MelissaGacek

Remove Microsoft Word Manual Formatting or Copied Formatting from External Source

2010-01-19T06:01:00.000-08:00

When you copy and paste a block of text into Microsoft Office Word document from external source or third party documents such as web browser or another documents, the existing hidden formatting from the external documents on the pasted text block will also be pasted into the existing Word document, thus affecting the size or font, or have the different size or font from the existing document.

To solve the problem of different font type and font size when copying and pasting from other documents, newer version of Microsoft Word such as Microsoft Office Word 2003 and Word 2007 has built-in functionality to let users to choose the style or formatting that they want to apply to the text block that is been pasted.

Word Formatting

The Word formatting options will be prompted when the text block been pasted and appeared as expandable icon. The options available include Keep Source Formatting (maintain original font type and size of copied text), Match Destination Formatting (change the font type and size of pasted text to match the existing document), Keep Text Only (text only just as it’s been typed, discarding everything else) and also ability to let you apply your desired style or formatting.

Alternatively, the manual formatting of the text block can be removed when copying and pasting by using Word.

Adobe Illustrator CS4 Trick Color Palette

2010-01-19T03:09:00.000-08:00

Convert Color Swatch to Grayscale

When I was working on releasing files for a logo design yesterday, I realized you can easily convert a Pantone to greyscale by selecting greyscale in the swatch options section. You can match color hues without guessing which greyscale tint is the best match for your PMS when it automatically converts the color for you. Pretty easy.

Click on any of the images for a larger view....

Importing Excel Tables into InDesign

2010-01-16T04:36:00.000-08:00

InDesign does not import tables from Excel as well as Quark. Here's a tip I found today from an InDesign CS2 user. I'm in CS4, but it should provide a clue at least.

Remember the range of cells that you want to copy (and the sheet name if more than one) from the Excel spreadsheet.

With the Excel spreadsheet closed select File/Place in InDesign. When the Place file window opens check the "Show Import Options" box.

After selecting the Excel file, another window will appear asking for the sheet name and range in the Excel worksheet.

Drag the Place pointer to insert the table. Once the table has been inserted you can double click on it to edit or use any of the InDesign Table Options to alter the highlighted text.

Hope this helps.

How To Change a Favicon in Joomla 1.5

2010-01-09T05:48:00.000-08:00

A new article has been written that tells how to change your favicon in Joomla! 1.5.

The word "favicon" is short for "favorites icon", and it is the 16x16-pixel icon that is associated with your website and appears in the browser address bar and favorites menu (and in Firefox and Internet Explorer 7, it also appears on the browser tab). For this website, I am using the default Joomla! favicon because this site is a site about Joomla! The image below shows what your browser's address bar should look like when visiting this site.

All Joomla! installations come with that favicon installed, and a common mistake by many webmasters is to ignore the favicon, thereby keeping the default Joomla! icon for their site. Unless your site is about Joomla, you should not be using the default favicon. A good habit to get into when developing sites with Joomla! is to change the favaicon and use something more fitting for your site, like your logo. This article will explain how to create a favicon and then how to replace the default icon with your icon.

Creating your favicon

For the sake of simplicity, this section assumes you are using your logo for your icon.

Step 1: Shrink your logo

Using graphics software (like Adobe Fireworks or Adobe Photoshop), shrink your logo so that it will fit into a 16-pixel by 16-pixel square*. Then, save your new image as a 16x16 PNG or GIF file called "favicon.png" or "favicon.gif".

* It helps if your logo has relatively square dimensions, like the Joomla! logo.

Step 2: Convert the image to "favicon.ico"

This step is actually easier than it may seem. There are several options for doing this step, but my favorite is a web-based tool by Dynamic Drive called the "FavIcon Generator". You simply click the "Browse" button to locate your favicon.png or favicon.gif file, then click the "Create Icon" button to convert your image. The generator will then provide you with a favicon.ico version of your logo. It really is that simple.

Favicon maker- Create a favicon from any image.

Step 3: Replace the default icon with your own

The default favicon is located in the "images" directory of your Joomla! installation. Remove the default icon from your site, and upload your new icon in its place.
Done.

You may not be able to see your new favicon right away. The reason for this is because the default icon is probably still in your browser's cache. If you clear your browser's cache, you will be able to see the new favicon.

The favicon is a small thing that really will not affect the performance and look of your site, but paying attention to little details like that will give your site a more finished, professional feel.

As always, please feel free to post any questions or comments.

The Contact Us Page

2009-11-24T06:39:00.000-08:00

One of the most important Website pages is the Contact Us page. This page is often overlooked or poorly developed, which can lead to user frustrations. Here are a few tips to developing a Contact Us page that meets user needs and drives conversions.

Website Users Expect a Contact Us Page

All Websites must have a Contact Us page because users expect to see one in the main navigation. Website users are quick to assume that the company does not want to be contacted if they can't easily find this page. It is common for Website designers to not place much thought into the development of the Contact Us page and take it for granted. Many Websites either don't have one or leave it off the main menu. This is a mistake that will reduce conversions.

Part of the Website's Conversion Strategy

The Contact Us page is a critical conversion point. A visit to the Contact Us page is a conversion because users have a strong intent to contact the company when they visit this page. Include a link to the Contact Us page on the main navigation and keep it visible on all pages. Track visits to the Contact Us page and all forms of contact made from that page.

What to Include in the "Contact Us" Page

There are five common contact methods from the Web. All should be included on the Contact Us page.

Phone - Use a toll free number for consumer Websites.
Email - Use a general mailbox or send directly to sales and customer service.
Form - Short forms get more conversions and longer forms better qualify leads.
Fax - Some people still fax and faxes can be sent directly to email.
Driving directions, maps and locations - for visits to your office or retail locations.
Also, include photos of people to contact, hours of operations, and timeframes for a return message. Focus on action and less on content. The Contact Us page should not be full of content, but rather clear steps to contact.

eCommerce Websites and the Contact Us Page

Having an online shopping cart is no reason to avoid having a good Contact Us page. People should be able to contact and buy via the phone or email and continue to shop from the Contact Us page. The page can be used to complete a sale, advertise a special offer, provide customer service and generally enhance the online shopping experience.

Keep the Contact Us page visible, easy to use and offer plenty of options for users to contact the business when ready however they wish to make contact. Also, get feedback on the Contact Us page to insure it meets user needs. This will help the user, drive more conversions and maintain a solid ROI for your Web marketing.

Time Spent on Twitter Soars by Over 3,700%, Facebook up 700%

2009-06-04T03:01:00.000-07:00

I just read an interesting report published by Nielsen that examines time spent on multiple Social and Micro Networks. The study compares total minutes in April 2009 compared to April 2008. The results are not as much surprising as they are revealing.

According to Nielsen, total minutes spent on social networking sites has increased 83 percent year-over-year.

Twitter, the social media darling that can never seem to satisfy our insatiable appetite for all things orbiting the Twitterverse, experienced extraordinary growth in the last year with total time spent up by over 3,700%. While currently ranked 5th, Twitter's dramatic groundswell is the most notable on the list followed by Tagged.com, a five year old social network that experienced a 1,000% year over year increase in engagement.

Time spent on Facebook, the popular network that now boasts a $10 billion valuation, increased nearly 700 percent year-over-year, growing from 1.7 billion minutes in April 2008 to 13.9 billion in April 2009.

MySpace clocked in at a very distant second place with just under 5 billion...read the full article

Research Keyword Effectively - 7 Secrets to Get the Best Performance Keywords for your Business

2009-06-03T04:13:00.000-07:00

By: zmilliondollars | Posted: Jun 6th, 2007

To success in the internet marketing, the research key strategy is one of the most significant strategies for your home based internet marketing business. With keywords people are searching for, you can build your website with a good ranking in search engines or you can maximize profits through pay per click online advertising. There are many ways to boost your revenues from those niche keywords.

You will discover keyword search strategies to help you to discover the best keywords for your home based internet marketing business in this article. With those strategies, you can also discover a massive list of keywords and can use it everywhere in your home based internet marketing business.

Generally, the focus keywords are terms, words or phrase, which is related to particular topics, on the internet. The research keyword strategy will involve various aspects, such as discovering focus keywords for sales, driving quality traffic to your website or converting traffic into sale.

The research keyword strategy is the first step towards a successful search engine optimization campaign and other marketing channels. It is important to pay attention to your research keyword strategy. It is obviously that it can be very tricky to choose your niche keywords for your home based internet marketing business or even website.

The selection of keywords should always be based on various aspects such as product names, services, brands, or other general terms. Another interesting point for your research keyword is the geographical. The internet is a global market. Your research keyword strategy should be specified into your market or region or small group of people. Many studies show that most of internet marketing entrepreneurs forget about the geographical research keyword terms.

The highest recommendation for your research keyword strategy is to do thorough market research analysis. With this sense, you will reach wider range of potential buyers through the best keywords. Also, you should study the competitors' keywords, which keywords are profitable and used by your competitors. With those competitors' keywords, you will know that what your competitors are using and marketing on the internet.

Next, you will learn step-by-step of how to research keyword effectively to discover the best keywords for your online business.

1. Brainstorm initially the focus keywords for your business by yourself. Obviously, you should come up with the set of initial keywords for your own business. With those initial keywords, you can derived and generate more niche keywords later. The highest recommendation for brainstorming is to list down all markets, topics, products and services, which you are going to offer to your customers. With those stuffs, you will come up with the initial set of keywords. Perhaps, you can use the free keyword search tools like Overture, Google Keywords and WordTracker (free-version) to get the keyword ideas or initial set of keywords.

2. Ask other people to generate more initial keywords. It is a great idea to ask other people like your family, friends or colleague to get more ideas about keywords in your business. This is pretty powerful strategy for generating ideas for your keywords. Let's think about this way, if you allow 10 people to generate only 10 common keywords for your business, how much finally you will get the common general keywords for your business. That’s 100 keywords without your works! All you have to do is ask people particularly family and friends to help you generate a quick list of keywords.

3. Select the initial keywords for digging down further. When you have a full initial set of keywords, it is obvious that you have to select those keywords for digging down further. In this step, you must think about keywords people are using to search for products in your niche markets. You must ensure that you select keywords that clearly define your home based internet marketing business, products or services. There are some websites on the internet which get a lot of traffic through general keywords, although those websites can not generate any sales.

4. Refine your keyword research with the keyword research tools. There are many keyword search tools available to help you generate more keywords. The challenge here is to determine which keyword is the best to generate traffic. The highest recommends are: to focus on Keyword Index (KEI) value and competitors in search engines. With paid-version of WordTracker or Keyword Discovery, you should select the keywords with high KEI value and low competitors.

5. Dig down into your competitors' keywords. There is no doubt that it is an absolutely great idea to study and steal your competitors' keywords. There are a few powerful tools to help you to study those competitors' keywords in dept. With those keyword search tools, you will discover what keywords they are using for their earning and profits online.

6. Test your keywords through pay per click campaign. To success in the internet marketing business, you have to test everything you can such as keywords, website and strategies. The best keyword research strategy in this article is to test your keywords with pay per click campaigns. With those campaigns, you will know the traffic, conversion rate and bid price for your keywords. However, the awareness of this step is your keyword bidding price in those pay per click campaigns.

7. Use the high performance keywords for your home based internet marketing business. This step is a consequence of the previous step. You will discover high performance keywords with high conversion rate. When you get those high performance keywords, you must use them everywhere in your home based internet marketing business such as article, classified ads, blogging and email.

Final thoughts, there is a sequence of steps to do your keyword research effectively. With those steps, you will discover the best keywords for your business. Those best performance keywords will lead you to success in this internet marketing business.

Get full access to the best keywords researched over 2 million keywords by the expert team. This is another way for your shortcut to get the best keywords. You will discover hot niche markets and keywords from the most effective keyword research. You will save your time and minimize your mistake while you are researching your own keywords. Also, you will discover super-profitable markets and keywords from the best keywords provided to you every month!

Learn more about keyword research and keyword search tools to help you to generate a massive list of keywords in a minute. With those niche keywords, you will maximize your profits in PPC. You will discover great niche keywords with low competitors and high conversion rate, particularly for Adwords and Adsense. You will save your time and will not be headache about keyword research any more.

Read more articles, news, and up-to-date information about keyword research and related keyword issues at: http://www.zKeywordTool.com/blog

About the Author:
Siripong R. or zMillionDollars is a recognized authority on the subject of making money online from home through highly profitable & successful home based business. His websites, www.zMakeMoney.com and www.iPayByClick.com, provide a wealth of informative articles and resources on everything you\\\'ll ever need to know about earning money online.

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How To Perform Keyword Research For Your Local Business Website

2009-06-03T04:11:00.000-07:00

Performing keyword research for your business to display either in a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign, article marketing, or social bookmarking is by far one of the most important things you can do to gain traffic to your website. A lot of businesses do this poorly and wonder why they do not get traffic.

For example, let’s say you own a flower shop in White Bear Lake, MN, which is where I live, and you’re putting together a website and planning your onsite and offsite marketing campaign. The first sets of keywords that would come to mind are “White Bear Lake flower shop”, or “your business name” + “flower shop”, or a derivative thereof. Other “local” businesses who are not reading this post, may just decide to use “flower shop” instead. Do you realize how broad that keyword term is and how much you would pay in PPC to get high rankings on Google?

What you want to focus on are the longtail-keywords, keywords that are more than one or two words longs. Longtail keywords provide you with longevity because you have to put thought into them and can quickly achieve #1, #2, or #3 rankings on Google for them.

How do you go about getting those longtail keywords? Start off with the broad keyword for your local business and expand from it by adding related words as prefix or suffix to that word. Ask your customers wheat they would type into Google if they wanted to find your business. Thinking outside the box by asking your customers and clients will quickly enable you to come up with a sizeable list that you can quickly dominate on Google.

You can also grow your list of keywords by remembering last minute keywords. We’ll go back to the flower business example from before. If you have a customer that has forgotten his/her anniversary and is looking for flowers 5 minutes ago, he/she is going to be desparate to find something relatively quickly. He/she might search for “same day flower delivery in vinings” or “last minute flowers purchase” + “your city”. Do you see how the desparateness of this search can produce dramatic results? So, if you had that keyword SEO on your site or had it as part of an article in your acticle marketing efforts, you would definitely attract that customer to your site and have him/her as a client.

I cannot over emphasize how powerful and important it is to do keyword research for your marketing efforts. This is what customers search for in order to get to your site. Constantly grow your keywords list, track what works, and continue to do onsite and offsite optimization in order to get more traffic for your business.

One other trick is to use similar keywords that have some overlap. You can also use the singular and plural form of a term, change the order the keywords, or maybe use the common misspelling of the word in your campaign.

This is by no means an exhaustive tips on doing keyword research. I will certainly revisit this topic again and again

The next post will be on tracking your traffic in order to fine tune your results and better optimize your site. This is probably the second most important thing you could do for your business.

Poll: Business People Say Twitter More Important Than LinkedIn

2009-06-03T04:05:00.000-07:00

Written by Marshall Kirkpatrick / May 29, 2009 4:39 PM

A month-long poll conducted on business social network LinkedIn has uncovered some fascinating numbers concerning social media platforms and brand presence. The biggest surprise was that Twitter was deemed more important to brands than LinkedIn, and the poll was performed on LinkedIn. With more than 3,600 respondents so far, each well understood in terms of job titles, company size, age and gender - this is a high-quality data set worth paying attention to. The question asked was simply: "What is the most important new platform for brands to master?" Options were Twitter, Facebook, the iPhone, Digg and LinkedIn.

Some of the conclusions were a real surprise. Others confirmed our suspicions. Read on for charts, bullet points and a few thoughts.

Below are charts breaking out the poll responses from various groups and some text we've written to interpret those charts. It's important to remember the question wasn't "what do you prefer" but rather "what is most important for brands to master." Those are related but different questions.

Just for context, we'll start with a traffic graph.

Key takeaways from the poll:

Overall

Twitter is #1, leading Facebook by a respectable margin
The iPhone is considered less important than LinkedIn
Almost no-one thinks Digg is the most important
There is no consensus; every platform named (except for Digg) has a group of backers that believes it is most important.

About the respondents

3,615 respondents is a very good number

Only 4% were business owners, 26% managers, 56% non-managers

75% were from small businesses

26% were marketers, the largest percentage among job functions

Twice as many men responded as women

83% of respondents were between the ages of 25 and 54, only 17% younger or older

Most appreciative of Twitter: Business owners, C-Level or VPs. People at large- or medium-sized companies. People doing business development, marketing or creative work.

Least appreciative of Twitter: Non-managers. People at very large or small businesses. Consultants, Salespeople and Engineers.

Most appreciative of LinkedIn: C-level and non-managers. At small- or medium-sized businesses. Doing consulting or sales.

Least appreciative of LinkedIn: Owners and managers. At large or enterprise companies. In creative or marketing departments.

By Job Title

Business owners are most likely to put Twitter at the top, non-management people are least likely
Non-managers are most likely to favor LinkedIn, owners are least likely
Non-C-level or VP managers are most likely to favor Facebook, owners are least likely
About 1 out of 5 people in all positions favor the iPhone

By Company Size

Large businesses are most likely to favor Twitter
Medium and small businesses are twice as likely to favor LinkedIn
Small businesses are twice as likely to favor Digg
Medium-sized businesses are least likely to favor the iPhone

By Job Function

Marketing, business development and creatives are most likely to favor Twitter
Consultants and sales are least likely to favor Twitter
Creatives and marketing are least likely to favor LinkedIn
Consultants and sales are most likely to favor LinkedIn
Consultants are most likely to favor iPhone, marketing least likely
Engineers are far more likely to favor Digg than anyone
Marketing is most into Facebook, business development the least (prefers Twitter)

By Gender

Women are much more likely to prefer Twitter
Men are more likely to favor LinkedIn, iPhone

By Age

55+ far more likely 75% than anyone to favor LinkedIn
25-54 more likely to favor the iPhone than younger or older people

So what do you think? Surprises? Confirmed beliefs? This looks like good quality data to us so we suspect we'll be thinking about it for a while. Two things are for sure - there's no topping LinkedIn for professional background information, and there's no chance we'd be able to trust a poll like this if it was performed on Twitter!

How to Use LinkedIn for Growing your Business

2009-05-13T03:25:00.000-07:00

I was recently asked to present a 10 minute talk on LinkedIn for my BNI chapter, Business Builders, in Woodbury, MN. I have been asked to give the talk again for other groups and I'd like to share this with all of you.

I’m here not as an expert, but to join you on the journey into social media, specifically through LinkedIn, so we can all further our efforts to BUILD TRUST among our contacts, GROW OUR NETWORKS and therefore GROW OUR BUSINESSES.

What do Boston, an avocado, Shakopee, MN, and a banana have in common? LinkedIn.

My husband sells printing for Imagine Print Solutions in Shakopee. They print packaging and custom displays, post of purchase, labels and signage. He was contacted by a print rep out of Boston, who was contacted by Chiquita thru LinkedIn, to broker a job for their new avocado launch. The connection was made possible by LinkedIn, and could prove to be a very loyal and profitable customer for my husband in the future.

WHAT IS LINKEDIN? LinkedIn is a business networking website that allows its users to identify, make and maintain contact with other business professionals. It also has forum sections and "groups" where users can ask and answer business related questions.

Has more than 30 million users
1.3 million new people sign up each month
of that 1.3 million, 750,000 are senior executive level
Average annual income exceeds $109,000
The average age for LinkedIn users is 41, with all the top Fortune 500 business decision makers having LinkedIn accounts.

8 Tips to Use LinkedIn to Grow Your Business

1. People use LinkedIn as an online resume. Members create profiles that provide a snapshot of their professional background – where they work currently, past work history, the businesses they own, and even the side businesses they run. So, if I am checking someone out, I visit LinkedIn because it’s usually the most streamlined place to scan professional qualifications.

LinkedIn Profile Tips: Use a current photo; Include keywords in your headline, summary, experiences, and interests; Add your web URLs, blogs, links and any part of your online identity; important stuff about what you do; reinforce your marketing message. You can also add the LinkedIn Blog application to add more information to your profile; Make it public.

2. LinkedIn is also a way to connect and establish relationships with new people, and expand and reinforce existing relationships. So what exactly can LinkedIn do for your business? Use it to:

LinkedIn Tips: Expand your contacts. The right contacts can help you grow your business, whether you need to find business partners, suppliers or customers. Place a link to your LinkedIn profile prominently on your website (perhaps on the About page) and/or on your blog. That will encourage people to become one of your LinkedIn contacts. In addition, answer questions on the LinkedIn Answers network. Giving someone valuable information makes it easy to strike up an online conversation and from there build a relationship. You are building TRUST. It’s about reputation. Networks like LinkedIn are systems for communicating reputation so people can determine how much they should trust you. It's a virtual representation of your reputation. Both what you list and who you are connected to, give critical information about who you are.

Tips on contacts: use LinkedIn Search people—who are you looking for? You are only one, possibly two, linkedin connections away from your next large customer. Bring your network online. Your network is one of your most valuable assets, but it does little good for you offline. Upload your Address Book, invite the people you want to connect with, and get connected. Having your network online means that you can now use it as a personalized search engine for both who and what you know.

STORY: It’s important to find the right person at a company. For Jeff Ragovin, doing just that has netted his company “over two to three million dollars”. Jeff writes: “I look at my network on LinkedIn,” “And I look at that as a gold mine.” As the VP of Sales and Business Development at Buddy Media, Jeff brings in marquis clients like Anheuser-Busch, Microsoft and New Balance by reaching out to the right person with a valuable proposal. Jeff says they’re more inclined to reply when approached via LinkedIn, because “they already have the opportunity to look you up … and maybe even see in your network where you have 14 recommendations. So there’s trust.” Perhaps that trust is why Jeff likes to keep his network “large but lean”.

“It’s not a numbers game,” Jeff says. “It’s not about how many people can I have in my network. With LinkedIn, it’s about how many qualified people that are valuable to me.” Jeff’s track record suggests that success is found in quality, rather than quantity. Though as quantities go, $2-3 million is nothing to sniff at.

3. Stay connected with existing business networking contacts. You’ve invested precious time in developing business contacts through networking –don’t let those contacts evaporate. Using LinkedIn, you can keep track of people you’ve met at in-person events or at trade shows – or people you’ve only met online. LinkedIn offers profile photos, letting you remember the person’s face even if you haven’t seen them in a while. Also, if you need an up-to-date email address for one of your connections, you can find it on LinkedIn.

Find connections. Who knows your client or customer before you do? Keep track of old friends. LinkedIn Identifies good networkers. Identify relationships between people you know and people you want to know. Pay attention to people’s job titles.

4. LinkedIn Recommendations - With LinkedIn, you can receive ongoing testimonials. When your clients and vendors give you recommendations, you gain instant credibility.

We are now in a time where most people will do a Google search for your name and company before deciding on a purchase. Your LinkedIn profile along with the recommendations from your clients and vendors will be near the top of any search on your name clearly adding to your credibility.

Invite and connect to people who have worked with you and can give you a glowing “specific” recommendation. You’ll want to help the person giving the recommendation use the right key words and specific solution for best results.

Give recommendations whenever possible. It will show up in Recent Activity on all the connections for both of you. In other words, you’ll both go up the referral curve!

5. Draw traffic to your website and blog. You can link to your website and blog from your LinkedIn profile. Adjust your LinkedIn settings to notify your contacts whenever you update your profile. Then update your profile once a quarter and LinkedIn will send out a notice to remind your contacts to come see what’s changed. For instance, if you redesign your website or add a product line, you can update your profile and your contacts automatically will be notified.

6. Get PR visibility. Many bloggers and journalists have LinkedIn profiles. While it may be difficult to get their attention by “cold call emailing,” try getting introduced to them through LinkedIn. You certainly do not want to spam them or annoy them. But connecting through LinkedIn is a low pressure way to start developing a relationship. Later on, after they “know” you, they may be more receptive to hearing about your online store, particularly if you serve a niche market or have distinctive merchandise. Take advantage of what you are working on to promote what you do. (keywords)

Join relevant Groups based on your interests, position yourself as an expert. Read the comments and add helpful, appropriate comments. Follow other groups. Use the news. Involve your coworkers into discussion.

7. Reinforce your business brand. Your LinkedIn profile will include your company name. You can even include detailed information about what your business does as well as your products and services. Some savvy entrepreneurs include their URL as part of their name and title so that it appears every time their name is displayed on LinkedIn. These actions reinforce your brand at no cost to you. Announce significant news about your business (new launch or joint venture. By way of a profile update. Make sure your website, blogs and other web-based content are SEO for YOUR purposes. Add something of value to the content, linked, tips, etc.

8. Use LinkedIn to hire service providers, freelancers, independent contractors and employees. LinkedIn is excellent for finding or checking out qualified help. All you need to do is request an introduction through an existing contact.

Lets review these LinkedIn Tips:

Come recommended and reach out to the right person at the right company.
Update your professional summary and request recommendations from your LinkedIn contacts who know what you do best.
Search for the right person to connect with by job title, company, location or keyword.
Review profiles to see if they’re a fit for your proposal and request an introduction through a common connection, or send an InMail directly to that person.
By answering questions in your field of expertise you can help others while showcasing your knowledge of your particular industry in front of a wider audience. This will allow you to connect with interesting people and hopefully bring in new contracts.
Have people familiar with your work recommend you!

Given our current economic conditions, there is no better time to utilize marketing opportunities like social media which are right at your fingertips to promote your business.

I hope you utilize 2009 to jumpstart social media strategies to improve your business.

With LinkedIn, it's not what you know, it's who you know.

Marketers Using Social Networking, Online Resource Centers to Reach Small and Medium Businesses

2009-04-21T04:58:00.000-07:00

Own a business? Chances are marketers communicating to you via social media.

Emarketingandcommerce.com posted on April 16 an interesting story. They say major marketers targeting small and medium businesses (SMBs) are relying less on traditional marketing tactics because of the economic downturn. Although SMBs say they prefer to receive product and service information though traditional tactics, marketers are relying more heavily on social networking and online resource centers. And they are saving money doing so.

Tell me more! These were among the findings in a study conducted recently by Bredin Business Information, a Cambridge, Mass.-based business information firm. BBI conducted two surveys in late January and February, asking 50 marketers about their outreach and research efforts for 2009, as well as 741 SMBs about their online and offline media preferences, top concerns and brand ratings

Results from the survey of marketers include the following:

Marketers are attempting to capitalize on competitive weaknesses to gain market share instead of focusing on customer retention efforts. Forty-eight percent said they're balancing their efforts, while 32 percent are concentrating more on acquisition and only 20 percent on retention.
In response to the economy, marketers are increasing their online activities for greater impact with less budget risk (17 percent) and targeting their efforts more (15 percent).
Marketers are shifting their efforts to the Internet. Offline tactics received an average rating of 2.6 on a scale of one (significantly decrease) to five (significantly increase), while online marketing increased, with an average rating of 3.5.
Among offline marketing efforts, PR ranked highest (3.5), followed by telemarketing (3.4), print newsletters (2.8) and direct mail (2.8).
Receiving the most attention online are social networking (3.7), resource centers (3.7) and search marketing (3.6).

Results from the SMB survey, however, revealed that SMBs rely most on newspaper and magazine articles (43.6 percent) and direct mail, including letters, postcards and catalogs (43.5 percent) as sources of information about products and services. Receiving the least amount of support were radio/TV ads (32 percent) and phone calls (27.4 percent).

Except for referrals from friends/peers and search, all other online tactics ranked lower than direct mail. As sources of information about products and services online, for example, referrals from friends and peers ranked first (71.9 percent), followed by SEM (57 percent). Next came educational Web sites (44.5 percent) and e-mail newsletters (38.2 percent).

SMBs rated social networking at 27.8 percent. Among the social networks, Facebook ranked highest (19.7 percent), followed by LinkedIn (15.6 percent), Meetup (11.3 percent) and Twitter (11.2 percent). Bringing up the rear were forums/chat rooms (20.2 percent), videos/podcasts (19.2 percent) and ads to cell phones (8.1 percent).

Source

The benefits of a content management system

2009-04-20T12:07:00.000-07:00

If you are publishing a lot of content from a number of authors, you should seriously consider a content management system (CMS). A quality CMS can help you streamline your publishing processes. It can allow you to develop an information architecture that is robust, yet flexible. It can allow you to manage your content efficiently and cost-effectively.

A CMS makes it easier for people to create, edit and publish content on a website. Historically, website publishing has required significant technical skills (HTML, programming). A good CMS allows non-technical authors and editors to easily and quickly publish their content.

A CMS makes it easier for you to manage who creates, edits and publishes content. Because it establishes defined publishing processes, you can allocate specific publishing rights to various individuals.

By easing technical hurdles in the publication of content, a CMS can reduce the need for training, while facilitating more people to publish. At the same time, it reduces the daily stream of calls to the IT department for changes to the website.

A CMS reduces time-to-publish, allowing you to get content published faster. This is an important issue for the modern organization. The quicker you get key content published, the more value it creates.

A CMS allows for the design of a common and consistent information architecture (metadata, classification, navigation, search, layout and design). Inconsistent and poorly designed information architectures plague many websites.

A CMS will allow for the consistent management of metadata through content template structures. Of the many benefits this delivers is a significantly improved search process. Basically, if the appropriate metadata is captured on all documents, then people can find the right content a lot more quickly.

Security is an important issue, particularly for intranets. A CMS can facilitate better content security. It can control who is allowed to publish to the website, and who is allowed to see what content.

A CMS can allow you to more easily measure the success of your publishing efforts. You can track who is publishing what, how quickly content is getting published, whether the publication schedule is being adhered to, whether out-of-date content is being removed quickly enough, etc.

A CMS really comes into its own when you have a lot of authors and editors, based at multiple locations, publishing substantial quantities of content on an ongoing basis. Without a CMS, such an environment can become a nightmare to manage.

Without a CMS, what often happens is that there is a publishing free-for-all. The content quality is not properly monitored and becomes inconsistent. The navigation and layout changes from section to section, creating a frustrating experience for the reader.

When does a CMS begin to make sense in comparison to using raw HTML or a package such as Microsoft FrontPage? Well, you need to be publishing at least 10 new documents a week. There should be a minimum of 5 authors/editors publishing this content. As the number of documents, authors and editors rise, a CMS begins to make more and more sense.

Check out Indigo Branding Client Discover Strength on Fox News Training the Viking Cheerleaders

2009-04-17T12:36:00.000-07:00

For some weekend entertainment, check out Discover Strength on Fox http://www.myfoxtwincities.com/dpp/morning_news/MA_VIkings_Cheer_Strength_April_14_2009

Indigo Creative Solutions just finished rebranding Discover Strength. It's also a phenomenal place to workout!

Do you have Social Media Strategy for your business?

2009-04-12T15:01:00.001-07:00

It's time to take this question seriously.

Social media is not just a fad, it's here to stay. Research shows that every day, large corporations invest millions of dollars to jump in the social media arena.

Given our current economic conditions, there is no better time to utilize marketing opportunities like social media which are right at your fingertips to promote your business.

What can you do in 2009 to improve your business? The following are three tools you should be using consistenly:

Facebook: Do you have a personal facebook account that reflects your current interests and activities?
Linked In: Do you consistently connect to other professionals and are you maximizing all of its tools and opportunities for discussions?
Twitter: Are you creating meaningful relationships within the twitter community? Are you researching what successful companies are doing to make millions with Twitter?

I hope you utilize 2009 to jumpstart social media strategies to improve your business.

There’s no better time than right now to build your business and to take advantage of all the great opportunities that a slightly down economy presents to you.

Quote of the Week

2009-04-06T11:52:00.001-07:00

The best way to predict your future is to create it.
Tony Robbins

Joomla Components News

2009-04-04T04:23:00.000-07:00

Great news in the Joomla CMS Community -
A new Release is out!

Joomla 1.5.10 security release is out today 

What's New?
RssFactory Pro 1.2.2
The new version of rss Factory PRO brings two new important features.
The first major feature is the ability to Import the RSS feeds to the Joomla
Content. Here you can set for each existing RSS feed the section and
category where it will be imported and also set the author and publishing
period.

The second major feature is the Archive System. The period of how long the
feed contents should be kept is admin configurable. Both new features are
extending and maximizing the SEO SEF abilities of a website. Importing the
feeds directly to the content will simplify the work of each webmaster,
providing always new and updated content on his site. The archive system
will provide for regular webpages the possiblity to be found again in a
search engine.

Regular websites are not so often indexed by the search engines machines
and an archive system is providing the necessary requirements, that the
indexed pages are still available on your site and any search result will
lead to a valid page. They hope that the new version will increase the
productivity of the sites and the whole Joomla Community will benefit
from it.

* Import the RSS feeds to the Joomla Content
* A lot of UTF issues solved (due to great feedback from our users!)
* New feature: show first X chars from feed content in the module.
* New feature: add multiple categories from textarea.
* New feature: enable/disable read more link.
* Several issues fixed, including itemid on search result, some charset
  issues, display issue involving js, segmentation fault (11).

Hot or Not 1.0.0
The native MVC Joomla 1.5 component provides an easy voting system,
requiring only a single click action for a speedy process. The component
can be used to rate different images like landscapes, art, etc. or if the
genre mode is enabled, more particular for male and female images. The
upload is very easy, allowing also multiple upload. For each picture a
sharelink and the number of hits will be visible and if admin enabled the
description, comments and tags. To allow the administrator content control
on the site, each picture and comment can be reported.

* Menu Module including Top Rated, My Pictures, Upload and advanced Search option.
* TAG Cloud Module.
* Random Picture.
* Last Voted.

Ads Factory 1.1.0 
Ads Factory is the new release from the Factory -  A new classifieds
extensions with detailed attention to SEF related issues that will fully
integrate into your Joomla 1.5 website. No Briges or Legacy support needed!

Version 1.1.0 brings new features and several tweaks:

* New feature: enable/disable messaging
* New feature: Start/End date editable in admin.
* Improved Private System; for private ads:

Community Components - replacements for the well known "Community Builder"
Since the days of Mambo - Joomlapolis Community Builder (in those times it
was Mambojoe's community builder) - was the only way to enhance the scarce
profile of  Mambo/Joomla. CB is now one of the most popular Joomla extension
in Extensions Directory and an Editor Pick(one of the few picks there are).

Althou there is nothing wrong with Joomlapolis Extension, with time appeared
some interesting alternatives to it. There are several Free, some
Commercial and some of them even Encrypted (Joobi). We analysed two free
Extensions that look very promising (and are both now in Beta stage)

Web Color Chart

2009-03-25T07:49:00.000-07:00

FFF
FFF

CCC
CCC

999
999

666
666

333
333

000
000

FFC
C00

FF9
900

FF6
600

FF3
300

99C
C00

CC9
900

FFC
C33

FFC
C66

FF9
966

FF6
633

CC3
300

CC0
033

CCF
F00

CCF
F33

333
300

666
600

999
900

CCC
C00

FFF
F00

CC9
933

CC6
633

330
000

660
000

990
000

CC0
000

FF0
000

FF3
366

FF0
033

99F
F00

CCF
F66

99C
C33

666
633

999
933

CCC
C33

FFF
F33

996
600

993
300

663
333

993
333

CC3
333

FF3
333

CC3
366

FF6
699

FF0
066

66F
F00

99F
F66

66C
C33

669
900

999
966

CCC
C66

FFF
F66

996
633

663
300

996
666

CC6
666

FF6
666

990
033

CC3
399

FF6
6CC

FF0
099

33F
F00

66F
F33

339
900

66C
C00

99F
F33

CCC
C99

FFF
F99

CC9
966

CC6
600

CC9
999

FF9
999

FF3
399

CC0
066

990
066

FF3
3CC

FF0
0CC

00C
C00

33C
C00

336
600

669
933

99C
C66

CCF
F99

FFF
FCC

FFC
C99

FF9
933

FFC
CCC

FF9
9CC

CC6
699

993
366

660
033

CC0
099

330
033

33C
C33

66C
C66

00F
F00

33F
F33

66F
F66

99F
F99

CCF
FCC

CC9
9CC

996
699

993
399

990
099

663
366

660
066

006
600

336
633

009
900

339
933

669
966

99C
C99

FFC
CFF

FF9
9FF

FF6
6FF

FF3
3FF

FF0
0FF

CC6
6CC

CC3
3CC

003
300

00C
C33

006
633

339
966

66C
C99

99F
FCC

CCF
FFF

339
9FF

99C
CFF

CCC
CFF

CC9
9FF

996
6CC

663
399

330
066

990
0CC

CC0
0CC

00F
F33

33F
F66

009
933

00C
C66

33F
F99

99F
FFF

99C
CCC

006
6CC

669
9CC

999
9FF

999
9CC

993
3FF

660
0CC

660
099

CC3
3FF

CC0
0FF

00F
F66

66F
F99

33C
C66

009
966

66F
FFF

66C
CCC

669
999

003
366

336
699

666
6FF

666
6CC

666
699

330
099

993
3CC

CC6
6FF

990
0FF

00F
F99

66F
FCC

33C
C99

33F
FFF

33C
CCC

339
999

336
666

006
699

003
399

333
3FF

333
3CC

333
399

333
366

663
3CC

996
6FF

660
0FF

00F
FCC

33F
FCC

00F
FFF

00C
CCC

009
999

006
666

003
333

339
9CC

336
6CC

000
0FF

000
0CC

000
099

000
066

000
033

663
3FF

330
0FF

00C
C99

009
9CC

33C
CFF

66C
CFF

669
9FF

336
6FF

003
3CC

330
0CC

00C
CFF

009
9FF

006
6FF

003
3FF

Fraction-Decimal Conversion Chart

2009-03-25T07:35:00.000-07:00

Quick Reference Chart for Designers:

Fraction	Inches	Millimeters
1/64	.015625	.3969
1/32	.03125	.7938
3/64	.046875	1.1906
1/16	.0625	1.5875
5/64	.078125	1.9844
3/32	.09375	2.3813
7/64	.109375	2.7781
1/8	.125	3.1750
9/64	.140625	3.5719
5/32	.15625	3.9688
11/64	.171875	4.3656
3/16	.1875	4.7625
13/64	.203125	5.1594
7/32	.21875	5.5536
15/64	.234375	5.9531
1/4	.250	6.3500
17/64	.265625	6.7469
9/32	.28125	7.1438
19/64	.296875	7.5406
5/16	.3125	7.9375
21/64	.328125	8.3344
11/32	.34375	8.7313
23/64	.359375	9.1282
3/8	.375	9.5250
25/64	.390625	9.9219
13/32	.40625	10.3188
27/64	.421875	10.7157
7/16	.4375	11.1125
29/64	.453125	11.5094
15/32	.46875	11.9063
31/64	.484375	12.3032
1/2	.500	12.7001

Fraction	Inches	Millimeters
33/64	.515625	13.0969
17/32	.53125	13.4938
35/64	.546875	13.8907
9/16	.5625	14.2876
37/64	.578125	14.6844
19/32	.59375	15.0813
39/64	.609375	15.4782
5/8	.625	15.8751
41/64	.640625	16.2719
21/32	.65625	16.6688
43/64	.671875	17.0657
11/16	.6875	17.4626
45/64	.703125	17.8594
23/32	.71875	18.2563
47/64	.734375	18.6532
3/4	.750	19.0501
49/64	.765625	19.4470
25/32	.78125	19.8438
51/64	.796875	20.2407
13/16	.8125	20.6376
53/64	.828125	21.0345
27/32	.84375	21.4313
55/64	.859375	21.8282
7/8	.875	22.2251
57/64	.890625	22.6220
29/32	.90625	23.0188
59/64	.921875	23.4157
15/16	.9375	23.8126
61/64	.953125	24.2095
31/32	.96875	24.6063
63/64	.984375	25.0032
1	1.000	25.4001

Thymes Bath, Body and Home Products Packaging Design

2009-03-17T10:32:00.000-07:00

Part of the fun of being a designer is admiring packaging like one would view a sculpture or piece of art. The Thymes line of bath, body and home products continues to have beautiful and original packaging design. The new Naia line is fresh and very organic with the greens. The Essentials line is clean and serene, reminding me of my recent trip to the islands with ocean colors and use of a subtle gradient.

Instant Online Meetings Solutions

2009-03-16T05:07:00.000-07:00

Want to share files that are too big to email? Need to have an instant online meeting with a client, group conference call, or schedule an online training? Want to show a client your design work in progress as it is on your desktop?

At Adobe ConnectNow, part of Acrobat.com, is a free service that lets you host an online meeting with up to two other people. (With CS4 applications, this appears under File >Share.

Adobe Acrobat Connect is a $39/mo solution that lets you hold unlimited online meetings with up to 15 people at once.

Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro is Adobe's industrial strength, more expensive solution for large meetings, training sessions and conferences.

Alternative, similar online meeting and file sharing solutions: Yugma.com (a Minneapolis company), and gotomeeting.com.

How to handle heavy content / ideas for a third tier navigation design on website

2009-03-07T06:09:00.001-08:00

Do you have a lot of content for your website's navigation and don't quite know how to handle it in a clean, organized way?

Well, I thought I'd share this interesting drop down third tier style navigation on the visi.com website. It's a nice solution for when you 1) have heavy content to include in your sites navigation, 2) would like to use icons for areas of service, and 3) need to fit more content in a small space without a really long rollover.

Inbox Insanity--the Future of Email Marketing

2009-03-06T18:56:00.000-08:00

In a world of ever-changing social media practices, which method of marketing takes the top prize? Is it dependable but a bit more costly direct mail, email which is free but borders on invasive and annoying, texting your message, or blasting out on twitter, blogs or the like.

In a talk given by Jeffrey K. Rohrs at MIMA's event Inbox Insanity--the Future of Email Marketing, Minnesota Interactive Marketing Association, we reviewed the pros and the cons of each medium, and the methods of gaining permissions. In the end, email and direct mail are still the top most accepted methods of targeting your market. With email, however, you must gain permission and it's best to avoid oversaturating your message (aka the barrage of never-ending department store emails we all delete first thing in the morning...)

All enterprise and agency employees responsible for 1) branding / creative services; 2) interactive marketing 3) market research and 4) public relations need to know:

The latest email marketing best practices
Emerging technologies
Future trends in personal, one-to-one marketing

Below is a link to a great talk given by Jeffrey K. Rohrs, Vice President of Marketing for ExactTarget on this subject. To learn more, go to:

http://www.slideshare.net/ExactTarget/inbox-insanity-the-future-of-email-marketing

Spring Color Trends for 2009

2009-02-20T12:37:00.000-08:00

Wondering what's new and fresh for Spring? Sick of winter blahs... Well, according to Pantone, bright colors return to the top 10 list for spring ’09, as you'll see designers incorporate vibrant pops into their collections, yet temper the vibrancy with deeper, translucent or neutral tones.

Preview colors for Spring 2009 .

Spring traditionally evokes a sense of freshness and new beginnings. If you're getting married in the spring and are looking for color inspiration, the trend is bright colors and stabilizing neutrals. Take a look at Pantone's fashion color report for 2009 for some fresh ideas.

Greek Copy For Layouts

2009-02-12T11:36:00.001-08:00

Need some Greek? Cut and grab some Greek copy here for dummy text in design layouts:

Lorem ipsum dolor: placeholder and copyfitting text for DTP

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.

Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.

Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

“Lorem Ipsum” (allegedly the original version of the dummy text)

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ulliam corper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem veleum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel willum lunombro dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.

Li Europan lingues es membres del sam familie. Lor separat existentie es un myth. Por scientie, musica, sport etc., li tot Europa usa li sam vocabularium. Li lingues differe solmen in li grammatica, li pronunciation e li plu commun vocabules. Omnicos directe al desirabilitá de un nov lingua franca: on refusa continuar payar custosi traductores. It solmen va esser necessi far uniform grammatica, pronunciation e plu sommun paroles.

Ma quande lingues coalesce, li grammatica del resultant lingue es plu simplic e regulari quam ti del coalescent lingues. Li nov lingua franca va esser plu simplic e regulari quam li existent Europan lingues. It va esser tam simplic quam Occidental: in fact, it va esser Occidental. A un Angleso it va semblar un simplificat Angles, quam un skeptic Cambridge amico dit me que Occidental es.

“What does ‘lorem ipsum dolor’ mean?”

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, set eiusmod tempor incidunt et labore et dolore magna aliquam. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerc. Irure dolor in reprehend incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse molestaie cillum. Tia non ob ea soluad incommod quae egen ium improb fugiend. Officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum Et harumd dereud facilis est er expedit distinct. Nam liber te conscient to factor tum poen legum odioque civiuda et tam. Neque pecun modut est neque nonor et imper ned libidig met, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed ut labore et dolore magna aliquam is nostrud exercitation ullam mmodo consequet. Duis aute in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. At vver eos et accusam dignissum qui blandit est praesent. Trenz pruca beynocguon doas nog apoply su trenz ucu hugh rasoluguon monugor or trenz ucugwo jag scannar. Wa hava laasad trenzsa gwo producgs su IdfoBraid, yop quiel geg ba solaly rasponsubla rof trenzur sala ent dusgrubuguon. Offoctivo immoriatoly, hawrgasi pwicos asi sirucor. Thas sirutciun applios tyu thuso itoms ghuso pwicos gosi sirucor in mixent gosi sirucor ic mixent ples cak ontisi sowios uf Zerm hawr rwivos. Unte af phen neige pheings atoot Prexs eis phat eit sakem eit vory gast te Plok peish ba useing phen roxas. Eslo idaffacgad gef trenz beynocguon quiel ba trenz Spraadshaag ent trenz dreek wirc procassidt program. Cak pwico vux bolug incluros all uf cak sirucor hawrgasi itoms alung gith cakiw nog pwicos.

Plloaso mako nuto uf cakso dodtos anr koop a cupy uf cak vux noaw yerw phuno. Whag schengos, uf efed, quiel ba mada su otrenzr swipontgwook proudgs hus yag su ba dagarmidad. Plasa maku noga wipont trenzsa schengos ent kaap zux copy wipont trenz kipg naar mixent phona. Cak pwico siructiun ruos nust apoply tyu cak UCU sisulutiun munityuw uw cak UCU-TGU jot scannow. Trens roxas eis ti Plokeing quert loppe eis yop prexs. Piy opher hawers, eit yaggles orn ti sumbloat alohe plok. Su havo loasor cakso tgu pwuructs tyu InfuBwain, ghu gill nug bo suloly sispunsiblo fuw cakiw salo anr ristwibutiun. Hei muk neme eis loppe. Treas em wankeing ont sime ploked peish rof phen sumbloat syug si phat phey gavet peish ta paat ein pheeir sumbloats. Aslu unaffoctor gef cak siructiun gill bo cak spiarshoot anet cak GurGanglo gur pwucossing pwutwam. Ghat dodtos, ig pany, gill bo maro tyu ucakw suftgasi pwuructs hod yot tyubo rotowminor. Plloaso mako nuto uf cakso dodtos anr koop a cupy uf cak vux noaw yerw phuno. Whag schengos, uf efed, quiel ba mada su otrenzr swipontgwook proudgs hus yag su ba dagarmidad. Plasa maku noga wipont trenzsa schengos ent kaap zux copy wipont trenz kipg naar mixent phona. Cak pwico siructiun ruos nust apoply tyu cak UCU sisulutiun munityuw uw cak UCU-TGU jot scannow. Trens roxas eis ti Plokeing quert loppe eis yop prexs. Piy opher hawers, eit yaggles orn ti sumbloat alohe plok. Su havo loasor cakso tgu pwuructs tyu.

“Sample 5 of Opening Web Site”

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diem nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut lacreet dolore magna aliguam erat volutpat. Ut wisis enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tution ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diem nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut lacreet dolore magna aliguam autem dolor in hendrerit erat wisis enim ad minim veniam volutpat.

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diem nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut lacreet dolore magna aliguam autem dolor in hendrerit erat wisis enim ad. Ut wisis enim ad minim veniam, quis suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip consequat. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diem nonummy nibh.

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8 Useful Tips To Become Successful With Twitter

2009-02-12T11:22:00.000-08:00

I just read this article written by Paul Boag, of SmashingMagazine.com. I think it's very informative and helpful in getting down to it with Twitter.

"Twitter is the new big thing. With everybody from Britney Spears to Barack Obama now on Twitter, it is safe to say the social networking platform has gone mainstream. For many users worldwide Twitter has become a crucial tool for maintaining contacts, exchanging opinions and making new connections. But what does this mean for the service, and how can we, website owners, actually use it for our purposes?

I posted my first tweet in November of 2006, only 7 months after the service launched. For me, it was a way to keep in touch with new friends. It was less intrusive than instant messaging and less formal than email. I quickly became hooked. For the longest time, it was the tool of geeks. My friends laughed at me as I tweeted from the pub; my family stared blankly as I explained the service. However, that has all changed now.

Some time ago I was wrong to lament on Twitter about it becoming a marketing tool; I should embrace it as a tool I can use. Nevertheless, like everybody else, I need to be careful how I use it. I do not believe Twitter users will allow the tool to be reduced to a broadcast mechanism for pimping the latest blog post or special offer.

So how do I use Twitter? I guess the first thing to say is that I am not a huge Twitter success story. However, Twitter is turning into the third facet of my online presence, alongside my blog and podcast. With that in mind, let me share a few tips that have helped me better use this interesting new tool.

1. Above All, Keep It Personal

Although Twitterers like CNN breaking news have been very successful, generally, corporate Twitter accounts are a mistake. Twitter is about person-to-person communication and not a broadcast tool for faceless corporations. To use it in that way is to miss the potential of Twitter.

CNN Breaking News Twitter Page

Does that mean you cannot have a Twitter account for your organization? Not at all. For example, if John Boardley created a Twitter account, you may not recognize the name. However, if he used the name ILoveTypography, you would be more likely to follow because you know the I Love Typography website.

It is not the name that matters so much as the tone of the posts. Tweets should be more than an endless string of press releases and links. They should include personal content and a dialogue with followers.

This is important because it enables you to make a connection with your followers. An open and honest relationship with followers is very powerful. It builds trust, loyalty and engagement. It encourages repeat traffic and word-of-mouth recommendation.

2. Learn From Others

I have learned a lot about Twitter just by reading the tweets of those I admire. Merlin Mann, for example, injects a lot of humor into his posts, and his followers really respond to that. Darren Rowse, on the other hand, strikes a good balance between recommending content others have written and promoting his own posts.

TweetStats.com allows you to build up a picture of how successful twitterers use the service.

In addition to examining the styles of others, you could also examine statistics. Use a tool like TweetStats to examine how often others tweet and how often they reply to their followers. All of this helps to build a picture of what makes a successful tweeter.

There is also a growing number of great websites that give advice on how to get the most out of Twitter. One of my personal favorites is TwiTip, which covers such subjects as “The Merit of Twitter Competitions” and “How to Get Unfollowed on Twitter.”

3. Get A Good Desktop Client

Without a shadow of doubt, the most powerful Twitter client currently available is TweetDeck. This AIR application not only runs on Windows, Mac and Linux, but also provides a range of superb tools for managing your life on Twitter.

TweetDeck is the most powerful desktop Twitter tool available

With TweetDeck, you can create groups, filter tweets, monitor certain subjects as well as post tweets, replies and retweets. In fact, it is so powerful that it can be somewhat intimidating at first. Don’t let that put you off. Check out this short tutorial on TweetDeck’s core features, and you’ll be up and running in no time.

4. Use Twitter On The Road

If your Twitter account is going to be personal as well as professional, then you will almost certainly want to use it on the road. One option is simply to use Twitter’s mobile website. However, if you are fortunate enough to have an iPhone, then there is a wealth of Twitter clients available to you.

I have paid for and tried almost every Twitter client on the iPhone, but the winner hands down is Tweetie. I love Tweetie. It has a clean, easy-to-use interface and yet is packed with powerful features, including the ability to:

handle multiple Twitter accounts,
navigate reply chains,
view Twitter trends and perform custom searches,
access complete user profiles.

In many ways, it is even better than TweetDeck because it has much of TweetDeck’s power but in a much cleaner interface. If only they made a desktop application!

5. Tracking The Results

TweetStats is just the tip of the statistical iceberg. There is an ever-growing number of tools you can use to track your activity on Twitter. However, the ones that really interest me are those that track click-throughs. What I really want to know is, if I post a link on Twitter, how many people click through?

If the link points to one of my own websites, I could use Google Analytics’ URL tagging tool. However, this is somewhat fiddly and only works if I am linking to my own website. What’s more, these URLs can get long, which is a problem when you’re limited to 140 characters.

Fortunately, there is a tool called TwitterBurner, which solves these problems. It shortens URLs and tracks all click-throughs, even to websites you do not run yourself. Best of all, it is now supported directly in TweetDeck (although not in Tweetie, unfortunately).

6. Follow And Be Followed

Always remember that Twitter is a two-way conversation. A big part of successful tweeting is replying to those who tweet you. Twitter is not just about who follows you, either. It is also about who you follow. One service I find particularly useful is Mr Tweet. Mr Tweet provides two type of information:

first, it suggests people you might want to consider following, because they fall within your broader network (i.e. people who are followed by your friends),
secondly, it suggests those from your list of followers who you should follow back.

For each of these people, it provides various statistics, including:

the number of followers they have,
the chances of them replying to you,
how often they update.

This is a great way to extend your network of contacts and increase the chances that your tweets will be retweeted. It’s also a great way to meet new people!

7. Integrate Whenever Possible

If you intend to use Twitter for anything other than personal use, it needs to be incorporated in the rest of your Web strategy. That means it needs to link to your other online activity, including your website and other social networks. There is no shortage of tools to help you do this, from the basic Twitter widget to a tool for sending your tweets to Facebook.

One tool that caught my attention is called TwitterFeed. It posts content from an RSS feed to Twitter, which is a convenient way to update your followers on new posts. However, use any tool that automatically posts to Twitter with caution. It can easily become annoying if used too much. Also, it lacks the friendliness of a personal post.

8. Don’t Over-Think It

Of course, the problem with all these tools, statistics and analysis is that they can suck the spontaneity and personality from your tweets. While some of those late-night drunken tweets are best left behind, you want to avoid making your tweets too sterile.

Let me explain. I am naturally a fairly good public speaker. However, once I attended a public speaking workshop. The instructors taught me about all of the techniques that make for an exceptional speaker. However, instead of improving my skills, they made me so amazingly self-conscious that I was paralyzed. I started over-analyzing what I was doing.

The danger is the same with Twitter. Sure, Twitter can be used as a marketing tool, but that doesn’t mean it cannot be fun too. Don’t let articles like this suck the joy out of tweeting!"

To read more of Paul's posts, go to http://www.smashingmagazine.com/

Facebook--Relationship Based Networking

2009-02-03T08:31:00.000-08:00

Facebook, a social media application of marketing, can be more than boasting that you're baking brownies and your kid's first steps on YouTube. It's your opportunity to create fan groups for your business, your charities, and the organizations you belong to. It's a chance to showcase your interests, hobbies and wow, your social connections.

Each person knows on average 250 people. Who do your friends on Facebook know, what businesses are they in? Who do their friends know? Your Golden Goose could be out there right now. Use Facebook to showcase your personality, to build trust and to get your name out there to eventually sell your services and grow your business and ultimately, make more money.

Facebook provides some of the initial "getting to know" you phase we require as individuals before we will trust someone enough to give them business or refer them business. It's an opportunity outside of hockey games, dance class, happy hour and church on Sunday to get to know future clients and potential employees.

How To Stay Young As the Years Go By

2009-01-27T05:00:00.000-08:00

Great article by Harvey Mackay, ALARC's Off n Running.
Posted by ONR Creative Director, Melissa Gacek

Youth, it has been said, is wasted on the young. That would be a travesty if it were true. Fortunately, youth is not only a time of life; it’s also a state of mind. I stopped counting after my 39th birthday, but I still consider myself young. And I intend to stay that way!

Having a youthful outlook and attitude is possible at any age, just as being an old fogey can start at a very young age. As I said, I choose youth!

Want to stay young at heart? Here are some ideas to help you:

• Keep only cheerful, positive friends. You can pick your friends, and I like to choose those who are positive and people who challenge me. They make me feel good. They don’t drag me down or make me angry at the world. Negative people see the difficulty in every opportunity, while positive people see the opportunity in every difficulty.

• Keep learning. I think Henry Ford put it best when he said, “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at 20 or 80. Anyone who keeps learning stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.” I’ve always said that you should be in school all your life—never stop learning.

• Enjoy the simple things. Don’t forget to take time to enjoy the things that you like to do—go for a walk or to the movies, read a good book, watch a favorite TV show, spend time with your family. You have to have a good balance in life.

• Laugh often. Starting your day with a good laugh, or at least a big smile, is as beneficial to your health as it is to your mood. Scientific studies at Northwestern University and Fordham University concluded that laughter benefits the heart, lungs, stomach and other organs. It relaxes tensions, changes attitude, and increases the body’s natural painkillers. And it has no harmful side effects.

• Stay in shape. Exercise is good for your mind as well as your body. Studies show that healthy employees have decreased absenteeism, better performance and improved morale. I’ve always felt that a healthy workforce is a productive workforce. The human body is the only machine that wears out faster if it is not used.

• Cherish your health. There is nothing more important than your health. Stay in shape so you can improve your chance for good health. If you’re healthy, do what you can to preserve it. It your health is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

• Be happy. You are responsible for your own happiness. We sometimes convince ourselves that life will be better after we get a better job, make more money, get married, have a baby, buy a bigger house and so on. Yet the accomplishment of any of those events may not make any difference at all. There is no magic secret to happiness. Happiness starts in your head.

• Don’t stress out. You can’t escape stress, but you can avoid creating unnecessary stress. You just need to find a stress reliever. Mine is sports—going to a sporting event, playing golf, swimming or jogging. If the stress just won’t go away, then you have to make some changes in your life that might be more stressful in the short-term but healthier in the long run.

• Don’t take guilt trips. Rather, take a trip to some location or maybe it’s just the mall, but escape occasionally. I remember a story about the worry tree. At night an accountant would go home from work and place all his worries on a tree in his front yard. The next morning he would pick up those worries on his way to work, but surprisingly, they weren’t as heavy the next day.

• Visualize yourself as youthful and with endless energy. I learned years ago that visualization is the most powerful means of attaining personal goals. Visionary people can achieve whatever they want by determining a plan to attain it and expecting positive results. It doesn’t do the planning and it doesn’t anticipate the obstacles. It gives you a real idea of what is possible, if only you want it bad enough. Vision is not so much what you think as how you think. If you can visualize it, you can make it happen.

Mackay’s Moral: If you want to stay youthful, stay useful.

The Tiara Experiment

2009-01-26T07:30:00.000-08:00

In People Magazine this week, there is a brief article describing the transformation of Michelle Obama's hairstyle to give her more height and the appearance of wearing a crown.

I found this a strange coincidence because a colleague of mine, Sue Henry, is seeking out individuals for a study on the "Tiara" Experiment. Her basic premise is finding women to journal about their experiences imagining they go about their daily activities wearing a tiara. How would you feel about yourself? Would you feel more confident, powerful and self-assured in your decisions? Absolutely. You can read the full post on her blog: http://suehenryblog.typepad.com/ if you would like to join the experiment, there is a link on her site.

So, I thought I would give it a try myself. I figured it couldn't hurt. Singing at my church (I share lead singing with a male vocalist) this weekend, I envisioned myself wearing a tiara, and low and behold, I stood taller, more relaxed, calmer, more confident. I felt comfortable looking out at people during the songs (rather than "blocking them out"). And I felt my performance was improved significantly.

If only, we were still four years old, like my daughter and her friends, we might actually wear real tiaras and princess dresses around. This could really create change and more enjoyment for our inner spirit.

To be continued....

Social Media & Blogging

2009-01-23T20:00:00.000-08:00

As custom joomla website developers, we frequently have clients wanting to apply social media, rss feeds, video links, photo galleries and more to their websites. They ask, how can social media really help our businesses? Should I get involved with Linked In and blogging?

Well, I'll be honest. I get Facebook, I feel that’s pretty base level; an easy playing field to figure out. But I admit I am treading in uncharted waters when I step into the land of Linked In. A little more sophisticated. With a constant barrage of invites to join Linked In, I myself found Linked In to be a bit hard to de-mystify. I stumble around and head out, not sure what to do? I myself wondered how can I use Linked In, and why should I use Linked In?

So, I attended a workshop today on Social Media & Blogs (by Sue Henry Talks) in order to see what the fuss is. I hope to help guide myself, friends (especially those in job transitions) and clients through this process... I hear so many people tell me they avoid joining Facebook because of the mindless hours spent sending trinkets and updating everyone on their latest (mundane) escapades. There's more to social media than we see on the surface...

In the end, Sue helped simplify the process. She identified how to use blogging, Linked In and Facebook as tools to make more opportunities, money and grow your business using websites, profiles and social media tools. It’s affordable, it just takes a little time in your schedule, and can lead you to the right people you want to connect with.

So, go for it…don’t be afraid. Start tomorrow with just 2 easy steps:

1. Get on board with one of the 3 (Facebook, Linked In or Blogging) (your competition is, why shouldn’t you?)
2. Be relevant, professional and identify what outcome you are looking for in doing so
Till next time…