{"product_id":"2940014022460","title":"Shooting Yourself in the Foot","description":"Over the past 30 years I have consulted to hundreds of companies and individuals about their online marketing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEven though these clients came from diverse industries around the world, they all shared many of the same marketing challenges.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMany have been making the same marketing mistakes over and over again, falling into the same potholes, stubbing their toes, and eventually shooting themselves in the foot.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShooting Yourself in the Foot covers the top ten mistakes businesses make with their online marketing and how to avoid them.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYour Company is Less Unique\u003cbr\u003eThen You Think.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSure, you may have a unique product or service, and your people, talent, and experience may make your company unique, too. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut at the end of the day, most companies sell something, and because of that single similarity they automatically suffer from a lot of the same challenges regardless of the type of product or service they sell or the specific niche they serve.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd companies that suffer from the same challenges tend to make the same mistakes when dealing with them. So while you may feel unique, you'll probably be surprised to learn that you share more in common with other companies than you ever expected.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Single Biggest Mistake Companies Make \u003cbr\u003eWith Their Online Marketing Is ...\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOK, drum roll, please ... I call this the \"If you build it, they will come\" syndrome. Companies new to the web believe if they just build a web site -- any old web site, nothing fancy -- that people will beat a path to their door and make them wealthy.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI know, I know. That sounds silly, but believe it or not, this is probably one of the most common mistakes I see companies make every single day.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMany companies tend to launch their initial web presence on a bargain basement budget because they are somewhat skeptical about the power of the Internet. So they either buy a cheap web site template or they hire their son-in-law to cobble something together quick and dirty.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen when the web site fails to generate any awareness, leads, or sales for their business, they loudly proclaim that the Internet isn't all it's cracked up to be. \u003cbr\u003eThe Second Biggest Mistake Companies Make Is to Let Their Web Site Age ... \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMost of the companies I speak to have already built a web site and let its content age over a year or more. Once they have their site up and running, they forget all about it, expecting it to work magic by itself.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut that's rarely the way it works. The Internet -- like your business -- is a living, breathing entity that is growing and changing every day. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFailure to keep your site's content fresh means it is more likely that a smarter competitor who does update their site on a regular basis will eventually steal your web site traffic, sales opportunities and customers.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThink about your own web site and ask yourself these questions:\u003cbr\u003e Have people joined or left your company?\u003cbr\u003e Have you added or dropped new products or services?\u003cbr\u003e Have you added or lost customers?\u003cbr\u003e Have you updated customer testimonials?\u003cbr\u003e Has your company's vision or brand changed?\u003cbr\u003e Have you embraced and integrated social media into the site?\u003cbr\u003e Have you added a company video to your site?\u003cbr\u003e Have you recently sent out a client newsletter?\u003cbr\u003e Have you performed competitive analysis and updated your site to reflect what you have learned?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMore than likely, your web site is not being updated on a regular and consistent basis. It's time to get busy ...\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eShooting Yourself in the Foot covers:\u003cbr\u003e The Aging Web Site\u003cbr\u003e The importance of contact management systems\u003cbr\u003e Schizophrenic web sites\u003cbr\u003e Poor Type Treatment\u003cbr\u003e Inadequate font sizing \u003cbr\u003e Poor Color Selection\u003cbr\u003e How colors are categorized and should be used\u003cbr\u003e Poor Designs\u003cbr\u003e Using a virtual paper napkin\u003cbr\u003e Confusing Navigation\u003cbr\u003e External link do's and don'ts\u003cbr\u003e Where's Your Subscription Form?\u003cbr\u003e Putting your newsletter on auto-pilot\u003cbr\u003e A Picture's Worth a 1000 Words\u003cbr\u003e The power of promotional videos\u003cbr\u003e Why you need to submit your videos\u003cbr\u003e It's all in keywords and phrases\u003cbr\u003e Competitive analysis\u003cbr\u003e The importance of META tags\u003cbr\u003e Google Keyword Tool and Google Places\u003cbr\u003e Domain names and Domain SEO\u003cbr\u003e Writing SEO Optimized Sales Copy\u003cbr\u003e Making your site more compelling\u003cbr\u003e Proofread, proofread, proofread\u003cbr\u003e B2B and B2C Social Media\u003cbr\u003e Why you must test everything\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd there's much, much more. All of my advice is based upon a solid 30 year reputation providing marketing consulting services to my clients. There is much you can learn here, and much you can do on your own to improve your approach to online marketing. I urge you to get started today.","brand":"Schneiderman Marketing, LLC","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47147719459056,"sku":"2940014022460","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940014022460_p0.jpg?v=1763599219","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014022460","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}