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Douglas Clifford - Part 2: Ways to Shoot Your Web Site in the Foot
Rule #6
Never delegate your company’s email to an outside contractor.Many businesses choose to hire third parties to design and maintain their web presence. That’s a totally cool solution but you, the business owner, manager or employee must handle the email. No one outside your company knows as much about your business as you do, and only you can control the quality and speed of your email response.
Do I hear some grumbling from web designers out there? Do yourself and the client a favor, and don’t offer "cradle to grave" web design solutions which include answering the client’s email. Instead teach the client how to handle email effectively and make it part of the contract.
Rule #7
Build your own mailing list, never buy one.Create a guest book or give away modest prizes once a month selected from among those who register to receive mailings from your company. Send out a regular newsletter keeping customers informed about new products and special deals. Make your newsletter valuable by including free tips, suggestions, and information you’ve found on the web which you’d like to share with them.
Don’t even think about bulk email or using bulk emailing companies. Most of the people who receive your message will toss it in the trash can, those who read it will probably remember the name of your company as a pest, and the few sales you make will be far outweighed by the damage and harm done to your business reputation. Don’t believe the claims bulk email firms make about being able to target buyers for your products. The only people getting rich with bulk email are the companies which send out the mail.
I’m sure you have some good ideas which weren’t included here. Drop me a line and we’ll share them with the readers in the next issue of WebDesign & Review.
Next month, we’ll cover more ways to avoid Shooting Your Web Site in the Foot.
Doug
Douglas Clifford is the webmaster of the ACE Indexes, an annotated directory of photo commerce web sites, and online photography and digital imaging magazines. (http://www.acecam.com)Doug's Rules: Rule #1 _|_ Rule #2 _|_ Rule #3 _|_ Rule #4 _|_ Rule #5 _|_ Rules #6, #7 and end
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