Small Businesses and Responsive Websites

Posted on May 15, 2013 by admin

Responsive WebsitesForget about how pretty your business website looks on a desktop. The wow factor is not helping businesses capture their audience nor creating revenue. Today’s effective websites are designed to be more mobile friendly. So enter the Responsive website format. Think about it, how many times have you done a search using your smartphone recently?

The facts are that mobile technology has evolved and your potential clients are using smartphones, iPads and tablets to surf the web more and more each day. The mouse stays in the office and the finger(s) now manipulate your website.  Being able to view a three column conventional website on your smartphone can become a task. That’s not the experience you want your clients to have. Having a website that can realign to a single column eliminating horizontal scrolling by the end user is optimal for businesses.

Ok, so by now you’re wanting to know what a Responsive website is.  Simple, it’s a technique that allows your site to dynamically adapt to the device it is being viewed on. This kind of improved user experience yields higher results of improved conversion rates, more page loads per visit and more time spent on your site, to name a few. Check you analytics and see the percentage of users who have accessed your website via mobile device.

Regardless of your industry or the size of your business, you need to have a user-friendly site that meets prospects where they are. Whether they’re using their iPhone while sitting on the train, or their tablet while relaxing at home in the evening, you want to capture their attention and convert them into customers when they land on your site.

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Is Your Company Ready For Digital Marketing?

Posted on April 5, 2013 by admin

Digital marketing is famous for what it can accomplish. It is presently known as the practice of promoting products. This service uses a database-driven online distribution channel and it is supposed to reach consumers in a timely and cost-effective manner. Who wouldn’t want that? Everyone – anyone would say! The actual necessity for digital marketing is definitely a good resource to promote and increase revenue. That is what any business needs. It specializes in resources such as banner advertising and search engine optimization (SEO) and, as we all know SEO is a great concept for targeting those keywords to get you on the high link of the browse in Google or Yahoo. There are some other great aspects that digital marketing has to offer. In fact, sometimes the marketing world forgets to mention other attributes of digital marketing such as email, RSS, instant messaging, fax broadcast, blogging, video streams, wireless text messaging, and podcasting. Even though they are simply overlooked, they
do a great job in this field as well.

However, digital marketing like any other tool is not always going to be up to par, as it is not going to produce revenue in an instant. Just like anything else, it takes time but the time it takes can make a world of difference in your business. The statistics of digital marketing are that even though it doesn’t provide instant gratification, it still goes a long way with what it does have to offer once it is up and running from a company that knows what they are doing. A reporting engine can be devised within a campaign, in turn, allowing organizations to see in real-time. It advises on how that campaign is performing, what is being viewed, how many times, how long, and what purchases are being made. As time progresses these features are also getting upgraded all the time.

One of the most fantastic things in digital marketing is that it centers around the Internet. This communication tool is a very powerful medium in many marketing pathways. Digital marketing, therefore, can be considered the main component for Internet technologies to execute marketing campaigns in every way possible. The fact that digital marketing is constantly evolving and are continuously being created to advance in marketing just make digital marketing one of the best investments you can make. There are more pros than cons for this type of marketing; it should be stressed that any business could use this form of marketing in their lives.

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Is Your Website Mobile Ready?

Posted on March 31, 2013 by admin

March BlogEveryone knows that a great looking website attracts positive attention along with every detail such as the way links and graphics are laid out. The same expectations are done with introducing Mobile applications for your site. The convenience of what it has to offer and the representation of it – needs to be in sink, a good web designing company knows this.

As your company grows it is vital to show your customers that you can keep up with the times because you are successful. Successful businesses do well for a reason, and that is because what they have to offer is worth purchasing. In turn, this means they have a great reputation and that dedicated customers will want them to have a Mobile application because it will be convenient to have them at their fingertips at all times. Statistics show that 80% of Americans using Mobile devices have a smart phone and that is why Mobile apps are on the rise for recruiting business.

Websites need to have the look of high cost and Mobile accessibility provides your company that special-touch. It is definitely a professional move to ask your web designing company to get you on board. Web professionals can give your customers that “wow” or
the “how neat” feeling when they log on to your Mobile app. Websites that are designed correctly know how to highlight the areas that make your business stand out. Your website is not only supposed to attract your customer but it should also increase productivity. The
Mobile application that is advertised on there will do just that. Your Mobile application is supposed to work 24/7 around the clock even when you are clocked out. This is how the website and Mobile application will ensure you will feel that it is the most productive design
as possible without losing its class. Some website designs can even comply or match the one on your Mobile application. It is always good to ask to make your Mobile website with a signature design to stamp your business. This will assist in originality because other’s that offer the same service will not be confused with yours. For example: when you see the little Cricket guy somewhere you automatically know it’s the cell phone company. That icon and colors are their signature. Having one of your own is something great web designers can do! This is all going to ensure the greater part of the business through sales, sales, sales, with a bonus of an awesome reputation for design, customer service, your product, and your “neat” Mobile application.

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Finding the Right Balance For Your Website

Posted on March 31, 2013 by admin

February 2013 BlogIt can be difficult to provoke creativity within yourself when opinions get in the way of what is the best of the best in website design. What do people want to see in the actual design and how can the colors you choose make a difference in the overall perspective of what is attractive in the industry? You have to know what elements and colors work well, but many of them do, so it is ultimately your opinion of what your website design will bring out in you and your business. Obviously, at the end of
each choice you finally make – you will need to ensure it looks cool, classy, and professional.

Many components will count for the ultimate design and your web designer will know how to implement the things you need, with good instruction of course. Knowing what kind of functional navigation you want, what graphics or images to represent, if a video from an attractive representative or product would be of some use, and what persuasive or
intelligent words you choose to say on your site is vital to it being a success. Once you have understood what you want on the site, it will slowly come together and the key words you select can help ensure your potential clients see the great design, so it may be a profitable once they are implemented naturally and selected carefully. The tabs to present this
information are also very important. To show you are a legitimate company, it is best to have a contact tab that works with correct numbers and emails. You would be surprised how many sites lack contact info – making the client wonder if this company has a staff, or if it is even real.

Once you feel like your website is up to par, you need to start seeking different advertising options and what is popular to promote your business to pull in traffic to your site. The most positive way to get people talking is to one another, and the way that usually happens is when they see an awesome website, they will want to pass it on. Also, businesses seem like corporate status when they have professional social networking connections with tons of “likes” and commentary. A business with great interaction and commentary, not only has a great website, they have definitely made it in their industry as the best. However, just be careful as you get on board with social networking. Many things can be looked down
upon. Any type of verbiage or message that sounds unprofessional or has unanswered concerns is the main two – no no’s – to avoid at all cost. Keep those in mind as you start connecting and maintaining the site. With any business you are going to find your challenges, so finding the right people who are experienced and have others compliment their professionalism and creativity are the ones to invest in, and then let them get you and your site up and running.

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5 Ways You Can Use Marketing Content to Build Consumer Trust…And Drive Sales

Posted on January 8, 2013 by admin

Come close. No. Closer. I’m going to tell you a little secret: Buyers don’t care (not even a little bit) about whatever product or service you’re offering.

True story.

The nuts and bolts of your business and bravado simply don’t matter to buyers today. They all have laptops, desktops, iPads and cell phones. They don’t need you anymore. They can do their homework on their own. The bottom line is that today’s buyer/customer only cares about what’s “in it” for him or her; how your product or service makes the problems they face smaller and opportunities they glean easier, faster and cheaper than “the other guy”.

So what does that mean for us small business owners?

In layman’s terms: relationship selling? Meet value selling. Your sales force, and indeed your business, must provide candid insight and new, valuable information at each stage in the buying cycle, and it has to match up with whatever homework Mr. and Mrs. Consumer is doing on his or her own. Instead of “selling” said prospect, you need to place fanatical focus on content creation that is full of insight designed to capture buyers’ attention, spark conversations, offer problem-solving solutions, demonstrate obvious value, and trigger action.

How do you do that? Easy. You follow our five steps to success…

1. Make content fast to find and obvious

Your content should be lean, up to date, and full of useful, little known tidbits that will add value to the consumer. But more than that, you need to make this raw information readily accessible to your sales team to help them overcome objections and close the sale.

Don’t merely categorize information and resources by type, but instead, consider organizing assets by buyer segments, pain points, and stages in the sales cycle. The more lean and mean your content library, the more lean and mean your sales force. Get it?

2. Provide lots and lots and lots of media

Mix your content library up a little bit, straying away from the canned sales flyers and marketing emails. Promote recent blog posts, whitepapers, case stories, videos, competitive comparisons and research reports. Give these to your sales team.

Are you getting the picture yet?

Extra tip: A little levity never hurt anybody; especially since humor is proven to be one of the most effective ways of breaking down barriers. In mathematical terms, it looks like this:

Content humor = Trust and relationship building.

From there, the sale becomes natural.

3. Identify the “right” social media forums

Find two or three product or service related blogs for your sales staff to read and promote. Add in a few LinkedIn groups for your force to join. Give one or two Twitter lists for your sales folk to follow. Find some Facebook groups relevant to your product or service. And finally, pepper in some Pinterest — if appropriate, of course. Train your sales staff to use these resources to supplement the sales process. Have your sales focus to spur discussion on social media. Use that as a lead generation and aid in closing tool.

Social media is the new face-to-face sale (after all, in person meetings are so last year — only kidding…sort of). Thing is, if you aren’t on the cutting online edge, you will be left behind in an era full of fax machines and lost business.

Cue gasp.   

4. Trigger action

Make your content easy for buyers, current customers and past customers alike to share, follow, or subscribe to. Doing so encourages “referential marketing”, or, going old school speak: word of mouth marketing. This sort of marketing has always been (and will always be) the best business building tool around. Because people do business with businesses they know and trust; get a good referral from a trusted source, and your sale is pretty much already closed.

Not that I’m telling you anything you don’t already know…

5. Build in feedback loops

Feedback loops help you capture opinions and leads online, but you also need to pepper that type of marketing into your sales content. Like a general going to battle, you know that your sales team is your front line. If they aren’t effective, you lose the battle. Building feedback loops into your sales team’s material — that goes directly to you, or your general manager — is a great way to gauge the effectiveness of your team and help you adjust accordingly.

Because in today’s high-tech competitive marketplace, business as usual doesn’t cut it..but business as unusual…does.

And of course, if you need a little help, we, here at Provincia are experts in all of this new-fangled techo-stuff. Give us a shout, and see if you like what we have to offer. We think you will. Then again, we’re a little biased.

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2012, A Year to Remember

Posted on December 28, 2012 by admin

I will be the first to admit I am not a blogger. However for December’s blog, I wanted to give a personal brief recap of 2012 rather than have one of our staff members perform their expertise in blogging.

In the year in which held a presidential election and witnessed some phenomenal acts of kindness throughout the world, we also experienced horrific acts of mankind towards one another. With that said, my gratitude goes out to the good and my utmost sympathy to the bad.

Although we faced a lingering and challenging economy, Provincia Consulting Group was able to sustain growth in 2012. With the ever-changing technology, we took advantage of the emergence of smartphones by adding mobile phone application and mobile web development to our services. Let me add that client demand was also a big player in this decision.

Our website development increased and we remained consistent with demand. We even collaborated with other companies in creating web integration together. This was special to me because in a competitive business world, we found ways to work in unison utilizing our strengths.

Currently we have web development projects in progress that involve voice recognition for the hearing impaired. Others include a government installation in DFW, national store chain,  car dealership, nationwide social video directory as well as many local businesses.

We will introduce the Parallax platform websites in 2013 and continue our branding services that include social media and logo design. We will certainly need to expand in office space the first quarter of 2013 and a decision remains to be made if the expansion will be in DFW or San Antonio.

Provincia also launched a sister company, ScanFind.mobi.  ScanFind will be utilized in creating informative resources for all business, school and  medical formats. We are currently building a strong marketing campaign which is due to launch early 2013 and will be packaged within third-party advertising companies.

Customer Service is our secret. In today’s world, that is all but gone now. My clients mean the world to me and treating them with respect, quick resolve and competitive pricing will always keep them coming back. Our advertising budget is $0.00, word of mouth, priceless.

2012 was awesome and 2013 will be even better. I want to thank all who have and continue to support Provincia Consulting Group.  Our New Year’s resolution for 2013 is to grow our client base while maintaining our personal touch.

Joseph Martinez
Principal

 

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10 Tips Guaranteed to Make Your Website Valuable to Your Readers

Posted on November 7, 2012 by admin

When it comes to great web design, there is no ‘magic pill’, nor is there a one size fits all solution, but there are some things you can do to make your website great and keep your customers coming back for more – over and over again.

1. Make your pages fast loading

Having quick loading pages is important to your business. When speed is absent (or lacking) consumers notice, and won’t wait around. Test your loading times in several different browsers and optimize your load time by removing cumbersome graphics and text.

2. Keep your pages short and sweet

Online writing is quite different from writing for print. When people read content online, they tend to skim, instead of sit down and read the information you are providing. Put your content in easy to scan,

3. Focus on great navigation

Your website needs to be user friendly, and have great, easy to use navigation for your users, and it should be site-wide. Enough said.

4. Keep images small and manageable

Small images mean faster download speeds – which is already a must have. Keep your images small and double check your download speed after you upload.

5. Use the right colors

When you create your web color scheme, keep color symbolism in mind. Use colors that grab customer attention while giving you eye-popping design.

6. Write globally

Make sure that your content reflects different currencies, measurements, dates, and times so that all of your readers will know exactly what you mean. You should also consider a translation feature for content. Again, think ‘user-friendly.’

7. Proofread…everything

Even though it seems unfair, people judge websites by the quality of the writing, spelling and grammar errors (or lack thereof). Proof read your content thoroughly before uploading.

8. Update links regularly

Broken links are a sign to many readers (and search engines) that you do a poor job maintaining your site. Use an HTML validator and link checker to help you check older pages for broken links.

9. Annotate links

Write links that explain where the reader is headed after the click. If you create links that are clear and explanatory, your click through rates will improve. The best advice is to put contextual based links in your content.

10. Be easily accessible

Provide a way for your customers to get in contact with you. Put phone numbers, email addresses or a contact form on your webpage so that you stay accessible to your customer base. This does make a difference. Of course, when your customers contact you, you have to answer.

A lot of work goes into building and maintaining your website, no matter how you slice it. If you need a little help, contact us. That’s what we are here for.

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How to Get Your Prospects to “Yes”

Posted on October 1, 2012 by admin

The Smith model for the buying process.

 

Most business owners are under the misconception that lead fostering in selling (and in business) is solely to motivate prospects through the sale. The truth is that no prospect sincerely wants to be moved anywhere. The actual function of lead fostering is to watch over a prospect through her purchasing process and to then mirror what the prospect is considering while she’s considering it. Make no mistake, this is easier said than done.

Who’s actually dominant in the buying and selling action?

It may surprise you to learn that it isn’t the seller, it isn’t the sales person and it isn’t even your price.

Here’s an example:

Let’s suppose you are entertaining a brand-new surround sound system. You have not resolved to purchase one quite yet, but you would like to research your choices.

You go to the store and your salesperson executes the standard sales process. He builds rapport, asks what you are looking for and readily commences selling you — after all, that is what salespeople are trained to do. Within moments you’re overwhelmed, and subsequently, turned off on buying anything today, if at all.

The salesperson mistakenly assumed that you were ready to buy today. This is a classic example of moving you through the sales funnel with complete disregard for your buying process.

As a consumer yourself, you know that this type of approach just doesn’t work. Today’s consumer isn’t the consumer of yesterday. They don’t want to be sold. So, how do you sell them, without “selling them”? You are going to have to adjust your sales process, and your marketing campaigns.

No. 1: Follow the prospect’s buying process and ignore your sales process.

When beginning to map out your lead fostering campaign, keep in mind how people buy. Better yet, how you buy. Think about the kind of information, tips, advice, or knowledge that you require when you decide to buy something. Then, restructure your model around that.

No. 2: Focus on central cues.

The right content (either on your website or in your email marketing campaigns) educates your readers, facilitating them forward in the buying process using facts first. To do this, focus on central cues, not frilly sales tactics.

Central cues are easy to dissect. These are the actual feature-function-benefit of a product; the basics. Give your readers a chance to get the facts first and then lead them to buy. Remember: no one likes feeling “sold”. However, you’re not “selling them” on the merits of your product alone. You are educating them first; you are making them feel like an expert. Facts, facts and more facts. Then, sell.

No. 3: Look past the obvious.

Instead of putting a maniacal focus on a one-size-fits-all marketing campaign, imagine that you are selling something else. Think ice cream, for example. Offer different flavors of your product. Focus each “flavor” on a specific need, desire, interest, or preference. And even though marketing this way adds complexity to your campaigns, this approach mirrors how your prospects think — a vital aspect of the sales process.

The bottom line about selling is that it is all about aligning your product or service with how your prospects think. It really has nothing to do with “selling at all”. Not one bit.

Getting to the Nitty Gritty of the Sale

Now that you have a general overview, let’s get a touch more specific. Here are some tips:

Use serial offers. Create a series of offers, white papers, webinars, and videos. Customize follow-up messages that match your prospect’s specific interests. From here, segment your leads according to interest and continue giving them facts about your product — but don’t bombard them, they will lose interest.

Start with one offer and expand from there. Have additional offers in your queue that help you refine each prospects specific interest or need. Today’s consumer wants it his way and he wants it now. Give him what he wants, and your sales will improve.

Of course, if you need a little help building your brand, working on your marketing or just creating great custom content for your website (or blog) to help facilitate your buyer’s through the sales process, contact us.

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Why (and How) to Encourage Online Reviews

Posted on September 1, 2012 by admin
Consumer

This is your average customer, wondering whether or not to leave you a good review, or a bad one.

In today’s social media centric world, one of the first things consumers look for before doing business with you are your company’s reviews. Today’s consumer will look for reviews of your products, reviews of your services and even reviews of your business before making a purchasing decision, making having reviews available and accessible an important part of conducting business in an online world. If you don’t have enough reviews, you’ll lose business. If you have too many bad reviews, you’ll have more lost business. However, if you know the secrets that the pros use to encourage consistently good reviews, you’ll find yourself in a different tax bracket in no time flat.

What’s the Big Deal with Online Reviews, Anyway?

Here is the bottom line: If consumers don’t know you, they don’t trust you. And if you are running a startup, they trust you even less. They don’t know if you are a fly by night company; you aren’t established yet. However, if other folks have taken the time to share their experiences about your business or services, consumers listen; this builds trust.

Aside from getting new buyers across the purchasing threshold, stellar feedback increases the likelihood that your company will make improvements from within; there will be a renewed zeal for customer service and building brand loyalty. And getting good reviews from consumers starts with you, the boss.  Now do you understand what the “big deal” about online reviews is? Good. We can continue.

So How Do You Build Online Reviews?

The trick to getting reviews is never to wait for a review, ask for a review instead. Need an example? At the end of a transaction, include a link for a survey that a customer can click and fill out (the survey needs to be simple — no longer than two minutes). A great resource that can help you do this without having to pay your programmers a zillion dollars is Survey Monkey.

Send a survey request via email and offer some kind of “reward” for filling it out — think small gift or discount on their next purchase. (Keep in mind that you can also send surveys as postcards in the mail or by email for those customers who have not made another purchase for a while.) Then, once you have solicited that positive feedback, use it on your site to attract new business. — See how easy that is?

Comment Forms

However private surveys aren’t going to cut it. On your company website, on your blog and even on your social media pages, you also need to include an area for comments. On these, you should allow negative comments, and you should also allow new users to reply to others’ comments. Now, before you shake your head ‘no’, listen to why this is important. Encouraging interaction among customers adds credibility to your company, and increases your accessibility. It gives you (as a company) an opportunity to reply to negative comments and show off your stellar customer service skills and keeps you transparent — that is a good thing.

Still More: Third-Party Reviews

You’ve hear the phrase, “if you build it, they will come.” Well, if it’s reviewed, the same holds true. However, having reviews on your site alone isn’t enough. Many consumers today trust reviews on third-party sites more than they do those posted on a company’s website.

Ask your customers to fill out a review of your company on Yelp as well as other third-party sites. And if they do it, offer them an incentive or prize after they send you the URL of the completed review.

How do You Handle Negative Reviews?

When someone is happy with you, they will tell one or two people. On the other hand, disgruntled consumers will sing their displeasure to the internet masses with glee. It’s vital that you know how to handle this. First, you need to find the negative feedback — think looking for a needle in a haystack — and then you need to learn how to reply to it.

First, sign up for daily email alerts through Google specific to your company. Anytime your company name is mentioned in an online review, you’ll get an email alert. Problem solved.

Now comes the hard part: Do not let negative reviews push you to lose your composure. Send the reviewer the discount or gift promised for his or her review anyway. Then, turn that negative into a positive for your business:

–Look past any disparaging words and find the heart of the issue.

–Contact the reviewer privately. Open up other lines of communication and find out what will make the customer happy.

 –Be timely. Don’t let the problem fester. Respond immediately. Sometimes, a reviewer will change her review or submit an update if you can mollify her.

Even as discouraging as negative reviews can be, remember that you can use them as a way to improve the operations of your company and your customer service. Also remember that the more reviews you have (both good and bad), the more open and transparent your company seems. If you continue improving your services, you are bound to have more positive online reviews than negative ones. And that only increases the trustworthiness of your company, which in turn, only increases your bottom line. And those are results you can take to the bank.

Of course, if you need a little help with that, that’s what we do here. Contact us. We don’t bite — we don’t want the bad review.

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Back to School, Back to You and Back to Business

Posted on August 2, 2012 by admin

It’s hard to believe that it’s August already, but here we are; thoughts of back to school hanging heavily in the air. With the hustle and bustle this month brings for students of all ages, there also comes an intense vigor in the business world to usher in a brand new year; a time of renewal and new beginnings, with a fresh fiscal start not far behind.

Yet, despite the sense of newness the new year brings, not everything is coming up roses. Because of the consistent economic doom and gloom reporting in the media, business owners are cautious with their budgets; perhaps more so now than they have been in the last few decades. However, counterintuitive to the fire and brimstone you hear from the major news outlets, there are more small businesses in operation today than what there was before the recession (2006 and earlier).Today, there are approximately 23 million small businesses in the US, employing over 81 million people. And, if you find yourself reading this blog, yours is probably among them.

Now, for the bad news: Over half of the businesses started in the last two years are doomed to fail, and a good portion of those failures can be directly attributed to a poor (or a lack of) web presence.

What does this mean to you?

What does every business owner, venture capitalist, inventor, entrepreneur, CEO or CFO have in common? For each and every one of these vastly different examples of American industrialists, their business is their baby.

And, just like any baby, a business must be nurtured, fostered, cared for and coddled in order for it to grow into its full potential; in order for it to succeed.

Starting a business can be a Herculean quest of epic proportion, and where to start often becomes a complex proposition. However, no matter what kind of business you have launched or plan to launch, you will need a website; and you will need an extraordinary one.

Not just “any website” will do…

Today’s garden-variety customer doesn’t want to wait … and they won’t. We live in the “now” generation; a generation of consumers who want the information they want readily available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If people have to wait (what they perceive as) too long to get the information they want they will lose interest. Something as trivial as a 1-second delay can cost a website owner as much as $2.5 million dollars a year in sales.

Your website needs to be three things:

Fast

Eye catching

User friendly

Unfortunately, in an effort to cut costs for a startup, many business owners wander into the tempting siren’s song of fly by night cookie cutter websites, because they undervalue study and professionalism, or because they don’t understand that not all websites are created equal; they don’t know what they need. In these instances, what these business owners end up with is a website that doesn’t work and website that loses business; ultimately becoming a catalyst for failure of their startup.

So, what’s the bottom line?

Building any business costs money, and having a professional looking website that consumers relate to is a must. Because website generated traffic and sales is such a prodigious chunk of virtually every business, don’t skimp on yours. Invest in educating yourself about the elements of proper web design, or talk to us. We can help.

 

Sources:

Recession Brought a Small-Business Boom, Upstart Business Journal, K. Bernhard Jr, May 2011

Page Loading Delays Cost Website Owners $2.5 Million; Host Review; PRWEB; June 2012

The State of Small Businesses Post Great Recession; Dunn & Bradstreet; May 2011

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