Marketing Matters

New Marketing Tools in 2010

2010-08-18T12:39:00.000-07:00

New Marketing Tools in 2010
By marketingsavant.com

To say that much has changed in 18 months is a bit of an understatement.
The effectiveness of the tools that we’ve used for decades has been called into question on the past few years.

Marketing technology goes well beyond and before the advent of social media. Surely, some of the tools we discuss are social media tools. However, and more importantly, they are the state-of-the art vehicles that today’s marketers need to understand to grow their bottom line and keep pace with the ever-advancing customer base and marketplace.

10 Questions Marketers Want Answered About Digital & Social Media
1. What are the best practices and tactics to use?
2. How do I measure the effectiveness of social media?
3. Where do I start?
4. How do I manage the social balance?
5. What are the best sites and tools out there?
6. How do I make the most of my available time?
7. How do I find and focus my efforts on my target audience?
8. How do I convert my social media marketing efforts into tangible results?
9. How do I cohesively tie different social media efforts together?
10. Does social media marketing work, and if so, how effective is it?

What Is Buzz Monitoring?
Marketers are known for talking, not listening. Sure, we lis¬tened, but if advertising history is telling of anything it tells us that marketers love to produce “stuff” that they hope consumers will like. Social media listening and buzz moni¬toring flips that mind-set; it’s a phrase used in online pub¬lic relations and social media marketing to track relevant conversations on the Internet. It provides great opportunity to learn at a grassroots level what people really think about your brand, products or services in the statusphere, the collection of all the online conversation in social networking areas such as Facebook, Twitter and others.

By monitoring the online conversation happening in blogs, forums, social networks and other social media channels, businesses can bring the voices of their customers directly into their marketing departments and cut down on the need for expensive market research tools such as focus groups and phone surveys. In fairness to the market and marketing researchers worldwide, social media listening will never fully replace a scientifically developed panel, customer advisory board or survey that gives us statistically significant and valid data on which to base our marketing decisions.

How Do Marketers Find Out Who’s Talking and What Do They Measure?
There are different parts of the conversation - enterprise, mainstream media, and consumer generated content. Unless you’re monitoring the buzz, you won’t know what’s there. In every social media moni¬toring program, there are a few fairly obvious things that every marketer should track. If you need more reasons to track social media, think of the new product ideas, keyword research for SEO, warnings of possible scandals and customer reactions that you’ll be able to amass.

In addition, there are three key metrics involved in what is referred to as “Online Reputation Manage¬ment”:
1. Share of voice. This is a measurement of how much and to what degree people are talking about you.
2. Tone of voice, a.k.a. “Sentiment analysis.” This is a measurement of whether the conversation is largely positive or negative. If the sentiment is positive, reward those who speak well of you. If the tone is largely negative, you need to take action to get to the root of the problem IF one really exists. If it’s based in misinformation, you’ll need to engage the critics and correct their misunderstanding.
3. Trends over time. It’s important to monitor the above metrics over time to see the effects of your advertising, marketing and public relations efforts.

Best Practices for Monitoring the Conversation
Getting started monitoring the online conversation can be pretty straightforward, but there are a few guidelines that can help you get a jump start.
1. Look for evangelists and help the spread the good word
2. Engage with ‘middle ground’ consumers to influence them.
3. Look for “incidental detractors” and engage with them to fix problems.
4. Seek out and minimize “determined detractors” - the people who just can’t seem to be happy.

Monitoring Steps
1. Conversation discovery – Use brand monitor¬ing services, keyword watch lists and alerts or, at a minimum, at least doing persistent searches?
2. Conversation aggregation – How are you gathering your data? Options include Google Reader or MyYahoo.
3. Conversation escalation – The decision to move from passive to active participation in online conversations.
4. Conversation participation – Determining how to participate. It could be via emails, comments, posts, tweets, etc. OR you can participate more indirectly through social bookmarks, tagging, etc.
5. Conversation tracking – There are many op¬tions, from customer relationship manage¬ment software to review of email strings.

Next month Microblogging that’s growing fast, make sure your in the know.

Driving Sales with Pay Per click

2010-08-18T12:38:00.000-07:00

Driving Sales with Pay Per click
By networksolutions, LLC 2009

In tough economic times, customers are holding back and buying less. They are pickier about what to buy. On average, shoppers spend a month doing research online before making a purchase. This makes online search even more important to marketers.

Research shows that search engine marketing (SEM), including Pay Per Click (PPC), is expected to grow and reach $26 billion by 2013.

In the Internet world, 81% of all users start at a search engine to find what they are looking for. “Customers are going to search engines because they are looking for better deals”, says David Hallerman. “And marketers are going to search engines because that’s where the customers are.”

Since the majority of the online public turns to the search engines first, marketing on search networks such as Google® and Yahoo!® should be a critical component of your online marketing strategy. And the fastest way to break into search engine marketing is through Pay Per Click advertising.

Online marketing analysts agree that a successful Pay Per Click campaign can generate a conversion rate of 1.5% to 3%. For online retailers, Pay Per Click is particularly effective, with a conversion rate sometimes reaching 5% or higher. Pay Per Click advertisers continue to report the highest return on investment compared to other forms of online marketing:

What Is Pay Per Click?
Pay Per Click advertising builds on the popularity of search engines to bring your message to consumers at exactly the time they are looking for you. Most Internet users are familiar with PPC ads – i.e., sponsored links – which appear to the top and right of natural search results. These ads are displayed when the user types a keyword into the search engine that matches the keyword chosen for your search engine marketing campaign as relevant to your business.

An advertiser only pays for an ad when a visitor clicks on it and is taken to the advertiser’s Website. PPC campaign managers bid on keywords with the amount they are comfortable paying per click and the search engine uses that bid, along with a number of other factors, to determine ad placement and how often the ad will be shown.

PPC is relevant advertising. Unlike other forms of traditional and online advertising, only consumers that are already searching for your products will see your ads. This leads to a friendlier user experience for shoppers, less wasted ad costs for you, and a higher conversion rate for your ad campaigns all around. In addition, Pay Per Click lets you to create ads that are targeted to a specific geographic area where your customers are located.

In 2001, the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) reported that online advertisers were spending an average of 4% of their marketing budgets on PPC advertising. In 2007, that number jumped to 48%. The PPC industry is booming and with search engine usage rising rapidly year over year that trend is likely to go up.

It Is More Than Just Clicks
Pay Per Click advertising can mean more than visitor traffic to your Website. It can be a source of relevant customer leads that are created when visitors to your Website are encouraged to take action such as making a phone call or filling out an inquiry form. There are a number of actions that potential customers can take online or even offline. Your campaign manager will be able to recommend lead types that will benefit your business the most.

Phone calls – Customers clicking on your search engine ad can be directed to a page on your Website that prominently features a unique phone number. Customers will call this number to inquire or buy your products and services. Your PPC service should be able to track all phone calls and even record them so that you can listen to the conversations at your convenience. Phone call tracking is ideal for service-based companies.

Emails – In addition to a phone number, your landing page can feature an email form that potential customers will use to reach your business. This can be a great way to build a marketing database of customer contacts.

Forms – Submission forms are unique for each business. Customers use these forms to subscribe to a company newsletter, receive discount offers, request a catalog or sign up for a free trial. In return, you get valuable information about potential customers who are interested in your products and services.

Shopping cart checkouts – For online retailers, a search engine ad can lead to a Web page with an Add to Cart or Purchase button that allows customers to complete the transaction online. Your PPC service should be able to track online purchases that originated from your search engine ad and thus, provide an accurate measurement of your return on investment.

For all of the above actions to take place, it is important to have an effective landing page or the page on your Website that customers visit immediately after clicking your sponsored listing. This page must be consistent with the message that you are trying to convey in your online ad. Effective landing pages guide visitors toward taking an action with clever content, attractive graphics and strategically placed links and buttons for the user to click.

How to funnel clients in social media marketing!

2010-07-23T13:08:00.000-07:00

Funneling your clients! Controlling the conversation.

Step one- Hi how are you? Join a community or group or create one.
You need a plan! Create a timeline and stick to it. Create your data base and constantly add to it. If you have 350 personal contacts, (first level connections) then those personal contacts have as many and that can compound to thousands (becoming second level connections)

Step two- Share and Give Breadcrumbs to develop a repoire! Create and engage in conversations. Move your conversations to your own blog. Create a video and put urls and verbiage in the tags. Brand your opening page of your facebook account. People buy people, not goods and services. Take your conversations to conversions.

Step three- Develop events and invite online contacts! Conversations within communities and groups build the data bases, and builds trust. Direct contacts to view your online video. It’s 50 times more successful than keyword googling to get on the first page of google. The value of groups is connecting buyers and sellers on a monthly basis. Read the books by Seth Goden he is the pioneer of social media. Another good book is Trust Agents.

Step four- Send reccomendations! Show support to others and build loyalty. Create eyeballs or banners in sites such as (mofia wars and Farmville use repeating links and have increased sales to those links 10 fold because they get the eyeballs, repetition brings about acceptance)

Step five- Send email directly to contacts that have engaged with you! Create a friendship partnership and engage the contact to be a member with you.

Cross reference all your social media sites with your links to your website and your blog. Load up Prosperous.com and it will syndicate it to all of your accounts, twitter, linked in (your rolodex and resume), facebook (your first level funneling site), etc… This way the branding you create for your personal site will be duplicated and anyone on any particular media site will see that all the others are like branded. Brand polished backgrounds on all these sites and list all your networks and groups as a summary.

Step six- Move your online to offline for a personal meet! Create a reason to meet up and use the personal bread crumbs to build more on your relationship.

Step seven-Pitch your client softly! Talk about your company and what you do and the bread crumbs that show how passionate you are about what you do. They will extend the offer of you doing something for them if they are interested in your passion.

Step eight-Close the sale!

10 tips for working with clients remotely

2010-07-23T12:29:00.000-07:00

10 tips for working with clients remotely

By www.FullSail.edu

Collaborating with clients you never meet face-to-face has become normal for most web workers. Ours is an industry where working remotely poses very few real obstacles — nearly every part of the web design process can be done from the comfort of a home office or coffee shop.

We’re lucky to have this flexibility, especially in tough economic times when a swanky office doesn’t fit in the business budget. Even if you do have an office, chances are you will land a few clients who aren’t located around the block. But you quickly discover that working remotely has its downsides.

Without face-to-face interaction it’s easy for major communication issues to develop… often without you knowing until it’s too late. Avoid a major meltdown with these simple tips.

1. Build Trust From The Start

A client’s trust will make or break a project. Without it you’ll spend endless hours explaining and defending your ideas. It’s easy to build trust when you’re meeting once a week to present your work and report your progress, but how do you do it with someone 10,000 miles away?

First, introduce yourself – and I don’t mean send them a link to your portfolio. I see designers skip this step all the time, but it’s essential. Before you dive in to any work, schedule a quick kickoff meeting. A video conference is ideal – I recommend Skype – but if they can’t manage it, a phone call will work almost as well. If you’re in different time zones, wake up nice and early (or go to bed very late) to accommodate them.

Going the video route? Make sure you’re dressed appropriately and your environment looks professional. When you get on the call, take a few minutes to introduce yourself and highlight your accomplishments the way you would if everyone was gathered around a conference table and you were standing at the front of the room. Even if they know you and your work, it’s a good reminder that you are a professional who does this for a living… someone who should be valued and trusted.

Another way to establish trust early in the process is to make the client feel involved. Ask probing questions and brainstorm with them before you propose any solutions. If you’re short on meeting time, send out questionnaires for them to fill out. When it comes time to present work, make sure your solutions reflect at least a few of their ideas and explain to them how the idea was incorporated. This shows that you’re listening. Like any human relationship, that is half the battle.

2. Write A Bulletproof Contract
I know way too many freelancers accepting work without a contract because there is nothing fun about crafting up that type of documentation. It’s stupid no matter what, but when you’re working remotely this is extremely dangerous. You might get away with it for years, but sooner or later you’ll run into a disaster that could have been avoided had you bothered to get sign-off on a few key points.

As a general rule of thumb, if I estimate spending more than 10 hours on a project I will craft a contract and get a client signature before I start working. It doesn’t have to be complex, but it should always include:

• A detailed scope of work. What exactly are you planning to provide the client? What isn’t included? Spend some time and make sure that it’s clear what they are paying for. When the client asks you where the forum is (you know, that one they forgot to mention they needed) you can simply show them that it was never part of the original scope they signed off on. Then you can add it on and charge accordingly.

• A list of deliverables. Will you be creating IA documents, wireframes, style guides, and user manuals for that slick new CMS? Will they get ownership of layered PSDs and all your original artwork or just the HTML, graphics and source files? Make a list to avoid miscommunications.

• A limit on revisions. When I first started freelancing, I failed to set a limit on revisions. 12 updates later it was clear what a big oversight this was. Clearly state how many revisions are included in your proposal and what your definition of “revision” is. (If, God forbid, they hate everything about the design and want you to start over, will you call it a revision?) Include an hourly rate for extra revision hours so that clients understand it doesn’t mean you won’t do them, it just means they’ll pay more.

• A plan for client delays. It’s not uncommon to finish a site completely on your end, then wait 4 months for the client to provide the content. If you’re contract says “final payment upon completion” you’re stuck in limbo until they get their act together. To avoid this, set deadlines on content and any other milestone that requires client approval or sign-off. State in the contract that if content (approval, etc.) hasn’t arrived by the deadline, the site will still be considered finished and payment is due.

• Payment terms. This one is a no-brainer! Half up front and half upon completion is common. If it’s a bigger project, tie payments to milestones so you’re not waiting months and months to collect a paycheck.

Not sure where to start? AIGA provides a Standard Form of Agreement for Design Services that you can customize for your needs.

3. Set Deadlines (And Enforce Them)
This is important for both sides. You already know you need deadlines to keep yourself on track, but you need to set them for the client as well. Asking for timely feedback keeps the project moving forward. Every time you produce something that requires feedback or sign-off, set a short-term deadline and make sure it’s documented in writing somewhere. If the client lets the deadlines slip repeatedly, they can’t complain when the project is delivered.

Having deadlines motivates clients to focus on your work, which may be one of a zillion projects sitting on their desk needing attention. It is also a subtle way of asking for (and getting) respect.

4. Communicate Clearly And Often
Since you’re not meeting face-to-face (and probably aren’t calling too much either) the limited interactions you do have are incredibly important. Make sure you craft your emails and messages carefully; realize that every word you write is amplified and your dry sense of humor isn’t going to come across very well. Best to just be straightforward.

Don’t inundate your clients with needless emails, but make sure you communicate enough to keep them feeling comfortable with your progress. Quick, regular check-ins help set everyone at ease. If you think the client is confused, pick up the phone and have a real conversation. You’ll be amazed how much can be cleared up in 2 minutes when you’re not trying to explain it over email.

Keep a copy of all your correspondence for future reference – you never know when you might need it.

5. Use Web Apps To Facilitate Communication

There are tons of great tools out there for online client collaboration. Pick the ones that work best for your process and use them religiously. Insist that your client uses them too.

I’ve run into quite a few clients who don’t want to be bothered logging in to a new tool – they would rather flood your inbox with email after email after email. Trouble is, email does little to keep everyone on the same page. Unless you have a dedicated project manager, get yourself a web-based project management tool. Make to-do lists, set milestones, and keep discussions in a public space where you can easily point back to them.

Basecamp is one of the most widely used web-based project management tools out there, and for good reason. It’s cheap, it’s easy to set up, it doesn’t have a bunch of extra whistles you don’t need, and clients find it intuitive which means they’ll actually be inclined to use it. It has to-do lists, milestones, a message center and a file repository and even time-tracking. Chances are it will cover most of your needs. There are plenty of other online project management tools out there if Basecamp isn’t your thing. Try huddle.net or wrike.com.

Additional online collaboration tools that you may find useful include:

• ConceptShare – Get feedback on your designs and live web pages. You can add notes to the concept pieces and so can your client.

• Adobe ConnectNow – A free, easy way to hold a virtual meeting. Screen share to present a PowerPoint, share concepts with your client or walk them through a live website. Use the video, audio or chat features to communicate while you’re presenting.

• BlinkSale – Send out bills and reminders in a more formal way. Takes some of the awkwardness out of hounding clients for money.

Follow these steps and you’re well on your way to avoiding major conflicts and keeping your project on track. Stay tuned for the second half of this article and 5 more ways to successfully work with clients remotely.

6 Tips for Pitching to Major Clients

2010-07-23T12:27:00.000-07:00

6 Tips for Pitching to Major Clients

By www.FullSail.edu

Almost every major web designer faces this dilemma at some point: either continue working with “mom-and-pop” style businesses, enjoying effortless marketing and relatively simple projects, or transition to working with larger businesses and reap the benefits of bigger budgets.
It’s a question of experience, and with enough design work under your belt, new opportunities start to present themselves.

The most difficult part for many is making the transition. The comfort of simple work and the ease of marketing yourself can make maintaining a small client network very tempting.

You see the effort involved in pitching to a major client and you slightly recoil, worried that you’re not quite skilled enough, you’re not quite experienced enough and your business is not quite big enough.

That insecurity leaves so many designers bidding for tiny projects, working for local clients and missing out on lucrative long-term opportunities. That insecurity can grind a business to a halt and stall a career.

The six tactics below don’t guarantee long-term success with major clients, but they will help you get your foot in the door, get a contract on the table and make the possibility of major business relationships very realistic.

1. Never Compete on Price

Big companies have big budgets, especially companies that are focused on fields with as huge a potential for growth as the online world. Marketing yourself on price might work when you’re fighting for micro-clients and short-term projects, but it’s counter-intuitive when trying to appeal to major clients.

Why? Because major clients expect a certain level of size, overhead spending and expenses. They expect you to have infrastructure, employee salaries and office space. They expect you to be able to manage them, and that management begins with a per-project quote that accounts for extra time, minor outsourcing and long-term work.

So quote high—higher than you normally would. The list of corporate deals passed over because they were too expensive is relatively short; the list of proposals passed over because of low pricing and a mist of inexperience is significantly longer.

Of course, be realistic in your pricing (you’re not pitching to Berkshire Hathaway), but remember that large companies value professionalism and ability a lot more than competitive pricing.

2. Pitch on Results, Not Potential

Designers do burn people. Visit a local Chamber of Commerce meeting, and you’ll be surrounded by business owners who have been burned by would-be designers: inexperienced “experts” who have mastered Photoshop in their bedrooms and who market in their afternoons. The design world is full of self-styled experts, an unfortunate reality that it shares with the marketing and publicity industries.

This has bred an unfortunate environment for genuinely good designers. Not only are business owners skeptical of designers on the whole, but many are completely turned off by the prospect of having to update a website that another designer has put time into. The endless promises and presentations touting “progress” and “results” have turned them off, and so the chance of a senior manager assigning a large budget to your design project is low.

Fight this resistance to design by pitching results instead of potential. If you can walk into a meeting with a portfolio of websites that aren’t just pretty but highly effective, you’ll increase your chances of landing lucrative projects and long-term contracts.

Find people who have been burned by rhetoric, and give them real results, establishing yourself as the lone expert in the process.

3. Minimize Risk by Preparing Samples

In today’s economy, risk is a significantly bigger factor than it once was. Companies that had multi-million dollar design budgets have run into rough territory, now sparing only enough money to invest in cosmetic updates and the occasional usability study.

An industry that once felt entitled to massive budgets because of its complexity has run into a cost-cutting drought. Companies are keen to invest in low-cost websites, fearing that an expensive project might end up losing money.

That’s why you need a stack of samples ready beforehand, samples that prove not just your competence and ability but the way you’ve helped other people in their position. Show how your websites have improved conversion rates, how they’ve boosted customer interest and how they’ve reduced customer service costs. Then you’ll gain contracts and long-term interest, even in a troubled economy.

4. Bleed Professionalism in Your Team, Plan and Approach

They’re big, successful and influential. At this point, you’re not. So, make every effort to appear as though you are. Hire a virtual assistant to handle your phone calls. Build a paid-for-results team that functions as different divisions of your business. Treat projects as though they are routine work, not one-off events that you’re unfamiliar with.

Hundreds of small businesses pitch to major companies every month. Most fail, usually not because of incompetence, but because of a lack of managerial resources and size.

To even appear on the radar of Coca-Cola, Apple or Walmart, you need a certain size and degree of complexity. Expand, even if just by illusion, and you’ll appeal significantly more to large companies.

The bonus of this approach is that after you’ve found success with one major company, you’ll gain the security and visibility to be able to approach others. Find a formula that succeeds with one major company and replicate it, not just in your presentation and pitch, but in the way your business approaches new clients.

5. Know Exactly Who to Pitch and How to Do It

Small businesses have an advantage: they’re small, they’re mobile, and they adapt very quickly to change. Big companies, unfortunately, are not like this.

The amount of time for a decision to move down the managerial chain often creeps into the months, and the amount of effort required to even speak with someone at the top can drive employees crazy. When it comes to speed and flexibility, the decentralized micro-businesses of the world have the advantage.

But finding the decision-makers at all is a substantial victory. Hundreds of businesses fail to get the attention of major companies because they pitch to the wrong people. Ignore claims that proposals must always be submitted through entry-level employees, and aim straight for the top. Cultivate links to senior managers, CEOs and managing partners; their recommendations will mean a lot more to marketing, design and online departments than yours will.

6. Think Long-Term

Small projects, one-off assignments and low-paying gigs are of little value to a design business. They’re useful for filling in the blanks and strengthening your portfolio, but they offer barely any long-term opportunity.

Great designers and successful marketers know not to treat their major projects as they would one-off assignments. They understand the value of relationships, and they treat their valuable ones appropriately.

Whenever you submit a proposal to a major company, you’re pitching not just for that project, but for the company’s future business. Approach major clients with a long-term plan, a plan to deliver quality and to prove that sticking with you for future projects is worth the company’s while.
If you can ensure that your first major project goes smoothly, you’ll open your business to huge projects, major ongoing work and professional relationships that would otherwise take years to build.

5 things your clients should know

2010-07-23T12:24:00.000-07:00

5 things your clients should know.

By www.FullSail.edu

Do you ever feel like you are endlessly repeating the same day? I do, every time I attend a kickoff meeting with a new client. Each time I find myself covering the same old issues from explaining the client’s role, to encouraging investment in content.

This is not a criticism of clients, however. There is so little information that clearly defines their role. Sure, there is no shortage of material on usability, accessibility, online marketing and copywriting, but who has the time to read all of it?

The problem is that the client does need to have a very broad understanding (certainly more than can be communicated in a single article), however I have found that understanding certain key issues can make an enormous difference to the efficiency of a client.

What follows is a list of the 5 things that I believe will have the biggest impact on a client’s site. At least they should, if the client understands them and chooses to implement them.

1. The client is the secret to a successful website

I have worked on hundreds of websites over the past 15 years and each site’s success or failure has always been attributed to the quality of the client.

As web designers we, of course, like to emphasis our role in the process. This is what justifies our fee, however we can ultimately only point our clients in the right direction. It is their decisions that shape the site and their commitment that defines its long term future.

As web designers, I believe we need to clearly communicate to the client the importance of their role and dispel the misconception that they can hire a web designer and walk away.

Not only do we need to emphasis the importance of their role, we also need to define the extent of it.

2. Clients have a diverse and challenging role

I believe that the role of the client is by far the most complex and challenging in web design. Sure, dealing with IE6 is a pain, but that pales in comparison to the shear extent of issues that most clients need to handle.

A client has to be a:

Visionary – capable of establishing the long term direction of their site
Evangelist – able to promote the site both internally and externally
Content guardian – responsible for ensuring the quality and relevancy of content
Project coordinator – overseeing all aspects of the site as well as dealing with suppliers
Referee – making final decisions between conflicting priorities

What is even more is that the client is supposed to know enough about a broad range of disciplines (from marketing to interface design), in order to make informed decisions. It is hardly surprising that, as web designers, we sometimes feel our clients “just don’t get it!” They are simply expected to understand too much.

Unfortunately their role is also often massively under resourced. Most of those responsible for websites are not dedicated website managers. Instead, they run their websites alongside other responsibilities in IT or marketing.

It is our responsibility to explain the role of the client and ensure that they understand how much work is involved. We cannot assume that they instinctively know this.

The danger is that if you do not clearly define the clients’ role, they will end up trying to define yours instead.

3. Clients identify problems, designers provide solutions

One of the biggest problems in most web projects is that the client starts making the decisions that are best left to the web designer. Not only does this lead to bad decisions, but also inevitably leaves the web designer feeling undervalued and frustrated.

This problem can manifest in a variety of ways, however ultimately it comes down to a single issue – the client is trying to find solutions to their problems instead of relying on the web designer.

Let me give you two examples. The most obvious occurs at the design stage. After seeing your design the client comes back with comments such as ‘make the logo bigger’. This is their solution to a problem that they have with the prominence of the branding. If they had expressed the problem instead of the solution, it would have enabled you to suggest alternate approaches. Instead of making the logo bigger, you could have possibly added more whitespace or changed its position.

Another less obvious, but more significant example, is in a client’s invitation to tender. These documents are inevitably a wish list of ideas that they have for the site. They are the client’s attempt to solve an underlying issue. For example, their problem might be a failure to engage with customers, therefore in their invitation to tender, they suggest adding a forum. Of course, in reality there are many other ways to engage with customers, however unless they express the problem to you, you will never have the opportunity to suggest a solution.

At the beginning of every project, encourage your client to focus on problems and not solutions. Whenever the client suggests a solution ask why. This will enable you to understand the underlying issues.

Unfortunately by the time we have been engaged as web designers, the scope of a project has already been set and it is hard to contribute ideas. This is because the way clients commission websites is fundamentally broken.

4. Sites should evolve

A typical website goes through a constant cycle of redesign. After its initial launch, it is left to slowly decay. The content becomes out of date, the design begins to look old fashioned and the technology becomes obsolete. Eventually staff stop referring customers to the site and it is perceived as a liability rather than an asset. In the end, senior management intervenes and assigns somebody to ‘sort out the website’. This inevitably leads to the site being replaced by a new version, and the cycle repeats itself.

This problem primarily occurs because there is no real ownership of the website within the organization. Often the client you deal with is only assigned to it for the duration of the project. Afterwards, the site is left to stagnate.

This cycle of redesign is wasteful for three reasons:

It wastes money because the old site is replaced, and the investment put into it is lost.
It is bad for cash flow, generating large expenditure every few years.
For the majority of its life, the site is out of date and not being used to its full potential.

We need to start encouraging our clients to invest regularly in their websites. They need a permanent website manager and an ongoing relationship with their web design agency. Together they need to keep content up-to-date, improve the user interface and ensure that the technology keeps pace with change. Ultimately this is more cost effective than replacing the site every few years.

The ongoing management of content is an area that needs particular attention. Unfortunately it is often massively under resourced and generally neglected.

5. Content is king – Act like it!

I am constantly amazed at the difference between what clients says and what they do. Take, for example, content; most clients fully accept that content is king, yet few are willing to spend money on ensuring its quality. This is all the more absurd considering the amount they spend on implementing complex content management systems.

Most clients that I encounter feel that hiring a copywriter to ensure the quality and style of their content is unnecessary. Perhaps this is because they feel they are capable of writing copy themselves, however writing for the web is not like writing for any other medium. It presents some unique challenges that cannot be under estimated.

It is strange because clients are perfectly happy (well… maybe not quite ‘happy’) to pay for design. They realize that they cannot do the design without a professional designer, so why then do they believe that they can write good copy themselves?

Often when clients do write copy, it ends up being verbose and inaccessible. Stuffed with sales copy and jargon, which is largely ignored by most visitors to the site.

However, in many cases the reality is even worse than poorly written copy. In my experience, clients under estimate the time involved in producing copy for the web and resort to copying and pasting from a wide variety of offline printed material. This leads to Frankenstein copy, using a mix of styles that are often entirely inappropriate for the web.

It is our role as web designers to educate our clients about the importance of copywriting and explain the size of the task, if they choose to take it on themselves. Without previous experience most clients will significantly underestimate this task.

Conclusions

This is far from a comprehensive list. I have not mentioned success criteria, usability, accessibility, online marketing or subjective design. In fact I have hardly begun to touch on any of the things a website owner should know, however I do believe that if our clients were only to adopt the 5 points above, it would make a profound difference to the success of their website. Now it falls on you to persuade them.

10 Golden Lessons From Steve Jobs

2010-06-22T15:47:00.003-07:00

10 Golden Lessons From Steve Jobs

“I think we’re having fun. I think our customers really like our products. And we’re always trying to do better.”
- Steve Jobs

His accomplishments and character helped define a generation and change the world. He is co-founder of the fairytale company we now know as Apple Computers. And he is the visionary of the personal computers world that led the entire computer hardware and software industry to restructure itself. This man with boundless energy and charisma is also a master of hype, hyperbole and the catchy phrase. And even when he’s trying to talk normally, brilliant verbiage comes tumbling out. Here’s a selection of some of the most insanely great things he said, golden lessons to help you succeed in life, Jobs-style:

“1. Steve Jobs said: “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

Innovation has no limits. The only limit is your imagination. It’s time for you to begin thinking out of the box. If you are involved in a growing industry, think of ways to become more efficient; more customer friendly; and easier to do business with. If you are involved in a shrinking industry – get out of it quick and change before you become obsolete; out of work; or out of business. And remember that procrastination is not an option here. Start innovating now!

2. Steve Jobs said: “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”

There is no shortcut to excellence. You will have to make the commitment to make excellence your priority. Use your talents, abilities, and skills in the best way possible and get ahead of others by giving that little extra. Live by a higher standard and pay attention to the details that really do make the difference. Excellence is not difficult – simply decide right now to give it your best shot – and you will be amazed with what life gives you back.

3. Steve Jobs said: “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”

I’ve got it down to four words: “Do what you love.” Seek out an occupation that gives you a sense of meaning, direction and satisfaction in life. Having a sense of purpose and striving towards goals gives life meaning, direction and satisfaction. It not only contributes to health and longevity, but also makes you feel better in difficult times. Do you jump out of bed on Monday mornings and look forward to the work week? If the answer is ‘no’ keep looking, you’ll know when you find it.

4. Steve Jobs said: “You know, we don’t grow most of the food we eat. We wear clothes other people make. We speak a language that other people developed. We use a mathematics that other people evolved… I mean, we’re constantly taking things. It’s a wonderful, ecstatic feeling to create something that puts it back in the pool of human experience and knowledge.”

Live in a way that is ethically responsible. Try to make a difference in this world and contribute to the higher good. You’ll find it gives more meaning to your life and it’s a great antidote to boredom. There is always so much to be done. And talk to others about what you are doing. Don’t preach or be self-righteous, or fanatical about it, that just puts people off, but at the same time, don’t be shy about setting an example, and use opportunities that arise to let others know what you are doing.

5. Steve Jobs said: “There’s a phrase in Buddhism, ‘Beginner’s mind.’ It’s wonderful to have a beginner’s mind.”

It is the kind of mind that can see things as they are, which step by step and in a flash can realize the original nature of everything. Beginner’s mind is Zen practice in action. It is the mind that is innocent of preconceptions and expectations, judgments and prejudices. Think of beginner’s mind as the mind that faces life like a small child, full of curiosity and wonder and amazement.

6. Steve Jobs said: “We think basically you watch television to turn your brain off, and you work on your computer when you want to turn your brain on.”

Reams of academic studies over the decades have amply confirmed television’s pernicious mental and moral influences. And most TV watchers know that their habit is mind-numbing and wasteful, but still spend most of their time in front of that box. So turn your TV off and save some brain cells. But be cautious, you can turn your brain off by using a computer also. Try and have an intelligent conversation with someone who plays first person shooters for 8 hours a day. Or auto race games, or role-playing games.

7. Steve Jobs said: “I’m the only person I know that’s lost a quarter of a billion dollars in one year…. It’s very character-building.”

Don’t equate making mistakes with being a mistake. There is no such thing as a successful person who has not failed or made mistakes, there are successful people who made mistakes and changed their lives or performance in response to them, and so got it right the next time. They viewed mistakes as warnings rather than signs of hopeless inadequacy. Never making a mistake means never living life to the full.

8. Steve Jobs said: “I would trade all of my technology for an afternoon with Socrates.”
Over the last decade, numerous books featuring lessons from historical figures have appeared on the shelves of bookstores around the world. And Socrates stands with Leonardo da Vinci, Nicholas Copernicus, Charles Darwin and Albert Einstein as a beacon of inspiration for independent thinkers. But he came first. Cicero said of Socrates that, “He called philosophy down from the skies and into the lives of men.” So use Socrates’ principles in your life, your work, your learning, and your relationships. It’s not about Socrates, it’s really about you, and how you can bring more truth, beauty and goodness into your life everyday.

9. Steve Jobs said: “We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?”

Did you know that you have big things to accomplish in life? And did you know that those big things are getting rather dusty while you pour yourself another cup of coffee, and decide to mull things over rather than do them? We were all born with a gift to give in life, one which informs all of our desires, interests, passions and curiosities. This gift is, in fact, our purpose. And you don’t need permission to decide your own purpose. No boss, teacher, parent, priest or other authority can decide this for you. Just find that unique purpose.

10. Steve Jobs said: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Are you tired of living someone else’s dream? No doubt, its your life and you have every right to spend it in your own individual way without any hurdles or barriers from others. Give yourself a chance to nurture your creative qualities in a fear-free and pressure-free climate. Live a life that YOU choose and be your own boss.

Each lesson might be difficult to integrate into your life at first, but if you ease your way into each lesson, one at a time, you’ll notice an immediate improvement in your overall performance. So go ahead, give them a try.

Why Businesses Blog, and How You Can Too.

2010-06-22T15:47:00.001-07:00

Why Businesses Blog, and How You Can Too.

If you’ve been too busy running your business these past few years to make the most of online marketing, it’s understandable. When you spend every waking moment helping current customers, ordering inventory, handling paperwork, paying the bills, etc., you don’t have much spare time to teach yourself about search engine optimization, paid advertising, press releases, social media marketing, etc. Of course, if you want more customers and more business, you have to do something online these days. Even if you’re paying someone else to handle Web design and online marketing, you can do your part in building your online presence with blogging.

Why Businesses Blog
In addition to costing next to nothing, blogs provide benefits you can’t get any other way (unless your marketing budget is unlimited). Blogs done right can attract tech savvy readers to you, and readers can turn into customers. The more readers you can attract to your blog, the more opportunities you’ll have for eventual sales. Blogs can make sales reps out of your readers too. When you write a post on your blog, you “open it up for discussion,” inviting participation from your target market. When readers comment on your blog, they spread the good news about your products or services. If handled right, blogs can be great for customer feedback. Instead of expensive market testing
and surveys, you get real time responses from real people. Finally, blogs can function as central hubs. Since they’re a stable venue in a world of fickle social media marketing, they can be your business’s home base. From your blog, readers/customers can venture off to any social media tools you use, like Twitter®, Facebook®, forums, Digg®, etc., and your Website. They can see how involved you are and what you’re about.

How you Can Too
When you choose a blog, make sure it can grow with your business. Whether you create a custom blog or use a hosted blog (Blogspot®, Wordpress®), you will want it to be able to accommodate features like comments, archives, feeds, widgets, plug-ins and anything else that the tech geniuses come up with down the line. One piece of advice encourages businesses to host the blog on their domain, in a subfolder or page, since this is most direct and makes the most of SEO benefits.

Blog Start-up Guide
Here are some things you want to consider before your write your first post.
1. What are your goals for this blog? – This is something you may want to flesh out even before you look for blog hosting. Having clear goals helps your blog stay consistent in its messaging and provides useful topic parameters for the blogger.
2. How will you brand your blog? – Look at the competition and differentiate yourself. Make sure your blog’s appearance mirrors your website and other visual projections of your company.
3. How often can you commit to adding posts? – Regular posting will keep readers coming back. A stagnant blog reflects poorly on your business since readers might assume the worst about your company if you haven’t posted in a while.
4. Who else will be on the blogging team? – Many hands make light the work, and more than one “voice” is refreshing.
5. What will you put on the “About Us” page? – You may be surprised to learn that the “About Us” page is one of the first places readers look when they arrive at a new blog. Make sure yours is ready to go (see below for help on this).
6. Did you provide a way for readers to contact you? – If your readers can’t reach you, that’s a missed opportunity. Make sure to provide an email address or phone number.
7. What about post delivery? Is there an RSS feed tool available to those who want it? Is there also (this is important) a way readers can provide their name/email address so new posts can be sent directly to their inboxes, in case they don’t want to bother with RSS?

The One Rule: Your Blog is not Your Website
One of the hardest things about blogging is getting your head around the genre. Lots of very accomplished business persons have blogs that just don’t do what they should.
Understanding what blog readers visit blogs for is half the battle. Blogs are supposed to be a place where real conversations can take place. They should always be about:
Open dialogue (must go two ways) The chance to network and share valuable information This is important to know, because if you have a blog that isn’t about these two things, you won’t really have a blog. You’ll have another website, set up to sell and visitors will click away from your blog fast.

Elements Common to Good Blogs
1. Open to readers’ thoughts – You can turn off the comments feature on a blog, but “on” is preferable. It establishes the back and forth, transparent feel essential to engage your readers. (Don’t worry: You can review comments before letting them onto your blog to make sure they’re not offensive, spam-ish or irrelevant.)
2. Relationship-centered – Posts should invite readers to join in on the conversation. Think in terms of building relationships. Selling must always come second. Always. If it doesn’t, your readers will smell it and leave your blog.
3. Transparent – Your “About Us” page identifies the authors and provides the basics about your company. Include information that builds your professional credibility. Include pictures of the authors.
4. Chock full of delicious, nutritious content – A good host serves up attractive, substantial posts that don’t look too good to enjoy: Provide new information that is relevant and timely (old news makes you look uninformed about your industry)
Let your readers know that you’re listening and interested in their thoughts. Invite them to respond. Be direct and ask, “What do you think?” Make your posts easy to look at (break up text with sub-headings and add images, etc.) And never shout (all caps).
Take the plastic off the couch: Don’t subject posts to the editorial department’s red pen. Fresh content in sentence fragments and run-ons is preferable to dry, grammatically correct corporate-speak.
5. Reciprocal - Another part of blogging is commenting on other people’s blogs in your industry. Make sure your comments add value to the blog. You can include a link to your blog in the comment if what is on your blog adds to the conversation, but don’t be a “user.” Also, you can add a summarizing type of comment on someone else’s blog and then continue that thought on your own blog.

What Should I Say?
As you start posting, remember #1 in the Blog Startup Guide. Though you will want to stay within your area of expertise, you can and should infuse your posts with information and references to events, trends and information outside your industry. This keeps things fresh and connects your business to the bigger world in the eyes of your readers.
Also, for the most part, be concise. Sometimes you’ll need to write a longer post. But usually it’s best to remember that most readers are busy and will appreciate something that is short and sweet.

Here are a few ideas for posts:
• Create a helpful guide related to your industry
• Conduct a poll or write about a recent poll
• Report on an event or conference you’ve recently attended, including what you found helpful, comment-provoking thoughts
• Host a guest writer: invite an industry notable to write on your blog
• Review a related book/article/document/film
• Embed podcasts or video clips, and add value by providing informed comments or transcripts
• Provide lists of helpful info, how-to, etc. Readers like lists.

The Beauty of the Blog
As you read this, you may be thinking, “If I didn’t have the time to take care of my online marketing, I certainly don’t have the time to create a perfect blog for my business.” But that’s the beauty of blog, and maybe it’s why so many small business owners have started them and kept them going: Blogs are like pencils; they come with erasers. You can get started, add posts when you have a free moment here and there, and edit, delete, tweak and build your blog gradually. You don’t have to open it up to the public until you feel it’s ready. Once you are comfortable with what you have going on your blog, push it out into the world and watch what happens.

Network Solutions® online marketing experts have been professionally trained to navigate small businesses through the world of online marketing through a variety of means, including search engine optimization (SEO), hosting and much more.
To speak to a Network Solutions search consultant, call 1-877-438-8599.

Web design – the latest trends

2010-06-22T15:46:00.003-07:00

Web design – the latest trends

It’s the Web – there’s always something new and different going on. What started out as an information-sharing tool in academia shifted to graphic-heavy sites (more pretty than anything else) to gimmicky sites with tons going on – Flash, videos, scrolling info, music and so much more. (Remember last month’s newsletter where I said, “Just because you CAN do something, doesn’t mean you should.” This trend is exactly what I was talking about.)

The Web will continue to evolve and, hopefully, improve. The trend now is a good mix of good presentation, interactivity and organization. The best sites look good, can respond to requests by users and are easy to navigate. Focus is now more than ever on the visitor (as it should be!!!) and making it easy for him/her to find the site amongst the many, many, many sites out there and making it painless for the user to find the information he/she visited the site for in the first place.

Two trends include text only Web design and graphics only Web design. Text only sites have very few graphics, black text on light backgrounds (example: sites like Craigslist.com). The advantages are many including readability, ease of navigation, quick loading times, just to name a few. The disadvantage of the text only site is, obviously, a bit boring. Graphics only sites look great but take a long time to load, don’t often do as well in search engine rankings and are not as easily searchable or easy to navigate by the user.

A good Wed designer can design a site that takes advantage of both - the simplicity of a text-only site and the attractiveness of a graphics-heavy site. We can use both to ensure your message is getting out to your customers and prospects and ensure your message is being conveyed quickly and effectively – SO important when you’re trying to fight for brain space.

If you’re thinking of a new or revised Web site, be sure to talk to potential designers and make sure they are not only up on the latest trends, but can show you examples of their work. And – if you want to avoid some serious headaches – get a referral!

6 Content Marketing Tips That Drives Leads

2010-06-22T15:46:00.001-07:00

6 Content Marketing Tips That Drives Leads

Too often we grab the latest product brochure, sales presentation or case study and post it online. But customers are looking for you to demonstrate an understanding of their needs before they are ready to engage in the sales process. If we pay close attention to avoid the common mistakes, content marketing can drive leads that are more relevant, targeted and qualified than a traditional outbound push.
So here are my 6 tips for creating content that drives the leads that sales wants…
1. Define your audience on their terms not yours. Stay away from arbitrary boundaries like SIC codes and Revenue range or employee size. Instead create personas of people that buy your solutions or products. Market to them and never forget that even in B2B, human beings still make the decisions.
2. Know your prospects pain points. Know them all. Know how they rank. And understand the cost of their pain. Understand why your customers buy from you and not the competition and make sure you have the content to support that
3. Use the halo effect to your advantage. Cultivate as many relationships and connection in your customer and prospects ecosystems as you can find. This is a common practice by the top sales folks and is a tremendous service marketing can provide to sales.
4. Get creative. The biggest question I hear on Content Marketing is usually around how to create content on a small budget. Videotape your interview and post it online. Use the key insights from your surveys to create whitepapers on the top pain points. You don’t need to sell your solution if you can engage your prospects and demonstrate that you understand their needs.
5. Use compelling titles and brief descriptions or abstracts. Nothing drives response more than strong titles addressing prospect needs. Test your titles in every email blast you make to your “house file”. This will help you to understand the style that resonates best.
6. Research smart placement: And now that you understand your prospects needs and you’ve created compelling content, you need to place that content where the largest majority of your prospects will find you. Resist the easy answer and seek the broadest distribution you can afford.

reasons not to put music on your site

2010-06-22T15:44:00.000-07:00

5 Reasons Not to Put Music on Your Website

Putting music on a website is a cringe factor we continually deal with in our web development and consulting business. The web is a great place to be creative, but some creative types forget all about usability when implementing their vision.

Here is my list of usability (common sense) reasons not to put music on your website:

It’s not 1999. This music on websites business was a pretty big deal when the “Interweb” (internet) was in its infancy. Now that the web is all grown up, the idea of putting music on a website is passé and will make your website appear older than it is.
You’re wasting bandwidth. Why slow down the entire site? Adding music files increases your website’s load time. Some may argue that in the world of high-speed internet it really does not matter. But I disagree. Anything you can do to increase your website’s efficiency – and avoid trying the patience of potential visitors – should be considered. Every millisecond counts. Think like the Olympic swimmers and competitive cyclists who strive to shave off every extra millisecond to set new performance records.
You’ll alienate visitors who are on the job. The majority of web browsing is done at work. This fact alone is a major caution against putting music on your website. The last thing you want is for a visitor to regret that they dared to visit your website because you surprised them with an annoying song that alerted your coworkers or your boss of your activities.
You can’t please everyone. Your website is serving many different users, each with their own music tastes. You can’t make everyone happy with a website. Adding music only serves to further segment your web users into those who like the music, and those who don’t enjoy it or understand how it fits with your content. Some people may just plain hate the music you have chosen and never return as a visitor/customer. Simply not worth it.
If it was a good idea, iTunes would be doing it. iTunes is the world’s best known brand selling music online. Guess what? There is no music on their website. You can click to sample anything in their entire library, but when you are on the iTunes home page, it stays silent. I rest my case.

Emily Dickinson said it best- “Saying nothing…sometimes says the most.”

Basic Design Rules of Layout

2010-05-24T15:53:00.000-07:00

Borders
· Use borders when you want to frame and draw attention to information (e.g.,table of contents, calendars, special notes).
· Allow the edges of text columns and artwork to create the illusion of borders.
· Draw attention to boxes or images by using borders with a drop shadow.

Directional Flow
· Create directional flow with ruling lines and lines of type. Don't forget the lines within illustrations.
· Use the conventional "Z" pattern of reading (western cultures) for the strategic placement of important information. Start in the upper left corner, work across to the right and then back to the left again, going top to bottom.

Focus
· Draw the reader's attention to important elements by contrasting size (scale),color, and page position. Make sure the elements have a function that supports the content.
· Use large, bold display type and/or graphics for the creation of focus. Use elements with visual weight, intensity, or color for focus.

General
· Remember: a brilliant project completed after the deadline may never see the light of day.

"If time be of all things the most precious; wasting time must be, as Poor Richard says, the greatest Prodigality Sin, as he elsewhere tells us, lost time is never found again"-- Benjamin Franklin.

· Don't let bad design hurt great content.
· Be prepared to makes lots of revisions. Start with the big concept, and work through until you've eliminated all of the mistakes.
· Don't forget that concept and content are everything.
· Be consistent, help the reader recognize, identify, and comprehend different types of information.
· Remember that design is evolutionary, turn mistakes and accidents into opportunities.
· Don't be deluded, great design can help bad content, but only for a while.
· Have someone who represents your audience review your materials.
· Remember, "I like it.." is not a reason to include it in your design. Logic, clarity,
and meaning should drive the design.
· If you really want to be different, do it right.
· Keep it simple.
· Only include layout elements and copy that support the message.
· Remember, the design is intended to help clarify and support the content.
· Use graphic devices such as white space, rules, images, and layout to help the reader understand the content.
· Use graphic devices to direct the reader through the material.

Page Organizers
· Use a grid to help organize elements on the page. Make sure that the grid is flexible, but that the grid sections are not too small. Divide the page into four or five columns for most flexibility.
· Use multiple columns to organize text and visuals into smaller (more easily read) blocks of information.
· Divide text into two or three equal columns for best results on a standard page.
· Use a single wider column with a smaller column for pullout quotes and other types of supporting content.
· If printing, make sure to accommodate for three-hole punch, or other bindery
techniques by adding a little extra white space to the inside margin.

Rules
· Place rules between headlines, subheads, pull-quotes, and other elements to separate content.
· Separate columns with vertical rules. Be careful: they can interfere with content or misdirect the reader.
· Use thicker rules at the bottom than at the top, but be consistent.
· Show care when creating thick rules for printing because they can cause problems with ghosting (ink transfer to other parts of the document).
· When printing, thick rules may not receive full ink coverage -- they may streak or
lighten.
· Provide ample white space around thick rules.
· Include reverse type within thick rules, or bars. This draws attention to subheads or section breaks.

Screens
· Screen images or other elements for an effective, inexpensive way to add
"color" to a page. Approximately 40% in printing costs may be saved by using two
colors, screens, and reverses, over the cost of four-color printing.
· Avoid using screens when limited separation is available between the copy
and screened image. If an image must be placed behind text, make sure the
type is bigger and bolder than normal and keep the screen at 5% to 10%. One
should not have to fight to read the text.

Text Organizers
· Grab the reader's attention with headlines -- visually but also in content.
· Avoid headlines that create interest that is not met by the following copy.
· Write short clever headlines of five to eight words for ideal results.
· Use subheads to break the body of text into smaller, more understandable sections.
· Use block quotes to separate long quotations -- four or more lines -- from the body text.
· Use captions to clarify and give support to the image. Make sure the image supports and clarifies the content.
· Use pullout quotes as an excellent vehicle to visually break a large body of text,or to give the reader a summary of what is on the page.
· Use sidebars, related stories or blocks of information that stands off from the main body of text. They are a good way to add interest and help support the content.
· Set captions, cutlines, and callouts in a manner that distinguishes them from body type by changing point size, weight, or leading. Italics are OK, but not on the Web.
· When stories feed into multiple columns, set headlines to span all columns of a story.
· Set bylines and continuation lines smaller than headlines, and with a style that
distinguishes them from body text.
· Set continuation heads above continued stories, and if stories are nested (run in
multiple columns at different column depths), use a rule or box to span all columns.

White or Negative Space
· Leave plenty of white space around type and graphic elements (an eighth to a quarter inch depending on size relative to the layout).
· Leave a little more white space at the bottom of a page relative to the top of the page (e.g., 0.75 inch at the top and 1 inch at the bottom). This will optically balance the page so it won't look like it is slipping off at the bottom.
· Create a wide margin to direct the reader's attention into the copy or image area.
· Use at least a quarter-inch gutter between columns.
· Use left aligned (unjustified) text to create visual relief. Be careful that the "rag" indents on the right are not too big.
· Increase leading (white space between lines) to lighten the look of the page.
· Invite the reader into the page by leaving open space at the top and along the left margin.

Keyword Power

2010-05-24T15:28:00.000-07:00

When you type a search term into Google® or Yahoo!® odds are many thousands or even many millions of websites pop up on a series of results pages. Rest assured, the ones at the top are using well executed search engine optimization (SEO) and/or Pay-Per-Click (PPC) strategies to yield those highly desired results.

So, how do you get your page to turn up at the top of the search engine results page (SERP) or your PPC ad to encourage clicks? A cornerstone of the effort is the selection of keywords. (The terms "keyword" and "keyword phrase" will be used interchangeably throughout this document.)

Keywords tell search engines what your website or page is all about. The object is to place “bait” that will entice search engine spiders to search and index the site, but the keywords and surrounding text must also serve as a compelling and useful resource for flesh-and-blood readers. Many keywords are common sense choices but many are not, and those words still need to be implemented properly to have the most impact.

Whether you are looking to optimize your business website to rank higher in search engine results or preparing to launch online marketing efforts with a PPC campaign or other marketing approaches, you will first need to cultivate the keywords that will identify and bolster your brand. This document explores how to get started on keyword development, a valuable cornerstone of any SEO or PPC campaign.

Getting Started on Keywords
Assuming you will have 5-10 pages on your website, you'll need a final keyword list of between 10 and 30 keywords for your entire site. In order to give yourself as much choice and flexibility as possible, begin with a list of potential keywords that is at least twice that and pare it down to the strongest words from there.

Coming up with such a long list of strong potential keywords can seem daunting at first. A Web professional with experience in search engine optimization (SEO) or PPC can use analysis of your site and your competition to generate a large list from which you can choose keywords to use in your optimization efforts. There are also other techniques you can use to begin compiling your list.

Common Sense
Since natural keywords work best, it only makes sense to start your keyword search in a natural way. Begin by making a list of words or phrases that describe your business or the products you sell in about 2-5 words. Suppose, for example, that you operate an online pet supplies store: What is your overall focus? What specific products would you like your site to focus on?

Without self editing, jot down everything that comes to mind, even if some words and phrases seem silly at first. If a keyword doesn't feel right to you or doesn't read the way you'd like in your text, you don't have to use it, but the brainstorming session can spawn many other great ideas.

Competitors
Check out the websites of your closest competitors to see what keywords they're using to attract visitors. The keywords used on a Web page can be found on the Source page. View it by hitting the View button on the toolbar at top, then hitting Source. Once the source page opens, look for this type of entry: <"KEYWORDS" content="Online Pet Supplies, Pet Products, Pet Clothes"> The phrases in quotes after the “KEYWORDS content” notation are the keywords designated for that Web page.

Knowing what words are currently working for your competitor can give you leg up on developing your own keyword list. This also gives you an opportunity to find out what potentially powerful keywords they're not using, and capitalize on those keywords.

Keyword Research Tools and Services
Once you've compiled your initial list, there are a number of keyword aids available to help you find overlooked keyword opportunities, identify which keywords on your list are the most relevant and most often searched, and ultimately narrow down your list to the strongest keywords.

Some keyword analytics tools such as Google® AdWords cost nothing to use; however, they may not offer all the analysis you need to determine how much competition there is for each word. Programs such as Wordtracker offer expanded capabilities, but come at a cost and still require some skill to use properly. For many people, the assistance of an experienced website developer offers not only full keyword research services, but also proper implementation of those keywords into search engine optimized content.

Identifying Your Strongest Keywords
Now that you know how to kick off the process, it helps to know what types of keywords to focus on for the best results. Your list will include keyword phrases that share some important characteristics:

• Natural
• Relevant
• Specific
• Strong-Performing
• Consistent

Let's examine each of these concepts briefly.

Natural A major trend these days – it really isn't so much a trend as a return to good, basic writing practices – is to ensure that text and the keywords within it read as naturally as possible. This may seem like common sense, but for a long time keywords that were extremely appealing to search engine spiders weren't so pretty to the human eye.

In fact, to this day some of the keywords that perform strongest when tested aren't necessarily the ones that roll off the tongue fluidly. For example, a person trying to find Fido a chew toy may type the phrase "pet toys" into the search bar and then tack on "large dogs" to narrow the search further. However, working the phrase "pet toys large dogs" into a natural-sounding sentence can be tricky. (If your research indicates this is a great keyword to use to get the search engine spider's attention, use it; the phrase can be interrupted with a period or a prepositional phrase if necessary, as in "pet toys for large dogs.")

If you are producing your own text, you may wish to choose keywords that most closely resemble how you describe your business to others. This will just naturally result in keywords that describe you best and that you can work into you text in a natural, readable way. If, however, you are concerned with using the most powerful keywords possible and still having natural-sounding text, consider hiring the services of a professional SEO copywriter who is trained in SEO practices.

Relevant
There are a few characteristics that qualify a keyword as relevant. Choosing words that meet the following criteria for relevance will help ensure that these keywords will have the most impact:

The keywords target your desired audience.
Do you cater to a certain demographic: women, men, teens, technical experts or others? Choose keywords that you believe will appeal to individuals that fit the profile of your average customer. For example, if you sell pet supplies and you wish to target dog owners, consider keywords that capitalize on this, such as "toys for large dogs," "extra large dog collars" or similar phrases.

Keywords that consist only of phrases people would use to find you.
Never "bait and switch" by using keywords that don't apply to what you offer. While it may be tempting to reel in visitors to your dog toy page with keyword phrases such as "leather saddles" or "horse supplies"on the off chance that they also own dogs, resist the urge if you don't actually sell these items. Yes, you want leads, but you want legitimate, qualified leads, not ill-fitting prospects who'll promptly navigate away from your site.

Keywords are in a "language" that your target audience would understand.
Unless you're targeting trade professionals or an audience with a high level of specialized or technical knowledge, if possible stay away from keywords that contain highly technical language. Try to anticipate who will be looking for your offerings and use the language they are likely to use. If you sell very complex equipment or services but to an audience without sophisticated technical knowledge, consider what words they might use to convey what they're looking for, as well as how they might use your product or service.

Specific (but not too specific)
There's a tremendous amount of competition for attention on the Internet and for those coveted top spots on the first page of search engine results. So, it makes sense a keyword shouldn't be so general that use of that term leads searchers to 10 billion competing sites. When brainstorming your keyword list, consider phrases that are precise enough to direct searchers to a specific product or service you sell. Using our fictional pet supplies store as an example, some good potential keywords might include:

jeweled dog collar
large dog collars
paw print dog pillow
female cat collar
large metal dog dishes
ceramic cat bowl paw print

Too many adjectives, however, can work against you. Consider the following list of potential keywords:

pink and white striped large female dog collar
cat dish with faux pearls and diamonds

While these may describe actual products in your pet store, they're impractical. First, users who are still in the research stage of buying may not yet know exactly what they want, and will use more general search terms to find related products. Others won't necessarily use all these descriptors to look up the product. In general, a desirable keyword phrase should be between 2-5 words long, but not so long that a potential visitor is unlikely to type the phrase into the search engine to find the product.

Strong-Performing
A common misconception among beginners to keyword research is that a good, strong keyword is one that yields millions of results on the search engine results page(SERP). What those millions of results actually represent are the millions of pages you must compete with to get your website in front of the potential customers who are searching for you.

A better measure of a powerful keyword phrase is the number of times the term is searched, balanced against the amount of competition for that word. The most powerful keywords are searched often and have little competition. For example, a phrase that gets just 500 searches per month but has almost no competition is generally a better option than a phrase that is searched 2,000 times per month but is competing with a million other sites that have optimized with that keyword phrase.

There are a number of free or low-cost programs such as Google® AdWords that can help a beginner brainstorm and choose appropriate keywords. However, choosing keywords that strike the best balance between these goals is both an art and a science. Professional website developers base their selection of keywords on a customer's needs and references, their existing site, as well as on professional analysis of search engine traffic and keyword competition.

Consistent
When you've compiled your final list of keyword phrases, you may notice patterns in your list: some of the same words, similar terms, etc. This indicates that you may be on the right track with your keyword choices. Search engine spiders love consistency. Common threads and similarities between keyword terms, as long as they all remain relevant to the purpose of your site, give the search engine spiders a strong indication of what your site is all about.

Geo-Targeting with Keywords
Geo-targeted keywords are keywords that focus on specific cities or geographical regions: for example, "dog collars in belleville illinois" or "belleville cat toy" or "st. louis area pet supplies." Geo-targeting is a terrific keyword option for businesses with one or more brick-and-motor locations who wish to reach customers near those store locations. It can also be a powerful tool for national corporations who want to appeal on the local level, such as in major metropolitan areas where they provide service.

Choosing geo-targeted keywords is more complex than simply adding a city name or regional designation to the keyword. Remember, while the keyword phrase is indeed specific, it should also still be natural and relevant, and must still perform well in keyword analytics. With some common sense techniques and a few technical tools, you can be well on your way to building a keyword list you can use to optimize your website and get started on an effective online marketing campaign.

Traditional vs Social Marketing

2010-05-24T15:22:00.000-07:00

Traditional vs Social Marketing

By Jhonmar Castillo
mokaproductions.posterous.com

In the last year social media has exploded, becoming one of the most talked about themes of the internet and perhaps the most discussed topic among marketing and advertising professionals, as they grapple with the co-existence and integration of traditional marketing and advertising techniques with Social Media Strategies. There is now conflict between adherents to “Old Media” and the new Social Media. Traditionalists may stubbornly attempt to insert the status quo of time tested methodology into Social Media often with poor effect.

What it is being forgotten during this process is the simple evaluation of human behavior and the question, “why does social media exist?”

A good strategist must first understand the primal “evolution” of all confrontations before planning and putting in effect any possible alternatives. Now let’s evaluate my statement by answering the basic question, why?

Why do social media exist? Social Media is a technological expression of a strong human need for interaction with others. Social media in fact, acts as a facilitator for cyber interrelationships among individuals, bringing people closer to each other, creating new forms of socialization and interaction, while pursuing common interests and facilitating communication by creating synergies. Social media saves time by being an efficient method of disseminating personal and business information and streamlining logistics. Technology is the key that enables this interaction.

So when advertisers evaluate the criteria of their perspectives they must first and foremost understand the technology behind it and how it can benefit the community.Then and only then will they know how to approach the issues. Once we have determined that technology will influence the behavior of society, it will be easier for the strategist to predict trends by studying sociological tendencies and consumer’s responses, adjusting their messages to fit the media that will penetrate and most important, influence consumption behavior within that community, knowing that those trends and behaviors will be directly influenced by technological developments.

In a conflict where team “A” or “traditional media” is in a defensive mode, fighting for their irrefutable place in the business against team “B” the social media activists who believe that their social movement will abolish and make traditional marketing tools obsolete and irrelevant. I must say that they are a both missing the point, simply because today we are witnessing a moment of transition where we must prepare to pass the torch, in order to create a whole new category, and a brand new meaning for the word “advertising”.

What is changing?
What is being changed is the word “advertising” and it is being substituted by the word “Share” or “Follow”. Advertising has come around full circle in the product exchange process, where by sellers and consumers are back to one on one contact, thanks to the close and direct interaction that social media allows during the transaction. The seller can experience the content or discontent of its audience quicker and in a more personal way, while consumers feels closer and more loyal to their brands. The secret and success of a good advertising campaign in today’s environment should rely on the understanding of the exchange process.

It is irresponsible to think that traditional marketing tools will not have an impact on consumer behavior, but it is even more irresponsible to consider that social media strategies are not a major factor in the future of marketing. One thing is certain; we have not seen the true power of social media as yet. This is a bright opportunity to draw a new horizon with infinitive and creative ideas.

Why You Must Think Before You Type

2010-05-24T15:16:00.000-07:00

Why You Must Think Before You Type
How to Write Brilliant Taglines

By Michael Cohn Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of CompuKol
Communications

Your tagline is the most important advertisement that you will ever write. Your business’s tagline expresses personality and attitude and connects to people on an emotional level.

What is now referred to as a tagline used to be called a slogan. In essence, a tagline is a clear and concise phrase that lets your audience know exactly what your company is offering. There is a true art to writing taglines. The perfect tagline will make a huge difference in how and whether people pay attention to what you are selling. It is important that your tagline makes a big impact. You need it to be remembered by everyone who reads it. It needs to be catchy. If you are having difficulty choosing between cute and direct, direct is probably a better choice. Once you have gotten your audience to pay attention to and remember your tagline, the next thing that you want them to do is become interested in buying what you are selling.

Humorous taglines can be very effective sometimes (done tastefully, of course). People love to be entertained. There are too many issues in life that are not funny. If you can use a tagline that makes your audience forget their issues for a little while, you have a shot at their becoming your customers.

It is all about “What’s in it for me?” (WIIFM). Your customers and potential customers are not interested in how wonderful your product is and how great your services are. The only thing that concerns them is what you are going to do to solve their problems. Your campaign of taking care of your customers’ needs should start with your tagline. When they read your tagline and it makes them feel good and satisfied, that puts them one step closer to becoming your customer.

If a tagline is doing its job correctly, it is inspirational and thought provoking. Some examples of effective taglines are “Do it your way,” “When you care enough to send the very best” and “Are you in good hands?” Taglines make people feel good about the product and/or service and if they decide to buy, they will feel even better.

There are many ways to approach tagline writing.
• Connect the product/service logo to the tagline
• Use short phrases that have a rhythm to them
• Promise something to the customer if they buy
• Connect the product/service with a customer’s need that may not be tangible

When you are building your brand (and even later on when you are strengthening your
brand), your business’s tagline is an extremely important part of your business. You should have the tagline written and in place from the beginning of your branding campaign. Your tagline will help people to identify with your brand consistently and over a long span of time. In addition to your tagline being an essential part of the branding of your business, it will also cost you very little money, if any at all.

Your business’s tagline will create a first impression and your audience will remember that tagline for a very long time, even if they don’t always remember the name of your business. Your tagline has the potential to work indefinitely for your business. If, however, you ever get to the point where you feel that your tagline is old-fashioned and outdated, you can always write a new and more appropriate one for modern times.

Best Web Design

2010-05-24T15:14:00.000-07:00

Eight features of good Web design
What makes a good Web site? Below are eight features to consider when developing a new or revamped company Web site:

1. Simple layout. Don’t force your clients to search for content – make it obvious! Simple, clean, straightforward. Their time is important too – if they can’t find what they’re looking for within seconds of visiting your site, they’re going to leave.

2. Content, content, content! Your Web designer should make the SITE look good, not make the Web designer look good! Another of my favorites is, “just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you SHOULD!” See again #1 – make it easy for your clients to find the information they want. Communicate your message – don’t decorate it.

3. 3D, Flash, effects, etc. Use sparingly. Again, refer to “just because you CAN do something doesn’t mean you SHOULD!” There must be a reason for effects – and “I want to show off my skills” is not a good reason – unless the site is a resume site, then all bets are off!

4. Central orientation. Today’s content is most often found at the center of the screen – left-aligned layouts are not nearly as common as they used to be. Center-aligned sites look more balanced and clean.

5. Neutral backgrounds. Light background, dark text. Black text on a light background is easiest for the eye to read. Whatever colors you pick, make sure the content is clearly legible. Remember – not everyone coming to your site has great eyesight. Keep those of us with reading glasses in mind when you design!

6. Color. Use it sparingly to highlight important content. And not EVERYTHING is important!

7. All-caps. STOP over-using them. People can’t easily read paragraphs of all-cap text – which is exactly why books and newspapers are not published in all caps.

8. Whitespace is a good thing. Use it. You eyes don’t read cluttered content. They need some clean whitespace to identify what is going on.

Tips on How to Build a Powerful Network in 2010

2010-04-14T15:52:00.000-07:00

Tips on How to Build a

Powerful Network in 2010

Hank Blank is a Marketing Consultant offering a wide variety of services for clients including advertising, public relations, social media and interactive solutions. He utilizes networking to build his business and has spoken on networking to companies and organizations across the country.

Hank Blank's first tip is don't sit down.Sitting down is a kiss of death in networking. Many people arrive at a networking event and immediately sit down most often with people they already know. "That isn't networking it's socializing and you won't meet anyone new. Networking is about meeting new connectors," said Blank.

Don't Immediately tell people you are looking for your next position. It makes you invisible. There are millions of people looking for thier next job. If you start your conversation by saying, "I'm looking for my next career opportunity and here are my target companies, it is like white noise now and you won't be remembered because people have heard it so often," said Blank. Establish your personality and your uniqueness first so people will remember you and your persona. You can pitch the career part once you connect.

Don't hide behind your computer staying at home all day working on social networking. "Face time not Facebook leads to relationships and opportunities," said Blank. "Social networks are great at creating your personal brand but personal networking is even more important."

Don't use free business cards from the internet. You are trying to get that next six figure job and you are out there telling people you are uniquely qualified so why use a business card that homogenizes your identity?

Make yourself your client. Create a strong personal brand for yourself in 2010. Even if you get a new job how long will it last in this new employment world? On the other hand your personal brand is forever. Register your own domain using your own name.Establish a strong presence on social networks like Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter using your own name to help optimize your SEO when people Google you. Today you must own every posting on Googles first page.

To learn more just google Hank Blank or check out his site www.hankblank.com

10 Things You Really Didn't Know About Domain Names

2010-04-14T15:48:00.000-07:00

10 Things You Really Didn't Know About
Domain Names

Domain names are equivalent to real estate within the virtual world. With the dot com era many people turned to the internet as a way of investment, social interaction, business marketing, and even virtual business. While we are all getting to grips with the ‘how tos’ and the ‘what ifs’ on the World Wide Web here are a few interesting facts about domain names that you probably did not know.

1. The world’s longest domain name
Legally domain names are allowed to be no longer than 63 characters in length (excluding sub-domains or domain suffixes). While there have been many contenders and claimants for the pole position of longest domain name in the world, I tend to go with the Guinness Book of Records:
http://www.llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwyll-llantysiliogogogoch.com/
(Phew that’s a mouthful!)
The interesting fact relating to this domain name is it is actually a real word, named after a Welsh village! I wonder how many residents have complained to their local postal company regarding lost post?! Unfortunately this website is now under construction, but other candidates could also postulate for that first
place, like : http://www.iamtheproudownerofthelongestlongestlongestdomainnameinthisworld.com/

2. The world’s shortest domain name
Acknowledged internationally as being one of the main drivers behind internet evolution, Google have now legally acquired the shortest internet domain name. http://www.g.cn/ . Google purchased the unique domain name to assist their Chinese users in locating Google with greater ease.

3. The highest price paid for a domain name?
People throughout the world have cashed in on the dot com era, many earning an applaudable amount with very little input. In January 2006 it was announced that sex.com was sold for $14 million, making it the most expensive domain name purchased to date. Close contenders to sex.com are fund.com at over $9 million, porn.com for $9.5 million and business.com for over $340 million.

4. The first domain name to ever be registered?
On the 15th march 1985 the first registered domain name came into existence symbolics.com which is still in existence today.

5. What is the shortest dot com name that I may register?
According to registering laws all domain names must be a minimum of 3 characters in length excluding sub-domains or suffixes.

6. Domain names male and female
If you are looking to register a male name registered I am afraid you are out of luck as they all appear to be registered to date. The ladies may have a little more luck, however, the more common girl names also come with a heavy price tag.

Freelancers disrespect thier time

2010-04-14T15:46:00.000-07:00

As a freelancer or independent designer, the most valuable asset you have is your own time. Your ability to earn a living relies upon your own time management, which will allow you to perform income-generating services for clients. With effective time management you may be able to earn more and work less, and with poor time management you may find yourself working very long hours just to get by.

In this article we will look at 9 different things that freelancers often do that is disrespectful to their own time. If you find that your own time management skills are sometimes lacking, evaluate yourself in these areas to see if you have some room for improvement. Respecting your own time will lead to more profitable and efficient work, and more time away from work with your family or friends.

1. Under Charging
Pricing design services is a challenge for most of us. Because there are all kinds of variables (skill level, experience, specific type of work, location, etc.) there is no set price that you should be charging, but it should be similar to what others at your level and in your area are charging. It’s not uncommon for freelancers to under price their services because it is what they feel is necessary in order to compete. Doing so can actually be a disservice to yourself as it will require you to work more hours in order to earn a living.

One problem with under pricing your services is that not only can it be disrespectful to your own time, but it can also lead clients to do the same. When clients are paying a higher rate for a service they will be more careful about the work that they ask you to do when it is affecting how much they will be charged. Additionally, there is a perception issue that goes along with pricing. If a client sees a very low price for services they may assume that the price is low because the quality is also low, so be sure that your rates are reflective of your work and vice versa.
Another issue to consider is that lower rates will often lead you to rush through jobs because you’ll need to move on to the next one in order to keep money coming in. This will typically result in a quality of work that is less than your best.
Freelance Switch has a helpful hourly rate calculator. It will ask you a number of questions about your expenses and the hours that you can work, and it will assist you by showing an ideal hourly rate as well as a break even hourly rate.

2. Not Charging for Excessive Revisions
Most design contracts will address the issue of revisions or changes that are requested by the client. Very rarely will clients not want anything to be changed, but sometimes you may come across clients that are requesting excessive changes, or maybe they keep changing their mind about what they want. The price that you agreed to with the client for the service should not require that you make any and every change that is being requested without being compensated additionally for your time.
In situations where clients are requesting more than the agreed upon changes or revisions, it’s a good practice to tell them that you can make the changes but you will need to charge an addition fee. This will help you to get compensated for your time and it will force clients to respect your time as well.

3. Lack of Contracts or Policies
If you’ve been freelancing for a while I am sure you have realized the importance of getting signed contracts and having established policies for payment. Unfortunately, it’s almost certain that at some point you will have a project that doesn’t go according to plan or a client that doesn’t want to pay on time. With a contract you have a legal agreement and some protection.
Establishing some basic policies for how you operate is also important. An example would be to charge clients 50% (or some other set amount) up front before you begin working on the project. You may also have a policy of requiring the final payment before delivering the files to the client or uploading the site to their server. Policies are important because they establish your way of doing business, and it can save you time and headaches down the road as you won’t have to make all of these decisions on a case-by-case basis.

4. Poor Client Intake Process
Each client is different and they will all have specific needs for their own projects. Getting to know and understand your client is critical to the success of the project. Many designers want to jump in to the design process without dedicating enough time to get familiar with the client. While this may seem like it would save time, it will actually usually wind up costing more time because more changes and revisions will be required down the road.

By investing time up front to get to know to the client, their business, as well as their customers and website visitors, you will be more prepared to create an effective site for them, and you’ll have a better idea of what they are looking for. An efficient client intake process can lead to a higher quality of work, better results for your clients, and less wasted time.

5. Poor Organization
Organization is a big part of being able to work efficiently. Without proper organization you could be wasting a lot of time that you are not being compensated for. Organization is important in a number of different areas, including management of your clients and contacts, management of your finances, and project management. If you find yourself wasting time searching for emails from clients or trying to find out what invoices have not been paid, you could probably be working less hours if you’re able to improve your organization.

For more on organization see Critical Resources to Help Designers Get Organized.

6. Accepting Any Project That Comes Your Way
One common mistake that many freelancers make is that they accept just about any client who wants to use their services. Regardless of who you are and what skills you have, you’re bound to come across some projects that would be a better fit than others. By taking any project that comes your way you could be missing out on better opportunities that are right around the corner, and you could be working on projects that you don’t really enjoy anyway.

Being selective about the projects that you accept will generally be a better use of your time as you’ll be able to avoid those projects that require more time than they are worth. Rather than simply feeling like you have to convince the potential client to hire you, look at it as a situation where both of you need to feel that there is a good fit in order to work together.

7. Not Setting Work/Life Boundaries
Respecting your own time is not just an issue that affects your work, it also has an impact on your personal life and your time away from work. Everyone needs to get adequate time away from work, and poor time management with your work can easily carry over to your personal life. If an employer required employees to work long hours with evenings and weekends at the office, we would say that the employer does not respect the personal life of the employees. The same thing applies to those of us who are self employed. Working excessive hours shows a lack of respect for our time away from work.
Part of the allure to freelancing for many people is the potential to have a flexible schedule and to avoid working 9 to 5. While you don’t need to have rigid hours that cannot be flexible, it is important to have a clear distinction of what time is designated for work and what time is personal. Each person handles it differently. You may want to set a schedule that you’ll work each day or each week, or you may want to set hours that will be different each week according to your schedule. Whatever the case may be, for most of us it’s necessary to set hours ahead of time, otherwise the tendency is to work too much.

8. Spec Work
Spec work is very common, especially among younger or inexperienced designers, and it’s a very heated topic within the industry. Personally, I don’t dedicate any time to design contests or spec work because I have no interest in spending time on projects with a very low likelihood of being compensated. I, and many other designers, feel that doing spec work is disrespectful to your own time because you are working simply with the hope of being paid. The vast majority of participants will not receive any compensation for their time.

If you’re trying to get started as a freelancer and you’re not able to find other work aside from spec work, I would suggest contacting your friends and family. See if any of them have a need for your services or if they know of anyone who is in need of work. You can also reach out to non-profit organizations and offer a discounted service to them. Another option is to work on your own projects, which can be a great experience because it can be anything you want it to be. All of these options will allow you to gain experience and make some money without the need to do spec work.
For more on spec work, see Spec Work Can Damage Your Business.

9. Not Investing in the Essentials for Running Your Business
Running a profitable business obviously requires you to bring in more revenue than you spend on expenses. However, this does not mean that you shouldn’t spend anything on your business. There are plenty of legitimate expenses that are necessary for running a business or that will allow you to do your job more effectively or efficiently. For example, if you’re spending a significant amount of time on finances and tracking which invoices have been paid, you would be well served to invest in financial software or an online invoicing app. This would be a relatively small expense, but it will help you to make better use of your time.

Would you hire a dental student to fix your tooth?

2010-04-14T15:42:00.000-07:00

Would you hire a dental student to fix your tooth?

Why you should hire a professional Web designer

~ by Julie Bodine, Owner/Creative Director of Margarita Marketing

I can tell I’m starting to get old – parts of my body are falling apart! For example, I just had to have a tooth implant. A root canal I’d had years ago finally failed. I don’t have dental insurance, so how did I find the dentist to fix my tooth? You guessed it – by referral! Almost always one of the very best ways to hire someone new is to find out from others you trust whom they used. Fortunately (or unfortunately) my Dad had just had four implants – I went to the same dentist and I’m very happy with the results.

Want to know one of the things I NEVER considered doing? Hiring a dental student to fix my tooth. No offense to all the dental students out there, but for a procedure like this, I wanted the best. I wanted it done right the FIRST time because – let’s face it – this procedure HURT, was very expensive and took up a lot of my time.

Hiring a well-recommended professional – one who ONLY fixes teeth for a living – just about guaranteed that I would be happy with the results. And I was.

I’m sure you’re like me and would never consider going to a dental student for such a procedure, nor would you have someone who had only completed the local Red Cross first aid class fix your broken foot. Of course not! You’d go to the doctor/dentist or whatever professional you could trust to do the job right the first time. Yes, they cost a little more, but my health is worth it. My time is worth it. Isn’t yours?

Why is it, then, that so many people, especially small businesses people, are content to hire students or other non-professional designers to design their Web sites? No, it’s not life and death . . . or is it? Perhaps it is the death of your business if you don’t get it right – the first time?

Your Web site is often the first impression potential clients have about you, your business, your product and/or service, your customer service. Don’t you want to make sure that is a positive impression? Yes, as with the doctor and dentist, it costs a little more – but don’t you want to be guaranteed a job well done. The first time?

Presenting with PowerPoint: 10 do's and don'ts

2010-04-14T15:40:00.000-07:00

<"Title" content=""> <"Keywords" content=""> <"Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> <"ProgId" content="Word.Document"> <"Generator" content="Microsoft Word 2008"> <"Originator" content="Microsoft Word 2008"> <"File-List" href="file://localhost/Users/bbuffalin/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/msoclip/0/clip_filelist.xml">

Presenting with PowerPoint: 10 do's and don'ts

Cherie Kerr knows how PowerPoint can be both provocative and persuasive in a business meeting.

She's also aware that precisely the opposite can occur.

"It can be the very best friend you have," says the Santa Ana, Calif., public relations consultant. "But you have to use it right."

Kerr's two-sided view of Microsoft's popular presentation and graphics program in Office Small Business mirrors a debate coursing through business and academia. While many embrace the values of PowerPoint as a potent business tool, there are others who contend that it's a drag on effective interaction — that it confuses, distorts and even strangles communication.

But, as Kerr points out, any discussion of PowerPoint's merits and miscues merely illustrates the importance of using the program to best advantage. Here are 10 ways to use PowerPoint to help make your business look brilliant, not brainless.

1. Hold up your end with compelling material.

In a way, PowerPoint's ease of use may be its own worst enemy. However simple and engaging it can be to build eye catching slides and graphics, bear in mind that PowerPoint isn't autonomous. The audience has come to hear you, not merely to stare at images tossed onto a screen. Build a strong PowerPoint program, but make sure that your spoken remarks are no less compelling. "PowerPoint doesn't give presentations — PowerPoint makes slides," says Matt Thornhill, president of Audience First, a Midlothian, Va., business that offers presentation training. "Remember that you are creating slides to support a spoken presentation."

2. Keep it simple.

We've all likely seen PowerPoint and other presentations where the speaker seemed ready to propose to the program. After all, it was clear that he fell in love with every wrinkle, special effect and other bit of gadgetry available. But the most effective PowerPoint presentations are simple — charts that are easy to understand, and graphics that reflect what the speaker is saying. Some authorities suggest no more than five words per line and no more than five lines per individual slide. "Don't gum up the works with too many words and graphics," Kerr

says. "Do you really need to have everything up on the screen?"

3. Minimize numbers in slides.

PowerPoint's lure is the capacity to convey ideas and support a speaker's remarks in a concise manner. That's hard to do through a haze of numbers and statistics. For the most part, most effective PowerPoint displays don't overwhelm viewers with too many figures and numbers. Instead, leave those for a later, more thorough digestion in handouts distributed at presentation's end. If you want to emphasize a statistic in PowerPoint in Microsoft Office Small Business 2007 , consider using a graphic or image to convey the point. "For instance, when I once was talking about the prevalence of Alzheimer's patients, I used a photograph of an old woman rather than just throwing up a number on the screen," Kerr says.

4. Don't parrot PowerPoint.

One of the most prevalent and damaging habits of PowerPoint users is to simply read the visual presentation to the audience. Not only is that redundant — short of using the clicker, why are you even there? — but it makes even the most visually appealing presentation boring to the bone. PowerPoint works best with spoken remarks that augment and discuss, rather than mimic, what's on the screen. "Even with PowerPoint, you've got to make eye contact with your audience," says Roberta Prescott of The Prescott Group, a Connecticut-based communications consulting firm. "Those people didn't come to see the back of your head."

5. Time your remarks.

Another potential land mine is a speaker's comments that coincide precisely with the appearance of a fresh PowerPoint slide. That merely splits your audience's attention. A well-orchestrated PowerPoint program brings up a new slide, gives the audience a chance to read and digest it, then follows up with remarks that broaden and amplify what's on the screen. "It's an issue of timing," Kerr says. "Never talk on top of your slides."

6. Give it a rest.

Unique from other products in Microsoft Office Small Business 2007 , PowerPoint is most effective as a visual accompaniment to the spoken word. Experienced PowerPoint users aren't bashful about letting the screen go blank on occasion. Not only can that give your audience a visual break, it's also effective to focus attention on more verbally-focused give and take, such as a group discussion or question and answer session.

7. Use vibrant colors.

A striking contrast between words, graphics and the background can be very effective in conveying both a message and emotion.

8. Import other images and graphics.

Don't limit your presentation to what PowerPoint offers. Use outside images and graphics for variety and visual appeal, including video. "I often have one or two very short video clips in my presentations," says New York technology consultant Ramon Ray. "It helps with humor, conveys a message and loosens up the crowd."

9. Distribute handouts at the end — not during the presentation.

Some people may disagree with me here. But no speaker wants to be chatting to a crowd that's busy reading a summation of her remarks. Unless it is imperative that people follow a handout while you're presenting, wait until you're done to distribute them.

10. Edit ruthlessly before presenting.

Never lose the perspective of the audience. Once you're finished drafting your PowerPoint slides, assume you're just one of the folks listening to your remarks as you review them. If something is unappealing, distracting or confusing, edit ruthlessly. Chances are good your overall presentation will be the better for it.

Visit the Small Business Technology Articles section of this website to learn more about small business technology strategies and solutions.

Building Business in Tough Times

2010-03-23T12:01:00.000-07:00

Author Barbara Wirtz, Published in Credit Union Executive Newsletter

A poor economy, stiff competition, unrelenting change all add up to tough times that make it difficult to grow and prosper. When things tighten up, people and organizations tend to tighten up as well. Budgets are slashed, nonessential spending is curtailed, hiring freezes are implemented-do more with less becomes the mantra. In this quest to reduce costs and save money, some common mistakes are made in the name of tough time strategies.

Tough time strategies do require wise decisions about how and where to spend your dollars but often dollars are eliminated or significantly reduced in three essential areas to tough time survival: marketing, innovation, and employee morale. When making decisions for your business, avoid common mistakes organizations make in tough times by following three "don'ts":

Don't stop marketing.

Don't stop innovating.

Don't neglect employee morale.

Don't stop marketing: A common mistake businesses make in tough times is to cut back drastically on their marketing. This may save some money in the short-run but it'll end costing you a bundle in the long-run. You run the risk of out of sight; out of mind-and possibly out of business.

Marketing in poor economic times can actually have more impact than marketing in better times.

Fewer organizations are out there marketing so your message will have greater visibility. And if what you offer helps customers solve their problems or makes their lives a bit easier in tough times, you'll reap the benefits of being seen as a beacon in a dark forest. Continuous marketing conveys staying power and provides a foundation you can springboard off once things start to improve. Those who leave the public's eye during tough times have a much harder time reestablishing themselves during better times.

Think of your marketing as a workout routine. To be effective, it's got to be structured, ongoing, and frequent enough to make a difference. Years of building brand awareness, name recognition,and customer loyalty can quickly be eroded by not placing that ad, not sending promotional material, not sponsoring that event, or not getting your name in the news. Stopping your marketing is like stopping your workout routine: you lose a lot of strength, flexibility, and stamina in a very short time. And sometimes you can't regain it or you can't regain it quickly enough. Stay in shape so you'll be ready for the marathon when things get better. No matter what happens, keep marketing.

Don't stop innovating: Another common mistake businesses make in tough times is to reduce their innovation. Innovation lies at the heart of navigating your business successfully through the rough waters of tough times. It'll be creative, innovative ideas that solve real problems for real people that will make the difference between businesses that do well and those that don't.

In tough times, businesses often find that what they've always done doesn't seem to be working as well anymore. Instead of doing more of what you've always done, try doing more of what you've never done. Use "what if" thinking: what if we could... what if our customers could ... what if we no longer ... "What if" thinking stretches the mind and reaches the soul. It can lead to greater imagination and inspiration which can lead to new markets, new products, new services, new approaches-which just may be the thing others will need and respond to. Tough times are not the times to pull in the turtle's shell; it's time to stretch out, look around, and develop something better. No matter what happens, keep innovating.

Don't neglect employee morale: No single person can improve the situation for your business alone in tough times; you need the combined efforts of all your employees. You need them to believe in you and your business more than ever and to be willing to work harder and more productively than ever before. This is not the time to shake their world anymore than it's already been shaken by their own experience in a poor economy. They have their own problems to face: possibly a spouse has been laid off or they're struggling to make ends meet themselves or they've lost a significant portion of their savings. Coming to work should not add even more stress and anxiety to your employees' lives.

Find ways to appeal to your employees' desire for reliability, safety, security, and peace of mind. Be a haven where they feel important, needed, respected, and protected. This is a case where "give and you shall receive" is true. Prove to your employees that you'll stick by them in thick or thin and they'll do the same for you.

People and organizations can make one of two decisions in tough times: hand over their future to fate or take charge of their own future. The unsuccessful ones will be heard saying things such as "There's nothing we can do about it," "Let's wait and see," or "We can't expect much right now." The successful ones say things such as "What else can we do? What other path can we take? How can we make things happen for ourselves and our customers?" It's a different mindset and one that only comes from people who feel closely connected and deeply committed to their employer. No matter what happens, build employee morale.

Marketing, innovation, and employee morale are three essential elements of building business in tough times. You may have to get creative in the way you do these things because of your own reduced resources but if you want your business to be successful in spite of tough times, you must do them.

Market with passion and focus, innovate with energy and enthusiasm, and build employee morale with heart and conviction.

If you do, your business will do more than survive tough times; it'll thrive as a result of them.

RenÈ Gnam's Direct Mail Techniques Targets Business Audiences

2010-03-23T11:41:00.000-07:00

Author, RenE Gnam, Database Marketing Guru

"When an advertising newcomer looks at Direct Mail, his first thought is consumer advertising," says consultant RenÈ Gnam, "because he's accustomed to seeing lavish promotions at home. But the biggest Direct Mail growth area is in business-to-business marketing."

Gnam initiates many response innovations and is a leading authority on the science of Direct Mail testing and the art of structuring persuasive copy and design for business and consumer markets. He appeared before the U.S. House of Representatives eight times as an expert on business mail, has
been the marketing consultant to the Library of Congress, the New York Republican Committee, the U.S. Department of Commerce, and was a major mailing list provider to Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan and Bush.

He cites the numbers reported by Dun's Marketing Services: "of 297 office equipment manufacturers, 60% increased their Direct Mail use, 89% always use Direct Mail for new product announcements, and 68% sell their products directly by mail. The median number of mailings for those companies is 10 per year and Direct Mail represents about 18.4% of their total ad budget."

Increasing Direct Mail Use For Business-to-Business

Gnam says Direct Mail is earning this increasing receptivity in business markets because it:

1. helps cut down on unscheduled sales calls,

2. brings information to re-study,

3. helps circulate information to other employees, and

4. brings news of products and services, news that is vitally needed as a firm seeks to control costs while hiking production. Gnam, who helped the U.S, Postal Service author regulations on Zip Code, says Direct Mail Marketing is infrequently practiced by kitchen-table operators hoping to make a fortune by opening envelopes, but rather "its a savvy business endeavor practiced by some of the world's largest corporations". including IBM, AT&T, and "all the generals": General Electric, General Mills, General Motors and General Telephone.

Direct Mail Warms Up Prospects for Salespeople

He praises Direct Mail's ability to inform, educate and persuade prospects who are inaccessible to salespeople. "Your Direct Mail supports the sales staff by warming up prospects before a call," he says. "You may think your company is too small to compete with a giant like Exxon or U. S. Steel," Gnam says, "but not if you use Direct Mail." He knows Direct Mail Marketing "lets the little guy tackle Goliath," and he offers this case history of how one small division of a giant corporation used mail advertising to establish a solid marketing base:

Norelco Lighting Supply Company is a division of the giant Norelco known for coffee makers, hair dryers and shavers.

Westinghouse sells light bulbs. General Electric sells them and so does GTE-Sylvania, but few Americans knew Norelco sells them, despite Norelco's world-wide position of being the #1 manufacturer of lighting.

How Direct Mail by Gnam Made Money for Norelco

In May 1979, Norelco Lighting had just one USA salesman and a savvy marketing manager who came to Gnam to give Norelco a better U.S. share of market. For New Jersey based Norelco, Gnam did three mailings from Florida.

MAILING #1, to North Carolina, was just a test to see if mailings could work. It produced only 39 leads from 16,000 pieces mailed, but 20 of those business leads became customers, better than 50% conversion to sales, with each sale worth $800 to $4,000 revenue PER YEAR, or a total of $16,000 - $80,000 A YEAR.

MAILING #2, to Michigan, produced 48 customers for revenues of $38,400 - $192,000 PER YEAR on flourescent bulbs. Nine months later, in February 1980, management hired a national sales manager, salespeople in two cities, and a staff copywriter to create more mailings.

MAILING #3 went to eight states. Expansion plans were then made for 30 states. By June 1980, within just 12 months, Norelco Lighting had become a multi-million-dollar business in the USA, selling many thousands of fluorescent bulbs at $1.30 each and incandescent bulbs (the kind you screw in your lamps) at 45c each."Perhaps your product sells for more than 45c or $1.30," Gnam chuckles, noting that Norelco Lighting now sells throughout the United States.

"Direct Mail," RenÈ Gnam says, "is a reliable source of revenue once your customer base has been clearly identified and once you have proven offers to make to that base."

Who are Homepreneurs and Why the Economy Needs to Take Notice.

2010-03-23T11:39:00.000-07:00

by
Brenda Buffalin,
Bb's Creative

The largest majority of small businesses are now considered Homepreneurs: they are small business owners running viable enterprises from their homes. They do the majority of their work at home. They share one key common denominator: The control center-is based in the home and they are building successful small businesses that provide at least 50% of our household income by selling products locally, nationally and around the globe. Roughly 6.6 million home-based businesses fit the homepreneur description - 43% of the over 15 million home-based businesses in the US - and they are rarely regarded as significant players in the U.S. economy. Instead, the common perception is that home-based businesses are merely hobbies or side businesses contributing little to the business owner's income or the overall economy.

Due to everything from advances in technology to demographic and economic shifts, the number of homepreneurs is likely to surge over the next few years. Plus, many generate substantial revenue. About 35% have revenues of more than $125,000 and 8% more than $500,000. What's more, median household income is substantially higher than it is for the population as a whole: roughly $75,000 for homepreneurs vs. $50,233 for households in general. A recent study released by the Small Business Administration shows that about 50% of the growth-oriented small businesses surveyed that started in 2004 were home-based.

So the question becomes, why do small home businesses not operate like large corporations with a rotating CEO, a board of directors, a good marketing plan, business practices that ensure growth? If they aren't, they should. Every task a large corporation performs is easily done at a small scale level to help your company grow incrementally to its potential. Just take advantage of the services and coaching you can get for free at the Small Business Administration to gain the skills and savvy that takes your business to the next level. Start networking with other small businesses and pick their brains for solutions that challenge you. Do the necessary research on the internet for answers
to issues that come up and make you feel stifled. Applaud yourself for being one of the economys business sectors that will continue to grow in popularity and thrive even after the recession.

How Not to Ruin Your Reputation

2010-03-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

Social Media "Gurus" have thrown out some tremendous statistics illustrating how everyone needs to embrace social media in order to succeed. As a result, one business after another is jumping on the social media boat and drifting away into the unknown. For those lost at sea, here is a disaster aversion plan that might help you save face. (And by the way, these are all things your mother told you.)

LESSON #1: Stop Trying To Be Edgy (Mind Your Manners)
Acting out your frat boy fantasies is not going to help you with social media marketing. Just because one risqué iPhone app did well with the masses doesn't mean your saucy approach is a good idea. You need to remember that you are dealing with a diverse group of people in Social Media Land, approximately half of which are women.

Women deserve respect, which should be a part of our upbringing. If you've reached adulthood and you still think you can get away with offending women, you have missed some important lessons. For now, suffice it to say that they are very active in the social media/app world.

Pepsi, a billion-dollar company, just pulled out its "AMP Up Before You Score" app. Let this be a lesson to you: don't kill your marketing apps on the altar of "edginess."
Pepsi Model:
iPhone App Development: $100,000
Marketing "Gurus" Who Approved It: 250,000
Cost of Damage to Brand Image: Priceless!

LESSON #2: Don't Go There...
There are some brand suicide areas you need to avoid. No matter what your Guru is telling you, stay away from PRRGNS = Politics, Religion, Race, Gender, Nationality, Sexuality. These topics have always been a house of pain, and can quickly throw things severely out of your control. Remember, brand building and controversy usually don't go hand in hand. Once damage is done by commenting on one of these forbidden topics, there is usually nothing you can say or do to make it better.

LESSON #3: The Thumper Rule
For those of you who need remedial Disney, this means, "If you can't say something nice...don't say anything at all." Personal attacks and negativity will always make you look like a child, so resist the urge to go Ape Shitake (Thanks, Guy) on someone. Take time to think before you type. Twitter and Facebook are not going to shut down in the next five minutes, so please relax and clear your mind before responding with negativity. Going code red on every comment you receive is only going to increase the risk of untimely death for you.

LESSON #4: Don't Give In to Peer Pressure
Just because you have a friend or competitor engaging in various types of social media, that doesn't mean you need to jump in. The important question is: Do you have something to say?
Answer = YES: Go ahead...Make my day. Start tweeting right now!
Answer = NO: Please get back to working on real world things, like improving your business to a level at which you do have something to say. Once you establish how you are different from everyone else, guess what? You will be ready to join the social media revolution.

LESSON #5: Don't Waste Your Time!
Don't you have some real work to do? Twitter and Facebook can be good tools, but put some limits on the time you spend there. Tweeting and Facebooking away your entire day makes your personal and professional life suffer. Your time is valuable - make sure you are allocating your time where it counts the most, and not getting wrapped up in endless social media spirals.

Yes or No to Flash???

2010-03-17T13:54:00.000-07:00

Design a Flash Web site? Yes or no?

NO! If you are having a Web site designed for the first time, or considering a Web makeover and the potential designer tries to sell you on a Flash Web site. Run screaming – in the opposite direction!

Check out some of the most successful Web sites on the Internet – NONE of them are Flash sites. Shoot, Flash is made by Adobe and Adobe doesn’t have a Flash site! I wonder why . . .

Flash is a great tool for animation, movies, games, etc, but when it comes to a successful Web site, it’s an epic failure and here are about a dozen reasons why.

#1: Search engine optimization
This is the number one reason why you should NOT have a Flash Web site – you’ll never have the same SEO (Search engine optimization) success with a Flash site as you will an HTML site. Search engines simply can’t read Flash content and therefore do not get indexed properly.

#2: Mobile devices
Guess what – I can’t see Flash on my iPhone – and neither can your potential clients! And what’s more – Apple will likely never support Flash on any of their devices because of the resource requirements – the company is looking at HTML 5 for Flash-like viewing. Granted, not everyone uses an iPhone, but do you want to limit your potential audience???

#3: Bookmarking
When you visit a cool Web site and find some content you’d like to visit again, don’t you love the ability to bookmark that page? Well, guess what – you can’t do that with a Flash site! Oh, you can bookmark the page, but it’s always the same page – your bookmark will never take you back to the exact page you were interested in.

#4: Back button
Sorry, there just isn’t one. With a Flash site there is no way to navigate to the page your visitor was just on.

#5: How slow of a load can you wait for . . .
With a Flash site, the ENTIRE site must be downloaded before ANY content is viewable. With an HTML site content is instantly visible, even if the images take a second longer to load. How long do you like to wait for information?

#6: Text functions
Want to copy and paste content into an email and forward to potential clients/customers? Sorry – you can’t do that with a Flash site. There is no right-click menu and keyboard shortcuts just don’t work.

#7: CPU and bandwidth
Are all your clients using the most advanced computers on high-speed internet lines? Mine aren’t. Flash sites can take forever to load on slower computers and internet lines. Are you in the position to alienate potential clients because your site took too long to load and the visitor left – most likely to your competition with an HTML site? I’m not.

#8: Plugins
To view your site, the visitor MUST download the Adobe Flash Player on to his/her computer. No plug-in, no Flash, and, therefore, no site.

#9: Just because you CAN do something on the Web, doesn’t mean you SHOULD
This just might be my favorite reason why not to design a Flash site – but it also applies to all Web design. Sure, a lot of what you can do with Flash looks cool and can be fun, but after about five seconds it just gets annoying. Clients are coming to your site for information and content – give them what they want!

#10. Bad design standards
Most HTML sites have elements in common – it is these elements that help the visitor find what they want quickly. Navigation here, content here, links work like this, etc, etc. Flash Web sites have none of that so you risk your client getting lost – and frustrated – quickly. What happens when they get frustrated? They leave!

Don’t limit your Web site – don’t irritate your potential clients. Go ahead and add a little Flash banner on your site for visual interest, but don’t buy a Flash site.

Article by Julie Bodine
Owner/Creative Director | Margarita Marketing
www.margaritamarketing.com