The Client: Amberwise help businesses develop, sustain vision & values driven teams in the pursuit of their organisational objectives. They are based in Australia, Asia and North America with resources supporting performance and change efforts across the UK, Continental Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The Problem: They needed to update their website in a [...]
And if you don’t position your business SOON… you WILL get left behind! Is Your FB Business Page ‘Timeline’ Ready? March 30 is Facebook’s biggest and BEST change for business yet! Why? For the first time on Facebook you will have features that a normal website should have. This is BIG! Facebook is about to [...]
Your business website could be about to get a traffic and ranking boost! Being on Page 1 in Google for one or even more keywords is where the real money is! There’s lots of ‘smoke and mirrors’ with SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) BUT it doesn’t need to be complicated, or expensive. Check out this great [...]
How to Systemise Your Business: A rare interview with Evan Kolbe “Start from the beginning, not the end!” says Evan Kolbe of Kolbe Systems. “For most of us when where trying to systemise our business we either put it into the too hard basket or flick it off to the Admin staff to document everything.” [...]
Our relationship with software can be a love hate thing. Know we need it, ‘supposed’ to make our business more efficient but there always seems to be a cost, mainly the learning curve. Once we have a handle on it and we often look back “What was the problem or why did that seem so [...]
A recent email to our Smarter Websites Members: Hope you had a great Xmas and New Year’s break. Can’t believe its February already! Quick Smarter Websites Members Update: WordPress is now up to version 3.3.1 and the Genesis Framework is up to version 1.8 If you’re a Smarter Websites 110 Member DO NOTHING. Kick back, [...]
Page 1, Position # 5 in Google in 5 Days Flat… So my ‘cranky pants’ are off, my ‘winning smile’ face is on and I’m all pumped. Yesterday I shared how my drop dead gorgeous wife was cross with me for spending way too much time in the office. Hey, I was a man with [...]
My wife was real cranky with me last Thursday night. Admittedly I was still in the office at 10pm but I had a mission that night. I just had to get this new website published. I was stressed trying to get the code right and had my ‘cranky pants’ on… apparently. We wanted to be [...]
The Client: Nathan Peart of Scope Drafting is a dedicated Building Designer and Energy Efficiency Consultant who is passionate about sustainable building design. Nathan’s other passion is the home builders market although his projects range to some of Perth’s leading project home builders. Also a 6 Star Energy Efficiency consultant and specialist using Sustainability WA [...]
In May I listed our investment unit with a real estate guy I met when visiting a local BNI chapter. At the chapter meet Paul did a 10 minute presentation and impressed me with not only his local knowledge but his passion for the district. I mean, how do you tell one agent from another, [...]
What do stocktake sales and new year’s resolutions have in common? They both happen at the end of a yearly cycle. Was 2011 going to be Your Year? We’re half way through. How’s it going? For those who know me well also know that I’m a no fluff sort of guy. Don’t like ornaments in [...]
Apparently there were 2 hacks, one they’ve recovered from but they’re still down on the gaming side. Sony tells us that there is no exact date when the service will be restored. A lot of people are upset but we should also be grateful, this hack was a timely reminder for all of us. Imagine [...]
They don’t have the money. They don’t think it’ll work for them. They don’t like you, or trust you. So if someone has expressed interest in what you do or offer and they don’t run with it – – which one of the above 3 is it? Let’s start with # 1. If they [...]
I just had this email in from the ATO – Australian Tax Office – telling me I had a tax refund due. YIPPEE! You got my attention now buddy. I was a little surprised though, I’d received a letter from them a few weeks back confirming my accountant had got it right, I owed them [...]
Read a report on the top ten most and least affected businesses by our current economic times. The most affected was the tyre industry, seems we’re prepared to let our tyres be a little ‘balder’ before we change them over. The least affected was the beauty industry, go figure. We’re prepared to put our beauty [...]
I know, weird title but it will make sense. You know how in life you just ‘click’ with some people? As soon as you meet them the whole ‘get to know you’ bit is just so easy. It’s almost like you’re long lost buddies having a great catch up. And then there’s the whole similar [...]
So many businesses think once they have a website, a steady stream of new clients will flood in. I call it the “build it and they will come” theory. Good luck with that! That’s a big statement seeing as most of our work is websites, but… We all need a MIX in our marketing for [...]
“How do I get my website to rank better in the Search Engines?” is a question I must get asked at least 3 times a week, every week. And this from both clients and prospects. Now this is a reflection on me, so for that I apologise straight up, I thought I’d educated my clients, [...]
Had this question from a client, Nathan Peart of Scope Drafting this week! He needed to know what happened after people got his “5 Things Potential Owner Builders Must Know!” report. Here’s the question – If I have these people on my email list do they automatically get a copy of new posts on my [...]
The bane of all business owners is Spam. We can waste so much time filtering and dealing with it, even with all the great tools out there. But some people seem to have more of a problem than others. Why? How did they get your email address to start with? Spam bots and email scrapers! [...]
You’ve got a great looking website, you’ve got some traffic, you might even have some great lead generation strategies in place. Your website has some brilliant content along with powerful testimonials. All with a bent for a good user experience. So how can you increase your website enquiries and newsletter sign ups? You already know [...]
My brother had a vision when he was kid to “Live On An Island”. I can remember it as clear as yesterday. I just figured it was kid stuff. You know, “When I grow up I’m going to be a policeman or a nurse or fireman”. But go figure, my brother has done it! “Harry” [...]
New exciting specific case studies coming soon. In the meantime here’s a swag of testimonials from happy clients.
Here’s one way YOU can increase your online exposure! Last week I did a post on the “Top Social Media Marketing Tool For 2011 Is…” I had 3 direct email responses to that post which was great, love feedback, always good for the ego. 2 are shown below, 1 guy wants to remain anonymous. Here’s [...]
Social Media is the new ‘buzz’ and is being touted as this decade’s most cost effective marketing tool with the best ROI. But there is one clear social media winner! With so many options where do you focus your energy first, and most likely your investment to get the best bang for your dollar with [...]
Sorry to bother you on your well-earned break but needed to give you the heads up on this WordPress 3.0.4 Critical Update. Just had this notification in from Matt Mullenweg of WordPress. “They’ve fixed a pretty critical vulnerability in WordPress’ core HTML sanitation library, and because this library is used lots of places it’s important [...]
What does that even mean? Blogging simply means adding an article or newsworthy “post” to your website/blog. Why is it such a big thing? Because Google (and other search engines) love it! “Real Time” Search Results Will Have Your Content Soaring the Google Charts… I wrote a post on that back in November last year [...]
Your Website Can Benefit and Soar the Google Charts with Google’s Predictive Search Results. Google introduced this a few months ago but it is being enhanced all the time. Sorry about the lateness of getting this out but we’ve been busy getting our own and our clients sites cranking up the Google Charts. “Google Predictive [...]
… to Reap the Rewards of Social Media Marketing. You don’t have to go anywhere near FaceBook, Twitter or LinkedIn to grow your business on the social media scene. The biggest issue I hear from those who are social media marketing “challenged” is they don’t have time. That I totally understand! But here’s the next [...]
Spam email messages appearing to come from LinkedIn are bombarding the in-boxes of businesses around the world. These are the 3 most common subject lines that I have come across in these Spam Attacks. So now you’re on LinkedIn: What’s next? LinkedIn Alert LinkedIn new messages There have been reports of an alert that contains [...]
We all lose valuable productive time each and every day simply through being overwhelmed and inundated by emails. I couldn’t live without Orla. Your browser cannot play this video. Learn how to fix this.
I didn’t know how else to start this post. Normally when we publish a new site I write a post so we can show it off. Plus the new site owner gets some traffic by people and the search engines, all a good thing. Trouble is I’ve been so busy doing the “working in my [...]
We’ve just gone “Live” with Holiday Specials Bali using the “Agency” theme. Imagine a gentle, pure sea breeze and the warm glow of sunshine caressing your face as your raise your glass to your lips and savour the sweet taste of your favourite beach cocktail. Work seems a million miles away as you slowly ponder [...]
Imagine you’re the little distributor with the rights to sell a product. What is potentially a multi million dollar product. Great, you’ve got a product you can take online so you finally made it. All you need is a website right? Then you will have joined that elite group that make a living online, you [...]
In our busy entrepreneurial lives we can get caught up doing all the “stuff” we need to get done. I thank my teenage son for giving me a well needed break from it all. This video on You Tube has had over 5 million hits, and that’s just this version. I’ve not seen these guys [...]
This one single tip can get your site to soar the Google charts! Struggling to get traffic and a decent ranking with your website? I have a colleague in South Australia who is an expert in his field but he was in the same boat. How many people can relate to this? He’s very successful [...]
In our BNI meetings (Business Network International) we have a raps, recaps and referrals session. Basically where we get to share how much interaction we’ve had (dance cards) to find out more about each others business, as well as the referrals and closed business we’ve generated for each other. Also an opportunity to acknowledge one [...]
The AMI, Australian Marketing Institute run workshops for their members and I was asked to put together a presentation on social media marketing. Practical “to do’s for results” for the members was my plan. I get tired of workshops that tell you “what to do” without telling you “how to do it” so I got [...]
A “Shout Box” allows your members and readers to leave quick “shouts” (shortly worded messages) in a small location on your sidebar. Social Media is all about interaction. It’s great to get comments on your posts but when the post is “past” your comments might slow down. This is a cool and neat way to [...]
Make sure you get your website right, otherwise it’s just like peeing upwind… you end up losing and just get wet. So many people look at the investment they make into their marketing as a cost. Ahh, wrong! The 3 Step Website Plan – Get Visitor + Convert Visitor Into Lead + Convert Lead Into [...]
Sharon just wanted to get a web presence. Don’t “confuse me” she said. She understood the value of lead generation, after all Sharon is a member of my BNI (Business Network International) group, but she didn’t want to go the lead generation route on her website just yet. Sharon also hears me “go on” at [...]
It’s a tough slog being the solo entrepreneur. We have so many hats to wear and our energy can be pulled so many ways. The plan is always to get staff, delegate and outsource but there’s always that cross over time. Need the staff to make more money but need more money to afford the [...]
Have you noticed a sudden surge in spam emails or notifications? Heard more reports of hackers running amok? Not only that, I have it on good authority that the incidence of “hack attacks” on websites is on the increase. As frustrating as spam emails are, Viagra and the like, I understand the reasoning, a small [...]
One of Tony’s sites had soared up the Google Charts and not only that, over 12 months later had held onto a page 1 spot in Google. I asked Tony for a short spiel. Read his “rave” below… The Guru of Effective WordPress Websites! Wow! This stuff really works… For several years I did my [...]
Here’s a productivity solution I’ve set up to keep working even when my butt gets stiff and sore. You can see the video below about my new “stand up” desk. I can be pumping out a post, like this one on “productivity solutions” and I’m so focussed I tend to keep going even after a [...]
I tell people the virtues of getting a website built in WordPress, the ever increasing popular blogging platform, all the time. Now, WordPress is an open source platform, you can get a basic template for free. There is a huge community behind it, developing and supporting it and you can get a basic blog with [...]
Ever blow an appointment? What if it was with a hot prospect? What are your chances of getting that gig now? I had a hot lead come in through my website, they emailed me, had a couple of qualifying emails back and forth and then set up a ‘discovery’ call time. All that and then [...]
Google ‘Business Centre’ has just become ‘Google Places’ with an upgrade too. There’s a huge shift to thinking “local” and helping business connect with their audience. More people than ever are using the search engines to find the business they want locally and hey, that makes sense. Its how people are using the search engines [...]
Here’s one way to build a niche list in FaceBook.
And the next big question is how? I look at Social Media Marketing in two ways. One I call the hard wired and the other is the soft wired. Let’s just focus on the 2 biggie social media marketing platforms – Twitter and FaceBook and how this hard wired and soft wired concept impacts them. [...]
We’re already well into 2010 so a good time for you to do a website review. Let’s focus specifically on your sidebar. Is Your Side Bar Working For You? To make it easy to see your different options I’ve done a video showcasing what others are doing. Your 2010 Sidebar Check-list and WordPress Toys For [...]
Do you know what the world is saying about you? Easiest way to find out is to Google Alert yourself! With Google Alerts you can set your personal name, along with the keywords and terms you’re trying to rank for. Google Alerts will email you whenever new results for your search terms show up on [...]
You should! Trouble is not many business owners even ask. Plus it can be hard to get unbiased feedback. What do your clients really think about your service, your value, prices, range and all manner of info that would help you grow your business? You try and getting totally unbiased feedback! There is no use [...]
I made a post on the 29th December raving about the new WordPress 2.9 update. The two new features that stood out for me was the great new Image Editing feature along with the Trash Bin (no more problems with accidentally deleting posts or pages). What you probably didn’t know was version 2.9 of WordPress [...]
Just a quick update on a site and how, just in one week it has soared up the charts. This was a domain I bought a week before last new years eve. The plan was to generate a heap of traffic and build a list. I used some PC software to build the site in [...]
It has been for about a week or so. If you visit WordPress.org you will notice that the classic blue download button now says “Download WordPress 2.9?. This is a major upgrade, and brings some really cool new features, including: Trash bin (no more problems with accidentally deleting posts or pages) Built-in image editor (this [...]
It comes back to my favourite question “Out of 100 visitors to your website how many are you now able to market too?” Remember, our web visitors might be interested in what we say or sell but maybe they’re not ready right now! And if we don’t get their contact details how can we continue [...]
On the train with my wife on our way up to the city to do some Xmas retail therapy. Just love technology. Decided to check out the App’s on my iPhone and noticed the WordPress App needed updating (haven’t used it for a while) and within 30 seconds I was making a post direct to [...]
Sorry to post so many tests but we’re going hard for our Smarter Website clients. We don’t do all our tests “live” but sometimes you just need to. Being a Professional or Small Business Owner means you end up working twice as many hours and twice as hard so who’s got the time to leverage [...]
I’m really under the pump with helping new clients get their websites up in the Google charts and that reminded me of just one of the simple tips we use to make that happen. It’s a no brainer for getting back links to your site, courtesy of Google themselves. Every bit helps and any way [...]
Testing another Plug In to automate aspects of Social Media Marketing. I’ll let you know how we go…
To build a really successful business we can’t do it all. As a start up we might be the “Jack or Jill of all trades” but sooner or later… We get our bookkeeper to do the figures, the accountant to make it ‘make sense’ and work for the ATO and our insurance broker, mortgage broker [...]
Just caught one of my clients doing the classic – “I’ll make it easy for people to contact me” mistake by putting my email address on the bottom of my post. Umm, woops! Spam galore coming your way soon. Leave it there for any length of time and I’ll even give a written guarantee on [...]
Breaking News – “Real Time Search Engine Results” have begun! (and I have the evidence!)
Have you ever lost a Word document? Lost an email maybe? It happens, right! And it’s an absolute pain in the butt! Not only do you lose a heap of time looking for it but there’s the stress and drama that goes with it. Imagine if you lost your website! And it happened to a [...]
Had a client who was getting ripped off for his domain name registration. To the tune of over $100. Ouch! He had a quite a few domains registered and we’d rebuilt some of his websites and well, I was getting confused because they were registered with different companies. I suggested he get them all in [...]
I’ve just upgraded our web hosting service to a “Dedicated Server” for all my websites, both my mine any clients. It was ironic that just after this upgrade this email came in from a client but first… Why did we upgrade? Security is one reason plus storage, speed and bandwidth is another. Clients can even [...]
Here is an exact “You See the Results For Yourself” SEO difference between a “WordPress” site and a “Normal” site. A colleague and friend Tony was building his new membership card website using dreamweaver on a test domain of http://clubredonline.net/ He was spending so much time with all the tech issues in Dreamweaver that he [...]
I’ve been keeping an eye out for the next version of WordPress. They’ve been doing beta testing on 2.9 but lo and behold they’ve done a mini update in the form of 2.8.5 – these guys are so committed to security. According to the official WordPress blog this is not an urgent upgrade, but it [...]
As time goes on we tend to build up a list of people we “follow” via email. Some of the people I subscribe to are mentors, some are clients and some are friends and colleagues. I follow a few to use as models for either myself or a client. Hey, don’t mimic everything we see [...]
A quick simple exercise to see how many pages the mighty Google has “indexed” or visited on your website. How much of “you” does the world really see? Well worth keeping a check on. Some folk think that just because your website is “live” and you’re getting some web traffic that Google have been there. [...]
Here is what you need to know right now. UPDATE NOW! Like immediately if not sooner. Reports are that this attack impacts ALL versions of WordPress up to 2.8.4, which is the most recent release. What Version Am I Using? If you are using a WordPress version after 2.7, at the top of the admin [...]
One of the most frustrating things when you’re a professional is to get other professionals and people you meet to sign up for your stuff! List building can be one of the toughest and most arduous tasks in business building. Let’s say you’re at a function and you meet some great prospects. You know that [...]
… and all on Autopilot – “Send Your Posts Around The World”! We’re running some tests this week on some WordPress Plugins that will automatically take your post and send it to your Twitter account. And then if you’re like me you’ll have your Facebook account linked to your Twitter account so just making that [...]
OMG, my Facebook account got hacked… and then suspended. Are You At Risk?
To have a lead generating and new client pumping machine we need to tune in to our “A” type client. Like we’re actually sitting down having a conversation about what’s going on in their life. As we would with a friend. Trouble is, for a lot of us, something strange happens when we sit down [...]
Sorry about the “Post” blunder on Monday. I stuffed up. I needed to narrow the niche that I’m marketing too so I was refining my lead generation “Funnel” on my site. Trouble is I forgot that the auto update was turned “On” so the edit that I did went out automatically to my list. This [...]
Attention: Self Employed Professionals & Small Business Owners! Are You Attracting Enough New Clients? We professionals and small business owners have 3 things in common… The need for a steady stream of fresh leads and new clients. We love referrals. We love qualified leads. (That’s why we love referrals) Hi, I’m Peter Butler of the [...]
So why is this website any better now?
Here’s the short story version of why!
* Dynamic content now and not static internet flotsam
* Pinging technology that the Google Gods and search engines love
* He can add stuff to his website as easy as writing an email
* Built in lead generation system.
* Built in qualification process so there is not as much focus on price (that part is behind the scenes)
Feedburner is the service that posts out your web content on Auto Pilot, very sexy. But… it had a limitation! Until earlier this week, if people subscribed to your blog via the Feedburner (NewsLetter Signup) email service, all the subject lines of your emails would be static, containing either the name of your blog or [...]
Who wants to be known as the “GURU” or the “BEST” and stand out from the crowd? One way is to have a lot of websites “looking” at you. And it’s not that hard!
Our Fanatical and even bordering on Obsessive Service has now updated you to the new sexier WordPress 2.8 Version.
Get YOUR NAMED Facebook account this Saturday Lunch (for Aussie’s) Up until now your Facebook profile link was just random characters like this http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=703908113 That’s memorable… not! For the savvy people you could use the ‘profile to’ application which would look like this http://profile.to/peterbutler/ which is certainly a lot sexier. (Especially with my name in [...]
Why do search engine easily index WordPress websites and blogs while other websites struggle to get indexed? Why do WordPress sites attract more traffic than ordinary websites? The answer is the WordPress’s ability to PING. It’s not just a geeky term. It’s a lot more powerful tool and process than you have imagined. “Whenever WordPress [...]
Imagine the Stress… being # 7 Web Developer!!! Yup, that means 7 rebuilds on Ivor’s website. It seems we have a knack for getting websites right the first time round… and we’ve had this comment a lot… Why? Marketing focus first followed by design. It’s all about getting leads and prospects to say “Yes, I [...]
There’s a lot of ways you can leverage off social media marketing to build your business and increase traffic to your website. Social media marketing is a form of viral marketing – which is effectively getting others to share your message with the world, mostly using the social media networks. How that might look is [...]
WordPress rules! For the average punter to be able to build a solid business and be able to manage their own website themselves and update as they need to do you really can’t go past WordPress.
I’m sure you’re the same, with that entrepreneurial spirit there is never a shortage of ideas or opportunities, our problem is we only have one life to try and fit it all in. I’ve just come from a great mastermind session this morning. A colleague who has become a good friend John Denton runs these [...]
Last week I raved about how much money business owners are throwing away on dumb cinema ads. Here’s a classic dumb ad you’ve probably seen on TV already. The heartburn advert! Opens with a guy shovelling into a wheelbarrow, then goes to him clutching his chest with a face shot of discomfort. It then pans [...]
Saw the new Jim Carey movie “Yes Man” with my teenage son a couple of weeks back. I wasn’t a Jim Carey fan at all until I saw him in an interview with Oprah a couple of years ago. In fact I was what I would call a ‘non’ fan – I didn’t like the [...]
Friday nights with good friends and a good wine is a great way to end a busy week. And as you do with like minded entrepreneurial friends we were bouncing around our “take over the world ideas, million dollar breakthroughs and world changing ideological schemes”. By the end of the night I’m sure we’d pulled [...]
Last week I raved about “What others say about you is ‘infinitely more believable’ than what you say”. I also challenged those who already use testimonials that there is a powerful way to get them and use them and the lame way. What should your testimonials say? How to double the power and readership of [...]
The last couple of “Lead Generating Web Site and Marketing Machines” we’ve set up for clients have been missing some specific content I needed. And it shouldn’t have been! So I want to give you the heads up on what you should be doing right now, whether you ever use us or not… and this [...]
I know I’ve had a bit of a rant on Social Media Marketing recently but even at this early stage of sorting my own I now have evidence that it works. I’ll make this post a quickie… I was just in checking my stat’s stuff for my sites. This is why I love our Smarter [...]
I started using LinkedIn about a year ago. Probably like most people I set up my profile and did nothing with it. To be honest, I wasn’t sure what else I should do. You do need to build up your connections. Check your friends ‘connections’ too and ask for the introduction to like minded people. [...]
Who wants to start their day with a BIG thankyou from a client? I got the sort of email from a client that we all like to get. Here’s the subject line and content. ______________________________ Oh My God People are Contacting me and leaving messages I received these two comments last night from my site…………WOW…… [...]
Who Wants To Only Talk To Qualified Leads & Prospects?
Having Clients Actually Seek You Out Is the Ultimate In Lead Generation!
Communicating Easily With Your Clients Will Keep Them Coming Back.
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Google Beta Testing Search Results… On… People In Your Social Circle…
Yup, True Story – On the phone yesterday with John Denton of Business Ready For Sale. We’re both in the same BNI (Business Network International) chapter. Plus we’re good mates. I was doing my due diligence on BNI chapter websites and John Googled “BNI Australia”. We were both astounded at the results, check it out. [...]