the million dollar side bar

by Dawn Martinello on May 7, 2013

If you’re an old pro, you might be able to skip this post (though, I wish you wouldn’t – there’s always new ideas brewing in things we already know). Remember the days when sidebars were widget-heaven slices of real estate that you filled with tag clouds, archives that scrolled longer than your arm, and text ads that someone paid you $50 a year to place? Well sugar, those days aren’t that far behind us because there are still sites that get all hot and bothered when they see a new plugin or widget that can add the latest and greatest to their site.

so, what’s the problem?

Your sidebar is still prime-time real estate and you don’t need to give that up for just anything. Planning this out should be as strategic as the rest of your site. You want to put things that are high-converting on your site and keep the most important things above the fold. Take a breath and think about your goal on your site. For most folks, it’s building their list – so if your opt-in isn’t front and center kitten, you’ve got a problem.

If you go weak in the knees whenever you see a widget that’s oh so cool, buckle up and start slashing. Too often, we clutter things up because we feel like we need to stuff as much beefy content as we possibly can in one area. Forget it. If it doesn’t serve a purpose (a real purpose!) – ditch it.

what does well in a sidebar?

A list of popular articles: I swear, if you put a list of the world’s most boring and shitty articles under the heading Must Read or Recommended or Most Popular, people will click those buggers. We all want the latest and greatest information, and since “popular posts” must be happening for a reason – we happily click on over.

Images: but with a caveat. Folks are getting more savvy – they can tell that those “strategically placed” adword ads (wink, wink) aren’t really part of the site and they’re just there to make you money. As ads pop up in more places, people tend to scan right over them and often never even notice that they’re there. Stick a picture of a person in there, and that stops them in their tracks.

Social Media icons: People want to find you, so make it easy will ya? Have them open in a new window. Done, and done.

Newsletter Opt In: I really wasn’t going to put this on the list, but I still see websites who’s owners tell me that they want to build a list – but they’re not ready yet. You don’t have time for that – get it up front and center NOW. Make it loud and clear – and no that does not give you permission to make some gaudy brash in-your-face nastiness at the top of your page. People criticized the size of my opt in box, but since putting it up there, my list growth has gone through the roof.

now what?

We like things that can be measured and tracked, and your sidebar is no different my friend. Keep an eye on your Google Analytics reports. Even better, couple it with a heatmap and dial in on what’s really happening on your site. Clicktale is one that I use so check them out – there’s a free account there too. If certain things aren’t getting clicks – change it up.

What the best – and the worst – converting thing on your sidebar?

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13 things every online business needs

by Dawn Martinello on April 30, 2013

I’ve been getting a lot of questions lately about what I use to run my business so I figured I’d put together a quick post about what I use and why. If I miss your favourite piece of software, leave a comment below.

#1: WORDPRESS

There is plenty of competition, but nothing will ever beat WordPress. It’s so damn easy to use a child could do it. If you’re going to hire someone to build your website, make sure it’s someone who’s going to do the job properly. Remember, WordPress is supposed to make something complicated easy enough for the every day Joe to be able to handle. Case in point: I had a client who’s entire WordPress website is so difficult to work in, I’ve had to call in the troops on a number of occasions (thanks Christina!). Every single page had it’s own page template, the navigation was hard coded right into the site. It was a nightmare and it also means that she’ll need to hire someone anytime she wants to make a simple change on her site. So use WordPress, but hire someone who’s going to set it up properly. You’re going to need web hosting too, and Hostgator is a great choice. If you use code fallspecial25 you’ll save yourself an extra 25% off their already easy-to-deal-with prices.

#2: CARBONITE

Imagine you have all your client files neatly laid out on your computer. There’s invoices, completed files, graphics .. everything. And you wake up in the morning and when you turn on your trusty computer, it does … nothing. It’s happened to me and it’s totally not my idea of a good morning. Not only were all my business files held captive inside a tiny little box that had no intention of ever opening up again, but there were also all my son’s baby pictures there too – all his firsts. If you don’t have some kind of an automated back up system, you could be kicking yourself in the ass. Hard drives fail … and every single one of them will … trust me. Take the time to get something like Carbonite in place. It works in the background and takes care of backing everything up without hogging your system resources. If you have a hard drive fail, you simply replace the hard drive, press a few buttons inside Carbonite and wait while they happily replace all your missing files. Give it a try through this link and they’ll even give you 2 months free on your subscription.

#3: AWEBER OR MAILCHIMP

There’s reasons to use both of them and I’ve recommended both to my clients depending upon their needs. If you’re planning on doing a lot of information marketing, get yourself an Aweber account. If you need an autoresponder, get yourself an Aweber account. If you’re only going to have one list and you’re planning on sending out a handful of newsletters to your list, get yourself a Mailchimp account. Mailchimp starts out free – but they don’t have an autoresponder for the free account. Once you surpass 2000 people, the price between both average out. Don’t think you’re going to start off with Mailchimp and then move to Aweber when you’re bigger. They don’t allow you to just place folks on the newsletter list, which means everyone is going to have to opt in on Aweber again. And truth be told, a lot of people don’t do that. If you’re in doubt, go with Aweber.

#4: GOOGLE ANALYTICS

Most people have this, but few people actually use it. Take some time to go through the system and figure out how it all works. If you’re running a business, you need to measure what’s going on. In order to measure something, you have to actually use the dang thing. So get yourself a free account, place the bit of code and get measuring.

#5: SKYPE

A lot of folks don’t have the money or the need for a separate phone line for their business. Skype is a fabulous option. They do have online phone numbers you can buy (sorry, no Canadian numbers) and their subscriptions for long distance are second to none. Seriously, who could beat $3 for a months worth of calling in North America?

#6: BOOMERANG

I’m in love with this service. So much so that I bought the pro version. If you’ve ever sent an email and then forgot about it because they never replied, you NEED this service. You can also schedule your email messages to go out at a later time, and “boomerang” messages back on a certain day or time. Try it out – I’ll bet you love it too.

#7: MY INTERVALS

This is the project management system I’ve used since I started my business back in ’09. They’re inexpensive, have fabulous support, and have robust features that are sure to fit any business. Project management, document storage, online timers – it’s all there.

#8: SCHEDULE ONCE

These guys have free and paid plans. For me, the free plan works perfectly. I switched to them after Tungle left the scene last year. The one thing I wish the free plan did have was the email reminders.

#9: CLICK TO TWEET

As I put together my blog posts, I sometimes have a sound bite that would make a perfect tweet. This is a free service that doesn’t require any signup. Plug in your tweet, click the button and you get a link that you can insert into your page. You can definitely do this on your own, but for those of you who are a little tech-challenged this is a perfect solution.

#10: RECITE THIS

Truthfully, I haven’t started using this, but it’s on my list to start. This is free, online, and will create a stunning graphic for your quote in a matter of seconds. Great for anyone who needs to add some Pinterest love to their business.

#11: SUCURI

I had a client who recently had malicious code placed on her site. She was using some other service who monitored her sites, but wanted to charge another $200 to fix it. Who’s got time for that? Not me and not you. Hook yourself up with Sucuri. They’ll monitor the site AND clean anything that ever comes up. True peace of mind.

#12: OFFICE AUTO PILOT

This isn’t something I use in my business, but one of my clients does use it. Oh. My. God. I love it. Contact management – check! Payment processing – check! Email marketing – check! Task management – check! affiliate management – check! It integrates with WordPress, has if-then rules .. hell, it can even handle direct mail postcards. This is not for everyone because it’s pricey – but when your business is large enough to warrant it, you’re going to kick yourself in the ass for not getting on it sooner. You can’t beat a 90 day money back guarantee either.

#13: TINEYE REVERSE IMAGE SEARCH

I love this little site. I plug in a URL or upload an image and it’ll give me a number of hits where that image appears online. This can be uber useful for businesses trying to track down their own images.

What piece of software is a must-have in your business?

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How do you get testimonials for a brand new business

by Dawn Martinello on April 23, 2013

This question came in from Natalie who was about to launch a brand new business. Check it out:

Hi Dawn!

I loved your guest post on Mogul Mom today! Thanks so much for getting these tips out to everyone. I’m reaching out to you today to find out if you have content posted anywhere about how to get around having testimonials when you are just starting out.

My business is getting prepared to launch in the next few weeks. While my partner and I have extensive experience in our field we are creating a new service for the dental community and are concerned about how to build a reputation for being trustworthy without having any clients to brag on us yet. I’d love to know your thoughts on this.

Luckily for Natalie (and you), I do happen to have a few ideas to building your online rep when you haven’t jumped out the door yet.

1. GIVE IT AWAY

Find some folks who can try your product or service free-o-charge in exchange for an honest review. Use these first few happy clients as bubbly testimonials as you role out your new baby for the universe. Be absolutely, positively, unabashedly sure that you continue to get testimonials from people once you’ve launched and the bucks are rolling in. In the beginning, this will be easy because you can email each person as they finish up with you (or in the case of long-term clients, once they’ve been on board long enough to have some say in the matter). When you get busy, you can work in some automation or hire yourself a virtual assistant.

2. YOUR SKILLS ARE TRANSFERABLE

Make a list of everything that you do in your current role/business/job. Is there anything that translates to your new schtick? If it does, hustle that person for a expertise type testimonial. Before I ran Monday Morning VA, I built Avon businesses. That had nothing to do with what I was going to start doing here at MMVA, but if I had been smart, I would have plucked a few sound bites from all the men and women I helped build an Avon customer base. Why? Because that SKILL is relevant to the work I do now. It’s no different from when you used to write a traditional resume when you had no job experience. What skills can be marketed to your new employer? Figure that out, then mine it for some hot testimonials.

3. USE SOCIAL MEDIA

When you start your website and blog, make sure you leave comments on. (Save yourself some hassle and get Akismet hooked up right away). Ask a question that’s pertinent to your business and your post. You can pluck those beefy comments and place them onto your raving fans page. You can do the same thing on Facebook and Twitter and just screen capture those comments. Easy.

4. TESTIMONIALS ABOUT YOU

You may not have a product or service yet, but I bet someone’s worked with you in some kind of capacity. If someone has some love to shower on you, capture it as a testimonial. Knowledge on a subject is just as important as anything else, so if someone tells you that you’re the top dog in your industry, you want that on your page. Set up Google Alerts to notify you when you’re mentioned on other sites or in tweets.

What’s your favourite tip to gather testimonials?

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