We’re gonna need a bigger boat

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Franklin Parrish

So I’m spelunking around the web as I like to do on a quiet Saturday evening after burping up code all day…

I revisited the HUGE website. These guys rock as far as creative is concerned and I feel connected to them in that we chose the same color to represent our brand. It takes a special person to embrace magenta. M=100!

Anyway, I noticed that their website did not scale down for the 1028×768 viewport. I try to stay on top of the design and development best practices and from what I can determine, they made a conscious choice to make those with small (non-widescreen) monitors scroll horizontally. And I am not hating.

I spent a lot of time and vocal chord cells arguing against 800×600 while I was at Bank of America. And I made a fairly public declaration that IE6 users are on their own; I wasn’t considering them when I developed sites anymore. (If I can find that Facebook post, I’ll add a screenshot.)

I have a feeling that the brilliant guys and gals at HUGE, Inc. looked at their traffic and determined that those with old school monitors were either so small a percentage of their audience or there was some other factor that caused them to make the strategic design decision to move past that resolution constraint.

Good for them. I may follow suit….at least for B2B.

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(free) information is power 2

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Franklin Parrish

Responded to an email that came through the site last week (I know, that was a little too long to wait) and a request for marketing assistance  for $1000 per year. That’s a very low number, and I told them so. But instead of telling them to get lost, here’s what I did. I gave them advice. I gave them 4 ideas to market themselves on a very limited budget, most of it social media-related and audience outreach.

Here’s what it did:

  • Established me as a subject matter expert
  • Demonstrated that I’m interested in their success, regardless of their budget
  • Indicated that I have more tricks up my sleeve

Sometimes giving information away is a great way to build trust and perhaps a client. I left the door open to them to work together if their budget permitted. I’ll keep you posted on their response.

 

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First Contact

Posted on February 16, 2012 by Franklin Parrish

This one’s for my creative brothers and sisters, but the small business community can use this one too.

I got a call out of the blue from a prospective client that found us on The Google. I love it when that happens. One of the most important conversations you will have with a client is the first call. Like a date, this is where you can determine whether there is compatibility between the two parties.

Here’s what I did:

Let them talk. One of the best things that you can do is listen. Most of my clients are owner/operators and have a lot of emotion wrapped up in their businesses. When you are actively listening to them lay out their business needs, you are also personally validating them. That goes a long way to establishing trust.

When you do speak, couch everything in terms of a benefit to the client. This is the time to process what the prospect has said and turn it into possible solutions. When I asked my latest prospect what his goals were, he said “I need to get some money coming in the door.” This tells me that he is price sensitive and that he is on a pretty tight timeline. I mention that the site that he has in mind is a simple brochure marketing site that will help people find him and pick up the phone to call him. I also said that based on the simplicity of his site (make sure you don’t use the word simplistic), he can be up and running fairly shortly. I also told him that part of building the site would entail search engine marketing which can help drive traffic.

Only promise things that you can control. Too often to get the sale, business over promise and then inevitably, under deliver. Make sure that you don’t fall into that trap. Tell him about your experience with similar clients. Tell her about the results of the project in emotional terms “You’ll have a site that you can be proud of”, “you’ll be well-represented on the web”. Specific numbers or results or dollar figures are out of your control and you’d best avoid giving them any specifics there.

You can offer information about past projects, but be careful to inform them that their results may vary.

Take them through the process. Your diligence and thoroughness as a creative professional is an asset. Briefly take them through the process and let them know how much thought will go into producing their web presence. Communicating your understanding of strategy and audience sets you apart from the run-of-the-mill designer.

Don’t weaponize your knowledge. Using acronyms, professional terms or idioms will only alienate your client, especially over the phone.

Give them a ballpark price. That’s the real reason that they called. The whole time that you’re talking, they are thinking, “This sounds great, but how much will it cost?” Prepare their expectations for what’s to come. If they want a proposal, then you’re looking good. Why blow it with sticker shock? Give them a ballpark and let them know that it is a ballpark figure. Chances are while you were talking, you had already formulated a price in your head. : )

Avoid yes or no questions. When I gave him the ballpark price, I asked, “How does that work with your budget?”. It implies cooperation and doesn’t put him/her on the defensive. Open-ended questions require more thought and you’ll get more information about how this project is going to work for both of you.

Recap and thanks. Tell them what to expect next and do it. Then thank them for calling and smile when you do so!

Hopefully, you can work these principles into your next First Contact conversation and generate a very favorable result.

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The Most Overused Stock Photo Ever

Posted on February 3, 2012 by Franklin Parrish

Have you seen this woman? Chances are you have. Chances are so has everyone else. This is a peril of stock photography to avoid. Take a look at the images on your site. If you see them on another site or on packaging, it’s time to change it out!

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No inside jokes

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Franklin Parrish

So UX has been coming up in conversation lately as I have been speaking to new and current clients. I’ve talked about managing the user’s expectations, but what about the trust factor?

The digital space can be a scary place. Lots of bad people are are sending you emails from Nigeria or Kansas asking for your banking information so that the can send you millions of dollars. Companies are asking you to fill out a form so that you can download a PDF of fairly useless information. It’s enough to make you uninstall your browser.

I have long told my students my axiom: brand=trust. So how can a business make that true on the web, which is a low-trust environment? More importantly, how can you get a user to perform a task that he/she is inherently reluctant to?

Transparency

So many times as a youngster, I asked my parents “Why?!?” is response to their requests. Your users are asking the same thing…so tell them! What does it cost you to be honest with your user and tell them why you are asking for information? Better yet, what can you gain in loyalty to be up front and honest with them about the information request and what you plan to do with it? If cast the ask in terms of a benefit for the user, chances are they will comply.

Demonstrate that you value and will protect the exchange of information.

Make sure that you convey to your use that the information that you collect from them is safe in your hands. Have a privacy policy. Make sure that the user knows that you have a privacy policy and, most importantly, let them know what to expect from that exchange of information.

Trustworthy design

Ever bought fish from a beat-up station wagon or a generic white van? Of course not. Equally, shabby/confusing/cookie-cutter design does not lead to user trust and actually deters them from making the purchase/engagement decisions that you want them to make. Need I say more?

The bottom line is that users expect shady behavior in the digital space. Pleasantly surprise them and never make them feel that they are not in on the joke.

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Get your foot in the door: creating compelling email subject lines

Posted on October 23, 2011 by Franklin Parrish

Coming up for air from a busy stretch and thought that I would cover a marketing channel that benefits small businesses: email marketing. Unless you have been under a Martian rock for the past 20 years, you have received quite a bit of email in your inbox. Have you thought about what gets you to open an email while others get trashed? It would seem that 99.95% of email marketers do not.

Remember the traveling salesman that would put his foot in the door to keep it from being slammed in his face? Your emails can be like that, albeit a little more welcome.

You or your creative professional can design an email that is compelling and cross-platform compliant, but it is the subject line that makes or breaks a campaign.
The key to success is managing the recipient’s expectations when the email arrives.

Before anyone opens an email, they ask themselves the following questions:

Who is this?
Make sure that your email subject line identifies who you are and your relationship to the user. A line like “Thanks for signing up for the M19 MEDIA mailing list” properly identifies you to the user as someone that they know.

Why are they contacting me?
People generally don’t like surprises and are leery of opening emails for fear of viruses and all sorts of other bad things. Give them a specific sense of what the email is about before they open it. “Claim your small business social media marketing report for signing up with M19 MEDIA” let’s the user know what they can expect to find when they open the email.

How did they get my email address?
Many email marketers take too long to respond to people who sign up for their email mailing list. That time lag can allow your user to forget all about that form that they filled out on your site. Make sure that, even though they opted in twice, that you send them a reminder within a day or so to remind them that they did. Here, you can use the email client’s preview pane to accomplish that goal. Many email clients will display the first sentences of your email and here is where you can lead off with the reminder that they signed up in the first place.

What do they want?
Make sure that your offer or Call to Action is displayed in the subject line. Tiger Direct does a good job of putting some of their specials in the subject line. So even if I am not interested in a 21″ monitor for $200, I know that the email is about their special sales for that week. “Thanks for signing up for M19 MEDIA’s mailing list. Your 30% coupon is ready!”

Why should I care?
Your email subject line should that be relevant to the audience that is receiving it. This means that you may have to segment your list so that everyone gets an email that means the most to them. “Solve your small business lead generation with this white paper from M19 MEDIA.” should get the attention of a small business owner that is struggling with lead generation. That person will likely open my email.

Some other considerations:

Make the Call to Action time sensitive. Emails that feel urgent or require immediate action usually get opened more quickly, especially if the email arrives soon after the user signed up for the email newsletter.

Avoid spammy words. This should be easy when you are customizing your email subject line to resonate with your audience. Here is a list of words/phrases to avoid.

Stay tuned for a post about email content!

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Branding Brilliance

Posted on September 10, 2011 by Franklin Parrish

Brilliant.

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(free) information is power

Posted on September 9, 2011 by Franklin Parrish

I had a prospective client meeting yesterday; delightful, thoughtful people who are trying to make the world a better place. They came recommended through a mutual friend and I met them for Iced Tea and nibbles at  Lucky’s Coffee Shop. I’m deliberately keeping the details vague, because this post is about information and how to use it most effectively.

This prospect has a great concept to take their brand’s product to the next level and wanted to discuss with me how to go about getting into the mobile app arena. They said that they have ideas that they wanted to keep secret. No problem, I responded, I will bring along a standard NDA (non-disclosure agreement) so everyone can speak freely. After a nice preliminary discussion and a few moments of wrangling over just what the NDA was supposed to protect, I finally said, “This document is designed more for your protection than it is for mine. ” When I began to volunteer advice about how best to tackle their problem, the owner of the company set the NDA aside and said “I don’t need this. I trust you.”

The reason for this post is that, yes, in the information age, information is power. Many people then guard information so closely that they come off cagey, vague and shifty. Not the best way to build trust with your client.

Establishing your expertise is one of the best ways to build user/customer/confidence in your brand. So how better to establish your expertise than giving away some information for free. Demonstrate that you have expertise to spare by being free with your knowledge. Don’t be threatened by sharing what you know because the implication of sharing is “what can they do if they really tried?”

So if you have a client that needs some free advice on a subject you know a lot about, do them and yourself a favor and just give it to them. You’ll be helping to win over a new fan and perhaps sales and referrals down the road.

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The case for quality

Posted on September 2, 2011 by Franklin Parrish

A former Wilmington University student of mine approached me with a problem. He didn’t feel as though he was getting the proper rates for his freelance work. He has found himself taking jobs that pay very little and reward him even less professionally. He wrote me asking for my advice.

This has been an issue with every freelancer in his/her career, and it also resonates with my small business clients. How do I get what I feel I am worth?

The simple answer is that you have to ask for it, be prepared to negotiate a little, and then move on if you don’t. But of course, there are some mitigating factors at hand:

The economy is still terrible for nearly everyone. Many businesses don’t feel as though they have the money to spend on design and strategy. My counter is that this isn’t a spend per se, but an investment. An investment in new customers and adding to their bottom line. Most small business owners don’t realize that when the market is sour, this is the very time to invest in marketing. While others are pulling back, your brand can be front and center and will reap the benefits of that exposure when things get better again.

There are so many free website plans out there. That’s a tough one. How can anyone compete with free or nearly free? Quality. Unless this particular client is a designer him/herself, chances are they will build a site that looks like it was built with a wizard. They don’t understand usability. They don’t get information architecture. They probably don’t know what their marketing strategy is or how to implement a multi-channel campaign. That’s where the service professional has an edge. Offer (and deliver) on  quality, backed my expertise and experience.

People don’t value what I do. That can be true, but give them an example that they can relate to. Ask them about their favorite commercial or website. Let them know that it is quite likely a team of people worked on that site to make it that great. Let them know that it takes a lot of know-how (know-how that they don’t have) to make advertising effective and worth the cost.

So here are some things that you can do to get the dollars you want:

Emphasize your talents/skills. Make sure that your skills are on display on your website or on your business card. Your site should be a showcase of your abilities. If your site is impressive, then it will be easier to get to “yes” from your prospective.

Sell your services as an investment, not an expense. Focus on the results of the design plan. Remind them that you’re there to help them make money/get new customers/build their brand. Make everything you do about THEM, not you.

Have a contract. Contracts let people know that you are a professional and not to be taken lightly. Here is a sample contract to get you started.

Have an elevator pitch. Something short, sweet and to the point. Make a declarative statement and then provide two – three reasons that make that statement true:

XYZ Design is a full-service, multi-channel design and strategy firm. We handle digital projects, mass media design and marketing strategy for business just like yours.We’ve won a couple of awards for our work, and while we’re proud of that, we focus on the results we get for our clients. Our strength is in integration. We make sure that your brand/message is consistent regardless of the medium.

It will make you sound more polished and ready to get down to business.

Be prepared to give. A little. No one wants to be stonewalled when negotiating price. Build in a little cushion in your price and then be prepared to hand that over as a carrot in the negotiation, if there is one.

Walk the walk. This not a license to be arrogant, but through your body language and the words that you choose, that you are helping them, not the other way around. You have the expertise, not them. You have the skills, not them. Remind yourself of that before you walk into the meeting.

Get more work under your belt. I gave away sites for a long time, and still will barter services if there is a new technology/technique that I’d like to try. The more you do, the better you become at it. You’ll be able to go through your mental library and bring up a project that is similar to the one that you’re proposing. Just like surgery, you want the guy who’s done this many times before.

Get testimonials. Sure, you can say all the right things, but clients like to hear from other clients about your services. Have testimonials on your site. They do go a long way.

Get referrals. My business runs on referrals. Once you have a client that is happy with your work, create incentives for them to refer you to others. Offer them a free layout of a new flyer or business card if they bring you a customer that signs a contract. You can actually charge the new person a little more because you already have the leverage of enhanced reputation and a recommendation from a person that they trust.

While I am addressing this mainly to creatives, small business clients that are looking for their services would be well-advised to look for these characteristics when selecting a provider.

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