SAVE THE DATE

The Legislative Committee is planning a membership breakfast with Village President Brian LeClercq for his State of the Village address. Save the morning of February 17th on your calendar and watch for details to follow.

Translating Numbers Into Cold Hard Facts: Reading the Analytics for Your Small Business Website

By: Andy Clements

Somewhere in their first few months of working with a professional online marketing team, most clients start to notice something interesting: there are a lot of numbers and metrics when it comes to measuring the success of your company's website. But contrary to popular belief, that's not just because those of us in the industry love working with spreadsheets, or simply want to justify the amounts we get paid.

The fact of the matter is, your web analytics can probably tell you a lot more than you realize – including how well your company is doing online, where new orders are coming from, and even what your future is likely to be like. Aren't those things you want to keep a close eye on?

Here are a handful of tips for translating the hard numbers from your web analytics into real-time business data and making your company as profitable as it possibly can be:

Traffic isn't everything. Lots of small business owners like to concentrate on the number of "hits" or "visitors" their website receives a certain month, and certainly those are important benchmarks. But just as critical are the traffic sources, what pages they are arriving on, the amount of time spent on your website, where you rank for certain keywords on the major search engines, and other important details that are often hidden in analytics reports. If you can't find these statistics displayed prominently, ask your Internet marketing team to find and explain them.

You should count more than sales. Obviously, the amount of new accounts, revenue, online sales, and so on generated by your website are important figures. But like the number of hits you're seeing, it's easy to miss the forest for the trees by concentrating solely on new sales. Pay attention to other factors as well, such as the number of people signing up for your online newsletter, or the traffic coming to you from unpaid sources. They could be strong indicators of how your website will be doing in the near future.

Some things are hard to measure in the short term. Speaking of the future, it's worth mentioning that not every online marketing campaign or tactic is going to bear fruit immediately. Some tools, especially search engine optimization (SEO) and social media marketing are notorious for taking a bit of time to get going. Lose your patience and pull the plug too soon, and you could miss out on a flood of new orders later.

Customers often come from the places you'd least expect. Very frequently, new clients (or even online marketing teams themselves) come into the process with preconceived notions about the best ways to reach customers online. Sometimes these are accurate, but sometimes they aren't. Keep an open mind and commit to trying anything that seems to make sense, or has the potential to be cost-effective; every once in a while you can stumble upon something that ends up being a lot more profitable than you imagined it would be.

There's one number you should never ignore... and it's not the one on your online marketing invoice. The most important figure you can keep your eye on, once you're online marketing campaigns is running for a few months, is your return on investment. That is, what are you getting out of your different activities compared to what you're putting in? This sounds like common sense, but it's frequently overlooked by business owners who fail to see the benefit of an activity that's working gradually, or just as often, someone who's too excited about a particular tactic or promotion to realize that it's costing them more than it's worth.

Capturing contact information isn't just important... it's all important. When looking at your website metrics, keep things in perspective. It would be nice to have a customer list that's growing from day one, but even more important is bringing new leads and potential buyers into your contact list. Why is that? Because there are lots of potential customers who aren't going to buy the first time they hear from you no matter how strong your marketing campaign is. It could be that they're not ready, that they have another company they are used to buying from, don't have money at the moment, or any of 100 other reasons. If you have their name in a way to reach them, however, the chances that they'll eventually buy from you go up exponentially.

It's easy to be overwhelmed by the constant flow of data and statistics coming from your small business website. Rather than becoming frustrated and ignoring them, to make a point of looking for the truth and trends behind the numbers you see on the screen – it might take a little bit of time, but it's also going to make your business stronger and stronger with every new spreadsheet that comes in.

For more information please contact Weblinx Inc. at 630-551-0334 or on the web at www.weblinxinc.com.

Inspiring Women of Oswego 2012 Dates and Sponsorship Opportunities

2012 Dates
January 11th @ 11:30 am – Thank you to Alden of Waterford for being the Event sponsor
March 14th @ 11:30 am
April 11th @ 6:00 pm
May 9th @ 11:30 am
July 11th @ 11:30 am
September 12th @11:30 am
October 10th @ 6 pm
November 15th@ 6 pm

Sponsorship Opportunities available – In 2012 there will be 2 sponsorship options: Business Spotlight (maximum of 3 per month) $50 includes lunch, 1 minute commercial time and the ability to distribute marketing materials and an Event Sponsorship $150, 1 per event includes lunch, acknowledgement on all pre-event materials, logo recognition on power point, 3 minute commercial, business signage at event and ability to distribute marketing materials.

Basket Raffle donations needed – At every luncheon we raffle off baskets or items that have donated by Chamber member businesses. The money that is raised from these raffles goes to our philanthropic project each year. Last year we were able to give Mutual Ground through a matching donation $2000. If you are interested in donating a Raffle basket or gift certificate worth at least $25 contact the Chamber office at 630-554-3505 or info@oswegochamber.org

2012 New Resident Program – Generating New Customers in the New Year

Introduce Your Business to New Residents for $2.00 each

The Oswego Chamber of Commerce invites its members on a first come, first served, non-exclusive basis to introduce their business to the newest homeowners in Oswego, Boulder Hill and Montgomery. This program will be offered quarterly during 2012 beginning on February 1 or once a minimum of 20 members have elected to participate.

Here’s how it works:

• Member businesses furnish the Chamber with a supply of thirty of their best high end promotional pieces to be presented as gifts to new residents along with a $60 participation fee payable to the Chamber. Please note: A new resident gift should have real value. A brochure and business card would not be acceptable.
• The Chamber office will notify new residents that Oswego Chamber member businesses have prepared a welcome gift for them which may be claimed by contacting the office.
• The Chamber will notify each participating business on a monthly basis of deliveries made. The business will receive the name and address of the gift recipient for potential follow up.
• Participating members will have the option to either continue or discontinue their involvement each time the promotional gifts are depleted.

To participate in this program, please fill out the form and return to chamber office by faxing to 630-554-0050, mailing to 63 W. Washington St or dropping off at the Chamber office.

Click here to download the form.

Upcoming Committee Meetings

Inspiring Women of Oswego – Wednesday, January 4th , 9:30 am, Chamber office
Golf Committee – Friday, January 6th, 8:30 am, Chamber office
Business & Consumer Expo – Thursday, January 18, 8:30 am, Chamber office
Ambassador – Wednesday, January 25th, 8:30 am, Chamber office
Legislative – Monday, February 6th, 3:00 pm, Village of Oswego Community Room

If you are interested in any of the above committee, please call the chamber office at 630-554-3505 or plan to attend.

Go to the below links to learn more and join us. Please send questions and suggestions to angie@oswegochamber.org.

	http://www.facebook.com/pages/Oswego-Chamber-of-Commerce/118783595085 When you go to this page, click under the logo on the Add to My Pages Favorites. Also click on the top where it says Become a Fan. Let us know you have done this so we can get your business listed on our favorite's page also.
	https://twitter.com/oswegochamber/ Simply click on the icon to visit our page.
	For LinkedIn, look for Steve Hatcher.  The Oswego Chamber Page is a group on his page.  Ask to link up.  Thank you.

Winner Ryan Rathman – picture not available.

Gourmet Giving of Chicagoland
Al & Amy Nobles
3032 Silver Charm Ln
Montgomery, IL 60538
630.636.0569
inquire@gourmetgivingchicagoland.com
www.gourmetgivingchicagoland.com
Gourmet Giving places robotic baristas in host locations that vend coffee with a cause. Our service costs nothing to the host location and 20% of all revenue is donated to charity, school, civic organizations of the host location’s choice.
Referred by Bob Lockwood

Yarn Foundation, Inc.
John D. Anthony
PO Box 571
Plainfield, IL 60544
708.899.9900
john@yarnfoundation.org
www.yarnfoundation.org
501c3 not-for-profit organization; GED readiness program and community center
Referred by Rick Jacobsen

B2B CFO
John Carroll
300 Clarion Ct
Oswego, IL 60543
908.902.4286
johncarroll@b2bcfo.com
www.johncarrollcfo.com
Provides financial management consulting to small to mid-size businesses on an as needed or interim basis.
Referred by Bob Kovanic

Magical Garden Inc.
Sharon Joaquin
2152 Roth Rd
Oswego, IL 60543
630.554.5554
Fax: 630.554.5515
magicalgarden97@yahoo.com
www.magicalgardens.net
Retail garden center
Referred by Dwight Baird

Libra’s Brothers, Inc.
Sharon Joaquin
2152 Roth Rd
Oswego, IL 60543
630.554.5553
Fax: 630.554.5515
Residential/Commercial landscaping
Referred by Dwight Baird

Kendall Kab
Mike Chiappetta
1437 State Rt 31
Oswego, IL 60543
630.546.1290
chiappetta.mike@yahoo.com
"Dependable service at reasonable rates"

Tim Leverich
Chairman (term expires 2012)
Hometowne Insurance Services Inc.
155 Chicago Rd., (Route 34)
Oswego, IL 60543
630-554-3505 (direct)
630-554-4646 fax
tim@hometowneinsurance.com

Tony Sidio
Vice Chairman (term expires 2013)
Tony Sidio Consulting
3756 Bailey Road
Yorkville, IL 60560
630-202-6765
tony@sidio.com

Brenda Van Wyhe
Treasurer (term expires 2012)
Rush-Copley Medical Center
2000 Ogden Ave.
Aurora, IL. 60504
630.898.3565
630.978.6860 fax
Brenda.Vanwyhe@rushcopley.com

Nicole Tudisco
Secretary (term expires 2013)
Wheatland Realty
1753 Delta Drive
Aurora,  IL 60503
630-973-8932
630-898-2619 fax
nicoletudisco@gmail.com

Gail Gauger
Director (term expires 2013)
Alden of Waterford
1955 Randi Drive
Aurora, IL 60504
630-851-1880
630-898-8307 fax
ggauger@aldengroup.org

Ken Bertrand
Director (term expires 2012)
Allied First Bank
3201 Orchard Rd
Oswego, IL 60543
630-554-8899
866-554-3311 fax
kbertrand@alliedfirst.com

Dean Kleronomos
Director (term expires 2012)
Lorenzini & Associates
2683 Route 34
Oswego, IL 60543
630-554-1920
630-554-1682 fax
d.kleronomos@comcast.net

Matt Kewenig
Director (term expires 2013)
Aspen Financial Services
201 Constitution Drive, Suite D
Aurora, IL 60506
630-897-7575
630-897-5731 fax
matthew.kewenig@lpl.com

Sandy Benson 
Director (term expires 2012)
Edward Hospital & Health Services
801 S. Washington
Naperville, IL 60540
630-527-3931
630-527-3963 fax
sbenson@edward.org

Jeannie LaMarre
Director (term expires 2013)
Tastefully Simple
Fox Valley Trophy
74 W. Washington
Oswego, IL 60543
630-554-2525
630-554-3850 fax
foxvalleytrophy@yahoo.com

Keith Wolff
Director (term expires 2013)
Keith's Car Care
78 Stonehill Rd
Oswego, IL 60543
630-554-8911
630-554-2371 fax
keith@keithscarcare.com

Steve Hatcher
President/CEO
63 W. Washington St.
Oswego, IL 60543-0863
630.554.3505
630.554.0050 fax
steve@oswegochamber.org

Angie Hibben
Special Projects Coordinator
angie@oswegochamber.org

Jennine Kristianson
Administrative Assistant
jennine@oswegochamber.org