This is one area where there are no hard and fast rules, and where either approach can work, so each business should do what feels right to them.

The “Human” Route

Establishing yourself as a small, family-owned business, for example, can have a big advantage when it comes to giving you credibility – especially in social media (which should be an integral part of your marketing campaign). Social media participants typically expect to have conversations – the last thing they want when they access their Twitter account is to find that the people and businesses they follow are trying to sell them stuff.

Now, of course you ARE trying to sell them stuff! You’re a business after all. But the more subtle you are about it, the more you humanize your online presence, the more receptive social media participants will be to accepting you into their networks. The more forthcoming you are about “hey, I’m here to sell,” the less people will be inclined to follow – unless your product is truly one of a kind, awesome and everyone wants it (in which case you’ve made it! Congratulations).

In the above scenario, using your name and photo on your website and in your social media accounts and emphasizing the human side of your business can be a very smart move. One of my clients, for example, chose to say on their website’s “About” page and in their Twitter bio “we are a small, woman-owned business.” This humanizes them and makes it easier for people, and especially for other women, to connect with them.

Of course, you shouldn’t lie about your true identity! If you’re not a woman, then you can’t say “woman-owned” and if you’re not a family-owned business, then you shouldn’t use that line either. But whatever your identity, you can find an angle that would humanize you and make it easier for people to connect with you.

The “Corporate” Route

Another option for small businesses who are trying to establish their online identity is to go corporate – to establish themselves as large (larger than they are), highly professional businesses and to mask the fact that they are in fact small. This approach can and does work, because the risk with the first approach is that people will not take you seriously, while the second approach – if done right – can make it easier for people to trust you as a business, even if they can’t connect with you on a more personal level.

If you choose the second approach, you should avoid using your name and photo on your site and on your social media accounts – use a professionally designed logo instead – and always use the plural form, rather than singular, when talking about yourself.

Conclusion

So, which approach should you choose for your own small business? As I said above, this is completely up to you, since both approaches can work. I would say it probably depends on your space – is your business in a space where being personal and human would result in higher levels of trust, or would a glossy, corporate look and feel create more trust?

Finally, you can certainly combine both approaches, going with a glossy, professional “corporate” look and feel for your website, but humanizing your business by using a name and a real photo on your blog and on your social media accounts.

Why?
You can certainly host videos on your own small business website, but there are some great advantages to hosting your videos on YouTube instead. Here are a few you should consider:

• YouTube is the world’s most popular online video community, with millions of users. The site’s features make it easy for users to search and browse by topics, view their friends’ favorite videos, and subscribe to their favorite channels–all things that can attract viewers who have never before heard of your company or your website.
• Hosting your own videos takes up your server’s limited storage space and bandwidth. Bandwidth becomes particularly important if you have a terrific video that goes viral. If you host with YouTube, they will be responsible for dealing with the increased traffic load as people flock to see your video, so you won’t have to worry about overloading your own server.

How?
Registering with YouTube and creating your own channel is a simple process, and they have a pretty comprehensive help center if you get stuck. Making your videos doesn’t have to be complicated, either. You need a digital camera, but it doesn’t have to be professional quality–your video will most likely be viewed in a small 320×240 pixel window, so an expensive high-definition camcorder isn’t necessary. Depending on the type of videos you decide to make, your computer’s webcam may be all you need.

Once you have created and uploaded your videos, you can easily embed them in your website and link to them from all over the Internet. Great places to include them might be your social networking profiles, emails, forums, and other Internet video communities.

A few important tips:

• Include your business name, website, and other contact info in the video itself as well as in the description.
• Keep basic SEO principles in mind when writing your video’s title, description, and tags. Using the right keywords will help customers find you and get your video listed on related searches.
• Be an active member of the YouTube community. In addition to posting your own videos, comment on those posted by other users and add ones you like to your favorites.

• Create a video blog that you regularly update with short videos, usually under 5 minutes long. This isn’t much different than a written blog, but feels more personal and is more interesting for some website viewers. Check out my article on what blogging is for more info on why you should blog–it’s specific to written blogs, but the same principles still apply.
• Make demos of your product or services. Customers will feel more confident in the product they’re purchasing if they can see it in action, and they’ll be able to see that you know a lot about the products or services you’re providing.
• Offer tutorials or mini-lectures on topics related to your business. Just like with article marketing, these videos will provide your viewers with useful information or skills while also establishing you as an expert in your area. They’re a great opportunity for product placement, as well–for example, if you sell scrapbooking supplies, you can use your products in a how-to-scrapbook video.
• Post video answers to frequently asked questions, or even respond to general customer inquiries with video messages.
• Provide videos of customer testimonials to prove that the testimonials are authentic and show off your satisfied customers.

My answer is always the same: regardless of the size of your business, and whether you plan to sell your products online or not, you do need to have an online presence, or you risk losing potential customers. Here are the four main reasons why even the smallest mom and pop shop should have a website:

Make It Easier To Get More Info About Your Business

Even if you don’t plan to sell online, you should have a presence on the Web so that customers, potential employees and business partners can quickly and easily find out more about your business. These days, when people search for information, the first place they go to is the Internet. More and more research shows that in almost every area, the first step in the decision making process is gathering information online. Not having an online presence will make some potential customers assume that you’re not a serious business and look elsewhere.

Your Competitors Are Online

For many prospects, if they have a choice between two businesses, and one business has a strong online presence with lots of info and the other has no website, they will feel more comfortable doing business with the site that has a website. A website makes a business seem modern, up to date and more accessible. A lack of website conveys the opposite – it makes a business look outdated and less professional.

Your Customers Are Online

This is easy. If your customers and prospects are online, you should be online too, and since these days almost everyone is online, regardless of what you sell or who your customers are, you should have an online presence. The same is true for social media, by the way – you don’t need to be on Twitter if your customers are not using Twitter. But if they are, you should have a regularly updated Twitter account and a prominent link to it from your website’s homepage.

Streamline Customer Service

A website is a great way to provide support for your customers and save yourself valuable time. Your website should include as much information about your business as possible, with the goal of minimizing the volume of phone calls you receive and the time spent on answering phone calls and emails. Include your address, directions, store hours, as much information about your products and services as you can, and answers to the most frequently asked questions you receive.

It’s important to realize that it’s not enough to just have a website. You should have a professionally designed site if you want to be taken seriously. A generic, low-quality website could actually hurt your business instead of promoting it, so it’s better to have no website than to have one that makes your business look bad. Small business website design is probably more affordable than you realize. Click here to read more about professional website design for small businesses. [LINK to October’s blog post).

Overall Improvements

• There should be contact information in a visible location on every page. Best to include a phone number in addition to email so users can trust you better.

• Add relevant images where appropriate to break up the long text.

Homepage

• Create a call-to-action so users can immediately know what to do when they arrive on the website.

• Give more attention to your “Free Sachet give away with every purchase”. Everyone loves free stuff, make sure they know about it.

Products

• Reposition the products navigation menu so it’s easily accessible.

• Restructure how all products are displayed on the main products page. The slider makes it a little hard to tell how many products you have to offer.

Other recommendation

• Add a blog with articles about stress issues and relaxation methods. Having a blog is great to have new content on your website, which search engines love to see.

More website critiques

Of course there are more things to dive deeply into making this site better such as search engine optimization, but this is a whole different subject and will require it’s own review.

If you’re viewing this review and want to add more suggestions, please add your comments below.

Disclaimer

The video website critique and suggestions are for you to review and take what you feel will better your business website. There’s no guarantee that the suggestions mentioned will improve your business. Design Leap is not held responsible for any negative outcome.

Yelp.com is a website where customers can search for local businesses and leave reviews of their experiences, and it also offers a number of free tools for small business owners. If you haven’t already, check Yelp to see if your business is listed; if it isn’t, you can list it for free. If it is listed, claim your page to take advantage of all that Yelp.com offers small business owners: communicate with your customers by responding to their reviews, promote discounts and special events, check the amount of traffic your Yelp business page receives, recommend other businesses, and provide detailed information about your business–including your website address. With more than 26 million visitors in December 2009, Yelp.com is a great way to connect with local traffic.

Google’s Local Business Center offers small business owners the opportunity to customize their listing on Google and Google Maps, with options like adding pictures, coupons, business hours, and more. You can also see behind-the-scenes information to find out things like who’s searching for you and what search terms they’re using to find you. You can even see where driving directions requests originate, so you will know where your visitors are coming from and whether you’re targeting local traffic.

The social networking phenomenon Twitter is another way to stay connected with your local customers, and Twitter is beginning to cater to small business owners. It’s a quick and immediate way to communicate with customers, see what people are saying about your business, and build relationships with customers and other businesses. Put a Twitter badge on your website and begin following local individuals and businesses, and before you know it you’ll have followers of your own. One of the really cool things about Twitter is that your conversations with customers are publicly visible and searchable, meaning they often attract attention from other Twitterers in the same locale or with similar interests.

Facebook, which began as a social networking site exclusively for college students, has expanded dramatically and now offers great opportunities for small businesses. When you create a free business page on Facebook, anyone can become a fan of your page and suggest that others do the same. You can provide detailed information on your profile (including your website address), post business updates, make photo albums, and converse with your fans. Facebook users can search business pages by location, and many are thrilled when they can become fans of their favorite local businesses. And since their friends can see what businesses they’re fans of, your local exposure increases exponentially with every fan you acquire.

These are four great websites that offer free ways to connect with local customers. They will help you target local traffic, learn about your customers, and provide your small business with a strong local presence even on the global Internet.

What’s on the top of our list for the best return on investment? A professional business website. These days a website is indispensable for any small business; while potential customers once consulted the Yellow Pages to find you, the Internet is now their first–and often only–stop. Many small business owners attempt a do-it-yourself website without realizing that professionals specializing in small business design are an excellent return on investment. Think of it as the difference between a single-line listing in the phone book and a full-page, color ad. Which business is going to get noticed? The one whose website looks professional, is on the first page of search engine results, and provides useful content. Investing in a professional with expertise in small business design can help you achieve that, and will quickly pay for itself.

But don’t stop at a website–there are other ways to harness the advertising power of the Internet. Word of mouth has always been one of the most cost-effective forms of advertisement, and social networking sites are the new word of mouth. These sites are reaching more people than ever and are usually free to join. Maintaining a business profile on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other sites is an inexpensive way to build an Internet presence and keep your customers up-to-date. You can even create your own television-style ads and post them on Youtube for free. Feature them on your website and your Facebook page and you might be the next viral video phenomenon! In addition to creating your own profile, connect with other people and businesses whose followers are likely to be interested in your product or services. Become visible to their followers by commenting on their profiles or blogs and leaving a link to your website.

Placing ads on the Internet can also be a good investment if you choose their location and style carefully. Choose which websites to advertise on by keeping your target audience in mind–just like with physical signage, you want to place your ads in locations that potential customers frequent. Finding the most effective placement is easy with sites like BuySellAds.com, which will help you find a target website or blog for your ads or offer advertising space on your own website. The best way to maximize your advertising dollars using Internet advertising is to start small and take advantage of the statistics available to you. There are a variety of tools available that will help you determine where your website traffic is coming from, which customers are buying what, and which ads are most effective. A lot of these tools are free, but staying on top of your Internet advertising statistics does require an investment of your time. However, it’s one that’s well worth it–you can learn what advertising methods work for you before you invest significant money.

Finally, advertising to your current customers is always a good idea. Connect with them via social networking sites, send them a monthly newsletter updating them about your business, and keep your website updated with fresh content, deals and information of interest to them. If you haven’t already, start building an email list for email marketing. Your customers are already interested in you and your business, so you know that you’re reaching a receptive audience. Cultivating their interest will encourage them to be repeat customers and make them more likely to recommend you to their friends.

Overall Improvements

• Basically put the focus on your subscription service. Check that your main website content is above the fold. If people can’t see it, they won’t subscribe!

Homepage

• The Flash animation at the top is not working in your favor. It’s displaying your products, but not showing what could be accomplished using your products. You are not just selling images/clipart so I believe it’s best to show what can be done using your products instead of just displaying them.
• There are so many ways you can use that top banner space, but the most effective way is to create a call-to-action for the subscription. Just take a look at other subscription based stock photo websites and you’ll notice that the subscription information is right there at the top to grab the visitor’s attention.

Screenshot of www.getharvest.com

• Another option is to polish up the look and feel of the 3 categories that you currently have blending into the text. For example take a look at what Harvest did on their homepage to focus on the subscription and below that show the 3 distinct groups that they’re targeting.

More website critiques

If you’re viewing this review and want to add more suggestions, please add your comments below.

Disclaimer

The video website critique and suggestions are for you to review and take what you feel will better your business website. There’s no guarantee that the suggestions mentioned will improve your business. Design Leap is not held responsible for any negative outcome.

1. www.entrepreneur.com
2. www.smallbiztrends.com
3. www.toolkit.com
4. www.smbceo.com
5. www.startupnation.com
6. answers.business.com
7. www.inc.com
8. www.allbusiness.com
9. www.sba.gov
10. www.smallbusinessbrief.com

Trying to do logo design on your own
I understand you might be thinking that to hire a graphic designer is expensive and your small business budge can’t afford that. It really isn’t expensive if you think the value that a professional can bring to your business image in the long run. Let’s say for example you’re an excellent hair stylist, you have your own salon but you don’t have a logo that separates your salon from all the other salons in your area. You decide to sit down one night and take a stab in creating your own logo. You have an idea in mind so you open up your Microsoft Word and you start trying all the available fonts and clip art that come with that program. The result, a generic look with outdated clip art. The problem here is that you’re good at what you do but you clearly can’t specialize in everything. You don’t even have professional programs that a graphic designer would use to create your logo design. Imagine if I tried to cut my own hair, I would look like a mess.

Working together with your graphic designer
As a small business owner you’re always full of ideas and know your business better than anyone else. Here are a few pointers in how to work together with your graphic designer to help create your ideal image:

• explain what you’re envisioning
• provide a list of colors you like and also the colors that you absolutely would not want to see used
• let her know if you would like to have an icon, just a logo type or both
• where will your logo be used? Only on paper and web or may be also on clothes tags or anywhere else
• provide examples of other company logos that you were attracted to
• provide a list of few of your competitors
• always give us much information about your business as possible, including your target audience and geographic location that you’re targeting or anything else that might help to understand your business better

Remember, you want your business to be successful so don’t ruin your image by doing your own logo design.