While developing a new website for our marketing agency, we spent a good deal of time looking at our lead capture forms and how we could improve them. We started with a typical lead capture form, the “Request an Appointment” form from our previous website. What we ended up with on our new site is something we’ve dubbed “The Lead Capture SuperForm.” This article describes how we came up with this lead capture form and how it helped us increase the leads generated on our website by over 1,400%.
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How Our Lead Capture Form Increased Leads by 1400%
April 4th, 2013 by Richard Podsada
6 Things They Never Tell You About Selling Online
March 15th, 2013 by Richard Podsada
Starting an online store appears to be the perfect solution to grow beyond the four walls of your business or earn some extra income. After all, an online store is relatively inexpensive to start, and presents a tremendous opportunity for growth. How could you fail?
But the reality is that it’s not as dreamy as it sounds. The process of growing a successful online business is fraught with pitfalls, complications, and most of all, hidden costs. In this article, we’re going to debunk some of the common myths of being successful as an online seller, and hopefully help you make a more informed decision about your next venture.
How Search Works – A New Website from Google
March 2nd, 2013 by Richard Podsada
Google has recently published a new website titled ‘How Search Works.’ Their animated website reveals the many mysteries that bring the Internet to your doorstep. It’s amazing how much complexity goes into something we take for granted—for example, Google’s search index spans over 100 million gigabytes of information.
It also explains why it’s not easy to answer the question “Why isn’t my website at the top of search?” You may have all the right words on your site, but there’s a lot more going on than you realize. Google uses over 200 factors (many of them top secret) to rank pages in the results. Some of these factors include:
What Makes Our Premium Websites… Premium?
February 25th, 2013 by Richard Podsada
If you’ve looked at our website design packages, you’ll notice there’s a bit of a jump in price to move up to the Premium level. We often get the question: Why are the Premium sites so much more? There are many reasons, but I’m going to highlight three of the key ones: 100% custom design, mobile optimization, and the ability to customize and grow the site.
Google+ Debate: Does Cold Calling Still Work?
February 14th, 2013 by Richard Podsada
In this day and age, many unsolicited business calls go unanswered. Modern sales and marketing professionals are up against savvy buyers that are more empowered than ever by easy access to detailed product information on the Web.
Everyone is connected to the latest information. And if buyers don’t want to hear from marketers, they have a variety of technologies (e.g. Caller ID, email spam filters, etc.) to block out marketing attempts to get in touch. But surely some people are able to get through all these defense mechanisms and land that one magical deal. Or are they?
7 Ways to Measure Campaign Results Using Digital Media
January 16th, 2013 by Richard Podsada
Measuring Results—Both Online and Offline—by Integrating Digital Media
The old saying goes, “You can’t manage what you can’t measure.” The beauty of mediums like the web, social media, and mobile devices make it extremely easy to measure and report on results. The reporting is automatic, accurate and incredibly detailed.
But the real power of digital media is when it’s combined with traditional (radio, newspaper, billboards, etc.) Digital media provides a way to measure your traditional campaigns. Suddenly, your billboards and radio ads have a measurable component that you can use to evaluate your efforts.
Small Business Content Is Just More Interesting
November 25th, 2012 by Richard Podsada
An ode to the heroes of the long tail in content publishing.
It’s time to recognize the small businesses and independent marketers who publish unique and interesting content every day. The kind of content that doesn’t always make the trending lists and first-page of Google. The kind of content that serves up a unique viewpoint amid the onslaught of high-brow “me-too” publishers taking up all of the spotlight.
Choose Your Partnerships Wisely
November 6th, 2012 by Richard Podsada
If there’s one thing I’ve been learning as a business owner, it’s the importance of choosing partnerships wisely. I’m not only talking only about legal business partnerships, but almost any affiliation your company can enter into. This means business partners, suppliers, sponsorships, employees, and even clients.
Over the years our company has been in business, we’ve been approached by many people for various opportunities. From profit-sharing ventures to vendors wanting a piece of the action—and everything in between. A few of them we’ve accepted based on the potential benefit it could bring both companies. We viewed them as true win-win scenarios—how could they possibly fail?
Well, quite a few of them did. But we learned something about each one, and over time, how serious a partnership really is. I’d like to share with you some of our experiences in a few of these areas.
The Thing About Thought Leadership Is That It Actually Requires Leadership
October 27th, 2012 by Richard Podsada
The latest craze in the marketing world is the term “thought leadership.” Virtually overnight, it turned into a world-wide gobbledygook festival as hordes of marketers, bloggers and journalists scrambled to establish themselves as “thought leaders” in their respective fields. Unfortunately, the vast majority of them have no clue what it actually is. And predictably, just as quickly as the label surfaced, it completely lost its meaning. This article explores the meaning of thought leadership—what it really is, and how to tell if you have it.
There’s a Lot More to Web Design Than Just Being “Good at Computers”
October 12th, 2012 by Richard Podsada
There’s a common misconception that because somebody is “good with computers”, they’ll know how to design a great business website. On the surface, it’s a logical conclusion: Websites are built and consumed on computers, so somebody who’s great with computers has a good chance of knowing how to build one.
The truth is that there’s much more to a successful business website than just technology. Computer knowledge is only a small piece of the puzzle. This article will explain why and show you some of the other pieces that are involved.