Techno Granny 05-27-14 - Preview EGC Workshop Website Attraction and Conversion

Techno Granny Talks 05-27-2014

Preview EGC Workshop Website Attraction and Conversion
Featured Guest: Dan Droz

Listen to the Techno Granny show online here

Dan Droz is President of Droz Marketing, a firm that helps companies grow with creative solutions for branding, websites, social media advertising and collateral materials. Dan is also a former professor at Carnegie Mellon. In the last two years, Droz Marketing has won 11 "Marketer of the Year Awards," over 50% of all the awards granted by the American Marketing Association, including 'Grand Marketer of the Year,' unprecedented by any marketing firm in America.

Dan has spoken previously at the Duquesne entrepreneurs conference on topics ranging from how to develop the perfect marketing plan to strategies for branding, PR, website design and social media. In this years presentation, Dan is talking about how to attract and convert more customers through your website.

Questions We Asked Dan:

• Could you tell us a bit about the "Online Cruise Control, Attracting and Converting Customers to your Website" seminar and why people should be looking out for it at the conference?
• Since there are so many different kinds of businesses, Is there just one set of strategies or tactics that work for all businesses?
• How do you figure out what the right methods are for a particular business or site?
• What do you think is the primary reason businesses aren't successful with their websites?
• What one thing do you feel is important to making website a more important part of the marketing mix?

Answers Dan Gave Us:
Growing your Online Business Although there are many ways that websites can help promote a bricks and mortar business, more and more companies are turning to online business opportunities. Here are some strategies to monetize traffic on your site:

1. Advertising. There are generally two variation of the advertising model: Pay Per Click and Pay Per View. Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising generates revenue whenever someone clicks on an ad on your website, while Pay Per View pays based on the number of views (or impressions). Both rely heavily on traffic volume and targeted content, and although this may seem like an easy way to make money, don’t expect to retire anytime soon unless you have a huge site with lots of highly targeted articles. Google AdSense is one of the most widely used Pay Per Click engines.
2. Sponsorship / Private Ad Sales Similar to the Pay Per View model, this monetization strategy usually involves you going direct to the advertiser instead of dealing with an ad network. This form of advertising model usually involves you doing the leg work to approach potential advertisers. Before you do, make sure your website content is highly targeted and generating a lot of traffic.
3. Physical Products The age old model of selling actual physical products. Many large online retailers use this model successfully – for example, Amazon or Dell. Selling physical products involves listing one or multiple products for sale on your website, facilitating a secure transaction and shipping the product. Keep in mind there are warehousing and distribution elements to this model unless you use drop shipping, and shipping to overseas destinations can be cost prohibitive.
4. Drop Shipping Drop shipping is similar to the physical product model, but with someone else looking after the warehousing and distribution. You establish a relationship with one or more businesses who look after the physical goods you’re selling – you only have to worry about sales. When a customer purchases a product on your website, you look after the transaction then forward the order through to your drop shipper who packages and distributes the goods.
5. Digital Products Anything you can download – ebooks, software, music, videos. Digital products are relatively easy, as they have a much lower cost of sale than physical products. With a digital product there’s no physical warehousing, shipping or cost to reproduce the product. You can create your own products to sell, pay someone to develop a product for you, or promote other people’s products via affiliate networks (see the affiliate products section below).
6. Affiliate Products Many website owners make money from promoting other people’s products and services. To start promoting, you apply to become affiliated with a merchant, either via one of the many affiliate networks or directly. When you refer a customer to the merchant, you receive a commission on sales. There are affiliate networks for both physical and digital products as well as for lead generation, otherwise know as Cost Per Action (CPA) offers. For physical products Amazon has its own network, while Clickbank is one of the larger digital product networks.
7. Membership / Subscription Membership sites make money by charging people a regular fee to have access to a secure “Members Only” area. This area might contain training material that’s updated or added to regularly, or it might be a web based application. If you want customers to stick around and keep paying for the privilege then you need to make sure you provide unique and quality content.
8. Marketplace You’re in one! Dating sites, freelance marketplaces such as 99designs and auction sites like eBay. Usually marketplaces make money by charging sellers a fee to list items for sale, or from advertising if the site generates enough traffic. One of the biggest challenges with marketplace sites is attracting enough buyers and sellers to interact regularly.
9. Services The services model encompasses a huge variety of offerings and usually involves customers paying for someone’s time. Selling a service may involve selling day to day tasks such as data entry or professional services such as accounting. Services can prove hard to scale, as usually you need to keep adding work-hours as your clientele grows.

For more information on how to attract and convert more traffic to your site, contact Dan Droz at:

4916 Liberty Avenue  |  Pittsburgh, PA 15224
P: 412-338-1818  |  F: 412-338-9188
www.drozmarketing.com  |  info@droz.com

** Listen to Techno Granny's Interview with more Great Tips from Dan Droz HERE**

You can also hear more from Dan in person at the 16th Annual Entrepreneur's Growth Conference.
This premier networking & informational event for Western PA small businesses is hosted by the Small Business Development Center at Duquesne University.  In addition to the featured speaker Stan Sheetz, Chairman of Sheetz Convenience Stores, and a CEO Panel Discussion, the conference will feature several great breakout sessions including: Accelerating Sales: A Daily To-Do List, Tales from the Road: Inspiring Stories from Well-Traveled Entrepreneurs, Rules of the Road: Human Resource Update, The Intersection of Concept & Cash: Steering a Great Idea into a Profitable Business, Fueling Up: Find the Cash You Need, The Exit Ramp: Preparing to Sell Your Business, Ending Gridlock: Creative Ways to Improve Cash Flow, The Scenic Route: Videos & Images to Power Your Marketing Motor, Sharp Curves: How to Win with the Power of Persuasion, Opportunities Ahead: Diversity Programs & Government Contracting, Social Media Shortcuts: Shift Your Business into High Gear with LinkedIn, Facebook & Youtube, The Fundraiser Fastlane: Successful Crowdfunding Campaigns, Online Cruise Control: Website Practices for Converting Visitors into Customers, and The Green Belt:  How to Run a Sustainable Company.

For more information and to register visit www.sbdc.duq.edu. 

Techno Granny Show Hosted By:

Joanne Quinn-Smith is the Creative Energy Officer of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and an expert on Web 2.0 Branding, 2009 National SBA Small Business Journalist of the Year, Author "Folly of Marketing Plan in Your Head, 101 Compelling Reasons to Write One." Available at: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DHKVJOG

Posted By: Stephanie Curtice
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:
© Joanne Quinn-Smith, Techno Granny Show™ 2014  All rights reserved.
Dreamweaver Marketing Associates  |  (412) 444-5197
Listen at: http://tinyurl.com/TechnoGrannyShow OR on its unique radio channel at: http://tinyurl.com/pospittlivemag
Additional blog posts at: http://technogrannyshow.com

TechnoGrannyTalks, Tech Tips for Parents Regarding Internet Safety

Developments in technology have altered more than just the way children learn and play, it has also altered the way we need to parent.  Raising children in our ever more technolological society can seem overwhelming at times, but navigating the digital world can be made easier via a few simple tips. 

One good tip is that if you have iPad or a computer that your child has regular access to, you should turn on parental controls.  The parental controls on the Ipad imits the websites that can be accessed and also puts an age restriction onto the apps that can be downloaded or even turn them off completely. When your children are online, ask them to demonstrate what they are doing.

This is a screenshot of a Parental control Page.  

How to Turn On Parental Controls for the iPad

The first step is going into the iPad settings by touching the settings icon. It looks like a bunch of gears and is one of the default icons for the iPad.

Once in settings, choose the general settings from the left-hand menu. You should reach a screen like the one shown above.

Next, choose Restrictions to go into the iPad settings for parental control.

The next step for enabling parental controls on the iPad is to turn on the iPad restrictions. Simply touch the top of the screen where it reads Enable Restrictions.

You will be prompted for a four digit passcode. Choose something you will remember, but not something your child can guess like a birthday or the last digits of a driver's license. If there is a significant date your like to remember in your past besides birthdays and anniversaries, that would be perfect.

The passcode for the iPad's restrictions will need to be entered twice to make sure you don't accidentally tap a different number than intended.

Once you have the iPad's parental controls enabled, you will be able to set different restrictions and even restrict some of the default applications that came with the iPad. This includes the Safari browser, YouTube and iTunes, so you can restrict your child's ability to view websites, watch videos and purchase music from their iPad.

You can also turn off the ability to install apps. You can still get apps on the iPad by installing them to iTunes and syncing them to the iPad, which will allow you to have complete control over which apps are on the iPad.

However, you also need to be careful not to go overboard when it comes to safety.  The internet is a normal part of life in the 21st century and your children should make use of it in a way that is both productive and safe.

For more tips on Online Safety Listen to these TechnoGranny Shows:

Techno Granny, 13 Unlucky Ways that Criminals Use Social Media & Prevention

Techno Granny, Facebook/Online Dating Spammers & Scammers

Techno Granny, updates How to Keep Your Private Info from Search Engines

(c)  Joanne Quinn-Smith 2014

This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:
© Joanne Quinn-Smith, Techno Granny Show™ 2013,
Dreamweaver Marketing Associates, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15230, 412-444-5197

Listen at: http://tinyurl.com/TechnoGrannyShow

Or on its unique radio channel at:
http://tinyurl.com/pospittlivemag

Additional blog posts at: http://technogrannyshow.com
Joanne Quinn-Smith is the Creative Energy Officer of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and an expert on Web 2.0 Branding.2009 National SBA Small Business Journalist of the Year, Author "Folly of Marketing Plan in Your Head, 101 Compelling Reasons to Write One." Available at:http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DHKVJOG

Techno Granny's Guest JoAnn R. Forrester, the Empress of Biz, Shares Award Winning Writing Tips

Techno Granny Talks 02-10-2014

Secrets Revealed on Winning Awards for You, Business, or Organization

Listen to the Techno Granny show online here

Blue Ribbon Award Winning Writing Tips

By: JoAnn R. Forrester, The Empress of Biz

Awards are an excellent way to position a client, business associate or oneself for recognition and FREE publicity.   The publicity received is often worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.  The following tips will give you an overview of writing a nomination that will stand out and shout, “Pick me.”

1.  Preparation: Knowing the RIGHT steps to take, people to nominate and what awards to nominate your nominee for saves time, frustration and losing submission.

2.  READ, know and follow the guidelines exactly for the nomination.  If you have questions… ASK the organization sponsoring the award.

3.  Nominee’s Permission: It is essential to ask the intended honoree’s permission to nominate him or her for an award.     Explain the award and let the nominee know up front if financial data is required.  Some nominees are uncomfortable with disclosing financial information and will elect not to continue.

4.  Supporting material: If there are supporting documents required, start gathering them immediately.  The supporting documents and letters can be referenced in the nomination write-up to illustrate strong points of the candidate.

5.  Writing: Give yourself plenty of time to write.  Figure at least 10 hours for each nomination.  This covers research, interviewing, verifying material and writing.  List each criteria and answer that only.  Use short and brief sentences with strong follow-up points.   Long sentences and narratives are boring.  The committee soon gets tired of reading and will start to skim over material.

6.  Editing: Have the nominee review and verify what you have written.  If you are unsure of a fact, do not use it.  If it states no more than 5 pages, stick to that!

7.  Submission: Make sure All information requested is enclosed.  Do not guess on postage if mailing.  Get proof of mailing or delivery verification of nomination.  Make sure you have the name of the person who received it.

8.  Congratulate Yourself.   You did it!  Pat yourself on the back!  You deserve it and when your nominee wins…it will be a great time for all.

** Listen to Techno Granny's Interview with more Great Tips from JoAnn Forrester HERE **

Have a Nomination to Write?

JoAnn Forrester, of S. I. Business Associates, is an award winning business consultant, teacher, lecturer and writer. JoAnn has written over 300 award winning profiles for her clients, including the U.S. Small Business Administration National Small Business Journalist of the Year, U.S Small Business Administration National Small Business Person of the Year Award, YWCA Racial Justice Award, YWCA Tribute to Women, SBA Minority Business Advocate, Athena Awards, Stevie Awards and the PA Best 50 Award.

If you do not want to write your nomination she does.

JoAnn can be reached at 412-440-6969 or selfimagebz@aol.com. 

About the Author and Guest:

JoAnn R. Forrester is co-host of the Empress of Biz Talkcast and co-founder, president and partner in S. I. Business Associates, Small Business Solutions, LLC and Celebrate and Share.  She is an entrepreneur, writer, business growth specialist, teacher, columnist and award winning writer.  JoAnn specializes in helping small businesses grow and prosper.  She is the co-developer of the PRICE IT PERFECT™ cost management system for small business, and has secured over 40 million dollars in loans and investment for her clients.

JoAnn is a celebrated business author of two well received business books:  "Steps to Owning Your Own Successful Business©", and the "David vs Goliath Marketing Handbook©."  Her current project is "52 Dangerous Mistakes Entrepreneurs Make©."  JoAnn has been a featured business columnist for the Pittsburgh Business Times writing on Business Finance and for PPLMag.com.  In 2008, JoAnn started the Empress of Biz Talkcast Show, “Listen, Learn, Prosper!  The goal of the show is to provide inspiration, guidance and practical advice to business owners.

She is co-founder of The Women of Achievement Awards Dinner which has recognized over 250 prominent women in Pittsburgh while raising funds for Cribs for Kids®and other not for profit organizations.  JoAnn is also co-founder of the Pennsylvania Women’s Hall of Achievement and was elected President in June of 2012.The goal of the PA Women’s Hall of Achievement is to honor and highlight the accomplishments and achievements of the women of Pennsylvania.

In recognition of her contributions and championing of small and woman owned businesses, JoAnn has been recognized twice by the U. S. Small Business Administration as the Pennsylvania Women Business Champion (1989 and 2000). In addition she has been recognized as a Pennsylvania Best 50 Women in Business, an Honoree in the Pennsylvania Honor Role of Women, awarded the Greater Pittsburgh Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners Founder’s Award, and recognized by the National Women’s Hall of Fame. In 2010, she was honored by the Greater Pittsburgh YWCA in their Tribute to Women Awards in the entrepreneur category.

© Joanne Quinn-Smith 2014 All rights reserved.