Recently, a friend of mine sent me a “distress email” with regards to her website. Apparently, she bought a webhosting package about 6 months ago, then suddenly, she got an email that informed her about the service closing down!

Can you imagine that?

You spend days, maybe weeks looking for a “good” web host and then spend more days and weeks getting your website designed, tested and finally launched. Months later, you are informed that you need to go through that whole process again. Now, coming from a recent failure in your ability to pick a “good” web host, what should you do?

Sometimes, it is better to leave such decisions to experts. But if you are not able to afford a good web consultant, maybe you can check out some sites that give our web hosting awards?

Again, this is not a 100% fool-proof method as there might be exceptions. However, your chances would be significantly higher, since these sites rely on their professional reputations and will quickly rescind any awards given to companies that have bad reputations or display signs of instability.

Another way is to do an online search for “good web hosting”. Again, this is not very reliable as many web hosting companies will “seed” the internet with good comments about themselves. So, maybe an independent website rating service might be a better bet.

All the best to your search for the best web host.

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I received the following via email and couldn’t help chuckling. If anyone know the source, let me know so that I can include a credit line.

WHAT IS MARKETING?

1. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and say: ‘I am very rich. Marry me!’  – That’s Direct Marketing’

2. You’re at a party with a bunch of friends and see a gorgeous girl. One of your friends goes up to her and pointing at you says: ‘He’s very rich. ‘Marry him.’ – That’s Advertising’

3. You see a gorgeous girl at a party. You go up to her and get her telephone number. The next day, you call and say: ‘Hi, I’m very rich. ‘Marry me – That’s Telemarketing’

4. You’re at a party and see a gorgeous girl. You get up and straighten your tie, you walk up to her and pour her a drink, you open the door (of the car) for her, pick up her bag after she drops it, offer her ride and then say: ‘By the way, I’m rich. Will you ‘Marry Me?’ – That’s Public Relations’

5. You’re at a party and see a gorgeous girl. She walks up to you and says: ‘You are very rich! Can you marry ! Me?’ – That’s Brand Recognition’

6. You’re at a party and see a gorgeous girl. You go up to her and say: ‘I am very rich. Marry me!’ She gives you a nice hard slap on your face. – ‘ That’s Customer Feedback ‘

7. You’re at a party and see a gorgeous girl. You go up to her and say: ‘I am very rich. Marry me!’ And she introduces you to her husband. – ‘That’s demand and supply gap’

8. You’re at a party and see a gorgeous girl. You go up to her and before you say anything, another person come and tell her: ‘I’m rich. Will you marry me?’ and she goes with him – ‘That’s competition eating into your market share’

9. You’re at a party and see a gorgeous girl. You go up to her and before you say: ‘I’m rich, Marry me!’ And your wife arrives. – ‘That’s restriction for entering new markets

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How can small companies improve their customer service today? This is an especially important question because today’s consumers have been so pampered by the large companies so much, everyone expects the same level of personal service everywhere they go.

If you have a problem with your credit card, you pick up the phone, make a call and expect someone to speak with you and solve your problem. Can you afford to provide live support at this level for yor clients?

Even if you were willing to make the effort, the cost of running phone lines and staffing would scare most small businesses from entertaining such ideas.

One way to get around this is to use the Internet. Live chat is really becoming a powerful, affordable alternative for smaller companies. There are many good live chat software that you can choose from today. Or, forget setting one up for yourself and just use an online service like what you find on livemoz.com

With tools like these, smaller companies have a chance to compete with larger ones without breaking the bank.

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My Kiwi friend who is flying down to Singapore after a long absence of 9 years wrote me a really short email, “What’s this with “Your Singapore”? It can NEVER be mine! How could it be? “.

The Singapore Tourism Board (STB) has a different opinion on that obviously. It has built a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign around the “Your Singapore” catchphrase – one that involves an interactive website where travelers can customize their trips to the island city, book their flights and lodging and soon even have their itineraries sent to their cell phones.

In the past 33 years, Singapore has adopted 3 branding slogans – “Surprising Singapore” from 1977 to 2004, “Uniquely Singapore” from 2004 – 2009 and now “Your Singapore”. Comparatively, our neighboring countries are much more loyal to their branding catchphrases – “Malaysia, Truly Asia”, “Amazing Thailand”, “Incredible India” -in fact, they are still building fresh campaigns around their trusty slogans.

Some renowned companies do not change their slogans. They understand that it takes years, even decades,  to embed the branding message into the minds of their target audience. Maxwell Coffee ’s “Good to the Last Drop” was developed in 1907, Morton Salt’s When it Rains, it Pours was coined in 1914 and the famous I Love New York was conceptualized in 1977. I salute the decision makers of these companies. Many companies changed their branding message because they got tired of seeing the same words day in and day out, not realizing that their target audience does not have such an intimate relationship. I wonder if that’s the case with our STB who tired of “Uniquely Singapore” after a mere 5 years?

Personally, I prefer “Surprising Singapore” if I must choose from the 3 slogans. I just don’t feel that “Your Singapore” would be authentic to most travelers. Like my Kiwi friend asked, “How could it be?”. These wonderful people are just making a short trip here – be it a vacation or a business trip - and thereafter they return to home sweet home. No matter how clean and green Singapore is, no matter how Singaporeans go out of the way to make them feel at home, Singapore is not theirs. Not until they choose to make it theirs.

Possibly, STB’s intention was to make Singapore something to everyone. Ironically, when we attempt to be something to everyone, we will be inevitably be reduced to nothing to everyone.

The modern history of Singapore began in 1819 when Englishman Thomas Stamford Raffles established a British port on the island. We may be less than 200 years old, however, we have a unique and colourful identity with Malays, Chinese, Indian, Eurasians plus many foreign immigrants residing here. By giving a carte blanc for travelers to customize Singapore, what is left of us? What do they think of us? In marketing, we emphasize a lot on unique selling proposition, branding and positioning. By being everything to everyone, we basically become a significant nobody.

I have a Famous Business Slogans category in this blog, however, I probably won’t slot this post in that category until “Your Singapore” has, well, become famous.

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In our previous post, we talked about web sites and translations. Thank you for your comments and feedback. But one of the challenges facing many of us, other than creating a great website, is how to get started in the first place.

Many times, web hosting becomes the first biggest hurdle. Yes, it is not a complicated thing. However, its like text messages on your mobile phone. Whether you are using T9, iTap or pressing buttons repeatedly to tap out your messages, it was tough at first. Most small business owners are not familiar with web hosting even if they are comfortable online with emails and social networks.

One way you can learn more is to read. For example, this web hosting site provides some guidelines on how to select your web hosting option.

There are three key things you need to be aware of:

Is the Web Hosting company reputable/reliable?

The worse thing that can happen is if you got your web site hosted, then a year or two or even three years later, the web hosting company folds up. As a non-technical person, transferring web sites, back up and moving to a new web server is a nightmare.

Is the Web Hosting Plan affordable?

The top tier web hosts are, of course, reliable. But they are also expensive. Many of the smaller web hosting companies are serious businesses with dedicated staff and a solid business plan. Good deals can be found. You just need to spend time asking around and checking.

Is the Customer Service good?

Usually, with a good web hosting company, the only time you need them is at the beginning, when you set up your web site. And of course, at first, everyone is nice. The most important though, is when things go wrong. If you do not have a good customer service, there is little you can do to your web site if the problems are on the “server side” of your site.

Do you have good or bad experiences to share?

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Today’s business can no longer be confined to servicing your neighbourhood. But more importantly, the Internet has created a culture where the whole world is able to look in on you.

While English is considered the de-facto language online, there are really millions of web sites and web users who do not speak English. And the progress of browser technology and computers mean that many languages have found their way online. Sure, you have Google Translate, but are you sure you want your information to be read in that way?

There is a simple solution – professional translation. There are many such services. For convenience, you can use online translation services.

Before you take this path, make sure that you are clear which languages you want to target. Using content management software with multi-language capabilities will save you a lot of time and effort, however, you still need to define the languages you want to appear on your site.

Unless you are a huge multi-national company, it is doubtful if you need more than 2 languages on your website. Beware of this trap. Too many languages may mean that your maintenance costs will increase, or worse, you will have broken content as you struggle to keep up with the translations or to keep the various versions updated.

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Mention selling, and you can be sure many people will try to avoid your eyes, and most likely, mumble some excuse about a sick puppy and move away.

Isn’t that interesting?

There is the “Snake Oil Salesman” and there is the friendly neighbourhood grocer. Both sell you stuff. One you love, the other you hate. Today, selling to consumers and selling business to business has evolved to a point of sophistication where the more different it gets, the more it looks the same.

Has it ever occurred to anyone that a company that fails to sell stuff, fails?

This aversion to “selling” is an insidious poison that is slowly killing a lot of good businesses. I just read an article over at CalvinWarr.com that asks the question: “When Marketing Becomes Selling?“. I think we try to sugar coat too much. The reality is that unless we succeed in selling our product or services, we will not remain in business very long.

To be fair, the article was not written as a question. But we can take liberty and twist it for what we need here. No one likes a pushy salesman. Yet, unless there was a push coming from somewhere, no one will ever take an initiative to buy anything. Good marketing CREATES a push from within ourselves. It causes us to perceive a need, which we are dying to fulfill, which for some reason, never occurred to us before we encountered that particular marketing message.

Whether the push is from “within” or from a pesky salesman, let’s face facts: no sale is made unless there is some kind of momentum. All businesses should be aware of this, and should embrace it. Then, figure out how to do it with finesse and gumption. If you are shy, your competition most certainly isn’t.

So, whether you choose to take a hard sell approach, a soft sell approach, a relationship building approach; whatever your selling approach may be, choose one. Those airy-fairy, high brow “marketing concepts” will mean nothing if it does not result in lots of orders, sales or hordes of people trooping into your stores.

Do you agree? Is there a better way?

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Few of the young people who have grown up with Google, Facebook and all the other wonderful Web 2.0 stuff will remember the time when the web was first born.

We of the cow-gum and bromide era sometimes long for the simplicity of the good old days. We did not have to deal with User Interfaces, 3rd-Party Integration, Social Media and worse, user training. Yes, many people do not realise it, but embarking on an online campaign is really not the same as an offline campaign.

If your staff is not trained properly, you will miss out on a lot of the power of your online campaign. I have taken a look at many web design companies, since many of my clients want us to work on web projects nowadays. Few of them are so clear in what they offer as this Bay Area Web Development Company that I happened to stumble upon.  Just take a look at the range of services that are being offered by this web development company and you will understand what I mean.

Many years ago, when I first started doing websites, I actually learned HTML on my own. Mostly, I followed the tutorials on Web Monkey; and now, they have also evovled and become a Web Development Blog. The times are changing fast. If you really want to bring your company’s marketing online, don’t just settle for a simple web page. That does not work anymore.

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