Stop the Train Blog

7. The Pricing

8. The Payments

9. The Security

Questions on advertising

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 12:24:33 +0000

Have questions about advertising? Read our answers to the top questions we're asked about printed advertising.

Have questions about advertising? Read our answers to the top questions we're asked about advertising.

1. How much does it cost to advertise?

Well, that depends on where you're advertising and how big your advert is! Most publications will offer you a range of opportunities from a banner to a full page advert. There's usually a discount when committing to more than one advert/publication/issue, so do explore that. Do check when enquiring about the price whether that includes artwork creation. It doesn't usually and would be an extra cost unless you supplied them with your finished advert artwork.

2. Where should I advertise?

Some of your advertising is likely to be general brand awareness but that doesn't mean you don't need to have a specific audience to aim for. Think about your ideal customer. Where would they be located? Are they likely to receive the publication you're considering? Are they likely to read it? In an ideal world, you'd reach your ideal customer who needs what you offer and, more importantly, needs it now. If you're in our local area (Herts), we have contacts for most of the local publications. Feel free to ask us for their details.

3. What makes a good advert?

One that grabs the attention of the reader! Important elements of your advert will include; a good headline, a strong visual image, one simple message (rather than lots of messages or one complicated one!), a clear call to action (e.g. to order your pink widget, call...), the right offer and a time-sensitive offer to encourage them to act now. Oh, and make sure your advert is not too cluttered and avoids the use of jargon! There are some really good adverts here (scroll down to offline marketing).

If you'd like to find out how much we'd charge to design your next advert, call us on 01923 262189 or click here.

Fifty Shades of Great Marketing Copy

Wed, 29 Aug 2012 12:19:53 +0100

Sarah is the latest addition to Stop The Train. She’s been a copywriter for more than ten years and specialises in writing long copy. Here she shares her advice on writing your own editorials.

When writing an editorial or press release, you’ve only got a miniscule amount of time to attract people’s attention. So (to carry on with the English tradition of naughty metaphors), you’ll need to whip up their attention with a jolly good thwack! Then, if you’ve successfully tickled their fancy, maybe, just maybe, you’ll have their attention tied up.

These days, people are much more media-savvy and they’ll know you’re trying to sell them something. So don’t bother trying to write a long, involved story that leads up to a big reveal – you’ll have lost their attention by the second paragraph and they’ll never find out what the point is that you’re trying to make.

Journalists are even more judgemental about press releases – they see hundreds of them every day and simply do not have the time, patience or enthusiasm to read any that don’t grab their attention immediately. (Cynically speaking, this is especially important if you don’t have the budget to offer freebies to go with it!)

My advice is to treat your editorial or press release like you’re writing a news report. Next time you look through a paper or news website, notice how you pick and choose the stories you want to read. You glance at all the headlines first, ignoring the ones that don’t interest you. If a headline catches your eye and gives your attention a jolly good thwack, you’ll want to find out more. So you move on to the next step - having your fancy tickled by a short opening paragraph which, in a nutshell, tells you everything you need to know. Then, if you’re interested in finding out more, your attention is tied up and you go on to read the whole article. That’s when the journalist will put in all the background details and interesting bits.

However, it’s more likely that after reading the opening paragraph, your fancy is sufficiently tickled and you’ll simply move on to the next headline. But that’s OK. You’ve read enough to know what the story was about – you’d probably even remember enough to answer a question on it if you were a panellist on Have I Got News For You.

If you think of the way you read a paper when you’re writing your editorial or press release, you’re much more likely to successfully reach your target audience. Make sure your headline is eye-catching and relevant enough to ensure your story isn’t lost amongst all the other headlines, so yes, you can use puns and cultural references at this point. Then tell your reader clearly and precisely what it’s about before you flex your writer’s muscles.

Basically, put yourself in the shoes of the person who you’d most like to read your article and target your message to them. Who are they? What will catch their attention? What style of writing will they best respond to? Good luck!

__________

Sarah is the latest addition to Stop The Train. She’s been a copywriter for more than ten years and specialises in writing long copy. In the dim and distant past she dabbled in journalism and radio production, so she’s seen virtually every execrable press release known to mankind. And yes, she is trying to sell you our copywriting services…

Looking to buy data?

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 10:19:23 +0100

As a marketing agency, we frequently buy names, addresses and telephone numbers for client campaigns. In this article, we’re answering those frequently asked questions about buying data…

Here are the answers to some of your frequently asked questions about buying data…

Q. What sort of lists are available?
A. List of businesses and consumers. For businesses, you can select by things such as location, size, business type, job function, and financial information. You can even select just businesses that work from home! For consumers, you can choose by things like lifestyle, income, age, interests, number of children, and newspaper readership. Or even what car they drive! We’ve sourced a list of asthma sufferers in a particular town for a mattress cleaning company, and a list of decision makers at companies within a specific radius of our client’s office based on their I.T. spend.

Q. Can I buy email addresses, telephone & fax numbers?
A. Yes, if they’re available, although we don’t recommend buying email addresses. Email addresses are prone to frequent change, as well as being unreachable for a number of technical and other reasons. You should expect a much higher percentage of undeliverable email through purchased email addresses than for mail, phone or fax. It’s also unlikely that you’re buying the email address for the decision maker you’re trying to market to.

Q. How is the data supplied?
A. The data is usually supplied in an Excel format and can be sent by email or by CD.

Q. What’s the difference between single and multiple use?
A. Single use is for one use only and cannot be used again. Multiple use means you can use the data repeatedly over a set period of time, or a set number of times dependent on the agreement. The list owners do monitor the frequency of usage to prevent you buying it for single use and then using it again!

Q. How are the lists compiled and how much do they cost?
A. List owners compile their list differently and are priced on a per-record basis. This means you’re only paying for the number of records that you want. Prices vary from list to list and are based on single or multiple use. Ask us for a quote for your data.

IMPORTANT!
We recommend that you include TPS alerts on telephone numbers that let you know if they have registered for TPS after you have bought their data. The TPS/FPS (Telephone and Fax Preference Service) are opt-out lists used by consumers and businesses to stop unsolicited sales calls and faxes. These lists must be observed. Visit www.tps-online.org.uk or www.fps-online.org.uk for more information.

Top 10 reasons why websites fail: reason 9

Tue, 12 Jun 2012 20:04:02 +0100

The latest instalment in our series of why websites fail to deliver the right enquiries. Reason number 9: The Security.

The latest instalment in our 'Top 10 reasons why websites fail'.

Reason 9: The Security

This is the 3^rdreason linked to the monetary reasons for prospective customers not placing those orders. If they’ve managed to get a price, and found the ‘buy now’ button, the next hurdle is making sure they can make payment securely.

The research, published by Cybersource in January 2010, showed that 85% of consumers look for signs that the website they are thinking of buying from is secure.

There are lots of options for receiving payments online, which will maximise customer confidence and minimise missed opportunities, even if it’s just using PayPal. Don't fall at the last hurdle!

Read the first 8 reasons in this series;

7. The Pricing

8. The Payments

Cookie regulations May 12

Tue, 29 May 2012 11:41:20 +0100

What's all this nonsense about cookies and how does it affect your business?

Cookies are designed to help websites remember what users did in previous visits. This can include things like clicking particular buttons, visiting different pages, remembering your preferences or your login details to the site.

Effectively, a cookie is a small text file from a website which asks permission to be placed on your computer whilst you're on that website. Once you agree, the file is added to your hard drive. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you should be able to modify your browser setting to decline them.

The cookies on this site help us to identify which pages you're visiting, how long you spend here, how often you visit us, and where you came from (e.g. Google search for 'marketing agency Watford'). We only use this information for statistical purposes, and to improve the website for our visitors. This cookie doesn't give us access to your computer.

The new regulations (read more about them) mean that you now need to tell visitors to your site which cookies you use, and what your plans are for that information. You'll notice on some websites now that they have a pop-up asking you to accept cookies from their site. As website owners, we're expected to not just explain what we're doing with cookies in the privacy policies on our sites, but to be upfront about their use.

Here's an example of cookie use;

Google Analytics

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These cookies are used to collect information about how visitors use our site. We use the information to compile reports and to help us improve the site. The cookies collect information in an anonymous form, including the number of visitors to the site, where visitors have come to the site from and the pages they visited.

Writing a good sales letter

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:45:59 +0100

What makes a good Direct Mail letter? Here are our top tips on questions it should answer, important points to remember, and the must-haves! We've even included some ideas on how to start your letter. It's all about sending the sizzle, not the sausage...

I'm Angela, Director of Stop the Train. As a marketer, I’m a tough audience to sell to and can smell a generic letter from at least 10 paces away. It receives the amount of time it deserves from me; none! Likewise, it’s really obvious when the sender has made an effort and it’s not wasted on me. Your audience are likely to receive a significant volume of marketing approaches every day so you need to make more of an effort than everyone else.

This week I received one of the best direct mail letters I’ve seen for a while. I knew we hadn’t written it and I could tell that it had been written by the actual sender, rather than an agency. It wasn’t perfect by my standards, but it had some very good points worth sharing.

It was addressed to me and mentioned our company name in several places throughout the letter.

They’d written about the sizzle, and not the sausage, or in sales terms; the benefits and NOT the features. Nobody buys features; they buy BENEFITS!

The sender had also referenced some very specific examples of sectors they were experienced in.

Why was this so relevant to us? They’re sectors we work in too. The only way they’d have known to mention jewellery software and industrial contractors, was by looking at the portfolio of work here on our website.

This effort, in conjunction with all the right messages of how they could help us, and outlining the benefits of using them, put them in a different league to the usual suspects that market to us!

If you’re planning to write your own letter, here are some of my top tips for writing one that works.

5 key questions your sales letter should answer
Why are you writing to them?
What’s the offer? (Be specific with your offer, and tailor it to your audience.)
Will it work for them? (Can you prove it?)
What’s in it for them? (Sell the sizzle!)
Is there any benefit to them to respond early? (Perhaps an early-bird incentive?)

5 great ideas to start your sales letter
Would you like…?
Wouldn’t it be…?
How many times…?
Save…
Free…

5 important points you need to remember
Keep your sentences, and your paragraphs, short.
Write like you’re talking to them.
Use the word ‘you’ much more than you use ‘our’, ‘I’, or ‘we’.
Check your spelling. Then check it again.
Always use a P.S.

5 must-haves for your sales letter
It must GRAB their attention.
It must explain the relevance of your offer to them.
It must convince them of the benefits.
It must close the sale.
It must have a ‘call to action’ – tell them how they place their order.

Now that you’re armed with these tips, you can start writing your most powerful sales letter yet. Good luck and don’t forget to send the sizzle and not the sausage! Oh, and if you're struggling to write it and would rather we did it for you, enquire here.

Are you ready for the new Facebook layout?

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 12:19:16 +0100

Do you have a Company Facebook fan page? Are you ready for the new changes coming into effect on 30th March?

Like it or not, on that date, your Company Facebook page will be switching across to the new timeline. This does mean you have the chance to add a timeline cover photo/graphic. There are restrictions in place as to what can be on that new photo/graphic.

It can’t contain any price or purchase information, so you can’t include ‘Only £1,500’ or ‘10% discount’ offers.
It can’t include your web address, email address, location or anything that should really be in your ‘About’ section.
It can’t mention any Facebook features, such as Like and Share.
It can’t have any calls to action that us marketers love. No ‘Visit us…’ or ‘Grab your free copy…’

So what CAN you include? Facebook encourage you to use a unique image, such as a picture of people using your product, or to be a little more creative. That’s where we come in!

We can create you something unique like ours… (see it in action here)

Or like this one...

Or this...

We can create some bespoke graphics for your Facebook page, starting from only £25 excluding VAT. Order yours today.

(Don't worry if it's after 30th March 2012, we can create your new cover at any point!)

4 smaller social sites

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:35:47 +0000

You’re probably already dabbling in some of the more prominent Social Media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, but there are some ‘smaller’ ones worth investigating.

4 smaller social sites to check out

You’re probably already dabbling in some of the more prominent sites such as Twitter and Facebook, but here are some ‘smaller’ ones to investigate.

http://www.nimble.com/
Nimble is a social media CRM (customer relationship management) package that keeps all your conversations, contacts and networks in one place. A handy way of keeping track!

http://getglue.com/
A social network all about entertainment. You can see, and share, what you and your friends are watching, reading and listening to.

http://www.peerindex.com/
PeerIndex measures your social influence, based on your activity and following on social media sites. We’re not excited by peer scores but if you want a snapshot of all your activity and want to measure how influential you are; this will suit you down to the ground!

http://pinterest.com/
A virtual pinboard to ‘pin’ all your favourite pictures, videos etc. It’s generating a lot of traffic. In fact, more than YouTube and Google+ combined!

Happy Valentine's Day

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:05:06 +0000

Happy Valentine's Day, or is it? It's so easy to see instant information about what's actually happening right now. Let's show you an example of how times have changed and the information we now have at our fingertips...

Happy Valentine's Day?

It's so easy to see instant information about what's actually happening right now. Let's show you an example of how times have changed and the information we now have at our fingertips...

Social Media keeps us up to date with what our friends and fans are up to. The news keeps us posted on current affairs. You can also use Google Trends to look at exactly what people are searching for on Google right now. It's based on trends in the USA but gave us quite a funny snapshot of how Valentine's Day might be shaping up over there this year.

Here are the top 20 searches today;

1.	kate upton
2.	westminster dog show 2012
3.	kate upton sports illustrated
4.	matt bomer
5.	chocolate covered strawberries

6.	free ecards
7.	nevis
8.	abraham lincoln vampire hunter
9.	media matters
10.	flower delivery

11.	si swimsuit
12.	2012 sports illustrated swimsuit
13.	same day flower delivery
14.	hearts
15.	randy moss

16.	e cards
17.	the bachelor
18.	valentines day
19.	tyler perry
20.	taylor swift safe and sound

Steaming in at 6th place were 'free ecards', suggesting that perhaps a trip to the card shop before today was a step too far. Then in 13th place, those guys who leave everything until the last minute were furiously searching for a florist to save the day!

Joking aside, there are some useful applications for this tool. If you fancy checking out Google Trends, it's http://www.google.co.uk/trends/hottrends Enjoy!

How to monitor your results

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 09:45:50 +0000

Don’t gamble with your marketing budget; make sure you’re spending it on activities that generate results. Read our 5 tips on monitoring how effective each of your campaigns are.

Don’t gamble with your marketing budget; make sure you’re spending it on activities that generate results. Here are 5 tips on monitoring how effective each of your campaigns are.

1. Add a statistics package to your website

This type of package enables you to monitor the results and more importantly, adapt the site according to its areas of weakness. Amongst other things, it’ll tell you how many visitors you’ve had to your website, how long they spent there, which pages they looked at and how they arrived at your site. We can add Google Analytics to your website for only £165 excluding VAT, which includes setting up your Google account, adding the code to your website, setting up regular reports, and showing you how to interpret the results.

2. Add unique ‘hidden’ web pages to your website

‘Hidden’ pages? These are pages that are essentially ‘hidden’ from public view unless they have been given the specific page address to find it. This will enable you to have unique web page addresses on a specific campaign and see (because you’ve recently added a statistics package to your site) exactly how many people have visited that page. E.g. an advert that quotes ‘visit www.stopthetrain.co.uk/feboffer’ (fake link!) means that we’ll know exactly how much traffic we’ve generated by running that advert.

3. Use different telephone numbers/email addresses/codes on your promotions

Having unique information on your campaigns will allow you to determine exactly which of your advertising media produced the best results. E.g. running the same advert in 2 different publications, each having unique contact information, will enable you to determine which publication deserves more investment!

4. Use email marketing software to send out your campaigns

There are lots of email programs to help you monitor the success of your email campaigns. We primarily use an online one called ConstantContact. If you’d like a free trial, drop us a line. Using this software, we know who’s received the email, who’s opened it and who’s clicked on which links. If you’re not confident running your own campaigns, we can run them for you.

5. ALWAYS ask how new clients found you

If you'd like more specific advice on how to monitor the results of your marketing, please call us on 01923 262189.

Networking on LinkedIn

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:38:24 +0000

Hi. I'm Angela, Director of Stop the Train, and a keen networker. It's rare for me to hop on my soapbox but just this once, for a special 'how not to' on LinkedIn...

Hi. I'm Angela, Director of Stop the Train, and a keen networker. It's rare for me to hop on my soapbox but just this once, for a special 'how not to' on LinkedIn.

I've been on the networking circuit both online and in the real world for just over 11 years. Over that time, I've experienced a wide variety of approaches, styles, comedy moments, and cringeworthy moments. Speaking of networking, that reminds me of a great e-book you must grab a copy of - Working from home by Russ King.

So, back to LinkedIn. I'm not a huge fan but it does have its place in our marketing strategy. Like other networking sites and events, there's an etiquette to consider. Even though most of us network to gain business, and we have an agenda (come on, you know we do!), we should do things in the right way.

How well do you think I'd get on walking into a networking event, (where everyone is there to sell), and thrusting my business cards in people's faces with a 'use Stop the Train for your marketing' pitch? I'm suspecting, and I admit to guessing here as I've NEVER done it, that I wouldn't do very well.

The same rule applies to LinkedIn for me. I don't recall ticking a box inviting people to pitch to me within seconds of connecting, and I really don't appreciate it. (If such a box exists, and I've ticked it, than I'll quietly clamber down from my soapbox and adjust my settings accordingly.)

If you're genuinely interested in pitching for my business through LinkedIn or any other networking, make the effort. Find a common interest. Sound interested in my business rather than telling me all about yours. Take the time to look around our website. Ask me a question. Ask me about BNI for example. Find out what sort of introductions I'd like, or who would be an ideal client. Make me laugh. Send me a Wispa Gold. But, for the love of God, make me feel special and not just a notch on your LinkedIn belt.

If you'd like some pointers, this LinkedIn blog is a good place to start.

Happy networking!

Marketing Planner 2012

Mon, 12 Dec 2011 09:13:56 +0000

December is the time of year when most of us start our planning for 2012. For the first time ever, we’re sharing one of our secret weapons; our Marketing Planner template. It's only usually available to clients we're producing the strategy for...

The Marketing Planner template is an Excel spreadsheet where you can add all the marketing activities you’ll do next year, and the costs for each one. Once completed, it will show you what you’re doing when, how much each activity will cost you, and a complete budget breakdown. All formatted ready to use!

It's ideal for new or existing businesses, and even includes some ideas on the activities you might like to do. It's a really effective way of planning out your activities and keeping an eye on your marketing budget, whatever size it is!

This 2012 Marketing Planner template is available for only £35 excluding VAT.

Order yours now!

Client selection - Part 1

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 09:28:00 +0000

Are you attracting the right type of enquiries? If not, this article will be food for thought (literally!) and steer you in the right direction. Why we've used a pumpkin photo for this blog will become clear...

Are you getting the right enquiries?

Part 1.

Perhaps those potential clients are based in the wrong geographical area? Or have too small a budget for your products/services? Sound familiar? If it does, and you're the person responsible for your marketing; it's all your fault! The good news is that it's fixable and quick to remedy.

Before I explain what needs changing, it's only fair to explain why a photo of my pumpkin features in this blog. Whilst I'm not adverse to a good party, and a giggle, I'm against Halloween revellers terrorising people in their homes (or anywhere else for that matter!). This year, I created a pumpkin (yes, the one with the spear through its head and fake blood dripping down its face) and left it on our doorstep. Aside from amusing me greatly, it sent out a clear message! Not one reveller rang our doorbell. It meant my emergency chocolate stash remained intact too!

Back to the point. Start by making a list of the recurring problems you have with your current enquirers. Are they too driven by price? Have they left it too late for you to fulfil their order in time? Perhaps they're based in an area your business can't cover?

Next, look at how those potential clients will have found out about your business. Did they visit your website? Receive a mailer? Pick up a leaflet? Take each one of these in turn, and read the words very carefully. If you're selling your product or service based on price, that's the type of clients you'll attract. If you've neglected to talk about your turnaround times (if appropriate to your business), then you're likely to have enquiries for deadlines you cannot fulfil. If you've not been clear about the geographical area that you cover, you'll attract enquiries from far-flung places! Do you see the pattern? It won't be the same for every business, but it might help you to look at your wording in a different way.

Now that you've addressed how to remove the wrong type of enquiries, (and not by putting my pumpkin on your virtual doorstep), in part 2, I'll tell you how to attract the right type of enquiries. Part 2 will be posted in the next few days.

If you're struggling with writing your content, you know who to call! The number here is 01923 262189.

Angela
Director of Stop the Train

P.S. Wait til you see how I plan to avoid the carol singers! ;-)

'Calling with confidence' workshop 2011 - feedback

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:04:05 +0000

If you're interested in coming along to our next 'Calling with Confidence' workshop, or would you like to find out more about improving your telemarketing skills, have a read of the feedback from our latest training session.

Our last public workshop for 2011 was a
huge hit! If you're interested in coming along to our next 'Calling with Confidence' workshop, or would you like to find out more about improving your telemarketing skills, let us know.

Have a read of what some of our delegates thought about our November 2011 workshop...

“Very informative and a great learning tool.”

“Fun, engaging and thoughtful."

“Very informative and a great help to our business."

“Great! Variety of ‘teaching’ delivery methods which kept my interest. Well done!"

“Very well thought through – totally comprehensive in fact! You made us think about our own particular challenges and lots of solutions!"

“Well structured and contained new items for consideration."

“Very informative and you gave me lots of different ideas on how to handle objections that I will implement when making these difficult calls, thanks. You covered a lot of different aspects that I encounter every day and I feel I can now overcome these objections in a much better way, gaining better results."

“Interesting and informative. Some practical suggestions on how to make and prepare for calls."

“Very useful. Informal and fun, as well as thought provoking. Lots of ideas to action."

“Very informative and I really feel that I WILL pick up that phone and be very prepared.What I liked best about it was… The objections were turned around to become positive statements when calling."

“Very good and full of new ideas, thanks."

“Great and helpful. What I liked best about it was… Learning about objections and how to deal with them."

“Interesting and good fun. Good content, sandwiches are great and I will get Stop the Train to do my cold calling."

“Really valuable. We have to cold call at some time. This showed how to deal with the conversation to keep both sides happy and to achieve our goals."

“Very good. Clear information."

“Very informative and dealt with the topic in a comprehensive way. The interactive sessions helped to put the other points into perspective."

“Very insightful. What I liked best about it was… that I should be more confident when talking on the phone about personal subjects."

“Very useful. Although I already knew many of the techniques, there were some new things that I will be trying out over the coming weeks."

“Easy to understand and make sense throughout."

'Calling with confidence' workshop

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:28:18 +0100

Struggling to do telemarketing? Then put Thursday 10th November 2011 in your diary! 'Calling with confidence' is a training workshop we run for individuals/businesses to help them with their telemarketing. Find out more...

'Calling with confidence' is a training workshop we run for individuals/businesses like you/yours to help them with their telemarketing.

It's aimed at helping you to:

Get started with your telemarketing
Plan your calls more effectively
Get around the gatekeeper
Stay legal when calling
Use better questioning techniques
Handle objections
Call with more confidence!

Date: Thursday 10th November 2011

Location: Watford, Herts (venue details provided upon booking)

Time: 7pm to 8.30pm (networking & food from 6pm)

Cost: £24 in advance

There are a limited number of places on this workshop and places are filling fast. To book your place, please call us on 01923 262189 or send us an email.

Comments from attendees...

“I found everything extremely useful, especially dealing with gatekeepers.”

Anon

“Practical, easy to follow tips and guidelines, which I know are going to be very useful and beneficial to me.”

Claire Finney

“What I liked was that the worksheet is succinct and relevant to what is being said – surprisingly few courses have a worksheet that relates to what is being said!”

Nathalie Lewis

Helping The Peace Hospice

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 15:48:39 +0100

With only 6 days left, The Peace Hospice need your help to win a £6,000 community award.

As you may know, Stop the Train are big supporters of The Peace Hospice. Don't worry, we're not after donations, just a minute of your time!

They've applied for a £6,000 community award. There are only 6 days left to vote for them and with only 37 votes so far, they really need some help.

Quick ways you can help...

1) Vote for the Peace Hospice by visiting the award website. You will need to register before you can vote, and once registered, search for The Peace Hospice project to vote for them. we promise that it'll take you less than a minute to do.

2) Post the voting page link on your Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn pages and ask your friends/fans/followers/contacts to vote as well. You could just share the links we've put up already - http://www.facebook.com/stopthetrain & http://twitter.com/#!/HertsMarketing

3) Forward a link to this blog or the award website on an email to people you know who could help to support The Peace Hospice.

Thank you to any of you who can help.

Top 10 reasons why websites fail: reason 8

Mon, 10 Oct 2011 17:57:06 +0100

The next installment in the series of why websites fail to deliver the right enquiries. Reason number 8: The Payments.

The next installment in our 'Top 10 reasons why websites fail'.

Reason 8: The Payments

Yes, you did read that correctly; the payments. One of the best things about a website is that it’s working 24 hours per day, 7 days a week and even on Bank Holidays! This means that your business can potentially be selling your products and services even when you’re closed.

If the website content has done its job so well that the visitors are looking for a ‘BUY NOW’ button, it would be foolish for them to discover that they’ve got to wait until business hours to place that order.

Do you need more convincing that it’s a requirement for your visitors? Then take a look at your web sta tistics report and see if your potential customers are visiting outside of office hours. It's also worth looking at your popular 'exit pages' (the last page that visitors looked at before they left your website) on that report and trying the 'BUY NOW' button to see if it makes a difference.

Not all businesses can offer a ‘buy now’ option as their product or service is bespoke but the ones that can offer it; should. Otherwise it’s the equivalent of sending a sales rep in without an order pad!

Read the first 7 reasons in this series;

7. The Pricing

Why monitoring your site’s performance is so important

Thu, 22 Sep 2011 14:19:56 +0100

Why is monitoring your site’s performance so important? If, like most businesses, you're only measuring the number of enquiries and sales your website generates, this could be a very costly mistake!

‘I don’t get enough enquiries from my website’ is something we hear a lot from prospective clients. The first thing we always want to know is how the site is generally performing, so we can establish why the enquiries are too low and recommend a course of action to fix it.

Our questions would include;

How many enquiries did you have this month from your website? How many visitors have been to your website this month?
On average, how long did they spend there?
On average, how many pages did they look at?

If you don’t know the answers to the above questions, you probably don’t have a statistics package on your website or you don’t have access to it. This is easily fixed and something we can help you with. Call us on 01923 262189 or drop us an email, and ask about Google Analytics.

Web statistics information enables you/us to monitor the results and more importantly, adapt the site according to its areas of weakness. (This isn’t all the information available from the web statistics package, but it will give you an idea of how useful it really is!)

If we don’t look at the overall picture of a site’s performance, then there’s a strong chance that the wrong plan of action would be undertaken. This would be costly and not necessarily fix the enquiry level problem!

Let’s run a couple of different scenarios, both with the same number of enquiries. You’ll see from the examples below that there are 2 different plans of action, based on having more detailed information on the site’s performance.

Scenario 1.

Results

How many enquiries did you have this month from your website?
Answer: 4 enquiries

How many visitors have been to your website this month? Answer: 4 visitors

On average, how long did they spend there? Answer: 2 minutes

On average, how many pages did they look at? Answer: 6 pages

Our comments
4 enquiries from 4 visitors? Wow! This site is doing a great sales job of converting visitors to enquiries. It’s not, however, attracting enough visitors. Visitors are spending a reasonable amount of time on the site and looking at several pages, which is great. It means that the site navigation and the words are doing their jobs too.

Plan of action
Drive more traffic to the site!

Scenario 2.

Results

How many enquiries did you have this month from your website?
Answer: 4 enquiries

How many visitors have been to your website this month? Answer: 2,500 visitors

On average, how long did they spend there? Answer: 20 seconds

On average, how many pages did they look at? Answer: 1 page

Our comments
4 enquiries from 2,500 visitors? A great number of visitors but this site is not doing a great sales job of converting them. Visitors are leaving quickly and only looking at one page. This would suggest that the site navigation and the words are failing to do their jobs, or that the wrong type of visitors are dropping by.

Plan of action
Rewrite the words on the most popular landing page (typically the home page) and review in 2 weeks to see how the results have improved.

How we can help!

If it's understanding more about your statistics, we run a bespoke training session on how to interpret them. This 1 hour session will be based on your site’s statistics and will show you precisely how to interpret your results on an ongoing basis. This valuable insight into your website’s performance will enable you to pinpoint the areas that need improvement. The session is by telephone so can be booked to fit around your schedule, wherever you're based.

If it's how to drive more traffic to your website, talk to us about Google Adwords, SEO, link building etc. And if it's helping to convert more of your visitors into enquiries, ask us which pages we'd recommend you start with and how much we'd charge to rewrite them for you.

If you’d like to find out more about the training, the activities to drive more traffic to your site, or want a quote for rewriting your web content, drop us an email!

How to write a proposal

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 17:12:10 +0100

Here are some great pointers on how to win more clients with your sales proposals.

Here are some great pointers when writing your sales proposals.

1. The first thing to remember is the point (well, the 3 points really!) of the proposal; convince the reader that you understand their problem, have a solution to it and that they should choose you to solve it. If you’ve asked all the right questions to fully understand their problem, then it will make writing the proposal that much easier!

2. When you’re writing about their problem, try and include the language they used during your meeting or call. Perhaps they refer to revenue rather than profit, or customers instead of clients. Using their language shows that you listened.

3. Make it personal. We don’t mean ‘those shoes really don’t go with those trousers’, we mean that your proposal should be really tailored to their business. Don’t just fill in their company name on the front cover and in a few other random places. After all, you can’t say that you’ve tailored a solution to their problem and then present it to them using a template!

4. Talk about them and their business before you talk about you and yours. To be honest, nobody cares who you are, until they know what you can do for them.

5. Include testimonials from clients in the same sector. You saying how great you are isn’t anywhere near as powerful as somebody else saying it!

6. Write down a list of ALL the serious questions they’re likely to have about your solution. Does it…? Can we…? How will it…? You can use these questions in 2 ways. You could have a frequently asked questions page within your proposal or, and our preferred option, is that you make sure that you’ve answered these questions within the main content of the proposal.

7. Write out a list of ALL the concerns they’re likely to have about your solution or using your business. (E.g. Not sure it will work for our industry) Ensure that you’ve addressed all their concerns in your document, and not by writing ‘in case you’re worried about…’!

8. What priorities did they express in your meeting? Do they need it quickly? Does it have to be scalable? Make sure you’ve referenced their priorities adequately in your proposal, both in the problem ‘stage’ and the solution ‘stage’.

9. If you’re not selling a product, it’s harder for buyers to see it, so try and help them visualise it. Do you have photographs of your company providing the service? What about written testimonials from clients? These will help!

Here’s a great example…

“I thought I would drop you a line and let you know how the revised proposal document is doing! After you rewrote our proposal, the changes look great, the feedback well received and we’ve secured 2 new contracts for the New Year. Thanks!”

Director, Cleaning Contractor

If you’re struggling with your sales proposals and would like our help to increase your conversion rate and win more clients, just drop us a line!

Favourite testimonial for Sept, so far!

Fri, 09 Sep 2011 16:13:01 +0100

Every now and then, a letter arrives that makes it all worthwhile. We had one of those letters arrive this week and wanted to share some of it with you.

Testimonials and 'thank you' notes are a regular occurence here at Stop the Train. Spoilt, aren't we?! Every now and then, a letter arrives that makes it all worthwhile. We had one of those lovely letters arrive this week and wanted to share it with you.

Dear Angela

I am writing to thank you for the excellent work you did on my company’s behalf when producing the copy for our website. Before you started you made sure you fully understood our remit, along with understanding what kind of website and business we have. After going live with our website, we picked up 4 brand new clients straightaway!

Following on from this work you were then asked to come up with a letter for a very small mailing. This letter went down so well that we received many enquiries and are now fulfilling work for 3 brand new clients; again great work Angela!

My fellow director and I are so happy with your work that we would not hesitate in referring you onto to friends, family, clients and business associates in the future under the premise you will look after and help them in the same manner you have done with us.

Thanks for a great job!!

Neil

How to choose a domain name

Mon, 05 Sep 2011 14:28:07 +0100

Once you’ve come up with your company name, it’s an ideal time to secure the domain name (e.g. the www.stopthetrain.co.uk) for your website. There are a few things to think about, and to avoid, when choosing your domain name.

Once you’ve come up with your company name, it’s an ideal time to secure the domain name for it. There are a few things to think about, and to avoid, when choosing your domain name. Most of the examples given here are made up, so be mindful of clicking on them!

1. You don’t have to use your company name as your domain name; instead you could use keywords that people might use to find your business. A great example is B & Q, the DIY store, who has www.diy.com as their domain name.

You might want to add a location if your geographical area is very focused, e.g. www.taxiwatford.co.uk This won't work in the long term if you move area though!

2. Avoid using plurals of words, as there’s a huge potential for people missing it off and ending up at a competitor’s site!

3. Look out for potential mistakes with your domain name. Could it be overcomplicated or liable to be mistyped? See how it looks written down, could the letters be split into different words by mistake? This happened to www.WhoRepresents.com, which can also be written www.WhorePresents.com. (This is a genuine website!)

4. Don’t make it too long. Think www.shortdomainname.com rather than www.toomanycharactersinhereforpeopletoremember.com.

5. It depends on your domain name and the availability for what you’d like but I’d avoid hyphenated domain names wherever possible. If your ideal name is taken, come up with some alternatives rather than just the hyphenated version. Instead of www.pick-an-alternative-domain-name.co.uk, go for www.betteralternative.co.uk After all, you’d hate for your customers to miss out the hyphens and end up at a competitor’s site!

6. Try and avoid adding extra words at the beginning such as ‘my’ or ‘your’ or ‘the’.

7. If you’re a UK business with customers that are only in the UK, stick to buying a .co.uk name rather than one of the alternatives. Ideally, buy the.co.uk and the .com to stop a competitor buying it.

Struggling for ideas? Give us a call on 01923 262189.

Top 10 reasons why websites fail: reason 7

Wed, 17 Aug 2011 14:25:41 +0100

Another installment in our 'Top 10 reasons why websites fail' series. We're up to reason number 7 and this is the one that a lot of businesses are uncomfortable with...

The next installment in our 'Top 10 reasons why websites fail'.

Reason 7: The Pricing

A great way of really antagonising your website visitors is to convince them that they’ve found a supplier that can do everything they need but keep how much it will cost, a secret. Imagine seeing an advert (television or otherwise) for the latest must-have gadget, being poised with your phone and your credit card, waiting to find out how much it costs and they don’t tell you.

Although commercially it may make sense not to publish your pricing to your competitors, it may also lead to a considerable reduction in enquiries. Yes, they could well pick up the phone or click the enquiry button to find out, equally they could go to another website with prices on to make their purchase.

On the flip side, showing your pricing is one way of weeding out prospective clients that can't afford your services. There are other ways of attracting your ideal clients and putting off your other visitors, but that's a whole different article!

For those businesses that aren’t comfortable with including a price, or can’t because it’s a bespoke product or service, it’s worth considering adding a price range or guideline (‘Prices start from’). It won't work for every business model but it may work for yours.

If you've got a web statistics package on your site and can make changes to your content yourself, why not test the pricing theory?

Read the first 6 reasons in this series;

Canvassing for New Business

5 ideas for your sales letters

Fri, 12 Aug 2011 17:22:50 +0100

September is one of the 2 most prolific months for direct mail, so now is a great time to start planning ahead! Run out of inspiration? Here are 5 great ideas for your next sales letter...

With these 5 great ideas for your next sales letter, you're officially running out of excuses not to send one!

By the way, if your next excuse is "I haven't got time" or "I'm not great at writing", scroll down to the bottom of this article!

1. Get back in touch

Check your database for those customers who’ve not ordered recently. Tell them you’ve missed them and think about what might entice them to come back. A special offer? A product that you’ve recently introduced? Remember, if you’re not talking to them, your competitors might be!

2. Contact your prospects that didn’t buy

Unless you’re selling a one-off service or product and you know they’ve already bought it elsewhere, don’t give up! It might be a project they had to postpone for a variety of reasons and now might be the right time.

3. Promote something!

Depending on how your database is set up, you might be able to segment customers that would suit certain products. E.g. bought a new printer = time to talk about replacement cartridges. Or think about selecting customers to promote a specific product or service to. E.g. estate agents = property newspaper advert design.

4. Say thank you

When’s the last time you said ‘thank you’ to your customers? It’s a very simple way of showing them you value their business. You don’t HAVE to give them anything, but you could always offer them a discount or something for free as a ‘thank you’.

5. Approach other businesses

Approach other types of business who might have the same ideal customer as you and see if you can cross-promote your services to their clients and vice versa. E.g. if you're an insurance broker, ask if you can promote your insurance products to a printer's customers and offer to promote their print to your customers. Simple!

If you like one of these ideas but need help putting it into action, we have a special offer running to the end of August 2011; £50 off our sales letter writing service, meaning you’ll only pay £99 excluding VAT! Email us now before the offer runs out!

Aug 2011: Estate Agency changes

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 18:51:29 +0100

Thanks to The Property Ombudsman, we're counting down to 1st August 2011 when changes to their Code of Practice will kick in, literally!

If you're looking to sell a property and plan to use an agent, this will be of interest. The Code of Practice only applies to members of The Property Ombudsman, so do check the credentials of your agent. Please also note that this information has been primarily supplied for sales agents and therefore includes their industry terminology!

Thanks to The Property Ombudsman, we're counting down to 1st August 2011 when changes to their Code of Practice will kick in, literally! As an agency that works with a number of reputable residential agents, we're welcoming this. These significant changes also affect how agents can approach vendors and are mostly considered best practice.

4 of the key changes are;

1) Retention of comparable property information

Agents can no longer provide a valuation without comparable evidence. These should reduce the number of agents giving overinflated market prices to secure the instruction. Obviously, that never happens!

2) Cancellation of contracts

There must be provision for adequate notice before the end of the term, rather than at the end.

3) Energy Performance Certificates

Properties cannot be marketed without the EPC in place.*

4) How to approach vendors

Inappropriate canvassing practices now include door knocking or cold calling, continuous unsolicited calls/emails/junk mail, and using a compliments slip that has a statement such as 'contact me urgently' If you're an agent looking for new marketing techniques, please talk to us!

The following Ombudsman links provide further guidance.

Agency Agreements

Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations

* If you'd like an introduction to the company we recommend for EPCs etc, please contact us!

Top 10 reasons why websites fail: reason 6

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 14:36:51 +0100

The next installment in our 'Top 10 reasons why websites fail'. Reason number 6: The Marketing.

The next installment in our 'Top 10 reasons why websites fail'. The links to the previous reasons are listed at the bottom of this blog.

Reason 6: The Marketing

Believing that because a website is there, people will stop by and enquire/order is optimistic. Just like a shop in the middle of nowhere that nobody knows is there, an invisible website will not be bringing in potential customers, or generating enquiries and sales. Search engines are one of the marketing methods to attract visitors to a website but there are lots of other approaches to consider, some of which are free.

It’s also important to evaluate the success of the site once visitors have arrived, what we describe as onsite marketing. Here are just 5 of the questions that we’d be looking to answer:

Is the site attracting the wrong types of customers?

Were ideal customers identified for the site?

Does it answer their questions?

Is the site compelling enough to bookmark?

Is the enquiry form asking for too much information?

The right marketing can make a dramatic difference to the number of visitors and the volume of enquiries from a site. Starting, changing or increasing the marketing can be started at any time.

Read the first 5 reasons in this series;

Sending images to us

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 19:06:45 +0100

Do you need to send us images for your project? Whether you’re emailing artwork to us, or sending us a disc, the following information will be really useful. It will tell you what we need and what formats we need it in!

Sending us logos?
As well as creating logos, we often need to receive them to design other projects. Depending on what we’ll be using your logo for, we’ll need you to supply it in different file formats. If you don’t have your logo or illustration in a suitable format or at all, we can recreate it for you but this will incur an extra cost.

Sending us other images?
Whatever project we’re doing for you, you cannot send us images you’ve ‘liberated’ from the Internet. That includes any website that’s not yours and yes, even from Google images. If you don’t have the original image or photograph, the chances are that you don’t have permission to use it. It’s also likely to be too low quality for any of your projects. We can source images and photographs for you, or draw those images for you, or even have the photograph commissioned and we can quote for any of these options if you need them.

Don’t worry if you don’t have the relevant software programs to check the resolution and colour settings of your logo and images, you can send them to us and we’ll let you know if they’re suitable.

Artwork formats for print projects

These need to be high resolution and at a minimum of 300dpi (dots per inch). Any artwork less than 300dpi will print blurry and look a bit like our logo below. (This was done intentionally!)

We can’t increase the resolution of any images supplied. If your artwork appears really small, it would suggest it’s low resolution and although we can increase the size of an image, it will reduce the quality of it.

E.g. If we stretch it from this

it'll look like this!

Files for printing need to be in either spot colours (pantone references) or CMYK (4-colour process)/

Suitable formats include the following;

.eps
.tiff
.jpg
.bmp
.ai (Illustrator file)
.pdf (press-ready file)

Artwork formats for any online projects

These files can be used on your website, email campaigns & pretty much anything that doesn’t get printed. The images can be low resolution and as low as 72dpi. Files for online projects need to be in RGB colours, which are better suited to viewing on monitors.

Suitable formats include the following;

.eps
.tiff
.jpg
.bmp
.ai (Illustrator file)
.pdf (press-ready file)

Any questions, give us a call on 01923 262189 or drop us an email! If you're trying to send us a huge file and can't upload it to our server, try using www.yousendit.com or www.transferbigfiles.com.

What's a QR code

Mon, 27 Jun 2011 17:33:13 +0100

This month we’ve seen an increase in the number of questions about using QR codes for marketing… What are they? How much do they cost? What can we use them for? Read about some of the things you can do with a QR code.

This month's topical question; What’s a QR code?

We’ve seen an increase in the number of questions about using QR codes for marketing.

What are they?
How do we scan it?
What can we use one for?
Does it have to be in black and white?

What are they?
If you’ve not seen one before, there’s one just under this text. It looks a bit like a pixelated bar code, doesn’t it? It’s a two-dimensional matrix barcode that can hold a huge amount of information. QR codes aren’t new but they are becoming increasingly popular and not just here at Stop the Train!

How do we scan it?
As it’s a type of barcode, you’ll need to be able to scan it. You need 2 things; a Smartphone (htc, iPhone etc) and a QR code reader (application). We use QR Droid for htc and QR Code Reader for iPhone. You might want to have a look at the Google one, zxing.

What can we use one for?
Well, typically you’d have more than one and the good news is that you can use them in a variety of ways. The list of what you can do with it, such as ‘add a QR code to your business card’, is a subject for another blog, another day. This one is about some of the actual applications and should give you more ideas! The letters QR stand for Quick Response and that’s exactly what they’re used for.

To give extra information (text only)
To direct people to a website page
To show people your phone number (landline or mobile)
To show an email address
To view/save contact details (VCARD)
To send a text message or email
To show a location (Google maps)
To provide event details (VCALENDAR)
To give payment details (Paypal)

Does it have to be in black and white?
No, but do make sure there’s sufficient contrast between the two colours.

If you’re refreshing your marketing material or looking at your next campaign and wondering whether to include a QR code or not, ask our advice first.

Using your £50 Google Adwords

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 09:55:16 +0100

How exciting! A £50 gift card with your name on. If this is your first AdWords venture, please don’t rush into it without following Google’s guidelines and reading our tips! Do bear in mind that the latest gift card value drops down to £30 on 15th June.

Reading this article won’t make you an AdWords master but it will give you some really useful advice if you're starting out!

Tips to help you achieve better results

Using Google A dWords will increase your marketing vocabulary to include things like CTR (click through rate), PPC (pay per click), bid rates etc. Make sure you know what all of these things mean before you starting spending!

It’s all about the keywords. Do your homework on this, and thoroughly. Be really specific and remember you’re after shoppers, not window shoppers. Ideally you’re looking for keyword phrases that have high traffic and low competition. Place your keyword in the title.

Look at the other ads selling a similar product/service. Obviously I’m not encouraging you to click on them and cos t your competitors money, this is about seeing what phrases they’re using and having a better ad than theirs.

You only have space for a few words, so choose them wisely. Think about your ideal shopper and what would motivate them to click on your ad. Keep an ear out for my ‘benefits over features’ mantra.

Make su re you’re sending those shoppers to the most relevant page for your ad. For example, if you’re promoting a particular product in your online shop, don’t make them click through to the home page and then find the product for themselves; send them straight to the page about that product. This will increase your chance of them buying it!

These are just a few of the many things you can do to improve the results of your own campaigns. Set your daily limit quite low for your free campaign. Watch, learn and adapt your ad accordingly.

We do offer Google AdWords through Stop the Train. If after your first attempt it’s all too much for you and you’d like to talk to us about managing a campaign for you, give us a call on 01923 262189.

Top 10 reasons why websites fail: reason 5

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 08:57:11 +0100

Another installment of our 'why websites fail' report. Reason 5: The Search Engines.

Another reason why your website might be failing to generate the results you're looking for...

Reason 5: The search engines.

Although search engines (Google, MSN, Yahoo etc) are n’t directly responsible for a website failing, they can make a huge difference to its success. The search engines help to make a site visible to visitors (potential customers). This involves a number of tactics from building the site in a way that attracts the search engines, to including words that potential customers are using to find products/services. A website that doesn’t encourage search engines to visit or makes their life complicated when they do, is going to have to rely on other marketing methods to bring visitors to it.

Our first job with an existing website is to find out exactly how it’s performing. This will include things like how many visitors are dropping by, where those visitors are coming from, how long they spend on the site, what phrases are bringing visitors in and what those visitors are doing on the site. All information we can source from your website statistics report. If you don't currently have access to the level of information about your site, we can sort that out for you.

Providing a site has been built with the search engines in mind, getting visitors in from them is a marketing project that can be started at any time, the sooner, the better.

Read the reasons in this series so far;

5. The Search Engines - you've just read it!

Top 10 reasons why websites fail: reason 4

Wed, 18 May 2011 11:43:52 +0100

A rather belated next installment of why your website might be failing to deliver results. Reason number 4: The Build.

Reason 4: The Build.

Building a website is the technical part and for anything more than a very basic website, this really should be done by someone who specialises in this area. Self-build websites are answerable for some of the biggest complaints from visitors, and some of the biggest laughs! I could give you lots of examples here of self-build websites that look truly shocking but instead, I'll post occasional links to them on Twitter (http://twitter.com/hertsmarketing).

One of the major frustrations, and the one that is responsible for creating extraordinarily high bounce rates, is that the site takes too long to load. Most people don’t like to wait, so it’s a way of guaranteeing visitors leave to go to another site, and probably to a competitor. Having pages, buttons and links that either don’t work at all or send them to the wrong places, will also send visitors packing.

Fixing a site build that’s not delivering for a business or its visitors may just mean making some minor changes to how content has been ‘assembled’ and loaded, and fixing all the broken links, or it may require starting the build again.

If you'd like us to take a look at your site and tell you if it's a build problem and how we'd fix it, just drop us a line!

Read the reasons in this series so far;

4. The Build - you've just read it!

Top 10 reasons why websites fail: reason 3

Tue, 15 Mar 2011 11:23:02 +0000

The next installment of our 'why websites fail' series. Reason number 3: The Design.

In no particular order...

Reason 3: The Design.

Although business owners feel it’s important for them to like the design of their own website, they mustn’t forget about the most important people who need to like the design of their site; their ideal customers. Does the site design portray the right company image? Will it encourage the right people to stop and look around the site, or to leave straightaway?

Popular turn-offs amongst visitors to a site could include:

Flash landing pages,
Pointless landing pages,
Animations,
Inappropriate cartoons,
Music or video that can’t be turned off,
Too many adverts,
Colours that make the text difficult to read,
Meaningless or inappropriate images,
Too many colours,
Too garish,
Distracting backgrounds,
Text is too small,
Too much on the page to look at, (referred to as 'too busy')
Underlined text that isn’t a link to another page/site, (not clickable!)
Having to scroll across or down to read the whole page.

This list goes on and on and on...

Like navigation, a new site design will mean going back to the drawing board, literally.

Read the reasons in this series so far;

3 The Design - you've just read it!

Happy 6th Birthday to us!

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 12:24:08 +0000

Aged 6 today. Yes, there WAS cake and it was lovely. Chocolate cake, obviously! To help you celebrate our birthday with us, we've put together 6 very special offers for you.

Celebrate our birthday with us by taking us up on one (or all!) of our very special offers. These offers run out at 17.30pm on 17th March 2011 (UK time)

1. Learn the basics of SEO (search engine optimisation)

This is a 60-minute telephone session with follow-up notes emailed to you afterwards. It'll give you a good basic understanding of how search engines work and you'll learn about some of the little things you can change on your website that will make a big difference. Only £49!
(You can read a lovely testimonial for this training session here)

2. 6 suggested improvements to your Social Media strategy

Don't have a strategy? Don't worry! This offer is ideal if you're currently dabbling with Facebook and Twitter but think you could do better. We'll review what you've done and (you've guessed it already!) suggest 6 improvements you could make to get more out of it. Only £25!

3. A punchy sales letter

Trying to write your own letter? Wish you had better results? Then let us loose on it! Get your punchy sales letter written for a special birthday price of only £130. What's even better than the price is that you'll be able to use the words in other places without paying us any extra! (You can read a glowing testimonial for our sales letters here)

4. 6 suggested improvements to your current e-newsletters

We'll review your last 3 e-newsletters or promotions and the open/click-through statistics you're getting and then we'll come back to you with 6 improvements you can make to get better results. Our current record of open rates stands at 69%. This valuable review is only £25!

5. Get an A6 marketing promo designed

Need a leaflet? Postcard? Flyer? Then you might want to take advantage of our birthday offer on design! We'll create you a double-sided A6 card for only £185. For this price, you'll need to supply the words and any images you'd like to use. (We can write the words and supply the images for you, but it'll add a little bit more to the price.) We also know some really good print companies that can bring this masterpiece to life! (You can have a peek at our design work here - these are intentionally low-resolution images.)

6. Get more from your web statistics!

Have you got Google Analytics on your website? Do you look at them? Do you know what you're looking for?! We'll help you understand how to use the information from your web statistics package to get more from your site. This is a 60-minute telephone session. Only £49!

All offers quoted will attract VAT at 20%. To take advantage of any of these offers, you'll need to place your order by 17.30pm on 17th March 2011 (UK time), either by email or by phone (01923 262189).

May your day include some chocolate cake, but obviously not ours!

Angela Ellis

Top 10 reasons why websites fail: reason 2

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:30:57 +0000

The next in the series of why websites fail to deliver the right enquiries. Reason number 2: The Navigation.

In no particular order...

Reason 2: The Navigation.

The plan with a website should be to lay the content out in a way that visitors can easily and quickly find access to everything they’re looking for. That’s why navigation menus are there to help with websites that have more than 1 page.

With the amount of time people spend online these days, they’re used to seeing things in certain places on websites. Surprising them by hiding what they’re looking for, calling it something else, or making them jump through hoops to get there is a guaranteed way to make them go elsewhere.

Navigation should really be thought about before a site is designed and built, so to fix the navigation on a current site will involve taking it back a few stages and starting again.

Read the reasons in this series so far;

2. The Navigation - you've just read it!

Top 10 reasons why websites fail: reason 1

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 15:25:56 +0000

This is part of the 'top reasons why websites fail' series and includes the first reason. When I refer to failure, I mean why they're not bringing in enough of the right enquiries. Reason number 1: The Content.

In no particular order...

Reason 1: The Content.

Website content covers the elements of a website that form part of the visitors’ experience. For the purposes of this series, the content focuses on the words element of a website. The words used in any marketing are one of the major influencers as to whether people take action and get in contact or not. This means that what’s been written about (or not as the case may be!) and how it’s been written, could make or break the success of a website.

It’s easy to make mistakes with the content as it’s the area that most businesses feel they can do themselves, after all, everyone can write, can’t they? Communicating in a simple and concise manner isn’t as easy as it may sound though, particularly if it’s something you’re ‘close’ to. There are over 30 different content errors that are not only likely to stop visitors enquiring, but also to ensure they leave a site (and quickly!). These vary from writing too much or too little, having speeling misstackes (sic), right through to explanations of a company’s products and services that only focus on their features.

Providing a site hasn’t been built in Flash, the words on a website can be easily replaced with new words, and changing the content is a quick way of making a dramatic difference to enquiry results.

Read the reasons in this series so far;

10 reasons why websites fail

Tue, 08 Mar 2011 10:12:41 +0000

Spent a fortune on a website and it’s not delivering? Frustrating, isn’t it! You’re not alone. I’ve produced a list of the 10 main reasons why websites don’t bring in enough of the right enquiries. This is part 1 in the series.

Spent a fortune on a website and it’s not delivering? Frustrating, isn’t it? You’re not alone.

I’m Angela Ellis, one of the Directors here at Stop the Train and I've talked to hundreds of business owners in the same situation. I’ve listened to rants about web companies that have quite frankly stretched my vocabulary and the messages coming through are the same; you’ve all got websites that aren’t bringing in enough enquiries!

I’m not going to defend the web agencies but I am going to explain why I believe this situation occurs so frequently. Let’s see if this rings any bells with you. You discussed a budget, you explained what your company does, you talked about colours that you liked and disliked, you may have highlighted sites you liked and sites you didn’t, you gave them a list of features you’d like for your new site and you suggested a list of pages. Your ‘wishlist’ was perhaps bigger than your budget so the features and pages were then set according to your budget.

Still with me? Ok, then let’s rewind a little. Usually you’re talking to a designer that creates great-looking websites or a geek that builds them, which is why the features and style were discussed. As a marketing strategist and copywriter, I would also have discussed several other areas with you. It doesn’t matter how great your site looks and how cool all the features are if nobody visits or enquires as a result.

I’d have recommended that rather than writing the content yourself, that you asked a copywriter to do it – preferably one of ours! I’d have also suggested that we talked about how your ideal customers were going to find your website and agreed a strategy to make that happen. These vital components to your website traditionally make the difference between a site that’s has been a valuable investment for your business or a site that has cost you thousands of pounds.

I’ve produced a list of the 10 main reasons why websites don’t bring in enough of the right enquiries. It assumes that your business proposition is sound, your site has been up for more than a couple of weeks, and that you have systems in place to monitor where your enquiries are coming from.

The next reason will form the next blog, with the remaining 10 being added over the next few months. If you can’t wait, or would rather have it in a report format, drop us a line and we’ll email it over as a pdf.

Read the first 6 reasons in this series;