New Offices for omOriginals Marketing! in Longview and now in Renton, WA.
As of March 26th, 2013 omOriginals has moved their Longview office to across the street on the second floor of the Twin City Bank Building.
The new address is 726 Vandercook Way Suite 260, Longview, WA 98632. The Longview/Kelso (Cowlitz County) number is still 360.575.9839. With the sale of the Valley Bugler at the end of 2012, omOriginals no longer needed all of the space of their old office. The Valley Bugler Newspaper is now located at 803 Vandercook Way #9 in Longview.
Earlier this year omOriginals also opened a second office in Renton, Washington (King County). omOriginals Marketing! 1532 North Marion Street #4 Renton, WA 98057 425.336.4934.
“We attribute our growth to an increasingly competitive market place. Businesses are demanding more creative and cost effective marketing and we are happy to deliver,” says Oscar Myre IV, Owner of omOriginals Marketing!
omOriginals can be reached online at omOriginals.com or toll free 1-888-477-1976.
omOriginals Marketing! has delivered refreshingly different marketing since 1998 to clients in the Northwest and across the US. They help businesses grow with effective web site design, eMail Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Good Old Fashioned Graphic Design & Consulting and Training.
4 Must Haves for a Successful Website
The world of web is becoming increasingly more competitive. You have less than 30 seconds to make a good impression and to then turn a visitor into a customer. I’ve prepared a quick list if 4 must haves if you are looking to have a successful web site.
1) Make it EASY to contact you.
Seems simple enough, but I see a lot of sites that make it difficult to connect. I recommend having a link to your contact page on EVERY page. For some businesses it also makes sense to have your phone number on EVERY page.
2) Deliver value.
It is good to tell people you are good at what you do, but it is even better to demonstrate that you are an expert. You can share your knowledge (with out giving up the farm) on your site.
Some examples of value can be Frequently Asked Questions, informative articles (like this one) or possibly free downloads. You don’t necessarily have to be the author. Find or create some value and add it to your site.
3) BLOG
First off, what is a BLOG? A website blog is the news section. New content is added, old is archived.
It is a beautiful thing.
If created and optimized properly the content give you amazing results in the search engines. A smart blog can also be a great launching pad for your social media. (Be sure to contact me to learn about integrating your website with Facebook and other social sites.)
4) Share your successes.
It is easy and powerful to share testimonials on your website (all of your marketing for that manner). Nothing gives you better credibility than the words of others. If you have great reviews from customer you must have them on your site. If you don’t have any then go get some.
I wish you a prosperous 2013. If treat your website to the above “must haves” you’ll be off to a great start!
~:-)
Website Rebuild – Glazy Dayz Pottery Studio
We had the great opportunity to redesign the existing website for Glazydayz.com.
Jill needed a more professional and easy to manage web site. In updating her website, we built it in a format where the content can be easily managed and changed as needed. We integrated her new website with her Facebook page and Pinterest account and provided a BLOG section. By following their BLOG you can read about the various events happening at Glazy Dayz.
Glazy Dayz is a Pottery Studio in Kelso, WA. We invite you to look at the before and after pictures closely, do you see something on the after picture that you would like to have on your website?
Give us a call for a free consultation 360.575.9839.
omOriginals Marketing! offers refreshingly different marketing solutions from Longview/Kelso and beyond.
What has your website done for YOU lately?
You probably remember my article “Interview with an iPhone”. Now it is time for you to jump in the interviewing chair. It is time for you to interview your web site! I have 5 questions to help. Don’t be shy. Demand quality answers from one of your best marketing tools for your business!
1) Have you made our business look good?
First impressions are big. If your web site doesn’t look professional and well taken care of, neither does your business. Simple. Take a look to see if your business looks like the type of company you’d want to work with. This is your place to highlight your strengths. This is an especially good place to hear from others in the form of client testimonials – testimonials make you marvelous.
2) Have you helped people find our business?
There are two parts to this:
1) When they are at your site people expect to be able to quickly and easily get a hold of you via phone, visiting your business, connecting on facebook or eMailing you. Can they?
Part 2) Can they find your web site? Today’s phone book is called Google. Trying “googling” your business. You need to be easy to find by typing your business name AND your product/service name and the city, state you are located in. You also want to make sure you can be found at bing.com, yahoo.com and others. Not found? Call us to schedule a free consult on how to GET FOUND.
3) Have you sold people on what our company can do for them?
Your current and potential customers should be able to learn more about what you offer. Make sure it clearly outlines the value you bring to the marketplace, and why.
4) Have you helped our customers?
Our clients web sites are helping their customers in a variety of ways. Your site can be a great place to check out your menu, download a form, pay a bill, order a product, answer a frequently asked question, check hours, call your business, give directions to your place of business or even read a helpful article (like this one).
5) Have you helped us make more money?
You don’t have to sell products online to make money from your website. I hope you are all tracking your sales to see where they are coming from. Consider your website as an essential sales and marketing tool, and don’t let it get rusty.
I hope this article got you started asking your web site some very important questions.
Want another set of eyes to take a look at your site? Ask our geeky team here at omOriginals Marketing to do a similar interview, for free! Ask your customers to share what they think of your site. ~:-) The more you concentrate on what your web site has done for you, the more it will do for you.
Is Video right for your site?
If you are considering adding YouTube (or some other video) to your web site, then this article is for you. We’ve been adding a fair amount of videos to web sites of late, here at the studio.
Whether you use YouTube or the family friendly Vimeo, video is here and it should be on your site. I’ve create a quick list of 7 reason why you should add some video to your web site.
Before we get ahead of ourselves. Did you know that YouTube is the second largest search engine on the planet? According to YouTube 48 hours of video are uploaded every minute, resulting in nearly 8 years of content uploaded every day. WOW!
That leads us to our first reason….
- Everybody is doing it! It is almost expected to have video on your site.
- Engaging. It is an excellent way to engage your audience. Your viewers get to learn from you while being entertained. They don’t have to read. People skim over the text, but they will often watch the whole video. And if they watch it they are more inclined to share the video and you websites.
- People love to share. This sharing helps in 2 great ways. It directly brings more people to your site and it can bring SEO power to your site as each share is a link to you site.
- Video tells a story. We have all heard “a picture shows a thousand words.” Well, the reason it is a cliche is because it is true. Your body language, the setting of the video, and a thousand other non-verbal communications are passed as you speak in video.
- We all learn differently. Some people are visual learners. Some like to read, some like to listen. This is why we should offer a variety of ways for people to consume our message.
- It can be fun. Entertainment can be defined as “an activity that is diverting and that holds the attention”. What better way to get the attention of our customers than with entertainment?
- It is easy to add to your site. You can add videos created by others on your site. You can click on the embed button on most videos from YouTube and get some code to place on your site. Simply cut and paste (ask your favorite geek if you need some help). You likely have the tools to create a video in your pocket (smart phones rock). Alternately, you can pay to have a video professionally produced.
Those are just a few of the reasons to add some video to your site. We encourage you to get the show running. You can use a video to make a commercial, show off products, share testimonials, tell a story or even train people. Whatever it is, all you need is an idea and a camera.
And if you have any questions about making videos or whether it’s right for you, feel free contact my office. You can visit our home page omOriginals.com to view a video commercial we created for the Renaud Electric Heating & Cooling Guys. Grab some pop corn and enjoy. ~:-)
Testimonials on YOUR website?
Thanks for turning in again to <Geek Speak>. I appreciate all the questions and feedback from my “Interview with an iPhone” from last month. This month we are going to dive into the world of “Website Testimonials”. Word of mouth is one of the oldest and most effective forms of marketing. In the past it was limited to person-to-person communication. Today we live in an exciting and different world. The internet allows conversations to be shared and re-shared though your community and across the globe.
Offline Testimonials
When a client/customer shares with you how happy they are with your product or service and goes as far to write you a letter (or collection of letters and paragraphs) of thanks, it feels great! You might have a special file for those or even share them on a special wall at your business.
Why Should I put Testimonials on my Website?
The biggest reason is that it helps build the confidence of potential clients. Feeling comfortable with your company is a big part of why people will, or will not do business with your organization. A business can say a lot about their experience or qualifications, but a single (powerful) testimonial caries so much more weight. People believe other people more than they do businesses.
How do I get Testimonials from my clients?
Chances are, you already have some laying around the office. If you do, I recommend calling the client and thanking them again for their kind words and then ask them if it would be OK for you to post it on your web site. I strongly recommend that you contact the writer and ask for their permission to post it on your site. This gives you another chance to thank them for their kind words and receive permission to share.
How to get some more testimonials? The answer is easy. You ask.
While some of us feel uncomfortable asking people to endorse us, it is a widely accepted practice in the business world. When I was encouraged to begin doing this years ago by my brilliant wife, I was reluctant. Get over it. I did and I’ve had great results ~:-)
Ask for Testimonials on your site
Another way is to offer a feedback form on your web site. You can ask direct questions on your site and take the pieces for testimonials. For ideas you can go to our web site omOriginals.com and go to the contact section and look for our Feedback Form. And if you feel up to it you can leave us some feedback, we’d really appreciate it. As a bonus, we link to the web sites of clients in their testimonials.
How should I put Testimonials on my site?
After you have 4+ testimonials in hand it is time to get to work. It is good to have a page dedicated to testimonials, but over the years I’ve learned (from viewing lots of web stats) this page is often overlooked.
Tip: Place a single testimonial on your most popular pages. For some extra geek points you can have your web site randomly display different testimonials throughout your site. I’ve found that a single testimonial will more often get read and THEN people will click through to the testimonials page to read more. I’ve had numerous clients say, “I read your testimonials”. When I ask which one, they often say, “all of them! “
Do people trust online Testimonials?
According to the latest Nielsen Global Online Consumer Survey of over 25,000 Internet consumers. Ninety percent or consumers surveyed noted that they trust recommendations from people they know (offline), while 70 percent trusted consumer opinions of strangers posted online.
We are all in this game together. I’d love for you to share your thoughts and experiences with testimonials on our web site.
omOriginals Marketing in Longview, WA. handles hundreds of local and national accounts, we are ready to help with any questions relating to anything marketing: web, design and planning. We are available at (360)575-9839 or online www.omOriginals.com
Vector Graphics International
Vector Graphics International is now open for business.
This site was created with a Screen Printing business in the US. Over the years they’ve created tons of hi quality graphics. These graphics are now available for individual purchase. The library includes images in .JPG & EPS formats. The .JPG will work great for word processing and the EPS files are design for and by professionals. If you are looking for graphics for a project you should really check out this site. This web site is powered by an eCommerce Shopping cart. Visitors can purchase graphics securely over SSL. :-)
http://VectorGraphicsInternational.com
Services Provided: eCommerce shopping cart, Web site, image downloads & Authorize.net integration.
Thank you to our Clients!
Thank you for working with us!
If I stop and count my blessings I have to add our wonderful clients to my long list. You keep me busy, you keep me learning and as we support each other good things are happening for us all.
Saying Thank You is so easy, yet sometimes we forget in all the everyday tasks we undertake to realize that without our clients we have no reason to walk in the door.
So let me say it again! THANK YOU! As you allow us to market toward your success, you are making omOriginals Marketing! a success as well. We couldn’t do it without you.
That being said I would like to ask you 3 questions:
- What can I do to help you succeed that we are not already doing?
- Do you need eClub cards or return envelopes? (We need a couple weeks notice to get them to you so the sooner you tell me the sooner we can produce)
- Depending on the services we provide to you:
- eMail Marketing - Have you prepared your Coupons/Offers or eMail Marketing Messages? Did you have a special idea in mind for the holidays?
- Web Site Maintenance - Do you have any web updates we need to get on my work calendar?
Please have your updates and changes to us by Monday November 22, 2010. If you have any questions please Contact Us today!
Promoting Your Web Site
Welcome to another edition of Geek Speak. Last month we helped motivate those without a professional web site with “Ten Reasons Why Your Businesses / Organization needs a web site.” For June let’s assume you just launched a new web site and you’d like to know what to do next to promote your web site.
First off I congratulate you on your new website
Read more >>
Ten Reasons Why Your Business/Organization Needs a Web Site
Thanks for tuning in for the latest version of geek speak. This month is dedicated to those businesses who have been putting off the improvement or creation of a Web Site. If your business is still sitting on the fence, do I have an article for you!
Ten Reasons Why Your Businesses / Organization needs a web site.
Today, small and medium sized businesses need to proactively promote their business. Any single reason below should be a catalyst for having an effective web site. The following are the The Top 10 Reasons Your Business Needs A Website TODAY! I think you will find that some if not all of these can apply to your company.
1. Relatively Inexpensive.
Opening a second location can increase your exposure to potential customers. For a small fraction of the cost to open a new locale you can setup a custom web site from a professional company.
2. Genuine Resource.
If you invest in your web site by adding useful information you can make your site a valuable resource. For example, “how to articles” or answers to “frequently asked questions” can be a great service to visitors and as a bonus show your to be an expert in your field.
3. Up-to Date.
Those shiny new post cards and brochures look great and can be a powerful tool. But, wait! You’ve made a change in your offering and now it is out of date. With a good CMS (Content Management System) running your web site, you can quickly and easily update your site whenever info about your product/ services changes.
4. Tell A Friend.
What is a the biggest compliment that a customer can give you? Words are nice but telling a friend is by far the biggest way to say well done and thank you. But, chances are they still don’t have your brochure or business card. They can give someone your number to call, but sending them to your web site allows the potential client to learn so much more and in your own words.
5. Consumer Habits have Changed.
I recently read that 70% of consumers pre-qualify businesses online before making contact. The modern sales process has dramatically changed. Consumers are making decisions based on what they see online. Today’s consumers are much more informed before they ever make contact. Is your business giving the right info? Is it giving any at all?
6. Have an Online Presence (Existence).
If you don’t have a web site or have a web site that cannot be found, you essentially don’t exist to your potential customers. Your business may be just down the street from someone looking for your service, but when they do a web search and only see two of your competitors – you don’t exist.
7. Collect Valuable Information.
Visitors can interact with you in a non-confrontational way. When they fill our your feedback form or comment on your blog they can give you crucial business feedback. All of this feedback is documented digitally. Additionally, with the use of web site statistics you can review the viewing habits of your visitors as they come into your site, as they check our your business and where they go when first leave and how often they return to your site. Note: their personal info is not tracked simply by them clicking.
8. The Death of Yellow Pages.
Yellow pages used to be THE primary source to find business info. Now before people can find the book they they can “google” “Longview, WA Company Name” or “Longview, WA Product/Service.” A popular tool for the local area is CowlitzToday.com – with detailed info about each business. With the increasing popularity of smart phones many visitors now have the phone book of the future in their pocket.
9. Now Open 24-7, 365 Days a Year.
Consider the additional cost to staff your business 24 hours a day 365 days a year.
Your web site will likely be open 99.9% percent of the time and rarely call in sick. Your web site can have all of the right answers to FAQs (frequently asked questions) and to questions that you’d like for them to ask. Consumers are increasingly becoming busier and busier every day and by providing information and services online you are able to attract the people who are simply just too busy to handle all their needs during their 9-5 workday while working around your 8-6 office hours.
10. Put your best foot forward.
A well-planned web site is a great well to instill confidence in prospective clients. Your web site gives you the opportunity to present the best and most complete image of your company. You are in control to set the tone of your company. Careful preparation of your “first impression” is essential.
Do it TODAY!
Whether you decide to hire a professional web development company like omOriginals to design and build your business or organizations website, or have the time and desire to build your own, your business shouldn’t go any longer without one!
It is time to catch up ensure your success. omOriginals offers free consultations, and can help you outline your web goals and needs efficiently. Call (360)575-9839 today to get started.
~ Oscar not only wrote this article, he also read it. Imagine that! This has inspired him and his company to begin a major 2 phase upgrade to their own web site found at omOriginals.com Stay tuned.