Geolocational Gaff

So this will be a quick rant – but an important one.  More and more websites are using geolocational tools to identify where users are originating from, and to give them specific content based upon their location.

This is great.  BUT, more often than not they force the user to utilize the local version.  Don’t assume that the user only wants a local search.  (This may seem obvious … but apparently it isn’t – otherwise I wouldn’t be writing this post).  Default to the local option, and give the user the option to change to another location.  Who knows, they may be planning ahead.

Whew – glad I got that off my chest 🙂

Delivering Happiness, The Review

Before I start my review, let me say this to everyone who was looking at me awkwardly as I spoke (alright, it was close to a rant) about the new FTC rules around reviews and consideration:  Ha!  It apparently is as important as I was saying, otherwise why would Tony Hsieh have heeded his legal teams advice by asking me to state the following:

1. I received one or more free copies of his book “Delivering Happiness”, in exchange for my commitment to review it.
2. My review has not been influenced by the one or more copies of his book that he gave me.

OK – now that the legal jargon is done with (for simplicity sake, I could have just added a #sponsored review and I’m sure you would have gotten the gist, but why not make this an opportunity to promote my other blog post about FTC rule 255?), time to start the review.

In an effort to make the review shorter than the actual book, I’ll bullet point my thoughts:

• It’s an easy read, written in a friendly, informal manner.  I finished it in about a day.
• It walks through his business life, from his first company at age five all the way to present day.  His successes, his failures, and how they have influenced his life – both in and out of business.
• While I don’t subscribe to all Zapposian guidelines on how to live a balanced and fruitful life – I think it is a valuable tool.  Just like everything else, read it, put it into perspective, evaluate it against your own needs, wants, desires, and implement what makes sense for you.
• To go a little further, I don’t think that the lessons Tony shares are all or nothing.  Just as with his own business career, yours is and will continue to be a learning experience.  Successes and failures.  Happiness and sadness.  Stress and relaxation.  Just remember to focus on what is important, and to surround yourself with others who share the same values as you do.

Tony has asked that I include a link to his book (for your benefit, as well as I’m sure a little search engine optimization value).  http://www.deliveringhappinessbook.com

In short – it’s a great read.  Sometimes we just need a little something to give us focus and direction.  Delivering Happiness delivers that.  (I wonder how many other reviewers are going to use that line.  I intentionally avoided “Delivering Happiness Delivers”. )

Online Shepparding

Technology has made it much to rally the troops behind a cause.  Here’s a great example of how FreeConference.com is getting its users behind their cause – Saving Free Conference.

Step one – FreeConference.com tells you why you need to be concerned about saving free conference calls.

Now fill out your information, and submit …

And now you choose the representatives that you’re going to send your message to (and hope that they return your message … to date, only one has), and approve your message.

Encourage White Listing On Confirmation Pages

Getting people to sign up for your email newsletter is only half the battle.  Actually getting your emails into their inboxes is the other half.

There are plenty of best practices for ensuring email delivery.  One of the easiest is simply asking the email recipient to add your email address to their contacts list.  Most email clients will “white list” emails coming from email addresses included in the recipient’s contact list.

Here’s a good example of how to ask the recipient to include your email in their contact list:

The “Perfect” Download Page

I was recently introduced to Drop Box , an online service which allows you to share data between devices seamlessly.  In keeping with their simple product, their website is amazingly intelligent and simple.

A clever video describes in detail how DropBox makes the user’s life easy.  And a large download button drives conversions.  Really all it is lacking is a tag line that accurately speaks to the purpose and value proposition of Drop Box (“Easily Share Data Between All Your Devices”, maybe?) and some text for search engine optimization.

Creating a simplified download page is critical to minimizing site leakage and abandonment.  While DropBox doesn’t hit a home run on all best practices, it does exemplify some of them.

The complete list (well, at least to date …  I’m reserving the right to add more in the future) is here:

• Keep the download page simple.  Simple simple simple.
• Make sure that the download page is compatible with all major browser types.
• Utilize geo-locational technologies to deliver local language versions of your download page.
• Don’t make it difficult to actually download the software.  Create a large clickable area around the “download now” button.
• Prepare for the worst.  If someone has trouble downloading the software, what are you going to do ?  Give users step by step installation instructions during the download.  Don’t forget to customize those instructions based upon the user’s browser type!
• Include web analytics code to track not only how many people visit the download page  and where those downloads are being referred from, but also how many people are actually installing the software.
• Capture user information before the download … so that you can start marketing to the user often and frequently.

The Free Online Store Service

TrialPay, the alternative payment engine we’ve discussed in the past, has recently launched TrialPay E-Commerce, an online store. The twist with TrialPay’s online store offers 0% payment processing.  They can do this by offering customers the ability to get a discount on their purchases from your store, simply by taking another offer (a familiar model for those of you who understand the alternative payment options).

This is a smart move by TrialPay.  Until now, their service worked best with clients who ran their own online stores.  With TrialPay E-Commerce, TrialPay makes their service available to a wide array of smaller online stores, and offers them a unique revenue model which in some cases can result in higher per cart sales versus traditional online store methods.

You can learn more about this offer here:

http://go.trialpay.com/forms/Ecommerce?elq=7543cd78b92c48078ce9b9b26428074e

The Upsell Email

Here’s a great example of an upsell email.  With my Carbonite subscription about to expire, I have received the following email.

Let’s break this email down:

• The subject line: “My Carbonite Trial has Expired”.  Notice the initial capitalization, and the compelling call to action.
• Personalization: Well, they haven’t personalized this.  It should read something like “Dear Scott”.
• Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt:  “Your backup will be deleted from our servers”, “Don’t let this happen to you”, “In only 10 days, your backup files will be completely deleted”.
• Several clear call to actions: “Subscribe now”, “Become a paid Carbonite subscriber today”. “Become a Carbonite subscriber”
• Testimonials.  In this case, they are from people who didn’t take advantage of Carbonite.

These are just a few of the best practices that you can incorporate into your email marketing to increase upsell conversions.

Making Web Pages That Convert

Ever wonder why some web page sales pitches go on and on and on? A seemingly endless page with countless “buy now” buttons.

The answer is simple: because they work.

But just creating a long web page isn’t the magic bullet for sales conversions.

This case study about SEOMOZ shows the basic elements to creating and testing a web page that converts.

http://www.conversion-rate-experts.com/seomoz-case-study/

The case study notes that you need to create a web page long enough to tell the story. Imagine that you’re speaking directly to the reader. How would you convey your message? What value propositions would you deliver? How do you create curiosity? How would you make them convert?

Corporations Respond to FTC Ruling

As most of you know, for the past month or so I’ve been actively discussing FTC ruling 255.  FTC ruling 255 requires people, including bloggers, to disclose when they receive consideration for promoting products and services.

It is interesting to see that others are picking up on the risks and liabilities related to this ruling.  I received an email from the Zappos team today, reminding me (and the other bloggers) that we need to disclose that we have received consideration (in the form of a free book).

FTC ruling is clearly going to have long term implications on blogging.

All It Takes Is A Sincere “Thank You”

I remember flying just after 9/11, and how grateful the flight crew was. They thanked us profusely for flying their airline, especially in those turbulent times.

Compare that to my most recent flight, where all we heard was a flat “thanks”. How quickly we forget about celebrating the customer.

Since my first job, I’ve always know the importance and value of customer service. This has become even more apparent as I’ve been reading “Delivering Happiness”. Often we hear that “all it takes is a simple thank you”. I disagree. It takes more than a simple thank you. It takes a sincere and proactive effort to celebrate the customer. It shouldn’t take the threat of losing your job to make you want to deliver an amazing customer experience. It isn’t hard. Under promise. Over deliver. Always leave your customer happy, feeling that they received value for their money.