website development Archives - Page 2 of 3 by Mark Murnahan

The Lazy Internet Culture: A Culture of Internet Marketing

Do You Understand Global? — Do You Understand Globalization?

The Internet has created a lot of change in culture around the world. It is not true for everybody, but on a large scale, globalization and greater awareness of the world is a reality. People learned more about the other side of this planet in the past decade than in all those thousands of years prior to the Internet. We have embraced other cultures that we were not previously aware of, and we have blended into a larger culture … the Internet culture. The Internet truly has been instrumental in creating the more global society we know today.

I am an American. I live within about an hour drive from the geographical center of the continental United States. I am about as far away from another country as you can be while within the USA boundaries. At the same time, I would estimate that I have more experience in dealings outside of the USA than 99.9 percent of United States citizens. Much of that is due to the Internet, but not entirely. I have traveled extensively, and I have spent time in many other countries. I have done business in countries all around the world, and learned a lot of interesting things about many cultures. I guess you may call me “worldly” based on my experiences, but I have learned more about people and cultures by using the Internet than in my travels. I should perhaps also add that it has provided me with a unique view on Americans and American Work Ethic vs. Globalization.

The Lazy Internet Culture and Internet Marketing

It seems that the Internet has a downside. Actually, the Internet has a few downsides, but I want to address a particular one. I want to address the culture of laziness that the Internet has made widely available. It is a lazy culture of believing that the Internet will fix everything, and that it is a simple place to earn a living. After all, who wouldn’t love to sit back and watch money flow in all night and day for doing nothing, and risking nothing? That is how the Internet is viewed by a frighteningly large number of people.

This really is a problem, and it really does have an affect on your business future! It has an affect on how people view their jobs, and it creates a laziness with a backlash that we cannot even quantify as of yet.

A Story of Our Internet Culture

I received a call a couple days ago that sincerely troubled me. I actually get a lot of calls like this, but I will share this particular one with you. The woman on the other end of the line asked me “how much does a website cost?” I have been answering this question for over a decade, but the absurdity is getting worse. The woman wanted to know what it would cost her to get what she wants. I needed more information, because after all, websites are not created equally … not even close. An ecommerce website with seven digits of monthly traffic will not cost the same as a novice site invisible to Google by the kid who just took his first high school computing class. If you really want to know how much a successful website will cost, without any clue about how it will succeed, my easy answer is “fifty-two squillion dollars and thirty four cents” (plus a fresh pot of coffee and a carton of cigarettes). Read “How Much does a Website Cost?” if you want a more defined look at the variables involved.

I asked her what kind of website she needs, what she will be offering, and what her goals are. She told me that she wanted to sell travel, and she wanted to earn between $1,000-$2,000 per month. Please note that I don’t market for hobbies … I market for businesses. This was clearly not a client that I would accept, but I wanted to help her with some guidance anyway. She seemed really earnest in wanting to do something, but she was extremely confused. So, we talked for a bit. I did not charge her a penny.

I came to discover that she did not yet have a service to offer. She was looking into an opportunity to sell a travel service. The company she had been considering offered a package for $399 with a website and everything she would require to make the money she needed and wanted. She was actually coming to me for comparison shopping. She thought maybe I could offer something for less than $399 that would earn her $1,000-$2000 per month. (Note: I do not deal in hundreds.) She really felt interested in the opportunity the company offered. I did not want to hurt her hopes, but I was just dying to know how she thought she would stand out beyond 672 million other results in a Google search for travel, with a budget under $400. I wanted to know her angle. I also really had to know whether she had heard of Travelocity, Expedia, Orbitz, Priceline, Hotels.com, or the others. I wanted to hear how she planned to get her piece of that market without any sense of a marketing budget, and without any travel industry experience. Don’t judge me just yet. I was nice about each of my questions … I was sincerely nice.

All of the sudden, the topic changed. When I asked about how she would target her audience for selling travel, she was at a loss. I guess she got a bit scared when she realized it would be kind of hard to earn a living selling travel to her friends and family. Then she wanted to know about marketing her line of perfume. No, not just perfume, but wedding perfume. Wow, this was a big shift from travel. She wants to market a very targeted perfume, specifically for a Christian woman on her wedding day. Really, she had a good case for it, too. The story was complete with things a nun had taught her as a young lady. She is ready for targeted marketing. Well, except for the fact that the target is like shooting a pea with a spitball at 100 kilometers.

Please see my point here. I hear a lot of stories about the next fantastic idea every day. Sometimes it is a new idea, and sometimes it is a person who just wants a piece of an existing market. Many times, it is just somebody looking for a way to get out of a job or to increase their lot in life, without any focus whatsoever. In nearly every instance, it is a person or corporation who thinks they have what it takes to be a success. They think this right up to the point of going broke trying to prove it. Sometimes they get lucky and find somebody who will tell them the truth before they waste a bunch of time and money. It is the lucky ones who find somebody to be honest and let them know it will not be as easy as the advertisement they just read about the Internet being their new savior.

I am usually pretty abrupt about things like this by giving an Internet marketing reality check. I felt really kind toward this woman. I guess I just needed to know more about her hopes, and I wanted to try my best to understand the mentality of people and what they respond to. I wanted to have a feel for people again … real people … like the ones struggling with hopes that they secretly believe are foolish but really want to hold onto. I wanted to feel somebody’s hopes, without just immediately crushing them with the truth. I wanted to let her down softly and not just be the everyday brutally honest Murnahan.

Three Lazy Internet Marketing Categories

I want to offer my views of three very sad categories of people I find in my career in Internet marketing. These three lazy categories of people that the Internet culture has created are as follows:

Type One: They heard the Internet is a great place to earn more money. This is a common message delivered by people trying to rip somebody off. It is so common that I would categorize it as the most destructive factor of the Internet. The majority of Internet users falling into this trap do not understand business, marketing, or even conceptualize earning a lot of money. They just know that they hear a whole lot of talk about making a ton of money, and websites … and there was something else. All they really heard was “money” and “website”. The rest was just filed off as something they did not need to know. They deeply believe that there actually is a quick and easy road to riches, and they just have to keep looking under every rock until they find it. There is a big belief that “somebody is getting rich the easy way, and it may as well be me.” What these sad folks will never grasp is that if anybody is getting rich easy, it is the one who sold you that delusion. The truth is that they are usually not worth the paper they are printed on.
Type Two: They already tried to use the Internet for a business, and it failed. This usually happens when somebody fails to implement due diligence. They did everything they heard would work, and they still failed miserably. Their business did not grow, and they lost every penny they spent. This is a sad category to me, because it is the kind I may have actually been able to help if they came to me earlier. There really is a huge marketplace on the Internet. Success is attainable if you have a business with a really good Internet marketing plan. If you are in this category, I wish you the best. If you ever want to try to do it better than before, I will be delighted to visit with you about a solid marketing plan with real numbers.
Type Three: They keep hearing about the Internet and are curious, but they are paralyzed by fears. They do not want to make the wrong decisions, so they make no decisions at all. They do what is comfortable, and they are afraid to push the marketing go button.

How Can I Call Internet Marketing Culture Lazy?

People who have followed my blog or my career for a while realize that I have been very successful in my line of work. Many also realize that I took it on the chin for the small guys about two years ago. I took some big losses in 2009 by standing up for people like this. It caused a loss to my annual income of more than an average twenty Americans earn per year, and postponed a planned 2012 retirement. That happened when huge corporate suppliers and clients alike started laying people off and ceasing services that I sold to my clients. I was a stand-up guy when they needed a stand-up guy. I feel mostly good about my decisions, and never regret holding integrity above profits.

I have always had a bit larger view of the Internet than average, because I provide the services that a lot of Internet service providers sell to their customers. I was not a bastard when I perhaps should have been a bastard the most. When I talked to the woman in the conversation above, I wanted to get back to understanding these people who have hopes without common sense getting in the way. After all, I created a massively successful Internet business back in 2000 with that same positive spirit. Fortunately, I also owned a 13 year old marketing company at the time.

There has been a lot of change in the world since I started my wholesale Internet services company. It was not easy then, and it is even harder to get a good foothold now. The opportunity is greater than ever, but it is incredibly irresponsible to start a new business with no budget, no marketing plan, and nothing but a huge set of blinders on to keep you from seeing anything but a carrot of hope in the distance. Success does not work that way.

What will make you different? I have an idea! Try some marketing talent. If you don’t have marketing talent, you better have money to hire it out.

A Positive Note About Internet Marketing Laziness

I want to leave you with a positive thought about the laziness and easy-money attitudes about Internet marketing. I have been in this industry long enough to see a lot, and I have had a lot of success at it. I have also worked very hard for it. If it helps you to feel any better at all, I will show you three little kids who will never in my lifetime be allowed to think the Internet is an easy place to earn money. These are my children, and I love them too much to destroy them with such nonsense.

Produce More Website Content … But Why? SEO?

“You should produce more website content.” This is a pretty common message that many search engine optimizers will tell you. They say that “if you produce more content, you will have more website traffic.” Are they lying to you? No, but there is another piece that is missing. I am going to give you that piece, and it will not cost you a cent. I will give you the good and bad sides of creating more content on your website, along with some encouragement that it is not as difficult at you may imagine, so pay attention.

You want more website traffic. Don’t try to deny it. I want more website traffic, too. Website traffic makes me happy. It makes me feel vindicated for all my hard work. It makes me money … (insert sound byte of screeching tires here). Incorrect! More website traffic actually does not pay me a penny. It actually comes with a cost. Maybe this is why I am telling you the truth. I may just lie to you if I earned a dollar every time you click another page, but I do not. Go ahead and look around to see that I do not have a bunch of cost-per-exposure advertisements or cost-per-action links to “buy now” or “register here” on my blog. I have a couple of my own books listed to the left, but I am not force-feeding that to you. They are not my big money-maker. So, you may ask, “what is the catch, and why do you want to share this with me?” There must be something dirty in this plan, right? No, in fact, I actually do not want to sell you anything at all. I will explain, but first, I want you to understand some facts about producing more website content. I will explain why more website content is important, and also why it is not important.

Benefits Producing More Website Content

If you produce more written content on your website, there will be more things for Google and other search engines to add to their databases. This means that as long as you do everything else just right, you will have a higher chance of being listed when somebody performs a search. Do not underestimate the importance of this fact. Consider why Wikipedia is found so often when you search for something. Wikipedia has a lot of useful website content … things you want to know.

I recently illustrated the huge differences in website traffic based on adding new website content as compared to the reach of social media. I suggest reading “Twitter is Useful but Blogging is Better” and also a piece titled “10 Really good Reasons to Blog“. Your website really is the epicenter of your business efforts online, so you should treat it that way. If you are in business and want more business, you should really be producing more website content … but here comes the hard part.

Producing More Website Content Does Not Matter

Website content is important. It is important enough that more website content, alone, is not what really matters. Your competitors are producing more website content, too. The race is on, and now it will require marketing talent to win. Doing it right is what matters. Giving people information they want and need, becoming a market authority, and being ready with a solution for the reader’s need matters more. Volume of website content will get people there, but having something truly spectacular for them is what makes them a customer.

There is a balance to be found between more website content and great website content. Some content will get traffic and public attention, but people will only look further if it grabs them and pulls them in. The people who visit my blog because they searched for “best hookers” (and they do) are not buying what I sell, but it is a pretty darn popular piece of blogging content. The people who happen upon that piece because I referenced it, like I did here, are why I wrote it. There is also a lot of value in reaching the audience just outside of your focus using “lateral keywords“. This means keywords in a lateral and sometimes unexpected market.

Producing Website Content Gets Easier

Producing website content gets easier with practice, and it can really create a snowball effect. Just consider this: I set out to write a book about Twitter in 2009. I was just out to write one book, but all of the sudden it got easier and I wrote two more within three months. I also blogged enough to wear my fingers smooth.

You do not need a degree in literature to produce successful website content. I can prove this statement. The website content that I have produced over the last decade is viewed by hundreds of thousands of people per month. It has also earned me millions of dollars. I left school at 15 years of age and I am the CEO of a wholesale Internet company. I didn’t have the time or education to write more website content either. I am glad that I did, and it provided inspiration for the book “Living in the Storm“.

You can do this, and it really does make a difference. When you cannot, there are also a lot of website content producers available to hire out the work or to augment your efforts. There is also a search engine optimizer on every corner. These fields grow with each round of layoffs at companies that didn’t produce more website content in time to beat the competition.

When Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and all the other tools you have tried just aren’t working like you hoped, it is likely that you simply didn’t produce enough quality content that people were looking for. Think about it like planting a tree. If you want shade, the best time to plant it is ten years ago. You cannot go back and plant it earlier, so the next best time is now.

Why I Do Not Want to Sell You Anything

I wrote earlier that I do not want to sell you anything at all. That deserves an explanation, because I really do not mean to seem rude or impersonal. The truth is that I am actually looking at the guy over your shoulder. I want your competitor. I want the one who is out to crush your business because they understand the importance of not only producing more website content, but also producing the content that will smash the competition. That is how I earn a living for my family. So, if you call me on the phone or message me, be sure that you tell me you are out to cause a marketing massacre for that other company who read this blog article (yes, they are reading it, too).

Internet Explorer Creates Mass Unemployment

In a recent release by the Washington D.C. Centers for Unemployment Research, a study of unemployed Web developers revealed that over 68 percent were able to directly attribute their job loss to the widespread use of Internet Explorer. It concluded that adoption of Internet Explorer factors heavily in job loss within other industries outside of only technology during the years from 2007 through 2009, but particularly hard-hit was the ecommerce programming sector with up to 73 percent. Further, the study revealed that in nearly each instance, they had also failed to flog, berate, and publicly out their friends and family members who were known to use Internet Explorer.

In a more extensive study, the recently released Institute of Computer User Studies, United Kingdom Report (ICUSUKR) showed that the cost of Internet Explorer usage to business has reached an all-time high. The ICUSUKR concluded that even if you spell it out carefully, Internet Explorer users were up to 78 percent less likely to grasp basic computing concepts, including the “Any” key and other Internet-related tasks.

Does Internet Explorer Really Cause Job Loss?

Well, maybe, but I made that all that stuff up. It is a joke, but let us just look at this Internet Explorer for a moment. Internet Explorer creates such an excessive burden to the Internet public in areas of security, functionality, and design that if Toyota was to launch the next Internet Explorer, it would likely take all the heat off for their stuck throttle cables. I think General Motors and Bank of America should have rolled with something like this ages ago.

If you doubt me on the importance that you stop using Internet Explorer, please see the article on BBC News: “German government warns against using MS Explorer”. Seriously, watch the video on that article!

In any case, you probably wonder how Internet Explorer could contribute to unemployment. After all, that is why you clicked, right? I will break a couple things down for you. Let us first examine these geeky factors of cost to business. Yes, business … the ones you count on to put food on your table, and the ones you buy your stuff from. They all suffer from this Internet ailment.

We all understand that the Internet is where marketing and business takes place, right? If you deny that, get off my blog straight away. You do not belong here. Did you see what I write about?

Excessive Cost of Internet Explorer to Business

Programming Cost of Internet Explorer – When you hire a programmer to handle all of those tedious tasks of making your Website work just how you like, programmers and designers have this little calculator in their head counting all of the episodes of 24 they will have backed up on their DVR because they are busy making your site work with complete cross-platform compatibility. In simple terms, they have to count up how much extra time it will take them to fix all of the little buggy stuff Internet Explorer will do to their Web-Standards-Perfect masterpiece. Maybe you thought we use Microsoft Word to make Websites, but if you just click here, you can see what programming code it takes to make just this one measly page you are looking at. A few screwups there and you have yourself a broken Website that will not perform in Google, or get you those massive orders you were hoping for. Internet Explorer makes it a huge pain in our asses, and guess who pays for that? Yeah, companies. Companies that are already stretching every dime to put bloated junk code out there instead of doing things right … the way companies should strive to do business.

SPAM Cost of Internet Explorer – In comes the SPAM. Yep, SPAM! Since you did not flog, berate, and publicly out your friends and family members for using IE, they picked up a little something for you. They sent it in their email. It was the cutest thing, and you just had to pass it along.

You just sent your Website programmer and designer (along with all of your pals) 84 pieces of email about getting a diploma without going to school, 127 pieces of email offering cheap luxury watch replicas, and 363 offers for Viagra and Cialis. This is because when your friend’s computer was hacked, it spread like a virus. Exactly like a virus!

Yep, viral marketing at its best! You didn’t even have to participate, really. They had your email address in their infected computer and that was enough to make you even more popular. Just not in the “panties on your head singing the school fight song” way you used to seek popularity. All the same, you are popular now … be happy!

I know you may still be sore about all the time it took you to download that last AOL update, but please take the time to download a more secure and faster browser that uses Web Standards such as Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.

RELATED ARTICLE: “How Much Does a Website Cost?”

Asking For The Sale Online

Sales representatives forgetting to open the order pad or afraid to ask for the sale has been a concern of sales managers forever. This is something that I concentrated on as a sales trainer and management consultant for years. It often came down to a lack of confidence and training, but why should this be the case with a Website? Shockingly, the same problem also holds true on the Internet. Are you asking for the sale?

Asking for the sale is the best part of the job!

It could be said that asking for the sale is the hardest task for a sales representative. It seems strange, however, that this is the part that actually creates the business, and thus pays the salesperson. When it comes right down to it, it should be the most natural thing, and the fun part of the job. So why are so many Website owners neglecting the best part of the sales job? The answer is that they simply do not know better. It is because of a lack of training and experience.

How do you ask for the sale?

In order to understand your shortcomings, it is often best to ask for another set of eyes from outside your organization. Fortunately, with Websites those extra eyes (and where they are looking) are recorded in a server log that may be reviewed and analyzed to determine patterns which may show that you simply are not asking for the sale. If you do not know what to do with this information, and most people do not, you need a professional. This brings me to the point of asking you for the sale.

May I have your business?

I am not a hypocrite, so I will lead by example. I want your business, and I am not afraid to ask. Some benefits that you will receive from my services are as follows:

Enhanced Website user experience emphasizing your call to action.
Expanded visibility with search engine optimization (SEO) placing your Website at the top of appropriate search results.
Improved market exposure through social media.
Improved public relations with well prepared and distributed press releases.
Improved presentation with professional creation and review of existing marketing copy.

I want to provide you with my experience in reaching markets and delivering quality results. For more information, please take your time and review this blog. I hope that you will find this information useful. Following your review, call me at *REDACTED DUE TO AGING WEBSITE* to get started with a better approach to your Internet market.

One last thing! May I have your business please?

Hire a Web Developer and SEO

How often have you said to yourself, “I need to hire a Web developer”? My guess is that it is not something you do every day, unless you are in the business. I suspect that the question of hiring a Web developer or hiring a search engine optimization (SEO) professional is relatively foreign to you, so allow me to help you.

When you shop for commercial real estate, the experts will tell you that the three most important factors are, in this order, 1.) Location 2.) Location 3.) Location. As for the building itself, some of the considerations are size, features, accessibility, ammenities, legal issues, etcetera. The cost will also be a factor, but if you get these basics right, the cost is a hurdle that you will make every effort to leap.

These principles of location (SEO), size, features, accessibility, ammenities, and legal issues hold true in Website development as well, so before you hire a Web developer, you should consider how they will address each of these matters.

Hiring a Web Developer: Website Location

I am surprised how many people think that because somebody can find them online by searching for their company name that it is enough. These people are missing the whole picture. If your company name is Bob’s Bait Shop and somebody Googles that, it is only because they knew you exist. That is not how marketing works. The only way to be successful online is if people who do not know you exist can find you. In the instance of Bob’s Bait Shop, Bob needs to be found when people search for worms, or stink bait, fishing lures, night crawlers, minnows, fishing rods, and boating supplies. This is what I mean by location of your Website, and it is very seldom to find a need for a Website that cannot benefit from a good location on the Internet. Hiring a Web developer, alone, may make it possible to Google your company name, but it will not likely set your cash register ablaze.

Web Developers and SEOs Are Not The Same

Just because somebody is a Web developer does not mean they have a clue about SEO. Also, many SEO professionals will know how to develop a Website, but it is not really their cup of tea. If you consider the hourly rates of Web developers or SEOs, there is generally a huge contrast, which explains why SEOs will generally stick to their area of expertise. They are both important to your Internet marketing, but I have found that too seldom these two experts do not play well together. It is common that the Web developer / Web designer is more concerned with aesthetics and layout, whereas the SEO’s job is to be sure that enough people will actually see the Website. These two divergent concerns often have technological conflicts, and if they are good at what they do, they will likely have big egos to preserve. With practice, they can get along, and once in a while, they can even be found in the same person or company. When you make the leap to hire a Web developer, you will be wise to find one that understands SEO, but it is even better if you find them in the same place.

How To Find a Web Developer and SEO

A sad fact for many people seeking to hire a Web developer is that they will go with the first referral from a friend who says “I have a neighbor kid who can build a Website for you”, or they know somebody who has a full time job but does a little freelance work on the side. You found my blog, so you can likely understand the difference between the professional Web developer and SEO and the kid who just unwrapped his new copy of Dreamweaver. As for the freelance guy with a day job, why isn’t he doing this full time from the comfort of his pajamas if he is really good at it? Your best answer is more likely to be to find a Web developer using Google. A Web developer with a good search engine ranking and a good looking and useable Website will normally suggest that there is the capacity to do the same for you. It is often comfortable to hire a Web developer in your general location, but I do a lot of work for companies far away from my location in Topeka, Kansas.

Hiring a Web Developer: Legal Issues and Liabilities

This is an area where I am often dumbfounded. I have been shocked on many occasions to be contacted by companies trying to resolve the ownership of their programming code, content, and even their domain name, because they hired an inexperienced or unethical Web developer. The concerns of legal and liability issues when hiring a Web developer should not be taken lightly. You should review their contracts carefully, and if you have questions, pay an attorney to review it also. If they offer you a “handshake deal”, run away, fast. There is good reason for a clearly defined Website development contract, and it will benefit you to understand it before signing it or paying a deposit.

Web Development and SEO Related Blog Posts

I have written many blog posts relating to hiring a Web developer or SEO, and I hope that they will help you to find your next Web development company. I would like my company to be the one you choose, but in any case, I want you to find this information useful, above all.