The Art of Einstein

Betty Crocker's Recipe For A Perfect Website

You may think Betty Crocker is a little "old school."  Think twice.  Betty was created 88 years ago “to respond to customer inquiries  in a more personal manner”  She was, by the way, invented by a small company to talk about a commodity product, baking flour. 

Betty and her mission came to mind the other day as I looked at a friend’s website.  I shall call my friend Tim and fudge some of his business details to protect what has always been a cordial relationsip.  

Tim is smart, honest, and focused.  He sells quality things.  Shake his hand and you know he’s a person you want to do business with.  Like most companies, what’s unique about Tim’s isn’t what’s on the shelves.  It’s his values, policies, and people that set Tim’s company apart.   Unfortunately his website does not convey this competitive advantage.  The site lacks what I call humanility - that combination of humanity and personality that elevates communication beyond features and benefits and into the realm of the intangibles that differentiate one business from another. 

There’s no recipe that applies unconditionally to every business - but Tim’s website could be a lot better if he followed what I think of as Betty’s recipe.

Heroes of the Internet. The first (and perhaps only one) in a series.

In January I met Deb Chance on line and by chance.  The Dining Stones she invented, and was selling somewhere out in ‘the long tail’ had been reviewed at Springwise, a website any early adopter has to love, and was enthusiastic.     

So, since I don’t already have enough kitchen gadgets gathering dust, I went to her website.   I had a question and fired off an email. 

The First reason Deb is my hero – She did not turn my email over to the automata – that class of machines that responds to my Congressman’s email, the phone company’s email etc.  Deb answered my email herself. 

“Hi Arthur.  Sorry for the delay in response.  Our product was featured on Springwise and a number of other newspapers picked up the story, so my inbox has been overwhelmingly full.  I work full-time for a securities investment firm and run Dining Stones at night and on weekends, so there is a lag time for me…. with the volume lately, I just can't keep up.”  How can you not trust this person, her answer, her product! 

Another question triggered a second email

Second reason Deb is my hero.  She is using the net to make her dreams come true..  “I have an entrepreneurial spirit and have dreamed of having my own business for over 20 years”, she wrote. “ I am a foodie. I make up my own recipes all the time.  I used to name them, I even had a funny one called ‘Back Porch Surprise’ which I made one winter when our fridge went out and we set all our food on the back porch to keep cold until we had a replacement.”