“\Small Business Chronicles\” by Jack Brandt

I’ve decided it may by time to retire Jackbrandt.info. The blog is not going away, however, it is just moving. I have moved it to www.jackbrandt.com. It is just easier to manage on the same domain I use my email, and it gets a colleague or two off my back for using a .info domain extension. So click this Jack Brandt link, to navigate to the new look and feel and please continue to enjoy the blog, even though I have not updated it recently.

This property will stay live for the next six months or so until the SEO at JackBrandt.com kicks in.

I know it has been a while since I’ve been here, but it’s also been a while since I have conjoured up anything worthy of writing about. Part of it is because I have been traveling quite a bit, and part of it is that the home life is a little hectic. No matter though. I came across an article this morning I thought worthy of linking back to. It seems it is good for those who would develop Ecommcerce solutions for SMEs, It would be good for the Small Business Owner looking to add Ecommerce or who has added an Ecommerce channel to their sales, and would be good for the Ecommerce software provider as well The artice is liked and titled “The Long Tail of Ecommerce,” by Jack Jia.

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In a followup to my post this week regarding Email marketing, here is a good article to help solidify it.  It goes over testing your Email against spam filters, scrubbing your email list, etc.  Check it out here:  http://www.digital-web.com/articles/seven_sins_of_email_marketing/

Here is a great piece of recent recent research by Nielsen/Netratings and WebVisible good for both Web based service providers who are providing their clients with e-commerce solutions or the small business person that is thinking of jumping online with a Web based store in addition to their brick and mortar establishment regarding “A Websites Ability to Drive Offline Purchases for Small Business.” I found it intriguing with a lot of new statistical information. Have fun.

Well, if you are a Web Hosting company, an ISP or anyone who resells domains as a loss leader or for a profit, you may have heard or even already looked at Google Apps for Domains and seen that they are now reselling domains through the two prominent registrars GoDaddy and Enom. This is really no surprise. Two of the largest registrars in North America working to build Market share.

While I am sure GoDaddy is hoping to build multiple registrations out of this deal to increase profit, I am sure Enom is also hoping to capitalize on the dropped names for their domain monetization business… Keep in mind this is only my opinion. And we know what opinion’s are like. Personally any registrar would be silly not to be knocking on Google’s door to sell domains if they can fit into the $10.00 domain and private registration(Whois masking) model. It is just good business if the registrar can get in there and make a profit. Google is giving the registrar another retail channel to capitalize on. The argument of course is does the domain business need another retail channel to purchase domains from in an already over-crowded marketplace? Google seems to think so. And, after trying to configure one of my own domains to Google Apps which includes Gmail for domains a couple months ago, even I had some issues configuring the domain for Google Page Creator, one of their free applications. If I were a layperson trying to do this, I would have been very frustrated. Registrations through accredited registrars will help with the auto configuration of the domain services for Google Apps.
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I’ve noticed that I get to write a bit, and no one really comments on any of the “stuff” I seem to be writing… I urge any readers of this blog to feel free to register and comment on anything they feel important to them. Feel free to tell me that you may or may not agree with me and why. This Web Log isn’t just a venue to disseminate information into the blogsphere.

One of the main draws to a blog is to give the person or persons reading it the opportunity to have a voice in the community that is being heard… As a business person and as a consumer, I am sure there is something I can learn as well from the readers. It will also help me to be an active participant in my own conversations.

Also look out for my new article on Microsites coming in the next several days… Some interesting concepts in marketing your products and services.

I’ve been traveling again this week visiting hosting companies and ISPs in the Southeastern U.S. I’ve been talking to them about value, stickiness, and growth. One thing is certain, and that is they all have the same concerns… “We’re losing business, and we want to know what to do to stop it.” Or, “We are looking to find new avenues of growth so we are thinking about experimenting with our packages and offers.” These items bring me back to one word for everyone I have spoken to, and that word is value.

If you are a hosting company that is bringing on new business, but losing old clients to churn, you need to examine what you are doing today based on the perceived value of those clients that are leaving. I am going to make a statement that I am sure will make some of you say I am crazy and others agree. That statement is that Value in Web Hosting is NOT disk space, the number of email addresses you offer, or how cheap you are. There are companies out there today making good on cash flow numbers, but having a hard time getting or remaining profitable because they degraded their value proposition to prices, space, and stuff. You know what? The average end user has no clue what the “stuff” is. The average end user just wants a web site that functions the way they need it to. Occasionally you get the end user (and it will be more frequent in the coming months and years) that may require hosted applications, but the average guy, “like my Dad,” just wants to present his business online.

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So, it seems like six or so months since I’ve posted a blog article here. In fact it’s been seven months now that I am counting them… Yikes! Well, we’re full swing into fall as far as I am concerned. People are back full time from vacations and time off, and its time to focus on making money and growing your business again. And I am here to make a few suggestions on how to do that if I can.

Today’s post is going to be aimed towards the small Web Developer or Hosting company looking to increase business in their local or regional locale. It is the industry I am in so I’m looking to get back to my roots for the selling season. With luck you’re in my industry too.

I am in the channel. I’m in the channel in every way. My company also sells direct to the end customer. We have a retail division that struggles with the same things that the smallest company does all the time. I just happen to be in a good position to work with them as well, so that I can bring you some best practices from our neck of the woods, as well as what’s making money in other businesses as well.

I will be presenting ideas and thoughts in this document to help you to hopefully make more money, create greater stickiness, which in turn increases RPU and creates longer than average terms for you. This is my goal. To help you make more money one client at a time, and when you look back at your financials, with a little hard work, hopefully you will see exponential profits where you had not before.

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Well, do you know what a small business owner wants? Do you? Don’t think I’m trying to provoke you. I’m not. I’m trying to invoke some thought. I want to take a look at just a couple of items that might help you sell more of your products and services.

For years now Web Hosting companies have been pushing, well, just that, Web Hosting. Then someone came along and said lets push Web Hosting with more space, more bandwidth, more email, and more widgets. “Yeah, let’s add more widgets because we have to compete with Joe and Sam’s hosting company.” They have more widgets than we do… And so on… Guess what? I say, “so what.” Who cares about all those features? Do you? I’m sure you do. It’s your job to keep up with Joe and Sam. But tell me, what is your value proposition if you are keeping up with Joe and Sam’s Hosting widgets and driving your pricing down at the same time depleting your profits?

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This may article may seem redundant or even passé to many, but for a new start in a new year, I thought it might still have some merit. I’ll be discussing the importance of branded email not only to the service provider but from the user perspective as well. While everyone is examining Google, Microsoft, and AOL, I would like to address the basics of making sure the small business understands the importance of how email and their brand have a positive or negative impact on their end customer.

This was a hot topic a few years ago, and for forward thinkers it has been a hot topic for more than 10 years now. But as the Internet has become a daily part of many people’s lives, what may sound passé to guys in the business, should be part of their daily focus when speaking with small business prospects and clients. Without providing too many statistics, I am sure everyone knows that Email is still the most common and utilized form of communication by both business and residential users using the Web. To that end, ask your average small business owner or law office attorney if they would shoot a letter to a peer or a client without printed letterhead, business card, or envelope? No way! Although most people in small business are not using it as an effective branding or business tool.

Most people still send their ISP branded or FSP (Free Service Provider) emails and send simple HTML or text Email messages to their recipients. As a matter of small business or business in general this is just a plain bad decision, period. A small business that works hard to build a good local or regional reputation deserves to understand what the basics behind a simple domain name and email address can help solidify brand and add credibility to existing and future business. Not that is will make the user millions of dollars, but it is just the simple addition to their existing or lack of existing marketing plan.

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