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Does your small business need an internet presence?

Michelle — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:38:40 +0000

WordPress shortcode: Display a thumbnail of any website
Published: August 8, 2011
Source: WpRecipes.com
The first step is to create the shortcode. To do so, simply paste the code below into your functions.php file. function wpr_snap($atts, $content = null) { extract(shortcode_atts(array( snap = http://s.wordpress.com/mshots/v1/, url = http://www.catswhocode.com, alt = My image, w = 400, // width h = 300 // height ), $atts)); $img = img src= . $snap . . urlencode($url) . ?w= . $w . h= . $h . alt= . $alt . /; return $img; } add_shortcode(snap, wpr_snap);...
Plugin by C. Murray Consulting

5 Ways to Encourage People to Share Your Content

Drive Traffic to Your Small Business Blog Using Twitter

Michelle — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:00:35 +0000

Image via CrunchBase

Recently I read a post on ProBlogger titled Top Ten Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Small Business Blog Using Twitter. This is a must read post for any small business trying to figure out how to gain leverage from twitter.

A couple of points covered in this post are to complete your bio page. This includes your name, location, website url and a short bio about your business. Without this information, people have no idea who you are and what your business is about. People will typically not follow anyone without this vital information completed.

You also want to replace the default twitter logo with either your picture or your logo. Again, people want to know who is behind the account. Personally, unless I know the person, I will not follow anyone with the default twitter logo.

You’ll also want to create or have created for you a custom twitter background. This is valuable real estate to not only allow you to highlight your brand and provide more information about who you are and what your business is about.

Below is a short video which shows you what you need to change and where to go to make those changes:

Want us to create your custom twitter background for you? Just click on the link and order yours today.

Twitter Workshop Prosser WA

Domain Name Registrations Sale

Michelle — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 00:00:21 +0000

Looks like GoDaddy is currently running a sale on domain name registration in celebration of the Super Bowl. I always encourage my customers to register their own domain names to avoid a designer hijacking their website.

Now you can for a limited time save money with the domain registrations for $6.99 at GoDaddy

But I Don’t Have Time to Blog!

Michelle — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 19:16:59 +0000

When I tell businesses that it is important to blog to help grow their presence on the internet, one of the first things people say is “But I don’t have time to blog”. I realize when you are running a business adding one more thing to the to do list can be daunting but there are ways to get around this.

Have someone else in your company do the blogging for you

Yes, you can have someone else within your company be the official “voice” of your business. Make sure to read the posts before they are published to ensure you feel it is appropriate but assigning this task to someone else gives you the ability to focus on other aspects of your business.

Create a Blogging Calendar.

You don’t have to publish post daily but ideally you should be posting weekly (I know, I know I need to follow my own advice. ) Make a list of all the things you can blog about then take a twelve month calendar and determine what posts you are going to write in what week. That way you aren’t struggling to come up with an idea of what to blog about each week.

Schedule Posts

Here’s a little secret. You can actually schedule posts in WordPress! I’ve spoken to one business where the owner said she simply doesn’t have time on a weekly basis to blog, she’s so busy. She did say however, that she’ll have slow days and could probably sit down and write a number of blog posts all at once. If you are in the same situation, sit down and write a bunch of blog posts and then schedule them to go out at a pre-determined time.

Strive For Good not Perfect

Many people get caught up in the idea that their blog posts must be perfect before they can be published. Get rid of that mind set right now. I can tell you I am way more comfortable getting my hands dirty in coding WordPress than I am in writing. Truth be told I’m not comfortable with writing at all, it is a struggle for me and I am very critical of my writing skills. Even with that, I’m learning to just get it out there and realizing that with time and practice my writing skills will improve. As long as my spelling and grammar aren’t horrendous I should be able to get my point across. It is more important for you to WRITE and get the information out there than to agonize over perfection. Set a timer and give yourself only a set amount of time to finish a post and get it posted or scheduled.

Get Some Help

One of the struggles I run into frequently is WHAT to blog about. If you struggle with this as well, there is help out there. Blog Energizer will send you a list of ideas every month of what you can blog about.

The most important thing to remember, is a blog can help you get your message out to your potential customers and allow them to get to know your business. Blogging really isn’t that daunting of a task if you just sit down and get it done.

photo credit: casey.marshall

Twitter Workshop Prosser WA

Michelle — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 21:00:11 +0000

I’ll be the speaker at a Twitter Workshop sponsored by the Prosser Tourism Committee. I’ve been on twitter since May of 2008 and I’ve learned a thing or two in that time.

In all honesty it took me a while to “get” Twitter. Small business owners do need to pay attention to Twitter and other methods of Social Media simply due to the fact that is where people (potential customers) are. YouTube is now the 2nd largest search engine on the Internet.

From the sources I’ve read there are approximately 78 million registered users on Twitter. Its hard to know how many of those registered actively use twitter, but still even if only 10% were active that’s nearly 8 million people.

This workshop may be the first of many offered on Social Media. This workshop is for those that have never used Twitter or have recently set up an account and are really not sure if Twitter is for them. I’ll be covering the below topics:

Why Social Media (specifically Twitter) should be a part of your overall marketing plan.
How to set up and customize your Twitter account.
Twitter terminology.
How to find friends and gain followers.
How to effectively use Twitter.
Suggested Twitter tools.
How to manage your time on Twitter.

This will be a two hour workshop with the second hour dedicated to a live demo and Q&A. It will be held on November 10th from 2:00pm to 4:00pm at the Benton PUD on Gap Rd in Prosser.

If you have any questions regarding this workshop, pleae be sure to contact me.