My 2¢ Worth

ur winner of last weeks contest was Susan N. She knew that the fourth secret was, "Let your critics go wild." Susan has won a free ad in the ad box #2 position.

ill you be the next winner? Answer this question: Where does the game BOOKWORM DELUXE come from? Submit you answer here.

y pet peeve for the day is... Wait a second. I guess it's more of a wish than a peeve — or maybe a bit of each. As the case may be, I'll sure be glad to see the day when all the various browsers out here become standards compliant.

hile the newest versions of the browsers support the standards better than they did in the past; they each have their own little quirks.

ost often, what looks good and works well in Internet Explorer loses most of its formatting in both Netscape and Opera. This is due to the way they interpret css code. Each one of the big three browsers interprets css differently.

hile there are work-a rounds, they can be a pain to implement and besides, us designers shouldn't always have to go through the hassle to get our pages to display properly across the various browsers and platforms. That's why we have standards set by the W3c.

 just came across something new the other day. In the most recent site I've been working on, it has to perform a search. I've coded the search function all in php and Internet Explorer handles it well as does Netscape.

owever, when you perform the search in Opera, it can't find the requested page which has the results of the search! I have absolutely no idea why. This is beyond my expertise.

y solution? Leave well enough alone. I figure less than 2% of users use the Opera browser and I'll be damned if I'm going to cater to 2%! Right or wrong, I had to draw the line somewhere.

Feature Article

Are You Marketing Backwards

by: Charlie Cook charliecook.net

Marketing is like rowing a boat. When you know how the pointed bow moves smoothly forward through the water encountering the least amount of resistance. Rowing backwards, the square stern of the boat pushes against the water, requiring more effort and increases the risk of having a wave come over the transom (back) and swamping it. Yet most people market backwards, trying to grow their business while pushing against the greatest level of resistance.

Wouldn't you like to market your business so that it moved easily forward?

What's the first thing most people do to increase salės of their products, services? They put together a description of their credentials. Then they pick up the ph0ne, run an ad campaign, send out a brochure and or build a web site and ask people to buy.

Do you know anyone who has used this approach?

Have you tried it yourself?

Were you happy with the number of new clients and customers you attracted?

It's a common misperception that the fastest way to attract more clients and customers is to focus on asking people to buy. It looks like the obvious route, but in most cases it generates only a trickle of new clients for small business owners. It can work if you're a large company with millions of dollars to spend building your brand. Why doesn't this selling approach work for service professionals and small business owners?

A sale is the end point or one of the waypoints in your relationship with a client. Before they are ready to give you their m0ney prospects need to be confident that you have what they want, and they trust your product or service will deliver on your promises.

When you lead with a focus on selling and your credentials you run into high levels of resistance. It is like trying to row a boat backwards.

Marketing is about building relationships, one by one. Start by focusing on what your prospect wants, not on yourself.

Think about it. When you pick up the ph0ne or encounter a friend, what's one of the first things you say? Do you launch into a monologue about yourself? Most people usually start the conversation with a friendly questions or two and then find a topic of mutual interest. If you have information your friend is interested in, you share it.

I frequently get calls from people who say they hate marketing. Why? Trying to convince people to buy feels pushy.

An alternative that is more effective - and more fun - is to focus instead on giving people what they want. Get your prospect's attention by leading with a question or statement that succinctly gets them thinking about how you can solve a problem they have. This is your marketing message or elevator speech, not your salės pitch. Once you have their interest, give them something they want in order to prompt them to contact you. This could be a short report or article.

Does your marketing approach give people what they want? Does it help start a conversation and a relationship?

Once a prospect gives you their contact information, go to work and make good on their trust by showing an interest in their needs and giving them a steady stream of useful tips. The more you give your prospects, the stronger your relationship will be.

Rowing a boat backwards is hard work and won't get you very far. There is just too much resistance. To attract more clients and grow your business stop marketing backwards and pushing against high levels of resistance. Give your prospects what they want, build relationships and you'll find more prospects buying the solutions you provide.

**************

The author, Marketing Coach, Charlie Cook, helps independent professionals and small business owners attract more clients and increase their earnings with the 5 Principles of Highly Effective Marketing. Sign up to receive the Free Marketing Guide and the 'More Business' newsletter, full of practical tips you can use at www.charliecook.net

Easy Image Rollover

Think mouse-overs are tough? Think again ... here's a totally easy way to change an image when the user hovers over it. The following code will require you to have two images, one that appears on page load, and one that appears when users hover or roll over the first image with their mouse. Finally, we also specify a return to our original image when the user mouses back out. customize the fields in red with your own links and images.

Step 1. Make a Link:

<a href="page1.html" onMouseOver="imagename.src='pic-2.gif'" onMouseOut="imagename.src='pic.gif'">

onMouseOut tells the browser that when the mouse is NOT over image imagename, then display pic.gif, which is the original image. If this piece is not there, you will get an error message.

Step 2. Add the Image:

<img src="pic.gif" name="imagename" border=0></a>. The NAME attribute is important - as the Javascript uses it.

You have now completed your image rollover. Pretty easy, huh?

NOTE: If you do not want the image to be clickable, remove "page1.html" and replace it with a "#" sign.

* Get these syndicated tip feeds for yourweb site, free. *

Second Article

What is an Acceptable Response?

by: Sharon Housley NotePage, Inc.

Many online marketers work odd hours, with no beginning of the day and no real end. How does this impact support and customer service inquiries? Some small businesses are afraid to reply to customer queries off-hours, fearful that the message time-stamp will betray them as a small business. The Internet however is timeless. The fact is customers appreciate a quick response. With the globalization of the Internet federal holidays are blurred. Customers expect timely responses and often make little note of the time zone the vendor they are working with.

While large corporate businesses have a large amount of resources (staff and money) for sales, customer service and marketing are often tied to traditional methods of communication with customers. Sales are in person; customer service is over the phone and marketing by advertising and mail. Email is often used to funnel customers into these traditional channels of communication. When emailing often the reply back is to call back or a request you show up in person. More so in the past then recently, many companies do not respond to email at all. While communicating by telephone and mail is important, email is part of the fabric of how people interact and companies often do not take this into account.

As many small main street businesses are offering a more personalized service, email can be more personalized than large corporations are able to provide. Since customers have become accustomed to looking on the Internet to either make or research purchases email is an easy way to communicate. Besides an easy way to get an answer, some customers want reassurance there is a human behind the web page, and not just some wizard speaking out of a microphone.

Service and forum queries are typically handled by online businesses within 24 hours; rarely do weekends or holidays alter response rates. Customer demands and the 'need' for instant answers have driven the standard. If you do not respond in a timely fashion a competitor will.

Customers are used to surfing the web and emailing. They want instant information whether it is 4pm or 4am. They want an immediate response. Many companies provide 24-hour customer service.

While some people expect responses immediately, others will think business is slow if you respond right away. This is difficult to gauge, if the answer is simple respond as soon as possible. If research is required then at least email a response that you are looking into and will get back to them.

**************

Sharon Housley manages marketing for NotePage, Inc. www.notepage.net a company specializing in alphanumeric paging, SMS and wireless messaging software solutions. Other sites by Sharon can be found at www.softwaremarketingresource.com, and www.small-business-software.net

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