Finding Your Business Web site Niche

Don’t fall into this common trap – having an Internet presence for your business will make you rich. Or, this one – if you build it, they will come. Just because you have a Web site doesn’t mean that it will be successful in bringing you business. The answer? Niche marketing. Finding your niche is an easy, and the most effective, way to enhance your business model. Don’t know what niche marketing is? While some may mistakenly believe that niche marketing is essentially narrowing your focus, nothing could be further from the truth.

Niche marketing is finding your best target audience, and tailoring your marketing strategy to that specific target. Furthermore, finding your niche market is the most important thing you can do before building your Web site. Why? Laura Lake, of about.com, states the following 5 reasons:

  1. You have the ability to maximize your marketing budget by targeting your defined niche market. You’ll know exactly where to advertise. You’ll know where to look to find e-zines and related sites that are catering to your market. This gives you a starting point.
  2. Your site can then be optimized for search engines so that your niche market can find you easily.
  3. You are able to cater your site to your niche market. You can develop your site to guide your viewers and help them find solutions or products that you offer that are specific to the problems that your niche market encounters.
  4. A defined niche market makes it easier to develop ideas for new products or services that inherently appeal to your specific niche.
  5. You have an upper-hand in establishing yourself as a leader in your industry.

Finding your niche isn’t as difficult as you might think. Lake suggests you answer the following questions without thinking too hard – just write down the answer that first pops into your head:

  1. What is it that my current clients have in common?
  2. How do I set myself apart from the competition?
  3. What is different about services or products that I offer?
  4. What are the “extras” that I bring to the market?

After you’ve answered these questions, you can examine your answers to define who your niche market is. Essentially, you’re trying to best understand what makes your company different. For instance, a cabinet maker builds and designs exotic-wood cabinets for homes, offices, boats, and luxury motor homes. What do you think will make him stand out from his competition? Let’s point out that there are a lot of cabinet makers who specialize in exotic wood in his location. But, few – almost none – have the expertise and experience in designing and building for tight spaces like boats and motor homes. So, owners of boats and motor homes are now his niche and he can target this audience by using more pictures of these types of projects than any other.

Another example – a couple owns a bed and breakfast in an area that relies heavily on tourism. They do OK in high-tourist season, but they struggle a bit in the low season. They own a lovely old Victorian with well-appointed rooms and they even have two tree-house bungalows on the property. Wait? Tree houses? There are very few places one can stay in a tree house! So the couple chose to highlight this unique lodging on their Web site, and to charge quite a bit more for the experience. Now, their tree-houses are booked months in advance, and even their Victorian is almost always full as the couple is able to market these rooms as a less-expensive alternative, or “consolation,” to their booked-months-in-advance tree houses.
Finding what makes your business different from its competition, and capitalizing on that difference, is what will make you successful. In today’s market, it isn’t enough to find an already successful business model and “just do it better.” You have to find something unique, and market it well. In the above examples each business owner found a need, or a void if you will, and filled it. They found their niche. Instead of trying to improve what someone else is already doing, work to discover your own distinctive product or service. Chances are, if you’ve looked for something and can’t find it, other people have too.
Once you’ve discovered your niche, capitalize on it. We, at Curvine Web Solutions, are prepared to help. We’ll work with you to how to best publicize your niche market so that they’ll find you quickly and easily. We’ll design a site that highlights your unique service or product and makes it easy for your clients to take advantage of your expertise or purchase your products. Contact us today – armed with your niche audience – and we’ll get to work immediately!

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How to Choose an Open Source CMS

The best way to control the images and content on your Web site is through a content management system (CMS). And while there are a multitude of software options out there, we will be discussing the advantages of using open source software followed by a short description of the three commonly used software applications.

Open source software is software that grants users access to its source code (think of source code as the building block for the software’s functionality). Open source software licenses grant rights to users that would ordinarily be protected under copyright law. This permission allows users to modify and customize the software for their own needs, and even redistribute it in its original or modified form. Another benefit of open source software is that it is usually free. Though, it is important to keep in mind that most business owners won’t be modifying the source code of the software or programming their own changes.

Why would you want to use open source software for your CMS? (Did we mention that it’s usually free?) Seriously, though, the biggest benefits to open source software are time and money, as you are neither starting from scratch nor spending a fortune for software that may need modification anyway. The trick is finding the product that adequately meets your needs.

Drupal is one of the most commonly used open source content management systems. The software contains the basic features common to most content management systems. It consists of many modules, allowing users to pick and choose which modules best suit their needs. It is designed to allow third parties to add new features and custom behavior. It is good for blogs and discussion boards, newsletter postings, podcasting, and picture galleries. It also creates search-engine friendly URL addresses, something that other options don’t have. It’s excellent for non-profit organizations and companies looking to build an interactive community with their Web site, though it has a higher learning curve than some of the other CMS options.

Joomla! is the other most commonly used open source CMS for publishing content on intranets and internet. Like Drupal, it is written for the PHP platform; it also uses the MySQL database to store information. Unlike other CMS systems, however, it does not support more than one Web site. It is well-suited for small business Web sites with its easy-to-use e-commerce module, which includes tax and currency options. Its core software includes news articles, polls, blogs, calendars, search, and RSS feeds. Non-techies will find Joomla! easy to use.

DotNetNuke is slightly less well-known than Drupal or Joomla! It is written for the ASP platform, and uses skins and modules to manage intranet, extranet and Web sites. Skins change the look and feel of the software application, but not its functionality. It works well for moderately sized e-commerce sites, supporting banner ads and referral programs. You may need to factor in the cost of licensing and purchasing Microsoft’s SQL server if you’re storing any information, and DotNetNuke runs only on a Windows platform which may also cost more money at your hosting company.

Plone is less well-known than the Big 3, and less-used. Written in Python, and supported by the Zope Management Interface, it may require steep learning curve. Its strong emphasis on standards compliance means that once you learn it, online support and add-ons are a breeze to implement. Plone is a modular, template-based system requires that your company has its own dedicated server rather than a hosting company. Content management is made easier by the fact that you can make changes from any computer, using your internet browser. It’s also easier to control who can edit which sections of your Web site than with other CMS systems. Plone is best for larger companies with dynamic content. If you what you have is a simple brochure Web site, Plone is simply too much.

Probably even less well-known than the four options previously discussed is Alfresco. It combines document and records management with Web site management in one easy package. The enterprise content management system features a shared-drive interface and is easy to use, integrating well with the Windows desktop. It’s also probably best used by larger companies, or companies who have a need for strong and integrated content management.

Even with our discussion this month about various open source CMS, we realize that it can still be daunting trying to choose which one best fits your business. That’s why we’re here to help! Contact Curvine today; we’ll help you choose the best system that meets your needs.

This article was written using information from Wikipedia, product Web sites, and InfoWorld.com.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Web sites

Business owners have lots of questions about Web sites, but often don’t know who to ask. We asked Rick Anderson, an architect from Edmonds, WA, to pose some questions to us that he’s always wanted to know about Web sites:

1. How do I select a Web site/marketing consultant?

At the core, you should make sure the firm or person your hire understands your project, has quoted you a competitive price, and has a track record of doing similar work. Understanding the project means that the person you are speaking with can explain the project in their own words and can make meaningful suggestions on how to make it better.  You can determine a competitive price by speaking with other similar companies and verifying that the price you are quoted is within an acceptable range and is a price you can afford. A proven track record can be determined by reviewing a portfolio of work. It is isn’t important that they have done your exact project before, but it is important that whatever work they have done is of sufficient quality and met the needs of whatever clients they are showing you.  I’m also curious how other folks answer this question in the comments below.

2. What kind of Web site do you need?

There are several types of Web sites. Each one serves a different need, and mainly people have some of more than one:

  • Brochure Web site: This is a site where you describe what you do, where you are located, your approach, and give people a way to contact you.
  • Extranet/Intranet: This is a site for use by your employees and staff (or in some cases clients or customers) use to share information, such as work plans, employee manuals, etc. Use of this site is restricted by location and/or username and password.
  • Ecommerce Web site: This is where you have product to sell and people can buy it online.

3. What should I expect to pay initially and on a continuing basis for a viable marketing Web site?

Almost all of the work on most Web sites is “upfront” work — that is, it is completed before the site goes live. Likewise, you should expect to pay most of the money during that time period. More information on how much Web sites costs is located here. You’ll also need to buy Web hosting, which can cost $5-$25 per month for a shared account, and $100+ for a dedicated server.

4. What resources – besides cash – do I need to develop and maintain a viable Web site?

Time. Most business owners don’t know that hiring a Web site developer isn’t like buying a box of cereal. You need to give initial information to the developer, and then give feedback throughout the process.

5. What do I need to plan on doing to maximize the return on my Web site investment?

Once you have a fantastic Web site, you need a plan or strategy to get the Web site in front of the right people so that they can be convinced to buy your product or service. One approach for developing a Web marketing plan is discussed here.

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Create Your Own Buzz For Your Web Site

You could have the best Website ever created, but if people can’t find it it’s of no use to you. Here’s 7 simple ways for you to create your own buzz – just by utilizing the contacts you already have.

Step 1: Start by visiting the site yourself. Look at it with the eyes of a newcomer. Do you like what you see? Do all the links work? Is there something you’ve never really liked about your site, but you let it slide figuring that the rest of the site is OK? Fix it now, because if you don’t like it chances are that your customers won’t like it either. Once you’re satisfied that you have the very best site for your business, it’s ready to move on to the other steps.

Step 2: Ask 2 family members to visit your site. Ask for their honest opinions; no one will be as honest with you as a family member can be. What do they like best? What do they like least? Be sure to ask them to navigate the site and let you know what works for them and what doesn’t. You’re not just looking for critiques on your site’s appearance.

Step 3: After you’ve addressed your family’s concerns, it’s time to ask for input from 10 of your friends. So that you don’t put your friends in the seemingly awkward position of critiquing your site, give them a specific task. For instance, ask a friend unfamiliar with your location to find the driving directions on your Web site and follow them – you could meet them there for lunch to reward them for their trouble! Or, ask another friend to find a specific product on your site and attempt to purchase it.

Step 4: When your friends’ suggestions have been implemented, it’s time to start the actual work of creating a buzz for your site. It’s hard to believe in this age of communication that many of us don’t know our neighbors well – or at all. Visiting 5 of your neighbors to let them know about your site is an excellent way to expand your network, reminding your neighborhood acquaintances of who you are, or as a way to make new acquaintances.

Step 5: Reach out to your mentor. Most of us have a previous boss or co-worker that we look up to, receive advice from, and owe a great debt to for making us who we are. Let them know that your new site and your business couldn’t have happened without them.

Step 6: Utilize your social network. Tell 10 people from your place of worship, your gym, service club, or sports club about your site. Give them your card and share with them how your site can help them in their daily lives.

Step 7: Contact 10 businesses. Get in touch with 5 businesses that your company could hold a mutually beneficial relationship with, by inviting the owner or general manager out to coffee (don’t forget your business cards). And, reach out to businesses which you already frequent (your dentist, dry cleaner, etc.) to remind them of what you do.

These steps might seem elementary, but it’s surprising the number of people who don’t follow these steps when revitalizing their image or business. By quantifying the number of contacts you make within each category you will be encouraged to choose the relationships who are best equipped to reach your goals. We wouldn’t be at all surprised if you are able to revive dormant relationships and succeed in expanding your network. What’s more is that you’ll spend very little of your marketing budget – what’s the real price of a cup of coffee with a friend, or lunch with a mentor who dispenses excellent advice? And, if you’re seeing the dentist anyway, what’s an extra minute of your time with the receptionist (maybe you’ll even score a new toothbrush and dental floss for your trouble). The point is – reaching out to the people and businesses you already know is an inexpensive and mutually beneficial use of your time and resources.

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Guest Post: What do you mean I can’t use Papyrus on my website?

Graphic Designer Amy Reisman helps Curvine with various projects as a contract designer. She also owns Call Me Amy Design. We asked her to share her thoughts about choosing fonts wisely:

I often get a question similar to this when working on a website design, so what a great time to explain!

With the advent of computers, fonts became much easier to create. Thus, today we have millions at our disposal, most of which we can find for free, or they come for free with our computers. You may only use 2 or 3 of them on a regular basis, but many people have a favorite. As a designer, I have over 4,000 on my computer. Do I use them all? No! But I like having options.

Unfortunately, when it comes to web design, there are not a lot of options. We are pretty much limited to 5 fonts for any text:

San Serifs: Arial, Verdana, Trebuchet
Serifs: Times New Roman, Georgia

To make sure we’re on the same page, “Serif” fonts have feet, or embellishments on the characters. “San Serif” fonts do not, hence the “Sans”.

But yes, we’re really limited to just those 5. Let me explain why. We start with 2 major computer types: Mac and PC. Both have a different set of fonts they come with. From there, we have several different web browsers: Internet Explorer, Safari, Firefox, and a few others. Internet Explorer is no longer available on the Mac, and Safari is new to the PC. This is where we start having problems.

Since each browser is created by different companies, and on different platforms, they interpret websites differently. So you might see a website look one way in Internet Explorer on your PC at work, but look completely different in Safari on your Mac at home. Its because of this problem, that these 5 fonts are commonly considered “safe” to reproduce most similarly on all computers and in all browsers.

In reality, there are a few more fonts you can get away with, but I always stick to these 5. Also, there are some methods to getting around this problem, using things like Flash and other fancy methods. But still, not really recommended.

So what do you do? First look at your logo. Does it use a serif or a san serif font? If it uses a serif font, you can use either Times New Roman or Georgia to match as best as possible. Same with Arial, Verdana or Trebuchet for a san serif logo.

Does your logo use both serif and san serif? Then I would suggest using a san serif font (usually Arial) for the site. Does it use a completely different font, or something out of the ordinary? Then you’d probably be OK using any of the 5 options, but again I’d usually lean towards Arial to minimize any clashing.

Another thing to consider, is what feel you want the site to have. I like to use Trebuchet for a more modern look. Georgia for something a either more old-style, or classy. San serif fonts tend to feel a little more casual, while serif fonts feel more professional.

As you can see, the font game is not an easy one. But I hope that this gives you a little more insight as to why we are so limited on websites, and how you can decide what your best option is.

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Recent Article Mentions

Curvine (and its CEO Jason Shindler) have been mentioned in several recent online articles.

  • Choosing Your Web Host Wisely – In this article, Jason is quoted about 3 tips for how to choose a Web host.
  • Pick the right type of Web hosting plan. Web hosting can cost anything from $3 to $30,000 a month, it all depends on the type of service involved. The way to tell what you need is simple — imagine the Web site stops working for 5 minutes. What will your reaction be? If the answer is “The world will come to an end!” then you need “dedicating hosting” which is a more expensive service where the Web hosting company dedicates an entire server just for you. This approach is reliable and comes with service level guarantees. On the other hand, if your reaction to the Web site being down for five minutes is “no big deal,” a shared Web hosting plan is just right for you. Some companies provide both types of service, some only provide one.
  • Try calling Technical Support. Be sure the tech support team is good at what they do. Before you start paying for their service, try calling tech support with a question. How quickly do they answer? Do they seem friendly and easy to understand?
  • Determine the company size. If the same person does support, billing and sales, that could be a problem. A Web hosting company run by one person probably doesn’t have enterprise level reliability, security and procedures. On the other hand, a company of a more significant size is less likely to be missing these important features.
  • Using Google Analytics To Make Your Small Business Website Shine. In this article, Jason writes a guest column for Stacy Karacostas’s blog about Google Analytics.

Everyone knows that you need to know how many people are using your Web site. But most people don’t know what to do with the information they receive. Using Google Analytics, you can see who is visiting your website and take action based on the information. In this post, I’ll present four ways to improve the marketing of your small business using the information found in Google Analytics.

Tell us about a problem you had with a co-worker and how you resolved it
The resolution was we were both fired.”

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Destination Based Sales Tax for Web sites

If you live in Washington state and you sell things on your Web site, this article is a must read!

In Washington state, our state legislature (in its infinite wisdom) switched us to a “destination based sales tax” state. For the past year, Web store operators in Washington state have needed to compute sales tax in a different way than they have expected. Even though this has been law for a year, we still get lots of questions about this.

Let’s take a common scenario: a user lives in Bellevue, WA and is buying an item from a Web store, based in Spokane, WA.

Old way: The Web store operator charged the sales tax due in Spokane, WA. Being that the store owner lives in Spokane, that’s something they can handle.

New way: The Web store operator charges the sales tax due wherever the item is being shipped to (i.e. Bellevue, WA). This means that every store operator has to know what the sales tax is everywhere else in the state. To add to the confusion, sales tax rates don’t obey city, county or even zip code boundaries, so there can be subtle changes based on exactly where the customer is located.

Note that out of state shipments still don’t require sales tax, unless you have a business presence in that state. Of course, always consult with a tax professional before proceeding with any of this!

Unfortunately, most ecommerce vendors still don’t support this “destination-based” system. Here are some tips for following the law:

- If using a “3rd party hosted” shopping cart, consult with your cart vendor before signing up with them. If they don’t support the sales tax system properly, there will be nothing you can do about it.

- If using a cart that you host yourself, see what the options are and see what it takes to set it up. Keep in mind sales tax rates change quarterly so you need to build in a way for updates to be made. The state of Washington makes sales tax tables available in a digital format, but it may take work to get those tables into your system.

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How To Get Listed on Page 1 of Search Engines — Part 2

Want more tips on how you can improve your Web site’s rankings? In this concluding article we’ll discuss a few more things you can easily incorporate.

In last month’s article, we discussed the quality of your content. But, you should also be concerned about its placement. Your search engine-friendly content should be placed up at the top of the page, not at the bottom. For instance, it may not help you to set a scene of beautifully set tables, with fine wine and a romantic atmosphere – and then at the bottom of the page, state that you own a catering business located in the Puget Sound area. Instead, you should lead with this information and talk about the type of atmosphere you can create later.

The content and pictures on your site should also be well balanced. When it comes to text vs. pictures for a search engine, text always wins. However, it’s better for the user of your site if they aren’t overwhelmed with a lot of text. The converse is also true – be sure that your site doesn’t look like a picture book for kids. So, do choose your pictures carefully – they should illustrate and balance the text and neither be overwhelmed by, nor overshadow the text.

But, since your pictures aren’t recognized by search engines, it’s important to use ALT tags. Think of an ALT tag as a caption written in HTML code. A picture of a swan would have an ALT tag that states “this is a picture of a swan.” While it may not capture the attention of a search engine as much as regular text, this extra step certainly can’t hurt! ALT tags are also a nice touch for the visually impaired, as the browsing tools they use do recognize and describe picture ALT tags.

Which brings us to the next tip: think of your user first! Search engine rankings can be influenced by the number of visitors to your site. The more visitors, the better the ranking. If your site doesn’t function well, or is visually unappealing, chances are that you’re not going to see many visitors who stay and click through the various pages of your site. A low visitor rate may lower your chances of being found by a search engine. So, treat your site as you would your own physical business, keeping the user in mind – ensuring that it’s neat, tidy, and works well for your customer. This will help generate traffic and ultimately, the attention of search engines.

Our clients often ask us about the importance of including links to other sites. The answer is that they don’t often help as much as you might think. In-bound links are far more important in Web site rankings than outbound ones. In-bound links on a site are ranked by number as well as quality. The more in-bound links you have the better. But, where those links come from is also important. Industry-related in-bound links are going to fare better with search engines than unrelated ones. So, while cousin Vinnie’s link from his hardware store to your bridal shop site may be helpful, it isn’t nearly as great as a link from cousin Marilyn’s wedding cake business. And out-bound links may help if you have a reciprocal agreement, but the sheer number of out-bound links, or to what sites the links are directed, aren’t very important to a search engine.

In summary, there are a few easy things you can do to make certain your site is found by search engines. Put your customer first, use simple tools like alt tags, and provide a well-balanced site when it comes to pictures and text.

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Guest Post: 5 Easy Ways to Drive More Traffic to Your Website

In this guest post: we’ve asked Practical Marketing Expert Stacy Karacostas to share some thoughts on how to drive more traffic to your Web site.

Got a great Website? Congratulations! But as you’ve probably already realized, getting a Website is only half the battle…You still have to get people to visit your site.

In other words, while having a Website is a part of any good marketing plan these days, you also need a plan for marketing your Website. Otherwise it will just sit out there “gathering dust” on the Web instead of helping to grow your business.

So, how do you get site visitors? The first step is to make sure your site is submitted to the major search engines. Ideally you want this to happen on a regular basis—and especially anytime you add new content.

After that it’s time to do a little smart marketing—both online and off.

Below are 5 easy and inexpensive ways to drive more traffic to your Website:

#1 – Make it obvious. Be sure your Web address (your URL) is on everything you do and send out including business cards, invoices, articles, marketing materials, videos etc. And get an email address that’s attached to your Website (IE: yourname@yourwebsite.com). You’ll be amazed how many people will see this and visit your site to find out more about what you do.

#2 – Let the world know. Send an email to all your customers and contacts inviting them to stop by your new site. If you have a nifty free offer they can take advantage of while they’re there, all the better. Also put your Web address on all your social networking profiles. And of course, if you Twitter, Tweet about it.

#3 – Join the conversation. If you have thoughts, ideas or suggestions that might benefit your target market, try participating in online forums. These are Web pages or sites where people can ask questions and you can give answers. Many social networking sites have Q & A forums too.

Find ones your prospects participate in and do your best to be helpful. Don’t ever blatantly pitch your products or services here! Let your good advice be the selling device, and the link to your Website will start driving folks who like what you say back to your site.

#4 – Write about it. If you’re a writer, regularly submitting articles online is a powerful way to get tons of targeted traffic to your site. You can submit articles to directories like www.ezinearticles.com and social networking sites like www.Biznik.com.

Hundreds of these sites exist, so find ones that focus on your area of expertise. Include a bio with a little about you, a special offer (optional but highly recommended) and a link back to your site, and voila.

#5 – Use offline promotions. You can do all kinds of terrific print promotions to drive people to your Website including, but not limited to: postcards, classifieds ads, print ads, sales letters and more.

Again, having a free offer that they can take advantage of on your site gives them a good reason to visit. And it lets you collect their email addresses for future follow ups.

Now it’s time to get busy!

Each of these Website marketing tips is easy and inexpensive to implement. While it may take a bit of time and consistent effort for your Website traffic to really grow, if you keep using these tactics on a regular basis your visitor numbers—and your sales numbers—are sure to start going up!

Practical Marketing Expert Stacy Karacostas helps savvy entrepreneurs take the stress, struggle and confusion out of growing their small businesses. If marketing your Website—or your business—has got you tearing your hair out grab her FREE REPORT on The 7 Deadliest Small Business Marketing Sins right here http://www.7deadliestsins.com.

Have you used any of these tactics with great success?

What other tactics have you used to generate tons of targeted Website traffic?

Please do share your thoughts by leaving a comment below.

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