Platonik blog

When I left university nearly 19 years ago, I swore I would never sit another examination. Thankfully I've stayed truth to that. But I've never stopped learning. Yesterday I learned 3 new words:

Biggify
Thanks to Havi. Sounds so much better than expand, leverage, maximise and it kinda fits with the whole wee guy thing I got going here.

Shankapatomas
Courtesy of E*Trade baby. If you golf, this is a far better word that armitage shank.

npz
Courtesy of @larzshinobi which I think means "no problem".

I've just completed the design and built of an ecommerce site.

Here's the home page

Here's the old home page

What makes the new one better:

• Clean & professional design
• Prospect can find the telephone number straight away
• A navigation bar enabling prospects look for different types of products
• Big pictures and prices of what they sell
• A sample gallery allowing the prospect to look for for different ideas
• Recent news signals to the prospect that the site gets updated
• Prospect can either purchase online or request a quotation

The stuff you don't see

• You don't see the content management system enabling the client to add and update pages.
• The ecommerce engine to enable the client to edit prices, add new products, add promotional codes
• The system that adds a telephone or email or web enquiry to the crm system to enable the sales guys to follow up on prospects and customers.
• The marketing tools to interrogate the customer database and run targeted direct or email marketingcampaigns.

Here's the link to the Printurmenu.com site.

I am hooking up a client's ecommerce business with a shipping provider. UPS makes alot of sense because the ecommerce platform I use is seamlessly integrate with UPS and both the client and customer get accurate shipping rates.

So I call up UPS

UPS
"Let me take some details and we will send a salesman out"

ME
"Why send a salesman out ? I want to open an account to use your online business tools"

UPS
"So we can discuss discounts and rates"

ME
"We don't sell anything online yet, how can we get discounts ?"

Anyway after a lengthy discussion I got my way.

That is backwards.

I don't like to pick on the wee guy but the design and functionality of this home made jewellry business does not help the owner one bit.

I was very disappointed to see my golf club's new website is a virtually a copy of the local council's website.

Here's my club's website

Here's the council's golf website

So where are the similarities:

• The image area and size above the top horizontal menu are the same
• The top horizontal navigation bar in the same positions
• The left navigation bar in the same areas
• The right hand graphics in the body of the sites in the same positions
• They both use the same graphic for "back up" to the top of the site

As a member, I have a right to complain. I partly paid for it. There is nothing fundamentally wrong with it. Just a disservice to the club, customers and prospective customers.

So, here are 7 ways that would add some differentiation and distinction to a Royal golf club:

1. Subscribe to an rss feed with updates from the club on playing conditions - "strong southerly wind making the front 9 holes tough today"
2. A video or commentary run through on playing each of the holes. I'm sure the golf professional or even the head green keeper would graciously add value here.
3. Buy the club merchandise and memorabilia before or after your visit. Nice little revenue stream for sure.

I get email enquiries sent to my mobile phone. I get online order text alerts sent to my phone. I blog from my mobile phone and it gets sent to my blog, twitter account, facebook account.

You can practically run a business from your mobile phone now. No more tied to a computer.

It is very liberating and frees up alot of time to concentrate on what matters.

Seth writes today "Prediction: 90% of your sales will come from word of mouth or digital promotion by 2011. How do you change what you're doing today to be ready for that?"

You can start today by getting a twitter account, adding your website address and then spending an hour searching for and following people on twitter in your town and in your industry.

Then from your mobile phone start posting helpful stuff or insights into your business and products.

It's a mobile start.

ps: oops, posted from the web

now trying to blog from the samsung pixon before heading up to aviemore.

If some of your customers are anything like me, they won't use yellow pages to find you anymore. They will google you.

And if your customers are even more similiar to me and are hopeless at directions, they will be delighted to know that google maps and the local business centre make it easier for customers to find your business.

I'm going to One Devonshire Gardens this evening. Then I need to find out how to drive there.

I always take the wrong turn off on the motorway.

Google have added a motorway view to the directions.

All you have to do is create a google account,

https://www.google.com/accounts/ManageAccount

then select create a new account.

Once you done that start adding all the other services like google maps, google local business centre and so on.

Here are 7 ideas for a wee hairdresser's website:

1. Put a before and after haircut gallery for men on the website - men are hopeless and have no idea what they want when they come in.
2. Ask me to fill in a little card after my haircut with my email and mobile and alert me when i should get my haircut next time - because I always put it off.
3. List your stylists with their name, photo and experience.
4. See that chair in the corner - that's for priority customers. They pay a little extra but walk straight in because they booked an online appointment.
5. List the most common hair issues men have and give me suggestions about how you resolve them eg: you have fine hair so we recommend this type of hair wax for styling
6. Tell me the really busy time and the quieter times, not just your opening hours - i have kids who are really impatient and will drive you and other customers nuts whilst we wait.
7. Don't forgot to mention that you give adults and kids a free lollipop after you are finished.
8. Bonus idea : don't tell me the site is offline and getting revamped.

Why would a hotel allow their web designers to host their site under the designers domain name?

It seriously undermines the credibility of the hotel. It's an absolutely sin that the web designer can't fork out for the hotel's domain name and point the hotels pages to a sub directory on his site.

A case of the hotel and the designer undermining both their credibility.