When we moved into our latest home, we needed a good size shelving system for the home office. We evaluated a few options, some pre-built, some custom installed, and others requiring part selection and assembly.

In order to save time and money, we chose to pick out the specific parts and assemble it ourselves.

With all the measurements taken, we purchased the parts and brought it home to install. We were full of excitement for the adventure as the heap of wood and metal pieces left much to the imagination.

We quickly found that the dimensions of each piece were close but not exact. The metal-ish connectors for the shelving, drawers, and cupboards were a little more brittle than desired.

After a few 20 mile trips on the roads of LA back to the store to swap some parts for shorter versions, we had a nice looking shelving system.

On reflection, the cost was much higher than expected.

Yes, the initial cost of buying the pieces was less than the deliverable in the pre-built or custom scenario but there is more to this than wood. In our choice to build it ourselves, we were assuming the risk that all would go exactly as planned and be without variance.

Is this ever possible? Read the rest of this entry » »

Every day when I wake up in the morning I do three things on my laptop before I pack it up and get going for the day. I check the sports scores I might have missed from the night before, I check my e-mail and I look to see what is going on with people I know on MySpace Facebook LinkedIn… You get the picture.

The point is social networking has worked its way seamlessly into the daily life in netizens - so much so that any serious political candidate (and many candidates that are not so serious) now has a MySpace page. This is an interesting social phenomenon and one that is making serious inroads into the business and marketing schemata of many intelligent organizations.

Jack Felsheim, a VP at Ovation Marketing wrote an interesting blog the other day regarding the relationship between social networking and website traffic. The idea is simple, get your website referred to as much as possible on as many sites as possible and you will see an increase in website traffic. Sounds easy enough right? Well with so much competition out there for space in the minds of your target audience, simply being a part of social network sites is not enough. Read the rest of this entry » »

When I first heard the term ‘Sales 2.0′ my first thought was “oh dear, not another sales gimmick!”

For those who’ve been in sales a while, you probably know what I’m talking about. We tend to get inundated with hundreds of articles on new sales approaches, how to be a more efficient sales person, reduce or eliminate cold calling, present better, so on and so forth. Some articles are indeed good — don’t get me wrong — but some tend to feed the “flavor of the month” trap of excuses of why sales don’t happen.

I’m a firm believer in the tried and true sales approaches like SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham and have felt that some Web 2.0 tools (Instant Messaging, LinkedIn, Facebook, LiveHelp, etc.) actually enhance these proven approaches. In my mind, the most successful sales people are master social networkers and multi-taskers where these tools come in handy and lend to what is coming in Sales 2.0. Read the rest of this entry » »

When I come home in the evenings, I am greeted by my little boy Isaac crawling toward the door. It is precious. My wife Rachael takes a break from “myspacing” as she calls it, looks up, and asks the quintessential “how was your day?”

“Myspacing?” I have resisted myspace for many reasons, most notably the high doses of Excedrin I have to consume to tolerate the myriad visual phenomena that is a profile page.

However, seeing how it has captivated my wife and hearing the stories of her reuniting with college and previous work friends captured my attention as I know the power of networking and relationships over time.

So, I finally gave in and have signed up for Myspace LinkedIn & Facebook and have found similar joys to Rachael.

What I have always loved about the Internet is how interrupting it is. People innovate in even small ways and the pervasive nature and reach of the web push this innovation — with all the change it requires — to the masses.

So, these innovations — called social networking sites — are causing problems now too. Apparently people can’t stay away from them. And maybe for good reason. Wherever there are people meeting and growing relationships, the business of life and commerce happens.

A recent News.com article says 50% of businesses are blocking access to LinkedIn, Myspace and others on grounds of malware but also productivity loss.

Is it blocked at your office? Should it be? If your boss asked you how you are using it in your work, what would you say? (you don’t have to leave your real name. =-)

–jc

It seems that retailers and other sales channels are dwindling in value to buyers. An article on ASPNews.com, a news web site focused on Software as a Service (SaaS) topics, speaking about the necessity for manufacturers to speak directly to consumer questions gave this example:

“Fifteen years ago if you wanted to buy a Nikon camera, you went to a local retailer, spent $2,000 and if you had a question you went back to the retailer to ask… Flash forward and today we pay $200, not $2,000, buy online or at Costco or Wal-mart, and if we have questions, our expectation of asking the retailer, is zero.”

“…that means the costs of supporting a client [directly] goes through the roof.”

“The distribution channel is cut and if [a manufacturer] doesn’t answer the question the consumer goes to [a competitor]. Without the ability to deliver a great customer experience, brand equity is eroded.”

At the root of most bad customer experiences, he says, is a lack of knowledge.”

The fact that customers trust data delivered directly from manufacturers is nothing new. What I found interesting here is how the “middle man”, the local retail store, is really not at all relevant in a sales capacity any longer. To many of us, having gone to a store to find expert information, only to be read the package descriptions by the “salesperson,” this is obvious.

However, given this example of how manufacturers are moving from reacting to such behavior to reinforcing it should be alarming to any company with a product to sell.

Web Marketing is becoming increasingly close and personal.

I don’t mind it at all as it saves me time in making buying decisions but puts Best Buy and others in a precarious position as many buyers will already have their mind made up when entering their doors and will use the “salespeople” more as a human search interface than a relevant part of their buying decision.

– jc

I have written about Salesforce.com here before as they are a great model for what is possible with strong innovation and determination. We have used Salesforce.com here at Enthusiast since late 2002 and it has greatly enhanced our communication and our ability to serve clients well.

In addition to using Salesforce.com internally, we enable web site return on investment (ROI) tracking and other abilities by integrating our Site Director platform with Salesforce.com. Take leads directly into Salesforce to improve response time and marketing performance.

I was invited to present on one of their marketing tracks this year at their worldwide conference called Dreamforce. Here are the details:

Session Title:

Your Web Site: The Hub of Marketing

Track:

Marketing I: Building the Funnel

Session Description:

Your Web site shapes how prospects and customers view your business and can be an outstanding lead-generation machine. Join us to learn best practices for layout, content, and navigation that can maximize the leads coming into your business. We’ll show you how to use Web-to-lead forms for a perfect advantage.

Feel free to watch the presentation below and leave a comment.

I am curious what your thoughts are on best practices. Have you found something that brings the leads in like cattle?

Tell us about it.

If you are going to be there, I would love to meet you. Just leave a comment below.

–jc

Enthusiast is in the business of helping organizations grow leveraging the Internet. We do this by providing services that make the planning, execution, and measurement of a web solution simple and effective.

One of the ways we help clients and the public is through the information available here on our own web solution. We use this blog and news, editorials, success stories, and other articles to highlight important events, noteworthy solutions, or just areas of opportunity commonly overlooked. Read the rest of this entry » »

I recently spoke to group of small business executives on marketing at an event with the Monrovia Chamber of Commerce. (Thanks much to my co-presenter Jacen from Century 21.) As I was planning my portion of the outline, I had an “ah ha!” moment when I came to the slide on “positioning.”

What is positioning?

What I mean by positioning is how one seeks to be compared in relation to others of perceived like characteristics. For example, when evaluating vehicles, how is the Mazda model seeking to position itself against its competitors in the same class? How does Mazda frame the argument and what are the specific buyer “hot buttons” — issues of vital importance — it is looking to push.

My take on positioning uses qualitative research of customer and prospect “hot buttons” to determine how one frames a product or service. Branding is the introspective process of determining values and identity apart from the customer. Positioning is the extrospective process of evaluating how that brand will be conveyed to prospects and clients in light of the market landscape. Read the rest of this entry » »

I just received a mailer from Dell with the usual coupon incentives to buy. $300 off this commodity PC, 10% off that hardware system, free company web site… What?

Is a web site in the same category as PC hardware? Apparently to many including Dell this is the case. In fact, I believe one of the major factors 30% of small businesses do not have a web site is due to this errant assumption: to have a web site, one must have IT resources. Read the rest of this entry » »