Business Practices
Having used a Mac since desktop publishing took over the graphic design industry I am a big fan of all things Apple. I consider my iPhone more as a mini-computer than a phone because it’s so versatile.
These are just some of my favorite business related apps. If you’re on the go a lot, an iPhone is a great way to keep productive. It’s also great while sitting on the sofa in front of the TV.
- E-mail: The iPhone syncs with your iCal and MobileMe account seamlessly.
- Facebook: Stay in touch with all your friends and clients.
- Twitter: Set up your favorite list and keep up to date.
- Bam Analytics: Set up your Google analytics and keep track of how your websites are doing wherever you are.
- Lynda.com: If you have a spare moment you can watch a video lesson on the latest software applications. Check out a FreePass today.
- iBooks: A great way to catch up on your business reading. Even load up your own pdf files and e-books to keep up to date.
- Go Daddy: Find and purchase a domain name or check your mobile mail.
- Lucy Phone: Never wait on hold again. Find a company, call it up, and your phone will ring you when the call goes through.
- NetNewsWire: Keep up with the latest news feeds. Syncs with Google Reader. It’s my favorite news reader as it is quick and there’s a convenient Mac app too. Great on the iPad and iPhone.
- Instapaper: Save a web page or newsfeed and read it later in Instapaper. A great way to catch up when you have a spare moment.
There are many more useful business related iPhone and iPad apps, but these are my favorite, so far. What are yours?
Custom Twitter Backdrops
Any kind of social networking involves sharing your “brand” with the world. You want to present your best image and you want people to recognize your company wherever you are.
So if you’re into twittering for your business, you really need to create a custom backdrop. It is the first thing people will see before they decide to follow you. So at the very least you should have your company logo and design/color scheme that matches your website. (What, you don’t have a website? Contact Chuck at Creative Juices immediately.)
Always Build Your Brand
Besides building on your brand, your custom twitter backdrop also allows you to give more contact information on yourself and your company, beyond the 160 characters twitter allows. That’s 20 characters more than an ordinary Twitter post. This is a great opportunity for you to show how professional and creative you really are. And it’s all free. Unless, of course, you hire someone to utilize their creative juices and create an outstanding twitter backdrop for you.
If you have an iPhone, iMac, iPad or any other iThingy, Dropbox is an incredibly easy way to sync a file from your computer to other computers or devices. It’s only a matter of opening an account with Dropbox online, adding an app to any of your iDevices and dropping a file or two or even more into the “box”. In an instant that file is available for viewing on all linked devices.
Dropbox allows you to view documents, spreadsheets, photos, videos and presentations. A neat feature is that you can snap a photo with your iPhone and save it to your Dropbox direct. You don’t even need a MobileMe account.
And the great thing is a Dropbox account is free and comes with 2 GB of storage space. For most people that’s quite a lot of space. If you have a lot of heavy duty files you can purchase a Pro plan up to 100GB. I am not an affiliate of Dropbox but I do find it worth looking into if you haven’t already installed it on your iStuff. Dropbox is also available for non-Apple-ites, who use Windows or Linux.
Just how important are keywords in getting people to find your website? Very.
Keywords are the actual words and phrases people put into the search engine to find what they’re looking for. When you are optimizing a page you will use keywords in the title tags, as well as meta tags. Keywords will be in the copy you write for the page as well as in “alt” tags on photos (which are hidden). And those keywords will depict the very essence of your page. It is what people are looking for and it’s how you will get noticed.
You need to be as specific as possible. If you just use the most popular keywords related to your page you will be one among millions of results, and the chances of getting a high ranking are slim to none. Of course there are many things that go into a page’s ranking, including links to your website, social media (Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In) and continually adding new copy to your site that people will find helpful such as in blogs. But keywords play a very important part.
Analytics also plays a big part in finding out who is seeking your site and what keywords they use to find it. Sign up with Google and insert their analytics code into your site so you will be able to keep track of your visitors. The more information you know, the better equipped you’ll be in optimizing your site.
Check out Google‘s free Keyword Tool to help you find the best words that suit your site. And remember that each page should be optimized as a separate unit with it’s own specific keywords relevant to the copy on that page. The goal is to use keywords that are the most relevant and specific to what your web page is about and have the least competition. You do not just want to have people look at your site, you want people that will convert to clients or sales.
Your website is probably going to be your most important marketing tool. It should be the hub of all information related to your business. That’s why it is very important to have a domain name (url) that is descriptive of your business, easy to memorize, hard to misspell and of course available. Here are some easy tips to help you decide on the best domain name for you.
- Try to use your company name / brand in your domain name.
- Keep your domain name simple, short and easy to remember.
- Avoid using hyphens and underscores. They can cause confusion.
- Use key words related to your business. It’s best when your url describes what it is you do and what people would be searching for.
- Use dot com whenever possible. It’s the most recognized url extension.
- Avoid using numbers. Again, it’s confusing not knowing whether to use the number or to spell it out.
- Don’t add an “s” to an existing popular domain name. The “s” is easily forgotten and your potential client will end up at your competitor’s site.
For more helpful information on domain name selection and search engine optimization check out SEOmoz.org or SearchEngineGuide.com.
Yes, yes it is. Especially if you have your own e-mail domain name.
IMAP vs. POP
With IMAP your e-mail is stored on your host’s server while with POP you download your e-mail to your own computer, which is then deleted from the main server (unless you tell it not to). Therefore IMAP is better if you are getting your e-mail from several computers or devices like an iPhone or iPad.
With IMAP your e-mail is in the same condition from wherever you get it. For instance, if you read your e-mail but didn’t delete it, it will still be on the server as already read, no matter where you are viewing it. But if you are using POP and you read your e-mail on your iPhone and then later checked your mail on your iMac, it will show up again as unread. How very annoying. UpperHost has a simple explanation of IMAP vs. POP.
It is best to start out with IMAP.
Switching from POP to IMAP can be quite a challenge. Here’s my tale.
I was using a local hosting company, then switched to GoDaddy. I always used POP because the local company didn’t want me storing e-mails on their server. One of the reasons I switched.
I read an article in MacWorld Magazine on The IMAP Advantage and decided to make the switch. At the time I had over 13,000 e-mails in my main e-mail account. It was suggested I save these in a folder on my computer. Sorting out 13,000 e-mails would take too much time so I tried dragging them to a generic folder and received an error message.
GoDaddy said they it would be okay to make the POP account inactive while activating the IMAP account. And this worked fine. But then something happened and a few days later all 13,000 plus e-mails became blank. They were missing. Yikes, I said to myself.
With frantic calls to Apple Support I managed to restore most of my old e-mail to my computer from my Time Machine backup. How ironic that the main reason I switched from POP to IMAP was to have a safe back up for my e-mails and in the process I lost (temporarily) all my old e-mail.
So always be sure to save your e-mail to your computer if you are switching from POP to IMAP. And have a backup plan. Hard drives do fail and e-mails do disappear.
Some credit card companies are still sending out 0% interest rate cards for limited time offers. Make sure you read the fine print.
I was under the mistaken belief when I signed up for a Juniper card, which later became Barclay, that once the 0% rate expired they would then start charging interest on the remaining balance.
But I was mistaken. I had one year to pay off the card. Because I signed up for online statements and automatic payment deductions from my bank, a year passed and I forgot to check when the rate changed. Imagine my surprise when I realized I will have to pay finance charges on the entire original balance. The card was almost paid off. A call to Barclay proved to be of no use. I missed the deadline by a week.
It would have been great customer service for Barclay to send a reminder that the special offer was about to expire. Of course they would have lost the finance charges. Now they have lost a customer. I will never use the card again, nor will I recommend Barclay to my clients and friends.
So the point of this little story is to remind people to keep track of 0% special offers. Read the fine print and write down the pay off date. It’s another one of life’s little lessons I’m still learning, even after being in business for almost 30 years.
You can find hundreds of books to talk about Social Media Marketing, formerly known as Web 2.0. And I’m going to give you crash course in just a few paragraphs.
Blogs
Your blog is an extremely powerful social media hub. If done correctly, it can boost the visibility of your business in ways never before possible. Think of it as an online magazine. You’re in charge of design and content. Your blog can help promote your company’s website or it can be a part of your website.
Setting up a blog is very easy. You can try using a free blogging system such as WordPress.com or Google’s Blogger. But if you want to appear really professional you need to go for a self-hosted blog. The most popular and easiest way to do this is through WordPress.org. You have lots of options for design themes and plugins. Of course a professionally designed unique theme that utilizes your company’s brand identity is best.
Maintaining it regularly can be a challenge. You have to constantly come up with copy that is interesting, relevant and remarkable. This could be once a week. Daily would be great. A few times a week is good too. The trick is to write posts that people want to read. Show your personality and have fun.
Facebook is the most popular online social network today, with over 400 million active users of all ages creating a home page and making “friends”. Facebook is a place where “friends” gather. Let everyone know what you’re doing. It’s easy to set up and is free. Show photos, play games, network, add applications. What’s your status? Your Facebook profile can be made public or private. You control the settings of who gets to see your page.
If you have a business you need a “Fan” page. A fan page is part of your original Facebook account. It is visible to everyone, registered or not, including all your customers. While a Facebook Group is better for hosting discussions, for long-term relationships, a “fan” page is best. Personalize your fan page with your company brand or image.
In order to get people to become a “fan” of your company, you need to drive them to your Facebook fan page. Therefore it is important to link your social media together. Create a button on your blog and company website, inviting visitors to become a Facebook fan. You want your fan page to be a fun place to visit. Create content and invite discussion and participation. Make your fan page a resource of information about your company and related products.
Another way you can entice users to join your fan page is by creating contests or coupons specifically for your Facebook fans. This could include discounts on products, free shipping, or other special deals. The goal is to get people to join your fan page and come back often. You need to give them a reason to participate. Encourage comments and input.
Creating a successful fan page takes planning, time and dedication. It’s not something you can set and forget.
Twitter can be a very powerful business tool with over 17 million users, a large number of which are older professionals with high incomes. It is called micro-blogging because your “posts” are limited to 140 characters. But you can create an unlimited number of posts.
With Twitter you have access to immediate feedback from people all over the world, 24/7. When you need help, just ask for it. You’ll be surprised at the number of people who will answer your questions and offer assistance. This is also a great way to do market research.
Use Twitter to let people know who you are. Your tweets can include links to photos and video. Send links to helpful or interesting websites. Promote contests, specials, sales, new products, whatever. Inform people when you make a blog post. Direct people to visit your website. And don’t forget to create a unique Twitter backdrop with your company brand and information.
Coming soon to Twitter will be “Promoted Tweets”, a way of advertising on Twitter. And you will be able to pay for a Commercial Twitter account which gives a business detailed analytics tools and the ability for several people to post to the same Twitter account.
LinkedIn is a business social network with over 65 million professional business users with an average income of over $100,000 a year. If you’re selling to other businesses you’ll want to have a LinkedIn presence. It’s a great way to drive targeted traffic to your website and further build your social network by exchanging “information, ideas and opportunities”.
Building Buzz and Getting Noticed
The best way to get noticed is to remain consistent. That means you must post to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and write your blog posts on a regular basis. If you don’t, people will stop following you. That’s not good. Sign up with HootSuite and you can write one post and send it to any or all of your social media at one time.
The more followers, friends and fans you have, the more you’ll get. It’s kinda viral. People want to follow popular people. And when you give people what they want in terms of information, tips, discounts, promotions, contests, customer service, etc., they’ll keep coming back for more.
When you’re involved with social media marketing, you’re also a part of the exciting new world of mobile marketing. Facebook, Twitter and Blog news-feeds are a huge part of mobile phone apps. Even Apple has entered the arena with it’s new iAd concept coming to an iPhone or iPad near you. Imagine interactive mobile ads and videos that are graphic and enticing. Google already has a big presence in mobile text advertising. You don’t want to be left out of this new marketing frontier.
So that’s the essence of Social Media Marketing. It’s all part of Search Engine Optimization. The goal is to get people to your website or social media hub. This can also include being part of social bookmarking sites like StumbleUpon, Delicious, Reddit, Digg; photo sites like Flickr; rich media sites like YouTube and Spoink and don’t forget MySpace.
For more information on how you can become a part of this exciting and powerful world of social media marketing contact Chuck at Creative Juices.
If you’ve always wanted a well designed website platform that you can easily update yourself, WordPress.org is the answer.
“WordPress is a state-of-the-art publishing platform with a focus on aesthetics, web standards, and usability. WordPress is both free and priceless at the same time.” So says the WordPress website.
A self-hosted WordPress blog/website is the perfect format. It’s a content management system that’s easy to use and update. You have complete control of your site and can modify it whenever you want. Add pages, add posts, modify text. Create a photo gallery. And unlike WordPress.com, you can sell products and sign up for affiliate programs. And the best part is, it’s easy to understand. And don’t forget free.
“WordPress is infinitely extensible. One of the core philosophies of WordPress is to keep the core code as light and fast as possible but to provide a rich framework for the huge community to expand what WordPress can do, limited only by their imagination,” says the folks at WordPress.org.
A large variety of plugins add infinite versatility to your site. Just about anything you can think of can be added. It’s as simple as finding the plugin, installing it with a click of a button and dragging a widget to your sidebar.
Check out this Creative Juices designed blog/site.
Free Templates are Great. Your Own Unique Template is Better.
Here’s where Creative Juices comes in. While you can get quite a variety of free templates online, having your own unique header and theme, utilizing your logo, photos and artwork, adds a special touch.
A Creative Juices designed template adds class to your site. You’ll stand out because your site will be unlike any other.
Here’s a great opportunity to start your own self-hosted WordPress blog/website. Let the world know about your business or service. It’s fun to express yourself, share your expertise and maybe even make some money.
A WordPress themed Financial Website from Creative Juices
A WordPress themed Financial Website from Creative Juices
Special Offer from Creative Juices
For a limited time Creative Juices Design Studio is offering one year Free Hosting, set up and Domain Name Registration with your custom designed WordPress themed blog/website order*. This is an incredible opportunity to start your own blog/website with a creative look uniquely your own.
And remember, your self-hosted WordPress blog/website has a completely accessible back end that is easy to learn. You will be able to make changes, add an unlimited number of pages and install plugins with unbelievable functionality, all on your own. This includes photo galleries, PayPal shopping carts, Twitter and Facebook links, calendars, search engine optimization and tons more.
South Bay Business Lawyers. Another WordPress based template designed by Creative Juices.
South Bay Business Lawyers. Another WordPress based template designed by Creative Juices.
Search Engine Optimization and Site Registration are also available. Call for estimate.
Includes Title Tags, Meta Description, Keywords and Registration with major search engines like Google and Bing.
Call 310-791-5803 today and you can have a fully functional, completely customized website within a week.
Starting your own blog and/or website is a great hobby as well as a business tool. We make it creatively easy for you.
When you’re ready for something more, we can also design template-free websites from scratch.
Call for a quote. Because everyone’s needs are different we can’t list prices. Tell us your budget and we’ll tailor a program to fit your needs.
And of course, if you’re not interested in a hands on approach, we can do it all for you.
Hurry. You can’t afford to be without a visually appealing, highly functional website.
*Each Additional Year of Web Hosting and Domain Name Registration is only $54.99 after the free initial year if ordered at the same time. Creative Juices is a GoDaddy affiliate. Free Hosting / Domain Name Offer Expires 4/30/10. Minimum order $250. Yes, I'm interested. Please contact me. Powered by Fast Secure Contact Form
Blogging Options
When first starting out on my blogging journey I tried Google’s Blogger, GoDaddy’s Quick Blogcast and WordPress.com. All are easy to use and set up. I have since discovered that WordPress is one of the most popular free blogging systems.
So I settled on WordPress.com and created a not too regular blog. Blogging takes time and careful thought. Sometimes it takes research or just having something “remarkable” to say. That is not always easy.
Somewhere along the way I started reading and researching the blogging world and soon discovered that you can conceivably make money by blogging. What will they think of next. At the very least you can promote your existing business or service by creating useful, helpful, interesting, fascinating or humorous blogs on a regular basis.
Monetize your Blog
Making money with your blog is great. One of the easiest ways to make money blogging (by easy I mean setting it up, not getting people to buy) is by using Google AdSense. Then there’s the whole world of affiliate marketing. And of course selling your own “stuff”, such as an e-book or physical product or service. I soon discovered you cannot use AdSense or place ads with WordPress.com. But you can on WordPress.org. While WordPress.com is hosted by WordPress for free, you must find your own host for WordPress.org. This is not very difficult or expensive.
Why I Switched to WordPress.org
Since I am a GoDaddy reseller and I have a deluxe hosting plan for cjuices.com this was a no-brainer for me. GoDaddy makes it easy to set up WordPress.org. It’s just a matter of downloading the software into your server.
And with WordPress.org you get quite a lot of options to design, add to, and monetize your blog. As with all things in business, it’s a process that takes time, education, studying and work to make it pay. It’s also fun and relatively painless to set up and use. There are tons of widgets and plugins to help you with anything from simple forms, Google Analytics, Facebook and Twitter follows, shopping carts, photo galleries and much more. You can find lots of free information on setting up and using WordPress.org too.
Custom Designed Template for that Special Look
A custom designed website makes your business stand out and look professional. Call me at Creative Juices and I will explain all the possibilities on getting your website/blog up and running with a customized WordPress template. Yes, this is a shameless plug, but I am also here to help you by answering questions on the benefits of WordPress.
Free quotes too at 310-791-5803.
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