June 5th, 2008 PLEASE FORWARD
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News, Rants and Case Studies for Web Design Professionals
by Brendon Sinclair (tribune@sitepoint.com)
Read the HTML version of this newsletter, with graphics, at:
http://www.sitepoint.com/newsletter/viewissue.php?id=2&issue=399
IN THIS ISSUE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Introduction
- Editor's Perspective: Link Baiters Go Too Far
- Marketplace Moments: Look Deeper For Real Site Value
- From the Forums: New Clients from Outside the Box
- Tips & Tricks: Connect with Prospects -- Fast!
- What's New on SitePoint!
- Hot Forum Topics
- New Blog Entries
SPONSOR'S MESSAGE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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INTRODUCTION - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Link baiters seem to be getting more aggressive in their tactics
these days, but I'm not convinced the short-term gain of a few
links is worth it when a businesses reputation can be
irreparably damaged. Let's take a look at a very recent example
and see what you think.
In MarketPlace Moments this week, we learn how knowing your
industry can help you to unearth a diamond in the rough -- and
help you make some gold!
We also discuss a simple lead generation strategy for web
developers that can work brilliantly, before finishing off with
a tip about responding to your clients (hint: don't take your
lead from others).
Happy Reading!
Brendon Sinclair
mailto:tribune@sitepoint.com
EDITOR'S PERSPECTIVE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
LINK BAITERS GO TOO FAR
Did you hear the story about the 20 year-old search engine
optimizer who was caught having sex with a 53 year-old Google
engineer in exchange for an increase in search engine rankings?
No? That's probably because I just made it up!
What about the story about the 13 year old kid who stole his
dad's credit card and went on a shopping spree, ordered a couple
of $1,000-a-night hookers, and played Halo with them? That one
was made up too [1] -- by a link baiter named Lyndon [2].
You might recently have checked out Digg and seen the video
titled "Why every guy should buy their girlfriend Wii Fit". The
video shows a young women shaking ... er ... it to a Wii Fit --
yep, another fake [3] by another link baiter (probably -- though
the video maker denies it [4].
While these guys have created a ton of links for their
respective clients, I can't help but think that Lyndon, in
particular, has damaged his client (the owners of web site
Money.co.uk) enormously. I know I'd give up on Money.co.uk as a
source of any credible news -- financial or otherwise -- from
now.
The short-term gain from Lyndon's efforts would be significant,
but I have little doubt that the longer-term damage done to
Money.co.uk's credibility - which is critical for a business
such as theirs -- is massive. That's not clever link baiting.
That's just stupid.
[1] <http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s2256090.htm>
[2] <http://www.cornwallseo.com/search/index.php/2008/05/25/linkbuilding-using-fiction/#more-567>
[3] <http://digg.com/nintendo/Why_every_guy_should_buy_their_girlfriend_Wii_Fit>
[4] <http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/webscout/2008/05/wii-fit-girl-ni.html>
SPONSOR'S MESSAGE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
ProWorkflow - The Business/Project Dashboard for Web Design Firms
and Freelancers!
ProWorkFlow is a web-based application that allows you to manage
your projects, tasks, time, contacts, notes and more.
- Keep accurate time usage records
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- Organize, plan and delete jobs and tasks
- Get a global overview of company activity
ProWorkflow is customisable and expandable to suit your business
and is available in two flavours: subscription account or permanent
license to run on your own server.
Click here to try a Free Trial Account:
http://www.proworkflow.com/?utm_source=SitePoint&utm_medium=Mailout&utm_campaign=May
MARKETPLACE MOMENTS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
LOOK DEEPER FOR REAL SITE VALUE
Just how much is your site worth? It's an excellent question and
one that gets asked a lot in the SitePoint MarketPlace [1].
The answer to that question is, of course, always the same: "It
depends." Sure, it's not very specific, but it's accurate.
It depends on numerous factors, one of which is the marketing
cost per customer. Even this factor has many variations, and the
numbers aren't always what they seem.
Let's say you sell a product online, and you generate 100% of
your sales via Pay Per Click advertising. Your customer
acquisition cost -- that is, how much it costs you to get a
paying customer -- is $15. Your profit before these advertising
costs per sale is $15. That means you make $0, right? That
business doesn't sound so great!
I have a client who does this each and every day. She makes 20
sales a day. For each new customer she makes $0 -- sometimes she
loses!
But consider this: 40% of her customers are repeat buyers who,
on average, buy twice more per year.
Bare-faced numbers don't always tell the true story. When you're
buying a web site, you need not only to know about the site
itself, but to understand the industry, customer behaviour,
buying patterns, and much more.
Know you market, and you're much likely to pick up a bargain
that you can exploit for maximum profit.
[1] <http://marketplace.sitepoint.com/>
FROM THE FORUMS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
NEW CLIENTS FROM OUTSIDE THE BOX
Wolf_22 asks, "Where is a good place to get work? [1]" It's the
age-old question, and one that has a lot of different answers.
Personally, I find benchmarking against different industries is
a fantastic way to generate new ideas and out-of-the-box
thinking.
Yesterday I spoke with a long-term client who's a major retailer
and distributor of a range of construction materials. He makes
most of his profit from product deliveries. He doesn't care what
he sells, just as long as he sells plenty of it and his customers
keep paying the delivery fee.
I have another client who's happy to pay $150 per lead generated
to his business.
What's a customer worth to you? If you're a web developer, the
answer could be many thousands of dollars. So you'd be happy to
spend $150 on generating a solid lead I'd guess. Try this next
idea as a lead generation strategy -- you can get fantastic
leads for about $7.
Here it is: sell domain names for 1 cent. That's right: 1 cent.
See how GoDaddy [2] likes that!
A couple of things will happen:
1. You'll create great awareness of your business.
2. You'll attract a huge number of people who want to register
domain names.
You know what happens when people register domain names? They
want email hosting, maybe a web site, web site hosting, and on
it goes.
Would it be profitable? Let's say you charge $80 for email
hosting. You'd need to sell email hosting to just 1 in every 10
customers and you'd be in front. Anything above that is pure
profit.
It's a solid lead generation tactic that's simple, measurable,
and should be very effective.
[1] <http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?t=551435>
[2] <http://www.godaddy.com>
TIPS & TRICKS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CONNECT WITH PROSPECTS -- FAST!
Google launched a new service called Google Merchant Search [1]
(a way to compare service and product providers). And I noticed
this in the FAQs:
Q. I submitted my contact details to a provider. When will I
receive more information?
A. Based on your requested contact time, most service providers
respond within two business days.
That right there is the reason why so many web sites fail. A
2-day turnaround to connect with a prospect is simply not good
enough. Two hours is about 1 hour and 59 minutes too long!
Regardless of what your business model is, the faster you
respond personally to prospects, the more sales you'll make. One
of our clients makes 100% more sales from her site than a
competitor because of her super-fast response time.
Just because everyone else takes 2 days doesn't make it right!
Remember: the vast majority of businesses fail. We all need
every advantage we can get, and this is a simple but important
one.
[1] <http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/help/merchantsearchbeta/faq.html>
SPONSOR'S MESSAGE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Morae: Usability Testing for Software & Web Sites. An all-digital tool
that enables you to:
-Quickly identify website and software design problems
-Affordably conduct user testing. Quickly calculate metrics & graph results.
-Deliver professional results in a fraction of the time.
http://www.techsmith.com/morae.asp?cmp=StPtUX3
WHAT'S NEW ON SITEPOINT! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
How to Code HTML Email Newsletters
by Tim Slavin
Browser idiosyncracies, spam registers, and various mail clients
are just some of the pitfalls that must be faced by email
marketers. Make sure your HTML email gets through with Tim's
essential how-to.
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/1422
Beyond CAPTCHA: No Bots Allowed!
by James Edwards
The popular CAPTCHA solution can help lock out robots and reduce
spam, but it's far from failsafe -- and it causes major
accessibility headaches. In this article, James looks at the
problems, issues, and alternatives to requiring a human to prove
that they're not a bot.
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/1645
Build Beautiful Buttons in Photoshop, Part II
by Corrie Haffly
In this second instalment of Photoshop tutorials, Corrie reveals
more of the secrets behind creating swish navigation buttons.
Learn techniques for creating a wide range of button styles:
opaque, pearl, glass, plastic, and more!
http://www.sitepoint.com/article/1644
HOT FORUM TOPICS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Whose fault is it? The Browser Developer, the Website Developer
or the user?
<http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=551694>
client not paying!
<http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=552238>
Freelance Client - Contract length Issue
<http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=551794>
Is it fair for Web designers to use CMS's?
<http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=551728>
Simply Rails 2: The first Rails 2 beginners book
<http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=551629>
We've upgraded the forum
<http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=551198>
Microsoft urges web developers/designers to get ready for IE8
<http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=550840>
NEW BLOG ENTRIES - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Website Revenue Strategies Blog: ON THE MONEY
Checkmate -- There's Money In Online Games (2 comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/06/03/checkmate-theres-money-in-online-games/
5 sure fire ways to make yourself look like an idiot
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/05/26/5-sure-fire-ways-to-make-yourself-look-like-an-idiot/
Web Pro Business Blog: STRATEGIES FOR SUCCESS
There's no prize for second best! (5 comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/06/02/theres-no-prize-for-second-best/
For Sale: Web Application - Unused (4 comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/05/29/for-sale-web-application-unused/
Freelancing: Handling the Midnight Client Call (4 comments)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/05/13/freelancing-handling-the-midnight-client-call/
Design Blog: PIXEL PERFECT
Adobe Fireworks CS4 beta released (1 comment)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/05/29/adobe-fireworks-cs4-beta-released/
.NET Blog: DAILY CATCH
ASP.NET MVC Preview 3 is Out!)
http://www.sitepoint.com/blogs/2008/05/29/mvc-preview-3-is-out/
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