The light posting lately was due to a trip out to Northern California.  It was a fantastic trip.  Karla and I were even able to spend a few days without the kids for the first time in 3 years!   We headed up to Sonoma County wine country for a friend’s wedding at the Trentadue Winery.

We had a great time, capped by an odd experience on Friday night.  After my friend’s rehearsal dinner at the Bear Republic brewpub in Healdsburg, we left with a group of people to find another spot for a few drinks. We decided to stop at a bar/restaurant called barndiva (first little clue this would be an experience: they spell it in all lower-case) as someone in the group had heard good things about their fancy drinks. 

Here is a quote from barndiva’s website :

“barndiva is a celebration of all things artisanal” 

Then this:

“Like our menu, we want people to come to barndiva for new drink experiences, so the impetus for a new cocktail usually starts with a desire to bring out subtle elements in a primary spirit” (emphasis mine)

Now, had we seen that first we would have known better.  Why isn’t content this useful ubiquitous and mobile yet? 

So, we walked into the bar area and had a conversation with one of their employees (waiter / maître d’ , hard to know) that went something like this:

Employee: we are not that kind of bar

My friend:  what? 

Employee: how many people do you have here?

My friend: I don’t know, maybe 10-15

The employee then led us outside and let us know that we weren’t to pull any tables together (even though we were the only ones out there) and that 1 heat lamp (though there were at least 6 unused) would be plenty.

Surprisingly it actually took 2-3 more rude comments before we left.  If they really didn’t want us to buy any $10 cocktails, then we didn’t want to put them out.

Of course, we left and found a great spot where we walked in, were greeted warmly, ordered drinks and had a great time.  Plus, it was nice to have something to joke about all weekend with a group of people we had just met.

And how exactly does this relate to Internet marketing?

One of my favorite sayings is that web users are fickle.  I think I’ve said it about 1000 times over the time I’ve been doing this.  The same person who would wait for 5 rude comments before leaving a snobby bar will leave your site in about 10 seconds.  The same person who will listen for 10 minutes to a telesales person before hanging up will will also leave your site in just a few short moments. 

Unlike the world outside the web, there’s nothing physical (like having to find another bar) or social (hanging up on someone) to stop your users from leaving.  The next site is but a click away.

So you have to be more than just “not rude” when it comes to every aspect of your site.  You have to be downright welcoming.  Figure out why your users are at your site (hint: this can usually be found from referring information or your tracking URL) and give them what they want.  Make it easy, make it pretty, but more than anything else, make it quick.  As soon as the phone rings, the baby cries, Facebook beckons or the doorbell chimes, your users are gone. 

And they may never come back.