Five Most Imp Words for Website

I hesitate to single out a handful of "must-have" words for your Web
site. It brings to mind the overblown promises of "power words" and the
like. "Power words" strike me as being about as useful as "power naps"
and "power lunches." Heavy on hype and light on content.

However, some words really can make a difference on your site. They
are not "powerful" in isolation but, in the right context, can make an
important difference.

No. 1—Free

For those of us, myself included, who go on about how writing online
is different, it is humbling to see how some things are exactly the
same. "Free" is an extremely important word in the world of offline
marketing, and it's just as important online.

In fact, in some ways, "Free" is even more important online. Much of the Web has grown up on the promise of Free:

• Free browsers
  
• Free music
  
• Free software trials
  
• Free subscriptions

And so on. If you have any doubts about whether users of the Web are
that interested in "free"—do a quick search on Google. I just did, and
got 172 million results. The number one listing? "Adobe Acrobat
Reader—Download."

So don't be shy about using the word. Offer free downloads, free
subscriptions, free reports and papers, free trials, free shipping,
free consultations.

The Web likes free (even if online publishers don't).

One caveat: many people filter out emails that use the word Free in email subject lines.

No. 2—Sign Up

So it's two words. The point being that every site should be
inviting its visitors to sign up or subscribe to an email program or
newsletter.

Why? Because you need to reach your prospects by email.

People check their email more frequently than they surf the Web.
Much more frequently. As you already know, to your cost, conversion
rates of first-time visitors to immediate purchasers is horribly low.
And that person who bailed after spending a few seconds on your
homepage is unlikely to be coming back again any time soon.

So instead of hoping that your visitors will make a purchase on
their first visit, concentrate instead on collecting their email
addresses.

Caveat: your emails or newsletters had better be good. Good content
in their inbox will bring visitors back to your site again and again.
Poor content will damage your chances of ever hearing from them again.

No. 3—Buy

You need to ask for the sale. It's amazing how many sites invest in
presenting products and services, but fail to close the sale. Again,
conversion rates online are nothing to write home about. So make sure
that you actually ask for the sale at the right moment.

Make that BUY link prominent, both by positioning it close to the
product or service in question, and by boosting it with a strong
graphic treatment.

The word BUY is an instruction. It tells people to do something. So make that instruction jump out and grab their attention.

No. 4—Now

Now is good. "Later" is death. If someone digs deep enough into your
site to find the product or service they want, and then just makes a
mental note to come back again some time, you've lost her.

The Web is an easy-come and easy-go environment. If you can't get people to act immediately, forget it.

So ask people to do things NOW:

• Sign up NOW
  
• Buy NOW
  
• Tell a friend NOW

Go further still with some incentives:

• Sign up NOW and receive a FREE report on [whatever].
  
• Buy NOW and get FREE shipping

No. 5—Thank You

OK, so it's two words again. But it's the thought that counts. When
you sign up a subscriber or make a sale, the job is just beginning.

Just because someone signs up for your newsletter doesn't mean that they will read it.

And just because someone buys your product doesn't mean that they won't send it back.

When visitors become customers, your work is just starting. You have
a relationship to build. And the first step in building that
relationship is to say thank you. It's courteous. It's the right thing
to say.

Maybe this will inspire you to go back to those automated "acknowledgement" emails you wrote a few years back.

Rewrite them, be personal, say thank you.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Life@ GOOOGLE

Does your company encourage you to work on your own projects? Bring your pet to work, or simply go off and play beach volleyball? If yes, then you are probably working for Google.

Working for Google at its headquarters, Googleplex, is like being back at college. That may seem wacky but according to Fortune magazine, this is what made Google the best company to work for in the US. A visit to Googleplex in Mountain View, California, shows why.

There are a lot of perks for the staff: a well-equipped gym, on site massages and medical care. Transport, ranging from company provided scooters and pushbikes, to a massive fleet of shuttle buses. And there is free food. It's all part of a plan to attract the best and the brightest.

“There are great benefits at work that will help me be more productive during the day and have more of a life when I get home,” says Google employee Stacy Savades Sullivan.

The formula is working. Google gets over 3,000 job applications a day. The company seems to have no restrictions on keeping the staff.

Employees get what is called 20 percent time—a chance to spend a day a week working on independent projects. This has spawned some of Google's most successful spinoffs, including Gmail. And at the office, apart from some funky designs that include white tents for colleagues to meet, Googlers appear free to do their work anywhere. An environment designed to encourage employees to be 'Googly'.

The environment allows you to do everything from bring your dogs to work and question authority and work on the type of projects that interest you.

With all the food and all those other benefits, do people leave the company? “That's a great question, I don't know if I can work anywhere after Google. I think after Google, you either have to retire or go into a start up on your own,” says Brett Cosby.

Jonty Rhodes' Famous Run Out of Inzamam'

The two players featured here are involved in a number of runouts. Jonty is involved in running the opponent out and Inzamam in running out himself and his partner. Here Jonty runs a long distance and slams the stumps to get Inzi out.

As Paris Approaches, Federer Veers Off Course

So far, no one other than Roger Federer, Tony Roche,
and those close to them know why the world no. 1 and a veteran coach
parted ways last week, days after Federer's surprise defeat at the Rome
Masters to Filippo Volandri, a mediocre Italian who played the match of his life in his home country.

It's fair, however, for Federer's fans to wonder: Has our man hit
the panic button? Federer turned to Roche at the end of 2004 not just
because the 61-year-old Aussie was the sort of "old school" player
Federer admires, but because he knew something about winning on clay as
an attacking player ( Roche, an expert serve-and-volleyer, won the
French Open in 1966 and was twice runner-up). To end the relationship
two weeks before Roland Garros is, to say the least, awkward and odd,
especially since there was hardly cause for alarm in the Federer camp
until the Volandri match.

Granted, Federer had not been his usual invincible self of late. Since winning the Australian

Open and a small title in Dubai, he lost to Guillermo Canas twice in
the span of days and to Nadal on clay at the Monte Carlo Masters. That
he reached the final of Monte Carlo was a good sign, however, as was
his early arrival — before any other player — in Rome. Roche came, too,
and Federer said his preparation had been perfect. In his first match,
he showed good form in defeating Nicolas Almagro, a talented Spaniard
who took Federer to three sets in Rome last year. Another meeting with
Nadal was in the offing, a final preview to the real show at Roland
Garros.

Then along came Volandri, an Italian with a rank of 53 and one of
the weakest serves on the professional tour. In his worst loss in his
time at no. 1, Federer managed 44 errors in two sets; 38% of the points
the two men played ended in a Federer error. He only made 44% of his
first serves and took advantage of one break point out of seven. His
forehand, erratic in his other three losses this season, was consistent
on this day: bad from start to finish. Nothing worked, and Volandri won
handily, 6–2, 6–4.

Roche can't be blamed for this. As much as one can debate, in the
abstract, the importance of a coach to a top tennis pro, there's never
been anything to argue about in the case of Federer and Roche. Federer
doesn't need him, as he showed in 2004, when he won three majors on his
own. Roche, to his credit, has never patted himself on the back for his
work. He helped Federer with his volleys and his backhand slice, and
advocated moving toward the net on clay, rather than trying to defeat
Nadal's defensive wizardry one tiring baseline rally after another.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Does Blogging do to the Web what Pro20 is doing to Cricket?

Almost everyone watched the FIFA World cup. Many South African’s watch the ICC Cricekt World cup. Many local bloggers watch & blog about the Cricket World Cup.

After watching the Proteas VS Aussies encounter yesterday, congrats
Australia, it suddenly occured to me: They’ve gone and taken the Pro20
style of playing and extended it to a full 50 over One Day
international.

This is good for everyone: spectators, players, Simpler, Better, Faster. Inspired Motivated Involved advertisers… cricket has become so much more exciting.

Back to the Title of this post: Does blogging do to the web what 20-20 is doing to Cricket? No more settling in the first 15 overs. Now
it is run-a-ball from the first ball. Morethan run-a-ball if you’ve got
the worlds best Cricket teams up against each other (South Africa &
Australia).

You’ve got everyone in the field diving. Thank you Jonty Rhodes (fielding coach for the Proteas) .

High class batting until Greame goes and gets hurt.

Superb bowling. Andrew Hall’s become a death-bowler of note.

Everyone on the cricket field is upping their game

I believe Pro20 is largely responsible for the increased rate of
scoring and the resulting increased quality in fielding, batting and
bowling.

In the same way I believe blogging has upped the game for everyone in the World Wide Web.

Make a mistake, the blogosphere starts to buzz.

Do something right, the blogosphere finds what you’ve missed. Kinda like a third umpire.

Let bloggers play with your new product or web service before anyone
else and you’re able to improve the quality without the cost and
altered mindests of focus groups. You’ll even get free publicity,
unwanted sometimes like when Tyler Reed leaked Amatomu on his blog. Is any publicity ever bad publicity?

Do something wrong and get walloped out the park (not going to mention an example here)

The silly point of this post is: Your Web AddiCT believes that blogging improves the standard of all things web-related *period* in the same way 20-20 has imporved the quality of ODI’s.

Powered by ScribeFire.