Revenue Journal®

Lately I've encountered more entrepreneurs who have bought into the idea that they can just set up their search engine marketing and websites, and the orders will pour in. Oh, how nice it would be if it were true!

There are consultants who will say that it is possible, and say that they have made bundles of money doing it. But they sell one type of product (usually a guide of some sort), using one type of marketing method (usually a combination of search engine marketing, and a dedicated website that makes outrageous promises as it offers the guide for sale on the website). The website contains a single long-winded, direct-mail-like page that sells you on all the things that the guide will do for you, filled with convincing testimonials and "scientific" proof. And they let you pay and download the guide right there. This is a perfect product for the Web, and the method works well for that type of product.

These vendors often sell guides saying you can sell anything on the Web this way. Newbies have bought these guides and have become convinced that this method will work for any type of product - that all they have to do is set up this type of campaign and website, and then sit back and watch the orders flow in. It simply isn't true.

A lot of entrepreneurs obsess over their search engine marketing and Adwords campaigns, to make sure that they are within view when someone goes searching for their type of product. Nothing wrong with that, but given the bandwidth of the typical business owner, there's a tendency to focus on lead generation at the expense of conversion.

Business owners have come to know that the web can be used to answer questions that buyers and customers have. The more questions you answer on your website, the less money you have to invest in people answering those questions, one at a time. This is not a difficult concept to understand.

Unfortunately, grasping it and succeeding at it are miles apart. One thing we see standing in the way is a tendency to believe that "a good search function" on the site will somehow substitute for poor navigational organization. Not true.

What is the most important part of every email you send - whether to one person or to your entire email mailing list? The subject line.

What's the second most important part of every email you send? Your signature.

Marketing is often considered a very subjective exercise. But the expectations and behavior of email recipients have created certain absolutes associated with subject lines and signatures. Use them well, and you will add a lot of success to your work day. Use them poorly, and you will generate inefficiency, confusion, frustration, and a lot of wasted time - in your day and in the working days of your recipients.

I've mentioned before that I buy a lot of software online. Recently I undertook an extensive search for software I could use to efficiently build outlines for books and other large, complex documents, because the outlining function in Word is pitiful and slows...the...creative...flow...to...a...crawl, and has a klutzy expand/contract outline function.

I must have looked at 25 programs, and trialed at least 10. For all of you out there selling software online, I have some very specific advice for you, from a buyer's point of view.

Looking for higher revenues this year? Pay attention to your projects and processes - Part 2

As I mentioned last week, successful companies are characterized by a series of successful projects.

There are other activities, however, that happen every day, which are not as "visible" as projects are. These activities are "processes" that take place as people work on projects, produce products or information, or carry on day-to-day administration such as accounting, IT, marketing, sales and order fulfillment.

If I were to do a "revenue growth audit" of your company, chances are you would get low marks for your processes. Inefficient processes would be inhibiting your ability to service customers and run an efficient operation.

How can I be so sure about that? Because process-centric companies are very, very rare.

Having spent much of my career in the tech industry, I have a deep understanding of hardware, software, and networking. It comes in handy as I help company leaders improve their systems.

Over the last few years, I have become dismayed at how often I encounter top executives who do not understand the technology they depend on every day to run their businesses. Business has shifted from paper to digital, and yet many top execs don't understand what goes on in the "back end" of those systems. For example, I often encounter financial people - controllers and CFOs - who are put in charge of IT. But they don't understand how IT really works. This puts them, and their companies, at a distinct disadvantage: