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The 30-day blog challenge!

Today, I committed to the ultimate blog challenge – blogging every day for 30 days.   This will be a challenge!  And I came late to the game, it started October 1, so I’m not sure how that works.  Do I have to double up on posts in order to complete the challenge?  Or does my 3o days start now?  I’ll deal with that later, for now, it’s time to start blogging.

My friend D’vorah Lansky invited me to participate in this 30-day challenge.  D’vorah is an active blogger and recently wrote the book , Connect, Communicate and Profit.  The book is all about building successful relationships online and I highly recommend it to anyone with questions about using social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, or about blogging.

I’m always on the lookout for materials that inspire me with new ideas and one of the perks of signing up for the challenge, is that you get a free booklet, 7 Ways to Get Your Blog In Motion.   In the booklet, the first thing they suggest to fend off the fear that you won’t have anything to write about is to make a list of things you know about–just a quick list of things that pop into your head.  So here’s my quick list:

  • web design
  • image editing
  • SEO
  • E-commerce templates
  • WordPress
  • Google Checkout
  • Google Analytics
  • Website traffic statistics
  • Dad’s 93rd birthday today.  Happy Birthday Dad!
  • 30 day challenges
  • Facebook movie – I gotta see it.
  • Homeaway.com
  • web hosting
  • e-mail marketing
  • the 10 pounds I can’t lose (another 30-day challenge?)

So in the next 30 days I’ll be writing about some of these things and some other things that pop up in my world of web design and internet marketing. I’ll also try to answer any questions that come my way.

My hope is that in the next 3o days, I’ll become more efficient in my blogging practice, and that I’ll provide a valuable resource for readers in the process.

Resources:

Five free things you can do to promote your small business

Times are tough.  Marketing budgets are tight.  Here are five free things you can do to bring traffic to your website and to your business.

  1. Google Places – (used to be called Google Local) it’s a free listing that you can enter by going to www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter.   You enter your web address, physical address, a description of your business, your contact information, hours– you can even enter photos. Your listing will show up on a Google Maps when someone searches for your business type in your area.
  2. Bing Local – Same concept as on Google Places only it’s on Bing.
  3. Facebook and other social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter.  If you’re not there you should be — it’s word of mouth advertising. I’ve seen small business really benefit from communicating with their network (friends, fans…whatever you want to call them).  It’s a great place to promote your business events, specials promotions and communicate with your clients (friends, fans, etc).  Just remember like all networking activities you’ll benefit more from giving then selling.  Provide  information, tips, advice, and special deals, spread good will and your friends and fans will remember you and spread the word about your business.
  4. Update your website regularly.  Install a content management system like WordPress so you can update your website on a regular basis.   Set up a blog that feeds through to your Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts so you reach out to all neighborhoods of your virtual network.
  5. Google Analytics – You don’t really know if anything is working unless you have a way to track your traffic.  Google analytics provides lots of statistics about traffic to your website.

Best Design Practices for Effective Email Marketing

When I read email, I typically have one finger on the delete key.   Like most people, I get a lot of e-mail.  And like most people, I don’t have time for games.  So when designing an email marketing piece I’d advise you to avoid techniques that may slow down the email scanning processes of your readers.

Avoid over-reliance on images

More and more often I see email marketing in my inbox that is made up entirely of images.  Since my e-mail client is set not to download images until I tell it to, I see a blank white screen with some red x’s where the images should be, until (or unless) I click the “download images” button.  Unfortunately for the email marketer, I’m more likely to click the delete key than the “download images” link.  And once I hit the delete key, the message is gone.  All the effort that was put into choosing the right images to portray the message is lost forever.

Instead of concentrating on “wowing” the reader with the beautiful design that they’ll likely never see, think about using a clever phrase to wow them.  Or just use clear, straightforward language that the reader can quickly scan and comprehend without having to click the download images link.

Avoid unnecessary click through links

If you expect me to click through to something, you had better give me a compelling reason to move my finger from the delete key to the click through link.  Sending an email that is an image with a click here link isn’t very compelling.

However if you provide an interesting sentence or two, with a link to more information, you might get me to  click. If you offer an enticing discount on a product I might click through. If you give me some interesting details to an event you’re promoting, I might click through.

Keep the design simple

Remember that people are using email clients to read your piece.  Not only are there countless email clients that may be in use by your readers, but many people read their email on their phones. What renders well for one reader may unreadable for the next.  Current techniques used to design websites or print pieces simply won’t work consistently for email.   Keep it simple if you want it to get read.

What Does Quality Web Copy Mean Today?

The days when web copy, especially SEO copy, could focus merely on getting higher rankings from search engines are over. The game has shifted from high page ranking to actually getting found. For example, recent research indicates that people are searching increasingly for longer phrases, not just simple keywords. In SEO jargon, the keyword tails are getting longer. And this means [Read more…]

Social Networking – Resistance is Futile

I frequently encounter professionals who are resistant to online social networking. It’s puzzling to me.  They’re often very social in “real life”.

I don’t get it.  Is it really that scary to tap into the network of friends from around the globe? Has the separation between friends, family and business become too blurred?  Is the technology too frightening?  Is it the changing paradigm of communication that freaks them out?

Are they afraid of  becoming the Borg?

Will we all eventually be assimilated into the massive social brain of Facebook?  Controlled by our smartphones as they alert us to tweets and texts?  Well I suppose if you let it control you, but used wisely it allows you to communicate and stay in touch with more people with less effort than ever before. Resistance is futile.

Web Designer Seeking Instant Gratification

I’ve always liked building and making things. I like taking the parts and putting them together to make a nice package. I like crafts, cooking and puzzles. Completing a Sudoku puzzle on a Sunday morning is oddly satisfying.

But I’m not real patient. I like projects that can be completed quickly. That’s why I love building small business websites. It’s fun to take the pieces, the bits of text and graphics, and create a unique, functional and beautiful website for a small business.

In my perfect world, web design projects turn around quickly. Clients give me content, ideas and graphics. I create a draft website. They review and approve. And I press the button to make it live. Everybody’s happy!

Admittedly, it’s not always that easy. There is usually a little more give and take during the review process. I don’t always nail it on the first try. But even when the review process seems to drag on…eventually, finally, it’s oddly satisfying to press the button to make the site live. At that moment…there is instant gratification.

RandiFrank.com redesign launched

We launched Randi Frank’s new redesigned website this afternoon.  The old site was designed several years ago, and the content had outgrown the site.  We gave it a new look with larger headings, more graphics and organized the navigation to make it easier to use.  View RandiFrank.com

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