Author: Dave J.

Recently I said that we had to pay attention to our B2B landing pages since Google is rating them. Well, Tim Young has done some experimentation with landing pages and came to this conclusion, rejecting the one-path no-link landing page that tries to hard to capture a ‘conversion’:

“Complex sales requires education and information because it’s complex. Prospects need to know specifically what you do, how you do it, for whom you do it, what your track record is and so on, before they’re willing to talk with you. Often this is because they want to arm themselves with the knowledge needed to ask relevant questions. Sure, they know what their problem is, but they don’t know how to best solve it on their own, and they don’t want to risk ‘being sold’. So they need education.

The marketing implication is that landing pages, whether within a site or micro-sites, need to be more education focused than sales focused.”

Read more: Tim Young’s B2B Lead Generation & Management Blog: Landing Pages and Lead Generation

I promised yesterday that I would veer off-topic today, and here it is. It is also personal and may ramble a bit. No apologies, just FYI.

My son Robert spent a week in the hospital last year with a curious disease called ADEM for short. I shared about here at B2Blog, but essentially the neurologist described it as a form of encephalitis that acts like a one-time MS-type (Multiple Sclerosis) event.

Tuesday it became clear to me that he was having similar symptoms (low dexterity in his left hand and foot) and was probably suffering from a relapse, which the internet soon confirmed is possible. I also found some other articles with medical descriptions of many different related causes, some with dire outcomes. So Robert is now back at the hospital doing a new course of steroids and waiting for a spinal-tap and MRI. Unfortunately, we feel comfortable at the hospital…and we feel upset because this wasn’t supposed to happen again.

Despite not having new tests done, the neurologist was ready to make his own prognosis. Basically he saw this as one continuous problem, as there were signs that he didn’t fully recover from the first event, especially an MRI last August that showed new lesions. ‘I really see this as more of a case of MS’ he finally told us. It didn’t come out of the blue…we were warned in August that it was a possibility.

CRAP!

He went on to describe how even though Robert is a statistical lottery winner (most MS cases are female, and onset is usually in early adulthood), it doesn’t mean it can’t happen to him. The doctor was more confident in his diagnosis without being influenced by the numbers. This makes this hospital event an MS Episode, or flare-up, not an ADEM relapse.

For right now, we are dealing with the day-to-day recovery of this episode, but we will have to make some long range decisions about treatment. And the worry about his long-term prognosis–will this be degenerative or not (some people suffer under MS, others just struggle, if you can understand the distinction).

So from yesterday’s post (which I started before we went to the hospital and finished when I got home), here are why those three Men’s Health articles have new poignancy:

• The article about “How Happy Are You?” should have an obvious tie-in.
• The article about flu quarantines reminds me that the long-term strategy to deal with this (via medication) will be a hard decision to get ‘right’. Well, there is no ‘right’.
• And the interview with Robert Rodriguez causes me ache because my Robert is creative and I wish him success like Mr. Rodriguez. Now it hurts to think that far ahead.

The best advise came from a fellow MS sufferer, my Mother…but its not what you would expect. She told me this after his August MRI: “Remember that whatever the diagnosis, he still hasn’t changed. He is still Robert.”

While I am obviously accepting the diagnosis (which comes from trusting the expert and recognizing the significance of the many clues that lead to his opinion, as there is no definitive test), I am suffering what can only be described as resignation and buyer’s remorse. But at the same time I feel empowered…to keep this positive and help lead Robert to a satisfying life. He has been given a special opportunity to live life with the importance and passion that not many healthy people have. God bless him.

Okay, this blog isn’t about being a manager, or motivation, or your health. But its my blog and I can do what I want. Besides, if I find something of value to me, I think it might be of value to you.

So what’s the recommendation? Men’s Health magazine. Okay, I’ve recommended it before. But this New Year’s issue has a lot of good stuff that is worth reading and acting on.

This time I found it especially provides some good content for being motivated and being a leader. Here’s a peek:

“Take it from me” interview with filmmaker Robert Rodriguez with this hot list called a Riot Act:

1. Creativity only lets you dream. Match it with technical expertise and you can build.
2. Cash is a crutch. Buying away problems is not the same as solving them.
3. Include your kids in you work and watch their confidence blast off.
4. Perfection is a crapshoot. The more projects you finish, the better your odds.

The “If the Flu Becomes a Crime” article openly questions President Bush’s endorsement of enforced quarantine as a strategy to contain a flu-like pandemic. The article’s study of strategy and the hidden risks of quarantine is emphasized by the compelling story of John Early from almost a hundred years ago. A great management lesson that the obvious and/or popular solution is not always the one that should be used.

The best article is the one called “How Happy Are You?” I think its just terrific to see happiness treated as such an important topic, a topic of health. To us marketers, it helps to understand the behavior of our customers, and to leaders, the behaviors of their followers and themselves. The challenge from the article is that because happiness is part of our health, it can change…which means we can actively exercise it and improve it.

The topic of all three of these articles have a particular weight on me today. I’d like to veer a little more off-topic tomorrow to tell you why.

I ‘run the numbers’ at the end of every month, to see how traffic was at our website. Its fun, and I always try to dig a little deeper to see if the numbers mean anything. Using Google Analytics has increased my fun. I still use FastStats to crank thru the log-files for additional detail.

Here’s the thing, using an unnamed online directory (as this is a common problem):

Clicks the directory has recorded going to my website: 48
Referrals counted by log files: 39
Referrals counted by Analytics: 35

I know there are reasons why each number is different, but which is the number I should track?
Seems this always comes with the directory showing a higher number, in one case almost 4x higher. Phooey to all those who say that web traffic is measurable!

Which leaves me to quote Mark Twain (or Segal, or someone else)…“A man with one watch knows what time it is. A man with two watches is never sure.”

Every blogger it seems, needs to say something important about the New Year–me too. I have a couple posts I want to write, but this first one is easy…

I’ve not made a list of goals (yet), or changed any behaviors (tho I am thinking of a few). What I have started doing is cutting things. Unsubscribing to some newsletters and a few blogs, deciding to give up a couple projects/tasks, and trying to quit a couple distractions that aren’t in my goals (like playing America’s Army).

This morning I started unsubscribing to a newsletter and noticed that ‘cutting’ was Level 4 of the Seven Levels of Change posted on my desk (and here linked to my nearly forgotten-but-not-cut ’40-days of purpose blog’). Interesting that I also found a post there regarding cutting with this nifty thought: “How much does one cut?”

Someone here at the office is having their dog put to sleep this morning. That is a deep cut, and maybe not even voluntary, but it makes you think.

>>>This activity of mine is just a habit that I heard mentioned in David Allen’s Ready For Anything book. Something along the lines of ‘if you aren’t sure where to start or how to jump-start your productive activity, clean your desk’.

Here are contrasting posts about whether your company’s ‘look’ is just vanity or all important factor:

1. Beyond Web Usability…Web Credibility, Trenton Moss says”Studies have consistently proven that the most important criteria of web credibility is… the way the website looks. That’s it. “

2. How Important is a Logo? from Mike Boyink says “If it’s hard to get people to notice or remember a bad logo, how hard is it to get people to notice or remember a good logo?”

3. Judging a book by its cover Seth Godin opins “Sometimes a great cover can help a lousy book (for a little while)…But for books, like most things, the stuff inside matters.”

4. 8 Things Stores Don’t Want You to Know by John Nardini points to the facts in retail, like: “Research shows that people say pastries taste better in a pink box than any other color.”

And the funny thing is, I agree with all of them. So what does this mean? What should I do (or not bother with)?

IMHO, looks (logo, website, book cover, box etc) become just one part of the puzzle to making a complete impression. Just remember that the look (i.e. branding) should get proportional attention to your other prospect-facing items (content, sales-style, product). In other words, just because you have a great product, doesn’t mean that you should skimp on the image you portray.

If that wasn’t true, you’d never see another salesman come to visit wearing a suit. Image is everything, obey your instincts.

We’ve all encountered customers who can’t seem to digest the information you provide them and then struggle when they need to make a purchase. You know the type–the one who calls you on two separate instances to find out what color or size your product is, despite it being on your website, quote, and literature. Perhaps they have self or corporate-induced ADD.

From the Slow Leadership blog comes this snip from a book called The Attention Economy: Understanding the New Currency of Business:

“What are the symptoms of this kind of corporate Attention Deficit Disorder? According to Davenport and Beck, they are:

1. An increasing likelihood of missing key information when making decisions.
2. Diminished time for reflection on anything but simple information transactions such as e-mail and voice mail.
3. Difficulty holding others’ attention (for instance, having to increase the glitziness of presentations and the number of messages to get and keep attention).
4. Decreased ability to focus when necessary.”

Carmine from Slow Leadership attributes the cause: “People haven’t enough attention because they’re overworked, stressed and trying to do too much in too little time.” I don’t think there is a cure, but the patient salesperson is the one who is going to win this customer. Perhaps if you understand this potential cause, you will find the patience to be that person.

Why do so many people believe in Santa without ever seeing him? Great marketing, of course! Or so says Sean D’Souza:

“If you go to the heart of Santa’s marketing, the one word you come away with is ‘consistency’. Generation after generation have been exposed to one brand, one message, and the same powerful imagery. Just like Mercedes own the term ‘luxury’ and Volvo owns the term ‘safety’, Santa owns the word ‘hope’.”

Read the whole article: Why Santa’s Marketing Works Better Than Yours!

Something to think about over the Christmas weekend. Merry Christmas to all my readers.

I’ve been bogged down working on phase two of our CRM program, which is a quotation system using QuoteWerks software. QW integrates with Goldmine, making a more complete solution. This phase consists of three basic tasks (But that’s not the marketing triangle.):

1. Develop a consistent product database. Here I am trying to fix all the sins of our current system. Most of this is back-end stuff to manage our product information efficiently and accurately.
2. Create a new quotation form that presents only information that the customer wants. This means cutting out distracting content and making sure the info they do want is obvious.
3. The hardest task will be training our staff to use QW and make sure they are following the rules so that all my sin-fixes won’t go to waste.

All this work makes me think of a favorite book by Jeffery Veen, The Art and Science of Web Design. In it he describes web design as a triangle of knowledge and skills:

I was thinking how much this applies to marketing in general, and how much technology has become the leading-edge of marketing. However, with web design, all this is concentrated around pleasing the user. I’ve got to come up with a system that satisfies everyone: prospects, salespeople, and the backend operation. Wait that’s another triangle!
Looks like the marketing guy is in a bit of a pinch! (With leading-edges of technology and customers.) No wonder this project is so exhausting.

If you’ve missed the news, Google has added a metric to its ranking of AdWords ads: landing pages. Is this big news?

Well, duh. If you are paying for clicks, you should make sure you are driving them to a worthwhile, actionable page. But of course a lot of small B2B marketers are just going thru the motions and haven’t really considered their landing page. The fact is that the bar has been raised!

This step toward better quality results can only increase Google’s dominance. As I pointed out at the InfoCommerce Conference, directories such as ThomasNet usually point at home pages, forcing the user to do more work (or click back).

So the threat isn’t just to competitors within AdWords, but to competitors of Google.