then I’ll be 4!

1 – 2 – 3 – 4, the Order of Things

A few years ago, my neighbor, who was about to turn 4 years old, said to me,

“You know how I know that I’ll be 4?”

Tell me.

“1 – 2 – 3 – then 4!”

A Revelation.

And a nice little insight. We are all always trying to make sense of things – put things in the ‘right’ order. When life is out of order, we get confused, overwhelmed, even betrayed. It’s not that everything must be ‘orderly’ for all of us. There is some personal style involved.

But, in general, we all want to have a clear feeling of where we are, where we’re going and how to get there. In some ways, it’s a foundation for this whole maze we’re all running around in.

Grace and Clarity.

To move with grace, live in grace, and see the road ahead clearly.

Right!

Well, that the goal, mostly.
It makes us feel secure and happy when we have a clear direction, and quite cranky when we are confused and overwhelmed. Unless you’re a committed curmudgeon, cranky is not considered a good day.

So, let’s get orderly, make ourselves and those around us happy, secure, open to new thought and action. Down the yellow brick road with a skip in our step, even!

:: Sense and Navigation ::

Website Design.

So, you have something to say, or sell, or try out on your friends.

If it’s any kind of business, you must have a website. That’s a given.
First, define the purpose for your site, and who you want to be visiting.
Then create the path.

The overall design of the homepage is the first order of business because this is where you are introducing yourself. If it doesn’t let people know where they are, and where they can get to from there, you will lose them before you’ve begun. (and they’ll be cranky!)

Then, put yourself in their place, and create a clear path for them. Put them at ease with the clarity you create, and take them where they want to go.

And, everywhere they are, they know, they really can get there from here!

That’s the order of things.

1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10

Just Linking,..

I’ve been finding a lot of very interesting sites lately, insight, information, tutorials, some video, that I thought I’d share:

Social Media

this one is has lots of useful resources:
My Corporate Media – Using Linked In for business

These are free downloadable videos from Hubspot, a company that specializes in ‘inbound marketing’
Inbound Marketing Video classes

also from Hubspot, a website grader. Enter your url, they’ll grade it and tell you what to do to improve it. (in the context of SEO)
websitegrader.com

Social Media Marketing Brief

Six Pixels of Separation – great book – writer Mitch Joel’s blog:
twistimage.com/blog

David Meerman Scott – blog on social media marketing
webinknow.com

Grow your business network

Personal Branding
blog

free e-book on social marketing

seo book and video

have fun!  Comments, and sharing welcome!

 

Clarity – – CLARITY!

The first and last word about what your website should be, and how it should look is – CLEAR.
Everything else is details.

An Overview of the Details:

• When a viewer comes to your site, and isn’t engaged, they will leave in a matter of SECONDS.
  First impressions matter on the web more than anywhere before, so the initial impact needs to be strong, clear and appropriate.
• Have a purpose for your website!
  If that sounds ridiculous, go look at some sites, and see if you know their intention right away.
  Surprisingly, not  as often as you’d think.
• Be Consistent.
  Once you’ve set a tone, stick with it.
  You’ve introduced yourself. Let the conversation follow. Confusing people gets in the way. (kind of!)
• Be Yourself. (Your Voice)
  Speak to your audience the way you would speak to a client/customer in person.
• This is Your Site.
  You own it. (literally)
  Your web designer should be designated as the contact person, but you own the domain and pay the host and should have that information. (that might seem to fall into the category of obvious, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been hired to re-do or update a site, and my client never had access to the information that makes it possible for the site to go online.)

Rules of Engagement

• Choose 1 main focus for your site.  (Focus!)
  Choose carefully. You’re making a lasting impression (hopefully).
  This can be a process of sorting through priorities, since you may wonder (incredulously) how to narrow it down to one, and if that’s really so necessary.
  It’s a starting point, and a focal point. If you sell shits and pants and socks, etc. your main focus is clothing.
  In another sense your main focus may be style, quality, customer service, location, etc.
  It’s about the engagement of the visitor with your business.

• You are starting a conversation. (building a relationship.)
  Imagine trying to start a conversation where you just blurted everything about yourself all at once, in no particular order.
  What response would you expect? It could vary (though not by much) in person, but on the web, it means you’ve just turned someone away. We’ve all seen these sites. You had a purpose when you went there, but the onslaught on visuals, or the lack of focus leaves you confused and repelled. This is the web. If one site doesn’t have what you’re looking for, or isn’t communicating to you that they do, you look elsewhere – fast.

• Who are you?
  • How would you describe your business in a nutshell?
    Your goals, the way your see your business, how you want to be seen,… – and by WHOM?
  • This is the essence of the thinking that comes before planning your site.

• Color, Design and Your Message (Putting it Together)
  • You’ve crystalized your message, now the fun part!
    Fun? Yes, though it can feel intimidating if you look at the blank ‘canvas’ for too long.
  • Color – Start with One.   More on color
    This is both a helpful way to decide what the central color for your website should be, and a good way to start working out a color scheme in general.
  • Design
    Grace and Harmony.
    A Shock to the Senses.
    Whichever is true.
  Don’t always open the bottle that says, “Open me first”. Or just go through any rabbit hole. Follow the path that makes the most sense.
  In the real world.

Download pdf version of this post here

Your Website – What do you want to know?

I’m still working on my e-book
(hopefully done – free to download –  by the end of this month).

It is, like this blog, a business owner’s guide to their website – what you should know, what you need to know  what’s important and why, and much more.

I’d like this guide to be very useful, and am asking for your input before I wrap it up. As business owners, or marketers, (or curious bystanders) what would be helpful for you to know before, and  at the planning stages of your web design process. It’s a personal thing, since for most of us, our business is close to our hearts (our heads, wherever..) we want things to be just right.

I’ve been working with businesses and non-profits, of various sizes and  personalities for about a dozen years now, and have found that the more education and up-front work done, the smoother the process goes. That inspired this project: How much people are still mystified by this whole website thing.

Included are:
A web glossary, so that there’s a baseline understanding of frequently used and heard terms.
How to clarify your vision for your site
Where the site and it’s intentions fit into the overall goals of your business
Harnessing the interactivity of the web
the conversation between you and your visitors
Understand the impact of color and design
Navigation issues
What elements do you need to include?
Domain, Hosting and Uploading your site
blogging,…
SEO
Social media/Networking

You get the idea.

I’d love your input -

What would be useful to you? to your clients?

Thanks!
Margie

3 tips – Your Web Voice

Your Website is your Business, Onine.

A given, right?
Then it shouldn’t be a big deal to write the way you would talk to a customer walking into your store.

1. Focus on who you’re talking to, more than what you are saying.

Focusing on the needs of the people coming to your website helps you to stay focused overall, and makes it easy to start the conversation, opening in a natural feeling & sounding way.

2. Relax and Enjoy the Conversation.

Keep thinking of it as a conversation, and you’ll be more comfortable. You’ve got a potential client on the line. How would you talk with them in another medium? Are you are formal person? What kind of business are you in? How do you usually communicate with your clients? (tone) This is how you want to be speaking – writing.

One big difference – brevity. If your style of talking is effusive, that’s fine, but if it takes you a while to get to the point, write it out, edit it to the essentials, and then edit it again.

3. Keep in mind at all times, the image you’re trying to project.

This is a busness website, and though I refer to the conversation between you and your visitors, you must remember to keep the tone consistant with the image you are projecting professionally. Think of how different the tone would be  – a jewelery store, an antiques store, an accountant.

So, a new day, a new medium, but it’s still you interacting with people.
Enjoy!
Margie

Your Website, Your Voice

Your Business has it’s own voice.

Your Website does too.

What is your voice online?

If you think about it for too long, it can seem daunting – what is this voice that I should use to speak on my website? Straight to the point? Just describe the shoes, the color, sizes, and a purchase button? (that could be right for you – it’s about finding what’s right for YOU)
Are you creating an environment, so that the next time she is shopping for shoes, she’ll choose you because thst’s where she wants to shop, rather than just get a deal on a pair of tennis shoes? This is a more useful approach for this medium.
But, think about it.

When you choose one store over another that sells the same thing, what is your choice based on?

A grocery store is a perfect example. They all sell milk, butter, bread and eggs. One store is gigantic, selling the kitchen sink along with what goes into it. That would appeal to someone who likes a huge selection – and one-stop shopping. Some of us get totally overwhelmed at a huge place and find it disorienting to say the least. Then there’s the store that’s orderly, things are where you want them to be, and the environment makes it a pleasure to shop there. But it’s smaller selection might not fit the bill for some.

The first time I taught a class, I told myself to pretend that I was giving a party, something I enjoy and do with ease. So, when the students came, I welcomed them as if they were coming to my party, which they were, actually. I just needed a little help to find my voice – really just release my natural voice and get down to the communication at hand.

You can easily see that each of these has a distinctive voice:

So, your enterprise is represented online by your website. Pretend you are doing business the way you always have done before.
You welcome people into your store, or you call on the phone, and start your conversation in your particular style.

This is your voice.

Don’t forget who you are just because it’s a new medium.

A very different medium, but you are the same as you ever were.

So,

Welcome your visitors in, just as you always have welcomed them into your business. It’s the same, only different.

The Same, only different.

The Same, only different.

Welcome.

5 Reasons for a Professionally Designed Website

You have a business.

You know you need a website.

But what do you really need?

How is it going to help your business?

What difference does it make what it looks like?

5 REASONS:

1. Extending Your Brand
Your website an extension of your business. You have done the work to create the impression you want visitors to get when they walk into your door. You’ve got to follow it up with a website that is consistent with that message.

2. Yes you can… get something cheap & quick
It will look like it.
This is not a hobby! (unless it is, in which case, go to hobbies in aisle 4)
If you are a professional, you must look professional. Even after doing business with someone, when they go to your website and it is slapped together, or otherwise inconsistent with your brand, you can easily LOSE that client/customer!

3. A well designed website draws viewers in to your world.
You have something to say. They won’t hear it if they can’t find the information because of poor navigation & clutter. (yes, navigation is a basic & crucial element of the design of your website) How many times have you been to a site, and at first glance, it seems inviting, then you go to look for the information you came seeking, and suddenly you are on a digging expedition.

4. The right design will make your visitors receptive to your message.
What do you want your visitors to do when they get there? What is the actual, intended function of the site ?
Are you selling shoes or information? The design created the environment most conducive to doing the kind of business you intend.

5. If I tell 2 friends, and they tell 2 friends,…
Your site says exactly who you are. It’s a clear, focussed message. You’ve reached your target market, and they will pass it along.

The design of your site can be a roadblock,

– a major hinderance

– or an opening to conversations, relationships, and business.

–Margie
email me!

An educated consumer,…

There was a TV ad a few years ago for a clothing store, that said, “an educated consumer is our best customer.”

I say it’s all about what you do with the education, and how relevant it is to the subject at hand.

In my work, I’ve done a lot of teaching, much of it is integrated into the web design/development process, and some has been more traditional classroom teaching. When I taught a cont. ed. course in web design at Mass. College of Art, my students were mostly designers who felt they needed to expand their repertoire. (not the best reason, necessarily to learn something new, slower learning too, with such weak motivation)

Anyway, I found myself constantly  reminding them that this is an entirely different medium from paper. In the abstract, that might not sound like a revelation, but to people who had spent years working ‘flat’ , it’s an entirely different construct. First of all, you can’t just place any object anywhere on the page. You have to be aware that on the other side of your ‘page’ is not the other side (like paper), but it’s code. Code tells the computer what goes where, what it looks like, and if and how it moves or changes. The more you know, the more control you have, but as you’ve probably noticed with blogs, you have minimal control with minimal understanding.

A major component of any successful website is an educational piece.
People have come searching for information. The more relevant, pointed, and in-depth, when appropriate, the more you will be thought of as a resource, and ‘re-visited’ often. This is using your website to build relationships with clients. (or future clients – or those who decide not to become clients, and that’s usually for the best, too.)

What I educate business owners about, is what their website can do for their business. Where does it fit into the overall scheme of things. Where and how is the design important, both as a visual statement, and as an opening into your world. As the goals of each business are individual, so are the solutions.

Your website can be:

• A re-inforcement of your identity, professionalism and purpose
• a source of information about the product or service you are offering
• a selling tool
• a sales vehicle itself (e-commerce)
• a place for your organization to announce events to participate in and register for
• job search and application
• a community of people
• an exchange of ideas

So, the first order of business is to find your fit. What’s your main reason for a website. We start from there.

Next, the place of design in this equation.

GOT BEAUTY?

Beauty!

Has beauty gotten a bad name?
Or is it too non-descript for some?

….. When people asked of me, what do you want to be, I always said, ‘Bobby’s girl, I want to be Bobby’s girl.. …from a planet long ago and far away.

Truly I did have an answer, and as obscure or vague as it may have sounded, I wanted to make beautiful things. When I was in Art School, this was such a politically incorrect thing to say, you could get shunned for just thinking i!

Somehow the word beauty became attached to frivolousness. It was so important to be important and think important thoughts, and create impotant art with important statements.

I’m not ‘important’ like that.

I love beauty.  I drink it up.
It brings light into the world, and into people’s lives. What could be more important than that? Beauty can fill your soul, change your day, and maybe the next, and soon, who knows? Focusing on on the beauty in your life can change your life. (I know, easier said than done!)

So beauty can change your life by making it more, (if you’ll pardon me) – beautiful.

What is beauty?

That really is the crucial thing, isn’t it? – and you think I’m going to tell you here?

I know what beauty is for me, but that might not be the same for you, and very likely isn’t.

Beauty – is that element that speaks to you, that calls your attention, and gives you something, or leads  you to something that wasn’t there before.

So, what is the first and most basic element of a successful website?

One that speaks to you, that calls your attention, and gives you something, or leads  you to something that wasn’t there before.

Ahhh…

have a beautiful day (share your beauty secrets)
Margie

Who knew?

A lot of the people I like to work with are people who’ve been in business for quite some time. Like me, before I morphed into a web designer about a dozen years ago. People with plenty of business experience, but no web experience. So, 5 or 6 or 7 years ago, a ‘nephew’ made a flat, static site, just to “get something up there”

Who knew the web would grow up to be so powerful?

Quite a few people, actually,

and the word keeps spreading.

Now, you can actually do harm  to your good name if you just “have something up there”. Sounds funny maybe, but this is now. Your website is a part of your business. What part it plays depends on your business, but it will represent your business to millions of people. Even if your a little boutique on the corner, and most of your customers have been coming there for years, you must show that it’s the same you that they know and love when they see you online. (and they WILL see you online!)

In these past dozen years, I’ve taught web design at a number of area colleges (Boston area – Brandeis, Emmanuel, Mass. College of Art), so it came naturally as part of the process that teaching for me is a intrinsic component to my projects.

Basic elements:

No pixels should be harmed in this process (I don’t even know what that means, so humor me)

How do you see yourself as a business entity?

Is that how you are actually seen? – this is worth some thought as you start to create your web presence. Your image should coordinate gracefully with your overall image, but the web is a ‘love at first site’ medium, so your first impression needs to be true, positive and memorable.

Be clear about the Main purpose of your site. You’d be surprised at how many people think they need a website, but don’t know what they need it for!

Now that you know your purpose and online identity, who are you aiming this at? – This is your business, your conversation. Who do you want it to be with?

Find Your Voice

My voice is tired. To be continued in the morning.

Margie