Websites : What will they think of next?
In Sydney, Australia [where I live], there is a SEXPO at the moment - an expo about sex related products and services. I was aware it was on, but didn't really know more about it than that.I just got an email from a friend in Canada, who's mother had read about it in her local paper [Tip #1 - the power of the internet and information]. Evidently there was an article about an artist .... who paints portraits with his penis. [OK, OK, don't panic, this isn't going to get risqué - I just wanted to show how much the internet is 'in' our daily life.]Well, this piqued my interest :) and so I did a quick google, and lo and behold, there he was - Pricasso - and yes I did have to laugh out loud at the name of his website!So I popped over to http://www.Pricasso.com and had a look. Very neat website, tasteful in a naked kind of way. :)It got me thinking - this local chap now has worldwide recognition :- by having a unique product or service, or at least one to get people talking
- he has a website [even one page is better than nothing]
- he is participating in an event in his 'field'
- the marketing is being done by the event organisers
- he is probably receiving more hits on his website this week than ever before
This made me think that every small [or any sized] business has one product or service which could catapult them into getting more visitors to their website, if only they knew how to MARKET it.The key is to think outside the box - pay attention to newspaper or magazine articles which catch your attention - what did they do to make you keep reading? They made it sound interesting. So - put your thinking caps on ... and see if you can promote just ONE of your many skills, products or services. Follow these steps to get started:- Writing articles and posting on article directories [with link to your site in your signature]
- Posting on forums - ones where you have good knowledge and can readily share tips and expertise for free [with link to your site in your signature]
- Commenting on blogs [with link to your site in your signature]
- Having excellent content in your site, which you update regularly - weekly is best, monthly is good - 'never' is bad
- Getting inbound links
- Writing Press Releases for every new product, service or innovation in your business - and distributing them [leaving them on your computer without distributing doesn't do a whole lot ... :) ]
These are just a few tips - you may come up with more, but if you make your Press Release or article or website content really interesting to read, you're on the right track.Back to Pricasso ... can you guess what the ONE MAJOR THING he could have done to ensure people talk about his art for a long time?He could have a sign-up form on his website - capturing visitor email and details, and offering to email a series of 'How I paint' mini emails, to keep people interested [by using an Autoresponder]. Having an autoresponder means you don't have to reply to basic questions, but you offer more info and more detail, and then only the serious will contact you to go further.
The autoresponder series could include all kinds of details which are humorous, or about the techniques or inspiration, and could easily come from some of the topics on his FAQ page; each one need only be a paragraph or two, and sent out daily or weekly, for 5, 7 or 10 days or weeks. He could then include links to his Buy Now or Contact Me for a Quote page, or other interesting pages on his website, like History of Penile Painting - haha sorry, couldn't resist that - or other fascinating facts. His new fan base would love it.Imagine - he could have ended up with a mailing list of thousands of people after this marketing event!
Can you think of another thing which would help the Pricasso website? A 'Media Room' - a page to show links to articles written about the Artist, links to magazines who've featured the artwork etc. A Press Release which could be downloadable, photos which are free to put in magazines, newspapers, websites etc. This makes it easy for journalists if they can download your info, which is chock full of fascinating facts.
So - keep your eye out for opportunities, with your own business and website.Good luck!CheersTeena
Website : Has someone stolen your content?
It's sooooooooo easy to copy someone else's content, isn't it?But we don't do it ... right??Right?Really, there's no glory in stealing other people's words and efforts, please write your 0wn text, after being inspired by what others have written.If you suspect someone has stolen your website content, what can you do?Read more ...You can write a Cease & Desist letter, contact a lawyer, start proceedings.But before that, you can put a COPYSCAPE icon on your pages, to show thiefs you mean business.Here are some links you might find useful:http://www.utsystem.edu/OGC/INTELLECTUALPROPERTY/http://www.keytlaw.com/Copyrights/cheese.htm : read "Internet Copyright Law: A Rat Pilfered My Web Site Cheese - What Do I Do? - Remedies for Web Site Copyright Infringement"
http://psylockelaw.home.mindspring.com/FanLaw_Articles/ To create a cease and desist letter online, visit:http://www.agreementsetc.com/cease-and-desist/ Find copies of your web content on the Internet:http://www.copyscape.com/ Digital Millennium Copyright Act:
http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdfhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DMCAThere's a wealth of information online about protecting your text, and there are javascripts you can add to your webpages to stop people from dragging their mouse over your text and copying. Realistically though, if you want your words to be copyright, perhaps they should be in a book, and only descriptions placed on your site. It's certainly food for thought ...CheersTeena
Recycling : Toner Cartridges
I've been reading a lot about recycling lately, and even did a bit of research on it.Here are a few links which you might find useful:http://www.witnessjustice.orgsome local churches also accept cartrigdges, which enables them to get a small amount of fundingCheck out http://www.lasermonks.com - Great prices and service, and they look like a very interesting group.http://www.freerecycling.com/http://www.witnessjustice.orghttp://www.recycle4charity.co.uk/cartridge.htmlIf you have any links you'd like to add, just let me know.Let's be sensible and recycle old toner carefully, to protect our environment.Thanks - every little bit helps!Teena
Blogs
"I love
blogs!"
I'm loving blogs - in fact I just posted an article on my Article Directory which outlines the where's and whyfor's of a blog.It's called Blogging 101 and you can read it here:http://www.buildawebsitetonight.com/articles/
Websites :: Create a site for your interests
Do you have a hobby, or something which fascinates you, you love to read about it, hear about it, see it? Maybe you love an old movie, or a famous person from the past?In my case, I have an eclectic range of tastes in hobbies, and one is travel-related. I've lived in quite a few countries, and have lots of interesting, funny and scary travel stories of things which happened on my travels - I also LOVE to write stories and newsletters, so I thought I might create a travel website to link all those interests together.I came up with a catchy name, bought the domain name, and used the automated online web builder from BuildAWebsiteTonight to quickly build a few web pages. I signed up with several interesting travel-related companies as their 'affiliate', added their links to my site, and started to write some travel stories about places I've been to. This will be a way for me to talk about the interesting and funny things which have happened to me on my travels, and is a great way for me to finally document the stories. I hope you enjoy them too - pop over to PurpleGiraffeTravel.com and have a squizz [look] when you have a spare few moments.
Must dash, feel like looking up tours in Paris on my new website!
Teena
Websites : New web builder challenges
I've had a couple of technical 'challenges' getting the web builder set up on the server.I like to think of these as 'learning experiences' - there's always something new to learn, and then share with others.No point tearing your hair out, just work through it methodically, and if you can't work it out, get online and search for a forum which talks about the product/service, and ask for help. The bonus is you'll learn much more than you thought you would.Ciao ciaoTeena
Blog :: Bring visitors to your site
A fantastic way to bring new people to your website is to start a blog related to your business [like this one]. Make the tone friendly, less 'corporate', and let your website visitors know where they can go to read your blog.Each time you post a new blog message, it automatically appears on the blogger [or other] home page, and you will get people clicking the name of your blog. Visitors for free.Wait about 15 minutes then login to your web statistics and check 'recent visitors' or something similar, to see where your visitors came from. You'll be amazed to see clicks to your blog, and if you've set up your blog properly with links back to your main website, you'll see clicks to your website from the blog.How cool is that?Get blogging today!
Ciao for now,
Teena!
Websites :: Getting close now!
I've published the new website builder, and am now doing a couple of days of testing and tweaking, to make sure everything works properly.I get such a buzz out of technology and especially anything related to the internet!The new web builder details will be published here in the next few days - stay tooned!Teena
Websites :: New web builder!
Over the past few days I've been setting up a new website builder to offer to my customers. It has thousands of colourful templates, and I will be offering a one-page website for free! That's right, I've decided that even those people who think it's way too hard to build a website can have one live webpage for free, which they can change as often as they like - I think that's pretty cool, don't you?There will also be 3 page websites, 10 page, 30 page and 70 page e-commerce, to cater to the majority of customers.Why two web builders?I think everyone likes a choice, no matter what the product or service, so visitors to my BuildAWebsiteTonight.com site will be able to have a test drive with both, and see which one suits their purposes.
See you on my site!
Cheers
Teena
