I've been involved with MEBSR for several years, an organization that can best be described as a dynamic collection of forward-thinking business leaders in Maine dedicated to “doing well by doing good.”
If you're a Maine-based business and interested in triple-bottom-line success: environment, community involvement and profit, then you should get involved with MEBSR. It's the perfect network of people interested in sustainable business and green business.
The new site offers member only benefits such as unique content, membership directories, links that pass search engine juice, and discounts on upcoming events.
The site was built on Joomla, an open-source content management system that offers great scalability. Members can update their profile online as well as renew online with a credit card or PayPal.
Whether you're a business or just someone who buys products and services from businesses (OK, that everyone?) you might be interested in learning how businesses are dealing with climate change initiatives and learn what’s being
done on the national and global front for climate change.
If so, please join MEBSR as we kick off our 2009 statewide Leadership Series at
the Portland Museum of Art.
Like the car, this is a hybrid event—part
social, part educational. Hear two Maine businesses, Hannaford and L.L.
Bean, discuss their climate change initiatives and learn what’s being
done on the national and global front from Clean Air-Cool Planet’s Bob
Sheppard and Climate Count’s Wood Turner. With a dynamic panel and a
great location, you’ll leave this event informed and cheered.
Date: Wednesday, 1/28/2009 Time: 6:00pm – 8:30pm Place: Portland Museum of Art (directions) Cost: $20 for non-members, free for members
Would you like to gain insight on how people find your Web site and what they do once they're there? Want to know which keywords they're using to find your site? How long they spend at your site, and how many pages they visit? Which are your most effective and least effective pages?
All these answers are at your finger tips with Google Analytics. I'll be hosting a 60 minute Webinar (with an additional 30 minutes for Q&A) Thursday, January 15th at 12 noon, EST.
The cost is $35, but if you're on Facebook you can grab a $10 discount code on the Google Analytics Webinar event page, and while you're there, become a "fan" of flyte new media!
Yesterday I send out an email newsletter about content management systems (CMS) for small business. I have already received a few emails from clients and subscribers who are interested in upgrading their static Web site to a CMS.
One client with a static site was using Contribute to update their site and wondered if a CMS offered any other benefits. This led to a discussion with my friend/co-worker Dave Cousins about the myriad of benefits WordPress–a blogging/CMS platform we often use-has over Contribute. Other CMS platforms have similar benefits.
Contribute is $200 per copy. WordPress is free.
Contribute is $100 per upgrade. WordPress upgrades are free.
Contribute is for one computer. On the road? Working from home? You'll need to have your laptop with Contribute installed with you or you're out of luck. With WordPress you just need to log into your password-protected admin system from any modern browser and you're good to go. In fact, you can have multiple people updating the Web site and not have to buy multiple copies of any software.
It's easy to add pages in WordPress. Yes, you can add pages in Contribute, but it's a bear.
It's easy to update navigation in WordPress. Don't get me started on Contribute.
WordPress uses XHTML/CSS for fast-loading, bloat-free sites. Chances are if you're using Contribute, your site is a few years old and is ready for an upgrade.
Design revisions are less expensive with WordPress. Because of its extensive use of style sheets, a design update or even overhaul is significantly less labor intensive in WordPress. You only need to update the style sheets, not rebuild every page on the site.
WordPress is an online publishing platform, Contribute is an update tool. WordPress offers a site search, blogging capabilities, podcasting capabilities, RSS feeds, and unlimited plug-ins to enhance your Web site. Contribute allows you to fix typos and update your events page. In fact, it's really not fair to compare the two. But that didn't stop me.
I'm sure I'm leaving plenty of ideas out, so feel free to jump in. Or, if you think I'm wrong, let me know why Contribute trumps WordPress.
If you read the subject line of this blog post and wondered, "what's CMS?" then this month's flyte log is for you.
CMS stands for Content Management System. It's a platform for building Web sites that lets you, the site owner ,take more control over your own site and therefore your business. You don't need to know any HTML or CSS, basic building blocks of the Web. You don't need to know any code. Your only responsibility is to continually create killer content that attracts and converts customers.
Over the past year flyte probably built more sites on CMS platforms than not. Our two main tools were open-source CMS solutions: Joomla and WordPress. There are plenty of other platforms out there as well, and I know a lot of people like Drupal which is another open-source CMS.
In our experience, Joomla is more powerful and more scalable, but has a steeper learning curve. It's great for bigger sites and member-driven Web sites. WordPress is easier to learn, is an excellent blogging platform, and no site is too small for WordPress.
CMS isn't just for new sites; you can convert your current, static site over to WordPress as well. In fact, we've taken static designs and created similar or identical templates for Joomla and WordPress, migrated the data to the new site, and trained small business owners on how to update their own sites.
If your small business has some nice visuals (think scenic views, jewelry, art, beautiful people, etc., etc.,) and you’ve been looking for an interesting way to display it online, you might want to check out Animoto.
I first heard about Animoto in an article I read in Entrepreneur magazine last month and began playing around with it right away. It’s addicting to say the least.
What Animoto does is create slick slide shows set to music with great transitions. While there is a free version, it just too limiting to be of any use to a business. By upgrading to a paid account you can have videos of any length, have DVD-quality images, upload your own music, and include a clickable call-to-action. (For example, a resort could end it’s slide show with a “Book Your Room Now!” link to the reservations page on their site.)
Once you’ve established your account you can easily create a slide show by clicking on “create video” near the top of every page. After that it’s a three-step process.
Images: You can upload images from your computer or another Web site like Flickr. Once they’re on the Animoto site you can rearrange the order, add text, delete or even spotlight certain key photos. Once you’re happy with the organization click continue.
Sound: You can choose from Animoto’s royalty-free library that includes a number of genres such as hip-hop, classical, independent rock and more. You can also upload your own music, but be aware of any copyrights you might be infringing on. In other words, dropping that Zeppelin track on your slide show may get you a call from an attorney.
Once you’ve selected the appropriate music it’s time to render your video.
Render: If you have the business account you’ll be able to add a call-to-action button at the end of your video. You’ll also be able to change the image pacing of your video (although just 1/2 speed or 2x speed) and choose a cover screen. Once that’s done Animoto gets to work.
A few minutes later (or even a few hours, if there are a lot of photos), you’ll get an email that your video is ready for viewing. This is a lower-res version. If you like what you see you can download a DVD-Quality version. If you’d like to have the Animoto engine try again you can “remix” your video.
You can choose one-click remix, which will just give you different transitions, or go back in and tweak the order of photos, text, and choose a different song.
For small businesses looking to break through the clutter and grab a visitor’s attention, Animoto might be just what you need.
Below is the video I created for Portland Motor Club based on my trip to an open house they had a few weeks back.
If you can’t see the movie here, check it out on YouTube. Keep in mind that the DVD-quality is somewhat diminished when rendered through YouTube’s system.
We work with a wide variety of entrepreneurs who are looking to grow their business on the Web. Because of this, blogs are a regular part of our Internet marketing arsenal. I like blogs because of their immediacy, interactivity, search engine friendliness, and how they can help establish entrepreneurs as the experts they are.
Because these small business owners cover a range of businesses, the strategies for each blog differs. One thing I recommend to all business bloggers is to remember and focus on the purpose of their blog. That brings us back to your blog's audience.
There are two types of readers at your blog: the subscribers and the searchers.
The subscribers are your regular readers, whether through an email subscription, an RSS feed, or just old-fashion tenacity, theyread almost every post you put up. Besides getting the benefit of your knowledge they probably also enjoy your writing style and what you have to say.
The searchers are people who have found a specific post through a search engine. They had a question, and Google or Yahoo has pointed them to one of your posts. They might become a subscriber, they may move on (having quenched their thirst for knowledge), or they may click over to your Web site to engage you in a conversation.
So which reader is better for you? Well, that depends on what you're selling. If you aren't especially a great writer I would probably focus more on the searchers. Write well-constructed, keyword-rich content that helps prospects and engages visitors. The blog doesn't need to be infused constantly with your own personality. Your product may not need that level of intimacy.
Photographers, artists, and other creative types may need to develop subscribers who will become repeat customers. Service professionals may try and attract both types of readers, mixing keyword-rich content with more personal posts.
The important thing to remember is that there are two types of readers at a blog and you need to determine which is best for your business…and go after them.
