The Big Wave Blog

Reporting from San Francisco, I have an update for our readers on Evision’s first speaking engagement of 2008. Our partners at CHLA invited me to speak to a group of California Bed and Breakfast owners this afternoon.

First of all, arriving in California from 10-degree Chicago weather feels great. Add to that a packed session that was very well received and raised some interesting points. I will summarize the important ones for you:

• Let there be light! From corporate boardrooms to independent business owners, there is still a lot of education that needs to be delivered. Having worked in the industry for several years, I sometimes feel that everyone must know the basics by now. But it’s never true! It may be 2008, but there are many people who have not been educated about the web in the right way. Educational sessions are always needed on search engines and website marketing.
• Count your chickens every day. There needs to be a major emphasis on analytics. Nothing great ever comes out of making an assumption. It is shocking to hear people discuss how they made decisions about their website based on some story they heard. You will never know what is really happening until you get analytics on your website. Good analytics are the key to making the right marketing decisions… and some of the best analytic software is FREE.
• Web reputation management is key. Keep an eye on what people are saying about you on the web. Message control is gone. It is now your job to keep tabs on what is being said about you and your business. It pays to be reasonable with people you do business with. Good actions will be duly noted, but bad ones will circulate much faster than you think!
• Weigh price vs. value. In 2008, an election year, it is time for your business to make a critical decision. Are you going to be the cheapest option with more sales, or the prestigious one with few? It’s up to you to become either Wal-Mart or Nordstrom. The most successful businesses online have a clear idea of who they want to do business with.

At the end of the session, there were a lot of questions from the audience. (Quite an accomplishment for an after-lunch session!)  It was a pleasure to be there, and I would like to thank Lynn, Jennifer, Sherri, Guy, Heidi, Jim & Bernice for their wonderful compliments.