Required Experience:
Illustrator CS4
Photoshop CS4
Code HTML
Manage Others
Strong Problem Solving Skills

Preferred Experience:
Familiarly with WordPress
Previous Email Design Experience

Please apply directly on our careers page. Thanks! Look forward to talking to you!

Those numbers weren’t surprising to me. A number of the groups I chat with either 1) don’t have a website or 2) it was built a number of years ago as a brochure. The site validated them as a business, but really was no more than a glorified business card.

So, if you are part of the 46%, what do you do? Where do you start? Start with your website.

Websites are no longer static placeholders. It’s time to move past the site that only provides contact information and a list of services. Use your site to reach your sales goals. If you sell shoes and want people to buy shoes directly on your website, that should be the focus and the goal. Make it easy, guide me down the path and I will buy some shoes.

Clients often say, “I just need a really simple site …” or “Just need a couple of pages — no big deal.” Stop limiting yourself and start thinking like a customer. Why would this customer buy your shoes? They have lots and lots of choices out there.

Here are some questions to consider in the shoe store example. Was the site easy to navigate — did you know where to find the style and size you needed? Did it clearly tell you the return policy just in case the zebra-print stilettos weren’t quite your speed? Were you able to see photos of those amazing red boots on a model from a couple of angles? And most importantly, did it ask you to buy the shoes anywhere?

Now we are not telling you that you need an overly-complicated, flash site that spins and sparkles and lays golden eggs. But you do need to capture the users attention (you’ve got less than 5 seconds here). Don’t bore them. Again, if you give the user what they want and tell them what to do, they will usually buy from you.

Think about the end user and what goals you want them to accomplish while on your website.

And then start thinking about the search engines. How will the customer find this new great site? We will pick up there in the next post.

Adcuda reaches the company’s one year milestone today! Against the down economy, Adcuda has quickly grown into the second-largest online marketing company in the Kansas City area under the vision of Founder and President, Casey Copeland. With a current staff of 19 and a growing client base that includes many well-known local companies as well as some key players from around the nation, Adcuda has prospered in the burgeoning online marketplace.

Adcuda provides businesses with online marketing solutions such as Pay Per Click advertising, Search Engine Optimization, Web Development, and Email Marketing. These tools give businesses new and effective ways to expand their client base by gaining more exposure online while better engaging consumers. Adcuda has worked with local businesses such as Woodside Health and Tennis Club, The Wolfe Auto Group, Valley View Bank, and Bluestem Restaurant to name a few.

Thank you to all of our staff, clients, friends and supporters. We couldn’t have done it without you!

I would like to contact you. However, I would not like to spend 10-15 minutes pouring through your website to find a phone number or email address. Looking at websites is a huge part of my daily role and if I am getting frustrated at trying to reach you,  imagine the frustration level of your potential customers.

A Contact Us page that provides multiple ways to contact you and names of real people is great, but you might also consider having contact information and multiple ways to engage with you on every page of your site.

I’m on your site, I want to buy from you — please make it easy for me.

Kindly & respectfully,

Jennifer

Not sure if he likes walks on the beach and Saving Private Ryan. Maybe soon we can get him to write a little somethin’ here and you can ask him.

We’ve gotten great feedback for our participants and really good questions. It feels like a number of small business owners are overwhelmed by the thought of implementing an online marketing plan. The conversations usually jump from what is SEO, to email marketing, to ways to use social media well, and then always to how to make time to be in this space.

We have a fantastic regular participant who last month asked, “hey, what are we talking about next month.” I thought I would put it out to all of you. What do you want to talk about?

Are there topics related to online marketing that you would like to understand better?

What is your online goal? What information do you need for that goal to become a measurable action item?

Your input is greatly appreciated and if we could we’d send you all puppies for providing it. xo

Required Experience:
Illustrator CS4
Photoshop CS4
Code HTML
Manage Others
Strong Problem Solving Skills

Preferred Experience:
Familiarly with WordPress
Previous Email Design Experience

1. Be creative — look outside your comfort zone for new customers. If you only call on small to mid-sized retailers to sell your pet products, why not reach out to local boutiques and veterinary clinics? Know your product well and push past your routine.
2. Ask questions — how often do we forget to ask questions and listen to the answers when “selling” our prospects. Stop with the canned sales pitch and be a human being. Listening (and not assuming) the needs of clients will help you create a custom solution that may just land you a long term client.
3. Look for a use for your product or services in recession resistance categories — try healthcare, fuel or consumer staples. Again, be creative. Find and fill a need.
4. Make it easy to buy — people are still interested in your products and services. You just have to keep it simple with easy forms, a variety of payment methods and by providing excellent service and follow-up.
5. Stay positive — don’t get discouraged. Just do the work and this too shall pass.

Happy selling dears! xo

Congratulations to Aaron St. Clair of Hollis Kuckelman Van De Veer. Aaron was lucky random number 78 and is now the proud, proud owner of an iPad — or, well, he will be once we hand it over to him!

Thank you to everyone who participated in our website user testing. We learned a great deal through this exercise; some things we knew and some we only thought we knew.  The feedback you provided helps us in creating a stronger, more user friendly web experience not only for us, but for our client sites as well.

Stay tuned for our next promotion that involves you + your company and =  some free food gift certificates and/or another prize that will be pretty darn good. Your friends at Adcuda are certainly not above bribing you for participation.

Thanks again and let’s all try to keep our jealousy of Aaron to a minimum.