What is a retainer agreement?
A retainer agreement is an agreement whereby an agency agrees to provide a set number of hours to a Client at an agreed upon fee.
What is the advantage of having a retainer agreement?
A retainer agreement offers several advantages. First, the agency is guaranteeing a certain number of available hours to you per month for specific services. The second advantage is that you are able to budget your monthly expenses based on the agreement. Another advantage may be that agencies often give priority service to their clients who have retainer agreements.
What are some disadvantages to a retainer agreement?
Sometimes, retainer agreements are like that big empty closet you never thought you’d be able to fill. Because you know you have the time set aside for you, you may be less cautious as to how those hours get eaten up. Numerous rounds of requested revisions to creative, for example, can easily eat up hours, where within a fixed rate project, the number of revisions is agreed upon ahead of time. There is no guarantee that you will not go over your agreed upon hours and agencies will charge for these overages. Agencies who are sensitive to these situations will alert you when they see you heading into overage charges and keep time sheets for all activities.
What kinds of services might I want to include in a retainer agreement?
For the most part, services that are ongoing and don’t have a specific end date are good candidates for a retainer agreement. For example, ongoing marketing support would be a good use of a retainer agreement. The agreement might include a certain number of hours for campaign development, creative, copywriting, publishing, monitoring and analyzing data and reporting tasks.
What services are not best served under a retainer agreement?
Large products with a finite end point are typically not a good fit for a retainer agreement. For example, if you are developing a large web site, you are better served by determining a specific set of deliverables at a fixed cost. You may negotiate payment terms, but as this is not an ongoing service, a retainer agreement may not be the best option.
How long of a period should a retainer agreement span?
There is no “one size fits all” answer to this question. Some agencies will not offer a retainer agreement for a period of less than 6 or 12 months depending on the type of services they offer. However, the term of the agreement is often negotiable. Whatever the period of the agreement, it is a good idea to agree on periodic reviews of actual time spent to see if the time needed each month is still accurately represented by your retainer agreement.
ABOUT HUDSON FUSION
Hudson Fusion LLC, originally, Penchina Web Design LLC was established in 1996 and is a full-service integrated marketing and design firm.
The firm takes a synergistic approach to its clients’ sales, marketing and business growth goals through the use of current web technologies, internet marketing and web design expertise. All communications points, including brand identity, websites, marketing materials and collateral materials, are developed concurrently by a single team to enhance and support businesses and their brands by providing a unified, seamless and consistent message across multiple platforms.
Some of our capabilities include:
- Website Design and Development
- Internet and Inbound Marketing
- Search Engine Optimization
- Social Media Marketing
- Print and Traditional Marketing and Design
Hudson Fusion is a New York State Small Business and certified Women Business Enterprise.
Call or Contact Us Today to find out how we can help grow your business!
Hudson Fusion LLC
30 State Street
Ossining, NY 10562
914.762.0900
People look for products and services online like they once used the Yellow Pages. When a consumer types in a phrase or word, they will likely get hundreds of web sites that match their words. Simply put, the words or phrases they search for are keywords. Winning today’s match game--and getting your company found easily online--depends on using the right keyword strategy.
What is Keyword Strategy?
Now that you've created a quality web site, how can you be found by potential customers and clients? The most important way is to use the same keywords in your web site that people are plugging into search engines. It is often difficult to know all the words or combination of words that a customer may use. This is where keyword strategy comes into play.
The art and science of keyword strategy is to incorporate these searched for keywords and phrases into your web site in a logical, fluent and coherent manner. Do you have to be Leonardo da Vinci…well, sort of. Keyword strategy is just one part of your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy, which is an important part of Search Engine Marketing (SEM). Simply put, it's the art of getting found easily on the Internet.
Why is a Keyword Strategy Important?
It's not enough for search engines to find your web site, you need potential customers to find it. What’s the distinction? Well, any given search will pull up hundreds of matches. Your audience doesn't have the time or the patience to pick through all the items returned in a typical search. Most likely they will look only at the listings on the first page (highest ranking) or possibly the second page. You need to get your web site ranked high enough by the search engines so you land on the first search pages. A sound keyword strategy is the most important way to get a high ranking. (Caveat – keyword strategy, though the most important, is only one of several strategies and tactics used to increase your ranking. We will talk about these in future blogs.)
Now that you know what a keyword strategy is and why it is important, the next step is to develop your own keyword strategy and find your keywords. We will examine this process in an upcoming blog.
CLICK HERE FOR A FREE WEBINAR ON HOW TO BUILD YOUR KEYWORD STRATEGY
In our prior post, we introduced you to Pinterest, the fastest growing social web site in history. Pinterest is a virtual bulletin board that allows users to create scrapbooks on the site. Users pin images they find around the Web to their boards. Each pinboard is usually centered around a theme. Users can "clip" design ideas, hairstyles to try, wines they've recently sampled, or music they love. Boards can be shared with friends and strangers. Marketers need to determine if Pinterest should be part of their marketing mix.
Marketers, Be Aware
The good news for marketers is that the original and re-pinned images on Pinterest all link back to the original Web site. Pinners “spread the word” for you. B2C marketers can use these backlinks to draw traffic and support overall SEO efforts.
For B2B companies, the benefits of marketing on Pinterest are less clear and more analysis may be needed to determine whether this is a good place to spend your marketing efforts. Like all social networks, you need to determine if your customers are currently using Pinterest or will likely use it in the near future..
Pinterest is image oriented. It's not meant for text heavy web pages themselves as these will generally not interest “pinners”. If you can tell your story with images and graphics though, Pinterest can work.
Here are some ideas of what might be "pinnable":
- Shots of your products in use, your customers, your employees, special events
- Product demos
- Infographics
- Data charts
Other tactics you can use include:
- Create your pinboards to be in sync with your e-marketing strategy. Include the keywords from your SEO strategy. Make your profile page searchable.
- Pinterest provides a “pin it” button, like the share on Facebook and Twitter. Embed it wherever you want to encourage sharing – website, e-mail, blogs. Add “Follow Me On Pinterest” bar to the social media spot on your web site.
- Don’t forget to be “social”. Re-pin and comment on the pins of others – customers, partners, affiliates.
Marketers, Beware
Pinterest’s rise has been meteoric, but will it flame out? Similar sites have fizzled after their 15 minutes of fame have passed. As will all new social media sites, you need to determine what is right for your business and where your potential customers are socializing.
Want to see a quick webinar for a tour of Pinterest? Click here to register for this free 15 minute webinar.
PART ONE: Everyone’s Talking About Pinterest: What is it?
Everyone's talking about Pinterest, the hot new social media Web site. If you don't know about this site, here's a quick overview. Launched in March, 2010, Pinterest aims to connect everyone in the world through the visual 'things' they find interesting. With more than 16.1 million unique visitors in January (Nielson), Pinterest has doubled in size since November. This amazing growth has companies selling everything from pancake mix to prom dresses thinking about ways to add this dynamic site to their marketing mix.
What is Pinterest?
Pinterest is a virtual cork board for pinning images and other items found elsewhere on the Web. The user, called a “pinner,” creates a collage on his or her pinboard with graphic bookmarks. Each item, or “pin”, is a picture, a video, a discussion or a combination of all of these, created with items found online or uploaded from the “pinner’s” computer.
Pinterest connects users via their common interests. Users share and compare with others on boards that are organized by specific themes. A bride-to-be can use Pinterest to help plan her wedding, pinning images of gowns, floral arrangements, catering halls, and/or gift ideas to her pinboard. Other common uses are home remodeling projects, recipes, fashion designs, craft ideas. Pinners can also create their own “wish books”.
Pinboards can be shared with other Pinterest users. They can be posted on Facebook and tweeted on Twitter. Shared users can comment on pins, click a “like” button on a pin and even re-pin an image to their own board. All of these actions grow the influence of the original pinner and because the posted items link back to the original website, having one of your items pinned can boost your web traffic.
For now, Pinterest users are primarily women who are likely to shop online, but the potential exists for other demographics as well. Pinners can also connect their Pinterest profile with their Facebook accounts which broadens the exposure by piggybacking on the large Facebook community. All of this activity helps Pinterest gather information about its users profiles. How Pinterest leverages this data remains to be seen.
Want to see a quick webinar for a tour of Pinterest? Click here to register for this free 15 minute webinar.
On March 30, your Facebook brand and business page will include the newTimeline. While you may be familiar with Timeline on your personal page, there are a few differences as to how you can use Timeline on your brand or business page. These differences can be used to encourage customer engagement, but there are also specific rules as to how certain features can be used on a Page.
For example, you cannot use the large "cover photo" that appears when users first arrive on your page to promote sales, direct users to your website or highlight actions for your Page such as "Like Us". However, this space is perfect for introducing your business to your fans and for making a first impression.
For a good overview of what to expect and some tips as to how to get to the most of our Timeline, check out this article by Kristin Burnham, Facebook Business Pages: A how-to guide.
Why and how it differentiates your company, products and services
Businesses who choose to have a tagline associated with their company, product or service have a significant advantage over their competitors. A good tagline makes a good first impression. A great tagline makes it easier for customers to understand what your business does and how it differentiates itself from the competition. Compelling and memorable taglines take it one step further and make an emotional connection with customers so they’ll think positively about why they should use your company’s products or services.
Purpose
Having a tagline allows your company to explain a benefit or one of its key points of differentiation at-a-glance. When a company name is not intuitive, customer’s will form their own opinions and you lose control of your brand image. A tagline allows you to help shape the perceptions of your company before customer’s begin to interact with you.
Types of Taglines
There are two main types of taglines. First, is the descriptive or functional tagline that gives insight to what the business is about and could include a key benefit of doing business with your company. This type of tagline works well for new businesses establishing who they are, businesses with an unfamiliar product or service, or for companies without an intuitive name. The second is the emotional tagline that is crafted to create a tone or feeling about your business. This type of tagline is more often used when the brand is firmly established, there is no confusion about who the company is but the landscape in which it operates is fiercely competitive. Frequently there have been hybrids of these two types that identify a key benefit and that pull at us emotionally, usually with a double meaning.
Taglines can be product oriented, so that people remember “don't get mad, get Glad” when they buy garbage bags, or can position their company overall as Allstate does when it lets its customers know that they're “in good hands.”
Length
Taglines should be no longer than 10 words, but ideally are only 4-5 words. Keep it simple and memorable so that it is understandable and easy to remember. Keeping it short will be a challenge, but it must drill down to quickly reveal the company’s core message to be most effective. Nike’s “just do it” was short, but empowers and encourages its customer’s athletic aspirations.
Content
Taglines should emphasize something essential about your business, a differentiating factor is best. For example: Folgers used “Its uncanny” when it moved from a can to a plastic container. Taglines should connect with the brand itself, but can also connect with a marketing campaign. Staples began using “that was easy” with the inception of the “easy button.” Generally, positives are a plus, negatives a turn-off. But exceptions appear to even this rule: Avis' "We Try Harder" tagline was effective because it turned one of the company's disadvantages (the fact Avis was not the market leader) into an advantage.
Be careful not to expect your tagline to do all the work for your company. It should not define every aspect of the business, but add dimension, personality or positioning to your company.
Benefits
The benefits of using a tagline are many:
- It expresses your company’s position or unique market position
- It can convey essential qualities of your brand personality
- It can highlight a key benefit of doing business with your company
- It is meaningful and relevant to your target audience
A tagline doesn't have to be memorable to everyone to be effective — just to those you want as customers.
Usage
Once you’ve established a tagline, use it repeatedly. Most often it should be positioned as a “lock up” with your logo either below your company logo or above it as an “eyebrow.” The font and styling of the tagline should work in synergy with the logo, and work within your brand standards.Use this “lock-up” on EVERY marketing piece, including advertising, your website, email signatures, etc.
Taglines, when created effectively, are an extension of your company’s brand. They create a sense of relationship with the product or company and can change perception in a customer’s mind, giving an old company a new personality and image.
You got them to your door, now make them take their coats off.
Driving traffic to your site is the first step to using online marketing to grow your business. Here are ten tips to keep customers on your site longer and increase conversion:
- Carry Your Marketing Messages to your Web Site
Make sure that your messaging is compelling and in synch with your other marketing communications. A consistent message across all mediums builds confidence and trust. The web site is a powerful way to reinforce your other marketing and sales efforts and a tool to ultimately help get that new client.
- Greet Visitors at the Door
When a visitor arrives at your web site, you have only seconds to make an impression and convince them to stay. A new visitor should immediately know who you are, what you do and what action you want them to take. A good tagline or short introductory message can help achieve this.
- Know Your Visitors and Guide them Well
A good web site is constructed with the visitor in mind. You may have more than one type of audience and you should build your navigation around how they may use your site. For example, you may sell a service that you promote on your site, but you also may be using your site to recruit qualified employees. Organize the content on your site to suit each type of user by creating paths that direct them appropriately to the content they want.
- Navigation – Simplify and Organize
Including a large number of links on the home page makes it difficult to find anything. If your site is large, simplify the navigation by organizing your content into larger categories that you then can subcategorize. This helps guide users along a path of interest to them.
You can also create multiple menus, organized by function and place them on the page in different areas. For example, create one menu across the top of the page for “Contact Us,” About Us and Home, and a separate menu along the side of the page for the services or products you provide.
- Speak your Visitors Language
Avoid using industry jargon or “cute” names for your navigation menu items. In order to help your visitors find what they are looking for, use button names that are clear and understandable.
- Write for the Web
Site visitors don’t read on the web the way they read in print. Users scan information and then click items of interest to them. Keep content short and to the point on your main pages, but offer more information on subsequent pages for when a user decides to click through.
- Design Should be Supportive, not Intrusive
Design pages to support your message and goal. You don’t need to fill every space with content. White space helps to guide the user’s eye to the important information that you WANT them to see.
- Avoid Gratuitous Images
Images and photographs should help to support your messages and should never be used just to fill space. Areas on your page that move will draw the user’s eye, so use them carefully. If your animation is drawing them away from your message, then you’ve lost an opportunity.
- Real Estate – Location is Everything
Users typically scan a web page in a predictable way. Usually, this follows an “F” shaped pattern. Starting at the top left of the page, they scan across, then move down the page a little lower. Leverage this knowledge to place content on the page so that important messages are seen in this initial “scan.”
- Information Overload – Just Don’t!
If you are a service business, don't try to include every bit of information you can about your services on your site. Remember, your goal is to get a prospect to contact you so you can qualify them, and answer any questions personally. Give them enough information so that the understand what you do, and why do you it best. Include a very clear call to action. If you want them to call you, make sure you make it easy for them to find your number.
The best test of how "sticky" your site might be is to put yourself in your visitor’s shoes. They are looking for a web site that can deliver the information they seek quickly and clearly. With these guidelines, you can provide a helpful and memorable experience for your visitors that will make them want to do business with you. At this rate, not only will they take their coats off, but they’ll stay for coffee too!
For the second time in the past month, someone has asked me if it's ok to give their domain name account to their web developer, or to their IT support company.
Well, that all depends on what they mean by “giving” them the account.
When you register your domain name, you do so with a domain registrar company. Sites like GoDaddy.com, Network Solutions, Register.com and many others allow you to purchase your domain name and then manage how it is used. Most often, you would need to manage your account when building or moving your web site, or setting up your email service.
Let’s talk about your web site….
Your web site can be hosted with a web hosting company while your domain name is registered through a totally different service.
When your site is ready to be launched, you need to log into your domain registrar acount and change some information there so that when people type www.YOURWEBSITE.com into their browser, it goes to the servers where your site lives. Often, it’s the name server information that you change and each web hosting company has their own name servers.
So, why would your web developer need access to your domain registrar? Most likely they need to change the name server information so your domain name now points to your new web hosting service or some similar information.
Ok, so back to our original question…..
Should you give your domain name account to your web developer or IT vendor? The answer is definitely “NO.”
It’s ok to give ACCESS to your account for help making the changes on your behalf if you’re comfortable with that, but there is no reason why anyone should be taking ownership of your account. If you give your account over to someone else, they basically own your domain name. Your domain name is too important of an asset to just give away. No matter how much you trust your vendor, you should always retain ownership of your domain name.
Some domain registrar services have tools that let you decide who might have access to your account, or you can simply change your password right after your vendor completes whatever changes they need to make. But, be wary of any company that insists on moving your domain name to their account.
Our company, Hudson Fusion, builds and maintains web sites mostly in Westchester, NY, Fairfield, CT, and the surrounding areas. We’ve designed and developed small business websites for over 15 years. Each year, we get at least 5 calls from people who unknowingly gave away their domain names, or never owned them in the first place. Their previous web designer registered their domain name in THEIR name and then later disappeared. Sometimes, when there was a dispute about the project, the domain name was held “hostage.” Don’t let this happen to you. Protect your domain name and your business by making sure your domain name belongs to you.
A newsletter is a powerful way for you to stay in touch with your customers and keep you on their minds. The problem for some companies and organizations is, they don’t think they have enough to say to warrant an “official” newsletter. But you’ve probably got more to tell than you realize.
Think of your newsletter as a single whole with several distinct parts. Normally there’s a “lead story” along with a varying number of smaller pieces. Most of the pieces should focus on some aspect of your operation, but you can also add things that are simply fun. Here are some common newsletter topics to consider.
Instruction: Share your expertise. Teach people something that relates to the use of your products or services.
Personal letter: A message from a principal in the company lends a nice touch. The message should be welcoming and at the same time influential.
What’s new?: If you’ve got new products or services, your newsletter is the perfect place to talk about them.
Tips: A bulleted or numbered list of how-to tips is easy to read and follow.
Deals: Include coupons and discounts with ordering codes that make the specials good only for newsletter readers.
Company/industry news: You probably have more newsworthy items than you realize – new staff, recent awards, new machinery or equipment, expansion or relocation. And finding general industry news is as simple as a few clicks.
Calendars: If your company is involved in the local community, let people know where you’re going to be and when. You could also include a general calendar of events for your area.
With a good master plan, you can create newsletters every month or every quarter that are informative, helpful AND good for future business. We can help you set up your newsletter and get you moving fast with a compelling design and strong, engaging content.
As more and more websites (like hundreds of millions) keep appearing every time we turn around, companies engaged in online marketing are more concerned with differentiation than ever before. Fortunately, there are many ways to set yourself apart on your website. An easy and effective way is with photographs of your staff.
Even though your customers and prospects probably don’t know you personally, they’ll feel like they do when they see your picture. Of course they already know there are real people behind your business, but when they can “see” you, it becomes personal. And that strengthens the seller/buyer relationship.
A company with 75 employees obviously doesn’t need to post photos of each person. But nice shots of the company leaders are always appropriate. If you have a Bios or an About Us page on your site, those are good places to put the pictures. If you’re a one- or two-person shop, consider placing your photos on the Home page as a nice welcome.
In acquiring photos, hire a qualified photographer. Resist the urge to use the standard “school-picture headshots” you might have lying around. Your web designer will then take these quality photos and creatively enhance your company’s image and the overall attractiveness of your website and message.
There’s a saying that goes “People like doing business with people they like.” We can modify that for the digital world to read, “People like doing business with people they can at least see.” Posting photos of you and your staff can really bring your website – and your business – to “living” life.