Businesses these days are stifled with inefficiencies brought on by bad legislation and brain dead regulators. But businesses have a choice; we have a way to fight the system. One way is to stop producing, raise prices and invest in better markets with higher returns and less regulation. As a matter of fact this is what many businesses do and are doing.
Look at all the off shoring of jobs and factories in other countries by US based corporations. Why are they doing this? Because it just makes no sense to beat your head against the wall with over regulation, Sarbox and folks like Elliot Spitzer with his extortion tactics. Recently someone wanted to buy a franchise from our company in California. He writes us and puts on the email address title; “RE; Franchise Opportunity” even though there was no first email from this gentleman and he then states:
“I’m interested in buying a franchise for the San Diego, CA market. Please send along any pertinent information I may need, along with information regarding “exclusivity” arrangements. I’ve never owned a franchise, but I have owned and operated any number of businesses over the years.”
We email him back:
“We are not selling franchises anymore in Southern California and as a matter of fact we are setting up units in San Diego right now. This business is too good to share profits with franchisees in So. Cal. Especially in such a litigious state. California just is not worthy of the incredible advantage franchising brings to the consumer and local economies. We would rather exploit the labor and take the money for ourselves and remove those monies to other places more worthy of investment from a free market standpoint. That is what all the companies do. Can’t blame them. I know you understand.”
Now mind you in his first email he said he had owned and operated a number of businesses over the years. Yet, if this were true he would understand exactly what we were talking about; but instead we get back this email.
“No, I do not “understand. But if this isn’t a joke, I will say this: You sound like one of the biggest assholes I’ve ever encountered in my entire life. And you can take your business and shove it up your ass…I can always outfit a truck and do the same thing. I also suggest you take a course in business ethics, professionalism…and some psychological counseling appears to be in order. Blow me.”
Now then either this guy is a complete competitor or a government regulator trying to pull some sort of entrapment scheme. Either way anyone who had been in business before understands how ridiculous the over regulation is in this current period, especially in California. If he is a regulator he got upset for me telling the truth and felt belittled. If he was a competitor, he simply wanted free information and was never going to buy anything anyway even if we were selling franchises there.
There is nothing unethical about making the most money you can on your invested dollar and nothing wrong with investing your money where you can make the most return on investment. There is nothing wrong with teaching society, civilizations, nations or government regulators the truth about where they are leading this nation. There is nothing wrong with winning markets or being an entrepreneur. There is nothing unethical about stating the truth about bad legislation, over regulation or outrageous litigation. If some people cannot handle a little Ayn Rand psychology to help enlighten them, they have no hope indeed.
Apparently this poser or misrepresentation of a franchise inquiry cannot handle truth. Can you? Are you willing to take a hard look at your business and the over regulation and traps of litigation? Is it really worth the hassle? Ever wonder why so many businesses could care less about service anymore, raise their prices or just retire early and stop producing those things you as a consumer desire? Do you? Go read some Ayn Rand and think about it.
“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/
A recent debate started me thinking about how some marketing strategies can be right for one Web site, but wrong for another — depending on the site’s purpose and the underlying reasoning behind the action.
If an action doesn’t directly and logically plug into site goals, then there are likely more profitable ways to spend that time and effort.
Publishing third-party articles on a Web site is one of those marketing strategies that can be right for one site, yet wrong for another.
Publishing Guest Articles as a Strategy
Publishing guest articles as one of your Web site marketing strategies can help broaden the amount and quality of content on a site, which in turn can lead to a more solid, stronger reputation. James Edwards of Umbrella-Consultancy explains:
IMO having quality articles on your site will show that you are…someone who embraces the industry and respects the work of others. Most research scientists post links to other respected scientists’ work… I think it can only be good to have quality material by other people in your field posted on your site.
Helping Web Site Visitors
Another situation where adding others’ articles to your site can make strategic sense is when a lot of visitors arrive looking for a solution other than the one you provide on your site. Rather than have them wander off, no closer to an answer to their problem, you can build goodwill and credibility by having articles on the Web site that give them more information.
For example, several types of people arrive at my site through the search engines:
* Some are people researching marketing consulting services.
* Some are students looking to write a paper or finish an assigned project for school.
* Some are looking for marketing software.
* Others are looking to buy printed material (e-books, templates, workbooks, etc.) in order to proceed, step-by-step, on their own.
The only ones that are going to be interested in what I have to sell are those in the last group. Instead of letting the majority of visitors go without a fight, I have articles on the site from handpicked individuals or companies.
Those articles are chosen according to how good the quality is, how well the subject matter fits, and whether I think the information will help site visitors.
Information Sites
If a site (or section of a site) is informational in nature, guest articles can be a viable Web site marketing strategy, for several reasons:
* Repeat, purchase-related visits. A good information library can help potential customers through the decision-making process. If they find the information on your site especially helpful, they will be predisposed to coming back later, when they are ready to purchase.
* Increased Web site revenue. Publishing others’ work can generate more revenue for your own site. For example, when I publish a third-party article, elsewhere on the page I include one or more of the following: AdSense; an advertisement for my own products; a newsletter sign-up box; or a relevant affiliate link. That way, every path off the page satisfies one of my own goals (direct ad revenue, new newsletter subscriber, or product sales lead).
* Increased targeted traffic. Each new page of quality content has the potential to bring in a happy chunk of incremental traffic from the search engines.
* Future collaborations or other projects. An indirect benefit from publishing others’ articles is contact and future collaboration with authors. For example, after one author received several new sign-ups to her newsletter through an article published on my site, she contacted me about collaborating on an audio product.
Poor Fit With Marketing Strategies
For some business models, including guest articles in a list of Web site marketing strategies does not make sense. For example, it can be counterproductive to include guest articles on Web sites where the primary goal is to sell.
Service Web Sites
If the goal is to generate direct sales and leads for your own services, it doesn’t make sense to dilute the message and call to action with diversions. Karon Thackston explains:
The purpose of my site is to get those in need of copywriting services and SEO copywriting services to contact me in order to do business. People who come to my Marketing Words site are looking for information about copywriting. They are also looking to hire a copywriter.
Therefore, you will find only material written by Karon on her site.
Product Sales Sites
Some sites have a single goal: to sell product. Every page on the site is devoted to product descriptions or copy designed to move a visitor toward a purchase. In these cases, where the predominant call to action is “buy the product,” articles could hurt sales by diverting visitor attention away from the products.
Visit your favorite online retail sites, and you are likely to find product descriptions, reviews, photos and other product-driven content — but little or no guest articles. Their absence on many e-commerce sites is an illustration of the poor fit of such articles as a marketing strategy for those sites.
Understanding how different techniques support, or sabotage, Web site marketing strategies can be critical to a site’s success. Align your strategies with overall goals, and your business is more likely to flourish.
About the Author
Bobette Kyle draws upon 12+ years of Marketing/Executive experience, Marketing MBA, and online marketing research in her writing. Bobette is proprietor of the Web Site Marketing Plan Network, http://www.WebSiteMarketingPlan.com, and author of the marketing plan and Web promotion book “How Much For Just the Spider? Strategic Website Marketing For Small Budget Business.” ( HowMuchForSpider.com/TOC.htm )
Copyright 2004 Bobette Kyle. All rights reserved.