After my somewhat harsh post last week the question begs to be asked “How do I get people to use my business then?” Not everyone can afford a fantastic Viral Video, Flash Game or regular competitions, so how do you get people to use your services over the multitude of other businesses that have gone on-line in the past year? Well that is a damn good question and one that has no simple answer.

The evolution of the internet has had some very interesting social implications. What many people forget about the internet is that it is, at it’s core, a source of information (and porn, but that’s a whole different ball game.) It is a massive database of millions of computers constantly collecting, recording and storing data at an unprecedented, ever increasing rate. Having said that let’s look at the implications:

Information has become not only free but readily available. Gone are the days of our Parents and Grandparents who passed information down generation to generation by teaching and example. In today’s post-war, baby-boomer, capitalist society, we see parents being necessarily caught up in the dog eat dog corporate world. It’s hard enough finding the hours in the day to put food on the table and eat it, let alone help your son or daughter fix their rusted out first car.

So how do the kids get by? As you know a large percentage of the young population in the modern world have grown up with computers and, in the last eleven years, the internet. The new “Generation-Y” kids, that marketers were once so baffled by, were not raised on Television like their older “Gen-X” siblings. They were raised in a rapidly evolving realm of information. They participated in the forums, looked at all the porn sites, laughed at the dot com boom and giggled at the apparent ineptitude of the older generation.

What eventually grew out of this environment of precocious young up-starts in a world of information is nothing short of phenomenal. If there is something to be done and you don’t have the answers, it can be found on the internet. The internet has become the Zeitgeist, the Hive Mind, the Collective Unconscious, and where dad can’t teach you how to fix the spark plugs in your clapped out bomb, the internet can, hence the birth of the “Google Expert”.

People now have the ability to do anything they wish. If it is a simple task, or even an affordable complex task, a growing percentage of the population can now perform it simply by hunting down the information on-line. This makes it difficult for businesses that are providing base level services. These businesses survive because of convenience rather than lack of knowledge. When dealing with a more educated client you may find yourself over charging as the monetary expense may outweigh the time saved by paying for the job to be done.

So what does all this mean? How does that mildly depressing, relatively confusing, seriously nut-shell bit of writing help you to bring people to your business? The answer is there, it’s hidden between the lines: Give your audience the information for free.

GASP!

Yes you read that line correctly; “But why!?” I hear you cry “If I provide potential clients with all of the information they need they may just go and do the job themselves.” That’s true and my answer is relatively simple: Even if they have the time to do the job themselves chances are they will run into a problem that will require a level of expertise that they do not have. Now my question to you is “Where are they going to go at that point?”

The information that you give them for free is already available. In fact there is probably even more information than you are willing to give somewhere on the web. If your potential client did not get their information from you they will go straight to the service provider that gave it to them first and I doubt that service provider will recommend you (being their competition and all).

So you see, even if you can’t have the greatest flash app or viral video on your site to entice your potential clients or generate word of mouth marketing, you can still use the internet to your benefit by providing key information. At it’s very core this is what the internet provides. Don’t try and change it like so many other businesses have tried, and failed, to do. Utilise it. Give your target market the respect they deserve and you will get their respect, and business, in return. Do not insult their intelligence, encourage their growth, and your business will grow with them.

What’s the one thing that bugs you the most about the growing number of web savvy business people making it onto the internet? For me it’s people running Web Companies that don’t understand the term Passive Marketing. That’s right, business like Wise Orange but that completely missed the point of what the internet is all about.

“So what is the internet all about?” I hear you ask. That’s a very good question with a few very obvious answers. First and foremost the internet is about information (and porn but that’s a whole different ball game). Having said that; what started out as an amazing resource for information has evolved into a whole world of entertainment.

A large percentage of the population of people using the internet are surfing the tubes looking for nothing more than a good laugh and something to take their minds off of their boring day to day activities. These people are sick of the constant barrage of commercials in everyday life and are really just looking to get away from all of that.

How can I say this? The proof is in the punch when it comes to the backlash of users against Facebook introducing commercials and then against applications that force you to invite users. Facebook was the place to socialise without being bombarded by banner advertising and although it didn’t stop them, they copped a lot of flack over the addition of advertising. Then when applications started requiring you add people to use them it all got a bit nasty with dozens of groups opening up to speak out against them. Have you noticed how most apps don’t require you to invite people now? Coincidence? I think not!

Which brings me back to my opening statement: Web Marketers who don’t understand the term passive marketing are fail. We see them all the time pushing their wares and targeting people after putting them all into little boxes. Like the late great Bill Hicks says: “Oh your in Marketing? Kill Yourself!” People do not want to be put into boxes. A recent article from the Wired Magazine Website shows that 59% of Americans take exception to being monitored by big Web Media businesses studying their habits and targeting them.

This leads me to ask the question: why? Targeted advertising is better isn’t it? It means that you only get to see commercials that are related to you and your interests isn’t that a good thing? Well it is, if it’s not in your face and interrupting your time on-line. People don’t like the Hard Sell. They hate the “BUY BUY BUY!” mentality of commercials that pop up over their news articles. They don’t want to be sold on the latest pair of Hemp Pants while looking up solar energy. They want to read information, they want to play games, they want to forget about the fact they only have enough money to sit at home and enjoy the web rather than go out and drink beer with their mates.

So if you’re an on-line marketer please hear what I say. Inform people. Don’t sell to them. Entertain People. Don’t Bombard them with repetitive marketing strategies. If you write an article or make a game that people enjoy the next time they go looking for the product you are trying to sell they might think of you. Wouldn’t you prefer them to say “Oh yeah I remember a product like that from a game?” not “Oh I don’t want to buy that product, their ads annoy me every time I go to a website!”?

Think about it. Oh and please feel free to leave a comment, I’d love to hear your thoughts on this. But please do not do it if your URL is www.sexypantslickers.com or some other such pornographic site. We don’t want your spam here so sod off!

You see, the thing about blogs, is that you have to update them regularly for them to be of any benefit to you. In fact, websites in general, you really need to update at least once every two weeks for them to be effective in any way shape or form. The thing about the algorithms used by search engines now is that there are so many levels of website activity they take into account, but you can be assured of one thing: sites that are more active are sites considered to be more relevant as they are updated.

The funny thing is… we all know this. We tell our clients this. We tell our friends this. We preach it until the cows come home. But do you think for the life of us we can find the time to do it? Heck No!

The thing is, our site has been optimised and we have been getting enough traffic through word of mouth marketing combined with our SEO techniques (even though Google still hasn’t given us a Page Ranking yet). So we have been busy just trying to keep up with the influx of new business (off-line marketing is still the most important aspect of any campaign). But all of this is about to change.

Our numbers have remained at an average of ten unique visitors a day. This is not bad as far as we are concerned but we know, and have experienced, that there are a lot more hits out there. There are thousands of people just waiting to be introduced to new material, new ideas and new content. So we are about to embark on an experiment and we would like to invite you to come on the journey with us.

From this day forward we will update this blog at least once a week. We will cover topics related to Web Design. We will review sites of the many submissions we have had from designers looking for work (thankyou fellow web junkies for your interest, we will give you work when we require your services). We will keep you up to date with the latest social networking tools. We will pontificate and make ourselves sound self important like every other successful Blogger in the Blogosphere.

BUT…. (dramatic pause)

We will do it with a sense of humour. One thing that people forget about the web is that it is an ever evolving platform. It changes and fluctuates at a rate that is unlike any other medium we have seen before it. The rules (as they stand) will change as soon as you blink, and if you blink, you damn well missed it. So we won’t pretend to be experts. We are learning constantly, just like you, and we will do our best to apply our life long infatuation with all things technological to help you utilise this constantly morphing animal to your benefit.

Best of all though, as we update this blog, as we evolve our site, we will share with you our experiences, we will divulge our analytics, we will tell you what has worked for us and how it can work for you. We are taking it beyond the academic now and making it experimental. If it fails, you will know. Look out Evil Knievel, this is balls to the wall web development as you have never seen it. Welcome to Wise Orange. The new era (and we’ve only been in business for three months….)