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The Internet has grown up in past 15 years and very few people can really be true “Webmasters” (doing everything: programming, animation, graphic design, SEO, information architecture).  It’s better to rely on folks who have a speciality in their field. Hiring professionals who are very skilled within their field can save you lots of time and money as a business owner.

There’s a slew of reasons how a website consultant can help you, but here’s some useful suggestions to get you started:

1) A professional is trained to have an overall view for detail, design layout, search engine optimization, information architecture, usability, and functionality. They also know how these factors play a role in the project and which talent to hire.

2) Talking to a consultant can save yourself hours of research when trying to find the right solution to solve a number of problems for your website.

3) A professional can step into your company and give guidance and direction for your website and provide different suggestion and methods to help you achieve the results you want.

4) A consultant can help you organize your website assets before even beginning the website design process. Usually this step is over-looked and done at the last minute.

5) A professional can help provide your business a road map and assess your needs that you may not even realize you have right away or may not encounter until business has a growth spurt. Experts can look into the future at the bigger, overall picture.

Now that you’ve decided to hire a Website Consultant, how do you find them?

• Referrals – Other web firms, designers, developers can refer you to great consultant they know and work with. They can help match you up with the right people.
• Online Forums that are up-to-date and well regulated
• User/Group Lists
• Craigslist.org

Some Items to Keep in Mind When Hiring:

• Timezone. Do you want someone local, or anywhere in the world?
• Personality. Do you find that you immediately like the consultant’s style? Do you like the way they communicate?
• What kind of clients has the company/consultant worked with in the past?
• Diversity of skill sets – perhaps your project involves complex database problems or e-commerce solution. Has the website consultant has experience in those fields of work?
• How does the company/consultant handle project management?
• Do you like how they tackle problems, do their problem-solving skills match the style of your business?

Hiring a professional to help you undertake an overwhelming website project can be a great experience. There is keep in consideration when you are wanting to solve a billion different problems at once and aren’t certain of the solutions that are out there. Talking to professional can calm your fears and help build the foundation to help you solve those problems and move forward to a better future!

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Below are some of the mistakes that commonly happen when a business sets up an online store. By being aware of them and focusing on what you should do, you are already on your way to a successful business.

#1 Not budgeting enough money for marketing

Build in a marketing plan and budget while designing and building your e-commerce website. No one will come and visit  your website if you don’t announce and optimize it for new and returning customers.

#2 Understanding the commitment involved for your customers to purchasing products

It takes a special experience to keep attracting customers to come back and purchase from you over and over. The experience is much more unique than someone signing up for a newsletter on a website. There can be a lot of steps in purchasing a product and it’s up to you as the business owner to make sure to keep it as simple as possible. Reduce obstacles, add value to the customer’s shopping experience, and build trust that it’s safe and easy to shop on your site.

#3 Remembering that your customers can’t feel/touch your products

Don’t forget to account for zoom-in photos, product descriptions, and other tricks to help your customers get to know your products. Pay close attention to your competitors and how they are marketing similar products.

#4 Ignoring how to set goals for the design revisions

It’s easy to want to keep tweaking the design layout or framework of your website since it’s less expensive than a print catalog to create and maintain. Don’t let yourself get caught up in that cycle. Be sure to work with your web designer or development firm on each step to know which would be the best plan and direction for your site. Don’t expect perfection, but aim to achieve your branding and personal touch as much as possible.

#5 Reusing print material  for online marketing

The same flyer you used for a trunk sale may not translate the same as an email newsletter online. Work with a graphic designer who can help you get set up or deliver marketing assets both in a digital-online and prin format that is appropiate for each distribution channel.

Check back next week for the final 5 tips!

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I’ve been researching different tools to analyze my links through twitter. Bit.ly was ok, but just didn’t have enough data and not easy to use. Tweetburner had potential, but its personal stats page was broken. Hootsuite fits just right. For a more extensive review of similar tools: http://networksboise.wordpress.com/2009/06/22/test-drive-hootsuite-ping-fm-twitterfeed-bit-ly/

My favorite reasons to use it:

-Tracking my URLS, I want to make sure and see if folks are following what I post and by golly, they are. I can see at what times were the most clicks, etc.

-Hootlet , the easy to use plugin for Firefox works smoothly, I pop in and shrink my URLs -scheduling tweets, here’s another review that focuses on that: http://www.twitip.com/twitip-reader-review-hootsuite/

-you can use Hootsuite to check several different accounts

-the latest 2.0 version is even better with columns separately different messages and get tabs to help you stay organized and get the data you want!

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This is the first of a series of interviews with other small businesses like yourself! The best way to learn is by listening how other folks accomplish and succeed. I always love talking to small businesses and finding out what their passion is behind the business.

My first business is Mercedes Rose, a talented voice-actress, as well as film actress, model, and teacher.

Please describe your business and why you are passionate about it?

For the last 13+ years I have been a full time actress and voice over artist. These industries combine all that I love- creativity, self motivation, variety…

It also helps that I am incredibly good at my job. And since i have no other marketable skills, that is a very good thing!

Do you use different social media tools to promote your business?

I use social media on an almost daily basis to promote my own business but also to stay in touch with trends and cycles within the acting community. Almost all films, advertising agencies, production companies, performers and crew have their own sites now. Sites like Facebook are a great way to spread the word about what you are working on.

What tools have worked for you? What hasn’t?

I successfully use Facebook, You Tube, and Twitter and a variety of industry specific Ning sites.  Many actors and filmakers swear by MySpace and while I do have a page I find it too 2008…

What goals to you want to achieve with social media tools in the next 6 months?

I would love to get to the point where I can have a personal assistant to help with all the updates and postings. It can be time consuming to post blogs, photos  and videos. But the time is definitly worth it.

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