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Week 2 HW #3 - Martha's COIN 72

Chapter 1 – Web Presence; Option A – E-Biz Basics

INSTRUCTIONS   Question 1   Question 2   Question 3

Question 1 ‐ The customer, the designer, and the marketer may all share an interest in the same Website – its appearance, its functioning, and its accessibility – but they each have distinctly different perspectives. The customer, for one, is interested in getting information. He wants to find a solution to a problem, or explore an issue, or maybe even join a community of other like‐minded Website visitors. He wants the Web to work for him. He has no interest in the Website’s financial well‐being, other than hoping it doesn’t “go under”. Instead, he simply wants it to work, and to work well – smoothly, intuitively, quickly, and safely. If it does, he is content. If he finds what he’s looking for, he’s appreciative. And if the Website provides more than he expected, if the Website offers information or entertainment or community, the customer will be back. In fact, most customers will eagerly offer their e‐mail address and credit card information to a Website they like, one they know, and have grown to trust. This is the goal of the customer for a Website – familiarity, usefulness, and trustworthiness. The designer, on the other hand, is really not interested in being part of the Website’s community. Nor is she interested in the financial profit of the Website. Rather, she wants the Website to reflect her own artistic and technical talents, her design skills. It matters to designers whether others admire the work they’ve done. It disappoints them to do “down and dirty”, routine, or run‐of‐themill projects. They would rather find fame, or recognition, or professional awards – or simply the satisfaction of having crafted a beautiful “product”. For most designers, the LOOK of the Website is everything. Well, almost everything – functionality is also important. But they are often able to rely on technical experts to produce a Website that works beautifully. Thus, the designer’s responsibility is to “put it all together”, to present things well, to attract the customer, and satisfy the employer who pays for her design. Finally we have the marketer – he is interested in showing off the products and services that the company makes. He wants to attract customers, sell products, satisfy the customer, and get a growing audience of viewers who want to keep coming back. To do this, the marketer wants to identify the competition (p. 16) and see what they offer, so he can provide a better product. He wants to increase sales, find affiliates, and search for joint venture hosts. Bottom line – the marketer wants products to sell. The website serves the marketer as a way to interact with the customer, and as a means to an end. If the Website is not productive, they don’t care – they will try some other avenue of marketing – letters, or press releases, seminars or sponsored events. To achieve these goals, the marketer has many resources, and these are the guidelines (p. 29):

Should one person be responsible with performing all these roles? Well, it depends! Probably to start out, the entrepreneur will be both marketer and designer, and do everything else to ensure the business gets off the ground. However, with any degree of success, the owner of the business will likely have to hire others to help her. Since her focus is on the overall financial success of the business, she will best focus her attention here, and will hire experts to do the design and marketing.
To illustrate the differences between Websites that reflect the different needs of designers and marketers, check out these:

Question 2 – The entrepreneur seeks to provide a product that meets his customer’s needs. He must price it right so that he sells as much as he can with a maximum of profit. He must package it, and he must distribute it, so customers can use his product (or service). Finally, he must promote it. His goal is to provide a product or service no one else does, or if he has competitors, his goal is to make his product better than theirs, and distinguishable FROM theirs. The marketer has a much smaller range of responsibilities. He takes the product or service that has been priced right and is ready for distribution, and he promotes it. His goal is to attract customers to display the product features, to ensure the customer’s satisfaction. As shown above, he has many methods for promotion. But his financial obligations are much smaller and narrower than those of the entrepreneur. Because of these differing goals and abilities, there may be a conflict between the financial goals of the entrepreneur, and the marketer. However, if they both remember their ultimate goal – to convert visitors into buyers, and customers into repeat customers – they should be able to work together. Here’s another Website to examine, illustrating the different approach of an entrepreneur. In this case, the owner is a consultant, and he is selling his services based on his reputation, the testimonials of others, and his “offerings” – articles written by him, which showcase his intellectual expertise.

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Question 3 – The most important thing about e‐biz basics is to convert the customer into a buyer of the products or services you have to offer. It may seem like a daunting task, but it can actually be broken down into a series of well‐ordered and easily‐understood steps. The process goes like this (pp. 11‐14):

1. Get in control of everything IN the process that affects your lifestyle;
2. Establish your products and services for sale;
3. Communicate your solution to your customers – CONVERT them into buyers;
4. Build traffic to your website;
5. Become the recognized expert in your field;
6. Create a virtual sales force through affiliates;
7. Power‐partner with others as joint venture hosts for exponential sales growth.

To plan your web site strategy, again, the process is rather easily defined (pp. 15‐22):
1. Define your target customer:
a. Document 3 categories of needs – who might want what you have to offer?
b. Identify your competition;
c. SPY on your competition – see what they offer; discover what you can do better;
d. Estimate the revenue potential;
e. Calculate your potential market share.top
2. Develop your Website goals and budget
a. Calculate your goals
b. Start with your financial goals
i. Determine your desired annual gross revenue
ii. Calculate your average sales value – create an Excel spreadsheet;
iii. Project your required sales per day: DR / ASV = SPY (Desired Revenue / Average
Sales Value = Sales Per Year);
c. Create traffic and conversion and what‐if scenarios – create another Excel spread sheet:
i. S / C = V; the sales you need/the conversion rate = visitors needed
d. Enjoy these benefits from analyzing info such as this:top
i. Predictability;
ii. Reactivity – the ability to act quickly when things change; and
iii. Testability.
e. Calculate how much you need to spend per visitor.
3. Know your limits!
a. Answer 3 questions:
i. What am I really good at?
ii. What skills should I improve, and which ones should I hire out?
iii. What type of work do I absolutely despise
b. Rate your ability and willingness to perform the functions required;
i. Design
ii. Programming
iii. Web server administration
iv. Content writing
v. Copywriting
vi. Publicity
vii. Accounting
viii. Sales
ix. Research

Well, that’s a quick look at how it’s done. Now for the rest of the quarter we’ll get into the specifics. And as always, we are about to find out that reading about web marketing, describing the process, categorizing and listing its components – that’s the easy part. Next we will attempt to put it into
practice. Let the games begin!top

Source: WEB MARKETING ALL-IN-ONE FOR DUMMIES by Arnold, Lurie, et al, 2009, Wiley/Dummies Publishing, ISBN: 978-0-470-41398-2