tips

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Fewer products means better web design, higher conversion rates

site.jpg

Want to encourage better conversion rates on your website (be it purchases, blog traffic, whatever) while looking good? Don’t give your readers more than a few options to choose from. By forcing them to look at what you want, you’ll enjoy more targeted traffic.

Apple does it. So does Shoe Guru. Both may be extreme, but their website design ensures them greater control over what they promote, resulting in tighter focus and better sales over the alternative, cluttered sites.

Off-topic: I’d totally buy those shoes if knew what Shoe Guru size I wear.

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READ MORE: graphics, marketing, online, tips, web design
Tuesday, June 24, 2008

How cheap employers use unwarranted tipping to their advantage

tip jarI got a bone to pick with cheap employers, of which there are several in my resident state of Utah. Here’s what they do.

  1. They don’t pay competitive hourly wages for jobs that don’t require significant waiting on the customer, like a server does in a restaurant.
  2. They then put up signs saying “please tips our workers,” because they’re too cheap to pay a decent hourly wage.
  3. They seemingly lure in prospective employees with the promise of tips.
  4. Everyone ends up confused, from the unsure consumer to the under-paid worker.

My car wash does this. My car gets run through a machine, then an hourly worker rubs it down with a towel in less than three minutes. When done, they look at you while standing next to a ginormous sign asking for tips. Fast food restaurants have begun doing this too.

I have no problem tipping upwards of 20 percent for good service where tips are expected. But when hourly workers start doing it, it feels lame on principle alone. Or maybe I’m just a cheap skate (what’s an extra few bucks to me).

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READ MORE: cheap skates, companies, employment, lame, pet peeves, stupid human tricks, tips, utah
Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Want Cliff Notes for popular business books? Read Wikipedia summaries.

Don’t have time to read every popular business book out there? Read the book summaries at either Wikipedia or Wiki Summaries. These “Cliff Notes” of sorts work great for buzz terms, new ideas, and heavy meme books like the following:

The list could go on and on. Just Wiki a popular book and have at it. Of course, this isn’t a substitute for that excellent thing called actual reading, but it’s a great way to stay up to date, if not refresh yourself on the key ideas of emerging (or repackaged) concepts in business.

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READ MORE: books, business, tips