matt bell | online business strategist
Top 10 Rules for Online Presences.
There are a lot more than 10 rules where online presences are concerned. But these are the top 10. A quick and dirty guide of points to keep in mind when spending money on your online presence.
Rule #1: Online Presences are an investment
Like shares, property and any other type of investment vehicle, you invest resources in order to realize a return. Trying to do this without a proper strategy increases your risk and decreases your chances of success. If you wouldn’t invest in shares without a financial planner, don’t invest in your online presence without a online strategist.
Rule #2: The Goal is ROI
That is return on investment.
If I spend $5000 on this website, I want it to make me $10,000. Your strategy will determine how this is going to be possible and what is going to be required to see such a return.
Rule #3: You have to speculate to accumulate
Expecting to get out of your online presence investment as cheaply as possible will likely result in a poor return.
That being said, investing huge sums of money in useless websites and marketing is not going to yield a much better result.
Rule #4: Not all strategies are equal
Obviously, it is a given that strategies are going to differ between those who create them. Creative agencies, web developers, ad agencies, online marketers, print companies and more all seem to have strategy on their services list these days. But everyone’s idea of strategy differs. Creatives will ask how you want it to look, marketing guys will ask what keywords you want to appear for and web developers will ask what features you would like it to have.
A Specialist online strategist will ask you what ROI you would like to see and work from there.
Rule #5: Content really is king
Of all the aspects of an online presence, content is probably the most significant contributor to success. People might not like how you dress or the fact you are a recluse. But if you make a good argument and people like what you say, you are off to an excellent start.
Rule #6: Whatever Lola wants, Lola will have to get approved
Whoever first said that the customer is always right is the biggest kiss-ass, pushover known to man. As an Online Strategist, I spend a large amount of time protecting clients from themselves. If I didn’t say no to bad ideas that would ultimately result in nil gain or worse, your ROI would suffer.
Rule #7: Address your unique audiences uniquely
We respond a lot more openly to content that is relevant. Irrelevant content seems to have the opposite effect. If your target audiences differ from each other, make sure your online presence is built to accommodate each audience with incoming channels, content and calls to action that are relevant to each audience.
Rule #8: Don’t buy traffic before you’ve bought roads
If your website isn’t converting, paying to get more visitors onto your site will increase your cost per sale. Invest in your content and calls to action before paying your SEO and/or PPC specialists to drive more traffic to your site. They will be more concerned with your position in Google and click through rate than with your onsite conversion so don’t get sucked in.
Rule #9: Constantly Measure, Adapt and improve
Measuring stats, getting feedback from customers and adjusting your online presence is the only way you can stay ahead o the curve. Complacency almost killed Yahoo when google came along. Don’t be a Yahoo. Listen to your stats, your customers and your online strategist when they suggest new ideas and opportunities.
Rule #10: Twitter will probably yield the same returns for you as it does its own investors
Unless you are famous, funny or both, you’ll have a hard time seeing a return on your twitter investment. Given Twitter’s investors have now put 1.5bln dollars into it and saw only $45mln back in 2010, holding up hope that you will profit is, well… hopeful.
Aside: the same link also highlights expectations that Twitter will make $150mln this year.
Commentariat
What rules do you follow when it comes to Online Presence?