Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Advice for people planning their first web presence

The single most important question you can ask and answer before you begin your web project is

Why are we doing this is?

If you can answer this question and be clear on what outcomes you expect from the website then you can measure the success of your website. Ultimitely the success of your website comes down to the bottom line, however you measure it.


Friday, January 25, 2008

I was in a time warp

Yesterday I had the privilege of meeting a gentleman with an extensive stock of weird and interesting items for sale.

In a solidly build warehouse , the company has been accumulating items since it was formed in the 1930's. Founded on old fashioned principles such as value, customer service and providing items to customers that would endure rather than what is cheapest on the day, this company has items that are no longer manufactured. These items are the last of their kind available in New Zealand and I wonder if they are the only remaining ones in the world?

How does one even begin to sell from this type of stock list?
Firstly not all the items are ancient. There is a huge stock of speciality items that there would be a small demand for, the trick is to reach a larger market to increase that demand and so voilĂ  a website becomes the perfect tool to reach that market, especially coupled with extensive optimisation or an adwords programme.

What about the oddities?
The one-offs, the end of lines that are never to be repeated, the items so old and so unique as to almost be classed as antiques? An online auction site would seem to be the answer here. What will the market bear? An auction is the ideal place to sell speciality items and to test the market on everyday items.

I hope we get the job of helping this gentleman move his stock. I'm sure there will never be a dull day exploring in that warehouse!

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

My 2007 Top 10 list of lists

At the beginning of 2008 and what do we obsessively do? Some of us look at the last years top 10 lists. Here are some lists I like.

  1. Google 2007 Zeitgeist
  2. The New York Times 10 Best Books of 2007 - you need to sign in to see these but its free.
  3. 100 Best Songs of 2007
  4. Rolling Stones 2007 Best Music Videos
  5. NZ Heralds Best of 2007
  6. Top 10 Baby Names for 2007
  7. Trev's Top 10 List of Amazing Women
  8. Top 10 Political Themes for 2007
  9. New Zealand's Top 20 websites according to Hitwise
  10. The 10 Greatest Motorcycles of all time - this links to the #1 motorcycle on YouTube, from there you can see the other 9.