For the last few days I’ve been re-reading Good to Great by Jim Collins and the chimps (his researchers). If you’re in business and you haven’t checked it out yet then go get yourself a copy. Not only has it made me take a long, hard look(again) at my business, but it has also given me some killer ideas for what makes a successful website.

I’ll be talking about those ideas over the coming weeks in another exciting development. It’s time for Craig to start his video blog and talk about himself in the third person!

I’ve been meaning to do this for a while but technology and my bad video making skills have been standing in the way. While my skills haven’t improved a lot, they’re just going to have to do. Anyway, this is going to be a very informal and relaxed video blog. But don’t worry…I will be wearing pants (we’re not getting that relaxed…).

So, if you’re interested in quick tips on improving your website (and business), then subscribe to the RSS as I hope to have the first ‘episodes’ on the way soon.

In the meantime, you can check out Jim Collins’ website for some good immediate material. Because I know how frustrating waiting a few days for one of those old-fashioned book things can be!

Well blood isn’t actually on offer (although for the right price I’ll consider it) but I still want to know what you want from this blog. In fact, I want to know what you want from a business blog, in particular a blog about improving your business website.

You see, I watch my RSS subscribers go up and down on a daily basis. Yes, I said down. That means that when I gain a few subscribers, I also seem to lose a few subscribers. This I don’t like one bit and it obviously means I’m not giving you what you want and expect.

So what is it that you want and expect?

My goals are to teach you how to improve your website and to make it enjoyable. So how am I doing? Should I have different goals? Grade me, leave a comment, drop me an email (c r a i g at c o n n e x t e d dot c o m). Whatever works for you.

Because I can’t improve unless I know what you want. And the only way I can find that out is by asking.

So I asked, let’s see if anyone out there is willing to reply…

Personal confession time: I’m still not happy with this blog or my website.

I talk about being different and try to insert some humour into the posts…but let’s face it…it’s still pretty boring stuff. Quite frankly, it’s hard to really be entertaining and make sure you learn something.

But I think I’ve stumbled upon the answer. I’ve had an idea today and it’s slowly floating around my head gathering steam. Something that will hopefully entertain and teach, all at the same time.

It’s time for me to take my own advice and really differentiate myself from all the other crap that’s out there.

So stay tuned, something is coming…

It’s been far too long since I’ve seen the ocean and this is simply unacceptable for a New Zealander. So this week I’m heading off to Lanzarote in the exotic Spanish Canary Islands.

So yeah, I’m pretty happy about spending the next week on the beach trying to get rid of some of the white that has crept over my body during the winter. I could understand if you’re all incredibly jealous as well, so please feel free to send death threats on the back of a postcard.

But the good news for you is this blog won’t be dying in my absence. There will still be posts to keep you amused and entertained…heck, you might even learn something.

So see you all in a week and feel free to use my name in vain if you’re still feeling the cold.

With visitors zipping about all over the Internet, it’s hard to get anyone to slow down and chat. From webpage to webpage they surf, instantly forgetting what they’ve just seen.

So if you want a visitor to return, you need to help them out a little. You need to get a visitor to commit to staying in touch with you, whichever way they want.

Why

If you don’t capture a visitor’s attention long enough to get their contact details, you’ve lost them forever. Sure, some might return on their own steam, but the percentages rank against it. How many times have you tried to remember some great website you found information on…but the name escapes you.

Internet Marketers have all sorts of tricks to capture email addresses and then sell, sell, sell to that list. But that’s not we’re about. If you’re lucky enough to be entrusted with a visitor’s email address, you should treat it like your own. Always offer the visitor value, never try to sell them to death!

How

The obvious one is an email capture box for a newsletter but there are other ways to stay in touch with your visitors. For example, they can subscribe to your RSS feed of your blog. This way the always get the latest information you’re publishing through your website.

[Note For those of you who don't know what a RSS feed is, click on the orange square in the top right, then use Google Feedreader to subscribe to this blog for free. Have a play around and save yourself hours visiting your favourite blogs each day.]

And don’t forget the power of social media to stay in touch with visitors. Have them sign up to your Facebook Profile and Pages, Twitter, and other profiles around the web.

Homework

Think about how you communicate with visitors and capture their information. What other ways could you do it? Remember to give your visitors as many options as possible.

To tell you the truth, I’ve been a little bit lost with the blog lately. I’ve gotten good feedback on it and people say they enjoy all the information, but I still don’t feel it’s really the best it can be.

So I put on my thinking cap and sat in the corner for a while. Then, after I’d thought about what I’d done as my mother instructed, I gave a little thought to the blog. And low and behold I came up with a whole new idea-like-thing that I hope will increase your learning.

And no, I’m not talking about learning English grammar…as you can see from the name change, this ain’t that sorta blog! But I want to make improving your website as simple as possible. This all resulted in a new format.

From now on, I’m going to number the website tips, 1 through to 1 billion and beyond. This way, if you want to read the actionable tips you can start at 1 and follow through in some kind of order. While this won’t completely stop me jumping all over the place with topics, it’ll clearly mark tips and hints to improve your website in small, bit size pieces. You read…then you do. Easy as oh so delicious pie.

Inside the post I’m also going to cover the why and the how in two different parts. I want to keep these short and sweet since we’re all short on time nowadays. If you want more how, ask me and it’ll go in the free members section. A reason to sign up, how devious am I?

So I hope you all enjoy the new format and it helps you folks out. As always, I’m open to feedback in the comments or my email inbox.

Ok, it’s finally time to admit the truth. I’ve been giving you all these tips to improve your business and marketing online but I’ve been leaving something out.

You see, there’s a bigger reason that myself and my clients have obtained success in our respective industries. It has nothing to do with search engines or social media. It has nothing to do with branding or being different.

The secret is: Being Evil.

You can find out more here: The Evil Genius Guide To Business

I deeply apologise for misleading you all, I hope I can one day regain your trust…

Well the new TV anyway, YouTube. I’ve just finished working on a new video and I think I’m improving…

It’s to replace my old dodgy one on the frontpage of my website. My favourite description of it was “annoyed and constipated.” So now, check out the new version right here and see what other strange emotions I can convey through the magic of video.

It answers the curious question of: “How can I improve my website?”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqaT74TSxS0[/youtube]

And while you’re surfing the website, you may notice some clues about my upcoming plans using the words “membership” and “free.” This post was also brought to you by the number 13.

I know, I know…the blog posts have been a little inconsistent lately. But there’s a good reason behind it…I swear!

I’ve been working on some content for my loyal email subscribers lately and that has led me to a great idea. It’ll mean a load of great content for you…and best of all, it’ll be completely free.

So if you’re on my email list, keep an eye on your inbox over the next 2 weeks. Something is coming…and I’m sure you’re going to learn a lot from it.

It’s here! Are you excited? I am…well a little.

Yes, I’ve finally finished my first little website help video. It’s nothing impressive like the StomperNet guys produce or anything. In fact, it’s dramatically unfancy but I hope the content helps you.

It talks about the biggest problems small business owners face with their websites and then presents my blueprint for a successful website.

There’s another one on the drawing board that will go a lot more in-depth but I just wanted to test the waters with this one and see what feedback I got. So please let me know what you think in the comments below.

The short version with lovely background music (~4mins):

[youtube]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=yWuMQUH6FpM[/youtube]

The long version with my voice over explaining it (~10mins):

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnYO2YaFRAM[/youtube]

You can sign up for the next video here:
The Web Business Blunder