Beware of "hard sell" sites
Look for sites that DO NOT relies heavily on affiliate promotion & video to promote their articles on the market. This hard-sell, "so-and-so makes use of us" approach is a positive sign that it is not a reputable company. Pages & pages of sales copy, clichés, crazy low cost act-now offers, & "look wait, there is more" hype says to me that the company is not legitimate.
If a brand is promoting their service heavily through a group of authors & speakers that I do know have an inclination to get caught up in high pressure sales & affiliate promotion schemes, I can guarantee that the service won't live up to what you have been promised. There is nothing wrong with using affiliate promotion - however, some people do not care what they promote as long as they make a dollar off of it. Watch out for marketers who send an e-mail to you every week promoting someone else's product. I don't know about you but when I sign up to get communications from someone it is because I need to learn from their knowledge - not get a limitless list of offers to buy their friend's latest workshop or book.
Look for sites that follow best practices in layout
There are a lot of cloud sites that are introduced well & offer great service. They stand out. I look to these as a guide when evaluating potential new cloud providers. The more time that has gone in to neat design & ease of use (navigation), the more confidence you will have in their underlying service.
Security next
Look for safety - assurances that your knowledge is kept safe from hackers. I expect to see seals, guarantees etc. in plain view.
All proof is not created equal
Someone can claim that their web-site is "the BEST provider in the world of X" but it is another thing to back it up with proof. Client testimonials are the most powerful type of proof. I look for actual results from actual people. "Debbie for Los Angeles said..." doesn't cut it in my world. Regrettably, you cannot fundamentally depend on someone's homepage claim which says how lots of customers they have - lots of companies fudge the truth to suit their own purpose & there is small recourse to protect the consumer from false claims.
Do your home-work
Of the most valuable tools at your hands for research is Google. When in doubt, I check what others are saying about this service. Charlatans cannot hide forever. You'd be surprised how much is out there on companies who are not lovely operators. In fact, last year I took on an every month subscription service with an online provider who claimed to be able to syndicate my articles & videos to 100 sites each month. What they neglected to tell me was that over 50% of my attempts to syndicate would ultimately get rejected & that I would must spend hours to by hand chase up all the bounce backs. The ROI on my investment was awful & their customer support was the worst I have ever experienced online. Bottom line, their application did not work properly & it is simpler to make use of a free solution like Tube mogul.
Conduct a customer support check
Send a note to customer support & see what you get back. Their willingness to answer your questions, promptness & attention to detail will tell you a lot about who you are dealing with before you hand over your hard earned money. Also, make positive it is simple to unsubscribe from the service. Cloud services that make it difficult for you to get help or quit, are not to be trusted.
Also keep in mind to confirm the claims & credentials of the person walking the business - what qualifies him/her to provide this service? Who is behind this company? Is it a man band? Are you able to trust them? Do the look like they know what they are doing? Sometimes watching 1-2 videos of the owners (or managers) on YouTube, can give you a clear point of view on whether or not they are the actual deal.
Selecting a seller online is straight forward - treat them with the same skepticism & cautious due diligence that you would use for any other supplier. Fortunately, lots of cloud services are moderately priced - you are less likely to get locked in to a long term contract with a charlatan. However, the potential exposure (financial, personal & strategic) to your business is much greater than the cost of the service, & therefore, you need to be much more vigilant before you hand over your credit card number.
Based on my experience as a lawyer, chartered accountant, & consultant to hundreds of businesses, I discovered that 99% of businesses fail because the owner/manager does not understand how to read & use the numbers in their financials. I wrote Financial Foreplay so that you don't must receive a university degree in accounting in order to make your business more profitable & generate a better return on the investment of your time & money.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar