Right-Size Web Design
By Kim | January 9, 2010
With the arrival of a shiny new year — along with a shiny new decade — the promise of hot tech and the drive for business improvements can inspire many an entrepreneur to take a closer look at the company web site. Would the site deliver better results with some strategic updates? Does the look and feel match the brand? Are prospective clients and customers persuaded to buy?
Sometimes the petite pepper provides the
right amount of heat for a tasty recipe.
The best approach for reviewing the site is to aim for what I call “right-size web design”. What are the next best upgrades for your site that will bring you the most bang for your buck? Remember exactly who you most want to reach when pondering an upgrade or makeover and consider these questions:
How often can you update the site?
Keeping content fresh for SEO (search engine optimization) and returning visitors is more critical for some types of businesses than others. Retailers need to keep product and sales info current. Service providers in health and technology need to showcase their expertise in a rapidly changing environment. But monthly content updates may be sufficient while you use your blog for more transitory or conversational info.
Do you need any interactive features?
A calendar or RSS feed can add depth and interest to your site. But if you don’t change up events or info often enough or the site is too busy, these features can also distract visitors and postpone or thwart a potential call or sale.
Can you integrate your social networking activities?
Get your Facebook page, Twitter feeds, blog and more tied in with your web site. A simple icon link will do for some; up-to-the-minute, simultaneous posts work better for others.
Take a good look at your site and talk over the options with your marketing partner or web guru. You can get the right sized upgrades for your site without spending a fortune or settling for the status quo.
Topics: Communicating, Marketing, Uncategorized | No Comments »
Inclusion Solutions Ups the Access Ante, Debuts Web Store
By Kim | November 11, 2009
One of the trickiest issues in any web development project is juggling the needs of different types of people who may visit and use the site. Evanston-based Inclusion Solutions provides products that help businesses and buildings open up to people with disabilities. But the Evanston-based company is also an energetic advocate for issues these people face.
Consider these different access scenarios:
- Is your aging aunt in a wheelchair but itching to roll to the polls and cast her vote? Election officials can see accessible voting machines, as well as ramps and signs via the web store.
- Are you deaf or hard-of-hearing and wish you could pick up a quick meal at a drive-thru restaurant as you come home from the late shift? Find out how Inclusion Solutions offers OrderAssist to streamline communications (and sales!) between customers and employees in several videos available on the web site and YouTube.
- Do you own a store in an old building and wonder if you might miss business if people can’t get in the door? See how their BigBell — an affordable, ADA-compliant system — can help seniors, people with disabilities and even moms with strollers come on in and shop.
The new site Grotto created not only sells a wealth of products, but it reflects the heart of the Inclusion Solutions brand by embracing their commitment to advocacy with links to resources and statistics. Check out the relaunch at www.inclusionsolutions.com and pass it along to fellow business-owners or people in your life who are looking for greater access.
Inclusion Solutions web site
Topics: Grotto Clients, Marketing | No Comments »
5 Marketing Things to Do Right Now
By Kim | July 8, 2009
Yeah, we know. “This” economy is a drag. Entrepreneurs like us are scrambling to put their energy and money into best-bets for breaking even, and just maybe branch out into growth areas. But you can and should make time for a few marketing steps that keep your name and services out there. At least pick one.
1. Be Online and Keep Up
If you have any kind of online presence — blog, Facebook page, Twitter account — do something with it! Don’t forget it or let it go stale (and please ignore any weeks-long gaps in the blog of yours truly). It happens. Life and work get in the way. Do it again anyway. I just saw my alumni association post a request for blogs via Twitter. Piped right up and offered the Grotto blog in a Tweet right back. Every link and listing can bring new people into your world.
2. Stay in Touch
Previous clients, colleagues and all manner of network connections can provide not only referrals and ideas, but help and support. Think about it. Are you leaving money on the table by not following up with somebody about their random question from last month? Could it lead to a new project? Or, maybe that phone call or email will hit them just as someone asks them if they know anybody who does what your company does. Little touch points can make the difference when timing is everything.
3. Update Something
If you have a web site that looks like a brochure at least freshen up the content with some new samples of your work. Post a review about a new product. Update your client list. Add a widget to feed a Google application (news feed, word of the day) to your site. Anything — let’s make that anything relevant! — to keep it looking like someone pays attention to it and to help keep the search engines stopping by. Web site in decent shape? Tackle a sell sheet or pick apart your elevator speech for a better angle to meet buyers where they are today.
4. Step Outside of Your Comfort Zone
Don’t like to network? Vow to attend one new event and engage with some different people about what you do for a living. Do your project management skills leave something to be desired? Ask others how they begin a big project or keep track of little details. Stretching into some new territory may give you just the boost you need to win more clients.
5. Do a Brand Audit
After a while, your logo and all your marketing materials can start to veer away from one another. Some degradation is bound to happen over time when print, event or sales deadlines are rushed and guidelines are out-of-sight/out-of-mind. Gather up a bunch of your materials and look them over with a critical eye. Do they look like they come from the same place? Do they inspire trust and encourage people to choose you? Tighten up your brand and amp up the professionalism of your company.
Topics: Marketing, Running a Business | 1 Comment »
Evanston Bike Race Speeds into Town July 19th
By Kim | June 25, 2009
Pro cycling with a full-on family festival fills Downtown Evanston, Illinois, as it hosts the NorthShore University HealthSystem Grand Prix (the bike race formerly known as the “ENH Grand Prix of Cycling”). Mark your calendars for Sunday, July 19, 2009. A circuit through the main streets of town will be closed to cars as elite amateur and Olympic-level pro cyclists zip around the course at 30+ mph. Women’s and men’s pro races start at 4:00 pm, but there’s thrills, dining, shopping, music and more all day.
The Grotto gang partnered with title sponsor NorthShore University HealthSystem and Turin Bicycle to deliver a press conference announcing the race and all its features just last week. Newly minted Mayor Elizabeth Tisdahl lent her support: “Evanston is a world class city. It is events like this one that help define Evanston as a lively, engaging, and fun place to live, work, study, dine, shop, and play.”
Come out and join us for a really great day. With more than 70 restaurants to choose from within mere blocks of the race (half of which are RIGHT ON THE COURSE), you can enjoy tastes and beverages from around the world. Bring the kids (BYO-bike!) so they can race right on the course at 3:15 pm. And scope out deals and free stuff in the Festival Area and shops around town. We love promoting the NorthShore Grand Prix and invite everyone to come down and see what all the excitement is all about.
Topics: Our Company | No Comments »
BirthLink.com Welcomes New Arrival
By Kim | April 18, 2009
Redesigning the web site for Chicago’s premier birth and wellness resource provider, BirthLink.com, actually took…wait for it… nine months. Grotto partnered with founder Jo Anne Lindberg to rethink how the site was structured and design a robust new portal with easy access to the provider directory and birthing and health info, as well as Jo Anne’s own health-related business, Life Seasons Wellness/Five Element Shiatsu.
Secondary navigation access replaced the confusing frames-based format of the old site and gave us flexibility in guiding two unique audience groups — parents and practitioners — to the info they would find most useful. For example, within the Find a Provider section each specialty area is just one click away.
Response from members has been positive and we look forward to watching traffic reports to see how the site is growing up.
Topics: Grotto Clients, Marketing, Our Company | No Comments »
Sometimes You Just Need to Ask for Help
By Kim | April 13, 2009
By nature, small business owners have a real DIY attitude. You have to when you wear that many hats: ceo, marketing director, receptionist, coffee maker/fetcher/cleaner-upper. It’s a great, and probably necessary trait. But successful entrepreneurs also need to know when they need help.
Maybe it is high time you hired an intern for some marketing assistance or a bookkeeper to handle invoicing, etc. Our bookkeeper Linda not only takes care of AP and AR at Grotto, she offers ideas that have streamlined our processes and improved the bottom line. (She’s with us just part-time so holler if you want her number. She’s great!)
Asking for help doesn’t always mean adding staff or expanding your list of vendors. Remember to ask colleagues, friends and even clients for advice when you are puzzled by something. The whole online social networking phenomenon has some degree of call-and-response built in where the most interactive hubs depend on a give and take of information.
Think nobody wants to help? Especially “in these times”? Think again.
Check out tweenbots. Proof positive that people—even NYC busy people—are always willing to help. Just ask.
Thanks for the link, Charley.
Topics: Communicating, Our Company, Running a Business | No Comments »
Does Your Web Site Need a Check-up?
By Kim | March 21, 2009
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Do you find yourself apologizing for your web site when you send someone to it? (“Just ignore the pictures/flashy thing/out-of-date stuff.”)
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Do you feel like the site could actually motivate more people to call or buy?
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Does it just seem like the site feels a little dated or out-of-step with what you see on the Internet these days? Or, it doesn’t even mention your current services or product lines?
Whether you update content on your web site frequently or just every so often, a regular—perhaps deeper—review could improve search engine results (which means bringing new eyeballs to your info) and make sure the site is technically up to snuff.
You don’t necessarily have to scrap the whole site to get some added benefits. Even a few tweaks can bring real results. For instructor Arlene Faulk, we improved her page rank in Google and delivered more inquiries and students simply by changing the words “t’ai ch” with an apostrophe to “tai chi” (without) on her site along with some other minor copy updates. Renaming page files with search friendly words, converting image-based navigation terms to HTML text or rewriting content on key landing pages just might give your business the bump it needs.
Your web site check-up might point to some of these action steps (depending in part on when the site was built and the techy chops of your web designer/developer):
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Streamline the underlying code to make sure the site functions well on all popular browsers.
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Update copy and images to tell people exactly how your products or services will help them.
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Experiment with new keyword phrases in the copy, page titles and file names to match what real people are typing into search engines.
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Rethink (and probably remove) flash-based opening pages.
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Add alt tags* and restructure content to meet standards for the disabled and for mobile devices.
Of course, a full redesign may be necessary at some point. Web standards (including the explosion of Internet access on mobile devices) are continually being refined to help us deliver information more efficiently. Don’t let your web site stagnate!
*alt tag = A bit of code that says what an element or image is even when it isn’t being displayed. For example, a visually-impaired person using a screen reader would hear the text of the alt tag in place of seeing the image.
Topics: Communicating, Marketing, Running a Business | No Comments »
For Small Biz: Marketing Seminar is Exactly Your Size
By Kim | March 5, 2009
Have you ever hesitated before trashing yet another unsolicited email about improving your marketing efforts? Wondering if this one is the one that might really work? Honestly, most of those direct mail tactics are aimed at getting cash away from the desperate. And while many more business owners may be edging toward that scary edge these days, it really is better to look for tangible help from your own community.
Our philosophy here at Grotto Communications is to provide meaningful marketing communications help to our fellow entrepreneurs. Clients and networking buddies alike should come away from interactions with us with a realistic way to apply an idea to get a better response from prospective buyers and connect with the people they want to reach.
That’s why I’m confident and delighted to help promote an upcoming seminar led by my partner Jim Marsh and our colleague, business coach David J.P. Fisher of RockStar Consulting. Check out “Making the Most of Your Marketing: The Tools You Need to Grow Your Business NOW!” The session takes place on Friday, March 27, at the Rotary Building in Evanston. This unique event gives you the opportunity to learn from a marketing expert and a business coach at the same time. Integrate your marketing materials with your sales process to attract new clients, customers or patients. Have fun and let us know how it goes!
Register now >>
Topics: Marketing, Our Company, Running a Business | 1 Comment »
Connecting Cultures: Brand, Web Site Links Evanston to Tibet
By Kim | February 27, 2009
What does Evanston, Illinois, have in common with Tibet? How do you represent the relationship not only between cultures, but between different aspects of a new organization? We recently set out to translate the mission of Tsogyaling Meditation Center of Evanston into a new brand identity and web site.
Founders Asang and Nancy Floy decided to open a school for nomad girls in Tibet about a year or so ago. In a matter of months, they raised more than the $6,000 needed to start classes for ten young women in the fall of 2008. Donations from a weekly meditation class at Heartwood Center — as well as other fundraisers — provided the foundation needed to establish Tsogyaling and they asked Grotto to help them create a web site and logo.
Asang and Nancy provided dozens of photographs of thangkas (painted Tibetan scrolls), the school’s spiritual director Lopon Konchog Dechen, and the girls currently attending Tibet Girls School. They taught me that Tsogyaling refers to “place of Tsogyal” and that the legendary teacher Yeshe Tsogyal’s name means “Victorious Lake of Wisdom”. Nancy even braved a bracing January morning to get a shot of Lake Michigan and our ideas for the identity system began to gel.
An energetic blue wave evokes the lakes of Tibet and Evanston’s Lake Michigan shore in the logo. Rather than relegate the girls school into a subcategory of the brand, Tibet Girls School takes its place equally with the meditation center. And the web site further unites them with the added visual depth of photographs, artwork and textiles that celebrate the colorful cultural elements of that faraway Asian culture and of the center that nourishes it here in the U.S.
We are delighted to be part of this important endeavor and look forward to celebrating the center and the school at Losar, the Tibet New Year Festival, Friday, February 27, 2009. For more information about this benefit — to be held at Wild Tree Café in Evanston — check out the Celebrate Losar invitation. See you there!
Topics: Grotto Clients, Marketing | No Comments »
Mind Your Copyrights: Is Facebook Getting Grabby?
By Kim | February 18, 2009
Whether or not you have taken the plunge and started exploring the possibilities for smart business marketing among the social networking sites, this news bears watching. This week, a story broke that Facebook recently – and quietly — changed its copyright policies which made it rather unclear as to whether or not they would own whatever users post on the popular communications site.
Their Powers That Be have responded that the changes weren’t meant/don’t mean what you think they mean. In a cnet news report (Facebook: Relax, we won’t sell your photos), spokesman Barry Schnitt’s statement indicated that, “[t]he new Terms were clarified to be more consistent with the behavior of the site. …That is, if you send a message to another user (or post to their wall, etc…), that content might not be removed by Facebook if you delete your account (but can be deleted by your friend).”
Still, cnet warns: “Things are a little bit murky for sure, though. Unlike the Yahoo-owned Flickr, Facebook does not have extensive copyright preferences, meaning that a professional photographer might want to choose a media-sharing site where there’s less of a gray area as to what can actually happen down the road.”
This development shouldn’t stop entrepreneurs and freelancers from using such sites to promote their services. But we should all be mindful of what value our information has in this digi-age while proceeding cautiously.
All in all, it seems a boneheaded move by FB. Either the terms should have be edited more carefully to state what they claim they mean or they might have followed the collaborative approach the site seems to encourage by posting a draft and creating a bit of dialogue around it. Lawyers may shudder at such a notion, but as a marketer, I say if you don’t talk to your audience directly, you will simply lose them.
More selfishly, I worry that I won’t be able to enjoy the random postings of pals like Bob Huff’s lovely photos. Let’s hope not.
Topics: Communicating, Marketing | No Comments »