Jan/12
Cool Technology Meets Hot Resorts in Turks & Caicos
At PTM, we kicked off 2012 in great fashion, with a trip to Providenciales, Turks & Caicos, to meet with some of the most prestigious resorts on the island.
Upon arrival, it quickly became apparent that this place was a real-life paradise… With beaches that stretch for miles, and the blue-est of blue waters, an instant concern of distraction was inevitable. Life moves slower in Turks & Caicos, and for good reason… These people live in an atmosphere most of us only see in photos, and on numerous occasions, I was told “Life simply doesn’t get better than this Joel, the scenery never gets old”.
Upon settling in, it was time to get to work… With the paradise backdrop, we were here to introduce new technologies to the island. This ultimate travel destination was the perfect setting to showcase our new suite of measurable marketing tools.
Our new technologies allow us to enhance the marketing experience for our clients, providing them with the ability to make smarter, more relevant and effective marketing decisions.
Sonny enjoying some down time.
However, the trip to Turks & Caicos wasn’t all work and no play… On a walk through the shopping district, we came across a store offering Sun Bum sunscreens… this is where our family welcomed a new addition (Sonny), a 9″ vinyl gorilla, who I couldn’t help but purchase… Sonny joined us for the rest of our stay, enjoying adventures and a little relaxation of his own… We began documenting his journey, and continue to do so, even upon returning home to Windsor, Ontario.
Our visit to Turks & Caicos was not only a successful business trip, but also a glimpse into the dream life… To one day hopefully awake each day on an island like this, is the reason we put 120% into everything we do… I couldn’t think of a better reward.
Thank you Turks & Caicos!
Aug/11
Must Read: Things to Ask Your Website Developer
Keeping up with the latest in web technologies, search engine practices, and compatibility requirements, more than likely isn’t your forte… Otherwise, you’d be a web developer yourself.
There are a lot of factors involved in ensuring your website is functioning like a well-oiled machine, but here are a few that you’ll want to make sure are part of your website, to give your website a chance at performing.
Robots.txt file
A robots.txt file, tells search engines which pages and directories of your website, you may wish them to ignore when crawling/indexing your website. You may want to tell them to exclude a members area, or private directories that you don’t want to show up in search results, while internet users are performing searches.
Whether or not you want search engines to “exclude” certain files/folders, it’s important to have a robots.txt file, as it gives you control over that much more, when it comes to certain processes. Without this file, you’re leaving “error handling”, and other uncertainties to your web host… Probably not a good idea. So be safe, and ask your web developer if you have an effective robots.txt file.
XML Sitemap
Creating and submitting a Sitemap helps ensure that Google knows about all the pages on your site, including URLs that may not be discoverable by Google’s normal crawling process. A successful website relies on search engines having the proper information in front of them, to properly include your website’s pages in their search results.
W3C Compliance
W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) is in it’s basic form, an organization that sets the “standards” of the online web language. It’s basically the rules in how to format your website’s code. Its been often argued, whether or not that compliant code helps your website perform better in search engines.
I can only speak for myself, and my experience (and I don’t claim to know everything), however here’s my take… I believe in compliant code for the most part… I’ll agree that there are situations where a couple “errors” in compliance are just fine, as they wont hurt the way search engines see your website… However, for a search engine to properly crawl and index your website site, it is important that they can interpret the different elements of your site, such as style, navigation and content.
Another reason, is compliant code helps ensure that your website displays properly across all modern web browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome etc).
Clean, compliant, expected HTML and CSS code facilitate the efforts of search engines to determine your website’s content and relevancy, and ensures you’re providing your audience with a website the way you intended it. A website that’s filled with non-compliant errors puts you at risk for search engines not being able to properly do their job, and visitors leaving after just arriving.
It’s easy to see if your website is compliant… Simply go to http://validator.w3.org/ , and type in your website address. This will perform a test on only the specific page, so you may want to try it out on a few pages of your website. *Keep in mind, like I said, a few errors are often okay, depending on what those errors are. If you see 10+ errors, you may want to express a little concern, about the integrity of your website’s code.
That’s it for now… Start with these, and ensuring your website is following these, is a good step forward in improving your website for both visitors and search engines alike.
Aug/11
Customer Loyalty: Maximizing Your Retention Rate
It’s mind boggling, how overlooked customer loyalty and retention is these days… So many businesses assume they’re so much better than the competition… it’s comical. The reality is, you’re probably not splitting atoms, so consumers have options on where they can go to buy products/services similar to yours.
Customer loyalty and retention are critical keys to a successful business. Treat your customers with respect, and they’ll reward you with loyalty. Express genuine interest in their needs, and keep in mind that if your current customers are happy, they will send new customers your way.
The truth is, its a lot easier and more cost effective to build and enhance current relationships than bring in new ones. Loyal customers buy more, and more frequently.
Here are a few proven ways to help build stronger relationships with your customers, and increase your retention rate.
- Don’t take loyalty for granted - Seemingly obvious, but many business owners are trapped in the “we already have them” mindset, and their existing customers are the ones who suffer. Nourish and flourish these customers, to ensure they feel appreciated. Successful marketing campaigns may draw new customers, but only relationship building will help ensure they keep coming back. Don’t take customer loyalty for granted and don’t underestimate the power of relationship building. Customers return when they feel not only that their needs have been met, but when they can trust the product/service/advice your brand has to offer them.
- Word-of-mouth - Markets are saturated, and competitors are often plentiful. With that, it is easy for a customer to take their business elsewhere. If you’re not keeping your customers happy, somebody else will. Since it’s rarely the product that sells your company these days, your service and expertise better be top notch. Being good is no longer good enough. You need to go above and beyond, to really keep people talking.
- Lend a hand - If a current customer or prospect is having difficulty, lend them a hand, even if it doesn’t result in direct business. People who scratch backs, get theirs scratched in return. Expressing interest in your clients’ success or happiness, shows a lot about the character of your brand. At Primary Target Media, we’ve built our reputation on this very principle. We know what we know, and not everything has to be “billable”.
- Save the fluff - Personally, nothing irritates me more, than a clearly rehearsed conversation. Spare me the pitch, and let’s talk straight. Fortunately for me, I’m a nerd, so I understand “techy talk”… but I do everything I can, to talk in an understandable manner to my clients. If they’re confused about what I’m talking about, they’re never going to feel comfortable in what I’m offering. The days of fancy suits and big words are over… don’t get me wrong, I love a stylish 3-piece as much as the next guy, but if it’s the suit that’s selling my services, we’re all in big trouble. People are drawn to what they can relate to, and it’s no different in business. Focus on your offering, and how you can help your customer… not your knowledge of big words and complicated conversation.
- Show your appreciation - Appreciating your customers doesn’t have to mean giving them something for free. Simply being there when they need something is often times enough. Showing them that they can count on you and your business goes a long way in building a strong relationship. I also believe in offering my loyal clients discounts on my services, if and whenever possible. After all, they’ve trusted me with their business in the past, and showing my appreciation with a discount is the least I can do.
These things may seem somewhat obvious, but you’d be surprised how many businesses overlook them. Let your customers know that their success and satisfaction is important to you. Your success depends on theirs, so enuring your customers are happy, is truly critical.