Archive for the ‘Jacksonville’ Category
How Online Marketing is Like a Bad Breakup
Thursday, January 19th, 2012
Bestselling books and blockbuster movies are continually filled with the theme of heartache. That’s because most of us have, at one point or another, known the terrible, sinking feeling that comes with losing someone we love.
Of course, online marketers can feel the same way when they see their best customers slipping away.
While you might not feel the same kind of depression over a missing account or decreased orders that you do when you lose a lover, either one can keep you up at night wondering what went wrong. And, believe it or not, there are some similarities, both in the way you are left and what you can do about it.
Here are some bad breakup tips you can use to fix your online marketing plan:
Don’t expect your departed customer to tell you what went wrong. You can ask all you want, but once a customer is gone, they aren’t likely to give you the real reasons they left, so it’s going to be up to you to figure it out on your own.
The exception to this rule, of course, is when your company messed up badly enough that it’s obvious to everyone why they took their business elsewhere. In those cases, learn from the experience, improve your customer service, and move on.
You can learn a lot from your customer’s next partner. If you really want to know why someone isn’t buying from you anymore, figure out who they are buying from now. What does that vendor offer that you don’t?
Often, if you lose out on a big account, it isn’t that difficult to find out where it went. Or, if you’re noticing a trend of smaller orders dropping off, see if you can find out which of your competitors is benefiting the most. Either way, you’ll learn something about what they are offering that you can’t match.
Sometimes it really is about the simple things. Differences in price, a more competitive product, a cleaner online reputation, or even better site layouts and navigation structures can all be obvious reasons that a customer might stop responding to your online marketing efforts. The answers are usually simpler than we think, so look for the big explanations first.
Losing customers is tough, but the pain doesn’t last forever. Follow these tips, find out why your online business isn’t stacking up, and then use the knowledge to either win your buyers back or find new ones. And if you want even more powerful tools to bring in those new clients, or find the lost ones, Give us a call at Design Extensions. We’d love to hlep.
What do your website’s photos say about your business?
Monday, October 10th, 2011We rely on pictures to convey meaning and emotion, to tell stories where words fail, and the internet is no exception to this. Product images, biography photos, interesting photographic headers are all used on websites to help “sell”. It does not matter what your website is selling there is hardly a product or service out there that cannot benefit from great photos.
Customer Supplied Photographs
Perhaps you, or a relative is a hobbyist photographer. This is one of the lowest cost options for images on your website, but results do vary. With the availability and popularity of consumer digital cameras, this is a path many choose. While it is a lower cost option than hiring a professional photographer, but more personalized than stock photography it is also of the least “quality” options. Some of the industries best suited for using customer supplied photographs, are landscaping, construction, and other outdoor companies, where the ruld of photography are more forgiving and there is more available light.
Stock Photography
Stock photography is purchased for use on a website from a stock photography company. These companies; check, and sometimes rank images on quality and categorize them on many factors. It makes finding the “right” photo much easier. Prices for stock photography can range from a couple of dollars per image to upwards of $100 for very high quality work, or work that is by a master photographer. . . There is stock photography for almost any business out there, and this is a great option if you are not selling a highly personalized product or service, and is great for when you just need a couple of images to finish out a website design.
Hiring a Professional Photographer
This is genrerally the most expensive option, but by all accounts one of the best. If you are selling a highly personalized product or service, then this is the only option. If you have a storefront, or physical business that you will be enticing people to visit from your website this is also one of the best options. It is also great for bio photos of yourself, and your employees. Professional photographers combine the quality of stock photography with the personalization of taking your own photos. Professional photographers know how to “sell” ideas, not just take pictures.
If a picture speaks a thousand words, what are the photos on your website saying? Design Extensions has solutions when it comes to the images that you use on your website. We have professional relationships with photographers in many disciplines, (even one on our staff) and would love to help you make the web a more beautiful place.
5 Things You Want to Know About Your Web Designer… Before They Touch a Single Pixel
Tuesday, December 7th, 2010If you feel like it’s getting harder and harder to find the right team to design, or redesign, your company’s website, I can empathize. In the eleven years I’ve been in this business, the number of firms offering web design and online marketing has exploded. The increasing number of options – not to mention specialties, fee ranges, and levels of quality – has made it hard for companies to find the right fit.
You can still find the right designer, though, if you know where to look, and what to look for. Here are five things you definitely want to know about any web design team before you hire them:
- 1. How past clients feel about their work. It’s one thing to look through a designer’s portfolio, but if you really want to get the story, you have to make a few phone calls. Talk to former clients and see what their impressions of the work, and the design process, were like. Whether you get good feedback or bad, these are things you want to know before you sign on the dotted line.
- 2. If they will still be able to help you tomorrow. Your site might be basic right now, but there’s no guarantee it will stay that way. In fact, if your launch is a success, it’s probably not going to be long before your company needs help with online videos, secure site areas, databases, content management systems, and search engine optimization to name a few – services that smaller or newer firms might not be able to offer.
- 3. Whether they have a bottom line vision. This is more important than most business owners realize. These days, when you hire a designer, you shouldn’t just be getting a layout and some HTML code – what you need is the first step towards a comprehensive online marketing plan. Be sure that any designer you work with can help you integrate your new website to search engines, social media, and more. You’ll need that exposure to gain new customers over the Internet.
- 4. What their fees are… Obviously, the numbers are going to be an important part of the discussion. Be aware, however, that quality always costs more, and that more than one web design client has been burnt by falling for bid that was “too good to be true.”
- 5. … and what those fees include. Web hosting, updates, content, and add-on features are just a few of the things you might want for your web design team, but might not be included in their rock-bottom bid. Find out exactly what you are paying for before you agree to any work. Or better yet, choose a vendor with a long reputation of quality work, no one that’s going to nickel and dime you at every step of the process.
There might be more web design companies to choose from than there were in the past, but that doesn’t mean that the right decision has to be any less clear. Take the time to do a little bit of research and get the answers to these five crucial questions – it’s not as easy as choosing the lowest bid, but it’s going to leave you a lot happier, and more profitable, in the long run.
(Republished from our recent article in Valacious Magazine in St. Augustine, Florida)
Why a Website Might be Your Best Investment Right Now
Tuesday, November 30th, 2010While no one is rushing out into the streets to declare the economy “fixed” just yet, there are some early signs that the worst is over. And with that realization, a lot of business owners are looking to make some of the investments they’ve been putting off until better days – hiring new employees, expanding to new locations, taking on new products, and so on.
But before you run out and jump at all the new opportunities that are coming your company’s way, don’t forget to take care of one of the most critical parts of your business… one that brings in new revenue, handles customer service problems, lets you market to the globe, and try out new products all at once, 24 hours a day.
I’m talking about your website.
A lot of owners, facing a tough business environment over the past couple of years, have elected to hold off on a new design or any major upgrades. That’s understandable. But now, with customers coming in through the front doors once again, many are concentrating on offline promotions and improvements. After all, if the site is doing a pretty decent job right now, why mess with it?
That’s a dangerous line of thinking. Because, if recent history is any guide, the buyers aren’t just coming back the way they were before; the American economy is evolving into something more competitive – and a lot more digital – than it ever was before. Your website is the one piece of your marketing mix that can keep you in the game.
Here are four reasons improving your website might be your best investment right now:
It sells. The bottom line is that websites are good for the bottom line. They help you reach more buyers, and sell more products or services, than any other marketing medium can.
It has a farther reach than your advertising pieces or sales staff… and at a fraction of the cost. Whether you want customers from out of state or overseas, a website is your best choice to find them.
New forms of online marketing are taking hold. Until recently, social media has just been a cool buzzword to throw around; now it might be a way to find new business. Making sure your site is equipped for social media marketing is a good first step.
It reduces costs. If your customers can look up and change their account information, order history, and shipping details, online, they don’t have to call you or your employees on the phone for routine tasks.
As the owner of a web design and online marketing company, I will admit that I am biased towards websites as a business investment. But that’s only because I have seen what they can do for a company’s growth. The online component of business success isn’t going away any time soon. If anything, it’s becoming more important as the economy recovers.
Keep that in mind, and keep up with your online marketing. It just might be the single smartest investment you can make right now.
(Republished from our article in the St. Augustine Women’s Journal)
Mobile Websites, Mobile Apps, and The Future
Tuesday, November 23rd, 2010Design Extensions founder, Jay Owen, recently spoke at the NetWorth Technology Summit in Jacksonville, Florida. Check out a brief snippet video below. The full DVD of the event will be available at http://networthjax.com/
Why Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Works Best for Small Companies
Wednesday, November 17th, 2010Small business owners tend to think that search engine optimization – like most other forms of marketing – can be an uphill struggle against industry behemoths, and they’re right… up to a point. It’s certainly true that pouring all kinds of money and personnel into an SEO effort can give you a huge advantage.
But that doesn’t change the fact that smaller companies have a big advantage on Google, Yahoo, and Bing.
Why? The answer has everything to do with efficiency. Fortune 500 Companies, and even their medium-sized counterparts, have to cast a wide net. For them, a dozen extra sales – even really good ones – doesn’t make too much of a difference, and so they have to concentrate on the high-traffic, high-competition areas.
While there isn’t any reason smaller marketers can’t compete and win in those same keyword groups (that’s the beauty of online business), the truth is that the easiest sales (and the ones with the higher profit margins) are found elsewhere… in more specific, lower-volume keyword markets where a lot of the bigger retailers don’t bother showing up.
For an easy way to understand what I mean, imagine that you have a company that sells air conditioners. You could use “air conditioners” as your main keyphrase, or “Jacksonville energy efficient residential air conditioners.” Sure, the first one is likely to get more traffic, but which search term is more likely to find a buyer? And how much competition will there be?
Search engines give small businesses a huge advantage – if they compete in the right places.
(This is being republished from our original submission to Valacious Magazine in St. Augustine, Florida)
2010 Jacksonville, Florida BNI Member Conference
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
This past Friday, October 8th, we had the privelage of being a diamond sponsor at the BNI Florida 2010 Member Conference.
We had a booth on display to show off some of our website design work and even gave away an iPod Touch to Zeke from IT Promise in Jacksonville.
During the lunch portion of the conference, Design Extensions owner, Jay Owen, presented to the crowd of over 200 BNI members with various information regarding web design, graphic design, and internet marketing in today’s economy. We should have samples online soon of that presentation.
If you didn’t make the event this year, we would love to see you next year.
Also, don’t forget about the upcoming NetWorth Technology Summiton October 20th. It’s only $20 for the event. The event will include lunch and 3 guest speakers including Design Extensions. We look forward to seeing you there!
Technology Summit coming soon to Jacksonville
Friday, October 1st, 2010
Networth Jacksonville will soon be hosting the 2010 Technology Summit at Deercreek Country Club in Jacksonville, Florida.
The event will feature Design Extensions owner Jay Owen, discussing three key areas of Mobile Apps in Business, Branding Integration, and Marketing of the Future. Other speakers include Joe Lemire from Elyk Innovation and Roy Buncome from Buncome Technologies.
The event is only $20 and includes lunch. Starts at 11:30 and ends at 2PM. Be one of the first people to register and be entered to win a $50 gas card!
Register today at NetworthJax.com
Interview with NetWorth Jacksonville | Web Design & Development
Monday, July 26th, 2010Design Extensions founder, Jay Owen, was recently interviewed by Networth:
