‘Got a question the other day from a reader wondering when and where it was appropriate to list his show’s website.

I give you my answer in this photo of a Florida license plate.

The state of Florida is so interested in driving traffic to their “Official Portal of the State of Florida” that they aren’t just putting the name of their state on their license plates, their plugging their website!

So there’s your answer.  Put your website everywhere you can.  Especially if your domain name isn’t the exact title of your show.  And with domain name squatters pouncing on more names than ever these days, odds are you’ve had to come up with some modification of your title for your URL (which reminds me . . . if you haven’t read the post of mine from last year on why you must grab your domain name asap, read it now.  I’ll wait).  Putting your site address in as many locations as possible is also important if your site isn’t coming up at the top of a Google search of your show.  (Need an example of what I’m talking about?  See this search for Awesome 80s Prom compared to this search for Memphis).

Websites are now a part of a show’s branding, like a tag line, a logo, or even the trademark sign.

And if a state government is doing a better job than Broadway at marketing their sites, then we’re even further behind the times than I thought!’

Source: Ken Davenport

Where Should You Put Your Website? is a post from: OE Design Blog

I loved Gabrielle’s explanation of how she is using her blog, her website and social media to promote her fantastic work.  And if you’re ever in the areas that she is conducting exhibitions please check her artwork out.

So here is what Gabrielle has to say…

‘Do you see web tools such as a blog or website as integral to developing your artistic career?

A website is a must for any artist in this day and age. I use it to refer acquaintances (i.e. people I just met, interested in art or what I do etc. I give them my Business card, with website address, which is also essential); other artists (which helps them know you are serious – if they like your work you can show together, they might refer you to someone that matters etc); Students (a good artist is known by the fact that a younger generation is influenced by their work) and as a repository/personal record of my shows etc – i.e. how my work has changed, my growth. Galleries are sometimes referred to the website, however many prefer a printed portfolio or photos first.

I have only just started the blog -not sure if it is integral to my career. About one follower per month adds themselves (which means they think what I have to say is worthwhile). More people drop in and out – I get emails from Denmark, US and acquaintances tell me (unsolicited) they read it from time to time. I use it to store the writings I have collected over the years in one place, to record my thoughts and seek feedback on works in progress (mostly no-one comments, though).

I also enjoy writing, so this is an outlet. I hope it helps to draw people to my website (the more links the better – I have now linked it to Facebook), and gets my name out there; and I want to show that I am a serious artist by of the content of my website (sometimes, painters are not seen as up-to date/serious in this concept driven art world, and it is often difficult to show the breadth of your work, let alone your intellectual ruminations, otherwise).’

Source: Gabrielle Jones Art Attack

Web Promotion For Art’s Sake is a post from: OE Design Blog

• No minimum buy
• Easy and fast creation
• Almost immediate implementation
• Pay only for clicks
• Bid for placement
• Set maximum cost per day
• Stop or pause campaign at any time

No minimum buy – Before options like AdWords and Overture existed, buying a highly targeted ad or a keyword buy could cost thousands of dollars. AdWords allows you spend whatever amount you want–no minimum. You can run or test a campaign for $10 a day or less.

Easy and fast creation – Once you set up an account at Google, you can begin to create ads whenever you want. Simply log in, name your campaign, and enter the headline, short body copy, and destination link. Finally, you can pick your keywords and phrases. Google’s keyword selection tools help you to identify alternate words and phrases and provide you with some data on how frequently certain phases are searched.

Almost immediate implementation – To give you a sense of how fast and easy this can be done, I just paused in writing this newsletter and set up a key phrase ad using the phrase “agency alliance.” It took me less than 10 minutes to set up and began appearing within 20 minutes of having set it up.

Pay only for clicks – When you view our ad, we pay nothing. If you click our ad we pay for the click. Now don’t get any crazy ideas like going there and depleting our checking account by clicking all day. Google’s system protects against multiple clicks from the same user. It also sets a maximum amount of cost per day.

Bid for placement – How much does a click cost? That depends on what you’re willing to bid and on how much you might have to bid based on the key phrase popularity. If you list an obscure phrase such as “agency alliance,” you don’t have to bid very much. A popular keyword like “travel” can cost as much as $55 per click to bid for top placement! When you bid on a term or phrase, you are telling Google the maximum you’re willing to pay for the click against others who have bid on that term. If the next highest bidder is much less than your maximum bid, you will only pay slightly more than the lower bid for top placement.

Set maximum cost per day – Additionally, you can cap your AdWords campaign spending at a predefined amount per day. If you get a lot of activity, you can tell Google not to display your ad after a certain amount has been spent. Once this threshold has been reached, your ad will not display until the following day.

Stop or pause campaign at any time – If you want to make adjustments, you can edit your ad at any time. You can also pause or stop a campaign at any time.

Other uses for AdWords:

Because Google AdWords are so quick and easy to buy, they allow you to test, change, and adjust them as much as you want. Aside from the primary purpose of driving traffic to a website, Google AdWords can be a fast and inexpensive way of testing messages, offers, and positioning to be used in other advertising mediums. Not sure if people would respond to an offer worded one way or the other? Try using the different phrases in a couple of Google AdWord campaigns to see which one performs better. This a fast and inexpensive way of testing, and it also creates value as you test, since the test will be sending visitors to the client’s website!

Google AdWords have reinvigorated the online advertising world. Learning to use this easy and inexpensive advertising option can add to your agency’s offerings, refine your current services, and multiply your existing efforts. Online advertising is definitely worth a second look!

Source: Eric Holter – http://www.linkedin.com/in/ericholter

The Benefits Of Google AdWords is a post from: OE Design Blog

Well the plumber was smart. I found him in the HotFrog directory because it was listed on page 1. I then looked through the list. I didn’t pick number one on the page. I picked the guy that wrote in his ad ‘Mention this advertisement and pay NO CALL OUT FEE on your plumbing work.’ I took a quick look at his website. He had a Blog. I was impressed, and the fact of the no call out fee, it addressed my fear of him charging for just walking through the door.

I just discovered a python in my roof too at the same time. Again I hopped on Google and typed in snake removalist Gold Coast.

The snake handler – well it didn’t appear that he had his own website (but in fact he did), but was listed with a whole bunch of other snake men and was the guy with my local area listing. No fear here. The snake had already planted enough fear in me to just get the man for the job.

So what did I learn from this experience?

1. Page One Position On Google Is Vital – without it you are going to lose business to the other smart guy.

2. You Can Still Gain Online Business If You Don’t Have Your Own Website – get listed in directories or with groupings of others who are located in other areas.

3. Create A Point Of Difference & Back It Up With Great Service – when people get to your website make sure that you are different. My plumber friend stood out from the rest of the plumbers by not charging a call out fee if I mentioned the ad. It removed my fear of a hefty charge. He also had a blog that gave handy tips. When he arrived he was dressed professionally and spoke professionally. He had a good vehicle with clear signage. His work was impeccable.

So small business owners – pay attention. There are customers like me out there who want to do business with you. Apply just these three things to your business today and start beating your competition to the door.

Google, The Plumber & The Python is a post from: OE Design Blog

There are many simple steps and tips to developing an effective website.

Sarah Schelbach, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer from OE Design – The Web Designers says, “Websites are often overlooked as they become too complicated for the business owner to develop. However, websites can be the most effective medium to market your business in this technology booming age.”

To get the ball rolling, you initially need a domain name and hosting. Which basically means you need an address for your website. Your domain name should be the name of your business or the first verbal phrase people will know your business by. You also need a host. Web host companies provide you with space on their server for use by clients and also provide Internet connectivity for you. What is Web Hosting? Here’s an example: you rent an office space or factory to place your business in. This is like hosting. You host (or rent) a space on the Internet and that’s where your website lives.

The next essential step is hiring a web designer. Although there are programs which enable you to build a website, by hiring an actual web designer, you will be able to develop an excellent site to a professional standard. The web design company will also inform you of other programs which will take your website to a new level and get you ahead of your competitors.

Tips which will help your website succeed are:

1. Clearly define your audience.
2. Clearly define the purpose of your website.
3. Create relevant content that is both people friendly and search engine friendly.
4. Point people where you want them to go by having stand out pages.
5. Provide an offer where, when consumers fill in their details, they are offered something free.
6. Have contact details on every page.

By using these tips, and by hiring a web designer, it will enable your business to be present on the web. Web designers can also help you get on the major search engines so your website is your most effective marketing tool, ultimately ensuring your online business success.

How To Put The Wow In Your Website! is a post from: OE Design Blog

More and more people are researching and shopping online which is why forward thinking companies are getting on the advertising bandwagon.

Read the full article: Online Advertising Set For Continued Solid Growth in 2008-2009

Online Advertising Set For Continued Solid Growth in 2008-2009 is a post from: OE Design Blog

In the current economic climate, small business owners need to be particularly resourceful with their marketing communication strategies.

Database Marketing is a low cost and effective approach to potential customers using communication tools such as, mail, telephone, or email. More importantly, database marketing can be a powerful tool to those companies prepared to extend their marketing reach to the immense market available on the web.

Australia has 11.3 million Internet users, with Internet users spending more time on the Internet (22 hours) than watching TV (14 hours). (ABS, 2008)

Your database can turn your business into a goldmine with database marketing aimed at making happy customers loyal.

Ask yourself, Do you have a database? Do you have your customers Name, Mobile Phone Number and Email?

Database marketing focuses on service and on the customer, not the product.

Here are 5 tips to get your database working effectively for your business online.

1. Dig out your database – previous/current clients, warm leads.
2. Compile an eNewsletter – Information on your business, relevant articles.
3. Make an offer – a monthly special? A call to action?
4. Add a guarantee
5. Send it out!

Make sure you use a permission based database. Simply ask your new clients if they’d be happy to receive regular updates by email. Also whenever you do an email-out provide your clients an opportunity to unsubscribe at any time.

If you are doing things right, your customers will be glad you have a database and are including them on it. Database marketing over the web is a low cost marketing strategy, and if used effectively will create customer retention making them loyal and happy customers.

5 Tips On How To Move Your Customers QUICKLY UP THE ‘Ladder of Loyalty’ is a post from: OE Design Blog

People want to be educated about what they’re buying before they’ll part with their money. If you can do that as a business for your potential customers, by allowing them to view your products or services in the comfort of their own home, you are miles ahead of your competition.

But are people buying goods Online? The answer is a resounding YES!

Figures released by Comscore Networks show that the big winners so far this year are: Event Tickets – up 50%, Consumer Electronics – up 43%, Sports and Fitness – up 41% and Apparel and Accessories – up 38%
Total online spending for 2005, including travel, eclipsed 143 billion dollars, which represented an increase of 22% on 2004.

So where does that leave us? Well, there is a world of business out there that is ready and waiting for you and me to pursue. But how are we going to tap into this market?

I believe it’s going to take a two-fold process.

Firstly, EDUCATION. You and I must become more and more educated about the Internet. We’re going to have to learn how we can effectively market our goods and services this way.

Secondly, TOOLS. We must discover and learn how to use the software that will allow us to effectively use the Internet. It’s time to work smarter, not harder.

One of the first steps that I took when first stepping into the online world was that I started to learn, along with my 12-year-old son and my 14-year-old daughter, HTML. I actually paid my children to learn this computer language. Do you think they were highly motivated? You bet! To me it was such an important investment, both for them and for the future of my business and their own businesses. We learnt how to take charge of the Websites that had previously been prepared by others. We also decided to take greater control of our business by learning how to redesign them and create other more productive sites. OE Design – The Web Designers is now the result of those first tentative steps that we took.

But finally, the two major keys that will set you apart from your competition in THE BIG ONLINE SPEND revolution will be the EDUCATION you get and the TOOLS you use. Combine those with action and you’re on the road to astounding success.

For more information about how you can use the power of the Internet to grow your business online go to www.oe-design.com/. Keep in touch with the latest developments on the Internet and in sales and marketing in general by subscribing to our free ‘OE Design Web Tips Newsletter’ at www.oe-design.com. Peter Sinclair is the CEO of OE Design – The Web Designers.

Online Spenders Are A Girl’s Best Friend – Peter Sinclair is a post from: OE Design Blog

I suppose it’s for that reason that I looked VERY closely at a Local Business Directory that arrived in my letterbox recently. This directory was prepared by one of the local Chambers of Commerce here on the Gold Coast. It contained a listing of hundreds of businesses in our local area.

Flicking through the directory, I quickly noticed that many of the businesses failed to promote their Website (that’s if they had one) and most of them didn’t even bother to at least include an e-mail address.

That’s what then brought me to the following discovery.

Now it’s not my normal practice to do such things, but as I said, my Internet senses were highly alert. I took out a pencil and began to circle every Website I could find and put an asterix next to those businesses that promoted their e-mail address.

These were my findings:

The business who took a full-page ad out on the inside front cover didn’t even bother to promote a website nor an e-mail address. Neither did the ad on the inside back cover. Fortunately, the outside back cover had a Website featured. Then in the first few front pages of the newsletter, I noticed that the distributor of the directory, along with some politicians, had featured their e-mail addresses.

But this then brought me to the next section. These ranged from small ads to quarter page and even half page ads. Only 20.1% of businesses bothered to promote a Website and only another 19.07 % promoted an e-mail address. All up, 39.17% of businesses, which had paid good money for these ads to be placed in this directory, bothered to promote one of the most powerful assets that are now available for businesses to use – THE INTERNET.

I then went on to the final section of the directory where businesses were provided with a free listing. Here there were 766 businesses featured. My research revealed even more alarming results. Out of the 766 businesses, only 6.39% bothered to promote their Website and another 6.91% promoted an e-mail address. Out of all these businesses, only 13.3% thought it necessary to present an Internet presence within their ads.

So what can we deduce from this simple research?

Any of us who have a Website and promote it, even if we don’t YET have a full understanding how to best utilise it for our business, are in a POWERFUL POSITION to get noticed.

The Power Of Getting Noticed On The Internet – Peter Sinclair is a post from: OE Design Blog

1. Keep your site clean and error free. Nobody will spend much time on a site that takes forever to load , or one that is filled with broken links. Let us know if you find errors or hear of problems with your site.
2. Publicize your URL (Web site address) on your business cards, fax cover sheets, company letterhead, etc. These documents are going directly to the people with whom you want to do business (or with whom you want to continue to do business). Make sure they see your Web site!
3. Register your own domain name (e.g., yourcompany.com). It’s more professional and easier to remember than a long URL that attaches your name to the name of your Internet Service Provider.
4. Advertise your Web site on the radio, in print ads and on television. If these media are already in your marketing plan, it’s easy to include your URL at the end of the ad. While these ads are generally limited in content, they can draw inquisitive listeners, viewers, and readers to your site for more detailed information.
5. Make sure you’re registered with the major search engines and directories.
6. Get others to link to your site. Link to your local Chambers of Commerce, Internet service providers, community organizations and others may offer free or inexpensive ways to get your site linked. Also consider reciprocal links to your business associates’ sites and to your clients’ sites.
7. Keep your site fresh. If people return to your site for a second visit, will they see the same thing they did last time? In some cases, that may not be a big problem . But in other cases, it could spell disaster. If you feature products, real estate listings or press releases, make sure that there is something new at least once a month.
8. Make your site valuable to your visitors. Consider rewarding them for coming to your site with a special printable coupon, a tip of the day or information that helps them make decisions or purchases. Create a regular eNewsletter like this one.
9. Announce your new site with a press release. Unlike a paid ad, this is FREE. Of course, it is most appropriate if your site is new.
10. Promote, promote, promote. Share your website with everyone you come in contact with. It is your window to the world and people need to hear about you and your business

How Can I Get More Traffic to My Website? is a post from: OE Design Blog