Photo highlights from Day 5 of the Sydney Online Marketer conference – the International Speakers’ Dinner and SMX Elite, both held at the historic Qstation, in Manly.

Many thanks to Barry, Lisa and Paula for their support and energy over the 5 days, and to all the speakers and fellow attendees for making it such a hugely fun and valuable learning experience.

—–

And finally, at the very end, two photos of @acatinatree as promised, this time with her eyes *open*.

Identifying ‘problem areas’ in your own business is probably quite easy: just ask where your staff are having problems, or find out where your customers are either making complaints, or dropping off the face of the earth.

The bad news is that while identifying ‘work areas’ is pretty easy, coming up with sensible solutions is usually the hard part: both because we very rarely identify the true source of the problem, nor do we absolutely set out to fix it – more often, a quick patch and a smooth over does the trick. Not good.

With a series of critical thinking questions, first mooted by no less than Socrates himself, somewhere prior to 400BC – I can at least help you define your problems with a little more clarity, and begin to rule in and rule out some simple solutions.

Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up:

1) Get some hard data about your problem.

You need numbers. Numbers you can trust. If the trustworthiness of your data is the first problem, work backwards until you get the raw numbers: weekly takings, sales figures by salesperson, profitability vs clients vs job types over time. Whatever you do, you need a base of hard data to work from. No exceptions!

2) Ask the hard questions.

That elephant in the room? Ask about it. With good data, there’s probably a pattern surrounding your problem – did the problem appear over time, or at one specific event? What did you change in your business that made this problem apparent? Was the problem always there, or is it entirely new?

3) Talk it out with others, but stay clear of emotions/preferences.

Ask others about their point of view of the problem. Stay clear of personal opinions and obviously personal preferences – encourage those who you talk to to also try to stick to know facts. Emotion is a good thing in almost every other situation, but in trying to delve into complex parts of your business, you’ve got to keep it from turning into a blame-fest. No doubt, you’ll end up with more questions, but also some nuggets of pure gold from those you talk to as to how or why the problem exists.

4) Use metaphors to liken the problem to something more manageable

Not sure if you’ve noticed, but I like a good metaphor like a… Well, you get the point. The aim here is to distill the ‘big problem’ into more manageable bite-sized components. Often, problems lie with virtual products and untouchable electronic processes – so get it clearer in your mind by reducing the problem to known, real-world concepts. Then go talk it out with others again!

5) Think of a range of alternatives – no matter how left-field.

You’ve reduced the problem to a simpler version, and you’ve talked to all the parties involved until everyone understands ‘the problem’ to a fair degree. Think about the kinds of workarounds/solutions that have come to mind so far – do they work? Could you do more? Is less the answer? Do you even have to do the thing that’s the problem anyway – can you simply skip it? Bounce ideas around and record them all. Yes, ALL of them! Here, you’re actually more in the realm of ‘creative thinking’ – but the plan is that while you still need a ‘thinking cap’, the size of problem has been reduced!

6) Set out some criteria, and rule in or out your solutions. Test the winners.

As part of the brain-storming, above, also write down some goal-posts that you simply don’t want to reneg on. Score each potential solution against your criteria: either as big white board, or at least, logically determine which solutions are worth exploring further. Then using your hard data (remember?) as a baseline, run some tests – put something out there, even if it’s not 100% fully baked – and quickly figure out if you’re on the path to solving your problem. Remember: test early ,test often!

——

OK. I’ve got heaps to do for my client, and *you* now have a checklist of tools to see if you can simplify, automate or totally skip over the problems within your own business. It’s not rocket surgery, it’s just an iterative process that lets you sort out the wheat from the chaff, the forest for the trees… hey – I got my metaphors back!

AB out

The major barrier to moving is not the plethora of other web designers, web hosting companies or business consultants peddling thier advice (ahem), but rather, the confusion surrounding what username and password allows who to do what, and which key opens which door and… …and… …well, I may as well stay where I was.

Fear not!

Let me explain the four places you need to write down your username and password to truly take control of your web site – from both a management point of view AND a legal ownership point of view.

Pencils ready? Commence!

1) Access to your CMS

Sorry to use an acronym first up, but a ‘CMS’ is a Content Management System. It’s the web site engine that builds your web site. Common CMSes include WordPress, Joomla, Drupal and Symphony, but there are thousands more.

Your access to your web site admin might be referred to as the ‘back-end’, and it’s the door that only you as the web site owner should know about. (You may be have a ‘login’ link in full view on your web site, but that just invites trouble – the first rule of security is not to advertise where the door is!).

If you’re using WordPress, the login page is usually yourwebsite/wp-login. On that page, you can request your password be sent to you again.

–> If you don’t know your CMS a) login page, b) admin username and c) password, ask your web developer/designer.

–> Make sure you have the *admin* user level password – you may have been given a lower-level access rights, so as you don’t do any ‘damage’ to your site. That’s fair enough for daily working access or for your staff, but you still need to know the top level password.

2) Access via FTP

Another TLA*, sorry. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. It’s what web developers do – they transfer finished web files from their computer to your web host. There’s a little bit more involved, but that’s the short version, and FTP is how they copy files up and down.

You may also know your FTP password if you batch-upload lots of photos, but your CMS may also assist with this task.

Having your FTP server address, username and password also allows you to log in (if you wish), but more importantly, it lets you invite *someone else* to log in, to see how your web site was constructed. It’s an important piece of the jigsaw puzzle if you ever want to change web designers/developers.

–> If you don’t know your FTP a) server address, b) username and c) password, ask your web developer/designer OR your web hosting provider. They’re next on the list.

3) Access to your Web Host’s Control Panel

There is a slim chance that your Web Host (the people who make sure your web site and email are always on!) is into hard-core-mega-epic web hosting, and does *not* use any form of nice intuitive interface to manage your web site… but chances are high that your web host is using some form of Control Panel software to give you back, uh, control.

Common control panel interfaces are CPanel and Plesk, and again, there are many many more. The main feature is that anyone without leet skillz can manage their web site’s basic functions, such as: viewing web logs, changing your FTP password, installing a database, or adding/changing email addresses and email forwarding.

Your web developer would have gone into this area once or twice to first set up your FTP access, then again to set up a database to allow your CMS to run.

–> If you don’t know your Web Hosts’ Control Panel a) address, b) username and c) password, contact your Web Host, or read the ‘welcome’ email from when you first signed up.

4) The Registry Key for your Domain

Here’s where it all gets highly legal – and for good reason. When you bought your domain name, you would have received two emails: one with a receipt for your payment, and a second with a registry key for your domain, giving you ‘proof of ownership’ as such, over your domain.

The Registry Key is simply one more password that may vary in length and complexity from one Domain Name Registrar/Reseller to the next, but without it, you have to jump through a couple of proof-of-ownership hoops before you can be declared the rightful owner.

Beware of the web developer/designer who registers a domain name on your behalf. Even if it’s totally in good faith, ask for this Registry Key anyway – if you paid for it, it’s yours.

Your Registry Key allows you to log back into (or make a phone call to-) your Domain Registrar/Reseller, and change your Web Host.

–> If you don’t have your Domain’s Registry Key, check for your first ever email with your domain name in the content.

–> If all else fails, go to http://whois.ausregistry.net.au and fill in the form with your domain name. The next page will tell you your Registrar. Follow *that* link and begin there with their process to reclaim your ownership – it varies, but can include filling out forms and faxing in your official letterhead.

Complex? Yes. Important? Definitely. Long-winded? Sorry. But with these four points of access in your possession, you can sleep easy. Trust me.

AB out

*three-letter-acronym

Rebusiness, Andrew Ballard, and this blog will still remain, however from here on in, I’ll be a little more selective in the clients and projects I take on out of ‘work’.

I thought that after 11 years of business in this mode, I’d go back through my archives and tease out some revealing insights from my records, to give you a brief glimpse into the life of a solo consultant.

So sit back, relax, and help me unravel some of the deepest and darkest secrets (??) of the solo entrepreneur. I’ll bring the cookies.

——

Years in operation: 11
Days in operation: 4013
Available working days in operation: ~2750

Days with billable hours: 1944
Days with billable hours percentage: 70%
Days with billable hours per working week: 3.5
Days not working/researching/time off per week: 1.5, obviously!

Total hours worked: 8776
Hours worked as a percentage of available working hours: 42%
Cumulative days worked per working week, based on hours: 2

Disparity/time lost travelling/bad scheduling per week (difference between billed days and billed hours): 1.5 days

Total projects invoiced: 766
Average per year: 69
Average per week: 1.33
Average working days per project: 3.6

Shortest project: 30 minutes
Longest single project: 136 hours

Total clients: 111
Longest continuous client: 18 years
Most client hours: 2541, or about 338 working days, or an average of half a day each week over the 11 years
Average projects per client: 7.6

Total late invoices: 539
Late invoices percentage: 70%
Bad debts total: $93,500
Bad debts where the client is probably still using the product: >50%

Client files created: 289,000
Client files in gigabytes: 178, or roughly equivalent to 90 full length feature movies of information

——

Whew! That’s reasonably depressing when you look at it like that! I hope you get the picture that being a solo businessperson isn’t all wine and roses, and that the challenges of running a business are less about the adequacy of your own skillset (you simply have to be good at what you do!), but more about managing and controlling the sort of variables like those above.

On the upside, it’s been 11 years of meeting many hundreds of different people, across many different industries and business types – and always looking for ways to improve the lives of both those in the business, and of that businesses’ customer base. A great privilege and fantastic fun.

Here’s to the next 11 years!

AB out

In stark contrast, a new client this week needed help with their web site – after paying for ads on some major search engines each month, they found that their visitors to their web site weren’t hanging around, and most certainly weren’t turning into customers.

The short version: the client had been paying for visitors, instead of earning them. Not the best.

Let’s take a look at how to make your web site work *for* you, organically, without throwing cash at the search engines.

SEO vs SEM vs real content

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation – this is the pseudo-science bit, due to the changing nature of the search engines themselves, plus the slightly ‘dark arts’ world of trying to get a leg up on your competitors. Oh, sure, it’s not skullduggery, but there are many ‘good’ things you can do (called ‘white hat’ techniques), a couple of bad things you shouldn’t do (‘black hat’), plus this fuzzy area of… well… ‘grey hat’ techniques.

Essentially, SEO is in making your web site more understandable to both your human readers AND visits by your friendly search engine. Lots of clear headings, images with text descriptions, and properly referenced links within your site, and from other sites. There’s lots more to it, but that’s the gist: make it a better experience for your customers, and you’ll be rewarded on the search results.

SEM is Search Engine Marketing, that of paying for ads within the search results, to direct customers to your site based on keywords the user is searching for. SEM can be very cheap – you can dip your toe into the market for only a few dollars per day, and see if you catch any fish – to totally mix metaphors. All search engines offer a paid ad service, and it’s all self-serve and within your capabilities.

Real content, though, is your own work: your own stories/articles/news about you or your business or your products. In the olden days, web sites would just be a couple of pages: home/about us/products/services/staff/contact us. Sound familiar? At most, a web site like this is like a large Yellow Pages ad – a passive experience that people can choose to read if/when they find you.

A better way of handling ‘content’ on your web site is a business blog, or some other form of CMS – a content management system – essentially a free (or commercial) web site builder, that takes most of the heavy lifting out of creating a web site, leaving you to just write the content.

The perils of the brochureware web site

Let’s say your web site had 10 pages on it. That’s 10 decent-sized chunks of text that describe you and your business, and potentially get across to a customer that you’re worthy of their further attention, and hopefully, an action: be it an email, an order, or a phone call.

Quick side question: are you passionate about your business? Can you talk the leg off a chair about your business, if given a chance? …then why not be so verbose on your web site…?

If you have only a few pages of text, then a) the search engines can only pick up the combinations of words you’ve used, which won’t be many b) your web site won’t have been updated in many months, which won’t inspire confidence, and c) you’re not proving yourself to be a subject-matter expert – you’ve simply *saying* that you’re an expert. You’ll have no way to differentiate yourself from the next web site proclaiming to be God’s-gift-to-whatever. Reason d) therefore follows that other businesses that partner with you would have little reason to link to you as a subject-matter-expert, so you won’t get many referral links, either.

Monkeys on typewriters

From an SEO point of view, you want a site with lots of relevant text for your customers. Images and videos and audio and documents all help the experience, but aren’t as readily searched for, nor found.

A silly thought experiment states that if you had 100 monkeys on typewriters typing each day for 100 years, eventually, one day, one monkey would randomly type a complete page of Shakespeare.

The reverse is true for being found on the internet: if you only have 10 pages on your web site, then that’s only 100 or so combinations of key words and phrases that the huge number of people searching on search engines can find you for. More pages = more phrases = more ways of saying *exactly* what that one monkey (er, potential customer) has just typed into Google.

It’s not hard to think of things to write about: for your product or service, write down 10 features, and 10 industries/types of customers you have, and 10 different situations where your product/service can be of assistance. Voila! 10x10x10 = 1000 articles, waiting to go online.

It’s not that hard to write for your web site, either: technically, it’s about as hard a using Microsoft Word, and time-wise, well, 500 words on a topic you’re passionate about should only take 15 minutes or so (and if you spot a grammar mistake, you can fix it up later!).

All your writing adds up to make a library of information about you and your business; it helps you be found by search engines without paying for ads; it proves that you know what you’re talking about; and it proves that you’re keen. That’s a win-win-win in my books!

——

All jargon aside, have a wonderful Christmas break, and I’ll look forward to helping you once again in 2011.

AB out