Marketing meets technology

pdfmyurl

During the ’90s, computers made training manuals and technical books obsolete. During the oughts, PowerPoint made printed presentations obsolete. Over the next few years, e-readers will make paper news and fiction obsolete. But once in a while you still need to print things, or just distribute a copy of something where Internet access is not available, and that can be difficult because Web pages are not designed for good-looking paper output.

A new Web site can simplify the process of grabbing a Web page and turning it into a PDF file. Called simply pdfmyurl, this Web site does exactly what it says. Enter any Web page address (URL) and it will hand you a PDF file.

There are other Web sites and desktop tools to this already, and Apple computers have the capability to create a PDF built right in. But Windows users have to go looking for the proper tools, and the results have been mixed. pdfmyurl is fast and handles formatting of complex pages very well.

If you frequently need to print Web pages pdfmyurl can save you lots of paper. After getting the PDF file you can easily delete unnecessary pages before printing them, such as a page filled with ads and Flash video, or skip printing the last page if it only contains a footer with navigation links.

Newspapers and magazines are struggling to keep customers spending money on their paper products while both readers and advertisers are quickly turning to online news, commentary and fiction. So it’s interesting to watch publishers adapt to this new world, testing technologies to draw in readers and trying to keep their ad revenue flowing.

Three magazines and their online advertising caught our attention over the past couple of days. One site (Forbes) we may never visit again because their advertising is so obnoxious. Another site (Esquire) has an ambitious online/offline integration that works well and is fun to play with. The third (InStyle) also tried to integrate online features, but it was a total bust – we couldn’t make it work at all, which probably doesn’t make Taylor Swift very happy since she’s the 3-D cover girl.

Bad – Forbes

Forbes has solid editorial content and a rich history, but the desperation apparent in their online advertising is ridiculous. They seem determined to cover every inch of the online page with ads. For some time now their site has been loaded down with multiple animated ads on each page. This is really distracting when trying to read the story. To make things worse, some of those ads have sound that begins playing automatically. This can be shocking if you left the volume turned up while rocking out the night before, or it interrupts your current soundtrack or the quiet of your office.
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Most of the excitement about telephones these days concerns the iPhone, Palm Pre, Android phones and similar small computers. These devices let you browse Web sites, check your e-mail, make appointments in your calendar, watch the latest You Tube videos, listen to music, take pictures, make movies, direct you to your next meeting with spoken turn-by-turn directions, and even make phone calls.

With all that excitement in your pocket it’s easy to forget that most of us are also tethered to one or more wired phones at home and work. Missing an important call from a client is easy to do if you don’t hear your cell phone ring, and don’t bother checking your office voice mail before heading out on Friday afternoon. Using only a cell phone works for some people, but it’s not practical if your company has a main and/or toll free number, or for those cases where you have to transfer a caller down the hall.

Google seems to be everywhere these days so I guess it’s not surprising that they are also trying to shake up the old fashioned phone business with a service called Google Voice. (No surprise, AT&T has already complained to the FCC about Google Voice, trying to nip this upstart competitor in the bud.) Like many of their other new online tools Google Voice is technically in beta test so it’s not guaranteed to be reliable, available, or ever become a real product. But for now at least Google Voice is available, mostly reliable, free, and really handy for small businesses in particular.
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Have you ever been on the phone with a client across the country when you wanted to show them something on your computer? You can try reading the URL. (Me: type this URL. Client: what’s a URL? Me: nevermind. in the address bar of your browser, type httpcolonslashslashwww… Client: wait. what’s a colon?) But that’s a great way to waste valuable time and aggravate the client. If you have a spreadsheet, or some artwork to show them your only option is usually to e-mail the file – another great way to waste the client’s time on the phone, and they might not be able to open your file anyway.
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The folks at Twitter have just released an interesting new guide for businesses. Called Twitter 101, the online guide (also available for download as a PDF file) provides a comprehensive overview of Twitter, the terminology you’ll need to understand, and best practices.

The really fun stuff is the case studies from companies like Dell, Pepsi, JetBlue, CoffeeGroundz, and Teusner Wines. Some of these companies are large, public corporations while others have just a few people. Lots of good ideas in there that would apply to any business.

We answer a lot of questions every week about online marketing. Those conversations usually start with something like: Why doesn’t my Web site show up in a Google search? Why do my competitors all rank above my Web site? Why don’t I get any leads from the Internet? The leads I get from the Internet are all spam e-mails so why should I waste time trying to get more?

These are not simple questions to answer and usually involve a combination of technical issues (design, coding), content and financial reality (limited marketing dollars). But you might be surprised at how much can be done with a relatively small budget, and some regular attention to updating your information.
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Everywhere you look these days there are stories about social media in general, and Twitter in particular. Just a few examples are: Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, Advertising Age (here, here, here, and many more).

Nobody knows where this is all heading and there isn’t any road map to help guide your particular business. But there are a few things that are already clear:
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Summer is typically a slow time in business.  Customers are either frying at the beach, daydreaming about their trip to Paris, or thinking about their next barbecue.  Either way their mind isn’t really focused on buying whatever you’re selling.  So you can either write off the next couple of months, or have some fun with summer-themed marketing campaigns.

One of our clients came up with a perfect summer promotion – easy to implement, low cost, and most important, a quick response.  They are giving away gift cards for slushy drinks.  Here’s how it works:

1. Assemble a mailing list of new prospects and/or existing customers that you don’t expect to see during the summer.
2. Print postcards with a unique "secret code" on each one.
3. Set up a Web page containing a survey, or just some product information, depending on your business.

You can see the current survey page we set up for this particular mailing here:

http://FreeDrinksOnUs.com/296

They control their cost because a "secret code" is required to claim the gift.  This also lets them control the geographic reach of the campaign – in this case they are targeting a corner of northern New Jersey.  And they only buy as many gift cards as they need, when they need them.

We can easily try different value gift cards, different mailing lists, and other options to stay in front of people all summer long.  For more flexibility the sales people can give out secret codes whenever they think it might help during a sales call.  And any prospects calling in on the phone can also be given codes if appropriate.

The secret code is also designed to help in tracking different approaches.  So each mailing/offer has a unique set of codes, and each sales person has their own set.

All the leads coming in from the Web site are automatically posted to a Zoho CRM system to track effectiveness, to help automate future mailings, and for easy follow up and tracking by sales people.

Our client in this case is the AlphaGraphics print shop in Montclair, NJ .  Call them at the number on the Web site above to ask about these summer promotions.  If you’re lucky they might even give you a secret code of your own.