The Amtower Report

(The Amtower Report is an e-journal on the Business-to-Government market featuring the opinions of Mark Amtower, and occasionally reader comments. This newsletter is only sent to those who request it. Sign up for your free subscription at http://www.FederalDirect.net and if you like this newsletter, please pass it along to your colleagues. To unsubscribe, see directions below. The newsletter is posted each Monday at www.FederalDirect.net, and the latest “Off-Center Observations” is on the home page. All back issues available at http://www.federaldirect.net/newsletterarchives.html)

In this issue:
1) Amtower Off-Center Observations
2) The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
3) Events Worth Attending

AMTOWER OFF-CENTER OBSERVATIONS

Item: Technically I am a member of the press. This newsletter qualified me for press credentials at FOSE and other events, and as a result, I have been deluged by press releases, some of which have HUGE pdfs attached. My advice to PR agencies – do NOT send attachments. If I do not know you, the likelihood of me opening an attachment is zero. The same rule applies to anyone emailing a reporter or a Fed: if they do not know you, the likelihood of them opening any attachment is very low. There is also the strong likelihood that such messages will get caught in spam filters and never make it to the intended recipient. Keep it simple: nix the attachments, and put in a link to the info at your web site.Item:

Item: This afternoon at 5 PM (Eastern), if you are sitting at your computer, tune in to my new radio show on www.wbis1190.com. If you are in Maryland, listen in at 1190 AM. My first guests are Lisa Dezzutti of Market Connections (www.marketconnectionsinc.com) , producers of the some of the best research in our market, and world class web diva Amy Africa (www.eightbyeight.com). Next week I will have business development and capture management guru Bob Lohfeld (www.LohfeldConsulting.com). Let me know what you think of the show. See more below in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

Item: Yes, there was no Amtower Report last week. I took a weekend off and had nothing to say. It happens.

Item: We are entering the season of  EYP2 (Election Year Posturing and Pandering) where members of Congress are seeking headlines for virtually any reason regardless of their lack of knowledge on the topic-of-the-day. If these forays enter the realm of government contracting, watch this space (or listen to my radio show) for my thoughts.

Item: If you are not on the distribution list, this past week the producers of GovSec announced GovSec Europe and GovSec Asia. GovSec is produced by National Trade Productions, the company that started FOSE thirty years ago. But this makes me think about the use of things like 360 degree camera surveillance – does it mean the same thing in China that it does in the West? Would they use is to broadcast Tiananmen Square to the world at large or to identify the ringleaders? And while I have known paranoid employers who monitor employee web surfing, does it rival the Chinese paranoia over things like Google (which capitulated anyway). This Item has no point other than to allow me to vent about China.

Item: It was announced last week that Lorenz Hassenstein is leaving FOSE and PostNewsweekTech. My articles about FOSE run the gamut from being a dinosaur to being a revitalized part of the community. It has evolved to that new status largely because of Lorenz and his vision and execution for the show. The 2006 FOSE was better than it has been in several years. With his departure, I am afraid FOSE has once again entered the realm of No Adult Supervision, and while this may make for good (future) editorial fodder for me, it does not bode well for the show and its exhibitors.

Not that I have an opinion.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY

There was an altruistic reason and a more mercenary reason for choosing the first two guests for my radio show, The Amtower Marketing Report.

First, The Market Connection annual study has shown the rise of corporate web sites as the first place Feds go for company, product and service information. Most web sites (my own included) need serious help, and those facing government buyers and influencers need every possible advantage.

Witness www.Apptis.com . For those who remember, Apptis was originally called PlanetGov, and was going to be The Everything Web Site for the government market, which went South with the dot-bombs. It has devolved into a minimally informational site for a contractor that otherwise is doing pretty well.

The point is simple: if the web is the first place Feds get information, your site needs to be informational in ways that matter. It also needs great navigation, great internal search, and it needs to maximize the value of each and every visit. This is true for both informational and transactional sites.

So second, I am producing a seminar for Amy Africa. Amy, my second guest, has been on my Board of Advisors for several years. She has been the most popular speakers at web events around the world for the past couple years. She has advised, among others, Dell, Microsoft, Verizon, Disney, AOL and Coca Cola. She also works with some of my clients, and the results have been nothing less than fantastic.

Need some incentive to attend? Try some of her tips:

1) 93% of sites get enough traffic, they just do not know how to properly convert it;

2) You need to be FAST. Users make their decision as to whether to stay or go within 8-13 seconds;

3) Navigation, including text search, accounts for at least 40-60% of your success   online. C-Navigation is unequivocally the most successful type of navigation -- it includes top, left, and bottom navigation.  There is no such thing as right-hand navigation;

4) Landing pages make a HUGE difference.  Use them and use them wisely;

5) Pop-ups work.  Use them on entrance for e-mail sign-ups. Use them on exit, for "anything abandon”;

6) Hubs, Micros, and Minis should be part of your arsenal. 

(If you do not know what these are, you have to attend to find out)

Her research is used by many of the most successful e-commerce sites in the world. And she will be here to speak once in 2006.

Do NOT miss this opportunity.

http://www.federaldirect.net/ultimatewebsitemakeover.html

Beware of the schlock vendors, producing minimal value events, events that eat your money with no significant return! The events listed below are among those I think are worth your time, money and effort. Just because an event is not listed below does not imply it is not worth attending. If you want my opinion on a specific event or producer, call me. This topic is addressed more thoroughly in the members section at www.GovernmentMarketingBestPractices.com.

APRIL 19, 2006, Tower Club, Vienna, VA. Amtower & Company presents the one and only Amy Africa and THE ULTIMATE B2B WEB SITE MAKEOVER. For those of you who do not know Ms Africa, she is perhaps the most sought after web consultant in the world, and we have sixty seats available for her first ONE DAY session focusing exclusively on maximizing the impact of B2B and B2G web sites. http://www.federaldirect.net/ultimatewebsitemakeover.html

April 20, 16th Annual OSDBU Procurement Conference, Upper Marlboro, MD http://www.fbcinc.com/event.asp?eventid=Q6UJ9A00AJ0N

April 25-27, GovSec, DC Convention Center. Among the keynoters, one of my favorites, Commander Richard Marcinko, former US Navy Seal, founder of Seal Team Six and Red Cell. Another highlight for those, like me, who collect signed first editions from favorite authors, seven authors will be signing their respective books on security, terrorism and more. www.GovSecInfo.com

May 2-4, 15^th Annual Global INFOSEC Partnership Conference http://www.fbcinc.com/event.asp?eventid=Q6UJ9A00AYU6

May 2-5, Air Force Space Command Information Assurance Summit 2006, http://www.fbcinc.com/iasummit/default.asp

*** 

As always, your comments, questions and suggestions are welcome.

Thanks
Mark Amtower

The Amtower Report is published by Amtower & Company, and is written for companies targeting the government marketplace. The opinions expressed are those of Mark Amtower unless otherwise noted. Contact us at Amtower & Company, PO Box 314, Highland, MD 20777-0314 (301-924-0058). This material is copyrighted and may not be duplicated, reprinted or otherwise replicated without written permission of the publisher. Email subscriptions are free by request: sign up at www.FederalDirect.net