Webhosting Evaluation for Small Business

Posted on August 27, 2011 by Calvin

Every once in a while, we need to review our webhosting service provider as well as the state of our current hosting.

Some time ago, we wrote a short review on this. Recently, we were looking again at our hosting and explored some of the review and rating sites. Some of the review sites are run by full time admins, while others simply collect public reviews and ratings.

I would say that both has its pros and cons. The best would be to have a panel of expert doing full reviews, and then have the public rating the sites. This is what I find to be the best way. With customer reviews, it gives you the confidence that the sites were not just “performing” for the professional reviewer.

In the end, like we always believe, it is your own experience and judgement that has to be the most important judge. If you have trusted friends or industry peers using the service, it is also a good indication of a good web host.

Do share if you come across any good review sites or if you have had good experiences with any of the webhosting services.

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Posted in Entrepreneurship, Small Business | 1 Comment

Snail Mail Promotion is Not Dead Yet

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Vivienne Quek

Do you read all your emails? Not all, I expect.

A typical answer from those who receive tens or hundreds of emails from all kinds of people everyday will be: “I just read those emails from friends, colleagues and networks I’m with and delete the rest.”

Plus, spam filters don’t work all the time. I’m sure you get your fair share of Viagra, penis enlargement, breast enlargement, replica watch offers in your InBox every day. I’m certain you just delete them without reading. And sometimes, even when the title is rather inn0cuous like “A Proposal” or “Staff Recruitment Offers”, you would choose to delete the email because you don’t recognize the name on the email address, yes?

It is not surprising that response rates for email based marketing campaigns are hurting, especially when marketers only have one line of text in the subject field to make an impact. Having said that, email marketing is far from dead. Imaging if you have a 25,000 database and this is a click rate of 10%, you still have 2,500 pairs of eyeballs attracted by your offers.

What I like to say here : Don’t ditch email marketing, however, supplement your campaign with good old direct mail. In recent years,  many marketers choose to re-connect with those consumers who don’t read e-advertisements  in their InBox, and this has resulted in the resurgences of physical (or snail) mail. A flyer left on the table gets seen several time a day, usually unintentionally, and effortlessly; not the email. Naturally, marketers who have deep pockets and are willing to splurge on creative copy and design and huge print-run stands to gain lots.

In short, snail mail promotion need not slow down just because we have modern communications methods online.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Posted in Marketing Strategies and Tips, Promotion | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Marketers, We Sell Hope and Lots of Hopes

Posted on August 3, 2011 by Vivienne Quek

In the factory we make cosmetics; in the drugstore we sell hope.
~ Charles Revson

Yet many marketers failed to understand that it is hope that we are selling, not the features of the products.

I couldn’t said it better than Seth Godin‘s

The magical thing about selling hope is that it makes everything else work better, every day get better, every project work better, every relationship feel better. If you can actually deliver on the hope you sell, there will be a line out the door.

Hope cures cynicism. Hope increases productivity. Hope needs no justification.

Having that said, selling hope can be tricky, like walking on thin ice.

While Charles Revson has succeeded, President Obama has not lived up to his promise.

Charles Revson’s Charlie fragrance was the first perfume to feature a woman wearing pants in it’s advertising campaign. What is Revson’s selling actually here? That Charlie can make a woman looks better and feels even greater? And, even dressing up like a man will not discount her femininity ans sensuality at all? Some women buy cosmetics and fragrance to look better, however, I would dare say ALL women are hoping that these creams, lotions, paints and pleasantly smelling water will actually make them look better. Hope needs no justification. Hope certainly increases productivity as  Charlie raised Revlon’s net sales figures to $506 million for 1973 and almost $606 million in 1974.

In a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004, presidential candidate Obama rallied the party with the challenge: “Do we participate in a politics of cynicism, or do we participate in a politics of hope?” With economy still faltering, there is an increasingly feeling that the change that USA has experienced since 2008 is a downhill trend. Does that mean the President has to talk less about change and more about hope to secure a 2nd term?

Marketers, when you write your advertisement copy, don’t bother to list the features of your TV set using big 14-point font size. Save for the fanatics, the average Mr Smith and Ms Jones are not going to catch your technical jargons easily.  You are much better off painting  a vivid future picture of the outcome, benefit or results of buying and enjoying your product. Tell them their ROI, “You can really feel that you are in a movie theatre even when you didn’t install any surround sound system.” Share this with everyone in your team especially those sales consultants on the ground. Too often, I heard many well-rehearsed speech that might as well be Latin to me. Give me benefits, outcome and results anytime. If not, at least sell me the hope of being nearer to them.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Posted in Copy, Marketing Strategies and Tips | 1 Comment

What is the best webhosting for me?

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Calvin

Recently, we talked about Managed Hosting and we had a few interesting comments. But we get this question over and over again – “what is the best webhosting for me?”.

Frankly, the only person who can answer that question is yourself. There is something to be said about going to review sites and rating sites. We do have to be careful though, because sometimes, the criteria that they use to rate the services might not be the same as the criteria you would use.

For example, this company explains their rating criteria, and that gives you an idea of how they select their top choice and how they decide whether a company is not good enough.

Hopefully, you will be able to come up with your own list of selection criteria. Usually, this can be done by asking around, learning from the pains of others.

For most of us, it will be a case of “live and learn” as we make choices and learn from our mistakes.

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Posted in Small Business | Leave a comment

Video Marketing The Next Wave?

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Calvin

Here is an interesting discussion that seems to be floating around some circles. Have you heard talk that “video marketing is the next wave” for advertising and promotions?

If that is true, then there must be evidence. Newspapers will die. Magazines will die. Direct mail will die. Billboards will die. True?

So, why is it that these other media continue to thrive? Yes, for sure, video marketing is carving out a nice niche. But that’s all it is – a niche. Just like each media has its own place.

So, let us not neglect to hone our copywriting skills, our script writing skills, layout skills and so on. There is a place for all. Small business owners tend to hunt for that silver bullet. There is no short cut. Do not jump at “the next big thing” and hope your business will fly.

Marketing is as marketing has always been. In all its various forms and through all its various media; long live marketing.

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Posted in Marketing Rants, Small Business | 3 Comments

Have you heard of managed hosting?

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Calvin

For those who have experienced it before, you know that when you site gets into trouble, it is a painful experience.

We recently got our site taken down because someone hacked through some WordPress loophole. Anyway, it’s all good now. But since then, we always pay attention whenever we see any information on web hosting appearing before us.

So, it was only natural that we took at look at this Superb Internet site when someone told us about it. It was rather tempting to take on the managed hosting package, if nothing else, simply because we could stop worrying about a lot of stuff related to managing the servers.

But that is an over-kill for a small time business like us. But when we do have larger web needs, that is definitely a direction to consider seriously. After all, what is the point of having a nice thriving business if you have to spend all your spare time looking after the little stuff?

In case you are wondering, this service provider also does colocation for servers. This is definitely not for everyone. But if you are in some kind of eBusiness or host a serious website, then be sure to check out this option.

At this time, we are still happy with our simple hosted site. But if ever we do grow, its good to know that there are lots of options out there!

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Posted in Corporate Blogging, Internet Marketing, Small Business | 3 Comments

So, you think you dig the culture?

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Calvin

Here is an interesting thought – marketing is local.

In fact, it might be that marketing can only be local. Now, before you hit the roof and point at the gazillion “global marketing” campaigns, hear me out.

Essentially, marketing is about taking what speaks to a person, relate it to a brand or a product, and attempt to engender a response, preferably a “buy” action. Now, if you fundamentally do not agree with this simple, direct definition of marketing; then you will not agree with everything in here.

To be able to speak to a person, you need to understand him. It sort of comes down to an understanding of the culture, since that provides a broad backdrop against which almost everyone in a particular community can relate to. There will always be fringes that differ enough that they do not fit. But by and large, the culture is a good entry point for most marketing efforts. From there, you distill it further into specifics.

That is why the statement earlier, that marketing is essentially local in nature. In a culture where “big is beautiful”, using skinny models have a negative impact on your brand.

International campaigns actually go against the grain and create their own culture. That is why many of them require huge budgets. But once they have the critical mass and the traction, their own sub-culture is created. That sub-culture then exists within the other social culture where the audience lives.

It is hard for marketers to understand the other person’s culture. Just saw this post about “Fish Don’t Know They’re In Water” and it does bring home the point of perspective and understanding.

That is why partnerships are so important in business. Finding a good local partner can make the difference between success and failure.

Think on it.

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Posted in Branding, Marketing Rants, Marketing Strategies and Tips | 2 Comments

Yet Another Web Hosting Review Site!

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Vivienne Quek

Well, I had nothing to do over the weekend and decided to see if I could find a better bargain for my webhosting needs. So, I found this webhosting review site and decided to take a look.

Frankly, the “guy” that pops up and starts speaking when you first hit the website sort of scared me. I guess that is one of those new-fangled interactive touches that so many websites today have. Didn’t work for me though I am sure some people dig this kind of stuff.

But after I managed to stop that avatar from speaking, the rest of the site looked good. The information was organised well and I went straight to look at Linux webhosting because that is likely the cheapest option.

What I realized immediately was that there were a lot of webhosts that I have never heard of before. In the end, I more or less made up my mind what I wanted. The information I found on the site helped. But I also wished that the star ratings were a little more relevant. Most of the webhosts seem to be rated 4 or 5 stars and I had to go through the Compare Plans step over and over again to gain more insights.

Maybe I was just lazy, but an expert guide might have helped me better. Sometimes, expert advise is better than us amateurs trying to sort through all the information ourselves. I will likely stick with my current webhost, but this site should be a good reference when I am shopping for a new host.

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Posted in Corporate Blogging, Small Business | 3 Comments