Whether you’re a web developer or a business owner, we all need help learning new software applications from time to time. If you’re like me and you don’t have the time to take a class at the local community college, or don’t want to spend thousands for a concentrated workshop, I have a solution…Lynda.com! Lynda.com is a wonderful resource for nearly every possible software title there is…from MS Office apps, programing languages, blogging, most Adobe products, to nearly everything in between, Lynda has the training for you. The best part, it’s only $25 per month for unlimited use. You will find the segmented video tutorials a tremendous help in brushing up or learning a new software title. There are also many free videos so that you may take the service for a test drive.
Happy learning and please feel free to share this post from ShubicWebDesign
Need to throw an event, but not sure how to promote it or even sell tickets? Eventbrite might be the solution! Eventbrite is an online event management and ticketing service, they make it easy for anyone to hold an event of any type or size. Eventbrite is even free to use if your event happens to be free.
If you sell tickets to your event, Eventbrite collects a small fee per ticket. The Eventbrite service includes many features and tools intended to let you perform three basic tasks:
Publish: Everything you need to create and easily personalize a custom web page for your event.
Promote: The tools you need to spread the word about your event and maximize attendance.
Sell: The immediate power to sell tickets and collect money online. .
Web 2.0 website features and tools continue to impress. I recently ran into a company that allows website owners to integrate a speaking avatar. Before you say something like “I’m not into video games. Or, what the hell is an ‘Avatar’?” Let me explain…SitePal has created a software app that lets you easily create and add an animated speaking character to your web site, Flash application, email, blog, PowerPoint or even eBay auction—making it more personal and persuasive.
You can use any number of SitePal’s avatar models/characters, or, you can even send them a picture of yourself and they will create a custom avatar just for you. You can also select any number of backgrounds, or, customize that too. You can create little sample movies and embed them throughout your site in order to better interact with your visitors. SitePal even has an API and a host of options to choose from. For example, you could have your Avatar thank someone once they’ve completed a task or form on your website. Or, they have an FAQ solution where the user types in their question and an Avatar answers it for them. I’ve always said, the more senses you can touch, the more apt you are to convert a prospect into a customer. SitePal’s technology allows you to really connect with your prospects in some amazing new ways. I encourage you to check out this exciting new technology. If you want to see how SitePal works, check out this cool demo.
Setting your clients up for success when developing/delivering an e-commerce, database-driven and or other CMS (content management system) site is just good business. I typically offer my clients a 3-pronged approach–an in-person and/or phone training introduction of the back-end; followed by custom documentation that guides the client through the various steps in order to manage the site; then I send them a link to this site to watch free video tutorials.
Whether you are new to online network marketing or not, these five social media sites are worth a look as they target business and entrepreneur networking.
LINKEDIN is by far the largest of the business networking sites…great social media site for connecting like-minded individuals. They have a lot of resources for entrepreneurs, and some pretty large groups too! Participating in this community is really worthwhile. In recent years, LinkedIN has become one of the most popular site on the web.
ENTREPRENEUR CONNECT is specifically for entrepreneurs and small business owners. You have the opportunity to create your own profile, explore the community, and share ideas with other entrepreneurs. These folks frown upon too much self-promotion and applaud idea-sharing. This site is also a great resource to connect with advisors.
START UP NATION – This group has a lot of content, meaning more answers and problem-solving advice for you! They have articles, forums, blogs, seminars and much more. If you need help with internet marketing, this is the place for you! Other than my blog that is.
PERFECT BUSINESS is another social media site that’s pretty special! There are countless entrepreneurs who are serious about what they are doing. This group has potential business clients, partners and advisors. This is great site for folks who really want to “get busy!”
BIZNIK – If you want to “play with the big boys”, this is a group you need to be a part of! There are many self-employed people on this site. They also have many resources to help you in your business venture!
Runner up… A possible site to keep your eyes on is Club E Network, where they claim to have the most passionate entrepreneurs on the planet.
The business social networking sites I have mentioned are worth checking out, hope you enjoy and prosper.
For all of you out there who don’t have the budget to hire a professional search engine marketing (SEM) professional (like me), there is an affordable solution. LotusJump will assist you through several SEM options that will help you drive traffic to your site. Mind you, there are a 100 different SEO/SEM tactics and LotusJump really only walks you through a few of them, like link-building and article submissions—nevertheless, those are certainly areas that will increase traffic to your site. LotusJump has two affordable options, one is only $24 per month, and the other is $49. Note: one thing to be aware of is that LotusJump can be a bit labor intensive, but the efforts will pay off. Good luck!
Okay, so you have your website setup with some sort of analytics tracking program so you can tell how many visits you receive, how many pages they turn, etc. But, do you know what they’re “looking” at? I have a client in which we’re trying to increase subscription rates, we’re using a “Heatmap” to get an idea of what users are seeing/doing so that we can make tactical decisions on how to increase. We’re using CrazyEgg, but there are others out there like clickdensity and ClickTale.
Wufoo, an online HTML form builder that helps anyone create contact forms, surveys and registrations without writing a line of code, has launched a new feature that lets users collect money. When you design a form with Wufoo, it basically does all the work for you and builds the backend database and all of the scripts needed to collect and understand data, which is hosted by Wufoo. Once you build a form, you can either embed the code on your website or blog or provider access to the form via a Wufoo link.
Now, Wufoo is integrating payments into its forms, letting users create with payment collection options, including PayPal Payments Pro and USA ePay. After a Wufoo form is submitted, the user will not be taken to another page on the merchant or gateway’s web site, rather there is a seamless transition from data submission to payment collection.
There are many Analytic software apps out there, some like Google Analytics and GoodData are free and provide very good information. However, there are other options out there as well, like SAS and, ClickTale that actually creates movies and heatmaps of your visitors’ actions so you can see exactly what they are seeing and doing on your site. This tracking information could have a HUGE impact on your bottom line! To learn more about ClickTale, read this article by Venture Beat or watch the demo below.
Have you ever noticed during your daily peruse through the Internet that you often see the same company’s banner ads over and over again? Well I have, and it was freaking me out—in a good way…from a marketing perspective that is. It’s called, “Retargeting” and it’s a way of maximising your online ad dollars by targeting individuals who’ve already visited your site.
Look at it this way…you’re in the market for a new pair of hiking boots and you hit the REI website, but then you get distracted and move onto something else. If REI is using a “retargeting” service like, “Fetchback” then for the next week or more you will start seeing advertisements from REI on many of the sites (with ad serving) you visit…some of the ads will be very targeted like promoting “hiking boots,” which will prompt your memory that you were in need of a new pair and forgot to finish your purchase.
