Business Information for Entrepreneurs by an Entrepreneur

Just before Christmas I was working with a friend who had an idea. It was a good idea to help market his current successful business so I suggested he run with it.

He came back to me a day or two later and told me about another idea he had. It was similar, but slightly adjusted. Again, I suggested he run with it.

The very next day he called me and told me about a third idea.

Had he followed through on any of them? No, he was getting caught up in “analysis paralysis” and spending more time analyzing and less time selling.

Carl Sewell (I reviewed his book in a previous post) and Perry Marshall (an Internet marketing guru) both suggest the same thing: try something and test it then adjust it slightly and do it again. Don't spend your entire day thinking about it.

To borrow from Nike, “Just do it.” The Internet is always changing and you can make adjustments to your site or your advertising in moments. So, even if you try something and it only meets with partial success, as least you have tried something and have a starting place to build from.

My friend with the great marketing idea? He's still thinking about it.

Periodically you'll see our “must-have” series contains software and equipment. But this time I'm recommending that you bookmark this site:

http://textalyser.net/

I've mentioned it before in a scathing criticism of SEO writing. Have I changed my view? Not at all. I still feel that SEO writing — defined as writing content that contains between 4% and 5% keywords — is ineffective. The end result may be read and ranked by Google but is rarely read properly by the people with money: your customers. There are many other SEO skills that I think are more effective.

So why am I recommending this site anyway?

Not everyone is a writer or communicator. There are many reasons why you're in business. Making money is probably one key reason. Writing clever prose is not. Textalyser analyzes your text for you (you can cut and paste the text or you can type in your URL) and it will tell you different things about your content including:

How many words and sentences there are and how often the same words are used The average age and reading level and complexity of your writing The frequency that certain phrases appear … and much more information

Why do you want this? Because there are a lot of poorly written websites out there and if you want to rise above the rest and earn an income as an online business owner you need to turn prospects into customers. And that happens with a well written site.

Some books I have reviewed in the past are ones that someone has lent to me. It's only the rare gems that I add to my growing library of business books. When a book is good — really good — so good that I'll read it again and again and again — will I add it to my personal collection.

Customers for Life is a book I've had for a while. And although I've read it through several times, I plan to read it again. Each year.

Sewell was an automobile dealer. That doesn't sound like a big deal to many people but he became the top luxury automobile dealership in the U.S. based on his commitment to customers. He believed that you don't just sell a car to someone once, you re-sell that customer numerous cars over that customer's lifetime. And it was service that brought the customer back again and again.

Sewell's book is easy to read and full of wisdom in a way that rivals Harvey Mackay. Sewell understands that customer service is not about one aspect of the business (like saying yes to any request) but in every aspect of the business. So in his book he talks about the qualities you want in an employee, he talks about dress code, he talks about offering jaw-dropping service, even in teaching your customers about what good service from you looks like and how to deal with customers who are wrong.

It's a fault of mine, but I was skeptical when I picked up the book for the very first time. After all, as a successful online business-owner, what can Cadillac dealer teach me that is relevant to my business?

The answer is: quite a lot.