Hello, my name is David Carter, a domainer and Internet Marketer based in England. I've been experimenting with various online marketing techniques since 1998 and have tried just about every guru program available.
I am not a fan of get rich quick schemes - my techniques are oriented towards promoting real businesses online.
Friday, 27 July 2007
Why I Don't Want "Clients"
I made a mistake earlier this year.
Somebody asked me if I could build them a cheap and cheerful web site for their new startup business.
I tried to get out of it, but in the end agreed on the basis that it would be just a basic web site, with a nice design, as long as they provided the copy.
Guess what?
The site has been completed (as far as any site is ever complete) and now they ask, "could you get the web site up the google rankings. we’ve tried searching for our website, but drawn a blank".
The client in this case is an estate agent who's opening a new business in a related niche.
He charges 1% of the value of any property he sells, so his "service" is valued at say an average of £3-4000 a time.
His new company's service will be just as lucrative, but he wants to spend no money on a service that could give him a top ten Google ranking and bring in loads of new business.
I explained politely that web design is not the same as search engine placement.
I could get him that top spot he craves, but I don't want to.
ANY search engine placement company would be stupid to give such a service away for next to nothing.
ANY search engine placement company that can actually get results would not be messing around dealing with tin pot outfits in the first place - they'd be finding a way to leverage their skill into a profit share situation and then earning a residual income on the back of their efforts.
In the old days, when just an Internet newbie, I used to gather up as much information about Internet Marketing as I could get my hands on.
Much of what learned still serves me well today and is even still be served up as being new information, by wannabe Internet Marketers in their ebooks.
One of the things I was told and absolutely believed when I first started out online, was that if you're selling anything online, whether it be a book, a subscription, or anything, that you should always charge your fees in US Dollars.
Being British, my natural inclination was to want to use UK Pounds.
But, the Internet Marketers know best don't they?
One of the sites I run for a client (I don't have many clients, but one or two don't hurt), is a popular membership site.
It has always charged in US Dollars, but most of the visitors come from the UK.
The payment processor, a third party provider rather than a bank, only allowed them to charge in Dollars and in fairness, business was brisk and stable for a number of years.
Today, the Dollar rate makes it almost impossible for a British site to charge in Dollars because the exchaange rate is so poor (unless you're a tourist going to the USA).
I helped the site change to UK Pounds and add in a little increase at the same time, charging £20 per month instead of $29.99 (£15).
What happened?
The take-up increased. More members piled in.
It just goes to show that the Dollar might be the international currency of choice of the net, but if you're aiming your product at a predominently local audience, charge the local currency!
One of my first posts on this blog was about an online games company that I approached with a view to using my domain, skill.co.uk to ptomote their games.
What I wanted, was to use their games platform on Skill.co.uk and to get a revenue share of any money generated.
Instead, they simply pointed me towards their crappy affiliate program that paid a few pennies for every member that signed up.
The problem with that, is that the affiliate (me in this case) would only get paid once, at the point where a member joined.
The company however, would continue to make money for as long as the member remained in the system.
I was convinced that I could find a company that would be prepared to give me a residual income in the gaming arena, but sadly, the only ones that were interested were the gambling sites.
The problem is that gambling has become a naughty word, along with "adult". It sends people screaming for the hills these days. That's beacause, as the US government keeps insisting, all adult sites and all gambling sites are run by organised crime and terrorists.
Yeah, right!
So, back to my story.
I have been dealing with a company for the past few years that run the world's most successful lottery syndicate (if you're interested, see my site lottery-syndicate.co.uk).
They are 100% honets and reliable and know EXACTLY how to teat their affiliates.
Their new system, essentially a brand new skill gaming platform goes live any day now.
Can you imagine if I'd have taken the £12,000 I was offered for this domain a couple of months ago?
I would be crying right now. Instead, because I believed that I'd be able to do something with the name and I had faith in my judgement, I hung on and waited, knowing that an opportunity would arise.
Skill.co.uk will generate more income in a few weeks than I could have got by selling up early.
If you have domain names, hang on to them, as you just never know when an opportunity might arise to strike it rich!
By the way, if you'd like a residual income from this particular market, please see this:
Following on from yesterday's post, I received an email this morning from a Chartered Structural Engineer.
He asked, "What right do you have to use the name structuralengineer.net. I have letters after my name and feel that I am more entitled to use the name than somebody who is unqualified".
My answer to anyone asking if they can have my names is usually deafening silence. In this case I just couldn't resist this reply:
"I have letters after my name too. Yours is just one of many. I get them all the time".
For those who don't know, domain names are registered on a first-come, first served basis.
Nobody has an automatic right to a domain (unless it's a trademarked name of course), so Mr Structural Engineer, IStructE, go back to your drawing board.
I was appointing a structural engineer to do some calculations for my current house renovation project last month.
The house needed some structural alterations and I had to get some beams designed for some of the more bespoke features I've designed for the house.
The structural engineer knows that I work with a chartered building surveyor and that my websites generate all of the practice's new enquiries - and they are usually nice, big clients!
After I had paid the money and got my calculations, the structural engineer said that I would need further assistance, but not to worry, as his fees included all follow-up advice and help, so I was fairly happy.
Thinking about how easy it would be to generate sales leads for a structural engineer, I set about locating a nice domain for the project.
That's when I noticed one for sale on Sedo, so I placed my offer and landed the domain. In fact, the transfer only went through yesterday, but it's a nice domain, only let down slightly by the fact that it's a .net and I don't usually buy them.
However, who could reisist a generic like "StructuralEngineer.net" when looking for a name for a structural engineer? Not me!
I had this plan to throw up a web site and just feed sales leads to the guy, as he'd clearly he;ped me out of a tricky situation with the house.
There was only one problem.
The promised follow-up advice proved to be a lot harder to get thatn I had been lead to believe. In fact, the guy wouldn't take my phone calls and wouldn't return them either.
I left many messages and was always told that he was too busy.
I even delivered plans to his office by hand and left a note as to what I needed. No reply.
Frustrating isn't the word. I was incensed that anyone in business could treat me that way. It made me think about how I do business and I've taken a long hard look at my methods.
Thinking back, I cannot recall a time when I haven't returned a phone call (even the uncomfortable ones), answered an email or given somebody the benefit of my experience when it's been asked for.
I then looked at the people I already work with and they are exactly the same. They are also successful.
Now I have a domain looking for a good business. It's ok, as the ad appears on the domain.
If you follow a business model like mine, where you develop sales enquiries for local businesses, remember that the leads will be wasted if the business doesn't treat it's customers right.
Arrogance and ignroance have no part in the business world. I only want to deal with the cream when it comes down to my own personal dealings. Anything is just not good enough.
There is a happy ending to my little tale of woe.
Another structural engineer stepped in and produced my calculations and additional drawings. He delievered one drawing at 10pm. He visited the site to understand the project. He speaks to me if I call him and better still, he didn't ask for payment.
Since then, he has been instructed on three commercial projects that I've been involved in, that came via one of my surveying sites. If he had his own practice, then StructuralEngineer.net would be promoting it.
To succeed in any business, you only have to be 1 degree better than the competition and remember that many people just don't have a clue.
