Should I put prices on my website?

I was lucky enough to be asked to run two workshops on the same day this week. The first one on Pinterest and the second on the basics of marketing.  

Coincidentally I was asked my opinion about putting prices on websites at both workshops so I thought this post might be useful.

Ok sorry,  I don’t believe this is black and white, I think it depends on your sector and the expectations of your target market...

The full version of this blog post is now on my website just here

Thanks to pt101 on Flickr for the piggy pic!

Have you tried to find yourself recently? How did you get on?

Those of you out there who are suddenly faced with having to find a new hairdresser will know what a traumatic experience this can be.  Especially when your most recent hairdresser was the only one who ever made your ugly duckling hair into a beautiful swan coiffeur…

Anyway, I went through the process most of us would.  I went online and searched for hairdressers in my area.  Here’s what I discovered.

Not all hairdressers have websites that were optimised to come up using my search term and I am mystified as to what keywords they are using instead. Type of trade and area seemed the most logical to me.

Few websites took advantage of the free Google Maps listing which meant I didn’t know at a glance how near they were.  Now why would you not do that as the Google Map’s listing does not only bring you to the top of page 1 but is also free…

Most websites did not have testimonials – here am I  a nervous prospective customer who would like to know what others think – is that unusual?

Some websites had photos of super models and young vibrant things (believe me there are not that many of those around here) and I presumed therefore that I was not their target audience…

Some websites did not put their prices on.  Am I going to be bothered to ring up and find that out – no!

The one that got my business was easily found, sounded nice, had pictures of normal people, showed their rates and had testimonials.

All that remained was for her to do a good job – which she did. So she potentially has a lifetime client.

So are you doing everything you can to get clients - even lifetime clients?  

When did you last put yourself in the position of someone trying to find a product or service like yours?  Are you going to find and like the sound of yourself?!

Photo: Thanks to Robethk on Flickr

Improving your website - my 10 question checklist

Having applied a lot of effort into creating your marketing materials, it's all too easy to then forget about them. This perhaps applies more to websites than to other materials as you seldom look at your own.

With this in mind I thought it might be useful to give you a few reminders, the first of which is pretty crucial.




1. Do you know when the registration of your domain name expires? It is crucial that this stays with you. For a quick check go to Who Is


There have been many changes since I first wrote this so check out my updated blog post just here 

Are you legal, decent, honest and truthful?

I am sorry if you have missed my pearls of wisdom but I have been caught up in one of the most stressful experiences other than getting up for a breakfast networking meeting - yes I have moved house.

It was worth it but it was indeed stressful and time consuming!

Anyway, do the words legal, decent, honest and truthful ring any bells? They should if you ever place any advertising, since you are obliged to comply with those requirements as laid down by the Advertising Standards Authority.

These have previously not applied to claims made on your own website or in social networking activities but as from March 1st 2011 they will do so. This is good news for those of us who may have fallen victim to spurious claims online.

The good news is, for a change, this is going to have teeth. Anyone running dodgy advertising campaigns online may find that search engines have suspended any paid for search activities leading to the sites hosting them.

There is a fine balancing act between marketing to capture peoples' imaginations and sheer exaggeration. So make sure you are on the side of the angels by March 1st next year!

You heard it here first.

Marketing Pearls of Wisdom 2 – online demeanor I’ve got it

I would like to start by stating the bloomin’ obvious – people buy people. We all know it and yet we often fail to put across our brands(or personalities)in our marketing materials. And this is particularly the case with websites – which is kind of a shame as you’ll not be there with your potential client going through web page by web page…

So today’s blog post is partly about brand and partly about copywriting and it came out of an e-mail from someone who, having met me networking, said

“I've been looking at your site, and am impressed by your offering by your 'online demeanor'. Can't quite think how else to express that.”

I love that, because I honestly turned into the client from hell for my poor website designer by writing and re-writing my copy – but it has paid off.

It seems that I am having a positive effect on my web visitors and that’s a great start to having a positive effect on their marketing should they then contact me!

So please – look at your website – does it sound like you? If not could it? I know this isn’t always an easy task but don’t wriggle out of it by saying that you want to keep it simple when you actually mean you can’t face making the necessary changes! A little time invested in this activity will yield you huge dividends.

As Samuel Johnson once said “What is written without effort is generally read without pleasure”