WaMu is becoming Chase: Chase is becoming illiterate
July 13, 2009
I received my new Chase card in the mail today. As I peeled it off the letter and waited to activate it, I read the following:
As we combine our companies, you will begin to see many improvements – starting with your new Chase ATM Card. It replaces your current WaMu ATM Card and includes all the same convenient features.
Huh? So they replace my old card with a new card that has all the same features and call it an improvement. It’s exactly the kind of corporate double-speak that I was trying to avoid many years ago when I became a WaMu customer.
And then sadly, there’s the card itself. It doesn’t even look as if someone actually designed it. But that’s another issue.
It’s the new welcome page I found scariest of all. Note the headline:
We’ll soon make banking easier and get your money working harder.
FOR WHOM, I wonder?
It gets worse. They must really love “great service” and “convenience” at Chase (spent a pile on focus groups I’ll wager).
…you’ll continue to enjoy the same great service, with added convenience, including… Same great service. Even greater convenience.
I guess they know this page is so ugly and intimidating nobody’s gonna read it. No need to bother about the actual words: Just include lots of bullet points!
Why Outsourcing Your Copywriting Can Be a Very Bad Idea
June 22, 2009
One of our freelance writers, Dan Calabrese, sent me this article he found touting the benefits of outsourcing your copywriting. Sometimes saving money can cost you a lot.
Dan notes: Turns out this was written by an actual, professional copywriter who works for an actual copywriting company. I kid you not. It’s designed to make the case for outsourcing copywriting to overseas companies. Hey, I’m sure you’ll be highly persuaded! Of something.
I was. So I’m reproducing the article below (without permission) but with the hope that you’ll find it as funny, informative and persuasive as we did. For a more positive example, check out Ten Recipes for Persuasive Content.
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Why outsourcing?
Outsourcing is the latest buzz in the market and everything right from software development to website content creation is being outsourced from countries where labor charges are comparatively less. This is one of the best means of budget management in any business organization. You can get your work done in affordable prices and in less time too. Time and money are two crucial components of any business whether conducted online or offline. And, if you have viable means of saving these two, why not opt it out immediately?
If you are running a business you can understand well why outsourcing is crucial to businesses in contemporary world. By outsourcing your copywriting work you can focus your mind and energy in business handling expanding chores which would have lagged behind otherwise.
The utmost necessity of website content
Online business world is flooding with some new venture coming up almost daily. An, there is no end to it. Since, every business organization has understood the fact that in order to have global reach you need to have online presence as well. Now, the most important thing that is required to run an online business is an absolute customer appealing website content.
Copywriting job is interesting and toughest of all jobs since here you have to show your knack of understanding what global audience/ customers needs. So, the copywriter for the job must be highly talented and expert in writing catchy web copies. Many online business entities spend huge amount of dollars in hiring the services of professional copywriters and still the results are not up to the desired standards. This turns out to be the sheer wastage of money that too when highly lucrative copywriting outsourcing services are available for the same amount of work in lesser price.
From where to outsource copywriting services
Third world countries including India, Pakistan, China, Malaysia an several other offer copywriting outsourcing services to US companies in feasibly affordable range. This is owing to the fact that these countries have lower labor charges and great number of work force who is willing to work hard. There are several outsourcing copywriting companies available online that have highly talented and trained copywriters who helps your business reach the apex of success and popularity amongst global audience.
What a copywriting outsourcing firm does for your business?
These outsourcing companies have well trained staff that can write expressive and beautiful web copies in order to serve your business requirements efficiently. They have knack of handling various topics from myriad of genres. They give a realistic touch to the write up and project the positive image of your company, its goods and services to the global customer network. You are just required to furnish them with the details of your business and target audience and rest is their work. The outcome of the collective efforts is the beautiful web copy for your business that brings in huge profits in terms of money, business associations, and customers.
Copywriting outsourcing is thus an economic way of hiring number of copywriters in lesser price in comparison to that of a single copywriter available in USA. Make sure that before hiring the outsourcing copywriting services you ask for sample write up so as to ensure the quality standards. Now, you must have grasped the essence of fact that how outsourcing copywriting services can be huge money saver.
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Or… you could contact a real pro like Dan. It won’t be a wastage of money because he’s expert in writing catchy web copies.
Bing Goes Boing! Review of Microsoft’s Bing
June 18, 2009
Bing, Microsoft’s new search engine, was officially released to the public on June 1st. Since then I’ve been spending some time testing and getting to know Bing. Here’s what I think.
Simple, elegant design and great photography – Each day Bing shows a different background image on the home page. Powerful, beautiful, but totally non-intrusive. Makes Google’s home page look boring: all the charm of Craig’s List with more white space.
More useful results with “Quick Preview”
When you receive your search results you can rollover a little orange dot on the right side and preview the page without clicking on it. It shows a summary of the content plus relevant internal links. Helps you decide if the result is relevant and worth clicking on. Here is Resolve Digital’s listing (#11 for San Francisco Web Design) showing the quick preview feature in action.
Left navigation options
Doing a search for “herbal dog treats,” in addition to the Search Results there’s a left navigation with Related Searches (including, Natural, Organic and Holistic dog treats) Useful. Below that is my Search History. Also useful.
Shopping results
The results include the typical listings, plus product photos. Nice. The left nav helps you search by Brand, Price, Cashback, etc. Very useful.
Cashback Feature
With a Windows Live ID you’re eligible for Bing’s cash-back feature. Find out how cash back works for eligible purchases.
Enhanced map features
Add to Collection feature allows you to make notes, tags, and share your map. You can add a pushpin, draw a path, mark an area and modify the style of your map.
Pay-per-Click opportunities
The most obvious difference with Google’s results pages is a lack of “sponsored links” on Bing. This seems like a huge benefit for advertisers who can take advantage of this opportunity while it lasts.
To summarize, the more time I spend with Bing the more I like it. Will it overtake Google? In some ways, it already has.
AIA Portfolio Review Day: Advice for Job Hunters
June 15, 2009
The SF Chapter of the American Institute of Architects held their annual Portfolio Review Day and I had the pleasure of meeting with and reviewing the portfolios of 6 men and women in different stages of their careers. Several were laid off due to the recession. A couple were recent grads. All are looking for work in a very tough market.
The purpose of Portfolio Day is to provide useful feedback and constructive criticism. By the end of the day a clear theme had emerged: The rules of good web design apply equally well to real world communication like resumes and portfolios.
- Keep it simple
- Know and speak to your target audience
- Don’t expect people to read a lot
- Make it easy for people to do business with you
- Define your unique strengths
Online, we live or die on these principles because it’s so easy for visitors to click to another site. Guess what? The same is true if somebody has a stack of 100 resumes to review. You’d better make a connection quickly if you want to lead or inspire the reviewer to place your resume in the “set up interview” folder.
The most surprising revelation was that only 1 of the 6 job hunters had any online presence (a blog, but even that wasn’t on his resume). I just don’t get it. There are free and easy options to create a site or blog. I’m no Marty Nemko, but with so few job openings and so many job seekers I’d want to make it easy for a prospective employer to see a sample of my work, get a sense of who I am. You don’t need to show or tell them everything, just enough to convince them to take the time to set up an interview.
On the web we think of it as meeting the needs of our audience. As a job hunter, your audience consists of a handful of prospective employers inundated by a sea of applicants. Putting yourself in their position and figuring out how to meet their needs is, in my opinion, the best strategy to achieve your goals.
What’s the best domain registry site?
April 15, 2009
A client sent me this one-line email: What’s the best domain registry site?
My reply: The best is register.com (or they used to be… read on). The one we usually use (cheaper and still good) is 1and1.com. But then I decided to check the cost.
On the 1and1 site, they show the annual registration fee: $6.99.
On register.com, they don’t show any fee. So I called. I was greeted with a recorded message about how J.D. Powers says register.com offers outstanding customer service (blah blah blah).
Someone answers and immediately asks: “Would you like to hear more about custom website design?”
“No, I’m not the least bit interested. What I want to know is: How much is the annual domain registration fee.”
“I’m just the operator. I will connect you.”
4 minutes later… I find out. The 1 year fee is $35.00.
I point out that nowhere is this information provided on their site. I’m told “you have to go through the process and then it tells you.”
Now I know why Register.com charges five times more than 1and1. They have to pay for the toll-free call, the operator who answers, and the customer service rep who has the information.
They could post their pricing information on the website. But then, how would they justify the inflated cost? I won’t be recommending Register.com to any more clients.
BTW, here’s Register.com’s footer. Can you find the pricing link? I can’t.
What Small Business Wants
April 9, 2009
Highlights from a survey of 741 small and medium businesses (up to 500 employees) conducted by Bredin Business Information reveals:
- Referrals, search, and educational websites are preferred sources of information on products or services online. Larger companies slightly prefer email newsletters to educational websites.
- High value is the most important purchase criterion followed low price and reliability. Least important: leading brand.
- Finding new customers is the top business challenge for companies with 20 or fewer employees. Companies with 21-100 employees are equally concerned with managing costs. Larger businesses are more concerned with managing costs, with customer acquisition second.
Bredin offers this information “to help marketers stay current on best practices in marketing to small and medium size businesses,” says CEO Stu Richards. I say, “thanks for the perspective, Stu.” Very glad to hear that low price is not the most important consideration.
One final note from the report: don’t minimize the potential impact of offline tactics like direct mail, print newsletters and trade shows. Consider them as part of your marketing mix.
Can I trust your website?
March 17, 2009
These days trust is in very short supply. We’re all understandably skeptical. Yet trust is an essential element in the conversion process and consciously or not, everyone who thinks about doing business with you is asking the question: Can I trust this site?
What can you do to build trust in the mind of your visitors when you’re trying to get them to submit a contact form, or pick up the phone, or click the “add-to-cart” button?
- Provide content that’s relevant to their goals
- Use headlines that orient visitors to the page content
- Provide credentials, experience, titles, and photos of your key staff
- Note your licenses and memberships in professional organizations, Better Business Bureau, Chamber of Commerce, etc.
- List your full contact information and make it accessible
- Update your website regularly
- Proofread your web pages (no typos, no broken links)
- Offer case studies
- Offer testimonials (especially video testimonials)
- Offer guarantees and/or privacy policies at the point of action
- Link to and get links from trusted (authority) sites
- For ecommerce, use third party authenticators like “HackerSafe” or Verisign
- Avoid stock photography
- Don’t make claims you can’t substantiate
- Manage your online reputation. Find out what people are saying about your company and deal with negative feedback.
Anything to add to this list? Anything that undermines your sense of trust? We’d like to hear from you.
P.S. As for AIG, not only are they using stock photos of happy smiling people (obviously not US taxpayers) but they can’t even be bothered to sharpen them. That’s the srot of atnetion to detail you can epec from AIG.
Buy, buy, buy!
January 20, 2009
I recently read How to Get Started in Active Trading and Investing by David Nassar. It’s the first book I’ve ever read about investing in the stock market.
Armed with my now encyclopedic knowledge of the intricacies of the stock market, I want to postulate that I believe the stock market is at the start of the consolidation phase. This is the point at which stocks have declined in value, and now primarily institutional investors are starting to buy up cheap securities, prior to the next phase in the cycle – mark-up.
Another indicator, as I understand it, that the stock market is consolidating (the charts here are from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, although the trends are the same in the other markets) is that the volume of trading has increased dramatically over recent months. A lot of stocks are being sold of course, but a lot of stocks are also being bought.
If I knew just a little bit more about how the stock market works, and more importantly if I had enough money to do so, I would consider this to be an excellent time to invest in stocks. Perhaps I should do a little more reading.
