It was a virtual Tuesday Dudes day. I did not meet either of this weeks dudes face to face. It is interesting how the means in which we connect with people has changed so much that a phone conversation or a video conference counts as meeting people. I am pretty sure my parents generation does not count meeting people the same way that I do.
Andy Crestodina
Honestly going into the presentation I thought I had heard it all when comes to website content. Andy Crestodina surprised me with lots of new information. What I really liked about the presentation was it was a fire-hose of data backed improvement suggestions. Fortunately he was kind enough to share the slides with us and I have been able to go back at gather the information at my drip pace of learning.
The journey from “questions to answers to evidence to action” reminded me that I have been focusing too much on my sales process and not enough on my marketing process. I create content, it drives website traffic but that traffic does not convert very well into leads. I will work on making that happen better based on Andy’s suggestions.
Two key suggestions, were make it easier for visitors to find information and make it easier for visitors to take action. One simple key to finding things is to reduce the number of tabs and navigation it takes to get information. I loved his examples of the old way vs a better way to organize information. The other suggestion was to add more testimonials throughout your site. Be very generous with testimonials on call to action pages. It is amazing how much easier it is to take action when the successes of others are called out with that call to action.
If you get a chance to see Andy it is well worth your while. Visit his site Orbit Media Studios to find out more.
Cobbie Behrend
More years ago than either of care to recall, I did meet Cobbie Behrend face to face. He was at a career fair for recent college grads and as he puts it, I put his resume in the right pile. He likes to give me way more credit than I deserve for that. That day I saw a person with very solid interpersonal skills who understood technology. Those resumes are easy to put in the right pile.
Fast forward to this week and I had a virtual coffee with Cobbie. He is starting his own company and I was excited to hear about his new journey. Cobbie is starting a company called AdaptivePatterns. They are in the early stages of developing their business and services, but it sounds like he has a very exciting model around using listening and research to help businesses have better outcomes from their technology. Knowing Cobbie as I do he will work diligently to make his company and his customers successful.
As always if you don’t have time to meet either of of this weeks dudes feel free to sign up for a coffee or lunch with me here. I would be happy to talk more with you about why you should talk with them.