Businesses neglect simple strategies when building their Web sites. They often make the site about the company instead of about the customer. Customers can see through the marketing-speak. The following six easy-to-do features help businesses ensure they make the most of out of visitor’s time: Focus on the customer: A site tends to pump up … Read more
Samantha Krieger of Just Say Yes asked if editors prefer to receive press releases by e-mail or by mail. The following is my response: It depends on the editor. My recommendation is to create a column in your editor contact list for “Preference” or something like a “Notes” column. Then go to their Web sites … Read more
Children enjoy receiving recognition — whether it be at school, in a sport, in a hobby or a comment from Mom and Dad about something positive they did. I’ve always believed that for every negative thing a parent says, she must say 10 positive things. Unfortunately, the reverse is true for adults. As we grow … Read more
Marcia Yudkin’s Marketing Minute newsletter references Jakob Nielsen’s research that says shoppers leave 10 percent of the time because the site didn’t provide enough information. She discusses how some sites don’t make it clear whether the product is a CD, book or download. Funny thing is that I experienced this recently. I was looking up … Read more
Freelance Folder affirms my belief that freelancers need to work hard to earn repeat business. Repeat business is cheaper than marketing to new clients. I’ve been lucky that over 90% of my business has come from repeat business. One way I do this is to have friendly conversations with them by e-mail. I don’t like … Read more
A writer (or any other freelance career works here, too) who lands one or two big clients that keep the writer busy full-time must keep marketing. I learned this valuable lesson very early in my writing career. My first paid writing assignments came in 2000, at the height of the dot com boom. As things … Read more
I always subscribe to text version of a newsletters when given a choice since I don’t use the traditional e-mail client — usually Outlook. Plus, I use Web-based e-mail applications, which don’t display HTML e-mails very well. Jeffrey Zeldman rants about HTML newsletters, something I addressed in the past. Many respect him and listen to … Read more
Lifehack provides 101 on-target tips for becoming a better blogger. 101 feels like a lot, but try to do a couple things a day. Don’t think about doing all 101, but motivate yourself to do something as simple as “Do one thing every day to improve my blogging skills.” I’ve been blogging for seven years. … Read more
Mail-in rebates — especially for small amounts — may be tedious, but I do them. Some are too complicated and require buying four items from a list. But I won’t pass up a rebate for $75, which Amazon offers for Macbooks. Amazon.com Rebate Center simplifies the process of getting a rebate. All done online. A … Read more
Busy with getting my 50 pages done by tomorrow… only one-third of the way there. So taking the easy way out and pointing to People In The Know, a site that shares experience, knowledge and life tips. Bobby Ellis, the person behind the site, conducts interviews with experts in various jobs and industries to share … Read more