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Million Dollar Web Presence: Leverage the Web to Build Your Brand and Transform Your Business
Hidden among the chaos and hype, there are secrets to success on the web. Globally renowned internet expert Chad Barr and business strategist and bestselling author Alan Weiss, reveal them - and show you how to use them to amploify your web presence and profits.
Using the unmatched reach of the web, entrepreneurs are empowered to take a more tactical, brand-driven approach to attracting new clients and reinforcing the relationships with their current clientele—quickly raising the bar to produce better results for their brand and their business.
Starting with their website, Weiss and Barr reveal five critical areas that can be immediately enhanced to emphasize creditability and instantly build trust among visitors. Entrepreneurs also discover how to outfit their site with new tools, products and offerings that pull visitors in, keep them captivated, and compel them to keep coming back. Weiss and Barr then coach thought leaders in capitalizing on today’s social web, delivering a strategic plan to uncovering opportunity in online communities, social networks, and other popular platforms—allowing them to showcase their greatest business draw: their expertise. Entrepreneurs also learn which components are critical to their success as a thought leader, gaining valuable insight into trending technologies like mobile devices to help them in determining which avenues are of the greatest gain.
Offering support such as assessments, real-life examples, screen shots, and access to free downloads, tutorials, and more, Weiss and Barr deliver a comprehensive plan to help entrepreneurs enhance their online efforts and strategically elevate their brand, and ultimately, their business.
Using the unmatched reach of the web, entrepreneurs are empowered to take a more tactical, brand-driven approach to attracting new clients and reinforcing the relationships with their current clientele—quickly raising the bar to produce better results for their brand and their business.
Starting with their website, Weiss and Barr reveal five critical areas that can be immediately enhanced to emphasize creditability and instantly build trust among visitors. Entrepreneurs also discover how to outfit their site with new tools, products and offerings that pull visitors in, keep them captivated, and compel them to keep coming back. Weiss and Barr then coach thought leaders in capitalizing on today’s social web, delivering a strategic plan to uncovering opportunity in online communities, social networks, and other popular platforms—allowing them to showcase their greatest business draw: their expertise. Entrepreneurs also learn which components are critical to their success as a thought leader, gaining valuable insight into trending technologies like mobile devices to help them in determining which avenues are of the greatest gain.
Offering support such as assessments, real-life examples, screen shots, and access to free downloads, tutorials, and more, Weiss and Barr deliver a comprehensive plan to help entrepreneurs enhance their online efforts and strategically elevate their brand, and ultimately, their business.
- GenresBusiness
244 pages, Paperback
First published February 8, 2012
8 people are currently reading
37 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 16, 2021
There's some good advice about building credibility through your website and online marketing, especially related to the content you produce. But, the book is hurt by its age (I read the 2011 edition) and the arrogance of the authors. A contrarian approach is fine if it's backed up by data, and there's nothing wrong with being confident in assertions, but the authors hit me as arrogant.
I read the 2011 edition, so many specific technologies and techniques mentioned are dated, as are the screenshots of websites. Chapter 10 on social media is especially dated.
I liked Million Dollar Consulting much better, though admittedly it's about a different topic.
I read this because it was mentioned on the Agency Advantage podcast.
Notes
Why the Web?
Most sites aren't sales sites, but credibility sites. That's why cheap tricks such as popups and auto-playing audio and video are very bad.
Establish credibility with a impressive client list. The longer the better; you want the visitor to be overwhelmed.
Testimonials should include name, title, organization, key challenge faced, powerful outcome or results. On testimonials page, include the testimonial's most powerful sentence, with a link to the full testimonial. Rotate most powerful testimonials on homepage and interior pages.
Case studies should include 3 paragraphs: Situation, Intervention, Resolution.
Prospective buyers want to see 2 things: What's in it for me? Who says so?
Don't focus on methodology or deliverables, but on how the client's condition is to be improved.
No Site for Sore Eyes
"Content may be king, but provocative content is the ace."
Must-have content
• Typical client results on homepage.
• At least 1 video testimonial on homepage.
• Dramatic, attractive value proposition on homepage
• Revolving text testimonials.
• Case studies, client list, position papers, bio, contact info, product and service offerings, video explanations of offerings.
• Don't use the same image on every page (e.g., header image). Use a different one on each page to give illusion of movement throughout site.
• Environmental photos (staff working and interacting with others) rather than headshots.
To generate provocative ideas, question basic assumptions, and take a contrarian view while discussing pros and cons.
Less text is always more. Replace text with images and video whenever possible.
Changing the World One Community at a Time
What draws people to communities
• Inherent value
• Others there (meeting need for development and ego)
• Virtual environment (friendly, easy to enter, readily available, simple to navigate)
Branding by Bonding
Don't be obsessed with protecting content. Reduce restrictions and make it excessively easy for people to share your work and intellectual property with others.
How to retain visitors
Promote "best of" content.
On each page, show additional, related content.
7 Newsletters: There Are Far Too Many
Newsletter should be
• Provocative and stimulating.
• Non-promotional, except subtly and softly in terms of your valued content.
• Highly pragmatic, with insights others don't readily have.
• Brief, with 4 short subjects rather than 1 long article (to appeal to more people).
Newsletter content ideas: intellectual property, opinion, case study, FAQ.
Send monthly, and maybe send additional "breaking development" issues.
Business owner, president, or principal should do most of writing of company's newsletter.
Give your newsletter a memorable name that portrays its strong focus. Examples: The Voice of Business, Great Results, Sales Caffeine, Take it from Terry, Courageous Leadership.
Personalize the beginning with "Dear [Name]".
Include an archive of newsletters on your website, to extend each issue's life and effectiveness.
Rules for writing newsletters (and other content)
• Focus primarily on current customers. They are best channel to new customers, and you can get more business from existing ones than you think.
• Focus on info and engagement, not promotion.
• Amplify customer's voice, not yours.
• A picture is worth 1000 words, but an example is worth 1000 pictures.
• Use analogies and metaphors.
• Summary: write for your audience, express yourself and your values, and challenge readers and yourself to be leaders in your fields.
Myths and Monsters
Visitors don't care about your methodologies. Offer diagnostics for them to assess where they are and where they should be. Give succinct info to improve their condition.
You're Going to Optimize My What?
Corporate (B2B) buyers don't search the web for service providers. To reach them requires referrals, "marketing gravity" (inbound marketing), and relationships. Consumers (B2C) search for products and services.
Most business comes from existing clients, so don't waste resources on activities not directly connected to existing clients. They already know and trust you, so they aren't searching for you. Focus on converting traffic (email signups, leads, sales) rather than increasing traffic. Do this by engaging emotionally, establishing credibility, using effective calls to action, using effective landing pages.
Why Social Media is an Oxymoron
Corporate (B2B) buyers don't search social media for service providers. Social media is better for reaching consumers.
Put time into more effective marketing efforts (writing, speaking, etc.) before social media.
I read the 2011 edition, so many specific technologies and techniques mentioned are dated, as are the screenshots of websites. Chapter 10 on social media is especially dated.
I liked Million Dollar Consulting much better, though admittedly it's about a different topic.
I read this because it was mentioned on the Agency Advantage podcast.
Notes
Why the Web?
Most sites aren't sales sites, but credibility sites. That's why cheap tricks such as popups and auto-playing audio and video are very bad.
Establish credibility with a impressive client list. The longer the better; you want the visitor to be overwhelmed.
Testimonials should include name, title, organization, key challenge faced, powerful outcome or results. On testimonials page, include the testimonial's most powerful sentence, with a link to the full testimonial. Rotate most powerful testimonials on homepage and interior pages.
Case studies should include 3 paragraphs: Situation, Intervention, Resolution.
Prospective buyers want to see 2 things: What's in it for me? Who says so?
Don't focus on methodology or deliverables, but on how the client's condition is to be improved.
No Site for Sore Eyes
"Content may be king, but provocative content is the ace."
Must-have content
• Typical client results on homepage.
• At least 1 video testimonial on homepage.
• Dramatic, attractive value proposition on homepage
• Revolving text testimonials.
• Case studies, client list, position papers, bio, contact info, product and service offerings, video explanations of offerings.
• Don't use the same image on every page (e.g., header image). Use a different one on each page to give illusion of movement throughout site.
• Environmental photos (staff working and interacting with others) rather than headshots.
To generate provocative ideas, question basic assumptions, and take a contrarian view while discussing pros and cons.
Less text is always more. Replace text with images and video whenever possible.
Changing the World One Community at a Time
What draws people to communities
• Inherent value
• Others there (meeting need for development and ego)
• Virtual environment (friendly, easy to enter, readily available, simple to navigate)
Branding by Bonding
Don't be obsessed with protecting content. Reduce restrictions and make it excessively easy for people to share your work and intellectual property with others.
How to retain visitors
Promote "best of" content.
On each page, show additional, related content.
7 Newsletters: There Are Far Too Many
Newsletter should be
• Provocative and stimulating.
• Non-promotional, except subtly and softly in terms of your valued content.
• Highly pragmatic, with insights others don't readily have.
• Brief, with 4 short subjects rather than 1 long article (to appeal to more people).
Newsletter content ideas: intellectual property, opinion, case study, FAQ.
Send monthly, and maybe send additional "breaking development" issues.
Business owner, president, or principal should do most of writing of company's newsletter.
Give your newsletter a memorable name that portrays its strong focus. Examples: The Voice of Business, Great Results, Sales Caffeine, Take it from Terry, Courageous Leadership.
Personalize the beginning with "Dear [Name]".
Include an archive of newsletters on your website, to extend each issue's life and effectiveness.
Rules for writing newsletters (and other content)
• Focus primarily on current customers. They are best channel to new customers, and you can get more business from existing ones than you think.
• Focus on info and engagement, not promotion.
• Amplify customer's voice, not yours.
• A picture is worth 1000 words, but an example is worth 1000 pictures.
• Use analogies and metaphors.
• Summary: write for your audience, express yourself and your values, and challenge readers and yourself to be leaders in your fields.
Myths and Monsters
Visitors don't care about your methodologies. Offer diagnostics for them to assess where they are and where they should be. Give succinct info to improve their condition.
You're Going to Optimize My What?
Corporate (B2B) buyers don't search the web for service providers. To reach them requires referrals, "marketing gravity" (inbound marketing), and relationships. Consumers (B2C) search for products and services.
Most business comes from existing clients, so don't waste resources on activities not directly connected to existing clients. They already know and trust you, so they aren't searching for you. Focus on converting traffic (email signups, leads, sales) rather than increasing traffic. Do this by engaging emotionally, establishing credibility, using effective calls to action, using effective landing pages.
Why Social Media is an Oxymoron
Corporate (B2B) buyers don't search social media for service providers. Social media is better for reaching consumers.
Put time into more effective marketing efforts (writing, speaking, etc.) before social media.
October 27, 2019
A pragmatic book about how to build a credible web, therefore I will reco to read for anyone who is looking for personal/business web building. Easy to follow and to read, with many case studies, if you are a quick reader you might only need 2 to 3 days to read (read only without application). Pretty old book, with many pictures from professional people website that maybe at least have 30 years of experience, so I have strong believed that this book core target audiences are old folks. The authors also mentioned about social media in very old fashion way, which I think will be helpful for our parents generation who didnt born with it.
July 20, 2017
Full book review: Million Dollar Web Presence Book Review
Onto book review #2. This one was harder to complete, as you will understand by reading my book review below.
Million Dollar Web Presence
Leverage The Web To Build Your Brand And Transform Your Business
By Chad Barr & Alan Weiss
What is this book about?
Take your consulting business, and bringing it to an online audience in a professional way. There is plenty of information, and the book is structured in a very logical, point, by point format.
Yet, I didn’t enjoy this book too much, because it felt very much like a text book, with 10-20 points per heading, and graphs and charts that didn’t quite make sense. As if taken from your typical Top 10 Ways To Do ‘This or That’, and regurgitated into this book.
Furthermore, it seems like they simply highlighted things that everyone else does, and nothing new is presented. Similar to a ‘just copy these exact steps, and hope for results’ blueprint.
Then again, what is a consultant really?
Most of them simply advise you on how to do something, yet have no prior experience of their own. While there are those few that actually know what they are talking about, most will simply throw theory at you, with minimal practical ‘real-world’ application, or statistical backing. For example, almost anyone can be a social-media ‘guru’ nowadays.
With this book, you can learn how to advertise your theoretical consulting advice onto the net, and present it professionally, by ‘doing it like everyone else’. Perhaps, it is a ‘do what works best’ mentality.
Although, even the authors are questionable, in my opinion. If one of the authors makes a living from writing these kinds of ‘how to be successful’ books, and the other founded a consultancy, teaching people how to be consultants… then really, what is their practical credibility?
Nonetheless, this is not a sales book, or a marketing book.
It’s a comprehensive guide on what to say, and what to do to LOOK professional, online.
If you are a consultant with actual valuable real-world experiences and failures, then I would only somewhat recommend this book to you. If you simply want to become a consult, to teaches others how to become consultants… then don’t bother.
Quote Of The Day
Life is a game with many rules but no referee. One learns how to play it more by watching it than by consulting any book, including the holy book. Small wonder, then, that so many play dirty, that so few win, that so many lose.
~Joseph Brodsky
Onto book review #2. This one was harder to complete, as you will understand by reading my book review below.
Million Dollar Web Presence
Leverage The Web To Build Your Brand And Transform Your Business
By Chad Barr & Alan Weiss
What is this book about?
Take your consulting business, and bringing it to an online audience in a professional way. There is plenty of information, and the book is structured in a very logical, point, by point format.
Yet, I didn’t enjoy this book too much, because it felt very much like a text book, with 10-20 points per heading, and graphs and charts that didn’t quite make sense. As if taken from your typical Top 10 Ways To Do ‘This or That’, and regurgitated into this book.
Furthermore, it seems like they simply highlighted things that everyone else does, and nothing new is presented. Similar to a ‘just copy these exact steps, and hope for results’ blueprint.
Then again, what is a consultant really?
Most of them simply advise you on how to do something, yet have no prior experience of their own. While there are those few that actually know what they are talking about, most will simply throw theory at you, with minimal practical ‘real-world’ application, or statistical backing. For example, almost anyone can be a social-media ‘guru’ nowadays.
With this book, you can learn how to advertise your theoretical consulting advice onto the net, and present it professionally, by ‘doing it like everyone else’. Perhaps, it is a ‘do what works best’ mentality.
Although, even the authors are questionable, in my opinion. If one of the authors makes a living from writing these kinds of ‘how to be successful’ books, and the other founded a consultancy, teaching people how to be consultants… then really, what is their practical credibility?
Nonetheless, this is not a sales book, or a marketing book.
It’s a comprehensive guide on what to say, and what to do to LOOK professional, online.
If you are a consultant with actual valuable real-world experiences and failures, then I would only somewhat recommend this book to you. If you simply want to become a consult, to teaches others how to become consultants… then don’t bother.
Quote Of The Day
Life is a game with many rules but no referee. One learns how to play it more by watching it than by consulting any book, including the holy book. Small wonder, then, that so many play dirty, that so few win, that so many lose.
~Joseph Brodsky
September 14, 2012
This book is a really easy read and contains valuable information. I would recommend this book to anyone who is trying to find a way to leverage their company online (which should be everyone).
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews