I was working on one of my newest eBooks early this morning, in preparation for the class I’ll be teaching about it in January at TNNA.

The subject is Preparing Products for Presentation on the Web. Whoa! Try saying that 3 times – fast! I’m teaching only one session in Long Beach and the class is already half full.

My classes are in lecture format, so I put a high limit on the number of seats available– in this case, there are 50. Going by the enrollment figures, there is strong interest in the topic.

Most of the folks attending this class are not technologically sophisticated. I also know that in many cases, the attendee may not be the person who will be doing the actual work down the road.

Most of my intended audience consists of folks who own successful OFFLINE businesses that they are taking ONLINE. Every day they make business breaking decisions about the internet. Both literally and figuratively, *The buck stops there!*. Knowing all this, I am working very hard to explain the WHYs of doing something – not just the HOWs.

Today I had a blinding realization about the best way to approach the HOWs of doing business online and why the WHYs are soooo important..

There is a lot of information available about how to do business Online. Much of it is focused on solving specific problems and as a result it deals with the HOWs, which is appropriate.

However, for many Offline business owners, knowing WHY to do something gives them the knowledge they need to make the BEST decisions for their businesses about HOW to do it. Unfortunately, this is where everything starts to fall apart.

As we all know, the Internet is a technological marvel. It is technology personified. In addition, much of it also deals with technological subjects. For obvious reasons, most of the pundits are technology geeks (and I say this in a kind and loving way! LOL). As a natural progression, technology pervades almost all explanations regarding HOWs and WHYs, no matter the topic under discussion.

This is completely understandable… but not always a good thing for the unsuspecting, technologically challenged Offline business owner trying to make sound Online decisions!

What I realized this morning is that most business owners need WHYs that are Technologically Independent.

Technologically Independent? What in the world do I mean by that?

Technologically Independent means that the WHY question for any issue has been analyzed down to its most basic components.

Technologically Independent means it is a question that can be answered no matter what the current technology is and the answer will be reliable no matter what future technology entails.

Huh? Let me give a couple of examples to illustrate my point…

In my Product Preparation class, I will be discussing specific issues such as the commonly recognized need to optimize photographs for the internet. There is no point in putting up a print optimized picture of 300 dots per inch, if good resolution on a computer monitor is only in the 72-96 pixels per inch range.

The file for the 300 dpi picture is much larger than it needs to be, it will take longer to load, and there will be no appreciable improvement in picture quality.

This is an issue that most web site How To Manuals discuss and many of them explain ways to accomplish this in varying degrees of detail.

OK… that all makes sense, but let’s take a moment to look at two different ways to explain the WHY of it.

The Technologically Dependent version of WHY says:

Product images displayed on a web site should be optimized for a compute monitor, not for print reproduction on paper.

The Technologically Independent version of WHY says:

Product representations should be optimized for the medium/device on which they will be displayed/interpreted.

Let’s take a moment to analyze these two approaches in a bit more detail…

The Technologically Dependent version of WHY, stating that *product images displayed on a web site should be optimized for a compute monitor, not for print reproduction on paper* assumes the following:

1) The product is being represented by an image (at this time in technology, there is also an underlying assumption that the image will probably be 2 dimensional)
2) The image will be displayed on a computer monitor
3) The alternative version of the image is one that can be printed on paper

The Technologically Independent version of WHY, stating that *product representations should be optimized for the medium/device on which they will be displayed/interpreted* is taking the position that:

1) There is not a specific form of product representation being discussed.

We could be discussing a photo, a drawing, a video, a holographic representation, a psychically projected image or even some other type that doesn’t exist yet. Note that we are not assuming that the image is a 2 dimensional representation, either

2) The medium/device is unspecified

It could be a piece of paper, a computer monitor, a hand-held computing device, a device capable of receiving a projection of some kind, or anything else that future technology may involve!

3) There is no alternative version of the image under discussion

… the WHY has been distilled to its simplest form.

Another example from my Product Preparation discussion concerns one of the two elements needed to successfully sell products.

The Technologically Dependent version of that element states:

To successfully sell products Online, you need an effective, functional web site / blog

This assumes:

1) The product’s sales vehicle is the internet

2) The delivery method to be used on the internet is a web site / blog

The Technologically Independent version of that element states:

To successfully sell products, you need an effective, functional presentation

This can be applied to printing on paper, billboards, audio, video, holographic or psychic projection, or any method or technology that hasn’t even been dreamed – yet.

If the WHY has been reduced to a Technologically Independent analysis, it can be applied to whatever technology is out there, now or in the future.

This means that the astute business person (either Offline or Online) has a fighting chance of being able to decide what is best for his or her business. It is not necessary to understand the ins and outs of the technology in question. Once the decision has been made, knowledgeable tech people can be hired to implement that decision!

So… what does a savvy, but overwhelmed business owner need to do?

When you are looking for HOWs to solve problems, take the time to find the WHYs, if possible. When you are studying the WHY, try to distill it down to a Technologically Independent explanation.

Technology is changing fast and furiously. Your time is valuable. Seeking out a HOW answer and ignoring the WHY will mean that a year or two down the road you will be looking for another HOW about the newest technology. In many cases, the WHY behind the two HOWs may actually be the same!

Life is short, don’t keep doing the same work over and over!

Sharing the Road to Success,

Tink

*****
Tink Boord-Dill uses her many years online, her carefully honed problem-solving skills, and her ability to explain complicated issues in an easy to understand fashion to help Offline Business Owners put their businesses Online, successfully.

Visit her online at HowToSurviveAndConquer.com and SurviveAndConquerOnline.com and read her column, TechSupport, in American Quilt Retailer Magazine.
*****

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One of the biggest barriers to Online success is applying Offline reasoning to Online situations– incorrectly.

Online marketing (and selling) is very complex and all of us are looking for ways to decipher its complexity. One tempting method is to look for parallels between the Offline and Online worlds and then apply that Offline reasoning to Online situations.

Now, as a former Theater Scene Designer, I was trained to use metaphor as a problem solving tool. Comparing apples to apples can be very effective, but in many cases, applying Offline reasoning to Online problems is more like comparing apples to screwdrivers.

What brought this to mind was hearing (third hand, I will admit) about a company that is planning on selling digital products online. OK… that is good. I sell digital products online and know that it is a viable business model.

What concerned me was hearing (again, third hand) that this company did not plan to show the book pricing until the item is added to the shopping cart.

As it was explained to me, the reason was that they were following the example of “real books” whose pricing is located either on the back or inside the front jacket, so viewing the price requires a little work.

Hmmmm… OK, let’s think about this…

I see this as faulty logic for three reasons. (Truth be told, I quit looking after these three, because I had other things I needed to do. LOL)

My thoughts —

Problem #1 – Following the example of “real books” only works if you understand WHY it is that way and your product and its selling mechanism are the same as “real books”.

With real books, putting the price on the back or inside the front jacket encourages the shopper to pick up the books. Many times this leads to looking more closely at the book, opening it and reading an excerpt, looking at the table of contents, the index, or, better yet, any illustrations.

The potential customer is interacting with the book, building a relationship with the book, and once that happens is more likely to want to give it a good home (meaning purchase it, for any of you poor souls who are not *book people* … smile…)

With a digital product, displayed online, this won’t happen…

While a digital product may have the same intellectual content as a physical printed version, the differences in its physical manifestation – it is a file on a computer, not a physical book– make this an excellent example of comparing apples to screwdrivers.

Problem #2 – Pricing on digital products can vary greatly.

With a physical product, it is easy to guess a ballpark price.

I don’t expect to pay the same for a beat-up second hand paperback book as I would for the newest, large, lavishly illustrated and beautifully printed coffee table book.

Pricing digital products is much less obvious. Often it is difficult to separate the issues of physical creation and manufacturing costs from the value of the intellectual property that the digital product contains. As a result, it is very difficult to predict accurately what the product cost will be.

Problem #3 – Online purchasers are wary about being taken advantage of or scammed.

Many folks are not aware that it is safe to back out of a purchase even after you have products in an online shopping cart.

Many are afraid that simply starting the transaction will commit them. Will they be willing to start the process, simply to find out the price? I doubt it!

One of the most important elements of successful online selling is creating customer comfort and trust. For that reason, it is important that an online merchant provide open and comprehensive information about a transaction BEFORE the transaction begins. This includes information such as a detailed description of the item, photograph of the item (if applicable), the format/size of the item, shipping charges, exactly how the transaction will take place AND the product’s price!

I believe that asking the customer to start the transaction before establishing the price is a poor marketing strategy.

Thinks of how differences between countries and cultures can affect business. In some parts of the world, black is the color of mourning, in others, white is worn to honor the dead. To someone wishing to show proper respect, wearing the wrong clothing can send a disrespectful message nonetheless.

There are many knowledgeable Offline business people who are moving Online and bringing with them a wealth of knowledge and breadth of experience from which all of us benefit.

The danger lies is in NOT recognizing that Online is a very different universe than Offline. It is important to learn about this new Online world before incorrectly applying business principles from the old Offline world.

Sharing the Road to Success,

Tink

WordPress Secure is a nifty, new piece of software designed to make your blog safer. It’s simple to use, well documented, and it adds a really neat extra layer of protection around your WordPress Admin section:

Click HERE to read the sales page.

Remember, a blog is a VERY important piece of the online marketing puzzle. If you’re nervous about your blog being hit, you’ll want this!

Do a search on *my blog was hacked* — I did a search last week and got 3,230,000 responses! YIKES!

This software strengthens your WordPress Admin access, and is independent of what version of WordPress you are using. This is a good thing since it means you don’t have to worry about whether it will work with an update. This also means that it is effective against Zero Day Exploits. (Zero Day Exploits are exploits that come out the same day as a new version of software is released.)

It is NOT appropriate for Blogs with MANY users… sorry!

It doesn’t solve all WP security issues, but it does do a nice job with the Word-Press Admin section.

The script requires a Linux based Apache web host (nearly all are Linux based)

It comes with:
An Installation Video
A Special Report discussing other WordPress Security issues.

If you want additional protection for you blog, this is a useful tool.

Tink

This has been one of those weeks (or three!)

Fortunately, I am a Kentucky Trade client.

Freddy and Maria took good care of me, but there were several glitches, including needing a new hard drive, a need to reset my wireless router, and later on, a new fan. The good news is that my desktop and laptop are best friends again. The better news is that no data was lost!

I did lose work time because the files I needed were sitting up in Lexington, but that’s life.

I am now slowly reinstalling my software. I have a lot of small specialty programs and trying to track them down and install them has been a chore. One thing I had been doing, which has simplified things is to download all programs into a specific folder, so with many of these, I can just find it there and then install.

Now I am also taking the time to save the programs I do install (before installation) in a folder designated *Installed programs*. I think that it will make things a lot more efficient the next time I do this.

One good thing I had done was designate a special place to save my Thunderbird and FireFox setting, so restoration was pretty simple with those.

I will be working on additional backup strategies. I was lucky this time but I want to make the odds in my favor even better for next time!

Sharing the Road to Success!
Tink

I got one of those dreaded phone calls from a friend a while back. (Note that names and details in this cautionary tale have been changed to protect the innocent!)

Poor Patty’s web site needed some changes ASAP, and she couldn’t reach her web master. Patty knew how to make some minor changes to her site, but for some reason, she couldn’t get onto the site to make these changes.

She had some online classes coming up and it was imperative that the information be updated ASAP… so she called me, the best friend who *knows all about web sites*!

I, of course, insisted on asking those pesky questions… What is your User ID and Password? Who is your web host? How do you normally make the changes?

Well, needless to say, I couldn’t gain access to the site….

Hmmmm…. Time to ask some more deep and searching questions…

After much talk and confusion, we began to get it sorted out…

It turned out that Patty’s web master had moved her web site to a new hosting company.

OK, that is reasonable. She had sent Patty information on the changes. That is a good thing! I can’t fault the web master on this.

But Patty wasn’t sure what to do with the info and why she needed it? (not good) and now the web master has gone AWOL (very much a NOT good thing).

I spent some time explaining to Patty what that information represents, why she needed it, and I waited while she went thru old email and miscellaneous scraps of paper.

The good news is that Patty did have the information, and she eventually found it. I was able to access the web site and talk her thru the making the necessary changes.

The bad news is that her web master has had some major life changes and won’t be doing this type of work any more.

Patty, being a resourceful business owner, is handling the problem as needed and getting more knowledgeable and organized about what she needs to do to protect her business!

Unhappily, the situation with Patty was just the first in a very busy couple of weeks, where I ended up fielding calls from friends, family, and clients with similar problems…

After a number of long phone calls and late nights (everybody seemed to be in a different time zone! LOL) I decided that I needed to do something!

And that, dear reader, is how *Disaster-proof Your Online Business* came to be.

I think that it is one of the most important tools a business owner can acquire and cheap at the price! Believe me, I would be thinking that even if my worst enemy had written it!

From now until the end of April, I am making it available for my blog readers at a discount!

Believe me, this is a business owner’s MUST HAVE!

The discount key is : SaCApril07

Sharing the Road to Success!
Tink

Cricket Bailey has spent endless energy and countless hours *Paying it Forward*!

She and her dedicated cohorts run Search Engine Optimization and Marketing classes  for FREE!

They have a new session staring in about a week. there will be an Intensive Full Month Long Training Session March 9th through April 8th.
*quote*

We are working to add more in depth training to help you better understand
and implement the lessons. I am also currently working on expanding our
marketing lessons.

Everything we do will be focused on greatly increasing the targeted traffic
to your website and turning that traffic into sales, to help you develop a
successful online business.

*end quote*

Cricket has also written an excellent eBook on SEO. Purchasing it is NOT a requirement for taking her classes, but I highly recommend that you make the minimal investment!

For more information of the SEO and Marketing classes (you are required to take them concurrently) :

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/SEO_Techniques/

For information on her SEO Techniques book:

http://www.gnc-web-creations.com/seo-techniques.htm

Sharing the Road to Success!

Tink

If you have been considering dabbleing in Web Video, this might be just what you need to get started.

An online friend of mine just released this report:

*Make Your Videos Sell By Lighting Them Professionally for Just Cents on the Dollar*

http://tinyurl.com/2dts5r

I just bought it. It is only $7 and I decided to share the joy!

Quentin is considered an online expert in Web Audio and this Video information meets his usual high standards. I know that I will be doing web video in the future, and this looks like it will give me the starting info that I needed…

I am already spending LOTS of time online researching (especially with 3 TNNA classes in June), so being able to spend just a few dollars and get off to a running start seemed like a real bargain.

After looking it over, I thought that I would take the time to offer more info about it, and possibly aid in the decision making process!

Let me preface this by saying that I have a technical theatre and design background but very little video experience… I know just enough to know that I know nothing!

I have been asking MANY questions of a friend who works in video and trying to glean info from him on how I could do a lot of this myself… and with minimal investment… Note, also that my friend has ZERO web video experience! LOL

Anyway, here is my analysis:

As a stage lighting designer, I know that lighting is critical, but I do have limited resources… being shown a step by step way to produce lighting on my own was quite welcome. I especially appreciated the comparison of florescent vs tungsten.

The step by step photographs for the light assembly and wiring mean that either Jeffrey or I can do it ourselves, always a plus in my book!

The light stand solution, for those of us without access to professional equipment, was also extremely useful. Jeffrey and I had been talking about what we could use, and this looks like a good possibility.

We had also been considering different cameras. Now that I know what Quentin suggests, I can use it as a starting place for my research.

Fortunately, it looks as though my computer will be capable of video editing once I look into getting a video editing card. Again, this gives me a starting point when talking to Freddie, my computer guy.

The 7 Tips section will sure save me time and effort. From my theatre experience, I know that this type of planning is essential, and yes I could certainly figure it out by trial and error, but my time is valuable and for $7, I am coming out WAAAY ahead.

When I started working with Audio online about 4 years ago I spent MANY hours researching… having Quentin feed me the Cliff Notes/study guide for Streaming Audio was, again, a time and energy saver for me…

The evaluation of 10 online Video sharing services (each is evaluated by interface, editing features, the sharing mechanism, and a final verdict based on experience) was again, worth more than $7 in research time and effort… FOR ME!

Right now, my most limited resource is time, and let me tell you, this is saving me a LOT of hours of basic research. Will it answer all of my questions? No, but I now have a starting point to continue my research, and more importantly, I better know what questions to ask.

With this in mind, I consider my $7 well spent… however I also realize that it may not be helpful for everybody. Certainly, if I were a professional videographer with years of experience, about the only useful info might be the evaluation of the online video options…

This report was released as part of a new marketing method which directs payment to the person making the recommendation. Because of that, it took me some time, but I have finally figured out a way to give a link that pays Quentin, rather than me, so here it is… just call me blonde!

http://videohomelighting.com

Or here is my link:

http://tinyurl.com/2dts5r

Anyway, this will give an ordering option to anyone who feels that I should not benefit from a recommendation.

I don’t mind since my primary purpose was to make a good resource available to others.

HTH,
Tink
Not a Video Professional! LOL