Business advice

Live from BlogHer Business 2008

Thursday, April 3rd, 2008

My head is ready to burst from all the conversations I was excited to be a part of today at the BlogHer Business conference in NYC.  For those of you not familiar with this conference, BlogHer Business is a wonderful event focused on social media but geared toward women. I know many of my clients are women business owners who sell to women, and my reason for attending this amazing event was to listen to other women business owners discuss their success with the social media world.

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Never Mind What You Want – What Does Your Customer Want?

Friday, March 21st, 2008

I think there needs to be a shift in how we approach web design and development.  When I talk to a new or perspective client, one of the first things I hear is, “This is the way I want to see things laid out on my website.” During the initial meeting, the first thing I ask clients to do is to let go of “I want,” and instead, start by focusing on the goal of the website.  The myriad of goals range and often include:

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Website Update Pains? Get Over It!

Sunday, February 24th, 2008

I started holding web classes again two weeks ago; the first discussed creating your website strategy. We talked about the importance of setting goals, understanding you conversion rate, and places to market online; oh yes, and creating and implementing a plan of action. Not bad for a 75 minute interactive web class.

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Does Your Networking Pitch Match Your Web Pitch?

Monday, February 18th, 2008

There is a great book titled Dig Your Well Before You’re Thirsty by Harvey MacKay. The book focuses on the importance of having a network to rely on to generate sales. This left me wondering, “Why is it that so many businesses will make the time to grow their network and not their website?” Don’t you realize your website is your network?  Your website speaks for you, reaching an audience far more extensive than the alphabetical contacts in your Blackberry.  Your website tells your story when you are not there.  Your website represents your voice, your vision and your business when someone refers you to a business or college.

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Too Many Ideas & Too Much Time Can Spoil A Website

Monday, January 7th, 2008

For the longest time I have carried a notebook around to jot down ideas that come to me as I go about my day. My idea journal has played an important role in the choices I make for marketing my company, adding new services and changing my web site. Every few months I take time to review my idea log. Sometimes I laugh at myself and wonder, “what I was thinking,” and other times I wonder, “why haven’t I developed this idea further?” After much reflection on my own ideas and time spent managing many client projects I realized that “a good idea can lead to positive changes or chaos.

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