Posted by Laura on January 7th, 2009 at 5:00am
Laura’s and my friend, Mary DeMuth, owns a private e-mail loop for advanced writers. Last Thursday she invited all members of the loop to submit their Web sites for critique.
Some of the sites were excellent. Others needed a significant overhaul.
I learned a ton from the comments. My guess is most of us did.
If you’re a serious writer you probably have critique partners that give feedback on your writing.
But when’s the last time you asked them about your Web site? Never? Yeah, you’re not alone.
As we’ve talked about before, a Web site is an expensive, elaborate business card designed get people to engage with you. It’s your billboard! Not just hanging above one street in one city; it’s worldwide.
If this “card” or “billboard” looks amateurish people will assume the same about you and your business.
So ask. I realize your friends and critique partners might not be pros at analyzing Web sites. But they represent the general public. If you get the same concern from two or three of them I would make the change. Let us know what you discover.
By the way, Mary runs a blog called Wanna Be Published. It’s outstanding. If you’re a writer go there. Now. And sign up for her free RSS feed.
Mary also owns The Writing Spa. If you’re looking to break into the world of publishing, and need coaching and training, there are few other places where your money would be better spent.
Tags: free critique of Web site, Web site improvement, Web sites
Posted by Laura on December 16th, 2008 at 6:00am
Blogs. Web sites. Social Networking.
When you ponder the plethora of the online venues from which you can promote your products and services, it’s hard to know where to start.
Prospective customers need 8-to-10 “touches” from you before they remember you or your brand. Cyberspace is a great place to reach out and touch someone. NOW is the time to begin making those touches.
Here are a few tips for building your online presence:
Build your hub.
Think about the International Space Station. Construction began in 1998 with the Control Module. Gradually, additional modules have been added.
Your online hub should be a Web site and/or a blog.
A Web site generally contains static content that changes infrequently. A blog is an interactive Web site-its content is updated on a regular basis (at least weekly).
More and more often, businesses are creating sites that seamlessly integrate blog content with static content. For example, here at HeBlogsSheBlogs.com, our blog is on our Home page. Navigation buttons on the Home page lead to inside pages that function more like a traditional Web site.
Gradually add spokes or “modules” to your hub. I consider social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace) and social bookmarking sites (Delicious, Digg, StumbleUpon) as spokes. You’ll create a profile at each site (registration is free) and link to and from your hub. Millions of people subscribe to social networking sites, substantially increasing your chances of being found and “touched.”
- Don’t feel compelled to instantly sign up for each of them. Spend time looking around, visiting others’ profiles, and studying how members market themselves.
- After you’ve visited a site several times, ask yourself whether you feel comfortable joining the community, and whether it’ll be worth your time investment to become an active member.
Here are some sites to explore:
General Networking:
Targeted Networking:
Video Sharing
Book Sharing
Micro Blogging
Social Bookmarking
What sites do you use/recommend? Leave us a comment!
This article was originally published on the WinePress Publishing Company blog, Oct. 20, 2008. WinePress is the leading company in the Christian custom publishing industry.
Tags: blogs, book sharing, internet marketing, Marketing, micro-blogging, promoting, social bookmarking, Social Networking, video sharing, Web sites
Posted by Jim on September 17th, 2008 at 6:00am
Do you know what makes an ad jingle effective?
- It’s short.
- Anyone can sing the melody.
- It’s easy to remember.
The same three criteria apply to picking domain names.
1. Short - The longer your domain name, the harder it is for people to remember—and the greater chance for mistakes when typing. Our domain, www.heblogssheblogs.com works, not because it’s short, but because it plays off a common phrase in our society; two of the words are the same and the other two words are similar. He’s a blogger and she’s a blogger does not.
2. Anyone can say it in the most common vernacular. In other words, it’s easy to spell. “Hike for Hope” works. www.hikeforhope.com “Hike 4 Hope” doesn’t. www.hike4hope.com (Both are real domains.) Uncommon spellings are trouble also. Love is fine. Luv isn’t.
3. It’s easy to remember. I can remember “Advanced Fiction Writing.” www.advancedfictionwriting.com (Editorial comment- excellent site for fiction writers.) It’s hard to remember www.ifyouwant2beagreatadvancedfictionwriter.com Also, when people think Web addresses they think .COM. Not .NET, .USA, .ORG, etc. It’s similar to toll free numbers. Even though 888 and 866 have been around for years, people still dial 800, even with 866 or 888 staring them in the face. Same thing with domains. If at all possible get .COM.
Bottom line? Make sure your domain name keeps the hoops to a minimum. The more hoops you make people jump through to get to your site—or back to your site—the fewer hits you’ll get. A simple test is to tell friends the name of your new site, then ask them a few minutes later what the name of your site is.
If they remember, odds are the rest of the world will too.
Tags: Marketing, Picking domain names, Web sites