Getting the most out of your website conversions doesn’t have to be a shot in the dark. By using A/B or multivariable testing you can let your visitors tell you what they respond better to. I use Google’s Website Optimizer to do my A/B testing for my small business clients and running split tests without documenting what results occurred can lead to a disaster when  you try to remember several tests back and base decisions on them.

Get a Process for Documenting Your Split Tests

Josh Baker wrote a detailed post on how he documents the processes and results of split testing with a spreadsheet. He wrote out every step he takes for documenting his split tests. To give those visual readers a better idea of what documenting a split test looks like, I created this mind map for you and with his permission I’m sharing this for you to create better processes in documenting the results of your split testing. Download the Documenting A/B Testing in Excel Mindmap as a PDF

Start Your Business to provide value, no matter the economy

There’s plenty of talk of what’s going on with the economy and what it means to the employed, the unemployed, the students and to business owners. One of the best things I’ve heard about starting a business is to do it when everyone else thinks it’s a bad time to start. When most big businesses are scaling back and revamping how they make money is the best time to come to market providing a specific value to a defined market as a new business.

At LeWeb 08 Morten Lund talked about how an economy in a recession is the best time to start a business. It’s because in the life of an entrepreneur its always a make or break time. Every new business has to start with a basic focus on bringing in revenue, all else is secondary.

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Failure is the streets version of a formal business education. Have you been schooled?

Often, I reward and encourage success so single-mindedly that I don’t always see and embrace the lessons in business that only come from my failures.
Those failures are the business lessons that I hold closest to my heart to shape my actions in helping build small businesses today.

When I came across this presentation by Taylor Davidson of Unstructured Ventures I had to share it.

What’s your biggest lesson you could only have learned from failure?

Technology gets so caught up in its own potential that it fails to realize that technology is never the answer to building a business.  It is the infrastructure that builds a business.

I’ve seen a lot of news on the role of technology on business growth or that technology is starting to fail as the centerpiece of a business. I came across a post at ChaosPlay called technology should not drive business and had to pause at this:

At some level, I always knew technology is just a tool for a solution but not a solution. But I never really put that into practice. I guess thats why so many of my previous ventures failed cause every time I learn about something new, i want to go out and build a business around it.

What a common problem small businesses face! Many are so focused on the how part of the equation they are not paying attention to the who is the market and what are they asking for.

This common problem is one of knowing what role you’re playing in your business– even when it’s just you. As a business owner, your responsibilities are different than when you are the technician. The technician is the person who does the actual hands on work. This is a common pitfall of new businesses that are built around the technology.

From the eMyth website, here are the descriptions of how the technician works in the present moment getting it done role and the entrepreneur works at the big picture level.

• The entrepreneur’s work is strategic in nature, and involves focusing on the future and developing a vision of where s/he can take their business. This vision is specific in terms of what the company will do to serve the wants and needs of the owner.
• The manager’s work is both strategic and tactical. The manager’s focus is on the present and achieving results through others. The manager is the pragmatist, planner, and organizer who turns the vision into action.
• The technician is directed by the manager, and follows the guiding structure of the company’s systems to get the work done. The technician’s focus is on the present and performing the hands-on work of the business.

While its a seemingly easier road to building a business around your strengths in the present moment, either as a developer in ChaosPlay’s case or as a local plumber, the path to successfully building a business does not end with the work performed. The big picture must be defined and all the roles beyond the technician must be accounted for.
Here are three questions to ask yourself or your start up team to avoid this scenario:

Can I easily explain the company’s big picture?

Am I a part of the market I want to serve or do I have a deep, close relationship with the market?

In balancing my businesses resources, do I spend all my time IN the business, never any left to work ON the business?