Barbara Walters Price

Memo to Self: Don't Tick Off the Boss

It happens to everyone, I know.  I just don't like it when it happens to me. 

I've been so busy keeping lots of balls in the air that I failed to keep my boss in the loop about an important project.  Now, he is not a micro-manager.  He just likes to know what's going on because when he doesn't, he "awfulizes" (your new word of the day).  BTW, when you awfulize, you assume the worst of the worst.  Well, he awfulized alright - all over me.

But all is better now.  He LOVES the project and the progress.  He's on board with a new idea of mine that he considers rather ballsy (I consider it just good business sense).  He's a happy, happy camper. 

So, memo to self: a critical part of my role is to communicate - not only with my boss but with everyone here.  I, and the rest of the marketing staff, are not an island unto ourselves.  If I remember that, especially when I'm busiest, then all will be well.

I Love It When a Plan Comes Together

For those of you who don't know, Mercer Capital, became an employee owned company (via an ESOP) January 1st of this year.  This is a big deal not only for the employees of Mercer Capital but for our marketing strategy.

One of the things we're doing to announce the ESOP is a special mailer - a tri-fold with a stark white cover carrying the words "That Was Then" next to full body shots of our two founders.  You open the card up and you see all of use grouped together via Photoshop with the words "This is Now."  Next to the group shot is a panel containing basic info about the ESOP featuring our new color scheme.  It's essentially a line in the sand for us marking the end of who we were (ownership, look, attitude) and who are we are are becoming (our future is bright).

We've gotten all (save one but we'll have that soon) of our employees photographed and grouped together for the mailer.  It's been gratifying to watch everyone have fun with this.  They couldn't wait for the photos to come back from the photographer.  Everyone regularly visits our very talented Matt Washburn (who is creating this group shot) to watch it progress.  There is a lot of laughter and a lot of good feeling about this project.  Everyone has a stake in it and a role in it. 

I wish every project was like this yet I'm relishing this one.  What fun!

The ABC's of Networking (Literally)

Thom Singer has embarked upon the ABC's of Networking.  He began with "A is for Attitude" and, as of this posting, he's currently up to "I is for Intensity."  Fun and educational.  Check it out!

Our Website Stats

People have been asking me to basically "put up or shut up" regarding my comments about the effectiveness of Mercer Capital's website to turn visitors into buyers.  My first measure is our web stats.  Mercer Capital is a business valuation and investment banking firm.  We do business nationally and internationally.  By all the measures I can identify, our website is far and away the most trafficked in our industry. 

We have a full stats package but here are our basic stats for March 2006:

• Number of Page Views                                      55,834
• Number of User Sessions                                  30,583
• Number of Unique Visitors                                10,491
• Average # of User Sessions per day                        986
• Average User Session length (min:sec)                 12:26
• Number of Users Who Visited Once                     7,359
• Number of Users Who Visited More than Once     3,132
• % of Returning Visitors                                       42%

My basic rule-of-thumb guide - the Alexa rank* (Given the limitation of this metric, I don't hang my hat on it but I do use it to help me gain a sense of our traffic compared to our current competitors and our aspirational competitors):

• Alexa ranking for www.mercercapital.com as of 4-19-06:            278,174   
    (the lower the number the better)
• Alexa ranking for current competitor #1 as of 4-19-06:               932,071
• Alexa ranking for current competitor #2 as of 4-19-06:            1,167,848 
• Alexa ranking for current competitor #3 as of 4-19-06:            4,693,321
• Alexa ranking for aspirational competitor #1 as of 4-19-06:          379,704
• Alexa ranking for aspirational competitor #2 as of 4-19-06:          338,238

I'll have future posts about how we use our website to turn visitors into buyers and, consequently, how we use those techniques and tools to measure the effectiveness of our efforts.

What do your website stats tell you?

* For more info on the Alexa ranking, visit http://pages.alexa.com/prod_serv/traffic_learn_more.html

The Value of Your Web Site

Yesterday I blogged about our website redesign and wondered aloud why so many firms still have billboard websites.  During the day today, I've had the occasion to visit for the first time the websites of respected professional service firms and have been horrified by what I've found.  Not only are they billboards but look like they were created by the pre-teen sons or daughters of the CEO (teenagers would set up "cooler" sites).  I'm not linking to any specific site because 1) I might want to do business with some of these people; and 2) our current website "look" is nothing to write home about; however, it is vastly superior to some of the websites I've visited today.

It seems like good design is a given in today's word.  Our 3-C's: content, connectivity, and community are not and that's where you and your firm can gain advantage.  Take a look around the web and then take a good hard look at your website.  Where and how can it be improved to help you sell your services to the right prospects?

What Your Website Should Be

Suzanne Lowe has a great post about websites of professional service firms entitled "Sticky Websites."  She quotes Seth Godin who talks about the importance of interactivity on your website - which he terms as "a place - a sticky collection/connection of web pages with a search field.  A website is a place you want people to 'check back often and see what's new' and where people are either in or out." Suzanne finishes her post by saying:

"I know that most web sites today, even my own two websites, feel way too static.  I'm convinced that the days of the web site "electronic brochure" are rapidly giving way to a closer integration of service delivery, innovation and brand building."

We're in the process of redesigning our website which I'm happy to say is currently fairly sticky - although not nearly as sticky as we want it to be.  While its "design" (if you can call it that) is horrendous, it is very successful.   That's what makes the redesign such a nerve wracking process.  We've met with web designers and are putting the finishing touches on all the features we MUST have in the redesigned website and all those we'd like to have if the budget works out.  We are focusing on three things which I realize with this post all begin with the letter "C" - so our 3-Cs of website success:

1. content
2. connectivity
3. community

Our website now is content-rich and that drives traffic and helps to begin to create community.  Connectivity speaks to linking the content together for the visitor in a way that they want.  And, community is not just beginning the dialogue but nurturing it.  If we get these three things right - along with the design - I believe our brand will be enhanced and we'll also turn even more visitors into buyers.

Why aren't more PSFs using their websites as more than just mere billboards?  Am I the only one who becomes increasingly irritated when I am directed to a website that is nothing more than a billboard?  That's why I believe that people are attracted to blogs - content, connectivity, and community (now if I would just update my blog more often but I'm blessed that I do enjoy that which takes most of my blogging time - my job).

Easter

For those with kids or those who like kids (if you don't like kids, skip this post entirely).

Easter 2006 - probably the only time we'll be able to get them in matching dresses.

 

Passing Along the Indie Virus

My friend and talented blog consultant, Paul Chaney of the Radiant Marketing Group, just infected this blog with a great virus - the Indie Virus!  Now that I've caught it, I intend to pass it on.   

What's the Indie Virus? Don't worry, if you get it, it won't crash your blog or make you sick.   It's an experiment-turned-blog-phenomenon originated by Chris Pearson of Pearsonified.   The experiment, henceforth referred to as "The Indie Virus," has two goals:

• To bring exposure to lesser known blogs (especially those outside of Technorati's Top 100)
• To explore the metrics behind a viral linking campaign launched by the "little guys" (less popular blogs).

So, according to my friend, Paul, if you are infected, you basically find lesser known blogs and link to them using as the anchor text in the link, The Indie Virus.  Now I pass the virus along ... the Indie Virus ... to my friend, Tom O'Neill, of the Buy Out Blog (a great read, by the way). 

The Indie Virus: Catch it, spread it, and grow your traffic virally by spreading it to others.

New Addition to Blogroll - Suzanne Lowe

For any of you out there not currently reading Suzanne Lowe's blog, The Expertise Marketplace(sm), you should begin today.  As such, I've added her blog to my blogroll.  Suzanne's focus is primarily on the "why" of marketing for professional service firms rather than the "how to" (which is where my primary focus lies).  Check out her blog today.  You won't be disappointed.