The Pope and KFC

A Marketing Consultant employed by KFC gained an audience with the Pope, and offered him a million dollars if he would change ‘The Lord’s Prayer’ from “give us this day our daily bread” to “give us this day our daily chicken.” The Pope refused the offer.

Two weeks later, the consultant offered the Pope 10 million dollars to change it from “give us this day our daily bread” to “give us this day our daily chicken” and again the Pope refused the generous offer.

Another week later, the consultant offered the Pope 20 million dollars, and finally the Pope accepted.

The following day, the Pope briefed his staff.

“I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is, that we have just received a check for 20 million dollars. The bad news is, we lost the Wonder Bread account!”

Who says marketing can’t be fun?!
We offer refreshingly different marketing solutions.
Websites | eMail Marketing | Social | Search | Graphic Design

Marketing: Retail Joke

A retailer was dismayed when a competitor selling the same type of product opened next-door to him, displaying a large sign proclaiming “Best Deals“.

Not long after he was horrified to find yet another competitor move in next-door, on the other side if his store. It’s large sign was even more disturbing- “Lowest Prices“.

After his initial panic, and concern that he would be driven out of business, he looked for a way to turn the situation to his marketing advantage. Finally, an idea came to him. Next day, he proudly unveiled a new and huge sign over his front door. It read,
“Main Entrance”!

Who says marketing can’t be fun?!
omOriginals Marketing! offers refreshingly different solutions.
Websites | eMail Marketing | Social | Search | Graphic Design

Answers to your Website Questions

Hello Geeks! This months focus is on a topic very near and dear to my heart…. Websites. I’ve compiled 7 questions about websites and the marketing questions that I’m often asked (or at least I should be).
1) How much does a web site cost?
The quick answer is we offer a free initial consultation to find out the right web site for your goals. An expanded answer is …There are 4 costs involved in a web site.
a) Domain Name: Such as YourCompany.com – this costs about $15 per year.
b) Development of the site: As you might guess this depends on a few factors including if we use a per-designed template or custom design site as well as how many pages the site has. Professional sites start @ about $1,000.00
c) Hosting: Quality hosting (with good support) ranges $30-$85/month) Hosting is essential renting space on web servers (computers) that ensure your site is up 99% of the time. This often includes eMails accounts such as you@YourCompany.com. OM hosting also includes friendly support and an annual marketing consultation with a geek.
d) Maintenance: A successful web site needs ongoing maintenance and adding of new content. At omOriginals we train all of our clients on how to do their own maintenance, so most of our clients pay $0 for maintenance.
Note: We are more than happy to perform maintenance as needed for any websites for $55/hour.
2) Should I BLOG?
What is blogging? Yes, most businesses will benefit from BLOG. A blog is a place on your site where you post news and updates.  This info is helpful for people (& press) wanting to learn about your company and for the search engines. With a properly configured BLOG search engines assume that you are an expert about what you write about. When we build sites we include SEO training to get great search results.
3) Can you add a web site counter to my site?
Yes, but we recommend not using a traditional counter. They are often inaccurate and they share your stats with the world. Instead we offer web site stats (included with our hosting) that allow you to track the visitors to your site. The stats can tell you how many people visit your site, how many pages they view and so much more. These are available 24-7 for your review, but only you can see them.
4) What is the best domain name?
The best domain names often include:
a) company name
b) name of product or service
c) easy to remember & to spell.
For most businesses a .com is preferred over the other extensions for such as .net, .biz, .us. info, .etc.  For non-for-profit organizations .org is more appropriate. During our initial consultation we can generally find a great name.
5) How should I select a web site developer?
When considering a few companies to work with, I recommend you look at the developers site and at least 4 live sites that they created. If you are impressed with their work, then schedule a meeting. Be sure that they can speak Geek, Marketing & English.
6) Can you create flash animations for my site?
FLASH is a powerful animation and programing tool for web sites, but it doesn’t work well on mobile devices. iPhone & iPads don’t support Flash. We can achieve similar functionality that works on mobiles, but we advise against flash.
7) Can you make my web site and Facebook work together?
Yes, and if done properly they can work and play very nicely together. This relation can work both ways, we like to add Facebook functionality to web sites and to drive traffic from Facebook to your site. I could write a whole article on this, or even teach a workshop. Oh wait…we do.
Bonus question:
8. How can I get found on Google?
Google (and the other search engines) is interested in good content. If you write about what you do and add new content you are well on your way to good rankings. Get a Google places account and it will get you on the map.
WOW…out of space already for my column. I told you I like web sites. ~:-)
Both online and off. Call us for a complimentary consult: 360.575.9839 

Longview Caring Pregnancy Center – WEBSITE & FACEBOOK

If you are pregnant, or think you might be, Longview Caring Pregnancy Center is there for you! They are committed to assist each young woman’s spiritual, physical and emotional needs during pregnancy and beyond. Providing resources to better equip moms and dads spiritually, emotionally and with the practical needs of having a new baby, as well as those with children up to two years of age. Their services are generous, valuable, and FREE!

LongviewCaringPregnancyCenter.com

Visit Longview Caring Pregnancy Center on Facebook!

omOriginals Marketing! of Longview, WA, is proud to help promote great companies and services with refreshingly different; web design, eMail marketing, Facebook, Google, workshops & good old fashioned graphic design.  We invite you to call upon us, we are here to help. :-)

Websites vs. Facebook

The battle is on!
A few years ago it seemed like every business now had a web site. Fast forward to day.: More and more businesses are now getting Facebook Pages. So the question is this, “which is better – a great website or a great Facebook Page?” Let’s dare to compare!
WEBSITES
I built my first web site in 1997, and so much has changed since then. Today’s web sites should be built with two audiences in mind. People and Search engines.
1) People: Your business web site allows you to put your best foot forward in front of the world. Business and organizations of any size can (and should) have professional sites. I recently read that over 70% of consumers pre-qualify a new business online by visiting their web site before even visiting the business!
With almost 3/4 of people getting their first impression of an organization online, it is mission critical to have a website that educates about your company and the value that you offer. With a web site you are in control of your brand.
2) Search Engines: Today’s phonebooks aren’t books at all, they are sites likeGoogle, MSN & Yahoo! New technology, but old-school marketing prevails. In the olden days, if your business couldn’t be found in the book, it didn’t exist (in the all important consumers eyes).
Today that is true as well. If someone “Googles” your business name or for your products and services and they don’t find you, they will go to your competitor. If you don’t exist online, eventually you won’t exist at all.
FACEBOOK
I built my first Facebook Fan Page back in 2009, and so much has changed since then. Facebook has made the internet approachable, and even fun.
There are literally millions of people using Facebook each day that don’t consider themselves geeks or even computer people. This flood of new people is a tremendous opportunity.
These users are checking you out on Facebook AND on your web site. The power of Facebook is that way users create and/or share info about your organization. They shape your brand! It is your job to help share what you want them to share.
And the winner is?
As you might guess, the the winner is the businesses who use BOTH a professional web site and Facebook page. The trick is how to do them both together, without wasting a lot of precious time. I’ve seen many business start to put a ton of content together and placing it only on their Facebook page.
The result is an anemic web site and an annoying business Facebook page. You need to find balance and integrate the two. Your local web developer should be able to advise or consult for best strategies.
I invite you to meet with your favorite marketing geek and draft up a online marketing plan that uses complementary web, social and eMail marketing to drive your bottom line up and up. To learn more about online marketing visit omOriginals.com and check out some upcoming class schedules. Call (360)575-9839 or online @ omoriginals.com
Oscar Myre IV is the web guru and head geek at his web development and marketing company, omOriginals Marketing! in Longview, WA. omOriginals serves over 300 businesses, both locally and internationally based. When he is not being geeky for businesses, he enjoys playing in his backyard with his kiddos and running the lake.