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SitePoint tribune |
Issue 421: November 6, 2008 News, Rants and Case Studies for Web Design Professionals |
Introduction
There’s an interesting question in the forums from johnyboy about a different type of payment model for his web sites. Although I'm not a big fan of what he proposes, it's his unconventional thinking that will help lead to processes that work better than the norm -- in terms of getting the most bang for your buck. I witnessed some of the best marketing I've ever seen yesterday: a parody that serves as a wonderful example of how we can all give some extra zest to our marketing for maximum impact -- online or off. In Tips & Tricks, we go over a couple of excellent tools to make your online branding easier, gaining maximum benefit from those who are linking to your site. Check them out below. Happy reading! Brendon
Brendon Sinclair
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Summary
Editor's PerspectiveLess Work for More MoneyA lot of my clients have been on monthly web site maintenance contracts for many years. We would perform work on their sites and bill them at the end of the month. Easy. It’s so stupid, I can't believe I've done it for years (but people who know me understand it!). You see, we've just moved the majority of these clients from monthly to quarterly billing. That equates to much less work for my accounts person and more profit for me. Evaluating this, I simply can’t believe I've wasted thousands of dollars over the years because of an inefficient billing plan. Sure, when we started out we needed the cash flow each month; but as we grew I should’ve been more aware of ways to save money and adapted. With a tighter economic climate, we all need to be aware of ways to cut costs without affecting the quality of our products and services. Reassessing your administrative procedures may well be a way you can save yourself thousands.
Marketplace MomentsIt's Time for Some Business BrainstormingSome time ago, johnyboy came up with a "mad crazy payment scheme idea" for discussion in the forums. It attracted a bit of interest and some terrific responses. johnyboy's idea was to build clients’ sites for free, with payment being a percentage of the sales. I really like how he's applying alternative thinking to construct a different business model for future enterprises. But here's some advice from someone who’s been there: the concept may sound okay, but in practice it might end up being the worst thing he’s ever done. Several years ago, I took a vastly reduced payment from a client by accepting a percentage of sales instead; this involved developing the site as well as marketing it. The first month was fine and I was paid. In the second month, sales went through the roof so the client owed me quite a chunk of change. Conveniently, the client now failed to see what I'd provided for the money owed, and refused to pay. The coda to this is that stupid me agreed to a similar deal with another client a year later. Needless to say, I was done over again! I have never, ever seen this sort of arrangement work effectively. There are too many factors out of the web developer’s control; while measurement is one thing, actual payment is quite another! Having said that, I'd still encourage anyone to re-examine their business model or billing and payment practices; indeed, anything that might make a difference to your bottom line is worth investigating. Brainstorming ideas, like johnyboy has done, can lead to innovative practices that help your business cash flow and generate long-term business success.
Find Out How to Create Profitable Content Web SitesThe Web Site Revenue Maximizer Kit will show you how to:
Click here to download a free sample chapter! How Obama Can Help Your MarketingThe US presidential election is now done and dusted, and it’s been a fascinating study in marketing from both sides. I'm a huge advocate for benchmarking against what others do: you can learn so much from how other people operate. A classic example I recently saw is a take on the old "Wassup" Budweiser beer commercial. The brilliant parody uses the characters of the original commercial to relay a very powerful message. The takeaway is that you can effectively leverage current affairs to your advantage. Maybe your web development firm could use the Time for Change theme as part of marketing the redevelopment of existing sites. Whatever you choose, there's plenty of scope to capitalize on public awareness, adding that extra punch to your marketing.
Tips & TricksWe talked a little about protecting your online brand a couple of issues back. A new service that's easy to use lets you check the availability of your username against some of the most popular web sites around. In all, 68 sites are checked, with the report appearing within seconds as the service runs through. Links from other sites to your web site helps boost your search engine rankings -- no new information there. Now, a new tool within Google Webmaster can help you boost your link count. In the "Not Found" and "Errors for URLs in Sitemaps" reports, Google have added a "Linked From" column; the "Linked From" column now lists the number of pages that link to a specific "Not Found" URL. Clicking on an item in the "Linked From" column opens a separate dialog box, which lists each page that linked to this URL along with the date it was discovered. The source URL for the "Not Found" error can be within or external to your site. Then it's a simple matter of contacting the sites with those links and asking for the error to be fixed. Sure, not everyone will fix it for you, but you can bet a good chunk of them will. More information is available at the Google Webmaster Blog.
That's it for this week -- thanks for checking in.
Brendon Sinclair
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