I read an article today on recent multitasking research done by the Human Information Processing Lab at Vanderbilt University. Their researchers used MRIs to locate "bottlenecks" in the brain and measured the lost efficiency due to performing two or more tasks at once. Now I haven't done indepth scientific research on my own into this matter or particular study. But, I'm sure anyone who's encountered the multitasking driver in the other car doesn't need much convincing that doing a lot of things all at once reduces overall performance.

Spreading your concentration and resources over a number of items has several consequences. Performance drops. Quality lessens. Delivery times increase. Unfortunately we multitaskers are often too busy to even take note of the negative impact.

Besides the work related results multitasking also hits the personal side. We are more stressed and depressed because the lack of efficiency and satisfaction of completion.  Our connection and communication with other people lessens because we are distracted. Society progressively becomes more "rude" as people no longer give full attention to the others right in front of them.

If you own or manage a business then you probaby have the same thought I have about multitasking...yeah, good point, but I've got to multitask in order to just keep everything running. I feel your pain.  However, I've also learned there's a time for multitasking and a time for delegation.  It is those businesses who learn the difference that survive and flourish.  Multitask in your areas of expertise and let others help you be successful in the other areas.

In my entire career I have never cut a single payroll check or negotiated a single health insurance plan for my employees.  It's not because I couldn't do the work.  Human resources is not one of my areas of expertise.  So instead of trying to save a little money by doing the work myself and having to keep up with all the continual changes in the laws and best practices, we have always outsourced our HR to a professional employer organization.  They take care of all that for me, every month, so all I have to do is tell my accountant how much to pay them each month.  Sure it costs a little but I estimate it saves me 2-4 full weeks of time.  That's time I use to stay focused in areas I naturally perform better, such as sales and customer service.  The ROI is huge.

I speak to lots of great businesses each week who are professional and very good at what they do. Then I see them try to add yet another item to their to do list by trying to handle their online presence by themselves. As with my HR work, they may be personally capable, but at what cost? There's a skill and knowledge curve to initially get over then there's the continuing education.  That's just getting a website up. If they do get online most don't know what to do from that point. Plus, every hour they spend "saving money" by doing it themselves has the opportunity cost of not growing sales or improving operations. The end result is almost always the same...a poor quality online presence and dissatisfaction with the overall performance.

Business owners and managers will never stop having to do lists that are perpetually too long. But if the captain tries to steer the ship, swab the poop deck and make dinner for the crew, the ship will eventually wreck. Even if the captain does pull it off the ship won't sail as well as it could.

We taken that approach with 1011 by limiting ourselves to focusing solely on our clients' online presence instead of catering to every technology need they could possibly want or need. Sure we could make some additional revenue handling hardware, networking, etc.  But by focusing on just web design, development and marketing each day we become better at what we do and provide faster, higher quality results for our clients.

Your list may not go away regardless how long or hard you work, but you can approach it with more wisdom.  Prioritize where you spend your own efforts and give those tasks the undivided attention they deserve for quality results. Delegate or outsource the items you can so at least your work on them is reduced to just follow up. The others...don't let them kill your business by turning your into an unfocused multitasker.

Making Seasonal Updates to Your Website

Fall is upon us and you know what that means. It's time to update your website for the holidays.

There are a number of things you can do to change your website with the seasons. For instance, if you sell products online, you should feature your holiday and gift items on your homepage. By moving seasonal items to your homepage, customers can find these products faster without having to search through or possibly abandoning your website.

Furthermore, 43% percent of online shoppers say the first thing they do when they arrive on a retail site is click the product image on page or find the on sale products (MarketingSherpa Ecommerce Guide, 2007). So, update your website content to feature hot products, seasonal sales, or a "Gift Ideas" category that is easily accessible on your homepage.

If you don't sell products online, this is still a good time to update your content. You may want to revise your content to talk about your services and how they benefit or relate to your customer's lives during the holidays. Plus, search engines such as Yahoo! and Google reward sites that have fresh content. So change your website with the seasons.

One last point. Online shoppers can tell if your site is outdated or unattended to. I'm sure you don't keep a messy store. Nor you should you have a messy/poorly designed website. Consumers may think this also reflects in how you attend to them or how you do business.  So if you're anticipating more traffic to your website over the holidays, get your website updated and give your customers a reason to visit your website.

I read an article today on a blog about The Future of Content in the Age of Information Overload. Although the article is mostly about news sources and information overload, it made me think of how offline publishing is moving more and more online. With newspapers and magazines now publishing both online and in print, where does this leave small business owners? Should you have to double your marketing spend to cover both mediums? If you had to choose, which medium should a you invest in: online publications or print?

It's important to continue your investment in local advertising, but the various publications has further fragmented readers into defined age groups who have adapted to technology at different rates. Your younger audience may be more apt to log on to view the local news for free, while older readers are more inclined to continue paying for their bundle of news delivered to their doorstep every morning. I must say there is satisfaction with sipping on a cup of joe while reading the sports paper in the morning (although I can't stand getting ink on my hands), but free talks to me more. This is further reinforced by The Web Digest for Marketers who say, "people in their 20s are not picking up the newspaper habit the way their parents did."

This just gives you one more thing to think about deciding how to market your business. Knowing your customers and target audience is more important than ever. Who buys your products and the age of your average customer will help you determine where to invest.

Keep in mind that everything is trending towards online publishing. According to Jupiter Research (a Forrester Research company), "By 2012, one quarter of the worldwide population will access the Internet on a regular basis." This means even citizens of underdeveloped countries are getting online more often. They are doing everything from shopping, sending email, and yes reading local news.

I think if you aren't investing in online marketing, you should begin to do so while targeting a local niche audience of your prospective buyers. Granted, online marketing is only one component of your overall marketing mix, but many other mediums such as the newspaper can be perceived as "drying up."

If you have questions, comments, or know of quality articles on this subject, then I'd like to hear from you. 

Update

October 28: The Christan Science Monitor is closing its press and will become a solely online news publication. The 100 year old paper is citing "Changes in the industry - changes in the concept of news and the economics underlying the industry - hit the Monitor first." The Monitor also says, "We plan to take advantage of the Internet in order to deliver the Monitor's journalism more quickly, to improve the Monitor's timeliness and relevance, and to increase revenue and reduce costs. We can do this by changing the way the Monitor reaches its readers."

I was looking through the 2007 Marketing Sherpa Ecommerce Benchmark Guide and found an interesting chart that online retailers and small business owners should see. The graph shows responses of 698 members of an Eversave.com customer panel (74% female and 26% male) when asked "How do online shoppers find new retailers?"

I can be considered both a Gen X'r and a Millennial depending on which date range you use, and I consider myself heavily reliant on the internet for much of my information. I often find myself going online to find restaurant menus, store hours, and product information for things before I buy, and ofter I do this after normal business hours in the evening and on my own time. So, I wasn't surprised to see Marketing Sherpa's findings that show 52% of online shoppers find new retailers by searching for products using Google, Yahoo!, etc. and clicking on links in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

I personally believe word of mouth referrals are still strong, and I'm a bit surprised that it ranks so low in this study. And, I would like to know the age range of the participants of this study. Yet, even if age is a factor, the majority of consumers search for retailers online, and this trend is likely to continue to grow.

What This Means for Small Business Owners

So, what does this mean to small businesses and mom and pop store owners who may not be internet savvy? It means if you don't have a website, your missing out on a large segment of consumers who may otherwise buy your products, but end up shopping at your competitor's website or a large chain retailer's website.

If you have a website, it means you should pay attention to where your website ranks for particular keywords that relate to your business. To do this, you have to put on your consumer's hat and pretend you don't know your business exists. Then type keywords in Yahoo! or Google that consumers may use to find products your business provides (not your business name!) If your site doesn't come up on the first page, then you are missing out on a large pool of consumers, leads, and potential sales.

I wouldn't recommend that you abandon traditional forms of advertising. However, it may reveal how consumers skeptically perceive traditional advertising and prefer to research on their own. As a member of the GenX/Millennial generation, I feel empowered to investigate product claims online for myself rather than take the word of a talking head on tv who claims to "guarantee the lowest price." Plus, I find it much more convenient to buy online rather than drive to a store, and I appreciate businesses who cater to my desire rather than force me to shop or buy products their way.

In a nutshell, you should take a look at your website or consider creating a website. If you sell products, you should consider offering consumers the option to buy online. You should also type 5 different keywords or keyword phrases in Google or Yahoo! (not your business name!) that summarize your product/services and see where your website appears in the results. It's okay to get local by typing geographical descriptors of your business. If your website doesn't appear, give me a call and I'll let you know what you can do to fix it.