From the desk of Roy Furr, December 10th, 2007
Here are my core business values. Do you agree?
On products:
Get the product right. A better mousetrap alone WILL NOT cause the world to beat a path to your door. But selling a bad product will cause an angry mob to pave a superhighway to your door. So get it right in the first place. What a fantastic product will do is sustain momentum, lead to repeat business, and create killer word of mouth. And that sure helps your marketing and sales efforts!
On customer needs and profits:
Finding new and unique ways to identify and better serve customer needs is priority #1. Businesses and business owners do have bosses — they’re just called clients and customers. Satisfy them, you get a raise. Don’t satisfy them, your pay goes down. You agree that this short term focus on customer needs over profits will lead to better long-term growth and profits.
On marketing:
Marketing is salesmanship multiplied. You recognize that direct response marketing is usually a better investment than branding. You’re willing to spend money to test new marketing, and increase spending as results warrant. Classic direct response marketing and advertising books like “Scientific Advertising” by Claude Hopkins and “Ogilvy on Advertising” by David Ogilvy hold a place of esteem on your book shelf.
On sales:
Salesmanship requires identifying customer needs, and identifying how your product or service meets these needs. You and your team use systematic methods to open the sales conversation, qualify prospects, build desire, and finally close the sale. But you’re not running a boiler room operation — you care for your customers and work with them as individuals with individual needs, and it shows in every interaction.
On business optimization:
Test, test, test. You realize that secretaries can sometimes have better ideas than CEOs, and you’re willing to test an idea in the marketplace because that’s the only place you’ll get votes that count. You value your team — you listen to them, weigh their input, and work with them to get buy-in on your big ideas. And you’re always working to improve all aspects of your business.
On employees:
A big part of the success of any business is in its employees. Employees are encouraged to do more, and to stretch their abilities in new an unique ways to benefit the business. Contribution to the company is valued above all measures — your employment packages give superstar employees near unlimited earning potential based on the results they bring.
What do you think?
- R
Tags: products, better mousetrap, repeat business, word of mouth, customer needs, profits, marketing, direct response marketing, advertising, Scientific Advertising, Claude Hopkins, Ogilvy on Advertising, David Ogilvy, sales, Salesmanship, business optimization, employees, superstar employees
Posted in Business, Entrepreneurship, Marketing | No Comments »
From the desk of Roy Furr, December 10th, 2007
Have questions about Google’s Website Optimizer split testing and multivariate testing tool?
GrokDotCom’s Bryan Eisenberg tracked down Tom Leung — Google’s Business Product Manager — to ask him all sorts of questions around this useful tool.
Here’s some of the questions they answered:
- What is the Google Optimizer?
- Is Google analytics required to use Google optimizer?
- Will it work with other analytics software?
- Does A/B testing or multivariate testing affect your Google search ranking?
- Why is Google offering the optimizer?
- How does Google Optimizer compare to the other testing platforms available now?
- How does Google Optimizer work with sites that are more dynamic in nature?
- Can Google Optimizer be used to test Pay-Per-Click (PPC) or Pay Per Action (PPA) ad copy?
- What other resources do I need to be able to implement tests using Google Optimizer?
- How long do I have to wait to see results testing with Google Optimizer?
- Does hit and run testing work?
- What future features are in the pipeline for Google optimizer?
- How do you see more B2B or lead generation sites using Google Optimizer?
- How would you encourage the average webmaster to get started with Google Optimizer?
This really is the insider’s angle on Google Website Optimizer. There’s a lot of good information in this interview — straight from the horse’s mouth.
One benefit I see of using Google’s tool is that you know if they say “It won’t affect your Google rankings,” then it won’t. At least we hope… :)
Here’s the link to the interview: Google Website Optimizer Q&A
Have other questions, leave them in a comment or check out these Google Website Optimizer videos.
Enjoy!
- R
Tags: Google’s Website Optimizer, split testing, multivariate testing, GrokDotCom, Bryan Eisenberg, Tom Leung, What is the Google Optimizer, Google analytics, Google optimizer, A/B testing, Google search ranking, Pay-Per-Click, Pay Per Action, B2B, lead generation
Posted in Google Website Optimizer | No Comments »
From the desk of Roy Furr, December 10th, 2007
I got a comment by email on the Google Website Optimizer Videos I posted to my blog recently.
Garrett Todd from music on hold service ImpressCallers.com says:
Hi Roy:
I watched the first video on this. I do feel like I can accomplish this now. In fact, it seems easy all of a sudden.
Funny how ‘SEEING & HEARING’ something helps versus just reading…
Regards,
Garrett Todd
I’m really excited about pointing you to this resource — I’m a huge proponent of marketing testing and think Google has been a big help in this by releasing this tool. As Garrett said, the videos make it easy to get started. Why don’t you watch them (they’re free) and get started today?
Click here for the videos.
I hope the videos are helpful to you. Soon I’ll be posting more how-to videos on Google Website Optimizer. If you have questions you’d like to have answered, leave them in a comment on this post. Thanks!
- R
Tags: Google Website Optimizer, marketing testing, how-to videos
Posted in Google Website Optimizer, Marketing Testing | No Comments »
Blog RSS Feed