you need from a hosting plan then it really doesn’t have to be a painful experience so I’ve put together a quick guide to buying a domain name and hosting. I’m going to talk specifically about godaddy because that’s who I use and recommend but the principles are the same for other companies too.

Buying A Domain Name And Hosting For Your New Website

1. Go to godaddy.com and search for the web address (domain name) you would like e.g. myproject.com – godaddy will give you a list of all the possible extensions you can have (e.g. .com, .co.uk, .net etc) and it will tell you which ones are available and which ones aren’t.

2. Once you’ve settled on your domain name tick the box next to it and click ‘continue to registration’. There will be lots of pop ups during this process offering you add ons like extra domain names etc – for the sake of your sanity ignore them all and click ‘no thanks’ when you see one.

3. Fill out your domain settings – choose your registration length (you are charged an annual fee to register your domain, you can pay for 1 year at a time or for up to 10 years straight off) and enter your contact details (these will be available online for anyone wants to look up your domain name in the public WHOIS directory and contact you about your website – if you buy a .com domain name you can keep these details private… more on that soon). If offered ‘Cerftified domain’ you don’t need it, don’t pay for it. Click ‘Next’.

4.  The next section is ‘Your Privacy and Domain Protection’ – you don’t need to change anything here and simply click ‘next’ unless you have a compelling reason for your registrant contact details being private. Most people will put their contact details on their website anyway so there’s not much sense in paying for the domain registrant details to be kept private. WHOIS privacy is only available if you’re buying certain domain name types - it is not available when you buy a .co.uk domain name for example.

5. The next section ‘Activate Your Domain’ is where they start to hit you with all the mind boggling add on options. I always recommend a basic set up when getting a new site going – you can always add any necessary extras as and when you need them. Add the ‘Web Hosting Economy’ plan and nothing else - 100 email addresses are included in this hosting plan, as well as 10 GB space, and 10 MySQL databases (don’t worry if that means nothing to you, just know that you’re covered… and if your site starts to do really, really well then you can upgrade to the next level of hosting when the time comes). Click to continue to the next page, enter your payment details and you’re done!

How Do I Know What Hosting Plan I Need?

If you want to be sure that you’ve got a hosting plan that meets the needs of your new site you need to understand a little bit about the specifications they do (and don’t!) list – I’ll look at the godaddy economy hosting plan as an example:

10GB Space – This refers to space on your web host’s server. Your website will basically be a collection of files saved on the server and much like space on your computer’s hard drive, this 10GB is how much space you have for your website files.

Unlimited Bandwidth – Bandwidth usage depends on how many people visit your site and what they do there (e.g. watching videos or downloading documents that are hosted on your server will use up extra bandwidth).

100 Email Accounts – These are email accounts that you can set up yourself and they will all be @yourdomainname.com addresses. You will be able to access webmail accounts online or you can set them up in a mail client like Microsoft Outlook if you want to.

10 MySQL Databases – Databases are important, unless you are building a very basic, information site then you are likely to need at least one database. At Twiggal we build all our websites using WordPress and we recommend anyone who wants to build their own site to use WordPress too (it is, in our opinion, the most powerful publishing platform and content management system out there… but more on that in another article!) – for WordPress to work you will need one database. 123-reg.co.uk is a popular domain registrar in the UK, I’ve used them to register domain names before and had no problems but be aware that their basic hosting package does not include a database and it also didn’t enable automated WordPress installation last time I checked, so if you are a WordPress Newbie I’d steer clear of 123 Reg for now.

Linux Hosting – The server that your website is hosted on, just like your own computer, can run different operating systems. Linux is the standard for web hosting – unless your web developer has requested any different then Linux is always the safest bet for ensuring compatibility.

What You Don’t Need

1. Certified site – this is pretty much a money spinner, it’s essentially just a little logo in the corner of your site, you don’t need it.

2. SSL Certificate – You only need this if you are going to have a secure area of your site where visitors will submit sensitive information, e.g. if you are taking payments or having visitors enter personal information like national insurance numbers then you need an SSL certificate to ensure that the information is transferred securely. Otherwise you don’t need one. Most new sites starting out have no need for an SSL certificate.

3. WHOIS Privacy – As I mentioned above, you should only pay for this if you have a compelling reason for keeping your contact details private and you won’t be listing contact details on your website anyway.

That covers the basics and it should be enough to get you over the first hurdle to getting your new website up and running. If you’ve got any questions feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll do my best!

Image used above: Or.in No More by Orin Zebest available under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic Licence

I’ve been talking about my favourite small businesses that I encountered on a recent trip to New York, which are succeeding by becoming specialists. A few days ago I wrote about The Lost World, the Big Lebowski Shop in Greenwich Village, now it’s the turn of The Meatball Shop in the Lower East Side.

The Meatball Shop is truly specialised - it’s a restaurant that only serves meatballs. There are 5 different kinds of meatballs to choose from and 4 different kinds of sauce. You can have your meatballs with pasta, polenta, risotto, mash or white beans, or you can have them in a slider (a little bun). Every table is armed with felt tip pens and laminated menus so that you can mark your selections. It’s a simple and great system and the food is even better! I actually visited The Meatball Shop 3 times during my time in New York – the first time I didn’t even get to eat because there was an hour wait, and that was at midnight so it gives you some kind of indication of how popular this place is! When I returned at a slightly quieter time and actually got to taste the food I knew that once would not be enough.

Daniel Holzman and Michael Chernow, childhood friends and co owners of The Meatball Shop, spent a long time considering different concepts before deciding to run with a restaurant that just serves meatballs, and they have executed the whole thing perfectly. There is consistency and congruency in everything from the look and feel of the premises, to the service and the food. The customer experience is first class. Nothing has been overlooked, and they are reaping the rewards with a very successful specialist business.

The one other thing that they sell is ice cream sandwiches – the same principle applies, with 5 kinds of freshly made cookies and 5 kinds of home made ice cream to choose from. Rumour has it that they’re the best ice cream sandwiches in New York City and I can’t disagree!

You can read more about The Meatball Shop and the men behind it here. And you can see the meatballs being made in this video: The Meatball Shop – NBC News.

At Twiggal we are fortunate to work with a lot of creative and inspiring businesses and we believe that all business owners have lessons that will benefit other small business owners. The guys at Jones and Co and Seen opticians in Manchester have dedicated themselves to figuring out how to deliver the best customer experience on the planet, and Conor Heaney, one of the owners has been kind enough to let us in on some of the most valuable lessons he’s learned about gaining loyal customers who love you. Conor says “It’s not what you do, it’s the way that you do it”…

“Successful companies with happy, loyal customers truly understand this. Virgin Atlantic believe they are in a commodity based business. They are in the business of taking a massive metal tube, filling it with 300 people and a lot of jet fuel and launching it across the Atlantic in the hope it will arrive on the other side in one piece. They use the exact same planes as their rivals, they buy the exact same fuel, they fly the same routes, they have the same costs. They believe the only way to differentiate themselves is to offer a distinctly different experience to their customers. They inject the Virgin personality into everything little they do. They really believe that ‘it ain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it.’

There are 3 parts to every customer experience:
1. The Product or Service (what do you do)
2. The Process (how easy are you to do business with?)
3. The Engagement (how did it feel?)

Most businesses focus on 1 & 2 but not on 3. Engaging the customer is the part that creates a memorable customer experience. Engaging the customer creates loyalty. You can do 1 & 2 perfectly and still the customer may not come back to you next time unless you start a relationship with them and engage them by being memorable and showing some personality. The challenge is doing it consistently. When the experience delivered by your team is consistently good, the team become the brand in the eyes of your customers. That’s what creates loyal customers – “raving fan” customers who tell their friends about you.

In order to make the customer experience consistent you need to make it part of your company’s culture. You can’t train it. You have to lead it and support it.

There are 6 steps to delivering this experience:

1. First you must decide what you want to be known for…  and write it down!

2. Measure what you are trying to achieve – Use surveys. Use employee surveys to find out if you have created the right culture, ask your team if they enjoy coming to work? Creating a great place to work is a very important step.
Use customer surveys to find out how they rate their experience with you; what score would they give you on a scale of 1 to 10? Find out if customers enjoyed dealing with you.

3. Communicate the vision for your brand to your team. Constantly remind them “why we are here” and “what we aim to do”. You can do this through team meetings, face to face dialogue, spending time talking about your brand and your vision. Don’t just write it down and put it in a drawer; share it. Success only happens when everyone’s noses are pointed in the same direction!

4. Leadership - The leader needs to give a highly visible example of what the business is aspiring to achieve. I’ll say that again, you must lead by example. Are you leading people, or are you just managing tasks? It is important to talk to your team – lead them!

5. Recognition, reward, appraisal – Develop a culture of frequent feedback in your organisation. Catch your people doing something right! You may find the Employee Appraisal System in the Twiggal small business toolkit useful for this.

6. Recruitment - Hire for attitude… fire for attitude. If you get the first part right you won’t need to do the second part! Be prepared to hire attitude and train skills, you won’t regret it. Hire people who like people. Business is all about people.

If you follow these 6 steps you will be well on your way to creating an amazing customer experience and collecting loyal customers who love you. If you want to make a difference in your business immediately you can start to harness the power of habits - good habits – today. You’ll be amazed what happens to your business if you only do two things every day:
1. Make the day customer focused, not task focused.
2. Catch your people doing something right twice every day ( and tell them!)”

Try Conor’s recommendations today and let us know how you get on by leaving a comment below!