Peter Grandstaff Web Engineering

• 31May

  Videos for Your Lazy Memorial Day

  Marketing No Comments

  It’s a lazy day around here with Memorial Day. We’re having a block party later on, and I’m guessing you’re probably not terribly focused on work either. So, this month I’m not going to write a long, original article. Instead I have some videos for you to check out if you have some time to kill and want some good business brain food.

  First, a video of Seth Godin talking about standing out. Some of you might remember a previous newsletter on this topic. Well, I don’t think I ever included this video. It’s worth watching just to find out how Silk brand soy milk tripled its sales. Running time: 17 minutes Seth Godin on Sliced Bread & Soy Milk

  This next one is a bit off topic. It’s an interview with Richard Stallman. Never heard of him? I’m not surprised. He’s sort of an underground hero. You see, when he was a student at Harvard and working in the MIT artificial intelligence lab, he started creating free software so that academics could freely modify it to suit their needs. What he started back then, in 1983, was called the GNU project. You’re probably familiar with it. Most people just call it Linux. The correct title is GNU/Linux, as it’s a combination of Stallman’s work and a kernel by Linus Torvalds. Anyhow, Stallman recently gave an interview to Mashable that I think should be required viewing. Running time 3 minutes Stallman on Software Freedom

  Finally, for you copywriting geeks out there, here’s a video presentation by Drayton Bird, who, according to David Ogilvy, “knows more about direct marketing than anyone in the world.” In it he breaks down and analyses four advertisements — two by him, one by David Ogilvy and one by Claude Hopkins. If you’re a student of the persuasive power of language then you’ll love this one. The link is to a summary, just click through to watch the video. They won’t try to sell you anything. Running time 50 minutes Drayton Bird’s Ad Crunch

  Sorry, I can’t embed this last one, and I don’t think it will be available forever. It seems kind of hypocritical to post this non-free video after Richard Stallman, but hey – I’m not perfect.

  Tags: copywriting, newsletter, video

• 24May

  Do you use your prospect’s favorite color?

  Marketing No Comments

  When someone visits a new website, picks up a paper, or glances at a brochure stand they make a snap decision.  As quickly as possible they will decide if what they’re looking at is what they’re looking for.  It might take them 20 seconds or happen in an instant.  Either way, it happens long before they’ve had time to make a well thought out judgement of the whole of what they are looking at.

  Think about it.  When you pick up a newspaper you glance at 80% of the headlines and read about 20% of the articles.  Why?  All those unread stories weren’t what you were looking for, and you decided that in a few seconds.  So, in the newspaper business headlines are vital… actually in every business.

  Websites have a lot more going on than just the headlines.  So does a brochure or a full-color mailing.  There are colors, photos, graphics, and even video (on websites, not on brochures yet.)  All of it can contribute to a prospect’s decision to stay or leave.  All of it, but I’m just going to talk about colors for now.

  Keep reading »

  Tags: color, design, newsletter

• 11Dec

  Twitter Tutorial Two: 7 Important Twitter Features Explained

  Marketing, Technology 2 Comments
  

  Twitter’s weird.  It’s a bit hard to wrap your head around it.  My best advice is to worry about that later.  Whatever Twitter is and whatever it does, it’s evolving.  So, don’t worry about understanding it before you use it.  Through using it you’ll come to understand it, and maybe you’ll even figure out new ways to put it to use.

  That said, there are some things that are helpful to know.

  What is a Tweet?

  Let’s get this out of the way:

  A tweet is a piece of text no longer than 140 characters. Spaces and punctuation count. Think of it as a blog entry, a bitesized blog entry.

  For reference, that definition is 140 characters long.

  Keep reading »

  Tags: newsletter, social media, tutorial, twitter

• 17Nov

  Email Marketing Services & Their Ads in Your Footer

  Marketing 2 Comments

  I absolutely hate it when email marketing services advertise for themselves in the footers of their paying customer’s messages.  I mean, you’re paying them right?  Why the heck should you have to advertise for them too?  So, here’s a breakdown of email marketing services and their policy of intruding into your messages.

  • Aweber – No footer ads, ever.
  • MailChimp – Footer ads can be disabled easily in your account if you’re a paying customer.
  • Vertical Response – You’ll have to contact support to get the ad removed.
  • Constant Contact – Same, you’ll have to put in a support request… adding your logo costs extra.
  • iContact – Pay 10% extra per month (minimum $4.95) to remove the ad.  In their defense, iContact does have the least intrusive footer ad, plus they’re based right here in Raleigh, NC.

  While I’m at it, I have to tell you why I hate Constant Contact.  It’s the name.  Sure, you want to be in constant contact with your list, but I’ll wager you’re readers would rather not hear from you constantly.  Years ago, I actually unsubscribed from a local company’s newsletter because of that Constant Contact logo at the bottom.  “Constant Contact?  I don’t want that.  My in-box if full enough already!”

  Got a tip or something I missed? Share it in the comments below!

  This post first appeared in my monthly small business newsletter.

  Tags: email, email marketing, newsletter, small business

• 12Nov

  Twitter Tutorial 1: How to Tweet Well

  Marketing No Comments

  So, you’ve heard me rant about Twitter.  Some of you even went out and set up accounts, good work!  So now what?  What do you actually do with Twitter once you’re on there?  Why does it matter?

  image credit

  How To Tweet Well

  Well, Twitter became even more important this month.  Deals were announced with both Google and Microsoft to include Twitter posts — tweets — in search results.  So, before long, when someone searches for your company they might also see what people are saying about you on Twitter.  In my book, everything in search engine results matters big time, period.  Twitter also matters because it gives you another outlet to stay connected with your clients, donors, peers, etc. as well as to attract new ones.

  Tweeting seems really simple.  Twitter seems really simple in general, at first.  It is a simple concept: write little messages no longer than 140 characters.  In theory each tweet should answer the question: What are you doing?  Dead simple.  But, actually doing this well gets complicated.  You’ll need to balance the amount you want to communicate with the amount of room you have, and still write something readable.  You’ll also need to stand out — catch people’s eyes.  You’ll want to elicit a response from the reader as well, e.g. click your link, reply to you, or just empathize with you.  Finally, you have to provide actual value in your tweets.  A few examples should help. Keep reading »

  Tags: newsletter, tutorial, twitter

• 18Jan

  8 Amazing eResources That Are Free For Non-Profits

  Marketing, Technology 7 Comments

  I recently met with someone at a local community outreach organization about bringing their internet operations up to speed. They were surprised to learn that they were eligible for free web hosting simply because of their IRS 501(c) (3) status. I couldn’t help but imagine that there are plenty of others who would love to know about this.

  As I got to thinking about it I realized that there must be other great free for non-profit services out there. I’ve been doing some research and below you’ll find 8 useful eResources that are completely free to qualified non-profits. They include web hosting, marketing, software, and web application solutions.

  Some of these are even free for anyone, and can be of great value to businesses, small and large.  I include them because they can be especially valuable to non-profits.  By employing free open source software you can keep your IT budget to a minimum without sacrificing.

  Keep reading »

  Tags: email, free, google, hosting, Marketing, non-profit

• 27Sep

  Web design, SEO, Hosting, and more

  Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Small Business, Web Development No Comments

  Welcome to my website. Make yourself at home.

  I’m working furiously away at building this site, so please check back soon.

  If you’d like to be kept up to date you can sign up for my monthly newsletter on the left. I promise not to share your contact information with anyone else.

  Tags: Marketing, search engine optimization, web design, Web Development

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