Valitics Blog

Last week we cleaned some old computer stuff (monitors, cpu's, printers, accessories) and I went to haul it to the Boise landfill for recycling/disposal.  I have deposited batteries at the landfill before and they can safely dispose of them, so I though computers would work, too.  I found out they just dump them like other stuff!

Considering the amount of metal and other stuff in the computers, it seemed to make sense to try to recycle them.  So I turned around, went online and searched for "computer recycling Boise."  I found PC Recyclers of Idaho, located off Chinden in Garden City.  The one concern I had was old data that might be on the computers, but their website claimed they protect the old data security.  

I also found it interesting that there is enough money in recycling old computers to make a profitable business out of it.  Anyway, considering the amount of trash we generate in America, it feels good to keep some of the potentially toxic stuff in my computer or monitor out of the landfill and put back to good use.  The number for PC Recyclers is 208.658.1100. 

Given the economic times (I think every other sentence I hear on the news starts this way), businesses are searching for the most cost effective alternatives out there.  And rightly so!  But one thing I have found is that the cheapest alternative is not necessarily the one that will save you the most money. 

For example, if your business is looking for a new website, Internet marketing and SEO, you could look around a get a couple proposals.  Say the first is from a reputable, local company that is on the high end of the spectrum.  The second company is a bargain design shop that produces higher volume at lower prices (i.e. Nordstrom's vs. Walmart).  I assume that both companies make money, or they would not be in business. 

So what are you paying for with the "Nordstrom's web design shop?  Here's a list:

- Planning, strategy, execution
- Attention to detail
- Customer service
- Website performance
- Look, feel, and functionality
- Experience
- Personal attention and response
- Less of your time devoted to the project
- Site analysis to be sure it performs optimally for the customer

That said, Walmart has it's place in this world.  When you go for the high volume shop, you will likely get less of everything mentioned above.  You also pay less money.  But the money you save up front could cost you in the long run.  Here are examples of how this can happen:

- Your site cannot be found online through search engines
- Your site cannot be found through relevant keywords
- Your customers cannot easily find pertinent information (what does this company do, how do I contact them, where do I buy, etc.)
- You target keywords with Internet marketing that do not produce sales (Therefore you pay for traffic but the quality is poor)
- Analytics do not drive your decisions and you have no idea if your marketing is working or not or what needs to be fixed
- You spend company time trying to become an expert in web development and marketing

So it is really a give and take when it comes to picking a web development/online marketing firm.  You have to assess your level of competence and how much time you want to invest to get good web traffic.  Can you put up with little hiccups in your site performance (downtime, lack of research, no customer funnels, poor landing pages, etc.) or does every potential customer count.  Also, look at the return on your investment.  For some situations, analyzing and researching everything is overkill.  At any rate, having a web partner to help you and give good advice will always pay dividends down the line.

Josh and I were talking about SEO ideas last week and he mentioned a novel one.  Search engines are trying to find the best content for their users, so a nice approach to getting good search engine rankings is to create a useful site with great content that people want to visit.  Of course that doesn't happen overnight, and having the correct title, meta tags and keyword density don't hurt, either.  But the fact remains, if you create something that people want to visit, you will get inbound links that will, in turn, increase your search engine visibility. 

It kind of reminded me of an exchange study in high school I knew.  When he lived in Spain, he had a tough test in which he must have spent at least 8 hours using the tip of a compass to write the answers into the side of his pen.  He showed us the pen, and you had to be about 1 inch from the pen to read anything!  Obviously, if he just spent those 8 hours studying, he probably would have got the same grade and would actually be smarter. 

Same thing, to a degree, with SEO.  Learn to be an expert in your field and spread your knowledge across the web with blogs, newsletters, guest blogging, etc.  In the age of social media and user interaction, if you truly have something to say, people will find you. 

The point is: paid search marketing and organic SEO measures definitely are part of the pie, but they have to be backed by substance to turn into conversions.  Give your potential clients a useful website and they will use it and tell other people about it.

Since when did disclaimers replace customer service?  I don't know the answer.  However, I know some businesses need disclaimers, some need more than others.  Some even have disclaimers they don't need.

So, what are the alternatives?  Setting expectations during the sales process, selling what you are REALLY selling, and doing for your customers what you said you would do.  Obviously, the further you are from your customer the more disclaimers you will need.  For distant relationships things like a how-to manual or data sheets will work wonders.

If your web services provider has an inordinate amount of disclaimers, don't plan on being good friends.  And, you may want to make sure they aren't replacing good customer service with a sheet of paper and your signature.  <sarcasm>It could be that they have inexpensive legal counsel,</sarcasm> but more likely they want to protect themselves.  Rarely are disclaimers in the customer's best interest.  Relevant education is always in the customer's best interest.

No matter what your business, please, please, please, don't let your warnings and disclaimers be a substitute for understanding your customers and making sure they understand what they are buying.  This even applies to selling stuff on the web.

At the Ignite Boise event last week there was a great presentation called “FOOD, what is” by Amy Vecchione. She recapped the great local shops and eateries that sell "real" food in Boise (i.e. stuff that comes from the earth, not a machine or process).

During that presentation, there was a healthy dose of "Buy Local" and "Think Boise First" talk from her (and from the boisterous crowd too). This struck a nerve with me. I support the "Buy Local" movement as much as the next guy, but I think the phrase is incomplete. I think it should be "Buy local, but sell global." 

Now, there is really no reason why we should be trading dollars exclusively with people in the treasure valley. Our economy isn't going to grow if I give my money to a local service/product provider and they turn around and do the same back to me for my services.  There is no doubt that we need to support the local economy, and a great way to do that is to import $$!  What do you think Micron, Ore-Ida, Simplot, HP and other do (or used to do) for Boise? And that money that people spend at McDonalds, Best Buy, and other mega-corporations? It's supporting a local economy too, just not ours.

For an admittedly mediocre example of buying local and selling global, take Valitics. We have made it a point to hire local independent contractors exclusively (i.e. buying local - bear with me...). Sure, we could farm out work to competent people in NYC, Seattle or India (put a web designer position on CraigsList and see how many foreign and national responses you get!), but we want to give the work to someone around here (perhaps someone who has lost his/her job recently at one of the great technology companies/agencies around town, for instance).

The second and more important part of the equasion though, and the part I think most people don't put enough emphasis on is the "..., but sell global" part. We are actively targeting national clients for our services. We know that when we sell a website packed with valuable features and functionality to a statwide organization in Idaho, we've just proven the value of that package for at least a major bulk of the 49 other state organizations out there looking for ways to promote their organization on the web.  That is the gist of our most recent marketing campaign.

So, go out there and buy locally. There are tons of great places to do that. But don't forget to sell your products to people everywhere too!  

Valitics has launched 3 new websites within the last couple weeks!  Here they are with a brief overview:

1.  The Idaho State Dental Association: The ISDA features a new design and some great member interaction features.  A member forum, calendar, announcements, classifieds, customized e-mail communication and a searchable find-a-dentist module. 

2.  Meridian Dental: Custom design, smile gallery, future e-mail newsletter, faq's, and more.

3.  Idaho Sporting Goods: New site design, e-mail newsletter and communications, integration with 3rd party online vendors, extensive content and page structure. 

Check out the new sites and see what you think.

Having just come home from the 1st Ignite Boise event at the Egyptian theatre, I decided it would be a good idea to share some thoughts.  For those who missed it, Ignite Boise is an open 5 minute presentation of your choice.  20 slides, 15 seconds per slide.  Basically, 5 minutes to relay whatever information the speakers wants to.  First, kudos to:

1.  The creativity of the Boise community - this is a great idea and a very enjoyable way to spend an evening.
2.  The presenters - I am not a seasoned public speaker and neither were many of those up on stage.  They had great ideas and made captivating presentations anyway.

I don't know if the 5 minute presentation appears to our lack of focus in today's society, but it worked.  I thought it was great to go from reusing electronics to poor e-mail habits to the "palindrome presentation."  You are interested and paying attention the whole time.  Great ideas and a fun way to present from the community. 

Plus I learned a fun new palindrome, "yo banana boy!" 

I had an interesting lesson in branding today.  As a general rule, people are terrible at remembering things, and (business owners) the brand may not be what you think it is.

About a year ago I bought a vehicle; the seller had a full service and diagnostics check done on it at A&M Service Center.  I chatted with Butch about the condition of the vehicle.  He was awesome!

Since then, I have had Butch change my oil twice, replace an the entire engine in one of our company trucks, and do some minor repair work to my car.  He was great!

Today, one of my co-workers asked me for the name of the really good repair shop I go to (I tell everyone about Butch, you see?).  I couldn't remember the name of the company for the life of me, but I remembered Butch, and I gave him driving directions.

After some painstaking search engine work I finally found the name of the company -- A&M Service Center.  I have no idea what A&M stands for.  Butch is memorable; A&M isn't.

I imagine that this page will quickly be at the top of the search engines for "A&M Service Center Boise."  So, for all of you who are looking for Butch, here is his information:

A&M Service Center 250 W 36th St Boise, ID 83714 (208) 342-8981 2 reviews

By the way, they don't have a website -- please leave a comment if you found this and were looking for Butch or A&M.

I have been reaclimating myself with our Google Analytics data, and have been surprised at the trends.  You always hope for "up and to the right," but that is somewhat idealistic.  The reality is that no matter what your metric it will likely fluctuate -- trends are long term, which can mean years. 

There are a lot of things that influence trends outside of your own efforts, like the economy, demand for your services, competition, etc.  So, with regard to SEO, why bother with monthly or weekly "health checks?"

Watch for surprises -- we have received a boost of traffic due to two simple blog posts on marketing in a down economy. The keywords center around "marketing in a down economy." Not a shocker, but what do you think is on people's mind? More important, do you think people will be shifting their ad budget from the yellow pages to the web?

Make sure the things you expect are still happening -- most of our organic traffic comes from branded terms, if that weren't the case I would be concerned. If your branded traffic suddenly stopped you might need to check basic things like content or proper site indexing.

Top of mind usually encourages action -- you are far more likely to do something proactive with your website if you are consistently reviewing data about it. When you are consistent you will get a feel for cause and effect (e.g. when we send out our monthly newsletter, organic search volumes increase.

I could probably bore you with 100 reasons, but you get the idea. Reviewing your website data will make you more aware and therefore more able to improve your search engine visibility. Then you can see how the market affects your trend -- ranking high on Internet Marketing Boise was important to us, but it has proven to be more of a branding benefit than a traffic source. In fact, moving from 10 to 2 has not created an "up and to the right" for us, so we are working on other terms now -- lesson learned, for now.

I have never really felt all that creative.  However, I feel surrounded by insanely creative people (I would make a list, but I don't want to embarrass J).  I read this blog post by Seth Godin and it made me reconsider some things about creativity.

One of the most creative people I have ever met, and I read his blog religiously, is Steve Kilbey.  We are not friends, or even acquaintances really, but man I love to read his blog.  Steve Kilbey is the lead singer/bass player for The Church.  I am constantly amazed at his creativity.  I think Seth's ideas about creativity clued me in on the fact that Steve Kilbey is way-out on the edges of my "sweater" (read the Seth Godin post if you don't understand), and that is why his blog is so fascinating to me.

Steve Kilbey and The Church have traversed several decades without losing their appeal.  They have always been on the edge (probably too far out for the masses) with their music and their promotion.  Their big hit was in '89, Under the Milky Way, but they spent the 90's in obscurity EXCEPT for their online following.  In the days before "social media" The Church survived largely to the credit of fans (evangelists) willing to maintain websites for no monetary gain -- www.shadowcabinet.net, www.hotelwomb.com, and a few others.  Now the band and its members have multiple MySpace pages and blogs. 

So what?  Doesn't every band have a website, a MySpace page, and a blog.  Yeah.  They do now.  But, The Church was on the web when it wasn't what every band did.  While Metallica was scrambling to protect their "intellectual property" and making money for record labels, The Church was giving it all away (btw, if you ever go to a show they encourage bootlegs).  Their approach was cutting edge at the time.  Funny thing is, you can't sustainably steal, buy, or borrow creativity anyway, but <sarcasm>who knew that in 1990?</sarcasm>.

Communication via web tools is unprecedentedly easy.  Most businesses are not on the edge of the web, otherwise it wouldn't be the edge.  However, on the web you can constantly challenge your own boundaries, and if you are willing to share your creativity, you just might get a few fans willing to make a post about how awesome you are.