Smog Testing | Is Your Website Copy too Hard to Read?

I was recently reading through numerous white papers and a few ebooks about copy writing for the web and came across a few interesting thoughts about what we write and the need for SMOG testing (Simple Measure of Gobbledygook).  In my own experience as a web site builder, I get to read and learn about many businesses and industries.  Often times I am sent material from a client to post or use to construct a web page. 

Writing is certainly a gift and some people can do it and some cannot.  I don’t do a bad job of writing and have a few folks I rely on when I get stuck.  Beyond making thing readable, how about understandable?  When you are writing it is rather important to think about a few factors.

1. Who is your audience? 
2. Is your information filled with jargon and industry buzzwords? 
3. Is your copy written above what your intended audience can comprehend?
4. Have you written too much to get your visitor to take action or move beyond your home page?

If you are wanting to know the reading level and clarity to the copy you are writing I suggest you do some SMOG testing by visiting the following sites:

1.  WordsCount

2.  SMOG

I hope you get good results and your SMOG testing will help you “clear the air” and your content so it can be best understood and enjoyed by your target audience.

 

Michael Mock

Organized Living Space

I have been away for a while and am happy to be back.  Things have certainly gotten hectic and I am way behind on a ton of projects.  My office looks like a computer waste collection site, my garage is in a sad state of affairs, and my personal living space is in need of some serious attention.

I recently came across a book that I bought that seem like it may work for getting me in a position to organize the garage, the house, my office, and even organize my living space.  It has always been a goal of mine to maintain an organized living space for my family and me.  We live in a modest three bedroom home of 1600 square feet, and a

Organized Living Space

24 x 32 square foot garage.  There are four of us and three dogs that share this space.  It isn’t cramped, but does on occasion get overrun with clutter.

We moved into our home three years ago from a rental home of about the same size.  We were determined to not fill this place up with too much furniture and too many things.  Our thought was to minimize the chaos and maximize the functionality of our rooms.  We needed a plan to help organize house and grounds so we do more living and less maintaining order. My wife is a big fan of order and I have a penchant for straight lines and smooth edges.

With this book I have discovered you don’t have to be born organized to be organized!  Here’s the story: Anyone who thoroughly enjoys their home knows there are just three basic ideas behind being organized and living a more simplified life at home…

• Take control of “stuff” before it becomes clutter.

• Having specific steps in place to maintain order on a daily basis.

• Knowing how to get the most out of existing space to create proper storage and always have a designated place for everything.

Check out this book and see if maybe it will help you get a more organized living space too.

Michael Mock

Some Disassembly Required

My Real Boss: YOU! (Or the new rules of marketing 101)

I recently attended a small business startup workshop and one of the keynote speakers talked about the formula for traditional marketing and its classical 4 “P’s”, being Product, Price, Placement, and Promotion. We have all heard that in some class dealing with business through the years so it is nothing new. I was to be the keynote for the following day and present the ideas of using social media for business. Most of the participants in the room were not “millennials” or even “Gen Y or X”; a large number were baby boomers. I began my address with an apology to the marketing instructor I followed as I told the room and then explained why.  To meet the demand of those users, (a whopping 72% of people), who turn to the internet for information and purchase of goods and services that rules had to changed. There was now a fifth “P” to marketing called Participation.

Today, the consumer is no longer subjected to or will even accept a marketing engine that talks at them not to them. Brands are offering more goods and services and even sampling their wares to the public now more than ever. Consumers are now in control as Web 2.0 has started making them the voice to be heard and obeyed. Providers of goods and services are now engaged in social media marketing for business promotion. The days of buying shelf space are over. As a company seeking market share and desiring to keep buyers loyal to your products, transparency is the key. To be seen on the Internet, the word on the street marketing tactic is a powerful weapon used by businesses. Enter the fifth “P” or Participation it allows your and the customers to converse, cooperate, and collaborate as you build your brand, together. This in turn develops a concept I learned working in retail sales as creating a “Lifer” relationship. I wanted to be perceived as the expert that my clients knew and trusted, and would return to buy from in the future.

So now I said of all of that how about something useful, like how will my business execute the fifth “P” of marketing or Participation? There are four steps that need to be completed to insure one’s ability to maximize the Participation factors in promoting your goods and services.

1. The first step is to discover what people are saying if anything at all about who you are and what you do. In order to do this you will need to use a few tools that are easily implemented from the web. I personally like Google Alerts. It is a service offered by Google which notifies me by email or as a feed about the latest web and news. It lets me know if new web pages appear in the top twenty results for my Google web search.

2. The second step is to create awareness about your brand and you can do this by using social media tools to your advantage. Blogs, Facebook, even Twitter can be used to promote brand awareness among both current and perspective clients.

3. The third step is to analyze the impact and activity of your brand. What gets measured will get used. Look at your blog visits, search for yourself online, and see if there is any “buzz” about you. 4. After you have completed the first three, you now need to Participate. You need to get off the wall and mingle! Comment or post to blogs, send e-mails, set up and be involved in forums on your website where customers can talk to you about their challenges, and even go so far as to allow clients to post testimonials about your brand and company.

In short, participation means giving the customer permission to criticize as well as praise the goods and services of your company, ensure you are being inclusive in the entire process of creating brand loyalty. Make the path to these actions clear and assure your clients that you are genuine in your interest in them and hold their loyalty to you in the highest esteem.

If all of this seems like a lot to get your arms around, well maybe someone like Technology Workgroup can help. We are getting pretty good at helping both business and individuals successfully employ social media and empower their clients some of which are now raving fans!

-See you online

Michael Mock

Technology Workgroup

You should follow us on Twitter

@techworkgroup

@mmock

Google Search Phrases to Save Time and Effort

Today one of my favorite design geeks Alex; posted he was scouring the Internet to find some work.  Not unusual for a free lance designer to be spending his morning engaged in such activity…but he needs to use his precious time giving love to his craft of design not looking for work.  Need a good designer check him out here ==>GenerationXAlbums

I suggested he use the follow search phrases to get his lead hunting done more efficiently.

I use site: URL “search term” to search a site without having to browse the whole thing.  I quickly found numerous leads without having to hunt through a job site.

ex: site:http://akroncanton.craigslist.org/ “web design” got me 103 returns from google for web design in Akron/Canton.

site:http://akroncanton.craigslist.org/ “graphic designer” Got me 21 returns.

Save time and maximize your efforts to getting the job, not looking for it.

I included the chart for your reference and good luck!

Google Shortcut	Finds Pages That Have…
minolta camera	the words minolta and camera
ski OR skate	either the word ski or the word skate
“gimme five”	the exact phrase gimme five
cotton -picking	the word cotton but NOT the word picking
Die Hard +2	movie title including the number 2
~bus	looks up the word bus and synonyms
define:exile	definitions of the word exile
bring my * here	the words bring my here separated by one or more words
+	addition; 978+456
-	subtraction; 978-456
*	multiplication; 978*456
/	division; 978/456
% of	percentage; 50% of 100
^	raise to a power; 4^18 (4 to the eighteenth power)
old in new (conversion)	45 celsius in Fahrenheit
site:(search only one website)	site:tusco.display “custom point of purchase”
link:(find linked pages)	link:technologyworkgroup.com
#…#(search within a number range)	minolta camera $200…$300
daterange:(search within specific date range)	egypt daterange:200508-200510
safesearch: (exclude adult content)	safesearch:breast cancer
info: (find info about a page)	info:www.genxalbums.com
related: (related pages)	related:www.genxalbums.com
cache: (view cached page)	cache:google.com
filetype:(restrict search to specific filetype)	web design filetype:ppt
allintitle: (search for keywords in page title)	allintitle:”adidas” running
inurl:(restrict search to page URLs)	inurl:southpark
site:.edu (specific domain search)	site:.edu, site:.gov, site:.org, etc.
site:country code (restrict search to country)	site:.br “honduras”
intext:(search for keyword in body text)	intext:shower
allintext: (return pages with all words specified in body text)	allintext:tropical island
book(search book text)	book Love is the Killer App
phonebook:(find a phone number)	phonebook:Microsoft WA
bphonebook: (find business phone numbers)	bphonebook:Intel OR
rphonebook:(find residential phone numbers)	rphonebook:John Smith Dover OH
movie:(search for showtimes)	movie:The Shining 44622
stocks:(get a stock quote)	stocks:goog
weather:(get local weather)	weather:44622

Hope you can put this to good use.

-Michael

One Hour of Free Consultation

I just finished up an email to a businessman I  consult and do web design work for.  He asked me a few really good questions about using Twitter.  I recently finished an eBook (which you can get by signing up for it ==>HERE) that addresses most of it, but let me give you the conversation and let you see if it is helpful.

Michael,

I have started a Twitter for my lacrosse team I coach @greenhslacrosse. Will your book and/or presentation at TweetUp on August 10th address how I can build brand awareness more or less for that situation?

-Rory

Here was my response.

Rory,

In Twitter is it a matter of following people when you get started.  These days most folks are attempting to garner followers and don’t care who they are.  You are seeking quality people to follow such as players, fans, and probably other coaches.  The Twitter book that Dani proofread for me has some tools in the last few chapters that talk about getting people to follow you as well as finding people.  I found that having a good profile and making some tweets that are relevant to the subject will get you found and followed.

For example, post a few tweets about lacrosse with say a link to an article.  Do this a few times.  Add a link to your team site.  Mention the school.  Others are using automation tools that are watching twitter for keywords that are of interest.  They then will follow you.  You just need to follow back.  The other thing is branding your stuff.  Every email should contain a link to your twitter account.  I also found that I have had an increase in followers in how I word that call to action.  I used to just say:

“I’m on Twitter @mmmock”.

Now I say, “You need to follow me on Twitter @ mmock”.  Much more compelling.

Perhaps you could suggest, “Love lacrosse? Follow me on Twitter @mmmock”.

I just searched twitter for #lacrosse on TweetDeck and pulled 72 post.  I would check the profiles of those twitter accounts and start following them. They would more than likely follow you right back.  Instant audience.

Most online marketers are hosed for business because they don’t have an audience.  In a matter of days you will.  One caveat social media is about conversation.  Don’t strictly use it as a place to be the “used car salesman”.  Be helpful, offer material of substance and on occasion make a pitch about fund raisers or team sales.  Good ratio is 1 to 2  in every 10 posts.

Check out my blog: www.mmock.wordpress.com  for some great material on social media and social media marketing.  I also am finishing up another ebook on “How to Get 1000 Followers in 30 Days”.  I will ask for proofreaders for that too so you might want a copy.

Also feel free to email me with questions or better yet, post questions and comments to my blog as it will help me keep active writing and answering.

There you go one hour of free consultation I hope that answers your questions and I will make an effort to address this either en masse or at round table discussion at our TwwetUp on August 10th @ Breadhead Bakery in Dover Ohio from 5Pm to 7PM.

Michael

If you have an other suggestions Rory would love to hear them.  Post them here so he can check them out!

Thanks,

-Michael Mock

Social Media and the Balance of Power

Today my company (that I co-own with my wife) Technology Workgroup taught a class on Facebook for Business.  We love being social media enthusiasts and evangelists.  We are big believers in the “new” way of sharing information and exchanging ideas.  We also are enjoying sharing the things we have learned and allowing people to achieve better ways to promote their ideas, products, and businesses or organizations.

One of the biggest stumbling blocks I have found for most people though is their belief or misconception that social media will drive business to their door.  They have bought into the freemium model of marketing.  Facebook is free, Twitter is free, LinkedIn is free, YouTube is free, you get the picture.

TANSTAAFL (there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch)!  Social media takes time to become a useful and powerful tool for promotion.  It also takes effort and focus.  As I said yesterday, forget yelling at the crowd, put down the bull horn, pull up a chair and sit at the table and talk to me, smile at me, thank me for being your friend.  Let me learn about the ways you can help me solve a problem.  Tell me a joke, share a little about who you are and what you are.

I also can appreciate the free idea, in this economy who can’t.  I just think that it is unrealistic to believe that putting up an on-line presence and expecting it to solve all of your problems is just naive.  There is no cruise control for social media, it is alive and will flourish,only of it is watered and feed.

During class today I did point out that a Fan page or profile for you business is only part of an effort to reach your clientele or prospective customer.  Facebook is HUGE and getting bigger every day, but just as a good marketing company, it is NOT the only venue.  I recently asked who owns the billboards, newspapers, and the radio and television stations in our area.  Not hard to believe that they are some how related to each other.  Imagine that!  All of these are enticing me to buy or engage.  The radio comments on a newspaper story and in turn the local tv station talks about the radio and newspaper coverage.  Billboards tout the best of all of those.  See the pattern here?

The same is true of using social media, Twitter points to Facebook, which in turn points to blogs and other sites.  LinkedIn and Plaxo get business together in cyberspace to collaborate.  It all brings us around the table.  Think about that and don’t see if like me some of your most fond memories have evolved from dinner time.  We laugh and share at our dinner table.  I have entertained perfect strangers at dinner that became friends and some even clients.

Think of it as a table with four legs, you need all of those legs to keep the table up and level.  Otheriwse it is a lopsided wobbly mess.  Kind of like thinking a Fanpage will save your business or get your message out effectively.

Watch in the next couple of weeks as Technology Workgroup is getting ready to release an eBook by the same title as the post “Social Media and the Balance of Power”.  It will be available both here on the blog and on the website www.technologyworkgroup.com you can also go over to the website and sign up for our newsletter and get on the inside track on how to get the book by helping me proof read  it before release!

Keep spreading the word and see me soon,

-Michael

Do You Have an Audience?

I am a big fan of movies and I even like the old medieval black and whites where the knight or knave requests an audience with the king.  I always found that line so funny, “I would like an audience with the king.”  I guess I just slip into Monty Python mode and start thinking of the Knights that say nee!”

Anyway, the place I am going is I have been blogging, tweeting, and posting for some time now.  I just watched Perry Belchers’  video on YouTube and he made a couple of statements that really hit me.  First if you are getting into social media marketing today for the first time you are screwed.  Secondly Oprah can sell Frito’s and Fords, not a problem.  Do you know why?  She has an audience.  Millions of viewers who just hang on her every word and recommendation.  Used to be Carson, now the endorsement lies with Oprah.

So that being said, I know I have an audience because the analytics tell me so, but I have many clients that want to sink all of their money in a website and then just wait for the leads to come rolling in.  Marketing on the Internet is not a set it and forget it kind of thing.  More than 75% of your efforts are outside of your site.

Working for a point of purchase display manufacturer I know we can make the the coolest display but if the end users doesn’t unpack them, set them up, place product on them and open the doors to the store what good is marketing at retail?  Imagine your web page as a product display and the store is the size of freaking Russia!  Good luck getting noticed pal.  Every firm we make displays for is just a small part of the “total package”.  It take print, radio, television, product placement in the store, and word of mouth.  We have the audience and get the clients product noticed.

All of that being said, think of it as this; Twitter is a news flash, Facebook is your scrapbook (thanks to Perry for the analogy), your blog and web site are the heart and soul of your business.  Kind of like meeting a pretty girl, it starts with a little conversation, a little hand holding, a little flirting, long walks and more conversation and then you move on to bigger and better things like serious life long relations.  But if you are not willing to engage in the conversation then you are standing at the dance along the wall watching all the pretty girls dance with other guys.

If you are little shy, even hesitant about the whole idea of social media, then really look at getting some guidance in getting started.  Drop by my website, sign up for our mailing list and I will send you some free ebooks to get you started!

www.technologyworkgroup.com

-Michael

Email Marketing | The New Pony Express?

So have you gotten the message on email marketing? If you didn’t, perhaps it is time you start to take advantage of this wonderful marketing tool.

There are many business and organizations that are already using email marketing to create additional business and to leverage technology to have an advantage over their competition. Isn’t it about time you should start exploring this? I am hoping this post will provide information on email marketing which should be useful to business owners and organizations that have been hesitant to use this form of advertising.

The first thing is to understand are the options available to you in terms of email marketing. The most common options include sending out mass emails with promotional materials, publishing and distributing e-newsletters, and offering correspondence courses via email. The advantage to all of these marketing strategies is the ability to reach a worldwide audience. Unlike traditional methods of marketing such as television, radio, or print media which only reaches an audience in a limited area; anyone with access to the Internet can benefit from your email marketing techniques.

• Mass emails are the most popular form of email marketing. This includes emails which are sent to hundreds, thousands or even millions of recipients at once. The problem with this type of marketing is the potential for having your emails tagged as spam. This is likely to happen if you send your emails to people who have no interest in your products or services and have not expressed interest in getting emails from you.

• E-newsletters are becoming increasingly popular as a form of email marketing. E-newsletters can be a simple or as complex as you prefer and may include text, graphics, advertisements, and links to your company web site or product pages. One of the big decisions you will have to make is whether you want to make your e-newsletter strictly text or include graphics in the e-newsletter. This is a great debate as not everyone will allow HTML email to be viewed by their various email clients. HTML also will not show up the same in the various browser offerings, so testing of each browser takes time to insure a good end-user experience.
• White-papers and How to Courses offered by email is the final email marketing strategy I want to look at. These courses or white-papers may be either offered for a fee and turn into a source of income themselves or they may be made available for free. The theory behind offering these courses for free is they often contain subtle advertising urging visitors to purchase the products and services offered by your business. Whether you charge for your email white-papers and courses or offer them for free, be careful to ensure the information contained is completely accurate. This is very important as potential clients who receive these emails will be judging your business based on the quality and accuracy of these materials. If your information is filled with errors then these prospects may doubt the quality of your work and look to the products and services offered by others including your direct competitors.

I hope this gets you to thinking about spreading your message or brand in a new way.  If you are already using email marketing is it worth the time and effort?  Let me know.

-Michael

Tips To Generate Website Traffic

There is only one hard and fast rule in generating money from your website:  A steady flow of website traffic.  If no one goes to your site, it doesn’t really stand a chance of generating any income.  It takes money to maintain a money making site; it also takes money to make money.

BUT, it doesn’t take tons of cash to get website traffic.

Ever wonder how does big hit sites drive traffic top their site? Most of them are spending tons of money to drive the traffic to their sites, investing in many advertising campaigns and different forms of marketing schemes and gimmickries. This is all worthwhile because, well, they are what they are now, high earning, big hitting websites.

You don’t have to do this if you don’t really have their resources. There are many ways to generate low cost website traffic without having to spend what you don’t have or can’t afford. Many people have banked on high cost methods and have ended up losing their shirt over it.

Here I present to you some tips to generate low cost website traffic that could help your site a whole lot. Even if you only get a small percentage of successful visitors in to client ratio it still works especially if you get a high number of website traffic.

• Exchange Links

This is a sure and proven method. Rarely would you see a site where there is no link to another site. Many web masters are willing to exchange links with one another so that they could produce more public awareness about their sites. You’ll soon see and feel the sudden upsurge of the traffic coming in to your site from other sites.

A major prerequisite in exchanging links with other sites is having the same niche or content as the other site. They should share a common subject so that there is continuity in the providing of service and information to what interests your target traffic.

Exchanging links also boosts your chances of getting a high ranking in search engine results. It is common knowledge that search engines ranks high sites that have inbound and outbound theme-related links. With a good ranking position in the search engines, you will generate more traffic in your website without the high costs.

• Write and Submit Articles

There are many e-zines and online encyclopedias in the internet which provides free space for articles to be submitted. If you want to save costs, you can do the articles yourself. There are many freelance writers who are willing to write for you for a small fee, but to save money, it is wise to do those articles yourself.

Write articles that are themed along with the niche of your site. Write something that you have expertise on so that when they read it, they can feel your knowledge about the subject and will be eager to go to your site. Write articles that produce tips and guidelines to the subject or niche your site has.

Include a resource box at the end of your article that can link them to your site. Write a little about yourself and your site. If you provide a light, information-laden and interesting article, they will go to your site for more.

• Create a Newsletter

This may sound like hard work because of all the articles you may need to use to build a newsletter but on the contrary, this is not so. There are many writers and sites that are willing to provide free articles as long as they can get their name in on your newsletter. This will also provide free advertising for them as well.

As your newsletter gets pass around, you can widen your public awareness and build an opt-in list that can regularly visit your site.

• Join Online Communities and Forums

This only requires your time and nothing else. You can share your knowledge and expertise with many online communities as well as your website. You can get free advertising when you go to forums that have the same subject or niche with your site.

Share your two cents and let them see how knowledgeable you are with the subject. As you build your reputation, you also build the reputation of your site, making it a reputable and honest business that could be frequented and trusted by many people.

Hope these tips get you a bit more traffic!

-Michael

4 Ways to Boost Business With a Blog

These thoughts provided by Jason R. Rich and I liked them well enough to pass them on.

Share information, interact with customers and boost your brand–blogs are the perfect way to keep you on top of your industry.

If done correctly, a blog can attract a dedicated audience to build upon and share expertise, information, ideas and content, while boosting awareness of your company and brand. If done incorrectly, however, you can leave customers feeling dissatisfied and ready to turn to your competitor. Here are four ways you can leverage a blog:

1. Create friend-sumers.
Promote a company, product or service by creating a blog that features how-to advice, news and other information of interest to customers. Through the blog, visitors can post testimonials, feedback, questions and comments, plus participate in surveys. By taking an informal, non-sales approach, a company can interact with customers, gain useful feedback and build an online audience that can ultimately be directed to the company’s main website or retail store.

2. Provide exceptional customer support.
Supplement a company’s existing technical support and customer service with an online forum for customers to openly post questions. While employees can update and maintain this type of blog, users feed it with comments and also tap the knowledge of other users by reading past questions and interacting on the forum. If done correctly, this type of blogging can dramatically cut the cost of personalized technical support and customer service. Check the comments section for frequent users who can be recruited as bloggers to further increase your blog’s content. They can also be asked to “host” certain threads or wikis to encourage dialogue on topics that need a little TLC.

3. Increase your credibility.
A blog is an ideal tool to position yourself as an expert in your field by sharing your thoughts, knowledge, experience and insight. Obtaining expert status can increase your earning potential, make it easier to land a new job or promotion, and help attract new customers.

4. Gain more exposure.
Ask independent bloggers to write reviews and articles about your company. Having your information published on different blogs builds your legitimacy and exposure. Also, it’s often faster and easier for a business to get blog content (as opposed to traditional website content) listed with the major internet search engines.

Two More Keys to Blogging Success
Before investing the time and money, clearly define your potential blog’s goals and objectives, and then determine your exact target audience. Figure out what you’ll offer that’s unique or that will set your blog apart, and make sure you have enough potential content to keep your blog continuously updated and fresh.

Next, figure out how you’ll drive a steady flow of traffic to your blog and build its audience. Properly and creatively promoting a blog on an ongoing basis is essential for building an audience. For many bloggers, this often proves to be their biggest challenge. Having unrealistic expectations about how quickly and easily you’ll be able to drive traffic to a new blog is one of the biggest reasons why bloggers fail.

Michael