Cat and Moose Blogs

Yellow Pages - should you invest?

Thu, 15 Apr 2010 04:53:00 GMT

There's the old marketing adage that half of your marketing dollars are wasted - if only you knew which half.

I was wondering why enquiries and visits to my websites were at an all time high this week. Then a business associate reminded me that Yellow Pages advertising deadlines for Brisbane are this week. It's around this time that, business owners seem to be wondering whether to keep investing in advertising in the paper Yellow Pages.

The answer lies in three simple questions. Does it bring in customers? Does it deliver a positive return on the money you spend? Does it deliver the best return compared to other ways of spending that money?

If the answer to any of these is no, don't do it any more.

Here's a simple way to compare the return on differerent marketing activities. Use the simple formula:
(Profit - Investment) ÷ Investment. The answer is your Return on Investment (ROI).

So if your Yellow Pages ad costs you $10,000 per year and brings you $28,000 profit (not income, actual profit!) ($28000-$10000) ÷ 10000 = 180% ROI

Great, you're getting a positive result. Should you keep doing it? Well that depends on whether you could spend that same $10,000 and get a better return.

If for example, you wanted to put that $10,000 to work by doing a long running Google Adwords campaign, you'd be able to afford a budget of at least $26 per day. With Google Adwords you pay only when someone clicks on your ad. Say for example you need to bid $4.00 per click to get a first page position (Note: the cost per click will vary widely by industry). At this price you'd get up to 6 clicks per day within your budget or 42 clicks per week. Say 2% of your clicks converts into real business each week, providing $1000 in profit per customer. I could make $43,680 per year in profit from this campaign.

In ROI terms : ($43,680-$10,000)÷10,000 = 336% ROI.

So if this were a real scenario, should I continue my Yellow Pages ad next year? Probably not. Adwords delivers a better result for the same money.

But before you'd make the decision to scrap Yellow Pages for a whole year, you should test Google Adwords for a couple of months to get some real hard facts about what you can achieve. The advantage is that you can test different ads, keywords and landing pages to see which gets the best result. You can turn it off and on, change your daily budget and maximum bid amount. Try doing that with a Yellow Pages ad. Try and test - then if it works, keep it going and scale back your other lesser performing activities.

This isn't intended to be an article about the virtues of Google Adwords. The lesson is about spending your money where it gets the best return.

You may be wondering where the majority of Cat and Moose's marketing budget goes.

Google Adwords!

Jane Davies
Director

New No Hassle Tradies Package

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 00:23:00 GMT

In response to a market need, we have just launched our No Hassle Website Package for Tradespeople.

Having built a house recently, and having to make contact with countless tradespeople, I discovered that the number of tradespeople with a website was quite low. I found it frustrating that when I searched the Yellow Pages or True Local, I wanted to check out a website before I called to see if they did the work I wanted done and to check that they were a professional operation. So many businesses didn't have one.

In hindsight, I reaslised that I had only called and therefore only hired, tradies that had a website. It made me wonder how many other consumers do the same thing these days. You have the luxury of being able to see something semi-tangible about a business via a website - rather than only having a short listing or ad to go by. Somehow it gives you peace of mind to see a website - even if its not a work of art.

It made me think - how much new business are trades businesses missing out on because they don't have a website?

One of the reasons tradies don't have websites is because they don't have time and think its a pain in the backside to organise it . And they might not know what to ask for.

So that's why we designed the No Hassle Tradies Package. We'll organise the lot - from organising the domain name (web address) to writing the information for the website. Within 7-10 days they can have a brand new website along with the ability to make changes and upload new information themselves.

Follow this link for more information.

Jane Davies
Director

5 Fundamentals for Online Success

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 03:08:00 GMT

Over the holiday break I was thinking (too much) about how fragmented communication about online marketing tends to be. There are a number of key strategic elements to achieving online success - but because many of these are specialisations in their own right, its hard to find anyone who pieces it together in a coherent way.

So that's what I've set out to do. In fact, I'm in the process of restructuring the Cat and Moose website so potential clients can make more sense of what we do, what they need, and how we can help.

It's all about my newly conceived "5 Fundamentals of Online Success". Conceptually, each fundamental is a piece of the puzzle. Some you may do well currently. Others may be either completely missing from your online approach. While others just need a bit more effort. But they all work together to help you be successful online.

So, here we go.

The first piece of the puzzle is to have a website - this isn't exactly a blinding flash of brilliance. But what we're talking about here is a website, or internet presence, which has a clear marketing purpose. The content, copy, design and functionality, all need to conspire to a marketing goal. For example, if your primary objective it to generate quality leads for your sales people then the website needs to be designed around this goal.

The second fundamental, is to drive traffic to your website. A website without visitors isn't going to achieve anything. There are a number of strategies to drive traffic to your website. For example, some businesses only use traditional media such as TV and radio to drive customers to directly to their web address. But more often a better strategy is to leverage search engines to get visitors to your website. This falls into the field of Search Engine Optimisation or Search Engine Marketing.

The third fundamental is to turn clicks into customers. This is about ensuring your website actually converts a proportion of your visitors into customers, or at least identify themselves as potential customers. This is achieved through good webdesign, compelling content and a clear call to action.

The fourth fundamental is to communicate and relate to your newly aquired customers or prospects. You can do this is any number of ways - email marketing, newsletters, blogging, tweeting etc. It's about staying top of mind, and building a relationship and giving something back.

The final fundamental to measure and refine. What you can measure you can manage. You need to ensure you have the tools in place to measure what's happening on your website and beyond. You need to be able to diagnose which of the previous fundamentals is going right and which are going wrong - so you can constantly tweak and try new things.

Hopefully, some will find that this explanation brings the concepts together. These certainly aren't new principles - they can be applied to traditional marketing methods too.

Stay tuned for our restructured website in coming weeks. www.catandmoose.com.au

Jane Davies
Director
Cat and Moose Marketing Solutions

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Build it and they will come ... or not

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:41:00 GMT

A very common misconception a lot of people have is that if they build a website, people will find it just because its there.

I can guarantee you that the businesses who are listed on the first page of Google for many search terms are not there by some happy accident. They are there because they've invested time, effort and money to be there.

I'm not talking about the sponsored links on the right hand side (that's a whole other blog topic) - I'm referring to the organic results. The ones in the main section of the Google results page.

They didn't pay Google to be there. But it did cost. Here's why.

Google is a complex beast. Google's singleminded objective (other than making money) is to return the most relevant and useful results to its user. Its a pretty tough gig to trawl through the millions of sites on the internet to find the websites that are most relevant websites for you. So Google has built the mother of all 'algorithms' to tackle the task. They feed the gigantor-algorithm with all of the things that they think are signs that a website is relevant and useful. It runs this list of checks over your website to judge whether it should show your website to the person searching or not.

For example, the Google algorithm says that if you have lots of other sites linking to yours (or referencing your site), you must be popular and therefore their user would be happy to be given your site in their search results. There are hundreds of indicators like this that Google uses to pass judgement on the worthiness of your site to be shown in search results.

Oh, and top it all off, they keep constantly change the algorithm. So what's hot today, according to Google, could turn cold over night. Credit to Google though, they do have a good reason to do this. It stops people from learning the tricks and playing the system. If everyone knew how the algorithm worked then Google would very soon fail at giving good results to searchers. You'd be served up porn sites when all you want to do is buy a new lawnmower.

However, there are a number of important things we do know about how Google works that help us to improve the chances of your website being found by people looking for your type of business. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is an art and a science. The activities involved in Search Engine Optimisation are often time consuming and takes some expertise. That's why I'm saying it's not free - you need an expert and you need to pay them for their time.

If you are in an industry where competition is hot, it will take more effort and therefore more time and money to achieve prominence in Google. In less competitive or unique markets, you may get yourself on the first page just by following the simple rules of website design and website content writing - lucky you!

So as you can see, in some cases, if you build it (right) they will come, but in many situations it will take a bit more effort that just whacking up a site to get the traffic you need.

Talk to us about getting more traffic to your website.

Buying a franchise - marketing tips

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 10:43:00 GMT

There a many signs that the economy is recovering and business confidence is improving. One that I have noticed is an increase in enquiries I've recieved from people investing in franchises.

Buying a franchise is certainly one great way of starting a business. The key advantage is that a franchise has (or certainly should have) a proven business model. After all that's the bulk of what you're paying for. But the onus it still on you to build it into a successful business.

From a marketing perspective, here are a few tips on what to do now.

1. Milk the franchisor for every bit of help they can give
Take full advantage of everything they provide - whether it be training, business development coaching, marketing support, leads programs. Milk it and be demanding about what help you need. The franchisor has a vested interest in your success so they should be open to your requests for help, advice and support. If they're not, you may have reason to question the value of what you are buying into.

2. Talk to current franchisees
Talk to other franchisees - both new-ish and more established. Ask them about their challenges and how they have managed them. Ask them how long it took to get a proper foothold in their geography. What activities worked, what didn't. What they would do differently. You may find franchisees in another state are more open to answering honestly as they won't see you as a threat bordering on their territory.

3. Understand what restrictions are placed on your marketing
This is a two edged sword - restrictions on your own marketing activity is fine if the franchisor is doing a great job. For example, if they are delivering you good quality, frequent leads from their corporate website then you won't care so much that they won't allow you to build your own landing page with a Google Adwords campaign. However, if they have limited marketing support at a brand level or marketing that does not deliver direct leads to you, then you should expect that their restrictions on your marketing activities should be way less. And of course you should be paying much less in marketing levies.

4. You still need a marketing strategy like any other business
The fact that you are a part of a company that has a marketing department doesn't absolve you of the need for a strategy. You need your own marketing plan for your geographic area or area of specialisation. It will keep you focussed and force you to do your own thinking about where your business fits in your unique marketplace. I've worked for a number large corporates such as Telstra and Suncorp and their marketing plans alway filter down to a local area marketing level. This recognises that each geography has it own nuances as well as ensuring marketing activities talk to the local community in a meaningful way. Harness the power of being local!

By the time clients reach me, they have already made the decision to purchase the franchise. It is certainly heartening that by seeking advice from a marketing consultant they are not resting on their laurels and expecting the franchisor to deliver miracles out of thin air.

Jane Davies
Director
Cat and Moose Marketing Solutions

Progress Not Perfection

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:19:00 GMT

Many perfectionists out there would shrink at the very thought of it! Aiming for progress, not perfection.

This was one of the many messages a recent business coaching seminar I went to through Red Day Coaching.

It’s stuck with me so because I have had my own battles with this in the past. This is my take on it. Not necessarily the ‘official’ Red Day Coaching version – apologies to Red Day in advance.

So many people become paralysed by the notion that if you don’t have all the answers right now or the capacity to achieve the ultimate solution - wait until you do. I used to be a long time sufferer of this myself. What it adds up to, is a great excuse to procrastinate and not start anything.

I used to put so much pressure on myself to have every possibility and eventuality mapped out to the nth degree.

What got me over this hurdle a number of years ago was adopting my own little motivating statement - you’ll find on my whiteboard. It simply says “Do something!”. It’s not that I was sitting there staring into space - it’s to remind me that if I just start the ball rolling on projects, momentum will take over.

The key is start somewhere, anywhere. Momentum can only grow if you’re moving in the first place. As the pieces of the puzzle fall into place, you can alter your direction – but the trick is to keep moving.

Measure your success in terms of how far you’ve come, not how far you’ve got to go. Chunk it down into smaller pieces.

Well these are my pearls of wisdom.

Jane Davies
Director - Cat and Moose Marketing Solutions

Its a new world

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 05:48:00 GMT

Gone are days where your marketing could consist of a Yellow Pages and a few ads on the local newspaper. Yet so many businesses are still relying on these outdated methods and wondering where the customers have gone. Online! That's where they've gone.

The majority of people under 29 have never used the Yellow Pages. Newspapers, and even TV, are no longer the prefered method of keeping abreast of news. Consumer habits have changed for good.

And yet, only 54% of small businesses have a website. Many of those who do have a website a website, either can't be found in search engines or have a basic informational site without any real marketing purpose or result.

The irony is that 90% of these small business people use the internet in their personal life. Something is lost in translation when it comes to translating their own behaviour into what consumers want from their business.

Even if you have no intention of selling products online, a website is an absolute must today. Well over 50% of people research products and companies online before they even go to a shop. If you're not found during their online research, don't portray a professional image online or don't have the information customers need on your site, you won't be considered by customers.

The danger here is that these 'online researchers' are the potential customers you never see or hear from so you won't even notice they are missing. They are quietly going about their research until they so educated they are ready to buy a specific product at the best price before they even leave the house .... to visit your competitor.

Regards,

Jane Davies
Cat and Moose Marketing Solutions