Monthly Archives: November 2006

Customer Acquisition vs. Customer Retention

Posted on November 29, 2006 by Tom Gray

Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company reports that … Over a 5 year period businesses my lose as many as 1/2 of their customers over a 5 year period. Acquiring a new customer can cost 6 to 7 times more … Continue reading →

Posted in Customer Retention, Sales | View Comments

Direct Mail Drives Web Traffic

Posted on November 14, 2006 by Tom Gray

According to a study conducted by the Winterberry Group and reported by eMarketer.com “researchers found that 21% of respondents visited a corresponding Web site within 30 days of receiving direct mail, up from 14% in 2003.” eMarketer.com also cited research … Continue reading →

Posted in Building Traffic, Conversion, Direct Mail, Email Marketing, Marketing | View Comments

Online Sales Forecast – Holiday 2006

Posted on November 14, 2006 by Tom Gray

Still looking for a reason to sell online? How about, “Cuz Santa says so!”? JupiterResearch predicts a record 114 million users will shop online this holiday season, representing a year-over-year increase in online holiday spending of 18 percent to $32 … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecommerce, Internet | View Comments

Overwhelmed by Decisions? Give Your Product or Service an Edge.

Posted on November 13, 2006 by Tom Gray

I went grocery shopping this weekend. What a nightmare of too many choices and not enough information. The toothpaste aisle almost killed me. It used to be easy. Crest, Colgate, Pepsodent … Selection was simple. You went with Crest because … Continue reading →

Posted in Conversion, Marketing | View Comments

The Next Big Things on the Internet

Posted on November 9, 2006 by Tom Gray

Time magazine (October 23, 2006), on the heels of the $1.65 billion buyout of YouTube.com by Google, identified the web sites they felt stood a good chance of being the next big things. Here’s their list although if you want … Continue reading →

Posted in Internet, Technology & Gadgets | View Comments

Generate More Referrals; Tell Your Customers What You Do!

Posted on November 4, 2006 by Tom Gray

Seems funny, right? Of course your customers know what you do! After all, they’ve hired you to do it! Yeah but do they know everything that you do? Probably not. I was reminded of this when I came across a … Continue reading →

Posted in Calls To Action, Conversion, Marketing | View Comments

I want a Firefox Extension to … (and other great lists from econsultant.com)

Posted on November 2, 2006 by Tom Gray

Have you fled the dark side and switched to Firefox? Even though Internet Explorer 7.0 is stealing some of the Firefox thunder by incorporating notable FF features like tabbed browsing there’s sitll plenty of reasons to make the switch. First and … Continue reading →

Posted in Browsers, Technology & Gadgets | View Comments

Internet Explorer? Who Cares? … Walmart Optimizes for Firefox

Posted on November 2, 2006 by Tom Gray

Okay, so my headline is wild speculation but what else explains the appearance of Walmart’s web site in the new Internet Explorer 7 versus the new Firefox 2.0 browser? Wal*Mart as it appeared in Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 Wal*Mart – … Continue reading →

Posted in Oops, Testing | View Comments

Good Store Design Essential to Site Success

Posted on November 2, 2006 by Tom Gray

Did you ever walk into and out of a store based on its appearance. Merchandise was poorly organized or strewn around; the store was dirty; the staff unkempt… Now look at your web site’s store… Does it bear a closer resemblance to … Continue reading →

Posted in Ecommerce, Effective Web Design, Internet, Web Usability | View Comments

Google Makes it Easy to Spell Check in WordPress

Posted on November 1, 2006 by Tom Gray

Do you wish that WordPress had spell check? Well it doesn’t, not built in anyway. You can add it by way of various plug ins or you can use the latest version of the Google Toolbar which allows you to spell check text entered … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging Tools, Google | View Comments