Posts Tagged ‘flyte’


Megunticook Market in Camden, Maine Relaunches on WordPress

Friday, July 15th, 2011

Megunticook MarketLooking for a specialty market in Camden, Maine? Check out Megunticook Market.

Whether you live in Camden, Maine, (map) or you’re just one of the thousands of people who who love visiting Maine’s rocky coast in the Camden/Rockport area every year, you need to check out Megunticook Market.

Besides a great selection of wine & cheeses and a focus on local Maine foods, you can also get your parties catered through Megunticook as well.

I’ve known proprietor Lani Temple for a few years now, and she’s popped into our offices more than once with some treats. They’re always delicious and definitely worth checking out if you’re in the area. (And worth a drive if you’re not!)

Lani also often appears on 207, a popular evening news program, sharing recipes and tips with the hosts and viewers.

Megunticook Market also is on Facebook, so be sure to like them there.

Megunticook Market had launched their site a few years back, and were looking for a more updated look and more control over the content. We freshened up the design and rebuilt the site on WordPress, a popular content management system that’s perfect for most small businesses. Lani had a blog that had been built on TypePad. To make her life easier, we exported most of her old posts and repopulated them on the WordPress platform. Now she only has one login to manage both her blog and site.

If you want a great specialty market experience on the Maine coast, be sure to check out Megunticook Market in Camden, Maine. If you need a website that you can update and manage yourself, be sure to contact flyte today.

Rich Brooks
Hungry


flight new media – Web Design & Internet Marketing

Tuesday, July 5th, 2011

flight new media vs. flyte new media: can Google Voice Search for your desktop tell the difference?

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”

Last month Google released a desktop version of their voice search technology, allowing people around the world to yell at their computer screen and receive tangible results.

I’m a big fan of the voice search on my iPhone; it’s almost always right, and when it’s not, it’s almost always funny. So, I decided to check it out on the first thing that popped into my head:

flight new media or flyte new media?

Wait,  that’s not what I said! I said flyte new media! No matter how many times I tried it I got the same results.

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Flyte Welcomes Joan Crocker to the Crew!

Friday, June 17th, 2011

Joan Crocker - flyte SEO & Social MediaJoan Crocker joins the flyte crew as our new search engine marketer.

If you follow the flyte new media news (and who doesn’t, really? I think CNN has a tab for us on their home page), then you may have heard that our search engine marketer, Nicki Hicks, is moving south for warmer climes.

Although she’s going to continue working for flyte, we knew we also wanted to have a search and social media expert in the office here in Maine.

Enter Joan Crocker, the newest addition to the flyte new media crew.

The first thing you need to know about Joan is she doesn’t like to share. That ice cream cone is all hers. Don’t come looking for a bite unless you want to be starting something. Besides that, there are a few things you should know about Joan:

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3 Maine Web Marketing Events

Friday, January 28th, 2011

Maine Web Design CompanyOK, well, two Maine web marketing events, and one virtual event that everyone can attend, all of which have flyte new media connections.

  • How to Make Search Engines Work for Your Business (2/10/2011, Portland, ME)
  • Expanding Your Mental Health Practice Through Web Marketing (3/11/2011, Portland, ME)
  • Blogging Success Summit 2011 (Throughout February, Virtual)

Here’s the skinny on each one:

HOW TO MAKE SEARCH ENGINES WORK FOR YOUR BUSINESS (2/10/2011)

Details:

Open to all persons who have a business website, or are developing their business website. Search engine optimization can increase traffic, deliver more targeted customers, and increase revenue. Search engines have become a core resource for individuals looking for your small business.

You will learn the importance of SEO, as well as how to improve your organic search engine ranking and drive more qualified leads to your Web site. Every business with a website has the potential to be found by more customers online.

Learn how to uncover which keywords drive customers to your site, how to make on page changes to increase your visibility, and key link opportunities to build your authority.

The workshop will led by Nicki Hicks of Portland’s flyte new media.

Date: Thursday, 2/10/2010

Time: 2pm – 5pm

Place: SCORE Maine offices, 100 Middle St., Portland, ME (directions)

For more information or to register please visit SCORE Maine.

EXPANDING YOUR MENTAL HEALTH PRACTICE THOUGH WEB MARKETING (3/11/2011)

Details:

While many mental health practitioners may be uncomfortable marketing their services, most are downright confused and even anxious when it comes to using web marketing to increase their referrals and build their visibility.

However, with over half a billion people on Facebook and millions using Google every day to find help, it’s impossible to ignore web marketing for long.

In this day long workshop you’ll learn:

  • How to setup a web site that engages your audience, establishes your expertise, and encourages referrals for your practice
  • How to get your web site to rank higher in the search engines
  • How to integrate a blog, video and an email newsletter into your web presence
  • How to handle HIPAA and other Internet use issues unique to mental health practitioners
  • How mental health practitioners can use social media appropriately; how to handle Facebook friendship requests, how to manage your privacy, and how to engage others in the social web
  • How to market and sell information products such as e-books, online courses and webinars

Whether you have a robust web site already, or are just getting started, this day long workshop will help you develop and effective strategy for raising your online profile, driving more qualified referrals through your web site, and navigating the treacherous waters of social media.

All participants will receive a certificate for 6 clock hours.

Transdisciplinary Workshops are approved for 6 CE’s in Psychology by the Maine Board of Psychologists.

This workshop is limited to only 100 participants, so please sign up early!

Date: Friday, 3/11/2011

Time: 8am – 3:30pm

Place: Regency Hotel, 20 Milk St., Portland, ME (directions)

Cost: $150 until 2/1, then $170

For more information or to register please visit Transdisciplinary Workshops.

BLOGGING SUCCESS SUMMIT 2011

This virtual conference, featuring 23 blogging experts from around the world–including flyte’s president Rich Brooks–is the perfect event for anyone looking to take their blogging to the next level. Learn how to increase your search engine visibility, drive more quality leads, attract a following and more.

This month long event is only $597…an amazing deal for content this rich. Check out the Blogging Success Summit page for more information and to register.

Rich Brooks
Maine Web Marketing


Social Media For Businesses & Non-Profits

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

This is the freeze frame? Sig


Tuesday night, WCSH, southern Maine’s NBC affiliate, ran this story on social media and businesses and interviewed me for it.

I fear for the day when Channel 6 goes completely HD. If my hair looks that bad again I may take to wearing a Red Sox cap for all future interviews. Heck, even a Yankees hat would have been an improvement. (No, not really.)

After the segment they also mentioned the upcoming Social Media FTW conference which will be held on 9/22/2010 in Portland. Goodwill NNE, which is featured with me in this segment, will be represented on our Social Media Success Stories Panel…local businesses not in the business of social media, but succeed wildly anyway.

With a week to go we’ve sold over 330 tickets (as I write this) and I’m feeling pretty good that we’re going to sell out. So, what are you waiting for? Get your ticket now!

If you happened to see the segment, or checked out the story at the WCSH website, you may have noticed that they said that flyte new media will be putting on the event. Clarification: flyte is a sponsor. Social Media FTW as an organization is putting on the event. FTW is made up of Chrystie Corns, Jaica Kinsman & li’l ol me.

Rich Brooks
NOT Ready for My Close Up


The Visa Business Network Takes Flyte

Wednesday, August 11th, 2010

Yeah, sorry about the pun. The original title of “The Visa Business Network Launches Today and Features the Flyte Blog in It’s Library Section” didn’t seem as crisp.

Today the Visa Business Network officially relaunched. As the press release states, VBN is an

online community that helps small business owners manage their businesses more efficiently, connect with and gain insight from peers, and ultimately grow their business. Now, small business owners can easily interact with peers in a collaborative way allowing them to get personalized help on goals ranging from growing their customer base to managing their business.

There are currently over 100,000 VBN members, and the new site features business toolkits, mentor programs, a Q&A forum, content ranking and more.

So, besides flyte’s love of everything small business-y, why are we talking about VBN? Well, our humble little flyte blog is featured in the VBN Library!

Apparently my note about putting a link on the home page hasn’t been acted upon yet, but you can check out the flyte blog feed here.

If you’re looking for additional help in growing your business you should check out the new revamped Visa Business Network.

Rich Brooks
Card Carrying VBN Member


Flyte Turns 13! (Happy Bar Mitzvah!)

Sunday, May 2nd, 2010

It’s hard to believe that thirteen years ago I quit my day job to start flyte.

It wasn’t called flyte back then…the original name was b1 communications. I designed web sites out of my apartment in Jamaica Plain (Boston, MA) and worked part time for another Internet startup.

Soon I met my wife Cybele through mutual friends in Maine and moved up here. I started to get busy, added people, and moved the business out of my house and into the Old Port (Portland, Maine.)

Along the way we added search engine optimization, email marketing, blogging and more recently social media to our offerings.

Over the past 13 years I’ve been blessed with great co-workers, a steady stream of clients looking to grow their business, and a patient, supportive, beautiful wife.

It hasn’t always been easy. I remember many times putting my paycheck into my desk drawer week after week so I could make payroll and keep the lights on. I remember considering unpaid time off for everyone (although thankfully it never came to pass.) I remember moments where I wasn’t such a great boss (although hopefully I’ve grown from them.)

I know a lot of businesses are struggling right now, and a lot of entrepreneurs are doubting themselves. I can’t promise that you’ll succeed with your goals, but I will tell you that persistence and hard work will get you there 99% of the time. Just remember that it’s not easy, but it’s worth it.

In the Jewish tradition 13 marks the point in your life when you become a man (or a woman, depending on how you started out.) I’m not sure what adulthood will look like for flyte, but I know it will be challenging, fun, and constantly changing.

The first 13 years have been everything I could have asked for and more. I can’t wait to see what the next 13 brings us.

Thanks for helping us get here.

Rich Brooks
Maine Web Design


WordPress Conversions: Beauty is More Than Skin Deep

Thursday, April 8th, 2010

360FuelCard, providers of fleet fuel cards that benefit the environment, liked the look of their Web site.

What they didn’t like is the lack of control they had. Every update had to be run through an outside developer, hindering their ability to quickly add content. It also became a cost issue: adding new pages was expensive, making them thing twice before adding new content to the site.

WordPress gave them that control, and is helping them keep a cap on expenses. We took their current design and ported it over to WordPress, the popular open-source blogging and content management system platform. We also added a blog, so they would have a powerful communication tool they could use to keep customers in the loop and engage new prospects.

They can now update any page, day or night, uploading new photos or embedding videos of their products in action. And they can do it inhouse without having to pay an outside provider.

If you need a fuel card that’s accepted at nearly 100% of fuel stations across the US and contributes to a cleaner environment with every fill-up, be sure to check out 360FuelCard.

If you need to gain control of your Web site, and reign in update fees, talk to flyte about converting your site to a content management system.

Rich Brooks
Fill ‘er Up!


How to Attract, Engage & Convert Your Audience with Pebble Content

Monday, April 5th, 2010

This month’s issue of flyte log is called “Content Strategy: How to Use Content for Online Lead Generation.” In it, we talk about what content strategy is, and how you can incorporate it into your marketing campaigns to attract prospects to your Web site or blog.

In the article we talk about how to create content around what your audience is interested it. Let’s take a closer look at how that might happen:

Let’s say you’re a professional organizer. Certainly, your audience may be searching for “professional organizer Portland, Maine” (or “Eugene, Oregon” or “Austin, TX.”) Therefore, it’s important to put those phrases on your Web site, making sure they appear in the title tags, headers, body copy, image alt-tags, meta-description and intra-site links.

However, they may not know about professional organizers as a business category, or not think they need one if they do.

To capture these people you may need to create articles, blog posts or videos that target concerns your audience may have:

  • How to Keep Your Inbox Empty
  • Home Office Issues: How to Make the Most of Limited Space
  • Paperless Office: How to Get There From Here
  • Tax Returns: How to Store and Recover All Those Lost Receipts!
  • Dealing with Messy Co-Workers

Remember: people won’t necessarily be searching for your job title or business category; they may be searching for the pebble that’s currently in their shoe. Maybe we should call this Pebble Content.

I call dibs if that phrase takes off.

One way to uncover this pebble content is by doing a keyword analysis where you find out what words people are doing at the search engines, and how much competition you have from other sites on each phrase. By doing this you can find the keywords that are most likely to attract your target audience, and build them into your site, blog and social media campaigns.

Read the content strategy article here, and start creating the content that will attract, engage and convert your audience.

Rich Brooks
Content Strategy FTW

Photo credit: therichbrooks (hey! that’s me!)


Google Analytics for Small Business Success – Webinar

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

How can you know if your latest Facebook campaign was effective? Whether your recent blog posts are driving more qualified leads to your site? Or, whether Twitter is an effective marketing tool or a complete time suck?

You measure it.

If you have a Web site you need to be running traffic reports. If you run a business, you need to know what your sales and marketing efforts are getting you. You need to know what’s working and what’s not. At flyte we’re big fans of Google Analytics, a free traffic report system from, um, Google. With Google Analytics installed you can see how people are finding your site and what they’re doing once they get there.

On Thursday, April 8th, we’ll be putting on a Webinar on Google Analytics. Among other things you’ll learn:

  • How to set up Google Analytics on your own site
  • How to set up goals so that you can determine where most of your online leads are coming from
  • Which reports are must reads for any business looking to grow
  • How to read and analyze your reports to make changes to your Web site and improve your conversion rates.

Our how-to videos were featured in the official Google Analytics Blog, so we kinda know what we’re talking about. The Webinar will last 90 minutes; 60 minutes of content and up to 30 minutes of Q&A.

Date: Thursday, 4/8/2010

Time: 1:00 – 2:30pm ET

Place: Your Computer

Cost: $50 Wait! Save $20 with discount code “brilliant”!

To learn more and register now, please visit our Web Marketing Seminars page.

Rich Brooks
What Gets Measured…

Photo Credit: AussieGall