{!date dayname+0}, {!date long+0} Dear {!firstname_fix} One minute it is brilliant sunshine, the next it is raining; it's like April Showers have arrived a couple months late. Whatever has happened to the weather? It's not like a normal "Flaming June" and the moment-to-moment unpredictability means I never know whether to wear a raincoat, take an umbrella or be in my T-shirt..! The cricket has been a wash-out in Southampton and the racing at Ascot has even had to allow Wellington Boots in the Royal Enclosure for the first time in 300 years..! What is the world coming to? It's all a bit of a reminder that human beings love to be able to predict things; indeed it is built into our psyche. Predictability means that from an evolutionary standpoint we know where to find food, where to go hunting and gathering, where to find a mate. Being able to predict things means survival. So it's no wonder that in business we collect all sorts of data to try and predict things. Where will our customers be? What will they buy next? But like the weather our customers can chop and change. Sometimes predicting is a bit of a waste of our energy.
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED: What is the best online contact method? Obviously you want people to contact you - but what's the best system to offer them? This week I was asked this question because someone wanted to put their email address on their website but had been advised not to do so as it would be an open invitation to spammers. Can you get round that in any way, I was asked. Yes, you can - indeed there are several well-established ways of showing your email address on your website and yet hiding it from spammers. Most spammers have "bots" - little programs that scavenge the web for any email address they can find. Once they have it, they then send out endless arrays of irrelevant and potentially offensive messages. So, the theory is right - if you don't put your email address on your website, you'll reduce the chances of being spammed. One way is to make your email address an image. That way people can see your email address - but they have to type it themselves. As soon as you make it a clickable image, the spam bots can detect the email address and - whoopee - they can send you some garbage. There are plenty of little "JavaScript" programs which can partially hide your email address. On the screen it looks like you are showing your email address and, indeed, when someone clicks on it they can send you an email message. But "behind the scenes" the actual email address is hidden. A quick way of producing the necessary code can be found at: http://www.hide-email-script.com/. Just fill in the boxes with your email address details and you have the code for your website to hide your address. If you use WordPress, there is a plug-in which does this for you too. You can find the "email obfuscator" plug-in at: http://uklik.me/lxdu16. Of course, some people do not want to send an email. Your contactability depends upon having a range of different methods. Have a contact form, for instance, where people can simply type in a message to you and click "send". An easy way to add forms to any website is via EmailMeForm at: http://www.emailmeform.com/. But even this may not be enough. Many people just want to phone you. Studies show that people expect to see your business phone number in two places on your website. Firstly on the top right of the page - that means every page of your website, as you don't know what page they will land on. Also, people look in the footer area of a website for a phone number, which means your contact number should be on the bottom of every page in your website too. And because your website is available 24hrs a day, 365 days a year, that means your phone number has to be too. An answerphone message or a voicemail box is not acceptable - 8 out of 10 people hang up immediately upon hearing a voicemail or answerphone message from a business they are trying to contact. The only answer is someone who can physically answer your phone 24 hours a day. I use AllDayPA myself see: http://www.alldaypa.com. But I also heartily recommend The Phone Answering Service from Verbatim at: http://www.thephoneansweringservice.co.uk/. Finally, make sure you also offer other methods of being contacted - your LinkedIn profile, your Twitter name or your Skype address. The more methods you offer, the better because it means your customers and potential customers can use their preferred system.
WHAT I LEARNED THIS WEEK: Trust your "gut instincts" more The other day I was running a workshop on social media for business owners and chief executives. It was a lively group of people who all had something to say on the topic. So I allowed them plenty of time for discussion - and argument...! But even though they appeared to be enjoying themselves, my instinct was that I should shut them up and make them do the practical exercises I had for them. But the logical part of my brain told me they were doing what they wanted to do - discuss various options for social media in medium-sized businesses. So I let them carry on, facilitating things. But I should have trusted my instinct. I got the worst satisfaction rating from an audience I have ever received - 73%. And what was the detailed feedback? They did love the discussion and the freedom I gave them to debate various aspects of social media - but, guess what? What they really wanted was more of the practical exercises I had done earlier. I should have followed my heart, not my head. Another lesson learned.
THIS WEEK'S "MUST BUY": Forms that Work  Having a contact form on your website is a necessity, but will it work? Some website forms are so badly designed you can't even see where to enter your name...! This book is an "old standard" because it provides sensible, widely applicable advice on designing web forms effectively. The book is packed with illustrations and ideas, as well as having information on how to make questions easy to answer, how to write instructions that work and how to make a form look easy. There are some useful examples and case histories in this book and it also focuses heavily in the "usability" of your forms. If you have forms on your website you - or your web designer - needs this book. Oh - and if you use printed forms as well, you'll still find much of what this book says of value. To find out more about this book, please visit: http://uklik.me/formsthatwork
AND FINALLY: From my blog... Are Facebook users stupid? Joanne Fraill, a hitherto unknown mother of three from Manchester, is going down in history as the first ever person to face criminal prosecution for the inappropriate use of the internet during a Crown Court trial. If you haven’t caught up with the news, Ms Fraill used Facebook to contact a defendant in the trial – not that bad, you might think, except Ms Fraill was on the jury... Read More About whether or not Facebook users are stupid at: http://uklik.me/l9X39L
To get my blog delivered to you each week in PDF, Kindle or ePub format simply visit: http://uklik.me/gjweekly
Kind Regards
Graham Jones Web:
grahamjones.co.uk Tel: +44 118 336 9710 If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter than you can delete your name from the mailing list by clicking this link: {!remove_web} Affiliate Links: Some of the links in this newsletter are affiliate links providing me with a small commission when you purchase the item. However, I only use affiliate links for products which I personally value. |
What people really want is speed - the quickest way they
can contact you (and the fastest way you can get back to them). That means
having at least two methods of contact on every web page you own, such as a phone
number and an email address. Having a link to a comprehensive contacts page one
every web page is also a good idea. And consider new forms of easy communication
such as the "QR" code here. Just point your smartphone at the code and it will
automatically create an email message direct to me. You can create your own
similar QR codes at: 