Featured CRM Review

A Tool Your Competition Doesn't Have

---

This site talks about a lot of things related to CRM. My featured CRM review (short for (Customer Relationship Management), however, is something you should consider as a part of your entire CRM strategy. One of the biggest mistakes small to medium-sized businesses make is either slapping together a simple website just so they have one, or putting together a technologically elaborate site which forces them to spend even more on search engine presence to justify the initial cost.

Remember how I keep harping on building a comprehensive strategy for your business?

My name is Mike Boysen. That's right, just like your favorite berry. I live in the Atlanta, GA area with my wife Karen and my son Adam.  We moved down here a few years ago from northern Ohio and really love it. The weather is great, but best of all I get to work from home. That means I get a few extra hours a day with my 2 year old son.

As you already know, I'm a CRM consultant and I work with middle market businesses that are anxious to get some software installed. And as you also already know, I feel my job is to stop them. Of course, we always get to the software but I'm just a stickler for following a plan; and that's what this featured CRM review is about.

Why Is Planning So Important to Me?

We all have many opportunities to plan throughout our lives.  For instance, we have the opportunity to plan for retirement. Without a plan, we end up spending everything we make. And I'm sorry to say that the statistics for the recent generations in America are reflective of a population of impulse net consumers.

If you need help with your finances I really recommend Dave Ramsey's program. I listen to his radio show all the time.

We all want new cars, fancy cell phones, big homes, cable television and everything else that is constantly thrown our way. And I have always been just as guilty of this as anyone. I'm sure many of you are like me; I didn't get any guidance on planning and goal setting while I was growing up.

The process of having the time of my life began to unmask itself once I stumbled into the ownership of a business. Everything I didn't know seemed to leap out at me. I had been in banking for a number of years, so I certainly understand how to review a business plan and financial statements. Unfortunately, coming up with a strategic plan to generate those numbers thru various tactics was not something I had ever done.

As my failure to plan began to manifest itself into a miserable business failure, I began furiously trying to understand how to better market myself and my business. But it was too late...

A Blessing in Disguise...

I'm pretty stubborn so I wasn't going to let a failure in my life set me back for too long (Yes, it set me back for too long, but that's another story). The frantic research I mentioned above had led me down the path to Internet Marketing. I spent a lot of time sifting through the enormous pile of rubbish out there.

Did you know that most of the Internet Marketing information is about how to sell Internet Marketing information?

I actually spent some money before I realized this. I was being taught how to sell information products; usually theirs. I was trying to figure out how to market a real business.  But, taking the long view, it was worth it because I will never get suckered like that again! It got me to look even harder for a real gem. I somehow stumbled upon this site. It was the biggest "a ha!" moment of my life because it not only related to websites, but also to every aspect of my life. It was all about following a plan...

And the Plan is Already Written...

...all you need to do is fill in the blanks. For the most part, these blanks are the content of your business or passion. This service, called Site Build It provides all the tools to do the research and implement the plan.

At the time, I had a product expertise (technical) that was second to none. I also had a passing passion for it so I decided to strike while the iron was hot and build a test web business to see how this whole Site Build It thing worked.

The first thing I learned is that no one is searching for me on the Internet. No surprise there. No one was searching for me or my business before. We put up a pretty website with your basic corporate mission statement, vendor logos....you know, the typical software reseller site. Basically, we looked like all of our competitors. And that's no way to distinguish yourself as I found out

I also realized that there is nothing about get rich quick in business building. I read this page and that became clear immediately. It takes time and planning to build any kind of business...and that includes a web business, or extension of a brick and mortar business. There are no shortcuts.  Your local web host provider is no different than a CRM reseller. They will try to convince you that their service will change your business.

So, as I went through the SBI Action Guide (essentially your web presence business plan), I learned what it was going to take before I could begin building my website (you don't even get to pick a domain name until Day 5). I wasn't selling hard goods like you might be. I was going to focus on my programming knowledge of a CRM product.  So I read Make Your Knowledge Sell! which helped me to find the right focus.

To make a long story short, I put together a web presence that focused on a niche related to CRM and a little known product. Did I make millions? No! I wish! But here's what I did accomplish....

....first, this was an experiment so I wasn't trying to make any money at all. My goal was to develop keyword rich articles that ranked in the top 5 of all search engines. I had about 10 that I found had high demand and value to me. I determined this using the online tools provided to me by Site Build It!

I simply entered a site concept keyword in the brainstormer and it returned a comprehensive list of search terms being used on the Internet and important information about demand and supply. It does a lot more than that but I recommend you have a look at these videos if you're curious.

What ended up happening is that all of my intentional pages were ranked in the top 5. Most were #1 for various combinations of my keyword. This included being #1 over and above the software vendor's website! And I didn't pay a dime, it was all organic.

The demand for this product was dwindling due to technology issues so I really couldn't sell anything related to it. I did, however, write some eBooks catering to the developer population (many just power users) and these became very popular (the site is gone now, but I still get emails about their availability). As a result of all of this FREE information I was giving away, (much of which was developed as I built the site) I began getting offers for consulting work. What a nice surprise since I was in between gigs at the time.

This web experiment had accidently built credibility for me and made me the de facto expert on the product...worldwide! This is not really what I wanted, but it was a nice surprise. I soon stopped working with the product to pursue a more lucrative career. But I walked away with a new outlook.

Experiment Complete, What Next?

This all took place nearly 7 years ago. And in that time, I have always had at least one website built on the SBI platform.  The problem for me has always been finding a passion that others share. My only personal passion is tennis, but my buddy Tomaz had already built a killer SBI site called Tennis Mind Game. He did such a fantastic job that I saw no reason to duplicate it. Besides, he's a tennis professional so he lives and breathes the topic every day.

I tried building another software product website focused on developers. The only problem here was that 1) I didn't want to be a developer all my life and 2) this group of individuals are only excited by free stuff! So I took some time away from that and decided to help my mother with her web presence. She's a watercolor artist and has had a site focused on her since 1995. She hadn't learned that people in France weren't searching for her. Nor were people in Oklahoma.  So I helped her start a site called Watercolor Painting Tips and she is finally starting to get it.  This site is growing so fast I can hardly believe it.

All the while I have continued with my CRM consulting. This site is done using Site Build It, but the topic that I've been zeroing in on up to this point is.....

How Can Site Build It Help a Middle Market Company or Even an Enterprise?

There are a ton of examples how small companies use it to transform their business. There are many types of businesses that can easily extend to the Internet. But this business building plan can even help local businesses accelerate past their competition.  Some of the case studies are simply amazing. I urge you to read them.

I can't wait until my son is old enough to start an online business. He'll learn about planning when he's still a kid!

Listen, this isn't going to replace an elaborate corporate content network. Of course, I would challenge that those are necessary in the middle-market. What is more important here is delivering your clear, unified message based on all the new things you know about your customers.

There is actually a guy up in Canada that has a cement business. He began writing about cement (of all things) based on the brainstorming tool and this has not only jumped started his local business, it has also opened up other income producing opportunities related to....cement!

Developing a CRM strategy requires you to know your customer. And even if you only use Site Build It! for brainstorming, the knowledge you will gain about search patterns on the Internet is invaluable. Check out this tool in their quicktour video.

And for you sales people out there here is a story that can help you become a superstar at your company. I think you'll see the possibilities for you if read this one carefully.

The Bottom Line

SiteSell has it completely right and it's changed the way I approach business. I hope you will take a look at it. Maybe you can come up with a great idea that will take you, or you and your company, to heights that you couldn't have imagined....like so many others have done

Return Home from Featured CRM Review

---