Media Watch

If you're one of the sad sacks that works (or worked ) for a company that doesn't think a web site is of any consequence...well, that's telling of your company AND you. Commercial media is about attracting an audience and convincing advertisers you have a big one. The only remaining issues are value, orders and collecting revenue. That's been a constant for hundreds of years and the dynamic is not likely to change this century. However, it's not gonna be 1970 forever; audiences, advertises and technologists change their minds about the particulars from time to time. So the recipe for success? Adjust methods accordingly. Season for taste. Always serve hot.

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Click to Play Olympic Gold Medalist Shawn Johnson visits with Van & Bonnie on WHO Radio, Des Moines, Iowa.

According to the Des Moines Association of Realtors(tm), over the past 30 years, the median price of existing homes has increased an average of 6% every year. And since 2000, the average home sale price has increased more than 25%. Sound sustainable? If the median inflation rate is 3%, then for the past 30 years, homes have outpaced inflation at twice the rate. And in the last decade, the sale prices have skyrocketed. And the only thing that can mean is that people are able afford less home than in years past -- unless, of course, you remove borrowing restrictions and open up mortgages to people who can't pay back the money.

My first paid ad was for a place called “Computer Center”, located in Central Plaza in Fort Dodge and I got the gig as a creative contest winner while in college. Their business was computer training and troubleshooting. Their goal was clear; they wanted walk-in business prospects. The spec was for a 15-second ad: (SFX: Downward sweep to bass chord) “Computer Center will train you. Computer Center will troubleshoot. Computer Center. Computer Center for today's competitive business. Central Plaza. Fort Dodge.” (SFX: upward sounder) The strengths of the ad were bullet-point branding and memorable audio punctuation. Unfortunately they vacated the campaign in short order and failed altogether by the following year.

Hopefully you're already sold on the fact that you need a web site. Now we're planning what should be presented therein. Remember to give your customers a point of action that’s easy, like visiting your easy-to-remember web site, the half-step between your advertising and your brick-and-mortar store. Therefore, it should identify clear benefits to the visitors. Every step of marketing is a sales pitch. From the first words in your advertising, you're trying to convince people to stay with you throughout the pitch. Later in the process, you're asking prospects to take specific actions. After they've visited your web site, the next step should be clear: to call, email or visit. Unless you're closing the deal on an ecommerce web site, its purposes should be as sales literature and a point of contact, not a dumping ground for hard-nosed disclaimer speak, dry facts and boring data that makes legitimate prospects cringe. Some business people have become hardened

When you run a business and wait on customers who have chosen you over a sea of competitors, you owe it to them to objectively judge how well you're doing. Put yourself in the shoes of a customer from time to time. Look at the hoops they have to jump through before they’re able to get back to their lives. Pay attention to wait times, and what people see while they're waiting. If someone’s standing at a counter waiting, they're keenly aware of the performance of your employees. They see your people plod along oblivious to customers. I actively count employees are on the job and compare them to active orders being filled. I tend to resent watching employees perform tasks unrelated to serving customers ahead of me. When nothing is being done to advance orders, the wait seems endless. It’s frustrating to watch servers stand in one spot as they wait for people who plod along behind the scenes, who have no sense of purpose and who are oblivious to the business at hand -- a