vTiger CRM – The WordPress of Customer Relationship Management?

January 24, 2012 By Leave a Comment

An Open Source Cloud Based Marketing and Support Engine

Having worked with Customer Relationship Management software for over 25 years and spending 3 years developing a system that ultimately sold some 13,000 units, CRM is somewhat close to my heart.

Most of the CRM software I sold and supported was commercial software costing around $300 – $500 per user.  It had to be installed either as a single user system on a laptop or desktop computer running Microsoft Windows, or installed onto a Windows based Server serving Windows based Workstations.  This software allowed a fair degree of sharing and synchronization between Workstations and portable devices but that synchronization became very complicated when travelling or working from remote locations.  In 2008 I ceased selling commercial software.

My business now revolves around open source, cloud based software.  I install, configure and develop WordPress websites and blogs.  I teach classes and do ‘one on one’ consulting and training in WordPress.  I have become spoiled by the awesomeness of WordPress and the freedom of Open Source and The Cloud.

However, I have missed CRM software and have been struggling to make Microsoft Outlook do many of the things I needed doing in order to support my client base.  Unfortunately it failed. So, determined to find the system that was affordable and could achieve all of my requirements, I tested many commercial and open source offerings; then I came across vTiger CRM

I have put together a list of 14 key vTiger CRM attributes which differentiate it from competitive systems… and illustrate why it is such a valueable resource for any business, large or small.

  1. Open Source.  vTiger is an open source software product (which means that the software’s source code is available and that any user can read, re-use, modify it – it is provided under the vTiger Public License (an open source license which comes from Mozilla Public License).
  2. Use just Yourself or for the Whole Company. vTiger is in the cloud and multi-user; which means that you or your colleagues can access it from anywhere in the world at any time.  One user updates a record or schedule in Seattle and another user can see those updates instantly from accessing the system in Tokyo.
  3. vTiger, like WordPress, is FREE. The code can be freely downloaded from the vTiger.com website along with a whole series of utilities including plugins to synchronize data, emails, contacts, schedules, tasks and appointments with Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird and more…
  4. Trusted and Rock Solid Database.  Built on MySQL, and developed in PHP, vTiger is strong, stable and secure.  In fact the vTiger Server can run on Windows, Linux and Mac OS although most commonly it is run on Linux.
  5. Cloud (Web) based.  Being a Cloud (or Web) based solution; vTiger can be accessed from any device that has a browser and an Internet connection.  Gone are the days when your CRM solution had to be Windows or Mac but never both at the same time.  vTiger can be accessed and updated, enhanced and exploited on any system you choose; whether it be a Windows Laptop, Desktop or Windows Phone, an iPad, iMac or iPhone, an Android Tablet or Google Chromebook.  vTiger (like WordPress) doesn’t care so long as you have a web browser and an Internet connection.
  6. Phone Apps for Mobile Data.  vTiger has an Android Phone App and an iPhone App which automatically synchronizes data from the web to your phone; but it synchronizes far more than just contact details.  It’ll give you access to just about all the data online including inventory levels, invoice details and status, calendars and schedules (for yourself and your colleagues – remember, this is a multi user system), and so much more…
  7. Client Server.  vTiger is a client/server solution which means that while you are accessing information, compiling statistics, reading reports, developing email campaigns and the like on your iPad or laptop, the processing is being done on the server somewhere on the web.  All the hassle of the server side is being done for you without distracting you from your primary task of developing and supporting your customers or developing materials for marketing and growing your business.  It also means that many users can also be doing the same thing at the same time from their iPads, PCs, laptops etc.  The server does the hard work and the clients (the iPads, Laptops etc) get the results.
  8. Intuitive.  vTiger is a highly intuitive system (much like WordPress) and is extremely well designed.  Functions, Modules, Reports and Administration services are just where you would expect to find them and the system looks great.
  9. Power is there when you need it.  vTiger is packed with features but you only need to use those that serve your purpose or business.  Just because there are over 20 Modules in vTiger it shouldn’t intimidate you.  Just use those features you need when you need them, and then as you get to know the system better, so those additional features are there to serve your needs.
  10. CRM Essentials.  vTiger’s key features include Accounts (main records that would include companies and organizations, departments etc), Contacts (individuals or employees of the companies or departments), Multi User Calendar (each user has their own events calendar, scheduler and to do list), Webmail.
  11. Customizable Modules.  vTiger’s Enhanced Modules include a full Campaign Manager, Quotation System, Sales and Purchase Orders, Invoicing, Trouble Ticket Support System, Lead Management and Tracking (all linked to a PDF generator and the email system) and a full functioning Customer Portal; which personalizes your interactions and support with your customers. And everything in vTiger is fully customizable.
  12. Report Writer.  vTiger features a highly flexible Report Writer which allows you to access and manage the mass of related data in the system.
  13. Easy to use and easy to learn.  One of the problems I experienced in testing various other systems was that they were hard to learn, hard to install and hard to upgrade.  Not so with vTiger.  I have found it to be a pleasure to work with and highly reliable, fast and very secure.  There are thousands of businesses and individuals around the world using and ‘abusing’ vTiger.
  14. Constant upgrades.  There is a vTiger development team that acts on user feedback.  It regularly provides software upgrades and enhancements based on that feedback. And there are lots of consultants and trainers like me to provide an easy transition from the mayhem of many paper or computer based systems (or non systems) into vTiger.

vTiger just released version 5.3 of the system which offers the following:

  • Sales automation (customizable product entries, inventory management, quotations, billing, and trouble ticketing)
  • Customer support & service functions, including a customer self-service portal
  • Marketing automation (lead generation, campaign support, knowledge bases)
  • Inventory Management
  • Analysis and reporting

User interaction features include:

  • Integration with corporate E-mail systems (plugin for Microsoft Outlook, Mozilla Thunderbird extension)
  • Support of the Asterisk PBX phone system
  • Calendaring
  • Tag cloud functionality
  • RSS feed subscription
  • PDF document generation via the TCPDF library

Incorporating Customer Relationship Management into your business will improve customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, business efficiency and profitability.  It can and did cost a lot of money to incorporate such a system, but not anymore.  vTiger CRM changes all of that just as WordPress changed the face of websites.  The world of Customer Relationship Management will never be the same again.

My vTiger CRM classes start this spring!

Christine Ely, WordPress and vTiger CRM consultant and trainer.

Filed Under: Articles, CRM Blog, vTiger CRM

WordPress – The Jewel of the Internet?

March 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Over the past couple of years the Internet has changed out of all recognition.  Where, not so long ago, Microsoft, Yahoo and Google ruled the web, now social media sites and connected ‘self managed’ websites dominate.  Where webmasters controlled development of the content of websites for companies large and small, now users have taken over the content management reins.

Right now Facebook, Groupon, Living Social and other relatively new socially oriented sites are making all the news but WordPress is also quietly revolutionizing the net.  And that benefits all of us!

WordPress is a powerful, intuitive, highly customizable and extensible web development technology that is open to and usable by ‘everyone’.  WordPress is ‘Open Source’, and open source is now more than just a credible alternative to mainstream software; it is rapidly becoming ‘the’ mainstream.  The benefits of ‘open source’ are huge.  The development of the product is rapid as so many developers can get involved in its growth, and just as important for the users of ‘open source’; it’s free.

So in a very few years, WordPress has grown from just a blogging platform into what it is today… the best web development environment on the web that incorporates the best of everything else out there.  WordPress is easy to learn but has a depth of features that means users and developers alike will never outgrow it.

A WordPress site is unlike a regular website developed in a product like Dreamweaver or Frontpage in that it is multi layered ‘out of the box’.  There is nothing ‘flat’ about WordPress;  it is ‘cloud based’ and ‘dynamic’ through and through.

With a traditional website, the development environment is installed onto the developer’s computer.  The development software will be the Mac version, or the Windows version, or even the Linux version.  The site will be developed locally and uploaded to the web.  Changes will be made using the software installed on the developer’s computer but only when the developer can get to the project… and that sucks for the company whose website is vital for their business.  They need to be able to make changes, update prices, replace an image or video, replace personnel  or any number of other ‘adjustments’ to their online presence… and they need to do it in real time.

WordPress is an environment that doesn’t care what operating system you use.  It doesn’t care whether you are Mac, Windows or Linux based.  All it cares about is that you have a browser and an Internet connection, because WordPress is not installed onto your computer; it is installed onto your website! So you log into the development environment through your browser.  You update and enhance your site in real time and from anywhere.  You could be sitting on a train and need to update some time sensitive information.  No problem for WordPress.  Just login through your iPad, Netbook, Laptop or Droid phone. It’s that accessible.

WordPress creates a footprint that the search engines are attracted to because whe

ther you have a small brochure site or a massive content oriented eCommerce and Blogging site, the multi layered aspects of WordPress come into play.

Every WordPress website is sitting atop a powerful database (MySQL) that is indexing the content as it’s created and WordPress is signaling the web that new material is available.  WordPress provides you the tools to ensure that the new content gets to the top of the search engines by allowing you to customize what the search engines actually see.

WordPress provides the tools and the environment to create simple websites or extremely complex sites and WordPress is ‘open’; which means that developers can and do create new programs (plugins) that enhance the power of your site without you having to pay substantial fees for that added functionality.  Plugins can do pretty much anything from adding a secure contact form to a simple eCommerce system, from a simple slide show to sophisticated photo galleries.  You want a ‘Yellow Pages’ style directory of all of your associated companies or contractors on your site?  No problem for WordPress as the underlying database handles it with ease.

It doesn’t matter what size of site you want.  It doesn’t matter that you may not need the power of WordPress right now.  What matters is that you want to grow your business and you don’t want to have to recreate your website in a year or two when you business has grown.

WordPress is a ‘social media connected’ technology that will insure you against the future.  It is future proof as it will remain state of the art and upgrade along with all of the changes that are happening in the ‘cybersphere’.  It’s an amazing product that is free and always will be; which is why I call it ‘The Jewel of the Internet’.

A Note on WordPress ‘Themes’

It is important to realize that the 3rd layer of a WordPress website is the ‘Theme’. The 3 layers consist of (1) Database (MySQL), (2) WordPress itself (development environment, dashboard etc.) and (3) the Theme which sits on top and provides the interface that is seen by visitors to the site itself.

There are literally thousands of free themes out there and many people choose a theme that looks nice but fail to realize that a theme has to provide access to all of the features WordPress offers. Many of the free themes fall behind the updates provided by WordPress and by default, tie the user to an older technology. In my view, it is vital to get your choice of theme right. We use (almost exclusively) the StudioPress Genesis Framework Premium Themes.

There is a cost involved but as your website is a vital part of your online presence, a few dollars spent on the theme will reward you hugely in the long term. The premium themes keep up to date with WordPress technology and utilize the newer features such as Custom Menus, Dynamic Sidebars and Dynamic Home Pages, as well as providing massively superior Widget and Plugin support.

The moral of the story is that a Theme should be much more than just a pretty face over WordPress; it should enhance both the developer’s and the user’s experience.

 

Filed Under: Articles

10 Reasons why WordPress is your Personal Publicity Machine

May 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment
  1. Traditional websites were effectively brochures on the web.  They looked nice, had a certain amount of information but were static.  By contrast a WordPress Website and Blog is a living thing.  It is designed from the ground up to radiate ‘I’m here!’ to the search engines, social media sites and blogosphere.  It’s a connected technology that communicates with the world.
  2. WordPress has unlimited capacity to grow.  Unlike traditional websites, WordPress sits on top of a database (MySQL) which handles the web pages and posts, organizes and collates the images, videos, brochures and documents.  It is highly extensible through themes and plugins.There is a development community out there that create add-ons to WordPress enabling it to undertake just about any task.  WordPress is almost infinitely expandable and extendable.  You’ll never outgrow it!
  3. WordPress lives and breathes Search Engine Optimization.  Every page and blog post you create with WordPress is designed to attract attention.The URLs  (page addresses) are editable to provide descriptions of the content on the page.  Where you call a page ‘About Us’, your URL can read‘wordpress-training-consulting-development-blog-writing-seattle’;which offers a stickier phrase for the search engines to catch hold of.Search engines cannot read what is in an image so WordPress gives you many ways to describe an image.  You can create a caption, a pop-up message and a full description so your images become part of the search engine optimized content just as much as your posts themselves.

    You can add keywords and tags to posts and articles, and those tags get indexed by Google as well as the article title (long description as mentioned above) and content.

    You can create excerpts of your pages and posts.  These are summaries that are picked up by the search engines, are easy to enter and very effective.  The short answer is that WordPress is a great environment if you want your content to be found.

  4. WordPress is a Content Management System where you as a developer, administrator or author can make fast updates to the site.  No longer will you have to wait for your developer or Web Master to change a picture, update some prices or post a new article.  All of that can be done by you.
  5. Dynamic Content, Dynamic Updates, Dynamic Home Page. WordPress can pull in content from different places, feeds and resources; combining it all onto your page or post.  Pages and posts can be scheduled to appear when and where you want them to that your website is always fresh and alive.  Search engines begin to ignore static sites.  There is nothing static about WordPress.
  6. WordPress and Niche Marketing. Chris Anderson’s book ‘The Long Tail’ revealed how niche marketing has become main stream.  Through the unlimited capacity of the Internet… digital marketing and distribution has encouraged niche markets to thrive.The main body of sales comprises the best sellers.  The major retail stores have to hold inventory that has to sell in numbers to justify the cost of the ‘shelf space’ Therefore the market has traditionally limited itself to a relatively restricted number of products; effectively ‘The Hot 100’, The blockbuster, The top 10,000 book titles etc.  But that has all changed.  What ‘The Long Tail’ revealed is that the market is much bigger and more varied than people imagined.  As ‘search’ became more effective than advertising and display, niche products could be offered and found as easily as the latest Lady Gaga CD.  Although individually, sales down the far end of ‘The Long Tail’ may only be in single digits, the combined sales of all of these niches actually rivals that of the best sellers.  The Long Tail is a market of niche products and we can all be part of it.WordPress is the perfect vehicle to develop and promote niche products.  Niche products by their very nature are targeted to small groups.  These groups seek out products and services that are unavailable in local stores but are available online.  And nowadays, the more unique the product, the less competition for search engine key words and phrases.If you have a niche product, a WordPress website and blog is the perfect vehicle to ‘open shop’ to a market searching for you.  Product descriptions, testimonials, blog posts and articles, embedded videos and case studies are all a few clicks away.  Every time a new article or product is posted, the blogosphere and search engines will be ‘pinged’ and the market will grow.
  7. WordPress integrates with Social Media. WordPress is designed to get you up and running fast.  Once you have your products and services on your WordPress website, visitors can interact with you!If you post an article or case study, visitors can leave comments or questions.
    Customer Service becomes transparent and interactive as customers openly discuss good or bad service and you can respond quickly, honestly and directly. 

    Social Media links and tags can be incorporated into your posts which makes it just a simple click for a visitor to bookmark an article or offer… or to share that offer with his/her Facebook friends.  The effectiveness of the Social Media Links cannot be over emphasized.  Let’s say you post a case study on how your business resolved a problem for one of your clients.  Soon after someone else has a similar problem and searches a solution.  Your case study pops up and they call you… but not only that; they also share it on their Facebook and click the Twitter link.  That Twitter link gets shared with their 120 followers, a few of whom ReTweet the link to their combined 10,000 followers.

    Because WordPress  makes it so easy to share and integrate with other social media sites, your message can get out there quicker and further than you ever dreamed possible.

  8. The WordPress Dashboard. Developing a traditional website can be a tricky business.  You need to learn a system like Dreamweaver or Frontpage.  You have to know how HTML and FTP works.  But the WordPress dashboard presents you with every tool you need to create an effective website and blog in a clean and intuitive manner without having to be a web developer.The Dashboard features:a.  Blog Posts.  Using the in-built text editor (essentially a word processor with full formatting) you can create posts and articles and allocate them to a sophisticated set of relational categories.b.  Media.  WordPress makes it a breeze to upload images, brochures, PDFs, PowerPoint presentations and more to its media library.  It automatically files these away giving total access for inclusion in your websites and blogs.c.  Links.  Here you can create links to all of your favorite sites or indeed pages within your own site.

    d.  Pages.  WordPress Pages are created the same way as Posts but are more like traditional web pages; although  they have the bonus of Parent/Child relationships and dynamic content.

    e.  Comments.  Here you can monitor and moderate and respond to the comments visitors have made on your site.

    f.  Appearance.  Comprises a set of tools to change, update and configure the appearance of your side including themes, widgets and more.

    g.  Plugins.  There are thousands of plugins that have been developed to extend the features of WordPress.  These range from simple slide show presentations, contact forms, photo galleries, statistic packages right through to highly sophisticated eCommerce systems.

    h.  Users.  WordPress is multi-user and here you can create new users with varying degrees of access and security.

    i.  Tools.  A set of tools including the facility to import and export your whole WordPress site along with images, video and other content

    j.  Settings.  A complete set of tools to configure your site for the outside world.

  9. The Value of FREE.  Not only is it one of the best web development and blogging systems available on the planet at any price but being free it allows you to experiment and learn without risk.  It allows you to interact and develop without the worry of cost.  The value of free extends way beyond monetary value.  It empowers you to express yourself in an open and expansive way.
  10. Blogging beats Advertising and WordPress excels at blogging.  You can unleash your creative self and if what you have to say is worth hearing, the world will find you and listen.
Filed Under: Articles

The Value of FREE

April 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

There is a lot of confusion over social media networking/marketing.  If you partake, are you networking or marketing?  Is Twitter a social media networking site for individuals and social groups or is it used by businesses for marketing.  The same goes for Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn and Biznik.

The answer is yes to everything.  All of these sites are used and abused by individuals, businesses, pressure groups, politicians and more.  As a tool becomes available it gets used and when it’s ‘free’ it gets used by a lot of people… as it should.

To say ‘No Business Should Be Involved in Online Social Networking’ is just plain wrong.  It should be used in combination with social media marketing.  Biznik (a business oriented social media site) is a prime example of how to combine social media networking WITH social media marketing.

Biznik has the mix of networking and marketing in balance.  Businesses can shamelessly promote and market their latest offerings while benefitting from the SEO that is inherent in the system.  They can write articles that increase the awareness and understanding of the business environment they inhabit.  It is right for businesses to be involved in both social media marketing and networking.  Done right, networking instills trust.

Biznik members (both paying and free) have the opportunity to evaluate other members’ products and services through their promotions and profiles; as well as getting an understanding of the ‘person’ behind the business through their articles and posts.  The benefit extends outside of Biznik too.  You don’t have to be a member to find a product or service that is on offer through the Biznik environment. Just go to Google/Yahoo/Bing and search for what you’re looking for.  If a Biznik member has written about it in an article, their profile, promotion, event or post… chances are it’ll be on the first page of search results.

Bizniks are encouraged to hold networking events and workshops, both physical and virtual (online).  Hundreds of Bizniks meet every week in coffee shops, hotels, meeting rooms, convention centers and in ‘the cloud’ (webinars, chat rooms, conference calls, Instant Messages and more).

Many people (including me) have 2 Facebook accounts; one primarily for family and friends and the other for business connections.  Just because Facebook is the number one social media site doesn’t prevent it from being used for business. You cannot ignore the vast communities that have grown out of these environments.

The same holds true for virtual online worlds.  Take ‘Second Life’ for example.  Second Life is an online game where you create an avatar (a virtual representation of yourself) and wander around a virtual world making friends and interacting with others.  You can earn virtual money and engage in business activities.  That virtual money can be exchanged for real money but can also buy online (virtual) products and services.

Second Life is a virtual world built around social networking and big business has gotten involved big time.  Major companies have bought virtual real estate and ‘set up shop’ in this virtual world.  Reporters wander around interviewing virtual people; Dell, IBM and others have virtual office buildings and stores.  In the world of FREE, there’s always business and networking ensues.

The great thing about FREE is that there is no risk.  If it doesn’t work what have you lost?  You try it but understand what you’re doing but good content and participation is vital.  The old maxim of garbage in / garbage out still applies.

Marketing has shifted focus considerably over the past few years. There are plenty of business people who were marketing their services effectively but are now finding the effectiveness of that marketing has diminished due to the nature of the researching and buying habits of modern customers.

Those business people who ignore (or are unaware of) promoting their services through interactive online communities will find that what they knew about marketing has lost a large degree of relevance. An advert in yellow pages says a whole lot less than a well written blog post with a series on comments from happy customers.

The business owner has to, as never before, think like his customer. What is the customer searching for, where is he searching, how is he making his buying decision and what are his existing customers saying about him.

Google has created a multibillion dollar company built around FREE.  It has huge data centers around the country constantly scanning for new content; indexing and updating its results so that you can type in what you’re looking for and have results immediately presented.  You can choose from sponsored links and search results.  You can click on a website or a blog post and more often than not, will see Google Ads appears that are relevant to the search results.  You need to be part of those results… and the social media / blogging environment is the best way to get there.

The good news is that all of this technology to get you noticed is free.  Biznik, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Digg etc are all free.  You can often upgrade your membership and get additional features but at the very least you have to be part of them.  They have SEO clout by their expertise and sheer presence on the web which in turn gives you additional clout.  Develop good content, regularly update and you’ll move up the search engine ladder.  Network and market well and you’ll continue up.

© 2010 Christine Ely

Filed Under: Articles

Why EVERY Business Should Be Involved In Online Social Networking

April 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment
A very good article has been viewed by over 12,000 titled ‘Why No Business Should Be Involved In Online Social Networking’.

Although not in direct response to that article I did write my own which somewhat counters the arguments expressed therein.

My article ‘The Value of FREE’ at:

http://biznik.com/articles/the-value-of-free

suggests that in the new Web 2.0 climate and the ubiquitous nature of free digital products & services, both Social Networking AND Social Marketing are essential components of the new marketing mix.

Businesses grow through marketing their products and services but ‘Social Networking’ has definitely entered the social sphere. It may just be a case of semantics but my experiences through Biznik, Facebook, BNI and others have entered the realms of ‘social’.

My business markets itself utilizing social media websites but when I attend events, webinars, discussions boards, when I tweet, update my Facebook etc., I ‘personally’ am out there — that’s me and I am involved in Social Media Networking.

I am making personal connections that benefit me and that in turn helps both my business and hopefully the individuals and businesses which whom I have networked.

So my contention is that every business should be involved in online social networking and online social marketing… they are synergistic rather than mutually exclusive. What do you think?

 

Filed Under: Articles

WordPress – Opening the Floodgates to the Open Source Revolution

March 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

The thing about WordPress (and other open source products) is that we’re still just scratching the surface of a wave that is changing the world.  Open source software and the whole ‘cloud computing’ paradigm are having a profound effect on the industry.

Open source software is now more than just a credible alternative to mainstream software; it is rapidly becoming ‘the’ mainstream.  Budgets have taken a massive beating and for many, developing a website, hiring a graphic designer, buying Adobe Creative Suite or investing in any other commercially available technology has become just too expensive and too darned complicated.  But open source software answers all of these issues because it’s powerful, intuitive and ‘free’… and how can you compete with free?

WordPress is at the forefront of the ‘open source’ revolution because it epitomizes all that ‘open source’ stands for.  It empowers anyone to become a true part of the social media phenomenon.  With WordPress, you can develop a fantastic website and blog; you can maintain it yourself, you can accommodate many contributors and vast quantities of materials; you can incorporate or share with an amazing assortment of social media sites such as Facebook, Biznik, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter and more.  You become part of a global community that is expanding every day.

By utilizing WordPress, and 3 additional open source products, anyone with a little training and a lot of enthusiasm can get online with a site that they couldn’t have dreamed of just a few short years ago.  The combination of WordPress, NVU (for HTML), Gimp (for graphics) and Filezilla (for transferring files) is a one stop shop to building professional, multi-user, multimedia websites and blog without any develop costs.  And for many, WordPress and a well chosen theme is all they need.

You have to understand that WordPress is not just a ‘free’ alternative to the commercial products.  It may be free but it is way better than just about anything available; which is why it is so widely used by major corporations and government bodies alike.  ‘Paradigm shift’ is an overused term nowadays but it is completely apt for what’s happening in the whole ‘cloud computing’ / ‘WordPress’ development culture.

The individual is empowered like never before because he or she has access to exactly the same tools as the richest of companies.  And when the penny truly drops, books, training, consulting and ancillary services will sell by the bucket load because the only cost in getting online (for websites, blogs, databases, eCommerce systems and much more) will be the cost of learning.

From my experience, many total novices learn enough in just a few hours to appreciate that by using WordPress, they can be empowered to do something that they would have previous thought of as ‘extra-ordinary’.

The acceptance and integration of Open Source software and WordPress into mainstream business is becoming more significant every day. Hundreds of millions, if not billions of instances will find their way onto people’s browsers.  Cloud computing (viewing and processing through a browser) opens the door to everyone.  It doesn’t matter whether they are using a Windows laptop in a coffee shop in Seattle, a MacBook in a glass office block in San Francisco or a Linux netbook in Nigeria.  They all access the web, have equal access to WordPress and can benefit from all that free ‘open source’ software offers them.  All they need is a way to learn how to use it.

Filed Under: Articles

Marketing is not just American for Selling

July 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

When I went to marketing school, one of the first lessons concerned the circus coming to town.  It’s a great story!

If the circus is coming to town and you paint a sign saying, “Circus is coming to Fairgrounds Sunday,” that’s Advertising. If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and walk him through town, that’s a Promotion. If the elephant walks through the Mayor’s flower bed, that’s Publicity. If you can get the Mayor to laugh about it, that’s Public Relations. And, if you planned the whole thing, that’s Marketing!–Author Unknown

Times have changed but the principal remains the same.  In a Web 2.0 world, you still need to advertise, promote, publicize, and do your PR but there are new tools AND new challenges out there!

I’m sure you’ve heard the expression “you only get one chance at a first impression” but that warning should be doubly heeded in business.  Let’s say you’re going to a BizNik network meeting to promote your new business to a room full of BizNiks.  You’re a little short on funds, so you decide to get your nephew (who knows a bit about computers) to create some business cards for you.  He can use a template on Microsoft Publisher and print them on your inkjet printer.

You know you should have a website so you Google search to find a hosting company that’ll register and host your site for next to nothing and has tools to build the site in under an hour.  Great! So that’s what you do and you’re on the web!

You have your details and email address on your business card:

Email:  tommyljonesenterprises@hotmail.com.
Website: www.tommyljonesenterprises.com.

So off you go to network, talk about your business and hand out your cards.

1.      Your business card is obviously home made because the ink ran when a drop of coffee splashed on it.

2.      You’ve gone for a free email account because it’s easy to setup and costs nothing but says nothing about your business but too much about you.

3.      Your point and click website is bland and formulaic.  It says little about what you really do but says an awful lot about what you don’t do!

Every business, whether small are large, has to portray its identity. If you hand out business cards that look like you designed and printed them yourself, what does that say to your potential customers? Is that how you’ll work for them?

The moral of that story is be professional at what you do best and get professionals to work on your behalf with the other stuff.  Your amateur ‘first impression’ will linger long after you come to your senses and present yourself professionally.

Preparation, Preparation, Preparation.

Don’t waste that first impression!  When it’s gone, it’s gone!

Marketing is about creating a comfortable and reassuring environment for your potential customers.  Once you achieve that, your products and services will sell themselves.

We don’t all have access to an elephant to parade through town but we can all create our own mix of marketing components.  The following details how to get your show on the road!

  1. A comprehensive website that is tailored to your services and clearly addresses the needs of your potential customers.  It should have a clear navigation system with easy access to what you do.  Contacting you should be just one click away.
  2. A website video.  No amount of text compares to actually seeing you.  Many potential customers will prefer ‘check you out’ before actually meeting you face to face… so why not let them meet you through a video on your website?  You can say a lot in 2 minutes about what you do and who you are.  Once you have the video, link it to your BizNik profile, create a YouTube page, put it on MySpace… then link it all together.
  3. A consistent business identity is essential.  Wherever your name appears, it should be consistent with other materials.  You should have a recognizable logo which appears on all of your marketing materials; website, truck, store front or forehead sticker! (ok forget the sticker)
  4. High quality business stationery.  Everything you pass out should be professional.  It shows intent to your customers and it reflects on you.
  5. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software. You cannot hope to remember everyone you meet so when you get a business card,  enter it into a system that will remember for you.  Follow up is vital in the marketing process.  A good CRM program allows you to keep track of all your customers, prospects, appointments, tasks, emails, and events.  It will also synchronize directly with you Blackberry, iPhone or Windows Mobile device.That gives you real time access to marketing ‘intelligence’.
  6. Get some marketing training.  Marketing is about the mix  of events.  Remember the circus story and you’ll realize that marketing is not just an American term for selling.

One final tip. Nothing beats word of mouth marketing.  Impress someone and they’ll tell a couple of people.  Appear unprofessional and provide a bad service – they’ll tell everyone they know!

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