Sales

I like this post and believe in it:
Most people don’t realize how important selling is—unless your paycheck depends on it! Every time I mention selling, I always hear, “It’s not for me”, “You have to have knack for sales”, or “I just can’t do sales” - but this can’t be farther from the truth.
Salespeople aren’t the only ones selling something. In my latest book, You Don’t Have to Be a Shark, the premise is simple: great salespeople are made, not born, and no one achieves success in life without knowing how to sell. Think of the last time you convinced your kids to finish their vegetables or convinced your parents to let you borrow the car for the weekend - believe or not, you’re selling something! On Shark Tank, entrepreneurs have to sell themselves just as much as their business because we invest in them.
Regardless of what you’re selling, it’s easier than most people think. Just keep the following 5 tips in mind…

The first thing you’re selling is yourself.

Forget about the product or service. If whoever you’re selling to doesn’t like you, they’re not going to listen to you. Make sure you know the product and present yourself well. Be the salesperson you’d buy something from.

Listen more than you talk.

Bad salespeople can’t get over how amazing their product is—they go on and on about it! But good salespeople listen to what their clients are saying. They pay attention to the clients’ needs from the start and present accordingly.

Know who to sell to.

If you’re selling a widget that costs $50K, don’t try to sell it to the guy whose widget budget is $2k. A common mistake salespeople make is trying to sell to anyone and everyone. Make sure whatever you’re selling fulfills your potential client’s needs and is realistic for them. You’re much likely to get that sale!

Understand what motivates the other side.

Why should people care about what you’re selling? How is your product or service providing value to them? Pay attention to what’s driving your potential client to take your meeting in the first place and address that in your pitch.

Keep it simple.

Don’t overcomplicate your pitch just because you want to sound more knowledgeable. The mark of true knowledge in anything is how well you can explain to the average person. Keep your pitch simple and under 30 seconds—practice your elevator pitch!
The key to selling successfully is to think about the person you’re selling to. Make your approach about their needs and think about how they’ll feel after the pitch/meeting. There is no such thing as a ‘natural-born salesperson’. Take it from me - anyone can learn to be good at sales, including you!
To your success,
Robert Herjavec

More ways to make your website rank better

The following is very true but misses a big point and that is some customers like the images that cause the site to load a bit slower. Remember these are just suggestions:

Mistake 3: Not prioritizing page speed

Page speed isn’t just something that only obsessive developers need to worry about anymore. Today, Google places a huge emphasis on its importance, and it has tremendous and proven subconscious impact on visitors.
According to a study done by Amazon, a difference of just 100ms—a unit of time that the ordinary human can’t even perceive, was enough to reduce their sales by 1%. If that tiny unit of time has that much direct impact on sales, what kind impact do you think an extra second or more will have?
So how do you design the fastest website possible? You start with clean, efficient HTML and CSS, and then minimize plugins and http requests, optimize your media, minify CSS and JavaScript, and implement caching. There’s always room for continued improvement.
In a 2016 episode of Webcology, Jon Henshaw shared some of the techniques he used to dramatically speed up the Raven Tools website, and the numbers he achieved are, in a word, enviable.

While I probably wouldn’t go quite as far as Jon did, this episode shows just how far a little creativity can take you. There are several techniques you can use to drastically improve page speed, including:

• Minimizing http requests
• Optimizing media
• Reduce redirects
• Minimizing widgets
• Utilizing caching
• Enable compression
• Minimizing plugins
• Sticking to system fonts
• Minimizing ad scripts
• Using sprites
• Minifying CSS and JavaScript

Web mistakes not to make or what to look for!

I found the following article interesting:

Mistake 2: Not thoroughly testing all design elements

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a website that is gorgeous when viewed on a desktop, but degrades into a steaming pile of poo when viewed on a mobile device.
When we design a website, we should be testing it several times in multiple browsers and screen sizes so we don’t encounter any surprises at the end. But we also need to test everything again on a staging server once it’s completed. It should also be tested yet again after it’s launched and made publicly available.
This may seem like overkill, but it’s easy to make a small CSS fix that ends up creating even more problems. It happens all of the time, even to me.
If you don’t take the time to review the entire website after completion, you may miss serious issues because you’ve “already checked that part.”
Minor issues to check for include:

• Margin and/or padding issues
• Font sizes causing odd line breaks
• Element sizes at certain screen sizes
• Improperly sized images
• Color or transparency issues

Individually, these issues can have a slight, but cumulative negative impact on the user experience. You can get away with a few, but remember that they add up quickly, leading to shorter time-on-site and higher bounce rates, which means less revenue and diminishing organic ranking.
Some of the more serious issues that could render your website completely unusable include:

• Positioning issues (absolute, relative, and fixed)
• Float issues
• Z-index issues
• Unclosed curly braces in CSS
• JavaScript errors

Before declaring “mission complete,” you should test your website in multiple browsers and on multiple devices, including:

• Google Chrome
• Firefox
• Microsoft Edge / Internet Explorer
• Safari
• At least one iOS and Android device, but preferably two (A phone and a tablet)

There are tools available for testing in almost every environment imaginable, but web browsers have come a long way over the last decade, so you really don’t need them as long as you can test in the most common browsers on desktop, as well as on one or more iOS and Android devices.
You should also use Google’s Mobile Friendly Test because it can identify specific criteria Google is looking for, including tap target size, touch element proximity, and viewport size. You don’t necessarily need to run all of your pages through it, but you should run at least on of each page that has unique design elements.

Being noticed

I made a call on a company, it was a neat small company engaged in an industry that is a tough one to be in but very much an American company. Right now I think a large American flag pained all over your cards and brochures and website is a tremendous way to be noticed at least here in the USA. People on the whole are very patriotic so seeing that flag can potentially bring you business. Let people know that you employ fellow Americans and citizens of your city and county. Let everyone know that by purchasing from you, you are boosting the local economy.

So if possible, buy local and buy American and you will be supporting neighbors and potentially friends!

Organic rankings are they necessary?

Do organic keyword rankings matter anymore?

With all the ways search engine results pages have evolved over the years, columnist Julian Connors explores the question of whether SEO is still a wise investment.

Julian Connors on January 26, 2017 at 11:58 am

High keyword rankings are the most sought-after achievement in the world of search engine optimization (SEO). Small businesses and brands alike strive to obtain the first organic listing in search results because of the lucrative traffic and lead opportunities that are associated with this position.
But with the evolution of paid advertising and expansion of universal search, as well as Google’s continuous efforts to provide consumers with content that resolves their demands directly in search results, the opportunities attached to traditional keyword rankings are diminishing at an alarming rate.
In today’s search landscape, SEOs and digital marketing specialists have to consider whether it’s worth the amount of time and resources it takes to achieve premier organic rankings, considering the click-through rates (CTR) associated with organic rankings that are positioned under PLAs, local results and other forms of content.

More to come!

SEO what is good and bad!

Good goals:

• I want to get in front of a lot of people who are researching this, and so we need traffic from these specific groups. I know that they perform searches for this. Great.
• We're trying to boost revenue, and we're trying to boost it through new sales and SEO is a sales driving channel. Fine, great.
• We're trying to boost downloads or free sign-ups or free trials. Also a fine goal.
• We're trying to boost sentiment for our brand. Maybe if you Googled some of our branded terms today, there are some poor reviews, there's lots of good reviews that rank below them, and we want to push the good reviews up and the bad reviews down. Fine. Sentiment, that could be something you're driving as well. You know a lot of people are researching your brand or branded terms. Those are all good goals.

Bad goals:

• We just want traffic, more traffic. Why? Well, because we want it. Terrible, terrible goal. Traffic is not a goal in and of itself. If you say, "Well, we want more traffic because we know search traffic converts well for us and here are the statistics on it," fine, terrific. Now it's a revenue driving thing.
• Rankings alone, unfortunately this is a vanity thing that many people have where they want to rank for something simply because they want to rank for it. Usually a bad sign for SEO companies considering clients. You shouldn't have that on your goals list. That's not a positive goal.
• Beating a particular competitor out for specific keywords or phrases. Again, not a great goal. Doesn't drive directly to revenue. Doesn't drive directly to organizational goals.
• Vanity metrics. I still see people who are saying, "Hey, does anyone know a great SEO company that can help bring our domain authority up or our Majestic trust flow up or, worst of all, our Google PageRank up?" Google dropped PageRank years ago. It's terrible. Vanity metrics, bad ideas too.

Part one this was by Rand Fish.  More to come.

I have heard it all over the years and that is why I mostly hear the bad goals and not as many good ones. The bottom line is often I have to teach people the good things to want from SEO. I like this one a lot 

• We're trying to boost revenue, and we're trying to boost it through new sales and SEO is a sales driving channel. Fine, great.

Why are yo i business and that is to boost your revenues and sales!

OK more to come soon.

Joe

You never know where you meet a prospect!

Yesterday as I was buying food for our food pantry I met a man in the parking lot and we chatted. After a bit we realized we knew each other, I had called on him in the past. We chatted more and it turns out he might be interested in a phone application for one of is businesses. Bottom line, not everyone is a prospect but many could be:) Always ask and sometimes you shall receive:)

More to come.

Joe

What can you do to get noticed on the web?

Noticed on the web mmmmmmmmm lets see.

• Update your website to be responsive
• Make sure you have a good internal title on every page
• Make sure you have a good description on every internal page
• Have good links
• Make sure you site is submitted to the top search engines
• Have social media
• Have a blog

Ok

K this is just a start! More to come!

Joe

This has started as a weird and strange year

I do not often post any political posts here but I must. Last Saturday I joined about ten thousand others at the woman's march or rally in KC and it stunned me and made me proud. Young, old, white, black, Hispanic, native americans and a lot of females with funny stocking caps on! What made me proud was democracy and our right to protest peacefully and I mean peacefully not a single arrest not a single problem. I saw the police lined up all suited up but they looked bored and wanting to go home and that was neat. I heard speakers and saw people that were old and disabled but they were there. I remember the 60's and LBJ and the riots, I remember Earth day the very first one! We were trying way back then to help our planet. What I am saying is that we must not forget that we have a right to be watch dogs and that we must always fight to keep our freedoms no matter what the cost.  OK I will say no more I am proud to be an american and always will be.  Until next time

Joe Rossini

Illegal Drone Transmitters Could Interfere with Air Traffic Control, ARRL Complaint Asserts

This has nothing to do with keywords or SEO but I am a ham radio operator and thought this might be of interest to us all!

ARLB003 Illegal Drone Transmitters Could Interfere with Air Traffic Control, ARRL Complaint Asserts

In what it calls an "extremely urgent complaint" to the FCC, ARRL has targeted the interference potential of a series of audio/video transmitters used on unmanned aircraft and marketed as Amateur Radio equipment. In a January 10 letter to the FCC Spectrum Enforcement Division, ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, said the transmitters use frequencies intended for navigational aids, air traffic control radar, air route surveillance radars, and global positioning systems.

"This is, in ARRL's view, a potentially very serious interference problem, and it is respectfully requested that the products referenced... be investigated and removed from the marketplace immediately and that the importers be subjected to normal sanctions," ARRL's letter said. Some of the transmitters operate on frequencies between 1010 and 1280 MHz. "These video transmitters are being marketed ostensibly as Amateur Radio equipment," the League said, "but of the listed frequencies on which the devices operate, only one, 1280 MHz, would be within the Amateur Radio allocation at 1240-1300 MHz." Even then, ARRL said, operation there would conflict with a channel used for radio location.

ARRL said the use of 1040 and 1080 MHz, which would directly conflict with air traffic control transponder frequencies, represented the greatest threat to the safety of flight. The use of 1010 MHz, employed for aeronautical guidance, could also be problematic.

ARRL cited the Lawmate transmitter and companion 6 W amplifier as examples of problematic devices being marketed in the US. Each costs less than $100 via the Internet. The device carries no FCC identification number.

"[T]he target market for these devices is the drone hobbyist, not licensed radio amateurs. The device, due to the channel configuration, has no valid Amateur Radio application," ARRL told the FCC. "While these transmitters are marked as appropriate for amateur use, they cannot be used legally for Amateur Radio communications." In the hands of unlicensed individuals, the transmitters could also cause interference to Amateur Radio communication in the 1.2 GHz band, ARRL contended.

The League said it's obvious that the devices at issue lack proper FCC equipment authorization under FCC Part 15 rules, which require such low-power intentional radiators to be certified.

"Of most concern is the capability of the devices to cripple the operation of the [air traffic control] secondary target/transponder systems," ARRL said. "These illegal transmitters represent a significant hazard to public safety in general and the safety of flight specifically."

The Truth is?

Do you regularly talk to your web person?
Do you talk to your SEO specialist?

Most people do not communicate with their web person and in fact many as soon as the web site is done so are they!  It is important that you stay in touch with your web person or SEO person because things on the net change so fast and frankly I see more changes to come and the only way you can stay on top of them is to rely on the people who keep up for a living. You should work on your business and you sholud let your web company help you stay current.

More to come.

Joe

What can you do to make your website viable and up to date

You ask how can I get rankings? You ask how can I make sure my web site is updated? You wonder if that web person you hired a year ago to write it or even longer is still in business. Bottom line is you have to keep working on your website. You must update frequently. Have an SEO person check you out for bad links or bad code. Make sure your website is a responsive design website the kind Google likes! All of this takes time and many people just do not care that it will take your time until you bill them! If you make little adjustments constantly then that big bill is a lot of small bills that do not seem to hurt as bad.

We do web updates, and SEO services! Call us and say that yu read this and I will give you a 15% discount on any of the services we offer you!

Until next time.

Joe Rossini

PS

Just released www.kuecker.com

2017 is here and here is a fact or two to consider!

Having a mobile website is no longer an option. It is a necessity. In this article, we'll show you how to prepare your website for this.
A mobile website is a must-have in 2017
Even if you have a mobile-ready website, it is important to check the usability on mobile devices. The fact that your website can be displayed on mobile devices doesn't mean that your site is also easy to use.
You will get more page views with a mobile-friendly website. If your website is not mobile-friendly, people are more likely to leave your site. In addition, people are likely to leave your site if it does not load fast enough.

Google's mobile-first index
Until now, Google ranked web pages based on the desktop version of the site. This is going to change. Google announced that they are working on a mobile-first index that is going to rank pages based on the mobile versions.

\If you want to keep up in the search engines, please consider an upgrade to your older website. We at Rossini.com can help you!


More to come on this critical matter that you should look at now!

Joe Rossini