Find out how you can untangle the mess called marketing and grow your business

The Buyers Journey: The Importance of Custom Web Design

Marama Carmichael

Thanks to extensive research by inbound marketing firms, we now understand the journey a buyer takes before they make a purchase.

It starts with an awareness of a problem or pain point, followed by the consideration of various solutions before finally reaching the decision stage. But what does this have to do with custom web design?

Generally, the buyer will go through their journey by way of research, comparison, and justification, at which point the buyer will be on the cusp of decision and purchase.

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How Many Customers do You Need?

Marama Carmichael

The Importance of Targeting

If you’re like many business owners, your first instinct is to get as many customers as possible. This is a sensible goal, as the more customers you have the more sales and money you make. The problem with this approach is that it leaves out one of the most essential principles of successful marketing: targeting. How many customers do you need? Before you answer this, it’s important to understand that you don’t want everyone as your customer.
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6 Tips for Identifying You Need a New Web Design

Marama Carmichael

As a business owner, it can be difficult to determine when it is time for you to invest in a new website. You likely paid quite a bit for your previous design, and want to make sure that you get everything that you can out of your investment. Issues start to arise when your design starts to look dated, or fails to keep up with the current technologies that your website needs to remain competitive. Luckily, there are a few signs that you can watch for to determine whether or not your website may be in need of a re-design.

You Start Noticing New Trends

Have you been noticing that many websites online, or competitor’s websites, are following certain trends that have become popular online? You want your company website to look like you are on the cutting edge. If you start noticing that your website is falling behind the times, it may be a good idea to invest in a new design. Dated websites can scare customers away!
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Why You Shouldn’t Send People to Your Website

Marama Carmichael

It’s common for businesses to send traffic directly to their website. This seems logical enough on the surface. After all, you want to introduce potential customers to your business and let them know all about you. The problem with this approach is that the information on your website is probably too general and spread out to make a strong impact. What you really need is a targeted landing page that solves a specific problem or addresses a specific issue that concerns your audience. Let’s look at the top reasons why you shouldn’t send people to your website.
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Branding For Your Business

Marama Carmichael

Branding is more than a quick name and logo that you put on a business card before you open up shop.

It’s even more than an excellent, well thought out name, logo and coordinating theme for your business. Branding is a day-by-day approach to the way the world instantly recognises everything your company does and immediately knows where it came from.

Yes, branding starts with name and design scheme. Naming your business is fun and inspiring, but you can’t think of a name now and plan to introduce the branding later. From the first thought of your new venture, the big picture has to be about your brand and how it will be present in all you do. If you’ve already been in business and you’re just now learning about branding, it’s not too late. The following tips can be applied to a new or existing branding campaign.
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5 Tips for Offering Excellent Customer Service Online

Marama Carmichael

One of the areas where many online businesses consistently fall short is offering excellent customer support. This isn’t completely their fault. The expectations of customers have rapidly changed in the Internet era and there are a wide range of different software solutions that can help you to gain a stronger hold on the experience of your customers. Take these tips into consideration when you are looking at revamping your online customer support practices:

1. Invest in a Ticketing System

Trying to maintain excellent customer service practices through email is almost impossible. It is always a good idea to invest in a basic ticketing software so that you can better manage the requests for support that you receive. This will help you to not only manage requests, but also ensure that they are assigned to the person that is best suited to help them with their issue.
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Content Marketing – The Benefits of Using a Copywriter to Produce Content

Marama Carmichael

If you run an online business, you probably know how beneficial a well-oiled content marketing machine could potentially be for your business. However, one mistake that many businesses make is hiring a content typist over a copywriter. The difference is a subtle one, but the differences in results could be huge. Copywriters are trained in the art of creating sales-oriented marketing materials that subtly guide the user toward making the purchasing decision. Some of the reasons why you should consider hiring a copywriter to produce your content marketing content over a traditional content writer include:

Conversion-Focused Content

What is the ultimate goal of your content? Sure, you want to educate your audience and build a rapport by delivering value. But, you also have to make sure that you are guiding them toward making the purchasing decision as well, albeit subtly. Even though much of your content marketing content will not be exclusively focused on making a sale, having a writer available that knows how to subtly guide the reader toward making that decision is important. A copywriter can create great marketing content, but a content writer will not be able to craft excellent sales copy.

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The entrepreneur’s curse and how to cure it

Marama Carmichael

Do you feel it?

That sinking feeling in your stomach?

You’ve been devoting all of your time to your business and now you don’t have anything left outside of it. And the freedom of having no ‘boss’ to answer to; therefore being able to do anything you want, has only intensified the ongoing feeling that things just aren’t right.

And there’s one question that won’t leave you be.

What should you be doing next?

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Hiring the right people for your business (and keeping them!) is easy… when you know how.

Marama Carmichael

Are you fed up with thinking you’re hiring the right people for your business, only to be let down?

Before you spend anymore of your time managing people rather than your business, let me share what I learned was at the root of not finding the right people for the right seats.

What’s causing you to be let down, is not what you might think

Finding the right person is not solely about looking at a candidate’s skills, experience and expertise. And this is where many small business owners make their first mistake. It was a mistake I made many times over the past 20 years, before my eyes were opened to the realisation that it wasn’t necessarily a lack of ability that meant a team member didn’t fit in or work out.

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