Website Magazine just recently published an article which hits the nail right on the head.

“Without question, the most critical area when it comes down to pricing a website design project is the actual needs of your site. What does your company’s website require? Will you have a custom Content Management System (CMS), a shopping cart platform, blog, Flash, forum or any number of other features? How many pages will you need?

You must be aware of these needs before even looking at designers, so first and foremost you need to sit down and decide what your site is going to look like and what it will be able to do.

Of course, there are a few things that you don’t have much of a choice in and must be built into your site. The foundational elements of a website that will cost you some money include hosting, database design, business logic programming, markup, styling and graphics, standards-compliance, accessibility and testing, and continual maintenance.

You have to remember that when you’re pricing these different features, you’re paying for both the implementation and labor/time necessary to include them on your site. If you’re paying a flat fee or package rate, then they are both already included in the price, but if you’re paying hourly it can become costly if you’re asking for a lot of bells and whistles.

What it all comes down to is making sure you have the most efficient website for your company. Selecting an effective design and choosing the right designer for the job is a big undertaking, and often getting the best is not cheap. But in the end, the results should be worth the investment.”

Click here to read the article in full

Editor’s Note: Flora Nicholas is the Chief Executive Officer of Brainwave, Inc., and the author of many great posts on the Mad Woman Blog. The following post is her own personal brain and is reposted with permission.

We always remember where we are when people who have had profound effects on our lives pass away.

I can distinctly remember for instance, where I was when I found out that John Lennon had died. For the record, pardon the pun, I was in my apartment in London listening to BBC radio 1, and wondering why the DJ was playing Beatles records constantly and sounding absolutely suicidal while he did it. And then of course I found out why.

Steve Jobs also had a profound effect on my life, so I will always remember where I was when he died too. (Well, I was at home working on my Apple Mac of course, using all my various Apple software, and surrounded by every Apple product known to man, woman, child, cat, dog and budgerigar.)

Steve was a genius. He may well have been the head honcho of Apple, but in reality he was also the Chief Visionary Officer for all us human beings, too. And like no other guy or gal in our generation, he had the ability to imagine the products, gadgets and technology of the future and the vision to bring them to life today.

Luckily for us, Steve’s all-seeing eye — or should that be “i”— led him to give us the iMac, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad and, of course, iTunes, and in short order. In doing so, he revolutionized the way we live, work, play and communicate. So no wonder Twitter was #isad when he died.

Steve Jobs was also a brilliant “creative” business guy. While many of his contemporaries brought boring-looking, dollar-generating products to market — I’m not mentioning any names here to protect the geeks in question — Jobs adopted a different strategy. He believed that the way to worldwide success, and personal satisfaction actually, was to create products that were beautiful outside and in, and that consumers would absolutely adore.

He therefore hired engineers, industrial designers and graphic designers to ensure that Apple’s products were not only more innovative and easier to use, but looked cooler and hipper than the competition too.

The fruits of everyone’s labor paid off as millions of people bought and devoured Apples, and the company’s profits soared as a result. (Note to all the suits out there who think creative people can’t run businesses: Er, yes they can!)

Unlike many of his silicon chip and blue chip CEO rivals, Steve Jobs was also an extraordinary marketer, perhaps the greatest marketer of his generation in fact. He understood that people don’t buy products, they buy brands. Jobs therefore controlled all aspects of his company’s brand and imbued every product and retail store with Apple’s cool, sophisticated, stylish brand values.

He also hired world-class advertising agencies and invested heavily in the brilliant campaigns that they developed for him. And to great effect too. The “Think Different” and “I’m a MAC, I’m a PC” campaigns worked wonders for Apple, and undoubtedly helped the company establish itself as the brand leader in so many industry sectors.

Steve did an amazing job of direct marketing too — by directly marketing his new products to the industry and the press himself at various trade shows and conferences. And doing so in a way that demonstrated his honest and sincere belief in their potential to greatly impact our lives.

Was he a difficult guy at times? Well, that’s what they say. Did he have incredibly high expectations? You bet. Did he push his people to do better? Every day, and by some accounts every night too. Geniuses are not the easiest people to work for, as many of his employees will attest.

But Steve Jobs leaves behind an extraordinary legacy, a plethora of breathtaking, ground breaking products and a company in Apple, that recently surpassed Exxon Mobil to become the most valuable on the planet. And everyone at Apple should be proud of that.

There have been many words written about Steve Jobs since he passed away, but none have captured him perfectly — none that is, except a paragraph of copy written for a wonderful 1997 Apple commercial that was produced by TBWA/ Chiat Day.

The words were written to describe many of the geniuses that had enriched our lives by that point in time — including Albert Einstein, John Lennon, Maria Callas, Martin Luther King and Amelia Earhart. Fourteen years later, those words apply to Steve Jobs totally and absolutely. And here they are:

“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do. “

Yes, Steve really did change the world. So where were you when Steve Jobs died? More to the point, where were we all when Steve Jobs died? In a far better place because he actually lived.

Check out this Flowtown infographic to see how! Just click on the image to make it large enough to read in detail!

There are many ways to perform a market test to make sure your ideas help sell your product or service. Here are two you may be able to use if you don’t already have a testing process in place.

1) Place a few TV ads in a small region-

Choose the area and shows or events specifically to match your target demographic. Don’t put ads up in areas and times that your target market cares nothing about. For instance, it’s probably not a good idea to play commercials for a surfboard in Kentucky during Days of Our Lives. This would be a waste of your money because your commercial’s call to action will fall flat on the viewers.

This test works best with direct response but can also work well if you have a strong call to action.

Once the ads have been placed keep track of everything!

For the duration of the test (two weeks, one month) monitor the amount of orders, and the type of people that are calling (income, age, sex etc).

2) Do a field test for your product and commercial-

Good ads don’t save bad products. Before you throw away your money on advertising make sure people see your product as something they would be willing to buy. This is going to take some legwork (if you work for a large company it’s time to grab the interns!). You’ll have to ask everyone possible and a good place to get started is at a trade show.

Sometimes you can set up a test online by use of a blog or even set up a center right in front of your store (or one of your store locations) or even at a busy park on a weekend. All you have to do is ask people walking by to be part of your study. If you have trouble finding test subjects bribe them with candy or prizes (just try not to be creepy).

Test sites are especially good for testing the commercial itself. Play the commercial for the subjects (this is as easy as bringing your laptop, tablet or iPad… or can even be done online with a podcast and virtual questionnaire or poll). Once your volunteers have watched the commercial you ask them a series of questions: Does that product seem like something you can use? Were you entertained by that commercial? Did the commercial make you want to sign up/find out more/run and buy it…?

Make sure you write down everything from the subject’s responses to their ages and income levels. It’s a good idea to develop a questionnaire to give them at the beginning as well. That way you can compare their thoughts before and after seeing your advertising materials.

Once analyzed you will notice certain things you already knew and other things that you had no idea about. Once you’ve figured out what people want you can implement changes and watch your business grow by leaps and bounds.

I hope that was helpful,

Happy marketing!

The Benefits and “How-to”s of Social Media When Marketing your Brand

Using social media to create a fan base for your business

If you’ve been reading, listening or even just breathing for the past few years you know that social media is changing the way the global society interacts with each other.

It’s allowing humanity to stay in contact and share information quicker and easier than ever before, which is why your business needs to get involved.

Why social media will benefit your businesses

1) People can talk about your product giving it exposure 24 hours a day!

2) Its very low cost. Even if you have a third-party company manage it for you the monthly cost is less than running a regular ad in your local paper or coupon mailer.

3) It can improve the ranking of your website especially if you utilize blogs and maximize quality back-links.

But the best thing about social media is that you can talk to your fans and customers constantly giving your company a human feel and in turn influencing real people to take a look at your products.

Things to remember when using social media

1) Talk the way you want to be talked to and realize that social media can make you a star as quickly as it can turn your fans against you.

2) Be ready to get involved right away; get a Facebook page for your business; sign up on Twitter; put up informative content on a Tumblr, Blogger, Joomla or WordPress blog as well as Youtube; add your business to the new Google Places and make a profile for the company on LinkedIn; and on, and on and on…

3) Keep your eyes and ears open for the next new platform to engage your clientele!!

Final thoughts on the subject

What follows are a couple of really great nuggets of knowledge we gained from the Social Media Las Vegas conference in January 2011 to give you true expert tips!

Peter C. VanRysdam (@Peter352), CMO of 352 Media Group, listed the four surefire ways to NOT GO VIRAL:

Surefire way to fail:
1) – Forcing it.
2) – Copying it.
3) – Faking it.
4) Crappy content.

Couldn’t be much more straightforward than that. Right?

Neil Glassman (@neilglassman), Principal Marketing Strategist for WhizBangPowWow, gave these extremely important tips for existing on a social network:

1) Keep social media a part of not apart of your overall brand strategy

2) Foster the conversation. Do not dominate it.

3) Be consistent and persistent.

Most importantly, dear reader, don’t worry. Take comfort in the fact that you can call any one here at Assurance Advertising for help.

Agree? Disagree? Start a discussion below. We’d love to hear your input!

Here is every single twitter post by everyone who attended the Social Media Conference today.

It’s great….lots of great Facebook and Twitter tips and predictions for effectively marketing your business. Nothing wrong with learning what the greats do!

CLICK IMAGE TO READ ABOUT THE FUTURE OF SOCIAL MEDIA!

Social Media Marketing 2011 Las Vegas is bringing together leading brands and marketing experts to explore the viral power of social networks, and we will be tweeting the information straight to you LIVE all day tomorrow – follow us at @assuranceagency now if you haven’t already and stay tuned!

During this one-day event, a team of renowned marketing experts will provide guidance on how to effectively engage with customers via social media, give tips on how to maximize the impact of campaigns and offer insights into new services to try and trends to watch out for.

Topics to expect:
Viral Social Media Campaigns: What Works
The Press Talks: How to get Digital PR for your Company
Insider Look: How Tech Writers Cover Social Media
A/B Testing for Social Media
How to Build Communities for Brands

Click HERE for more information about the event!

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On Thursday morning at the Opening Keynote at Blogworld Expo Scott Stratten, better known as @unmarketing, took the stage and really set the tone for the rest of the weekend.

Sure he was pushing his new book (UNMarketing – Stop Marketing. Start Engaging), but so what? May he do so again and again in every town he visits!

His ideas have fire running through them, and he’s not afraid to share. In fact, that’s what he’s best at. Below are easy to digest ideas he went over in his keynote that I felt were simply superb. Good enough to share with you, dear reader. Especially if Social Media is new to you or excites you.

I’m sure if you want an entire video or transcript it’s available somewhere. Hell, go buy his damn book. It’s worth every penny.

*Stand up for what you believe in when you blog.

*People don’t share blogs. They spread awesome.

*You have to blog when? When you have something to say. Not on a schedule.

*If you can blog awesome daily: then blog daily.

*People need to stop what they’re doing to read it. Why? Because it’s awesome.

*When you don’t blog awesome, you hurt your blog.

*Passion spreads.

*The reason people spread things hasn’t changed. How they spread it has changed.

*Stop being fancy pants: it’s simple. Social media is talking. Forget about what the “next” big thing is: focus on what to do now.

*It doesn’t matter what you like. It matters what your audience likes.

*Its not my job to tell my audience how to consume my product, I just want them to consume it.

*If your blog is not mobile phone readable… you are losing readers. You are killing your content.

*Keywords?: Write awesome so people spread it. If you write great content and you tweak it for SEO, then good. If your blog is written around keywords you are killing your blog.

*Captcha: Are we under attack from robots? Prove your audience is human? You are losing 90% of your audience. Do you really want that?

*If your content sucks, social media makes it suck harder.

*Youtube doesn’t make something famous: the video does.

*If Relationships = Business…People do business with people they know, like, trust. (This hasn’t changed in CENTURIES! ed.)

*Social media doesn’t change the fact that RELATIONSHIPS TAKE TIME.

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*Technology doesn’t mean throwing common courtesy out the window. If you are talking to someone put your phone away, jackass.

*It doesn’t matter if you believe in social media. Its not a religion. Its conversations.

*Trolls: The people that hate you. They fear your success. Let them hate you. You don’t have to waste your time with them.

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Click the image below to see how it can be done!

Hubspot got some really great heads together to talk about online marketing. 60 online experts gave at least one proven way to increase your influence online.

The link below will lead you to the entire list, but before you do that, here are some of our favorites:
- Stop talking about your products and services and create valuable content.
- Make connections online, then meet the person in the real world, offline.
- Find people who have your audience but not your products and co-create with them.
- Get on Facebook, get on Faceboook now, and use it for your business.
- Master one niche, own that niche, then use webinar marketing to promote your brand.
- Learn to be a storyteller, understand the psychology of people, create quality content.
- Establish your business model before you attempt to become influential online.
- Give more than you get and build trust and relationships over time.

Read more: CLICK HERE