I was reviewing a potential client’s website, and across the top of the page was their big seasonal promotion:

Are You Ready For Some Football???

Now in every year prior to 2011, this has been a fantastic mood-setter around this time of year. However, when Hank Williams, Jr. made his controversial comments, it became just as powerful a repellant!

Although this person wasn’t trying to be offensive, political or add whatever label you want to add, they failed to pay attention to what was happening around them and to adapt to the changes.

If they had been paying attention, they would have realized that they needed to change that banner statement tom something else football-related.

This is in no way a judgement of what was said, understood, misunderstood or intended… The fact of the matter is that the statement occurred and the public was no longer attracted to Hank’s famous line…

…and as a marketer, you have to stay on top of this sort of thing. Mind your surroundings… Because they are always changing.

I just left a store here in Atlanta which is already selling Christmas trees.. In October, before Halloween, even!

Does anybody really buy a tree for their home two months before the holiday?

We are about to be inundated with more holiday specials,
Do prions, sales, charities than we will be able to count, and it brings up the big question:

“What should I do for the holidays?”

Although many web designers would call me crazy for saying so, I would say “Don’t do a single thing.”

…then I would add “unless the season really has a major impact on your business.”

A really good example of this would be a personal trainer who knows that people want to trim down before the holidays, or they are making New Year’s Resolutions. That is a truly time-sensitive offering.

You know whether or not your company benefits from holiday marketing. If you p,an to take advantage of the seasonal business, here are some tips to keep in mind:

#1: Be sure you have a complete backup of your website so that you can revert back to the non-holiday version no later than the day after the holiday.

#2: Design in line with your existing design. If you have a sleek design, make sure that the holiday graphics fit in with them. Don’t throw big, gaudy graphics unless your company already uses them. Remember to maintain your branding.

#3: NO MUSIC or other sounds.

No…. but…

Clients often ask this after we talk about the photography for their website. It’s because I don’t keep it a secret: One of the most effective pictures that can be used on a website or any other advertising is an attractive woman either using your service or interacting with your product.

Without completely re-hashing it, in short: Men want her, and women want to be her.

Now, to the general public, that’s a pretty strong statement… it might even be called chauvinist or sexist. However, when I say this to a business owner of either gender and from any background, they see it and understand it.

Are there exceptions, of course there are! But generally speaking, there’s going to be an attractive female involved in the picture somewhere.

Is it “politically correct?” Is it “fair?” Is it “right?” I don’t know… and as a business owner, my job is to create a profit so that my employees and I can pay our bills and grow the business… it’s not to be a political mouthpiece. It’s not about being “right.”

We’re all business people, and we come from different backgrounds, ideologies, religions, lifestyles, etc… And we know that regardless of how we think things “should be” or what is “correct” or “equal,” the fact of the matter is that the companies that stick with traditional marketing messages have done so successfully for a reason. So it makes sense to do the same…

But it doesn’t mean that we have to. There are plenty of exceptions. What’s the #1 rule of marketing? “Test. Test. Test.”

A women in a traditionally male role shows strength, breaking the mold, confidence – all part of the “Girls Kick Butt!” mentality (which I work hard to instill in my kids).

Men in traditionally female roles? Well… it has worked in the past (think of Billy Mays and the Sham-Wow guy)… but usually, it doesn’t quite work out the same… unless it’s a satire… (hmm…. now there’s an idea for a photo shoot…)

I get asked this question quite often.

So often that I knew that we had to come up with a real answer and solution to this question.

Looking through the lens of Real Life and Reality, how many business owners really have the time to add yet one more to-do item onto their plate? Business is challenging enough without having to set aside time to write about it every week or every few days.

We found a way to help our clients who just don’t have the time (or patience) to do it.

It is a whole new product/service launch… which is why I’m breaking my rule of “nothing salesy in a blog!”

Website Dave Gold addresses and fixes these issues. We’ll write the blogs for you, get them posted and even pushed out to your social media so that we can build your internet presence.

Website Dave Gold includes our Locator Service

This takes all the things up onto the internet that a company needs to get seen and listed, and puts it into multiple locations.. the directories, industry-specific websites, maps and the sites where the GPS folks get their information from.

Then we do a thorough keyword search

The words that people use to find us on the internet are not always the ones that we think they are. We find out what words are being used and infuse them into your blog posts and social media posts.

We write your blog posts for you

Our clients love the fact that we take the burden off their shoulders and handle their writing for them. We then publish your posts, pushing them to your social media.

We execute a social media campaign for you

We post informative posts throughout your social media multiple times each week, increasing your brand-awareness among existing and soon-to-be customers.

Contact us at 404-422-2056 for more information to see if Website Dave Gold is for you.

I don’t know how many times I have dealt with a vendor or some other company that just seems to always be blaming their shortcomings on others. Sure, every business has things that happen, but rarely are they just left to dry…

Jack Welch mentions in his book “Winning” that action plans are always needed, because when things go wrong, and they will, the companies can take ownership of the problem and already know how to get it fixed.

There is one line in Vanilla Ice’s song, “Ice Ice Baby” which I apply to the business (the rest of the song is… well… the rest of the song)…

If there’s a problem, yo, I’ll solve it.

The line isn’t “if there’s a problem, I’ll find out who it is and say it’s their fault.” or
“if there’s a problem, I’ll deal with it next week.” or
“if there’s a problem, it’s not my fault, go talk to these guys.”

No… it’s “I’ll solve it.”

I love working with vendors and companies who take ownership of a problem. Owning a problem empowers one to own the solution, wherever it lies.

The internet is always changing, which is why we are always looking to do things differently… better… faster… more dynamic.

Jimi Hendrix was known for his innovation, for always getting better, pushing the envelope and seeing what more he could do with music. Steven Covey refers to this as “Sharpening the Saw” in his book “7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”

Even now, I am receiving requests for Flash introductions and Flash sites.

For those of you who don’t know what Flash is, Flash is an amazing piece of software. It is robust illustration and animation combined with all sorts of interactive items for web surfers to play with. It has a really neat programmer’s side to it, too, allowing people with no knowledge of how to write website code to put pieces together (kinda like that Mousetrap game we played as kids) and do some really cool things on someone’s computer.

On the downside, though, it uses up a LOT of computer resources, crashes a lot of browsers, and has been involved in all sorts of software conflicts with several companies…

…most recently: Apple.

…even Apple has had enough of Flash’s resource-hogging.

…Apple… you know, the company that graphic and web designers like to use… the same people who use Flash…

Flash doesn’t even play on the iPhones or iPads.

Now yes, the Androids do… and that’s another whole discussion.

But as a business, as a marketer trying to reach as many people in your target audience as possible:

Don’t use Flash.

Otherwise, you alienate a large portion of your potential buyers… and they’re the ones who will spend more money on something if they think it is good.

“But Website Dave, my site must have animation on it? What am I to do?”

There are alternatives… good ones that have developed and don’t crash browsers… and that do a better job of showing what you do.

Classical music has a whole other feel to it…

A lot of folks know Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries” from Elmer Fudd singing “Kill da Wabbit! Kill da Wabbit!” –  but the actual mythology behind the music goes far beyond that…

According to Wikipedia:

In Norse mythology, a valkyrie (from Old Norse valkyrja ”chooser of the slain”) is one of a host of female figures who decide who will die in battle. Selecting among half of those who die in battle (the other half go to the goddess Freyja‘s afterlife field Fólkvangr), the valkyries bring their chosen to the afterlife hall of the slain, Valhalla, ruled over by the god Odin.

Here’s the short answer: Keep it on your radar and don’t ignore it.

Time will tell what Google+ becomes. Nobody outside of Google really seems to be convinced that it is going to be a Facebook killer, but there are a lot of signs that say this is going to be a strong force in the internet.

That being said… (I’m not going to make this into a Google+ vs. Facebook post)

As a business owner, you will want to have a presence on Google+. How big? Just like any other marketing: Test, Test, Test.

Note: Google has asked businesses to wait to build profiles until they launch their business environments.

In the coming months, Facebook and Google+ are going to make big plays to earn our business. I will never tell someone not to put their business profile on Google+. I would rather use this time getting used to both environments and seeing what there is to see. Try to see how your target clients are acting in both environments, and choose your tactics carefully.

Remember: Strategy is the overall marketing plan. Tactics is the “boots on the ground” specific actions that you take in specific areas. There will be more posting about this as Google+ and its users develop.

One of the great things about blogging is that it gives folks a look at the inside of you… things outside of regular business… so that they see you are a human being.

Funny things that are outside your field offer all sorts of opportunities to blog about something different. Here’s the thing, though… it has to be relevant to your readers and it has to be something consonant with you… in other words, readers could see what you have put up and actually believe that you enjoy it. In other words, it can’t just be something off the wall.

Example?

I am a web designer. It’s what I do. Now what would a web designer be into? You’d be surprised at some of the non-geeky things, and you would expect a lot of nerd-culture. But if I start posting a whole bunch of things from those, it probably doesn’t resonate with you…

However, I’m also a marketing junkie… and if you are reading my blog, then you have some interest in marketing your business. So that would be fertile ground for me to play.

So if I post a link to this article about 20 business cards you would probably never, ever forget (not safe for work or around kids), then even though it is not about web design, it is about marketing… and you might even be likely to pass it on to others who find making fun of marketing to be funny.