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One Lily Inc. named as finalist in 2010 American Business Awards

May 14, 2010 – 9:46 am | Posted in In The News

Website launched for Human Capital Initiative places web design firm in running for 8th annual Stevie® Awards to be presented on June 21 in New York City.

Carlsbad, CA. May 13, 2010 – One Lily Inc. was named a Finalist today in The 2010 American Business Awards.

The American Business Awards are the nation’s premier business awards program. All organizations operating in the U.S.A. are eligible to submit entries – public and private, for-profit and non-profit, large and small.

More than 2,700 entries from organizations of all sizes and in virtually every industry were submitted for consideration in more than 40 categories. As one of only a handful of finalists in the Business Services category, One Lily’s design (humancapitalinitiative.com) is competing against other high caliber websites:

Accenture, Chicago, IL: Accenture Corporate Website
Creek Systems, Aliso Viejo, CA: Creek Systems Business Services
imagistic, Westlake Village, CA: imagistic Web Site
imagistic, Westlake Village, CA: TeamLogicIT Web Site
Lionbridge Technologies, Waltham, MA: Lionbridge Translation Blog

“Our client wanted to make The Human Capital Initiative website stand out,” says One Lily President Angela Nielsen, “while still conveying their breadth of knowledge and expertise in their field. We already knew the design captured the attention of their target audience. Now it turns out it’s getting national attention at a very high level. I’m very excited to see a client getting this kind of exposure to help grow their venture.”

This year’s Stevie Award winners will be announced during the annual gala on Monday, June 21 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City. More than six-hundred executives from across the U.S.A. are expected to attend. The event will benefit Oceana (oceana.org), the largest international organization focused on ocean conservation. The ceremonies will be broadcast on radio nationwide by the Business TalkRadio Network.

Details about The American Business Awards and the list of Finalists in all categories are available at www.stevieawards.com/aba.

About One Lily, Inc.

One Lily is a full-service web and print design firm located in southern California that provides hosting, website maintenance, corporate identity packages, and resources for branding, copywriting, search optimization, and online marketing.

About The Stevie Awards
Stevie Awards are conferred in four programs: The American Business Awards, The International Business Awards, the Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. Honoring organizations of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the Stevies recognize outstanding performances in the workplace worldwide. Learn more about The Stevie Awards at www.stevieawards.com.

Contact:

Angela Nielsen, President
(760) 434-0000
http://www.onelily.com

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Tagged American Business Awards, Award Winning Website, Stevie Award
Posted by Angela Nielsen |

| 214 views | Comments (0)

7 Mistakes Website Owners Make, And How To Avoid Them (Part 5 of 7)

May 13, 2010 – 11:12 am | Posted in 7 Mistakes Website Owners Make, Web Strategy

Mistake 5: Too much web copy.

We see this mistake being made on huge numbers of websites. People want information now, and they want it fast. They do not want to spend half an hour reading website content.

Studies suggest that on average, a visitor spends less than 10 seconds deciding whether or not they want to stay at your site to learn more. That is so important, it bears repeating: visitors spend less than 10 seconds on your site when deciding if they will stay or go. 10 seconds is not a long time to answer “What’s in it for me?” If the answer lies buried under mounds of content, it is even more likely that the visitor will assume that you don’t have the answer.

The widely excepted rule of thumb for writing copy, it that once it’s written, cut it and half, and once you’ve done that, cut it in half again. When we write we tend to say a whole lot more than is actually necessary. The first thing you should do is work on cutting down that content. And remember, the home page is not about you – it is about your visitor. You have the opportunity to provide more content on your interior pages, once you’ve got an interested reader.

When writing your content, remember that it has to be rich and exciting enough to draw your visitor in, and short enough to grab their attention! Research suggests that the average reader can read approximately forty words in ten seconds.

The paragraph above is exactly 40 words. If you only have 10 seconds to pull your viewer in, that’s roughly the amount of content they can take in during that amount of time.

With so little time for words to get your message across, the visual appeal of your site better be pulling its share of the load at the same time. That’s why it’s important for your web designer to understand how people actually look at a website. Visitors are not there to grade a designer’s technical skills or use of the latest gadgetry, unless of course it serves the visitor’s real needs. This fact is completely lost on inexperienced designers.

People tend to scan websites rather than read them entirely, so a professional design accounts for this fact. Use eye-catching headlines, bolding, bullet points, anything to break up the monotony of a plain paragraph and draw attention to the stuff that is most relevant for a visitor to see. Plenty of white space helps to pull the reader’s eye along through the content of the page. Faced with a large block of text, our eyes tend to skip past it and look for a summary or the next heading.

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Stay tuned next week for Mistake 6: Taking too long to respond to inquiries, or not following up at all.
See Mistake Mistake 4: Letting your website become stagnant or out of date.

Tagged Web Strategy, Website Content, Website Credibility, Website Design
Posted by Angela Nielsen |

| 209 views | Comments (0)

One Lily Inc. receives Gold Hermes Award for creativity in emerging media design

May 7, 2010 – 6:04 am | Posted in In The News

Website launched for Advanced Wellness Center garners Golden Hermes Award for these web design veterans known for their ingenuity and one-stop services that help small and mid-size companies succeed on the web.

Carlsbad, CA. May 7, 2010 – Appropriately named for the god of diplomacy, commerce, and persuasion, One Lily’s latest in a string of awards for ingenuity in web design is adorned with the likeness of the Olympian God Hermes: the fleet-footed and youthful messenger of Zeus.

As a 2010 Hermes Award Winner, One Lily was selected from among over 3,600 entries from the US and several other countries.

The Hermes Creative Awards provides international recognition for outstanding work in the concept, writing and design of traditional and emerging media, while also promoting the philanthropic nature of marketing and communication professionals.

“Well, we do specialize in carrying each client’s message to the world,” reflected One Lily President Angela Nielsen, upon news of the award. “Plus having grown tremendously in just a decade, we are young and fast. So Hermes does personify what we do. But I have to say, the whole ‘God’ thing is a little over the top!” she proclaimed with a smile.

“Seriously though,” stated Nielsen, “even though it’s a great honor, our satisfied and profitable clients are much more important than any awards. We’re just happy because it means one more client who can truly say they have an award winning website. We are so excited that our design for Advanced Wellness Center has turned the spotlight on their venture and the incredible difference they make in people’s lives.”

About the Hermes Creative Awards:

Hermes Creative Awards is administered and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (www.amcpros.com). The international organization consists of several thousand marketing, communication, advertising, public relations, media production and free-lance professionals. AMCP oversees awards and recognition programs, provides judges and rewards outstanding achievement and service to the profession.

Entries come from corporate marketing and communication departments, advertising agencies, PR firms, design shops, production companies and freelancers. Winners were selected from 144 categories in seven forms of media and communication efforts- advertising, publications, marketing/branding, integrated marketing, public relations/communications, electronic media and pro bono.

As part of its mission, AMCP fosters and supports the efforts of creative professionals who contribute their unique talents to public service and charitable organizations. Hermes entrants are not charged entry fees to enter work they produced pro bono. In addition, the efforts of generous marketing and communication professionals are acknowledged through grants and special recognition.

AMCP judges are industry professionals who look for companies and individuals whose talent exceeds a high standard of excellence and whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry. A list of Platinum and Gold Winners can be found on the Hermes Creative Awards website (www.hermesawards.com).

About One Lily Inc.:

Contact:

Angela Nielsen, President
(760) 434-0000
http://www.onelily.com

Tagged Award Winning Website, Hermes Award
Posted by Angela Nielsen |

| 185 views | Comments (0)

7 Mistakes Website Owners Make, And How To Avoid Them (Part 4 of 7)

May 6, 2010 – 8:31 am | Posted in 7 Mistakes Website Owners Make, Web Strategy

Mistake 4: Letting your website become stagnant or out of date.

Your website should never be “finished.” A finished website is an old website. And nobody wants to read an old website. At the very minimum, you should be adding fresh content to your home page at least once every few months. This tells the search engines that your website offers new information, and the search engines love fresh content. An easy way to add fresh content to your website is by having a blog, and with each blog entry you can have a snippet of the blog post added to your home page.

By adding fresh content, the visitor that continues to return sees something new and that engages them. It makes them feel like you are current, and gives them reason to keep coming back. Remember mistake number 3? Well, you want your visitor to keep coming back, so give them a valuable reason to do so. If you sell a product, you can announce your current offer on your home page, and change this every month or so. If you sell a service, add content relevant to the service you provide. If you are a leadership coach that offers webinars, then consider an events blurb on your home page to list the dates of the next several events.

You may think you have nothing new to add to your site, but if you really think about it, you can find something valuable. For some, it’s as simple as adding some information about a new client their company is going to be working with. Or you could add a recent testimonial from a customer/client you’ve just completed business with. A great solution is to continually add articles to your website, and link a blurb about the new article from the home page. Not only are you adding fresh content for your visitor, but by linking to an article that is relevant to your business, you are adding more valuable content to your site that will help the search engines rank you higher.

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Stay tuned next week for Mistake 5: Too much web copy.
See Mistake 3: Thinking that your visitor will act (or buy) in their first visit.

Tagged Web Strategy, Website Content, Website Credibility, Website Design
Posted by Angela Nielsen |

| 186 views | Comments (0)

How Much Should A Website Cost?

May 2, 2010 – 7:11 am | Posted in Web Strategy

I hear the question all the time – how much does a website cost? The short answer — as much as you are willing to pay.

The way I typically answer this question for someone is by saying, “A website is much like a car, do you want the cheapest economy car on the lot, or do you want the most expensive luxury car ever made?”. There is no easy answer for pricing a website. There are designers that will charge $500 or less to build you a website, and designers that will charge $100,000 and more.

There are two main factors that determine the price of a website…

1. What does the website need to do, including what bells and whistles you need?
2. The experience of the person designing the website.

Looking at the goals of your website, you can work backwards to determine what features your website will need to have built in. If you are hoping to increase your revenue 45% by adding online sales, then you will need a shopping cart developed in order to make this happen. There are custom carts, and out of the box solutions – each with different price points.

If you want to be able to build community and create a following by offering wisdom and education to your viewers, you are likely looking at adding a blog to your website. This has a fee depending on whether or not you go with a free service, or if you choose to have a custom blog designed.

There are many factors that influence the price of a website, and to get the most valid quote from a firm, you need to know what it is you want your website to accomplish, and then work backwards to figure out what things your site will need in order to make that happen. You may not be able to to figure that all out alone, but a good web designer will be able to walk you through that process and guide you in the right direction. But remember, no two websites are ever the same, as each person/business needs their website to do different things.

The next biggest piece when trying to price a website is the experience of the person you are hiring for the job. It should be obvious, that if you hire a college kid that builds sites on the side, you will pay less than if you hire an expert that has been doing this their entire career and devotes their entire time to building websites. You get what you pay for in the web design world. Someoen that has been doing this for a long time is going to be more knowledgeable about what it takes to build a successful website than someone that dabbles in design in their spare time. It’s not to say a young designer won’t create an amazing design – as we’ve seen beautiful work from young designers — the problem is that while it might look great, a young designer does not usually have the experience and knowledge to know that it takes more than a pretty website to convert a site visitor. However, a seasoned designer is more likely to understand this and be able to employ the proper tactics into the build of the site to produce a final product more likely to succeed.

Today a business cannot afford to not be online. Your potential customer/client will be turned off if you do not have a web presence. Your website creates credibility if nothing else, so no business can any longer afford not to have a website. What you pay for that website is up to you, but you have to decide is having something that barely cuts the mustard sufficient, or do you need to make sure you have something professional, clean and able to convert. What good is a pretty website that nobody interacts with?

In the majority of cases we see, website owners that try and build a website on the cheap end up losing time and money when they realize 6-12 months later that their website is not accomplishing just the minimum tasks. They end up having to redo it from scratch, and are now behind their timeline for having a great site, and have thrown away money in the process.

I know – you still don’t know what a website should cost, but hopefully you have a better understanding of why the prices can be so varied in the market. However, based on my 10+ years of working as a web designer, and working with many other designers and developers, I can tell you that what we see as an average price runs around $5,000 – $8,000. There are certainly companies that charge much less than this, and those that charge more – but for a mid-high end boutique design shop, with the necessary experience to be able to build a successful site, you are going to be looking around that price point in most cases.

There will be those that read this and think that’s cheap – because they paid a whole lot more for their website, and those that think that’s extremely expensive because they know of people that do it for less than that. I will remind you, price depends on the features you need built into your website (size, bells and whistles, etc), and the experience of the design firm you are hiring.

Let me leave you with this question… If your website is critical to the success of your business, can you really afford to search out the cheapest solution out there?

Tagged Website Design, Website Strategy
Posted by Angela Nielsen |

| 157 views | Comments (0)

7 Mistakes Website Owners Make, And How To Avoid Them (Part 3 of 7)

April 29, 2010 – 9:28 am | Posted in 7 Mistakes Website Owners Make, Web Strategy

Mistake 3: Thinking that your visitor will act (or buy) in their first visit.

You’ve probably heard that you have to touch your potential customer/client at least 7 times before they purchase. Unfortunately, many website owners think that their visitor will take action or buy on the very first visit, and ignore the opportunity to continue communicating with that visitor. There is substantial research that proves that you have to touch your potential customer numerous times in order to develop the trust necessary for them to want to do business with you.

So you’re probably asking yourself how you go about touching the visitor multiple times. Luckily the internet makes this a fairly easy task, and you have many options for repeat contact. One of the most common practices is for a website owner to offer some sort of give-away on their website in order to get their site visitor to sign up for their newsletter. This give-away should have perceived value to the visitor, meaning don’t just throw some junk their way. Give them something they can take away that they find valuable (like this article for example). You can write ebooks, special reports, short articles, you can offer audio and/or video files, free consultations, etc.

Setup an autoresponder system (most often you can do this via a newsletter service). Upon signing up for the free offer, the visitor is automatically sent the item without you having to be involved. What’s better is now you have their name in your database. Using your newsletter, you can now continue to send the subscriber more information on your products and/or services, direct offers, etc. Don’t send something every day – aim for one touch every 1-3 weeks, depending on the urgency and life cycle of their underlying problem. Make sure that whatever you send is again, value driven. Keeping yourself relevant in the mind of your potential clients is the key to earning their trust.

Other ways to achieve multiple touches could be direct mail campaigns, phone calls, blogging and social media. When you get your visitor to sign up for your freebie, you can collect whatever data you prefer. If you get a mailing address and/or phone number, you have an alternate method of contact. Getting relevant content in your blog will also be very helpful for drawing traffic from the search engines, but will also work as an additional touch for those that have subscribed to your blog. And social media is also an excellent way to keep touching a potential client. If they connect with you on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter, you now have an additional opportunity to send scheduled relevant information.

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Stay tuned next week for Mistake 4: Letting your website become stagnant or out of date.
See Mistake 2: Not Answering WIIFM?

Tagged Web Strategy, Website Content, Website Credibility, Website Design
Posted by Angela Nielsen |

| 193 views | Comments (0)

7 Mistakes Website Owners Make, And How To Avoid Them (Part 2 of 7)

April 19, 2010 – 9:12 am | Posted in 7 Mistakes Website Owners Make, Web Strategy

Mistake 2: Not Answering WIIFM?

Most visitors come to your website with a problem or a need. They need to buy something, they need to find a solution, and they need help. Isn’t that why you are in business? Your website is an extension of your business and its purpose is to solve a problem.

In the eyes of your visitor, the only way to solve that problem is to answer the question, “What’s In It For Me”? Most websites use their home pages as their “bragging” tool. They talk about themselves and why they are so great, but what they don’t convey to the visitor is why he or she should care about all that expertise and why it’s beneficial to them. Craft your marketing copy to quickly answer the questions that motivated a visitor to seek you out, and you’re halfway there.

Sell the benefits, not the features of your product or service. The features may help to close the deal, but they aren’t what are going to grab your visitors’ attention. Again, it goes back to “What’s In It For Me”? The visitor needs to know that whatever drove them to your site, your company has the solution. Once they are convinced that you have the solution, and then they will dig deeper into your website, where you can spend more time selling the features.

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Stay tuned next week for Mistake 3: Thinking that your visitor will act (or buy) in their first visit.
See Mistake 1: Making Do with an Ugly Website.

Tagged Web Strategy, Website Content, Website Credibility, Website Design
Posted by Angela Nielsen |

| 218 views | Comments (0)

7 Mistakes Website Owners Make, And How To Avoid Them (Part 1 of 7)

April 7, 2010 – 11:03 am | Posted in 7 Mistakes Website Owners Make, Web Strategy

Are there only seven mistakes that business owners make regarding their websites? Certainly not, but in this article we are going to cover the most common mistakes we see that lead to the failure of a service or product offering.

Of course, the biggest mistake is to not have a website at all. It’s no longer possible for a business to be seen as credible without some sort of presence online. Let’s assume that if you are reading this, that you already have a website or are planning one right now. With that in place, here’s what to watch out for:

Mistake 1: Making Do with an Ugly Website.

We could say something about your site not appealing to your target market, but why sugar-coat it? Your website either looks great, or… you have an ugly site. There isn’t much wiggle room in the middle. Ask yourself the following questions…

Was the site created with the needs of your target client in mind?
Is the site designed by an experienced professional?
Is the site user friendly? Meaning is it easy for your visitor to get from point A to point B.

Your Target Client. Many website owners structure their site around their own personality, likes and dislikes. That’s not a bad approach for an actress, comedian, or personality in the spotlight. But for a professional service or product company, the site design must appeal to the target client, the end user. If the site doesn’t connect with the site visitor, they won’t stick around very long to explore what you want to present. Think about it, if you’re a corporate CEO looking for a marketing firm, and you visit a site designed with sunflowers, twinkling stars or rainbows, is that really going to attract you? Chances are, you won’t be impressed. It may imply creativity, but certainly not the kind you are looking for.

So when designing the site, make sure you consider who the target client is. Think about their age, their gender, their experience on the internet. Then ask yourself, “What does this person most want to see or know RIGHT NOW to capture their attention and make them want to take the next step?” That should be the driving force that shapes the site design.

Professional Experience. A professional web designer has experience in appealing to specific types of visitors and will help steer your efforts on this matter – without being told. Unless you’re already a branding expert, your designer will be asking you some questions that will really make you think. In fact, your interaction with a web designer should leave you feeling MORE knowledgeable about your web presence and your customers than when you began.

Too many website owners try to cut corners and save some money by hiring a student down the street or a family friend. They often celebrate having saved money up front – until their website is online for awhile and they discover it’s not producing the results they had hoped for. After learning some of the reasons for this failure on their own, they realize they got exactly what they paid for. By then they have lost far more than the initial small fee for the website – they’ve lost time in the marketplace and untold sales.

Years ago, before website users were as experienced as today, the look of a site was somewhat forgivable by visitors. They were just impressed that you were ‘on the web’. Today that is no longer an option. You may not be competing directly for business with all of the sophisticated websites out there, but you are certainly competing with them to impress an ever-more savvy public. People are expecting you to present a credible and professionally designed look and feel.

Ease of Use. The ability for your site visitor to be able to get from point A to point B quickly is critical to the success of your website.

If the goal of your website is for a visitor to sign up for a free mailing, and they can’t find it, or figure out the steps to take, then the opportunity is lost. If the goal is for them to make an appointment with you for a consultation, but they can’t quickly and easily do that, chances are they will book that appointment with someone else.

Your visitor has to be able to move around your site easily, without having to try and figure out where to go and what to do. Imagine being able to hold your site visitor’s hand, taking them through the process you want them to take on your site. Now we can’t physically be there with them, but with a design that is well thought out, you don’t have to.

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Stay tuned next week for Mistake 2: Not Answering WIIFM?

Tagged Mistakes Website Owners Make, Web Strategy, Website Content, Website Credibility, Website Design
Posted by Angela Nielsen |

| 284 views | Comments (1)

One Lily Inc. named as finalist in 2010 American Business Awards

7 Mistakes Website Owners Make, And How To Avoid Them (Part 5 of 7)

One Lily Inc. receives Gold Hermes Award for creativity in emerging media design

7 Mistakes Website Owners Make, And How To Avoid Them (Part 4 of 7)

How Much Should A Website Cost?

7 Mistakes Website Owners Make, And How To Avoid Them (Part 3 of 7)

7 Mistakes Website Owners Make, And How To Avoid Them (Part 2 of 7)

7 Mistakes Website Owners Make, And How To Avoid Them (Part 1 of 7)

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