When preparing websites, we often have clients say they don’t want to put too much information on their site, because they “want people to contact us”.

The belief is that too much information means people won’t contact them.

But think of it this way: your website is often the first point of contact a customer will have with your business. If your website is helpful, you are being helpful. That creates a positive first impression, and first impressions count. The additional detail you provide can also eliminate enquiries from people who you really can’t help anyway, so that can be an additional time saver.

On the other hand, if the information on your website is overly brief and sketchy, a potential customer may well leave thinking, “That was a waste of time - it didn’t tell me anything!”

Having said this, every industry is different of course, but you really need to consider the end user’s experience. Will it be a good one or a bad one?

More specifically many have an issue with pricing.

Think of it this way: You’re walking through the supermarket and a certain biscuit company has all their goodies stacked up on the end of the aisle. It has cost them a fortune to buy that space for the week, not to mention the extra stock and the time spent in stacking it up.

But there’s no price on anything.

So, when you’re walking past with your trolley, do you put any of those biscuits in?

Chances are you won’t.

At the end of the day, people will want to know the price. So why make that information difficult to get?

And if you’re in an industry where pricing is a bit tricky or complicated, read this advice for a possible solution.

The recommendation?

Don’t let people walk past your site like a supermarket display without crucial information. Put enough there so they do stop, look around, and just maybe you’ll have a new customer!

All the news in Rockhampton at the moment is obviously about the flood.

But someone has taken a different angle and posted a bottle of “genuine” flood water on Ebay.

With about 3 days left on the auction there are already 18 bids!

It just goes to show: if you’re quick enough, there are opportunities everywhere!

If you’re anything like me, you receive a lot of email. Some days I feel like the only thing I’ve done all day is deal with email! Given the amount of other things that must be done in business, it’s easy to just put it in the “too hard basket” - but that can also be very dangerous.

I read this article on email and customer service about 6 months ago but while I was looking at some goals for 2008 I thought it was worth revisiting.

So how do you stack up in those figures? If I’m not careful I tend to find myself amongst the 70% who fail to respond within 24 hours. Definately something I’ll be fixing for 2008.

A good tactic is mentioned in Mike’s first point:

Automatically respond to all emails received: People will be more willing to wait for a reply if their initial communication has been acknowledged. Include a commitment to act on the issue and when you will respond fully.

I think people will generally understand if you can’t address the issue immediately - but it’s important to acknowledge the email and set an expectation of when you will be able to do so.

It also ties in to something I wrote back in 2004 about controlling your email (instead of the other way around!) - it’s as relevant now as then.

So, my top tips:

1. Choose when to check your email - don’t let your computer decide for you
2. As you’re going through your messages, fire up your diary (or whatever time management tool you use) and mark a time to actually attend to the task or issue
3. Respond to each email as soon as you read it (even if it’s only a brief response) - and at that point you can let the other person know when you’ll attend to is as well

Of course, if it’s an emergency you may need to deal with it straight away and all the above advice is null and void, but we don’t live in a perfect world, do we?

We were contacted this week by someone for whom we had previously quoted on developing their website. They chose a cheaper option, which is fine (we all have budgets) but as it turns out the “cheaper” option was not really that at all.

Sure, the up-front costs were less. But then the unexpected bills started coming in. Not to mention hugely inflated web hosting fees.

When considering your options, it pays to look at the bigger picture. What are the ongoing costs? How much are updates going to be? Can you update it yourself?

To make matters worse, when the firm chosen to do the website found out that the hosting was been transferred over to us they turned everything off there and then. Website. Email. The lot. And they can’t or won’t tell us the details to access the domain name either, so we can’t even actually initiate the transfer!

Some things to check:

1. Make sure any domain names are registered in your name, with your contact details (not the web designer’s).
2. Find out how much is being charged for web hosting. Depending on how much space you need, anything more than about $300 per year is probably too much.
3. Double check before proceeding if there are any other ongoing costs besides these 2.

While we’re on the subject of domain names, we charge $90 every 2 years for a “.com.au” and $30 per year for “.com” names. See what’s available here.

Your logo and branding can be very powerful in building your business.

It happens all the time - in the supermarket you might be a bit unsure about buying a brand you’ve never heard of as opposed to one that’s familiar. Is the ‘known’ one any better? Not necessarily. But you recognise it, and feel more comfortable buying it.

If you doubt the subliminal effects in play, watch this video from Derren Brown, an English psychological illusionist who focuses on perceptual manipulation and persuasive techniques.

You need be consistent with your branding, and use your logo everywhere you can.

Almost Anything? We are one step closer to doing “Almost Everything”!

We have just got a super duper new digital printer copier (need a pilot’s licence to operate it mind you) -however it is brilliant. We can now produce high quality full color prints, single or double sided on either A4 or A3! On top of that, we can convert ordinary documents to booklets.

So…

• Need that short run colour print done?
• Need a duplication of your procedures manual?
• Run out of your brochures and waiting for the next lot?

Email it over, or pop in… We’ll have it done in a jiffy!

We recently printed some pens for our business and they have worked a treat. Clients appreciate a little something now and then, and we have found that our bright little pens are getting around.

Many businesses do nothing extra for their clients. This is a simple and inexpensive way to do that little bit more than your competition!

Did you know that we can print pens for you as well? And for this month only, we are running a special on one particular sort of pen - colours are blue, red, green, purple or orange, with a soft grip and a metal pocket clip. If you order 1000 of these pens, printed with your company name/website (in silver), we can offer a $100 saving - they will only be $530 (incl GST) for 1000 pens! (For March 2005 only).