Is your web page too big?

The other day at work, an issue was brought up about the loading time of some of our web pages. Most of our sites are graphics intensive, and most site sizes top out at over 120K. Although broadband penetration is now around 80% to 90% for active Internet users, there are still users who use dialup and other slow connection speeds (don’t ask me why…). In order to maximize your site’s effectiveness, work on optimizing your site’s size.

Here’s an excellent tool to analyze your web page size and estimated load times. Enjoy and optimize.

Find a mentor

As you’re working on your small business marketing, you should try to find somebody who’s "been there, done that" with marketing. There’s no sense in reinventing the wheel, and marketing is no exception. Your community likely has somebody with marketing experience. Seek out this person and learn everything possible. It’s priceless to have somebody by your side who can help guide your marketing efforts.

The Internet will change things during this recession

Forbes featured an article a couple days ago describing how the internet will change consumer behavior during this recession. Here are some choice words to market by, in any economic climate: “Virtually anyone selling anything should be online, with as much sophistication as they can afford or muster.”

“The Web is a buying medium…”

Here’s a fascinating and on point article in Advertising Age by Matthew Creamer about the proper role of advertising on the web. It’s not what you think.

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You can’t be one-dimensional

As you know, I am a huge mixed martial arts fan. The other day, I realized that the beginning days of the UFC offer a great lesson for small business marketing. The first UFC fights in the early 1990s featured strikers, wrestlers, karate guys, and a lanky Brazillian jiu jitsu guy named Royce Gracie. At the time, Brazillian jiu jitsu was an anomaly, and largely unknown; most people believe that "real fights" were won by flashy kicks and karate chops. Royce proceeded to annihilate his competitors with a new fighting style. Brazillian jiu jitsu was anti-flash, relying on submission holds and leverage to win the fight. Almost overnight, the fight game was rewritten, and Brazillian jiu jitsu was seen as the next best thing. People began learning jiu jitsu just to keep themselves relevant.

Flash forward 10 years – everybody in mixed martial arts has some level of jiu jitsu training, and it’s impossible to rely solely on one fighting style alone to win a fight. Jiu jitsu is not enough anymore, nor is any one style. Many successful mixed martial artists are well versed in every functional fighting system – nothing is left to chance. The days of winning a fight with one style alone are over.

Your marketing needs to be this diverse and lethal. The days of relying only on print, TV, radio, web, etc are finished. Marketing must be as holistic and healthy as the modern mixed martial artist. You should integrate your efforts and message across every marketing channel. Do this correctly, and your competition will feel the pain.

FREE!

How do you make money when almost everything is free? This is a real issue with real consequences, so pay attention. Wired’s Chris Anderson takes a stab at this issue in his upcoming book, "Free! Why $0.00 is the future of business".

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If this was your business, the government would shut you down

If this was your business, the government would shut you down. But since this is the government, c’est la vie…

More FBI privacy violations confirmed

Privacy is a HUGE issue, and will likely be the #1 PR topic before long. Please keep your customer lists, credit card numbers, and any other confidential information PRIVATE! Your customers trust you to keep their data secure. Don’t follow the FBI’s example – treat people with respect.

UFC and ultimate fighters – excellent example of branding

On Saturday I attended UFC 82 in Columbus, OH. The event was excellent, as they normally are. One thing that stands out is the power of the UFC brand. For the uninitiated, the UFC, or the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is a mixed martial arts event, where athletes combine different fighting styles. Because the UFC was first to market, and branded "ultimate fighting", it has become synonymous with mixed martial arts. The UFC dominates the sport, with competing organizations nipping at its heels.

Lesson of the day? Be first to market and the consumer’s mind. The UFC established a very powerful brand through being first and effective.