RL: What e-strategies do you recommend?

RS: A retailer should have electronic newsletters. I like to divide them into five sections. First is an article of interest to the customer, perhaps on home decor or accent lighting. Second, add a short quote, modeled after what you see in USA Today. Third, have a newsy article about your community or the industry. Fourth, offer a special—a price promotion, a contest, anything to generate traffic. Finally, include a joke or a cartoon. There are thousands of joke services online.

RL: How often should a newsletter be sent?

RS: My feeling is a minimum of once a month. Eighty percent of your business probably comes from 20 percent of your customers, so keep sending newsletters. As for format, just send it as a plain e-mail message and not as an attachment. But the next step is critical: Download the

newsletter into your blog. Go to blogger.com. It’s run by Google, and it’s completely free.

RL: How important is it to have a blog?

RS: Your blog will position you as an expert. But the real reason to blog is that you will get more traffic through your blog than through any other source, including Google. As you write about lighting and design and transfer the information to your blog, the search engines will pick it up. They will send people to your blog, where you will have a link to your Web site.

RL: How can we make our Web sites more appealing?

RS: Have a tab that says “events.” Are you having a class on feng shui, a class by a designer or a contest? Keep the Web site simple. Remember that if someone can’t find what they’re looking for in the first six seconds, they’re history. Ask yourself, “Why is someone coming to my Web site? Because I’ve been in business for 60 years?” No. They don’t care about that. What they care about is how lighting will look

in their home.

     Many small retailers do just fine with a five-page Web site created on GoDaddy.com They say who they are and what they do, and they offer some free service. Today, Web sites are Yellow Pages ads on steroids.

Rick Segel is a seasoned retailer of 25 years and author of nine books, including The Essential Online Solution: The 5 Step Formula to Small Business Success. Rick Segel & Assoc. (ricksegel.com) provides retail marketing and sales training services.

Web Site Basics

• Put your contact information on every page.
• Narrow tab and click-through choices to
  
  no more than seven.
• Be the expert with newsletters and download content to a blog.
• Create buzz through links, properly set meta-tags and pay-per-click ads with Google.
• Use eBay as part of your marketing effort.
  

Source: Rick Segel