{!date dayname+0}, {!date long+0} Dear {!firstname_fix} What has your week been like? Have you been all smiles and happiness like Prince William and Kate Middleton? They can't hide their joy it seems - and why should they? Yet, when I visited one company this week, they were anything but smiles. Even though everyone claimed they enjoyed their job, they didn't seem to show it. Plain, sour faces all round it seemed to me. One thing we do know is that there is a clear link between facial expressions and how you feel. Some people say it might be "chicken and egg" - you feel sad, therefore you look sad. But research tells us it can be the other way round. You look sad and end up feeling sad. Studies prove time and time again that if you smile, you do feel better. So, perhaps it is time to ban sad faces in your office. Have a try - you'll almost certainly see productivity rise.
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED: How many hours are there in a day? This week I have given two presentations where I emphasised the need to put material onto your website EVERY DAY. If you don't update your site daily, you are not in the same territory as successful companies. Besides research shows that firms which add content every day to their website get business every day from their website. Whereas companies who only update their website every week only get online business every three weeks. In other words, a daily updated site gets at least 365 new business leads each year. Whereas a weekly updated site gets only around 17 new leads a year. Which position would you like to be in? If you have the online conversion average of 1%, it means that a daily updated site will bring you in about four new customers a year, whereas a weekly updated site will require about six years to get one new customer. Of course, these are extreme statistics looking at the averages. Some businesses will get new customers each month from sites which are rarely updated, whilst those who update daily will take weeks to get a new client. But the average tells a simple story - the more frequently you add content to your website, the more likely it is that you will get new customers as a result of your online activity. But when I explained that this week, people looked rather dumbfounded. "How do you find the time to do it all?" they asked. Then some bright spark answered "But Graham thinks there are 96 hours in every day." If only..! And if only there were 12 days in every week..! But whatever the time we had in the calendar, we'd still moan about not having enough of it. I have the same number of hours available to add content to my website as you do - probably around five hours a week. That's all. Roughly half a day. But the difference between businesses which do find the time to add content to their websites and those which find it a chore, where getting those "extra hours" is difficult, is simple. Firstly, it is the realisation that there is no "extra" time available. You only have the same eight hours in a working day as them. It is what you choose to do with them that matters. The successful companies online have chosen to make their website CENTRAL to their business. Instead of it being a useful add-on to all their other marketing methods, it is THE fulcrum from which everything else is suspended. Once your website becomes central to your business, guess what, finding those "extra hours" to add content every day is not a problem. Because you are using your website as the central point for your business, rather than a sideshow, adding content becomes a necessary part for the rest of your business to work. It is only when you run your business "outside" of your website, that you need to find "extra hours" to do all the required content and updating. So, rather than worry about finding more hours in a day, you'll boost your lead generation simply by making your website THE centre of your business. Once you do that, adding content daily becomes a breeze and you'll get more leads easily. Remember, you can always ask your question and get it answered in this newsletter by going to: http://www.grahamjones.co.uk/questions
WHAT I LEARNED THIS WEEK: You can learn from your children Yesterday my son took his 11 Plus Exam. He is hoping to gain entrance to Reading School, a boys grammar school in the heart of Reading. It is, in fact, Britain's oldest school, dating back to the 12th Century and currently stands at No 5 in the league table of British schools. But there were 553 boys taking the entrance exam yesterday for a mere 100 places. It is tough to get in. After four hours of exams, I collected him from amongst the crowds of anxious parents and tired-looking children. He was excited, happy and somewhat jubilant. He found the whole experience uplifting. But, as we travelled to a celebratory lunch - his favourite pizza - he said, "Dad, don't worry if I don't get in. I know it's a slim chance, but whatever school I go to, I'll do OK." That's not bad thinking for a 10-year-old I reckon - the kind of thinking that will doubtless do him well in the future. But, how many adults in business do you find with this kind of thinking? Whenever many people in business think of something new, they are best by the negatives: what if no-one likes it, what if it doesn't work, what if it costs a lot? Children tend to focus on the positive and sadly we teach them in our education system to look at the negatives. Is it any wonder we end up as adults who focus so much on the problems, rather than the successes? If you want to boost your business - get a child's viewpoint. It will do you a great deal of good because it will help you focus on the positives. If you want to check out what else I've been doing for the past week, you can always look at: http://www.grahamjones.co.uk/week
THIS WEEK'S "MUST BUY": Acronis Boosts Your Backup Acronis True Image is one of the leading pieces of software around which helps you overcome computer disaster. Last week I spoke with one of my clients who was busy picking up the pieces following a hard disk crash. It had taken them almost a week to get going again. I suffered a similar fate earlier this year - but it only took me a couple of hours to get working again because I had a complete "image" of my computer using Acronis True Image. Every week it stores a complete record of my computer on an external disk, which also gets backed up. That means if anything goes wrong - and it will - I can restore my computer to within a week of where it was. You just set it and forget it. It really is that easy. Luckily, Acronis are now offering a deal where you can get True Image to automatically backup your entire computer, but also get the "Plus Pack" of backup extras worth an additional $29.99 - for nothing. On top of that, they have allowed me to extend a further 5% discount to my newsletter readers, making the price you pay $56.52 for $95.18 worth of software, that's $38.66 OFF...! To get the deal visit Acronis True Image and then when you pay enter this special coupon code: 5OFFATIH2011. BUT BE QUICK - this offer finishes in 10 days on November 30th. To find out more about this deal visit: http://GJurl.com/acronisoffer So, that's it for this week - see you in seven days...! 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. |
