Small Business Design Resources

3 Things to Learn from Amazon Customer Service

Recently I placed an order with Amazon.com and have used a Visa gift card. Because I couldn’t find another way to use the gift card, I added the card on file as one of my credit cards. I made a purchase that was over the gift card limit and I couldn’t find a way to add a secondary card to my order. So, of course when the order was processes there was an issue. Contacting customer service was simple, but what really grabbed me is the way they crafted their email and how they’ve handled the issue.

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What every ecommerce store can learn from Amazon.com customer service

1. Acknowledge the problem – From the start Shiela, the representative expressed her apology and referenced the order# to make sure where discussing the same order.

2. Outline the steps and results – Shiela continues on the positive note outlining the steps that she performed and the results that she received. Reassuring me along the way that the order has been processed.

3. Set expectations to eliminate any room for concerns – She then sets the expectation about the delivery date with a personal note that makes me feel that I’m taken care of.

What I like the most about this email is that it’s personable and feels real, which makes for a happy and a return customer.

Thank you Shiela, great work!

Quick Tip: Create a custom username on Facebook

Make it easy for your potential customers to find your small business on Facebook. It’s simple to create a custom username on Facebook for your business page. All you have to do is login to your Facebook account and then go to http://www.facebook.com/username

Choose your page from the drop down menu and you’ll have the opportunity to type a custom username. Make sure to follow Facebook guidelines when choosing a custom username for your business page.

IMPORTANT: You can only change your page’s username ONCE, so make sure to double-check all spelling.

That’s it! Now you have a simple Facebook username to share with everyone.

Help Your Customers Trust Your Ecommerce Website

Even though more and more people turn to online shopping rather than going to a physical store, many still don’t trust ecommerce websites that are not well known. If you sell products on your website, you want to reassure new visitors that you will provide great customer service and deliver their products as you promised. To build that customer trust right from the start, you need to install the Google Trusted Stores badge on your website.

Here’s how it works:

• You add a special Google Trusted Stores code to your website.
• Google will monitor your website performance in terms of shipping and customer service for about a month (28 days).
• If you “pass the test” then the Google Trusted Stores badge will start to appear on your website.

Your customers will then be able to view a letter grade rating performance of your website’s customer service and shipping.

10 Things You Need to Know about Making a Magazine Ad

The Perfect Formula for Small Business Ads
Putting an ad in a magazine is not something to be done flippantly. It’s a process that takes some creative thinking and skills to execute properly. Check out these 10 things you should do before you submit your small business ad to a magazine.

1. Don’t Pay for Bad Ads
If you don’t plan to build your ad yourself, you need to know how to hire out appropriately. The best way to find out what your ad should look like is to look at your competition’s ad placements. This will show you a general idea of not only how to design your ad, but where to place it. Work with an ad designer that is willing to work with you right back. This means being willing to tweak and adjust an ad to your liking without charging you for a “re-do.” Reputable ad and graphic designers will offer you a few different layouts and help you decide which final copy is right for your advertisement.

2. Understand the Market
Try your best to place your ad in a magazine that relates to your product or service. You’ll notice that anymore, magazines are not composed of an eclectic selection of advertising; rather, the advertisements work very well with the written content. Make sure you’re submitting your ad to the magazine that will generate the most leads. Also, know that about 10% of people who read a magazine will look at your small business ad, so it should never be considered your main or only source of advertising.

3. Headlines that Stand Out
Even if you’ll only draw about 10% of magazine viewers to your page, do your best to engage that percentage. Develop a great headline that entices your readers to become interested in the product or service your small business is trying to sell. Read more to learn about creating headlines that sell.

4. Sub-headlines to Say More
You need to leave the headline space to write something catchy, not lengthy. If you need more room to promote your small business ad, create a sub-headline. You’ll have some more room to flex your text, without taking away from or clouding up the important message in the headline.

5. Individuality
You may only have a page (or even less) to tell your potential clients about your product. Right after the headline, the reader should be able to learn more about what makes your small business design unique. Make sure your ad mentions why your product or service stomps the competition! Do you offer free shipping? Do you have a coupon code? Make sure to let readers know what makes your small business great.

6. Style
Taking the time to create (or paying someone to create) a jaw-dropping, eye-catching ad is great, but don’t go too far. Statistics show that ads that look more like they’re part of the magazine are more likely to be read. Put your focus on the content first, but make sure the style has that kind of technical and professional feel.

7. Call to Action
It should be listed clearly and carefully: the way interested patrons can contact you or get to your website to learn more. This does not mean your ad should leave a viewer hanging, having to go online to learn exactly what it is your selling; ads should never be vague. It simply means that after you’ve described your small business service or product, all the necessary contact/website information is listed. Never use those techniques where you entice people to read a indistinct, yet interesting ad about a product or opportunity, only to fail to deliver any real information about the product. These ads do not generate sales. These sales techniques are best left for the late-night infomercials.

8. Visual Media
When we want to design an ad to submit to a magazine, we often fuss about the placement of a picture, logo or other graphics. The placement of visual media is listed at number eight, because although the rest of the list is not in any particular order of importance, pictures are simply not that important. Just remember that your logo or any photos should be at the top of the ad, not take up the entire page and should not be the focus. Pictures should not take away from the text.

9. Proximity
It is important that you design an ad that can be flawlessly placed in a newspaper or magazine, but be versatile enough to be looked at on a smart phone. People do still have magazine subscriptions, but more people are using their smart phones to flip through virtual pages. Design a small business magazine ad that looks good on a smart phone. Have good image sizes and use your white space efficiently, leaving enough room for a reader’s eye to catch a break.

10. Proper Etiquette
Of course the standard spelling and grammar laws apply to creating a magazine ad for your small business, but don’t forget about proper formatting. Spellings and abbreviations are evolving, but are still not proper for a magazine advertisement. For example, not proper: TXT instead of Text. “At” should never be replaced with the @ symbol, unless specifically listed as an e-mail address.

There you have it: 10 things you need to do before you submit an ad to a magazine. Follow the 10 steps above for making a magazine ad for your small business and get the most out of your purchased ad space.

Do I Need a Press Release?

A press release is a great marketing tool. A well-written press release will convey news to your audience about what is up and coming in your small business. The problem is: we don’t always know if we need a press release or not. Maybe you just want to post about a calendar event? Perhaps you’re going to be a merchant at an upcoming vendor fair. Reasons like that may not be worthy of a press release. If you are still questioning yourself about writing a press release, read on!

We like to think that anything important in our business is press release-worthy. Ask yourself “what am I trying to convey?” Is it something that you would see in a newspaper? Is it even news? If you can tell your news to someone in person, thinking they’d find it interesting and informative, there’s a good chance you’re leaning towards needing a press release written. If you think that your information may just be a little flat and lacking, you’re better just putting it out in a message to your email list.

Press releases generally need to fill one complete page. The page cannot be filled with fluff; you need to have an interesting story that takes up about 4 paragraphs. If you don’t have enough information to do this, odds are you don’t need a press release. Writing a press release also takes time to execute properly. Do you have enough time to write one, or to hire a writer to create one for you?

I Definitely Need a Press Release
Now that you’ve determined that you do in fact, need a press release for your small business, there are a few “musts” that have to be part of the construction.

A Solid Headline– Don’t give away all your information in the headline and sub-headline. Think of a good heading that will make your press release sound interesting.

A Bad Headline for a Press Release:
Company Sells Waterproof Oven Mitts to Housewives (it doesn’t even sound interesting, though the product may be valuable and of interest).

A Good Headline for a Press Release:
Company Offers New Product to Reduce Risk of Kitchen Burns (it looks professional and will gain the interest of the reader).

List Your Lead– many people like to put valuable or key information at the bottom of articles. This entices your viewers to keep reading. Press release writing is not like article writing. You must put your news in the first paragraph.

Straight Facts- there is no room in a one page press release for junk. Every word you write must be about the story or news you want to convey.

Speak in the Third Person– even if you’re writing the press release about your company and you’re the CEO, you have to refer to your business as the business.

Press release writing, in general, is fairly simply. It’s knowing when you need a press release as part of your small business design that’s the tricky part. Just remember: if it’s not news, no press release is needed.