That’s the reason I should hire this guy instead of the other ten thousand realtors who want my business? Because he’s up all night, ever night, singing “Do Ya Think I’m Sexy?” and “Faith of the Heart”?

Yes, I know; the point was to get across that he’s available for his clients when they need him… in which case, how about this slogan? “I’m here for you.”

That way, he gets across that he’s available and will probably have to take fewer drunk-dialing home-selling clients at 3 am.

I took the liberty of checking out the speaker bios and realized I also had the chance to provide a bit of a teaching moment. To wit, How To (And How Not To) Promote Yourself In A Bio On A Website:

First, showing how not to do it, we have Dave McClure of 500 Startups. Dave decided to take the quick attention-getting route of making himself out to be kind of a weirdo. I’m not sure it paid off for him, unless you subscribe to the idea that all publicity is good publicity — which hasn’t really worked out that well for BP, Conrad Black or the junta in Burma.

(And before any of Dave’s friends start talking about stones and glass houses, I know very well that I’ve crossed the line on a number of occasions using this very strategy [examples here and here]. So yes, I’m a hypocrite. Such is life.)

I’ve highlighted the, uh, best bits:

Dave McClure is a greedy, blood-sucking venture capitalist & founding general partner at 500 Startups, an internet startup seed fund and incubator program in Mountain View, CA. He likes to hang out with entrepreneurs, and occasionally help or invest in their startups if they are foolish enough to let him. Dave has been geeking out in Silicon Valley for over twenty years, and has worked with companies such as PayPal, Mint, Founders Fund, Facebook, LinkedIn, SlideShare, Twilio, Simply Hired, O’Reilly Media, Intel, & Microsoft. Years ago he used to do real work like coding or marketing or running conferences, but these days he mostly does useless stuff like sending lots of email, blogging, and hanging out on Facebook and Twitter.  Dave also likes to play ultimate frisbee when his knees don’t hurt

As I said, I’m not too fond of the above. But what do I know? I just put words together for a living.

Next, to show what I think is a good example. To compare, I’ll use Clarity Digital President Leonard Brody’s bio. It’s a bit long, but it works. Again, I’ve highlighted the parts I like — phrases that focus not so much on who he is as what he does and why he appears to rock the flock:

Leonard has been called “a controversial leader of the new world order”. He is a highly respected entrepreneur, venture capitalist, best-selling author and a 2 time Emmy nominated media visionary. He has helped in raising millions of dollars for startup companies, been through one of the largest internet IPOs in history and has been involved in the building, financing and/or sale of five companies to date. In 2004, Leonard co-founded, and was CEO of, NowPublic.comnamed by Time Magazine as one of the top 50 websites in the world, was inducted into the Newseum in Washington and was recently acquired by the Anschutz Corporation. Currently Leonard sits as the President of the Clarity Digital Group responsible for overseeing one of the largest online news conglomerates in the world including Examiner.com and NowPublic, which between them, share over 20 million unique visitors a month and over 200,000 contributors. which is a pioneer in the field of citizen journalism. The company was

I see the difference. Can you see the difference?

Take care of the little things and the big things take care of themselves. When you can’t get the basics right, your customers start wondering about your credibility.

On a related note, I would also recommend staying out of the village of Crestwood if you can avoid it.

There are two schools of thought when it comes to listing prices for services. Some like it. Some really don’t. Let’s start with the latter.

The problem with listing prices on your website: dropped sales leads (at least in theory)

Particularly for businesses that quote per project, some owners think that quoting prices on the website will discourage leads.

For instance, what if a visitor comes to the site, sees a price that doesn’t really fit their budget and moves on? The owner listed a price that perhaps was on the high end of that type of project’s range, say $5000, because they didn’t want to list the lower price of $1000 that they might charge for the smallest project of that type. The customer’s budget was actually $3000 — well within what the business might have charged for this sort of project, depending on the scope of work.

The compromise is typically for the business owner to stress in plain language that the quote will depend on the nature of the project. Hopefully, the client is understanding, decides this business is offering the type of service they need and is willing to call to get a quote — without even knowing a ballpark figure for how much this company will charge.

In reality, few customers are this patient or understanding.

The benefit of listing prices: more sales leads

More people will probably buy products and services from your website if you list prices.

Imagine you’re in a real, physical shop. You see one product with a price tag. A competing product with similar benefits and features is right next to it. It doesn’t have a price tag. You’re in a rush to get to the movies to meet your friend. Which product do you buy? The one with the price listed, of course.

The same theory applies to listing prices on your website. Customers know what they’re getting into.

If you’re concerned that customers may get the wrong idea and will want to get a huge scope of work for the minimum price listed on your website, use squishy language (as I have) like “X SERVICE starting at…” or “YZ PRODUCT as low as…” It’s far better than not listing anything at all.

The price of procrastination

If I’m so enthusiastic about listing prices, why have I waited so long to do it? I’ll have to admit that I got a bit complacent. Writing and strategizing are how I like to spend most of my work hours. My business website is based on WordPress and is simple to manage, so I’ve never out-tasked the design. As such, those prominent black and white services buttons listing prices waited and waited and waited. And I’m quite certain I’ve lost sales leads as a result.

So what prompted me to make the change? I was having coffee with the business-development person for Pieoneers, a Vancouver-based website design firm. She was showing me her website and it looked beautiful, funky and absolutely original. She showed me some sites her firm was working on and many of them looked just as eye-catching.

In comparison, my website was relatively free of graphics and buttons — because my strategy was to emphasize the words, the text, the content. Images look great, but the danger is that they can also distract from persuasive copy.

I suddenly recognized my mistake. I’ve always said that great content complements great design. It’s also true when you reverse that order. So I’ll be making changes to the design of my site over the next while. And the first step was adding buttons showing prices for my services.

I should probably add that many websites — including Pieoneers and quite a few of my business colleagues in other industries — still don’t list prices. The debate over how best to boost sales leads and the efficiency of your e-commerce is far from over.

But for now, it seems to me like I’ve made the right decision. And since I’m a metrics-obsessed guy, you can bet that I’ll be able to tell you by next quarter whether or not my ideas about listing prices really paid off.

About a third of my work is helping develop a “big picture” communications strategy for clients. For local businesses, this usually starts with a conversation in a café.

That’s where I ask questions to get answers that will help guide the strategy. The process of answering these questions often has a spin-off benefit; it helps the business owner re-assess their business model and objectives.

What do businesses need to think about before proceeding with a communications strategy? Here’s a quick list (and you’ll notice that a lot of these points will come up when developing or adapting a business plan):

1. What does your business want to promote?
A communications strategy typically operates through campaigns. Businesses may offer a wide range of products or services. Non-profit organizations may support a variety of related causes. Focus your campaigns according to your priority objectives.

An obvious example: if you sell seasonal services like lawn care at this time of year, develop your campaign around that. You don’t need to focus resources and budget right now on marketing your snow clearing services.

2. Who is your target audience?
This is sort of a refined version of your target market. For instance, if you are selling business software, is it better to produce marketing materials addressed to the owner of the company or the head of their IT department? For your gaming company, do you want to reach out to the players directly, or to the game reviewers who are going to influence the players?

3. How do you want your brand to be seen?
It can be confusing to the consumer if your communications materials lack a consistent style. As well, “formal and dignified” may work for a bank or a law firm, but what if your company is Chucky Cheese or Skull Skates? And if you’re going to run a social media campaign, how do you want the voice on your blog or Twitter account to reflect your company’s core values? A communications specialist will be able to provide recommendations, but you may have some ideas of your own to provide guidance.

These are some of the key considerations for developing a big picture communications strategy. It’s a lot to think about. You won’t get through it all while watching the waves come in at a day at the beach. But when you’re feeling recharged and your mind is clear, that’s not a bad time to get started.

If you’re in Vancouver this summer and just want to bounce a few strategy ideas off of a communications expert over an iced cappuccino, we’ll be around (If you’re not in the city, no worries – Skype and email work just fine).

And if you need more intensive help in developing your organization’s long-term communications strategy, we’re around for that as well (We take our vacation in the winter).

To get a free initial consultation to learn more, contact WRITEIMAGE today at (604) 230-2638 or email info [AT] writeimage [DOT] ca

That’s pretty straightforward, right? But the problem with following a strict formula that everyone else follows is that it’s kind of boring. Not necessarily boring for the writer — but for the recipient. Media newsrooms receive thousands of press releases a day. It’s hard to stand out.

One way of standing out is by using hard-hitting language with an instantly newsworthy angle (so it certainly helps if you actually have big news to report). Headlines are particularly important. For instance, “A Foot in the Door — Accountemps Identifies Five Myths and Realities Behind Temporary Work” sounds way more interesting than “GLR Resources Inc. – Company update“.

A second way of standing out is changing the look and feel of the press release. You can have a bit of fun playing with fonts and language if it’s in keeping with the theme of the thing being promoted. A brilliant example comes courtesy of the Neanderthal Arts Festival happening in Vancouver from July 21 to August 1. I’ve copied the text below, but I highly recommend clicking on the PDF to see what it looked like when it came into my inbox.

Click to see the PDF of the Neanderthal Arts Festival Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Theatre Festival More Fun Than Play With Rocks

JULY 9 2010 AD – VANCOUVER – You thought theatre extinct like Neanderthal. Theatre not extinct. Neanderthal not extinct!

Me show you what extinct. Listen now human. Or me crush skull.

Humans come Neanderthal Arts Theatre Festival July 21 – August 1, 2010 Cultch Theatre in East Vancouver. Look 6 one-act plays. Four plays by local humans. Two plays by far away human tribes. That not all. Upintheair present Walking Fish Festival as part of Neanderthal Festival. Five short plays by new human artists.

“Festival good time for humans,” say Neanderthal Consultant Og Ra. “Make laugh. Make think. More fun than play with rocks all day.”

Tell friends, Og say. “More good: all bring spear and bear not come in!”

Showtimes and ticket sales, visit http://www.thal.ca/

Neanderthal Arts Theatre Festival Shows Descriptions
(Note from Media Rep Tok Bok: “Theatre humans insist write descriptions Neanderthals no understand. Tok Bok angry. Tok Bok go get axe.”)

Plays By Local Humans

The 4H Club. A brazenly comedic look at the follies of the newest incarnation of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The story spans the past century as the dysfunctional quartet of Death, Famine, War and Pestilence barge their way through history.

The Hanging Judge. In a cemetery outside 17th Century London, two trolls meet by the discarded corpse of a hanged judge. The mangier troll, Blemish, has brought a bag with him inside which is a bound man. Hilarity ensues.

Nigeria. Peter has had an experience in Africa — perhaps magic. Kris is fairly certain the magic lies in “freemarket” libertarianism business thought. Joan doubts all of them. Sebastian, Joan’s husband, is mysteriously absent.

Tiny Replicas. Simon and Ethan want a baby. Unfortunately, neither of them has a womb. But when four people come together to create a new life, someone’s bound to feel left out.

Plays By Far Away Humans

Highway 63: The Fort Mac Show. Behind every barrel, every economic projection or environmental scandal, there are people. At the heart of the world’s largest energy project at Alberta’s Highway 63, theatre creators from across Canada blend verbatim and improvisation.

Countries Shaped Like Stars. The courtship of Gwendolyn Magnificent and Bartholomew Spectacular is a tale of love best heard through a tin-can telephone. With performer-operated lights, water glasses, whirly winds and a mandolin, they create the sounds and images of a landscape altered by regret.

Neanderthal Theatre Arts Festival Media Contacts:

Tok Bok, Neanderthal Media Rep
To contact Tok, send message chiseled onto rock at cave #3, Vancouver BC.
No Phone
No Email

Andrew Templeton, Human Media Rep
778 896 2844
andrewtempleton@yahoo.ca

Remember, It’s All For A Good Cause. Those Poor, Poor Neanderthals

Read my post on the Lift Strategies website to learn more about how to get the customer to take action

Case in point, I found this on a website I came across today:

Some customers prefer to talk to a real live person. Sure, customers might follow your directions and send you an email. But is your company so wildly successful that you can afford to throw away a percentage of clients just because you’re too lazy to check your voicemail?

On this note, a client who’s starting a new business told me they didn’t want to advertise a phone number because that would mean having to pay for a second line. But all this person has to do is get one client for one session or two sessions a month to be able to justify the cost.

If you’re so unsure about your business model that you don’t know if you can get one client one day a month, you’ve got way bigger problems than paying for an extra phone.

• “horrible tragedy” – use this phrasing to differentiate the described event from hilarious tragedies.
• bazaar/bizarre/Bizarro – We bought a bizarre clown toilet paper cozy from Bizarro at the church bazaar.
• An easy way that you can save space is to edit out the overused word “that.” That’s just not a word that needs that much use.
• Unless premeditation was obvious or a suspect is convicted, do not say a victim was murdered. Instead, use the alternate “schmurdered.”