1. “How much is the right amount to spend on my website, and why?”
2. “How much traffic will I get, and what’s the average earning per visitor?”
3. “When will I see a return on my investment?”
4. “What will you do to maximize my ROI and minimize my risk?”
5. “How do you know the new site will do better than the old one?”
6. “How will you make my site perform better over time?”
7. “How will you research my competition and my prospective market?”
8. “How viable is my proposition against other firms?”
9. “How will we prove the viability of this project?”
10. “Should I invest in content marketing, social media, video, mobile, pay-per-click, local SEO? Why?”

You see, there are two kinds of web designers:

1. Those whose goal it is to make your website make YOU money.
2. And the rest, whose goal it is to make money for themselves.

The latter represents the vast majority of web designers out there.

They don’t understand that web design is marketing, and – to be honest – they don’t understand marketing either.

They’ll charge you as much as they think you’ll pay for a new website, without considering how valuable the website will be to you. Perhaps they think that a sexy design is valuable in itself. It’s not.

At Item-9, we believe web design shouldn’t work like that.

A Better Way: Strategic Web Design

We practice “Strategic Web Design”.

That means we’ll only take on any project when we are confident that it will generate profit for our client.

Phase One: Internal and Competitor Research

How do we know? We do our research. We’ll consider all sources of traffic, and the cost of that traffic. Then we’ll estimate the likely earning per visitor, which helps us assess the potential viability of the project.

What does this cost? Just $999.

$999 is a small price to pay to know whether your web marketing project is likely to make you money (and how to go about it), or whether you’ll be better off investing your marketing budget elsewhere.

After reviewing the results of the research, if we agree to proceed, we’ll continue to watch over your budget very carefully. In fact, we tell our clients that we treat your money as if it were our own. So we’ll only invest in any exercise that we’re confident will generate a positive return.

Phase Two: Proof of Concept

Before a producer invests big money in a stage show, they’ll test it on audiences in smaller theaters.

Before a car maker invests in plant to build a new model, they’ll build prototypes to make sure it works as intended, in every way.

So, if you’re going to invest in your online marketing, why not insist on similar proof of concept? We think you should.

The second phase of Strategic Law Firm Web Design is just that – the proof of concept phase.

We’ll create a rapid prototype website, applying all the best practice we’ve accumulated. Here’s what’s radically different between the Strategic approach and the old-fashioned web design model…

A Strategic designer knows that, whilst sexy graphics can help a website to convert visitors, the core success factors are all down to content.

What’s your law firm’s position, who’s your market, what urgent problem do you promise to solve, why should people trust you?

These questions make the difference between success and failure.

So, if you want to know exactly how viable your project is, you need to prove it, by investing some time in creating marketing messages that include great content. Sexy design can often come later, but to invest days in graphics and production early on is a high-risk approach. (And we don’t like high risk.)

We’ll put a heap more effort into what matters: researching your competition, crafting your position, your unique point of difference, your offerings, your guarantee, your proof, etc., and much less effort into decoration.

That means you’ll get a bare-bones prototype solution. Now, that will often be a WordPress-based website, but it could be an e-commerce site, a Facebook page, or an email campaign… Whatever it takes to prove the concept!

The goal of the POC phase is to generate a baseline profit forecast. Put simply, that means, “Even with just the bare bones in place, we know we can generate $x per visitor.”

Remember, at this point, you have still committed less investment than you would have done by engaging an old-world web designer, who’ll charge you thousands up-front for a website, with NO IDEA when you’ll see your money back.

Why is the baseline profit forecast important?

Well, it will tell you how viable your project is right now. And with minimal investment required. That means you know (no guessing – you know) how much money you’ll make if we can increase traffic or conversion rates by 10%, 20%, 1000%…

Phase Three: Growth

Here’s another distinct difference between the old approach and the new, marketing-led Strategic approach.

If you work with a Strategic design team, you’ll enter into what will hopefully be a long-term relationship. Every month, it would be your design team’s goal to grow your profits, consistently and reliably.

There are really two ways we do this: by driving more qualified traffic, and by converting more of those visitors to customers.

That’s what we do at Item-9. We have a whole tool kit of tried-and-tested methods that we can confidently predict will generate more business and more profits for you. Every month, we’ll apply those methods that we think will generate the most growth.

Of course, as responsible marketers, we’ll test every change we make. Nobody knows for sure what will work for any particular market sector. So you have to test. Always.

You may have heard of the Japanese principle of kaizen. This means continual improvement. And it’s the approach we’ll use for your website.

Every month, we’ll try various techniques to attract more visitors, and to get more conversions. We’ll keep every change that works, and we’ll ditch any that don’t. Then we’ll try again.

What Does Strategic Web Design Cost?

Just like traditional old-fashioned design, it depends. If you worked with Scratch Web Marketing, you could invest anything from a few thousand dollars.

But here are two key differences.

Firstly, you’ll commit to spending less than you would with a comparable traditional designer. Why? Because our methods are more efficient. We know where to invest time and energy.

Secondly, you should expect to see profits sooner from a Strategic web project, so further monthly investments are just that – investment, not cost.

Every dollar spent should generate more than one dollar for your law firm.

If it isn’t, you’re doing web design wrong.

Fire your web designer, and let’s treat your law firm with the respect it deserves.

The post Law Firm Web Design Shouldn’t be a Rip Off appeared first on Item-9 Consulting.

After reading Convert! by Ben Hunt, I was wondering about the site and would it be beneficial to start over with WordPress or get a program like Dreamweaver and reformat on the website we have now? Thanks!

–Jen

Answer #1: Dreamweaver Sucks

Great question! Although not really related to WordPress, Dreamweaver is not a fun or really, a useful tool to use for building websites. Never use it.

I do recommend starting over with WordPress or WordPress.com, though. In doing so, try to focus solely on keyword/awareness ladder marketing and sales writing. Your writing doesn’t have to be boring, but it does need to be strategic.

Answer #2: Invest in Strategic Landing Pages

You’ll likely want to create landing pages (these can even be blog posts) for every topic you can successfully pitch to (decent search volume and low competition), making sure each landing page either leads to the next step in the awareness ladder or collects user info in exchange for something of value.

Here are a few additonal landing page resources:

• http://unbounce.com/landing-pages/the-perfect-recipe/
• http://unbounce.com/landing-pages/cloud-service-critiqued/
• http://unbounce.com/landing-pages/checklist/

Note that the reason you’re starting over is to get rid of everything on your site that doesn’t lead to a sale–basically replacing YOU information with CUSTOMER information. Really, everything on your site must be geared toward your ideal customer. Talking about the business by itself will turn your customers away immediately.

Always ask yourself: Is this page solving my customer’s need? If not, what can I do to help them? Also, the bonus element of investing in strategic landing pages is that you now a highly-testable target to send your advertising traffic.

Conclusion

You can see that this is not your typical web design advice. Instead of focusing on the business biography or something superficial–such as the look of the website–I suggest that Jen invest in sales marketing and advertising to increase her business’s traffic and conversions.

If this sounds like something your business could use or if you have any questions about these tactics, please let me know. I’d also be happy to refer other professional marketers and writers. Thanks!

The post Should We Scrap our Website and Build the New One with WordPress? appeared first on Item-9 Consulting.

Damn You, Mr. Right.

I read an article in Freelance Advisor today that  mentioned a freelancer type called, “Mr. Right”. I admit that I fall into this category more often than not. Do I need to listen to my clients more? Absolutely–and that’s a quality I will continue to improve. That doesn’t mean that I’m beholden to my clients’ opinions once the project begins, though.

Although it’s rarely acknowledged, the test of a web project’s success (or that of any advertising endeavor) is whether the new medium attracts and converts into revenue at a better rate than its predecessor (that’s why advertising has a cost to begin; it is supposed to have inherent value). Every other aspect of the project must lead to this end–including functionality, usability and especially design (or lack thereof).

I’m sorry if conversion rate is a lot harder to sell than “fun and attractive”, but it doesn’t make the above statement any less true. If you understand this idea, then guess what? You are the one responsible for leading the marketing project!

Opinions Are Like Assholes. Everyone Has One.

Too many client vs. developers arguments center around bike shed color arguments. No, the color of the site’s background probably doesn’t matter. Even if it did, how do we know which one converts best without first testing? Assumptions and best guesses have no place in a high-quality marketing campaign. Forcing opinions down your marketer’s throat is also a great way to strain your delicate relationship and tank your project.

Web developers and other marketers owe it to themselves and the client to explain this fact up front. If you start with a quantitative goal, nine times out of ten, the client will gladly get out of your way. You’ll both know the project’s objectives (and be able to measure them analytically) and best of all, you won’t have so many bike shed arguments, either.

You Are a Professional. Act Like It.

Quantitative revenue goals might be a tougher road (they actually require results, after all). They’ll probably also cause you to take on less clients; you’ll be less likely to take money to advertise a product or service that is unlikely to succeed.

In the end, though, you’ll undoubtedly land repeat business and you’ll actually have a portfolio that you can sell to future clients. You’ll also be able to charge for the value of your work (which is only limited by the amount of money you can make for your client), rather than a static hourly rate (which is highly limited by your peers and the marketplace).

Of course, therein lies the fundamental difference between an advertising professional and an outsource (and the difference between a rich developer and a poor one). At the end of the day, which one would you rather be?

The post Who is Right? The Client or the Developer? appeared first on Item-9 Consulting.

Below, you’ll see examples of big wins a small business like hers can implement to begin competing against larger, more established rivals. If any of this information gives you an idea for your business, feel free to leave a comment below or contact us to learn how Item-9 can help you push forward with your online marketing campaigns.

Competition and Website Analysis

First, I ran an SEO competition report for the keywords “Chicago dance class” using Market Samurai. You can hover over the headings on the page to see what each acronym means, but note that the site is at a disadvantage to these competitors in almost every realm.

A Time Out Chicago Marketing Idea Quickly Emerges

The top hit on Market Samurai is from an article from 2007 from Time Out Chicago. That’s five years ago and just as in a practical sense, the article probably needs to be updated anyway.

You could probably solicit Time Out to rewrite the article (i.e. you rewrite the article with current info and submit it directly to the editors), making sure that your studio is mentioned somewhere in the top five. (On further research I learned that actually, they did update the article, but they used a totally different title that uses other keywords. Why not hold two top spots re: dance classes, eh?)

Or…you could rewrite the article yourself, post it to your website and then alert dozens of other sites that it’s available.

Beating the System by Self-Publishing Dance Class Information

The last point is a big one. A full-fledged marketing campaign would have you creating articles similar to the above mentioned one often. Similarly, you could also start a Chicago Dance Class directory that would:

1. Allow you rank super-high for the search term,
2. Charge for directory placing and full control and
3. Advertise your own studio for free.

Either direction you take, you’ll probably want to start thinking about a more adaptable technology to drive your website.

I recommend WordPress due to its ability to be optimized for SEO and its ability to power a multitude of different site types (here is an example of directory software that runs on WordPress).

This would also allow you to easily add and edit content on your site–content you use to power your search engine ranking to push to other parts of your site, including signing up for classes.

Even More Big Win Marketing Ideas

1. You can always use advertising (i.e. media buying) to drive visitors to your site. You could even reach out to TimeOut to negotiate getting an ad (or a mention) on those dance class articles. You generally pay per impression and your ads get turned out once the budget hits.
2. You need a better capture strategy on the home page of your site.
3. People love photos of themselves and their friends on your Facebook page. Keep posting (and tagging) photos.
4. You may want to begin posting to Pinterest. It’s community is skewed heavily towards women and photography.
5. You can verify site user behavior through surveys , i.e. “What would inspire you to purchase?” and “Did you find what you were looking for? If not, what was it?”.
6. You should push Yelp reviews from your clients a lot more.
7. You can run giveaways to increase social media signups using RaffleCopter (including a custom entry of Yelp reviews).
8. Create a Google+ Local (formerly Google Places and formerly Google Local) entry for your business. This service also solitics reviews–ones that get used directly inside Google and Google Maps (another giveaway!).
9. Collect email addresses at all your events using an app such as Chimpadeedoo (forget Aweber–Mailchimp is where it’s at).
10. No matter what, make sure you’re recording all your increased efforts with an Analytics service, such as Google Analytics or KissMetrics. Otherwise, you won’t know which campaign works and where your energy is best spent in the future.

The post An Example Small Business Online Marketing Report appeared first on Item-9 Consulting.

These people’s roles really depend on the channels that are working for you and the channels into which you want to invest. You might have a full-time person who just does video content. You might have a full-time person who just does blogging and they do very little else. That could be a content marketer. You might have multiple people who are managing your community because you have so many people following you and interacting with you on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, through your own social sources on your site if you have a social platform, a high level of community contributions, user generated content, those types of things.

The nice thing about how this whole platform works is that it can organically grow. It can build off itself, and you develop strengths in all the areas without ignoring any channels. Early on in your stages, these people and then these people are going to be experimenting with all types of different channels. As you get here, you have specialists who can perform in those channels, leaving the CMO, the VP, the director free to explore new channels and find places where they might want additional specialists.

This video breaks down exactly who it takes to build a web marketing team (hint: it’s not just one dude with a laptop). Business owners, you need to start realizing that it takes a team to do good work. Invest in your brand and it will come back around ten-fold.

The post Roles & Responsibilities of a Web Marketing Team – From SEOMoz appeared first on Item-9 Consulting.

It’s the first big WordPress release since July 4, 2011. If you need help upgrading or figuring out how to take advantage of all the new features and bug fixes, contact Item-9 and we’ll get back to you immediately.

The post WordPress 3.3 Has Just Been Released! appeared first on Item-9 Consulting.

I love Basecamp and have been a 37Signals customer for the last three years. In that timespan, lots of challengers have sprung up–some plainly stealing Basecamp’s features, and others, like the three listed in this article, have come up with new and interesting takes on the project management realm.

These three project management plans offer options for every business need and budget for small and big businesses and every day, I’m temped to switch over to one of them. If you’re not already a loyal Basecamp user, do yourself a favor and take a look at what I think are the three best new project management applications.

Projecturf

Projecturf is a project business management application loaded with user-friendly features is design to optimize business workloads.

• Real time tracking on work groups includes whiteboards, privacy controls and a global dashboard.
• Documents are readily integrated and managed and an event calendar offers scheduling for events with a drag and drop feature.
• Data, file and other media are easily exported and stored on the personal computer for backups.
• Backups are automatic and additional security is protected by an EV SSL 250-bit encryption.
• Dashboard views and RSS feeds are unique features, which help a business ensure optimal work status by tracking function in all areas.
• Email and address contacts are offered as well as an archive for storing discussions for future references.
• Tasks and tickets are effectively designed to be printed for on-the-go or for conveniently working offline.

Plan and pricing for Projecturf start with a fourteen day risk-free trial on every plan purchased at $35 a month. Individual plans are low as $10 a month. Projecturf also offer a 30% discount to non-profit organizations and higher level plans.

This project management application offers a pay-for-project pricing. From one project plan to one-hundred and fifty projects, pricing starts at 9.99 a month to 169.99 a month. The plan that offers a business unlimited projects comes in at $199.99 a month. The pricing difference depends on the number of projects needed, with all features available, no matter the number of projects.

Rule.fm

Rule.fm is a contact management business software application that allows a business to track staff, departments, work groups and companies.

The ability to edit and manage details, activities, documents, tasks, discussions, projects, sharing and permissions offers a tactile way to manage a business from the ground up. Rule.fm is an application that helps a business wisely manage its customer relationships and financial related activity. The interaction with live stream ability enables a business to monitor the activity of staff, projects, tasks, current documents, team divisions, discussions and keep abreast with calendar activity.

A mobile application for iPone, Blackberry and Android will keep a business at the fingertips 24/7 and readily enables a business to be managed on-the-go.

Rule.fm has plans that offer unlimited access to all current and future Rule.fm features. All plans are pay-as-you-go and offers a 30-day free trail, with no long-term commitment.

• The free Rule.fm plan offers a business a workspace for up to three users and 20MB of storage capacity.
• The Espresso offers a plan for unlimited users and 3GB storage capacity for $24 a month.
• The Tall purchase plan offers unlimited users and 7GB storage capacity and is $49 a month.
• The Grande comes in at $99 a month and offers unlimited users with a 15GB with its purchase plan.
• The Double Venti comes in with 40GB of storage capacity and unlimited users with its $149 a month plan.

Each of these plans include unlimited Rul.fm features for documents, projects, staff and wikis management abilities.

Producteev

Producteev brings into play an iPone application that makes it easy for a business to keep organized even when offline. Push notifications will bring important alerts to the user and easily connects with existing tools already installed like social networking media sites, email and instant messenger.

Producteev can automatically prioritize tasks that are waiting and filter reports effortlessly. This software business management program has multiple team support and privacy settings. A real time overview and user-friendly workspaces are offered, as well. Incentives for task managements can be monetized through the built-in Producteev Academy, which awards badges and levels according to completion of tasks.

This project management software program comes with the ability to competently handle from two users via workspace to unlimited users and also offers a free sign up plan for two workspace users. This plan includes a support forum and 100mb of file storage. A monthly customizable workspace and email for 200mb of file storage space is only $5. The fee covers SSL security and a logo. Optional savings for this package is $55 annually.

At the next level, the premium package of Producteev offers 300mb more of file space, a customizable workspace and priority E-mail for $20 a month, or $220 annually.

At the platinum level, for $30 a month or $330 annually, a business receives 1.5 GB file storage, support vie phone, SSL security, customizable workspaces and generates reports.

Each Producteev plan comes with:

• unlimited tasks
• Gcal synchronization
• task labeling
• a free app for iPhone
• Gmail gadgets
• Producteev Academy access
• file attachments
• import ability
• notifications via email and instant messenger.

Project Management Feature Matrix

The post Three New Potential Basecamp Replacements appeared first on Item-9 Consulting.

Almost everybody has a great web store idea, but few people understand how easy Shopify makes it to turn that idea into a profitable business. I’ve worked with a lot of clients and on a lot of e-commerce project and I can honestly say that for beginners and even advanced website builders, Shopify has everything you need to create a successful e-commerce website. The best part is that their plans start at $29/month!

I’m not saying that you can’t get an amazing custom-built e-commerce site created for your business. In fact, that’s one of our specialties at Item-9. A lot of potential customers don’t have a $5,000 budget, though. And many other customers are so worried about being ripped off by a web development studio (present company excluded, obviously:), that they’re paralyzed from pushing forward with their dream site.

If you’re looking for the quickest, least expensive and least risky way to get an web store going, continue reading to learn the five best reasons why Shopify and cheap e-commerce doesn’t have to suck.

Reason #1: Shopify is Flexible & Easy to Learn

Nothing is worse than selecting an e-commerce package that uses coding languages and file structures that only a veteran programmer can understand. This makes building a website a hassle; it’s truly demotivating. Even worse, your project might never get completed and you’ve just sunk thousands into dead-end development cost.
With Shopfiy, you exchange the stiff and convoluted for flexible and logical. Without even touching a line of code, you can have a fun and professional e-commerce website that looks exactly the way you want. If you do want to play around with the code, though, you’ll quickly understand how the themes are shaped and be making changes to your site in no time.

Reason #2: Low Cost Doesn’t Mean Low Value with Shopify

You can usually get a comparable outcome by spending $5,000-$10,000 to have a developer to create a site for you. You can also spend about the same amount of money in time trying to figure it out yourself (but you’ll likely give up well before then). You could also use a “bargain” service, and the once you see how crappy the final product, you’ll probably go back to square one.

When you decide to use Shopify, you can immediately create your business with a very low monthly cost of $29. The basic plan allows:

• Unlimited bandwidth (no other competitors offer this)
• The ability to sell 100 products
• No hidden fees or start-up costs
• Most importantly, an incredible 30 day free trial to show their confidence that you will like what you see.

If you really start selling products, you can easily upgrade to one of the four other plans that fits your budget and needs.

Reason #3: Don’t Stress about Software if You Don’t Have To

Not many people can create even a basic website from scratch. There’s no shame in that. Unlike HTML and CSS, creating and setting up a new e-commerce website with Shopify is exceptionally easy and fun to learn and use. It should really only take 10 minutes to create your first Shopify site and subsequently earning money.

Unlike nearly all other e-commerce systems, you don’t have to worry about installing software on your computer or a web server, or even worse, keeping it constantly updated and protected from malware and hackers.

Shopify’s e-commerce software is by far one of the easiest ways to start any kind of internet business.

Most business owners forget this, but it makes a lot more sense to spend time on making money instead of playing around with tools used to make money. To begin,

1. Create an account with Shopify
2. Pick a theme
3. Add your products.

That’s it. You’ll have your own professional business on the web in just a few minutes. Shopify is by far, the most beginner friendly e-commerce web based software anywhere.

Believe it or not, Shopify now makes it even easier for you. Not only does Shopify give you an easy means to create an online business, but they also provide you with statistical tracking for your products and customers. By turning on these features, you can track traffic to your site, sales numbers, inventory, prices, and even customer demographics. You’ll learn more about your business by doing less work.

Reason #4: Pick or Make a Shopify Theme that Works for You

In this Shopify review I’ve shown you how easy it is to start your own web based e-commerce business, but one of the most difficult tasks in any internet business is creating an attention grabbing website that people enjoy. Luckily, Shopify provides style with ease.

Even a basic website can take over 25 hours and thousands of dollars to design for a professional web development company. With Shopify, it doesn’t matter whether you are a complete novice or a HTML or CSS pro. Once you create your account, you’ll get to choose one of the hundreds of beautiful, free themes Shopify provides or even select a premium theme for under $200.

Reason #5: Build an Awesome Shopify Theme and Get Paid

Any web developer can create a Shopify theme and earn money as an affiliate. If you can, take advantage of your design skills and submit your theme for a Shopify review. If approved, you cam earn a lot of extra money.

WooThemes is the most famous example of this. Last October, they created three unique themes for the Shopify system, all of which are available for purchase today.

Conclusion

When you’re building anything that’s poised to make money, it’s important to prioritize your pain points. If you go with a platform that is cheap, fun, exciting, and isn’t a pain in the ass to set up, you’ll have a lot more energy (and money) to spend driving traffic and marketing your products to your customers. You don’t have anything to lose, so I suggest you take Shopify for a spin today.

When you want to thank me, you can do so by hiring Item-9 to help grow your Shopify site into a monster e-commerce site!

The post Shopify Review: Cheap E-commerce That Does Not Suck appeared first on Item-9 Consulting.

Know that by undertaking the coaching process, you are saying that it is time to move your life forward with absolute commitment and confidence. Be prepared for change. Coaching will have positive impacts on many areas of your life, not just the area you are working on. Be open and willing to change. Don’t hire a coach because someone has told you that you should or because it sounds good. Do it because you are ready to change and take full responsibility for engaging in the process.

Don’t forget that Item-9 offers one hour WordPress and marketing coaching sessions. Sign up for one today!

The post How to Get the Most Out of Coaching Sessions appeared first on Item-9 Consulting.

• Fixed incorrectly shown number of WordPress posts (incorrect mysql query),
• Resolved jQuery compatibility issue,
• Improved stylesheet mechanism. One external global stylesheet + embedded one for a custom animation. Additional css selectors for easier modification.
• Modified settings page,
• Ability to add thumbnails and excerpt (lots of users requested this!),
• Custom notification for pages with a shortcode [upprev]Sample Text[/upprev],
• Disabled PHP errors notification for a javascript file.

Check it out on this page (by scrolling down) and then use the plugin update feature on your WordPress site or download a new copy from the WordPress repository!

The post Download upPrev Version 1.4 – Thumbnails, Excepts and Lots of other New Features! appeared first on Item-9 Consulting.