Hello folks. First let me apologize for the space between posts, we have realized that writing everyday can lead to some pretty boring and non-informative posts. We want to provide to you great content and interesting stories.

Are you designing for your clients or for yourself?

Recently I have had the pleasure of designing a web page for a client. The design is very different than anything I am used to. It is a very professional, straightforward serious website and it needs to communicate that. My first draft I liked a lot, it was creative, colorful and was in my usual style. I sort of knew that it wouldn’t be right for the client but I though “once they see it this will be what they want”. WOW. I was so wrong. I basically received an email back telling me everything that was wrong with it and that they were very disappointed with my work. I felt terrible. So i started thinking about my process and I realized that I was not designing for the client at all. I was designing something that I liked to look at and that I was designing for myself. No wonder they hated it.

I took a look at my notes and compared it to what I had created. I basically took nothing that they said into consideration. They wanted a left nav and I gave them a top nav. They wanted a certain type of picture browsing, I gave them another one. They wanted a wave in certain places, I put it only where I thought it was good. No wonder that they hated it.

So, I went back to the drawing board. I did a complete redesign and I have to admit every single step of the way was a struggle. I must have tried 1000 different design options in each space. But I found out that I don’t settle for a design that I am not happy with and I kept trudging along until I nailed it. I sent it to the client and she sent back “You nailed it!” I can’t tell you how good that actually felt to go from them being disappointed to them really loving it. I also learned that I can still design for someone else while still keeping my own style, that’s why they chose us in the first place because they liked what we brought to the table.

If you ever find yourself in this position just take a step back and make sure that you are giving the client what they want, not what you think they want, there is a very big distinction there.

Share on Facebook

Filed under: Business Functions, Site Design by Dean Karasinski
No Comments »

People always use the cliche phrase “No one ever said it would be easy”. I, for the most part, completely disagree with that as most things come easy to me but there is one thing it is holding true for and that Client Acquisition and Networking. I have been talking to people and reading books trying to figure out the “best way to do it” but the only thing I have figured out is that there is no best way. Sure there are strategies and great tips but you have to practice them and you have to make sure they work for you. The only way to actually do that is to go out and use them on real people.

Trial and error my friend

It’s the most nerve racking part of the whole process. You feel you have read and absorbed most of the information you have been seeking, it’s starting to repeat itself. So you figure, OK time to go to work and make this happen, you psych yourself up and say “OK I am ready” you get to your networking event or client meeting and you start talking. You can literally hear yourself breaking down and spewing out verbal diarrhea and it’s dripping down your face.

Terrible right? Well don’t feel bad because it happens to everyone. You feel like an idiot, yes, but it is not the be all end all. Just look at it as a learning experience you can now say that you have done it and move on to trying it again. The key here is repetition, you are going to hear NO alot and at first your are going to mess up a lot it takes time to craft your story and your pitch and your persona and so on. Eventually it will all come together.

A Numbers Game

Absolutely. The more people you go through the more clients you are going to get. There are some who argue that yes it is a numbers game but you can increase the number of sales you make. And I say to them how… It takes courage to just get on the phone unsolicited and call up a company and try to get them to switch to your services, it’s not for everyone but you should try it. The point is you have to go after a form of client acquisition that is for you and plays to your strengths.

Keep Your Head Up.

Think about it this way. Who else do you know that is trying to craft and carve a life for themselves? Probably not too many people. You are already ten steps a head of them because they have settled into a job. They are most likely not willing to step outside of their comfort zone and try to give it a go on their own. Simply by talking to people and making business calls you are improving yourself, a little social skydiving if you will.

Keep at it

The main thing is to keep at it. Sure it sucks being told no, or being hung up on, or not even getting a chance to talk to anyone, but that is just the nature of the game. By doing this over and over again you will get better at it and you will eventually get your first yes. Think of how great that will feel? I will leave you with this little tidbit that always inspires me. Colonel Sanders (yes the chicken guy) received 1,000 consecutive no’s before he made his first sale. 1000 in a row! How many of you would have even gone to 1000? What would have happened if he didn’t get the sale on the 1000th? He would have gone on until he got a yes. How awesome is that? It keeps me moving when I am feeling frustrated.

Please share any stories you have with us and maybe we can share tips and get a cool discussion going.

Share on Facebook

Filed under: Business Functions, Networking by Dean Karasinski
No Comments »

Local Search has been “in development” for a long time. Since the invention of the internet people have been going after the big picture instead of the specifics, many have tried to have a local portal that encompasses all types of local businesses and services but not many have been successful. At this point I can only think of a few including City Search and Urbanspoon. Others have tried but they look and feel so automated (restaurants.com for instance, you can tell all the info is just scraped information) and don’t offer much to the user in the way of reviews, recommendations or even if the location in question is still in existence.

These sites aren’t perfect and they have a long way to go before they are but it raises the question, as a small business, how exactly are you supposed to effectively advertise in your community?

Know Your Area

Keep track of your customers and where they come from, you should have an idea at this point where your business is coming from. Is it coming from right next door or are you clients driving an hour to do business with you? This information is very valuable to you because it will help you target your online advertising, once you find your niche online you should try to expand to other places where you have previously had success or wanted to advertise. There is always a way to make a new customer and sometimes reaching out locally is the way.

Know Your Customers

Your customers have come to expect something from you whether it is your service, your product or just your personality. You should let people who come across your ads online in your local area know that this is you. Put a little twist on it that lets your local customers or potential customers know that it is you who is advertising online.

Leverage The Power of Google

Google Local Business Directory

Being in new to Los Angeles I am continually using Google Maps more and more to find things that I need, since L.A. is so big it helps me find things in relation to my location. One great (and free) way to get your business in front of other in your area is to add yourself to the Google Local Business Directory. Esentially it adds your business to Google maps and it shows up when people are searching within or around the location that they specify.

Google Local Search

Adwords is an incredibly powerful tool. One of my favorite features of the program is that you can select specifically where you want to advertise. I am pretty sure that if you wanted to advertise just on your block you could. Anyway, there are a few ways you can go about doing this. The first is to select a radius around your business, there are many preset ones but you can also make your own. The second is to select the specific areas, you can select certain states, certain towns and so on. Going back to what I said above about knowing your area can be very useful here.

Keyword Selection

You don’t know exactly how people are going to search but you can get a good idea, just because your campaign is targeted to a certain area doesn’t mean people will find you. Often times it is a good test to try variations with the areas you are advertising in. For example say you are a hardware store in Los Angeles, a good keyword would be “Hardware Store” a good variation would be “Local Hardware Store” or “Los Angeles Hardware Store” this way it ensures that you will capture the most searches for your products, business and services.

Going back to what I said before about local search portals not being successful may not have to do with the portals themselves. We have been trained since the beginning of the internet to just search for things in a broad fashion. I think slowly people are coming around more and more and realizing that local search is growing and is becoming a more effective search for them. Honestly, I like when I can search for something in my neighborhood and then go visit that place whether it is a store or a national park it is still nice to go out and meet the faces behind the company.

If you are looking to get started with local Search Marketing or looking for someone to explain it to you better contact us at 1.866.282.1903 or leads @7evenleafclover.com or come to our website www.7evenleafclover.com and sign up for our free analysis and proposal.

Share on Facebook

Filed under: Adwords, Business Functions, Google, Local Search, PPC Marketing, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engines by Dean Karasinski
1 Comment »

When you run your own business, stress is a common issue you’ll face. I work long hours, spending 8 hours in the office, but working for an hour or so before I go in, and several hours after I come home. Lately I’ve been going strong until about 2am each night. This gets to be very taxing.

As an entrepreneur, you’ll always be stressed and busy. There’s always things to do, things to read, new things to learn. You’ll feel overwhelmed often, but push through it and you just might be successful.

Don’t let stress get the better of you, though. It’s easy to get negative when you’re overstressed, and it affects everyone around you.

Bosses tend to do this, and I’m guilty of it too. In the beginning of a company, people are all close, from the top down to the bottom. But as the company grows, the boss has to extricate themselves from the social aspect of the group. This is rarely well accepted, especially by people who’ve been there from the beginning. It’s not a mistake the boss made. It’s an important move, because the boss has to be the boss, not a friend. The further removed they are, the easier it is to act like a boss and perform the harder tasks, like reprimand, suspension, and firing.

However, this causes stress for the employees, because their relationship with the boss has changed. Now the boss is cold to them, professional, all business, and it leaves a bad taste in the employees mouths. So what do you do to alleviate this stress? Well, I sure went through it a while back, and I have a couple ideas to help out.

First off, the employees need to band together and understand this is the natural progression of things. Sure, it sucks, but it’s a necessary evil both for the boss and the employees.

The employees need to use each other for support to get through it, and eventually it’ll all work out. Schedule events, generate a rapport, lean on each other to alleviate the stress.

I know, it sounds stupid, but you just have to accept it. It’s better for the company, better for the boss, better for the employees.

Share on Facebook

Filed under: Business Functions by Tim Caspersen
No Comments »