Web Savvy Marketers

This Week’s Adventures

It’s been a week filled with exciting adventures! On Monday, I went to CCAT in East Hartford. I know, it doesn’t get better than a trip to East Hartford. But, the cool thing about my trip was that I met with other members of the Outreach Committee for CT Dream It Do It! For more information about the organization, go to ctdreamitdoit.com.

Next it was off to South Windsor. I tell ya, these long drives really wreak havoc on my vehicle! There I met with the board of the CT Women’s Alliance to plan the annual conference. Carolyn is on the board and they do amazing things. Check out ctwomensalliance.com for more information about the organization and the upcoming conference in March.

Finally, today I was off to Glastonbury. There I attended the B.I.G. meeting. Very few us like to refer to ourselves as BIG women, but it’s okay when you know it stands for Believe, Inspire, Grow. I was definitely inspired today and left with a renewed focus on the business.  For more information about BIG go to  http://www.justthinkbig.us/event/id/138842/B.I.G.-Introduction-in-Glastonbury-CT.htm

So, between my adventures above, sales calls, projects and dodging snow storms, it’s been an exciting week all around. Please join me next week when I’ll travel all the way to Canaan, CT. All I can say is thank goodness for GPS!

Avoid copyright infringement or it will cost you…

Just because you can search Google Images or other photography sites and find images online that might look good on your website, doesn’t mean you have the rights to use them on your website.

I’ve run into clients and prospects  who are under the misguided assumption that images on the web are free for the taking.  Not so.  In fact, if the stock photography companies find that your site is using pirated images you could be fined hundreds or thousands of dollars. And they will find you.  I’ve had clients who have loaded images onto their website (that were unknowingly pirated from an online source) and eventually they get a call from Comstock or some other Stock photo house demanding payment for the use of their image.

Always make sure that you have the right to use images that you place  on your website (or any marketing materials).  There are many royalty free stock photos you can purchase for use on your website for fairly low cost.  IStockphoto.com is one that we use frequently to purchase stock photography.

Music is another component that people like to pirate.  It is not legal to use a song you’ve purchased and downloaded onto your IPod as background music for a video you post to YouTube.  Sorry.  SoundDogs.com is a good source for music and sound effects.

I don’t have to tell anyone that it’s plagiarism to copy text from another site.  Do I?

Holiday Shopping Suggestions – Supporting Small Business Cyber Shops

The holiday shopping season kicked off with some distasteful Black Friday incidents last week.  Hearing about these unsavory incidents makes me glad I’ve never bothered with  Black Friday,  I’m more of a Cyber Monday kind of gal, and I  support Small Business Saturday. I think it’s important to support your local small businesses including brick and mortar and online stores.

Although the big kick-off shopping weekend is over, I’m sure there’s more shopping to be done.  If you prefer to avoid the mall hubbub and feel like staying home in your jammies and doing some on-line shopping this holiday season, here’s a list of clients who are small business owners that sell or show products online.  They’re all reputable honest people with great products.  The * indicates you may need to call to purchase.

Art

Astrology Calendar & Services

Books

Food & Beverage

Health & Fitness

Jewelry

Motorcycle & Auto Accessories

Travel Services

Museum Store

And Finally, Santa Claus

Happy Holidays!

My Secret Weapon – Google and an unknown 13-year old

Today I had a unusual call from a long-time client. (I promised not to reveal her name).   She apologized for calling me because the problem had nothing to do with her website or her online marketing but she was extremely disoriented because her computer screen had flipped upside down.

I laughed.

“How did that happen?” I asked and then I chuckled some more.

Apparently my client  had accidentally hit the combination of keys that’s the shortcut for flipping your display.  Yeah, that’s a handy shortcut. Thank you Microsoft.

“It’s not funny,” she said. “Not only is the screen upside down, but the mouse is backwards”.

I laughed again.  “Did you try turning the mouse upside down?” I asked.

Meanwhile, while poking fun at my client I did a quick Google search for “upside down display screen”  and I quickly found a forum where others had run into the problem.  Scanning the forum I saw one that  began with “I’m 13 years old and I have the answer to the problem…”

The 13-year old recommended going to the display settings where you will find the option to flip your screen.   Who knew?  I’m 53 years old and I didn’t know that option existed, but Google and the 13-year old kid made me look like a hero.  Thank you Google and unknown 13-year old (you little smartie-pants).

When to Launch?

We’ve been working with several clients recently who have been reluctant to launch their websites. Most often they will tell you it’s because it’s not done yet. Technically, a website should never be done. You should be constantly adding to the site. Whether it’s using a blog or adding to a press page, the more often you update the site, the more reasons your customers and prospects have to come back to your site. It’s also the best way to improve your search engine ranking.

People tend to view launching their site like it’s going to print. Once it’s up it can’t be changed. When the fact is that it not only can but should be changed. The trend towards content management sites such as Word Press are in response to the need to update frequently.

When deciding to launch ask yourself, Is it better than what’s out there now? If it’s a new site, the sooner you get it launched, the sooner your prospects will be able to find you. It will also get you indexed by the search engines sooner. If it’s a new site, Does it look and function better than the old site? If so, get it launched and add to it later.

A few years back, you would see “page under construction” and know that the site wasn’t complete. This is no longer the practice. If you don’t add a page until it’s ready, no one but you will know the site’s not “done”.

 

 

2-D Animation

General Cable solar image

Our client had a process that they wanted to show but could not accomplish through straight video. We were able to combine video, photos and 2-D animation to fulfill their need. Adding copy and voice over allowed them to highlight the points and products most pertinent to their customers. Although the piece was created to use at meetings and sales presentations, the addition of music allowed them to use it at trade shows as well. View the presentation

Our Location

222 Pitkin Street, Suite 125
East Hartford, CT 06108
Phone: 860-432-8756

Talk to Us

Follow us, subscribe to us, email us, or call us at 860-432-8756. We’ll use our Super Savvy Tool Belt to stay in touch however you prefer.

Sign Up for Email Updates