The Writing Workshop

Say What? Start making sense.

noemail@thewritingworkshop.org — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 19:00:00 GMT

Say What?
A blog with ideas you can use to start making sense.
http://johnsturtevant.blogspot.com/

1-Jun-08 2:00 PM

10 Clear Ideas for writing well.

noemail@thewritingworkshop.org — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 19:00:00 GMT

1. Answer the question: “Why am I writing?”

We’re taught that it’s important to fill up pages, impress people, and be right. Those goals will
rarely (make that never) result in clear thinking or clear writing. Instead, define a clear
objective for writing your memo, report, proposal, email, or letter.

Write a sentence like this and tape it to your monitor to remind you why you’re sitting there
tapping on the keyboard: “After reading my report, my manager will approve my budget.”
Then, ask yourself : “Do all my ideas support that goal? Am I giving my reader everything she
needs (and only what she needs) to compel her to approve my budget?”

2. Know your reader

I mean really know your reader. Not just a name, or a demographic, or a subscriber number.
But who they are, how they think, what’s important to them, and why and how and when are
they readers of your stuff. Learn to speak your reader’s language.

The great crime writer Elmore Leonard said it perfectly when asked why all his books become best sellers: “I leave out the parts people skip.” That’s genius. He has his material down cold and an accurate bead on his reader’s expectations. And he delivers the suspenseful shot they so crave.

3. Plan, write, revise, edit.

In that order. We’ve all struggled with the editor in our heads who won’t let us go on to
sentence number two until we’ve polished sentence number one.
Fire that editor. Do it now.

There.

Now you can write to your heart’s content. Just get your ideas down. Turn off that annoying
spell checker. (It doesn’t know the difference between form and from any way...oops I mean
anyway.) You can fiddle with the sentences later. Choose different words. Rearrange things.
Oh, and follow the advice in Clear Idea #8 instead of using spell checker.

4. Perfectly sliced tomatoes.

Remember the Ginsu Knives commercials that ran on late-night TV? Those people sold millions of dollars worth of knives thanks to seven simple words. “Look how easily it cuts a tomato.”

They showed us what we really wanted. Perfectly sliced tomatoes, not a knife. Looking at that
guy slice through those rosy beefsteaks, I could almost taste their wonderful sweetness. And so could millions of other people who ordered Ginsu Knives.

People make decisions based on benefits not features. The next time you’re pondering how to
start a letter, or planning a presentation, or editing your web site, think about the people who
have to listen to you. And imagine perfectly sliced tomatoes.

5. Information is useless.

The information superhighway. How quaint. Technology, tempered by wisdom, has evolved
the information age into the knowledge age. Most people despise data and crave context. Your
job as a communicator is to show your readers why what you think is so vitally important is
so vitally important to them. We all ask: “What’s in it for me?” Give your readers relevance,
context, and meaning.

6. Give yourself the freedom to think.

Have you ever been stuck in traffic? Do you like those moments? No? Well, I invite you to
cherish those opportunities!

That’s right. The next time you’re stuck behind the paving crew, turn off your radio, shut
down your iPod Touch (gosh they’re cool!), mute your cell phone (you’ve got voice mail!) and
think.

Here’s the thing: Being stuck in traffic is one of the few moments during our waking hours
when nobody expects anything from us! (except to move forward inch by inch) Seize the
opportunity!
And while you’re thinking, ask yourself a bunch of simple questions like the ones you see
among these Clear Ideas. The fact is, the best solution will come to you when you’re not trying to solve the problem. Try it and see for yourself. It’s a Zen experience.

7. Make your writing transparent.

Clear writing is like a window. Your ideas are the view. You don’t want your reader to think: “Gosh, that’s a clever sentence” and tap on your double-paned glass. Instead your reader ought to be thinking: “Wow, this guy makes sense. I want what he’s selling.” Your ideas are the heroes, not the words.

8. Read your writing out loud.

Before you send your document, print it, get up from your desk, and walk down the hall
reading it out loud. A few things will happen.

First, you’ll get bored. Bored! Man, if you’re bored by your own writing, just imagine how
triple-bored your reader will be! Strive to thrill yourself with what you write.

Second, you’ll get confused. That’s because your sentences contain too many ideas. How many ideas should each sentence contain? One! Just one.

Third, you’ll run out of breath while reading. That’s another signal that your sentences are
too long (or you need to jump on the treadmill three times a week).

And finally, you’ll catch typos you’re...oops, your spell checker missed.

9. Ask a lot of simple questions.

Here are a few to get you started: “Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?” Your reader is
asking those questions as he reads your letter, memo, report, proposal, email, or analysis. If
you don’t answer them for him, he’ll get distracted and bored and toss your proposal in the
trash after a couple of paragraphs.

And here’s the best question of all: “So what?” After you write each sentence, think about what
it means, the idea in the sentence, and ask yourself “So what?” The answer is always a much
more compelling idea.

10. Be clear

The essence of clear writing is to focus on being clear. So often, we simply pour out
everything on our minds – in any which way – and dump it in our reader’s lap. The next
time you’re about to reach for the “send” or “print” key, pause and ask yourself: “Are my
ideas clear? Will my reader understand this?”

28-Feb-08 1:00 PM

As a rule: Clear writing delivers bottom-line benefits.

noemail@thewritingworkshop.org — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 16:00:00 GMT

Last year, Washington State Governor Chris Gregoire ordered all state agencies to adopt what he called “plain talk” principles. Since then, more than 2,000 state employees have attended training to help them write in clear, everyday language. And they’re seeing results in more than just concise memos.

For example, by revising one letter based on clear Persuasive Writing principles, the Department of Revenue tripled the number of businesses paying the sales tax on products they purchased out of state. As a result, the department collected over $800,000 extra in tax revenue.

“Simple changes can have profound results,” said Janet Shimabukuro, manager of the department’s taxpayer services program. “Plain talk isn’t only rewriting, it’s rethinking your approach and really personalizing your message to the audience and to the reader.”

That’s sweet music here at The Writing Workshop. Over the years we’ve been teaching Persuasive Writing that helps business learn to think clearly and write what they mean. We encourage people to answer three fundamental questions before they actually start writing.

1.    Why am I writing?
2.    Who is my reader?
3.    What do I expect to accomplish?

Answering those simple questions will make a dramatic difference in what you say and how you say it. Here are seven more Clear Writing Principles for you.

Change is the only constant. Accept it.

The fact is, written and spoken language evolves over time. What used to be acceptable is now often confusing or archaic. In fact, some “rules” were never rules at all, but rather more like urbane legends (pun intended). For more enlightenment on real grammar rules, get the book at the top of this reading list.

I know some of you are about to cringe when you read the next sentence. But that’s something I’ll have to put up with. (See, I knew you’d cringe.)

In The Elements of Style, my pals Mr. Strunk and Mr. White tell me that it’s true, once upon a time, crusty old teachers told their students never to end a sentence with a preposition. Yet Strunk & White go on to say, “Not only is the preposition acceptable at the end … it is more effective in that spot than anywhere else.”

Thanks guys!

That preposition rule your eighth-grade teacher drilled into your head, like many so-called grammar rules, is a remnant of Latin grammar. It’s not a rule. And it doesn’t apply to modern American English.

What’s more, the experts don’t always agree on the rules – literally.

Take that word for example. Literally. You know when your co-worker Amanda says, “I, like, literally died when my boss caught me playing online poker.”

You roll your eyes say, “No, Amanda, you didn’t literally die. You’re literally alive, standing here telling me this.”

Well, turns out, Amanda may be more literal than you might think.

Take a look.

The Chicago Manual of Style says:

“Literally means ‘actually; without exaggeration.’ It should not
be used oxymoronically in the figurative sense…”

The Associate Press Stylebook agrees:

“Figuratively means in an analogous sense, but not
in the exact sense. Literally means in an exact sense.”

Two old reliable reference sources must be right, right?

Not necessarily.

Webster’s New World College Dictionary contradicts them:

“Literally is often used as an intensive to modify a word
or phrase that is being used figuratively.”

My preference is to use literally when I mean actually not sort of. But that’s not based on a rule. It’s based on my desire to be clear to my reader above all else.

How do you handle business writing if the rules are elusive and evolving? Heed The Writing Workshop's Golden Rule of Business Writing: Be Clear. Above all else.

If you get mired in the muck of rules you’ll only confuse and annoy your readers.

Here’s a great example of confusing and annoying business jargon:

Before:

The Department of Labor and Industries has been notified that you did not receive the State of Washington warrant listed on the attached Affidavit of Lost or Destroyed Warrant Request for Replacement, form F242.

Here’s an example of clear writing:

After:

Have you cashed your Department of Labor and Industries check yet? The state Treasurer's Office informed us that a check we sent you has not been cashed.

To read the full story I mentioned earlier about the State of Washington’s “plain talk” mandate, and see more examples, here’s an article by Rachel La Corte of the Associated Press.

My goodness, will you look at the time? I’m going to take my wife to the movies. So that’s all for now.

Over the next few days, think about the people in your company who churn out confusing writing all day long. And imagine the negative effect those bewildering reports and proposals and emails have on your clients and business partners.

Then, when you’re good and frustrated, give us a call to learn more about The Writing Workshop's Persuasive Writing Training. We’ll turn your annoying co-workers into articulate communicators. Guaranteed.

Be clear. It pays!

5-Jan-07 10:00 AM

Clear idea #10: Ask simple questions.

noemail@thewritingworkshop.org — Sat, 25 Mar 2006 23:00:00 GMT

Simple ideas to help you write what you mean – clearly and persuasively.

10. Ask a lot of simple questions.

Here are a few to get you started. “Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?” Your reader is asking those questions as he reads your letter, memo, report, proposal, email, or analysis. If you don’t answer them for him, he’ll get distracted and bored and toss your proposal in the trash after a couple of paragraphs.

And here’s the best question of all: “So what?”

After you write each sentence, think about what it means, the idea in the sentence, and ask yourself “So what?”

The answer is always a much more compelling idea.

25-Mar-06 6:00 PM

Clear idea #9: Find time to think.

noemail@thewritingworkshop.org — Sat, 18 Mar 2006 23:00:00 GMT

Simple ideas to help you write what you mean – clearly and persuasively.

9. Give yourself the freedom to think.

Have you ever been stuck in traffic? Do you like those moments? No?

Well, I invite you to cherish those opportunities!

That’s right. The next time you’re stuck behind the paving crew, turn off your radio, shut down your iPod Nano (gosh they’re cool!), mute your cell phone (you’ve got voice mail!) and think.

Here’s the thing: Being stuck in traffic is one of the few moments during our waking hours when nobody expects anything from us! (except to move forward inch by inch) Seize the opportunity!

And while you’re thinking, ask yourself a bunch of simple questions like the ones you see among these Clear Ideas. The fact is, the best solution will come to you when you’re not trying to solve the problem. Try it and see for yourself.

It’s a Zen experience.

18-Mar-06 6:00 PM

Clear idea #8: Read your writing out loud.

noemail@thewritingworkshop.org — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 23:00:00 GMT

Simple ideas to help you write what you mean – clearly and persuasively.

8. Read your writing out loud.

Before you send your document, print it, get up from your desk, and walk down the hall reading it out loud.

A few things will happen.

First, you’ll get bored. Bored!

Man, if you’re bored by your own writing, just imagine how triple-bored your reader will be!

Second, you’ll get confused. That’s because your sentences contain too many ideas. How many ideas should each sentence contain? One! Just one.

Third, you’ll run out of breath while reading. That’s another signal that you’re sentences are too long (or you need to jump on the treadmill three times a week).

And finally, you’ll catch typos you’re…oops, your spell checker missed.

Strive to thrill yourself with what you write.

11-Mar-06 6:00 PM

Clear idea #7: Transparent writing.

noemail@thewritingworkshop.org — Sun, 05 Mar 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Simple ideas to help you write what you mean – clearly and persuasively.

7. Transparent writing.

Clear writing is like a window. Your ideas are the view. You don’t want your reader to think: “Gosh, that’s a clever sentence”. Instead your reader ought to be thinking: “Wow, this guy makes sense. I want what he’s selling.” Don't let your words obscure your ideas.

4-Mar-06 6:00 PM

Clear idea #6: Perfectly sliced tomatoes.

noemail@thewritingworkshop.org — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Simple ideas to help you write what you mean – clearly and persuasively.

6. Perfectly sliced tomatoes.

Remember the Ginsu Knives commercials that ran on late-night TV? Those people sold millions of dollars worth of knives thanks to seven simple words. “Look how easily it cuts a tomato.”

They showed us what we really wanted. Perfectly sliced tomatoes, not a knife. Looking at that guy slice through those rosy beefsteaks, I could almost taste their wonderful sweetness. And so could millions of other people who ordered Ginsu Knives.

People make decisions based on benefits not features. The next time you’re pondering how to start a letter, or planning a presentation, or editing your web site, think about the people who have to listen to you. And imagine perfectly sliced tomatoes.

25-Feb-06 6:00 PM

Clear idea #5: Information is useless.

noemail@thewritingworkshop.org — Sun, 19 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Simple ideas to help you write what you mean – clearly and persuasively.

5. Information is useless.

The information superhighway. How quaint. Technology, tempered by wisdom, has evolved the information age into the knowledge age.

Most people despise data and crave context. Your job as a communicator is to show your readers why what you think is so vitally important is so vitally important to them.

We all ask: “What’s in it for me?” Give your readers relevance, context, and meaning.

18-Feb-06 6:00 PM

Clear idea #4 Plan, Write, Revise, Edit.

noemail@thewritingworkshop.org — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Simple ideas to help you write what you mean – clearly and persuasively.

4. Plan, write, revise, edit.

In that order. We’ve all struggled with the editor in our heads who won’t let us go on to sentence number two until we’ve polished sentence number one.

Fire that editor. Do it now.

There.

Now you can write to your heart’s content. Just get your ideas down. Turn off that annoying spell checker. (It doesn’t know the difference between form and from any way…oops I mean anyway.) You can fiddle with the sentences later. Choose different words. Rearrange things. Delete stuff. Oh, and follow the advice in Cool Idea #8 instead of using spell checker.

11-Feb-06 6:00 PM

Clear idea #3: Know your reader

noemail@thewritingworkshop.org — Sun, 05 Feb 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Simple ideas to help you write what you mean - clearly and persuasively.

3. Know your reader

I mean really know your reader. Not just a name, or a demographic, or a subscriber number. But who they are, how they think, what’s important to them, and why and how and when are they readers of your stuff. Learn to speak your reader’s language.

The great crime writer Elmore Leonard said it perfectly when asked why all his books become best sellers: “I leave out the parts people skip.” That’s genius. He has his material down cold and an accurate bead on his reader’s expectations. And he delivers the suspenseful shot they so crave.

4-Feb-06 6:00 PM

Clear idea #2: Define your objective.

noemail@thewritingworkshop.org — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 00:00:00 GMT

Simple ideas to help you write what you mean - clearly and persuasively.

2. Answer the question: “Why am I writing?”

We’re taught that it’s important to fill up pages, impress people, be right. Those goals will rarely (make that never) result in clear thinking or clear writing. Instead, define a clear objective for writing your memo, report, proposal, email, or letter.

Write a sentence like this and tape it to your monitor to remind you why you’re sitting there tapping on the keyboard: “After reading my report, my manager will approve my budget.” Then, ask yourself : “Do all my ideas support that goal? Am I giving my reader everything she needs (and only what she needs) to compel her to approve my budget?”

28-Jan-06 6:00 PM

Clear idea #1: Be Clear

noemail@thewritingworkshop.org — Sat, 21 Jan 2006 23:00:00 GMT

Simple ideas to help you write what you mean – clearly and persuasively.

1. Be clear

The essence of clear writing is to focus on being clear.

So often, we simply pour out everything on our minds – in any which way – and dump it in our reader’s lap. The next time you’re about to reach for the “send” or “print” key, pause and ask yourself: “Are my ideas clear? Will my reader understand this?”

21-Jan-06 5:00 PM

Simplify

noemail@thewritingworkshop.org — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 15:00:00 GMT

What is The Web?

If you meet someone who claims to have the answer, just smile politely. Unless that someone is Tim Berners-Lee.

I sat down to write an article on customer-focused, Web-savvy companies, but I got distracted.

That’s because over the past few days I’ve read several stories about the Web. Some praising its virtues. Others condemning its faults. Both with equal passion.

And I started thinking about the people I’ve talked with lately who’ve said they’re confused by it all. They don’t really understand what the Web is and how to use it to better their business.

What the Web is.
The truth is, I don’t really understands what the Web is. That’s because the Web is a lot like my seven year old son. It’s young. It makes its own rules. And it’s redefining itself almost daily. But as with my son, I’m amazed by its potential.

I think it’s safe to say that in its most basic form, the Web is simply millions of people connected to each other through their computers. The Web’s evolving nature is a result of people’s evolving nature. And understanding how your business can benefit from the Web is largely a matter of how you look at it.

Occam’s Razor
William of Occam was an English philosopher and theologian. His work on knowledge, logic and scientific inquiry played a major role in the transition from medieval to modern thought. In his writings, Occam stressed the Aristotelian principle that the simplest theory that fits the facts of a problem is the one that should be selected. A belief that became known in various forms as Occam’s Razor.

With that idea in mind, I’m suggesting that when you assess the business value of your Web site don’t start by thinking about Flash animation, Java scripts, and click-through rates. Think about the problem in its most basic terms: People.

Who has to live with all this stuff you create? What’s their experience like when they interact with your company? What can you do to show (rather than tell) them that you value them and respect their time? And how is your Web site going to contribute to that?

Here’s a checklist to help you create a customer-focused Web site.

1. Experience
Focus on the customer’s total experience of doing business with you. Define each step in your customer’s interaction with your company, and develop ways to improve each one. Keep in mind, that might mean eliminating a step or two.

2. Comfort
Create ways to reassure customers with communications like order confirmation and shipping notification. Amazon.com does this well with emails that confirm my order details, alert me when my order is shipped, how it was shipped, and when I can expect it.

3. Convenience
Gather customer profile information and allow them to easily update it. You can reward customers willingness to share information by streamlining their transactions with you. Think of Amazon.com’s 1-Click purchasing option.

4. Access
Give customers easy access to their entire transaction history with your company. If you’re an ad agency, let marketing VPs click to current and archived ads or media schedules. If you sell industrial air filters, make it easy for purchasing managers see what they ordered over the past 18 months for each plant.

5. Dialog
Encourage people to tell you what they’d like to know. Create forums, advanced notice options, newsletters, and on-line feedback forms. Include employees and channel partners in the loop. They’ll all contribute to your online community, and customer loyalty.

So when you think about your business and the Web, focus on what really matters. And keep it simple. Are you smiling politely?

22-Nov-05 9:00 AM

With Just One Click

noemail@thewritingworkshop.org — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 15:00:00 GMT

It’s the era of The Global Customer. And customer service is the name of the game. To play, you have to understand the power of the Web, and build a true e-business Web site with customer-focused services that will distinguish your offerings from the rest of the world’s.

Read on to learn more about how your company can cultivate The Global Customer.

The other evening on the way home from work I heard an interview on the radio with an author I like - Nicholson Baker. I wanted to check out his book, so what did I do? When I got home, I grabbed a beer, sat down at my Mac and typed www.amazon.com. I found the book, read a few reviews, and ordered it. All in about four minutes.

In fact, I didn’t even have to hunt for Baker’s book. Based on my past orders and interests, the folks at Amazon.com had included the title on my personal list of recommendations. Along with a new release CD from Pat Metheny and a hard to find novel by Stephen Fry. I ordered them all.

Now multiply that scenario by about, oh, let’s say 500 million. That’s what’s going on all around the world, every minute, in all kinds of businesses. To claim the Web is changing the way the world does business is a bit of an understatement. Like saying the printing press changed the world’s reading habits.

And at the center of this new world is: The Global Customer. The Web is expanding our perceptions of buyer and seller, and altering our expectations of customer service. But it’s ironic that at the crux of the Web revolution is a quiet adjustment to the good old days. When the local bookseller knew every customer by name, and kept his own list of personal recommendations. That’s when customer service wasn’t a value-added option, it was how the bookseller got people in the door.

Today, the Web opens doors to new competition from places in the world we’d never heard of a decade ago. Add to that, globalization, deregulation, and rapid development in second-and third-world nations. The sum is an era in which The Global Customer has access to more information and more choices than we would have thought possible even five years ago.

And this isn’t just a phenomenon for business-to-consumer companies. The Global Customer is also the guy who sources bulk polypropylene. Can’t find what he wants on the Gulf Coast? He’ll check sources in Geleen, Netherlands this afternoon and place his order by 5:00pm. With just one click.

And with the rise in online communities, The Global Customer is gaining and leveraging more purchasing power too. The barriers to switching suppliers and loyalty are low, and the expectations for responsiveness and accessibility are high.

To attract The Global Customer’s dollar (or Euro), companies are becoming more attentive. Competing on price or reputation alone has become, if you’ll excuse the expression, so 20th century. In this new era, customer service is the name of the game. And to play with The Global Customer, you have to understand the power of the Web, and build a true e-business Web site with customer-focused services that will distinguish your offerings from the rest of the world’s.

Here are three ways your company can cultivate The Global Customer.

1. Give customers and resellers the resources they need (and want) to solve their own problems.
Use your Web site as a reliable - in fact, essential - resource for customers and business partners. Give them easy access to the knowledge base and technical support your customer service reps have. And make this a repository for all service knowledge. So your service reps, customers, sales people, resellers - everyone who needs it - can find questions and answers with a few mouse clicks.

And give people one-click access to an actual support rep if they need it. This “live person” should have a database at his fingertips so he knows the customer, what products she’s using or interested in, and how far she progressed in her inquiry before “getting stuck”.

2. Personalize the customer’s experience.
Take advantage of your Web site’s ability to personalize the information your customer can access. Use the customer’s profile, information about his past purchases, data on his company’s other sources and buying patterns. And tie in your reseller programs. Alert the customer to new products and services he’s shown interest in, and special reseller offers. Create a resource that’s the first place he goes to get answers and support for products he’s using. And make your Web site the place resellers can use to communicate with customers.

3. Know your customer value level.
That means know which customer is the most profitable. Or at least which customer segment is. Which customers might be buying a particular product or service from your competitor simply because they didn’t know you supplied it. Which customer is costing you too much to support because they require a lot of hand holding or their sales cycle is too long.

By understanding your customers this way, you know where to focus your efforts in targeting special services and loyalty programs. For example, give your most valuable customers free support but require the expensive customers to pay for it. Plus, since the Web allows you to offer highly personalized communication, you can tailor your messages to each customer without alienating the others.

Building a customer-focused business isn’t an overnight assignment. And not every solution is right for every company. It takes some thinking. But if you start by thinking of it as simply inviting interaction, you’ll develop ways to do it that fit your company’s style.

Think about how you can create a central meeting place where customers can get easy access to the daily stuff that goes on between you. Maybe that means they can view outstanding service requests, modify their newsletter subscriptions, view their purchasing histories, update personal or company information, search a knowledge base, and request information on products and services. And while you're at it, encourage forums where business partners, employees, and customers can exchange ideas and information with each other.

I know this stuff may sound a little too warm and fuzzy for some of you. But, I don’t make the rules, I just tell you about them. The real rule-maker is sitting at his computer right now, looking at your Web site, hand poised on his mouse, ready to make a decision. With just one click.

22-Nov-05 9:00 AM

Is your internet marketing strategy A Midsummer Night’s Dream?

noemail@thewritingworkshop.org — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 14:30:00 GMT

French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH recently put the finishing touches on updates to ELuxury, a portal for the worldwide luxury lifestyle market. Not long afterward, news sources reported that LVMH expressed “disappointment” with the first month’s results.

What is LVMH thinking? That their Web site will transform millions of ordinaires citoyens into fidèles clients overnight?

Je ne pense pas ainsi.

Ah, but that’s the French for you. Come to think of it, that’s the Americans for you too. Given our penchant for e-gratification, we want our Web sites to perform miracles, exceed our cyber-expectations, and make us wealthy – all with a few mouse clicks.

Why is this?

If the Web really is here to stay, and if it is truly changing business rules, and revising social rules, then let’s look at material ways to measure it’s efficacy, rather than temporal ones.

Too many companies I talk with are adopting the “if we build it they will come” approach and slapping up web sites in a hurry with not a drop of internet marketing strategy behind it. They spend thousands on dazzling graphics and elusive navigation, adding up a few months of hits and determining their marketing budgets based on what I think are superficial criteria.

Much Ado About Nothing
Instead of proclaiming your Web site a money tree and expecting huge profits for your company in a few months, think of it as a freshly plowed field where you will nurture customer loyalty and cultivate long-term profitability.

On average, customer turnover for traditional U.S. companies is something like 50% every five years. When you consider the number of leads you have to pursue to snag a single customer and the time it takes to recoup acquisition costs, it makes sense that keeping valuable customers is more profitable that finding new ones over and over.

A well-designed and well-written business web site marketing strategy helps you build loyal relationships with your customers. And loyal customers have developed habits and conveniences that almost never fade away.

Measure for Measure
I suggest you gauge your web site’s business value not on click-through rates, banner ad potential, or least of all, hits. But rather on the true return on investment from increased customer loyalty.

How do you do that? Measure the various ways your loyal online customers contribute to your bottom line. Here are a few suggestions:

- Transactions
That’s the income from a sale. It applies across your customer base regardless of the relationship. The more a customer spends with you, the more revenue you receive.

- Growth
Assuming the customer values the first transaction, she’s likely to buy from you again. Your revenue increases as your share of that customer’s buying power grows.

- Referrals
If he’s happy, he’ll tell his friends. The longer he’s happy, the more friends he’ll tell. This can be a double-edged sword. Disappoint him too many times and he’ll alert his friends who’ll likely flee before they get hurt.

- Premiums
Loyal customers will pay more for your offerings than new customers will. They’re confident of the value they receive, switching to another provider costs them time and effort, and they even appreciate your company and understand the importance of the mutually beneficial relationship.

- Experience
Loyal customers cost less to do business with. They know your products and services, understand how to buy from you, use less customer service time, and if you design your Web site properly, they even have tools to help themselves buy from you to cut your costs even further.

All’s Well That Ends Well
Implementing a customer focused business model requires updating the way you measure business activity. Standard financial accounting models hide the value of customer loyalty. They’re designed primarily for external reporting and highlight capital assets, depreciation, cost of goods sold, and other product related factors.

That’s why smart companies are adopting customer profitability analyses, which help them understand who each customer is and ensure each customer is defined consistently across all lines of business.

Your web site marketing strategy can help transform your business. But only if it mirrors your business principles. Am I preaching to the converted? I hope so.

But to those of you who still think a Web site is primarily a technology or design solution, well then, as you like it.

22-Nov-05 8:30 AM

Customer relationships: Beep. Whirrrr. Bzzzz. Ding.

noemail@thewritingworkshop.org — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 13:30:00 GMT

Everywhere we turn, we encounter electronic devices reminding us to do something, go somewhere, or call someone. All these technologies are part (ok, ok, a sometimes annoying part) of a new way of communicating with each other. And even though we often just press “mute”, we all have to think about what new technologies mean to our understanding of “business as usual”.

New technologies make it faster and easier for companies to speak directly with their customers. That lets us work backward from what customers and prospects want and need to help us focus on how we design our business processes.

One smart early adopter of this principle was Hallmark Cards. Traditionally, the company sold millions of greeting cards to millions of anonymous customers through thousands of retail stores. Hallmark tracked what cards sold in different demographic areas and refined its products offering to meet those demands.

Then, when the company actually asked customers what was important to them, they found out that people really wanted a reminder service – an easy way for them to remember to buy a card for Aunt Betty’s birthday or Robert and Kristan’s wedding anniversary. And Hallmark put that suggestion to work. If you click to the Hallmark Web site, you’ll see a handy reminder service. Just register, enter your important dates and how far in advance you want to be reminded – a week, three days, the day before. Then you’ll receive an email reminder of the special occasion.

It’s a classic win/win arrangement. Hallmark customers never forget to send cards on those special days, and the company has an incredible database of customer profiles. Hallmark knows who its customers are, and some of the things that are important to them. Plus, the company and its business partners can develop new services and offerings for these customers, (with permission of course) based on information gathered when they register and what services customers use on the Hallmark Web site.

This is a great example of how a company can use one idea to build one-to-one relationships with end customers in a simple, cost effective way, using new technology.

So, last Thursday morning I came into my office, poured a cup of coffee, and checked my email. There was one from my Hallmark reminder service. At lunch I bought and mailed a birthday card to my nephew Ben. And where did I buy the card? A Hallmark store, of course.

22-Nov-05 7:30 AM

Looking for a breakthrough internet marketing strategy? Just listen.

noemail@thewritingworkshop.org — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 13:15:00 GMT

No matter how you define the way you plan to reach your customers: an internet marketing strategy, a web site strategy, or an online marketing strategy, you'll do well to learn how to listen to what's on their minds.

I acted in a few plays in college. Like many novice actors I was often terrified that I’d walk out on stage and draw a complete blank, unable to utter even one word. Then Sam Havens, my acting teacher, enlightened me. “Just listen,” he told me.

What a revelation. I stopped thinking about myself and started listening to what was going on around me. Suddenly I was there, in the scene, saying my lines without even thinking about it.

Many companies would do well to heed that acting advice and spend more time listening as they plan their Internet marketing strategy. And they should especially listen to the star of today’s show, The Customer.

Here’s a story about one company who was so busy planning their online marketing, they practically ignored their customers. Until one day…

It was a dark and stormy winter’s day just north of Boston in the industrial town of Revere. The folks at OceanAir were busy processing transactions for dozens of shipping orders from companies around the state. The company, an international freight forwarder, had grown quickly over a five year period and needed to update their marketing material.

I was talking with Ed Kaplan, OceanAir’s President. “We do what everybody else does,” he told me. “But I want to create a brochure that tells our customers we guarantee to get their stuff overseas on time. You know, we want to be the FedEx of freight forwarders.”

I yawned.

“But isn’t that what all your competitors say?” I asked him. “Let’s find out what your customers think about it.”

Over the next couple of weeks we talked with several dozen of OceanAir’s customers, past customers, prospects, and OceanAir’s own employees. And a single theme kept appearing in these conversations – the importance of fast access to shipping information.

We learned that what customers wanted, more than anything else, was up-to-the-minute information about their shipment, currency and banking reports, and details on shipping regulations around the world. They even wanted to know the current political conditions in countries they ship products to or get materials from.

“Can we do all that?” asked Ed.

We started by looking at the activities OceanAir already had in place. They’d hosted occasional training seminars for a handful of customers. And they were in the process of designing a web site marketing strategy and assessing the value of a third-party tracking system.

Instead of spending time thinking up marketing messages for brochures, we defined ways to deliver the kind of information their customers asked for. We developed a series of educational seminars, training workshops, and a newsletter. The salespeople and customer service team promoted those events through personal contacts and letters to their customers.

At the same time, we built a customer-focused Web site that includes a feature called CHAINLink. It lets customers search real time supply-chain data in a variety of ways. Exporters and consignees can easily follow their shipments from receipt at warehouse to delivery at destination through a secured tracking database.

The web site also provides one-click access to every major airline and ocean line, links to major worldwide ports, finance and currency exchanges, shipping regulations, world trade centers and a wealth of other information useful to companies who ship their products worldwide.

That’s exactly what customers said they wanted. And more.

Today, OceanAir is positioned as experts in international logistics. They do a great job of giving customers easy access to whatever they want to know about their shipment, and the shipping industry in general. And customers respond by trusting the leading information source with the majority of their shipments.

Without a great deal of time, effort, or money, OceanAir built a customer-focused web site marketing tool which helped transform their business from a transaction-based middleman company, to a value-based information resource, and New England’s largest freight forwarder and customs broker.

And how did they do it? For starters, they just listened.

22-Nov-05 7:15 AM