Resources And Whitepapers
Web 3.0 is Changing the Internet
If you’re familiar with social media than you know that the social media revolution has often be referred to as Web 2.0. Said another way, the ability to communicate in real time via the web through networks of like-minded people is considered the second iteration of the Internet.
In recent months I have heard countless people talking about what’s next for the world wide web. The reality is that Web 3.0 is already here and this is evidenced by those websites who are taking user behavior into consideration when defining an online user experience.
Web 3.0 is all about improving the experience of web site browsers and helping them make the right decisions quickly. Now that the Internet has expanded significantly and there are billions of pages of information, getting through that information effectively has become a challenge.
Enter behavioral data and the concept of Web 3.0. In the next iteration of the web world, users’ activities are being tracked closely. These activities include a range of behaviors like their on-site behavior, purchase history, order frequency, size, and quantity as well as tastes and preferences they have exhibited while surfing the Net.
In addition to collecting real time information, Web 3.0 is flexible enough to allow online merchants to integrate user history – past purchases, preferences, and actions around promotions and other once in time events. This allows each online retailer or provider to create unique user profiles based on purchase history, learned preferences and individual behavior to drive personalized recommendations.
These recommendations are made on actual data that is unique to the individual. Today’s web environment leverages the recommendations of others, top selling products, etc. to make recommendations. Unfortunately, this type of intelligence doesn’t work for everyone as it doesn’t take into consideration the unique preferences and buying behaviors of the individual.
Web 3.0 intelligence anonymously and securely analyzes every customer and web browser to your website. Learning patterns and the context that drives buying decisions will be used to create a highly personalized user experience for each individual. This may be a point of concern for all of you privacy buffs out there but the reality is that web sites track user behavior today and the information becomes more and more sophisticated. There are many concepts of a recommendation engine already out there and a retail recommender isn’t such a bad thing.
For me the issues isn’t about tracking the behavior, it’s more about how it’s used. For example, if I only buy jeans once every other year, and an online retailer knows my buying behaviors, I’ll be grateful to get less email on a daily basis. This level of intelligence can make the buying experience much more beneficial for the end user and ultimately more economical for the retailer. I know they’ll never pass the savings on to me but you never know.
The concept of Web 3.0 is real and is coming to a store near you. My feeling is that It’s inevitable so don’t try to resist. Rather embrace the technology and learn how to best utilize it. Doing so may actually improve the buying experience.
About the Author
Michael Fleischner is an SEO consultant and author of SEO Made Simple, revealing strategies guaranteed to improve search engine rankings. Learn more about Michael's hands-on SEO training program, Internet Marketing Forum, and SEO consulting at MarketingScoop.com or contact him via the Marketing Blog at http://marketing-expert.blogspot.com
Constant Communication
Constant Communication. Are You Making This Marketing Mistake?
A few years ago, I met one of the best known 'sales experts' in the UK. He had authored several books, and provided motivational training for blue-chip companies in a career spanning decades. If you've worked in the sales world for any time, you have almost certainly heard of him. Now in the 'golden years' of his career, he could sit back and let the opportunities come to him, couldn't he? Actually no.
"We never kept a database, Bernadette" he privately confessed to me. So at great expense he had to hire and manage a sales team to set appointments for him. If he had cultivated a list over the years, he would have had prospective clients knocking on his door. "But my business is different!" Ok, so you're a consultant - and you only work with 3-4 large clients each year. Surely you don't need a list of 1,000 do you? Maybe not, but any list will give you huge leverage.
If you run a training course, you could offer 'tips' to attendees, which you mail, or email after the training. Make sure you keep in touch because even though they may not have buying authority right now, some of those attendees will get promoted, some will move to other departments, some of them will move to different companies, or even different industries.
Several business opportunities have come to me this way over the years. Or you're a massage therapist - and you can only see 12 clients a week, so you think you don't need to have a huge list either. No therapist who has been in business for more than 2 years should ever have an empty appointment book. Just this week I heard the sad tale of an experienced complementary therapist who had worked with over 1,000 clients. Business had mainly come her way via word of mouth and referral. But then, for a variety of reasons, she had to stop working with clients for a couple of months and had lost momentum.Now she was struggling to re-establish her client base to its previous levels.
"Well, why not send a mailer to your past clients," was the advice. "Ah", she replied, "I didn't actually keep a list of addresses of my clients". So she was basically starting from scratch all over again. This sounds so obvious, but you would be surprised just how many people I have seen make this fundamental marketing mistake.
Keep a list of all your past clients, and if you come up to a lean period, you can simply send a mailer to them. It doesn't have to be a hard sell, just a simple reminder that you're available, and perhaps a special offer. I guarantee you will get a response from people who have been meaning to call you for weeks or months, but never got around to it - until you contacted them.
Action Steps
- Commit to collecting names and contact details of every single person who expresses an interest in your business. Look at every current activity you do to market your business and make sure that there is a way of capturing details of people - even if they're not ready to buy right away.
- Follow up and stay in touch. Yes, I know you're really busy and don't have time to follow up with everyone, but there are ways of following up with people that don't have to be a huge drain on your time or money. An email newsletter is a cost effective way to stay in touch with thousands of people. Even monthly or quarterly mailers or postcards would be better than nothing at all.
- Stop trying to be perfect. Some sort of name capture and follow up is better than nothing at all, and you can always tweak and adjust your follow up messages as you go along (that's what I do).
- Start measuring success differently. Most people measure their business results in terms of sales and profits. I recommend that you also add 'size of the list' to your success measurement - as it can help you plan for future sales and profits too.
- Commit to building and cultivating a prospect list. Put 'growing your list' to the top of your priorities and you'll be surprised at the results you can achieve.
About the Author
Bernadette Doyle publishes her weekly Client Magnets newsletter for trainers, coaches, consultants, complementary therapists and solo professionals. If you want to get clients calling you instead of you calling them, then get your free tips now at http://www.clientmagnets.com.
