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	<title>Websites for Small Biz</title>
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	<link>http://biz.leoraw.com</link>
	<description>WordPress, Social Media, Twitter Talk, Business, SEO</description>
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		<title>Use Pinterest for Your Small Biz</title>
		<link>http://biz.leoraw.com/pinterest-small-biz/</link>
		<comments>http://biz.leoraw.com/pinterest-small-biz/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 29 Jan 2012 02:10:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Leora Wenger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[New Jersey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[pinterest]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://biz.leoraw.com/?p=3936</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Pinterest, a social media platform with visual imagery, pins and boards, can be used as to connect with others locally with local images.  Bloggers with exciting visual imagery can use it as a way to share eye-catching posts.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div style="float:right; width: 200px; margin-left: 10px; border: 1px solid #ccc;"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/pinterest-200px.jpg" alt="pinterest for small businesses" title="pinterest-200px" width="200" height="200" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4002" /></div>
<p>Many years ago I took my first college art history class.  I soon fell in love the subject; one would watch many slides of wonderful art in each class, and the assignments involved visits to art museums.  <strong><a href="http://pinterest.com/">Pinterest</a></strong> is a bit like that, but you can use your web browser or your mobile phone to view the images.  And you can participate by pinning your own.<br />
<strong><br />
Pinterest is hot:</strong> Pinterest’s total visits have grown from <a href="http://www.webpronews.com/pinterest-traffic-spikes-2012-01">10 million to 17 million this past month</a>. From the same article, &#8220;Pinterest had seen a 207% increase in unique visitors between November and December.&#8221; Many of the users of Pinterest are women using Pinterest. <em><a href="http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57347187-93/pinterest-crazy-growth-lands-it-as-top-10-social-site/">Hitwise found that 58 percent of the visitors in the past three months were women, and most, 59 percent, were between 25 and 44.</a></em></p>
<h3 class="present">Basics of Pinterest</h3>
<p>Pinterest is made up of pins, boards and pinners (those who pin).  You pin images (not necessarily your own) unto boards.  You can set up any number of boards on any topic (Pinterest likes when you categorize your topics, but I find my topics don&#8217;t fit neatly into their categories). There are two ways to find images to pin &#8211; you can use the Pin tool (<a href="http://pinterest.com/about/goodies/">scroll down the Goodies page</a>) to pin any image on the web or you can repin what others have already pinned.</p>
<h3 class="present">Bloggers Using Pinterest</h3>
<p><a href="http://pinterest.com/emilysegal/my-recipes/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/emily-segal-my-recipes.jpg" alt="Emily Segal and her My Recipes board on Pinterest" title="emily-segal-my-recipes" width="550" height="372" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3937" /></a></p>
<p>Emily Segal (a food blogger) and Robin Epstein (a photographer) got into an interesting conversation on Facebook on whether one should pin ones own images. Robin thought it better to have someone else pin your images.  Then Emily said she gets lots of blog traffic from pinning her own images. Then Robin decided she should indeed pin some of her own photos.</p>
<p>Here is Robin Epstein&#8217;s board of Inspiring Photography (photos by others that inspire her):<br />
<a href="http://pinterest.com/robinepstein/inspiring-photography/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/robin-epstein-inspiring-photography-550x303.jpg" alt="robin epstein inspiring photography" title="robin-epstein-inspiring-photography" width="550" height="303" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-3972" /></a></p>
<p>And here are some of Robin&#8217;s own photos, first pinned by others:<br />
<img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/robin-epstein-photography.jpg" alt="robin epstein, photography pinned on Pinterest" title="robin-epstein-photography" width="550" height="281" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4013" /></p>
<p>I first learned <a href="http://www.dailymorningcoffee.com/are-you-on-pinterest/">about Pinterest from Praveen Rajarao</a>.  Praveen uses Pinterest to pin blogger&#8217;s logos.  I love the idea in theory, but I&#8217;m thinking he would get more interest in the pins if he posted some fabulous imagery that are on those blogs.  I have one board for Pinterest articles, but not many of the people on Pinterest seem to be there to read an article.  It&#8217;s about relaxing with beautiful imagery.</p>
<h3 class="present">Highlight Local if Your Business is Local</h3>
<p>Is your business geographically based?  How about some boards related to your area:<br />
<img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/new-jersey-family-jersey-jaunts.jpg" alt="New Jersey Family - Jersey Jaunts and Beyond board on Pinterest" title="new-jersey-family-jersey-jaunts" class="alignnone size-full" /><br />
<img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/new-jersey-family-charities.jpg" alt="New Jersey Family - New Jersey charities board on Pinterest" title="new-jersey-family-charities" width="550" height="197" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3940" /></p>
<p>If you know other local pinners, you could also set up a <strong>community board</strong>, like this one called <a href="http://pinterest.com/newjerseyfamily/the-jersey-shore-community-board/">The Jersey Shore Community Board</a>. Get some of your fans and friends to help you find and pin great images of your area.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s a community board of Central New Jersey, by Salit Auto:<br />
<a href="http://pinterest.com/salitauto/central-new-jersey/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/central-new-jersey-salit-auto.jpg" alt="Central New Jersey, community board on Pinterest by Salit Auto Sales" title="central-new-jersey-salit-auto" width="550" height="362" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3979" /><br />
</a><br />
Heidi&#8217;s Cottage started a Rutgers board on Pinterest:<br />
<a href="http://pinterest.com/heidiscottage/rutgers-university-in-my-backyard/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/heidi-cottage-rutgers-university.jpg" alt="heidi&#039;s cottage Rutgers University Pinterest board" title="heidi-cottage-rutgers-university" width="550" height="377" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3986" /></a></p>
<h3 class="present">Pinterest Pinning Ideas for Small Businesses</h3>
<p>Pinterest can be a platform for a business to publicize one&#8217;s brand. One should probably think carefully about the initial set up if using Pinterest for business (and experimenting by using a personal name first is probably a safe approach), but once you have some boards set up, pinning new images and repinning from the boards of others is easy.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s one idea for businesses that may need some help with pizzazz &#8211; add some great imagery to your blog.  Then pin it to one of your boards. If your business is mostly local, a local board might be appropriate.  If you are an accountant writing a blog post on how winter can effect a budget, put a great image on the post of winter and later pin the image to a <strong>seasonal</strong> Pinterest board.  You can write the summary of the blog post in the comments &#8211; perhaps someone will be drawn in to read the post.  I&#8217;ve seen some snazzy charts on Pinterest &#8211; can a graphic designer help explain some statistics you want to present?  Or maybe you can repin someone else&#8217;s charts. </p>
<div style="float:right; width: 146px; margin-left: 10px;"><a href="http://pinterest.com/mrs_gs/kitchen-design-elements/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/mrs-g-kitchen-detail-146x300.jpg" alt="Mrs. G Lawrenceville New Jersey Pinterest board" title="mrs-g-kitchen-detail" width="146" height="300" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-3966" /></a></div>
<p>Mrs. G TV and Appliances has some good pinning ideas &#8211; the appliance store ran a contest of <a href="http://blog.mrsgs.com/index.php/2011/paint-our-fridge-pink-contest-for-susan-g-komen-of-centralsouth-jersey/">painting refrigerators pink</a> in support of breast cancer awareness back in September.  She pinned the colorful winners unto a Pinterest board.  Note also when she pins kitchen design elements unto a board, she leaves a detailed comment: &#8220;Yes this has a beautiful tiled backsplash but we noticed the exceptional detail of how the base columns on each side of the 48&#8243; Wolf Dual Fuel Range matches exactly to the edge of the range. Now that is a Kitchen Design Detail we love! www.mrsgs.com/&#8230; photo compliments of astepinstone.com.&#8221;  She got 7 repins on that image.</p>
<p>Another small business using Pinterest is Gray Car Travel.  Look at all the beautiful imagery on this board:<br />
<a href="http://pinterest.com/graycartravel/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/gray-car-travel-board.jpg" alt="Gray Car Travel Pinterest board" title="gray-car-travel-board" width="550" height="388" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3968" /></a><br />
What is missing, however, are repins and likes.  Gray Car Travel needs to do a little more socializing to get others to see them as people and value what they are posting.</p>
<h3 class="present">Which Images Get Repinned?</h3>
<div style="float:left; width: 96px; margin-right: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/dogwood.jpg" alt="dogwood tree" title="dogwood" width="96" height="103" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3982" /></div>
<p>One of the images from my photo blog that has 25 repins is the dogwood flowers photo on the left.  Another image I found that has 817 repins is this <a href="http://pinterest.com/pin/169588742187957821/">floral river image</a>.  Clearly, nature imagery with bright colors has a good chance of being repinned, but how you relate it to your own business might be a bit trickier.</p>
<h3 class="present">Why Use Pinterest?</h3>
<p>With so many social media platforms out there, why use Pinterest?  One just has to ask, why is Pinterest growing so fast in use?  Perhaps it is because few other platforms are so simple to use and so rewarding in visual imagery.  There isn&#8217;t much I can do when I&#8217;m tired and it&#8217;s late at night, but liking or repinning is fun and easy.  Maybe your future customers will feel this way, too.</p>
<h3 class="present">A Few Pinterest Tips</h3>
<ul>
<li>Leave the name of the artist or photographer if you have that information.  Always good to give credit. </li>
<li>Use Pinterest as an opportunity to get to know someone better.  Ask a question about a choice of pin or &#8220;like&#8221; a few of their pins that you might not be interested in re-pinning to your own boards.  If someone is posting from their own blog, go visit and comment there.</li>
<li>Just as you might space out your tweets, you should probably space out your pins as well.  For example, it might be better to pin 3 images in one hour than 330 images.</li>
</ul>
<h3 class="present">Your Turn, Please</h3>
<p>Do you have any ideas on how a small business can use Pinterest?  A blogger?  An organization?  Any ideas about how to connect to others by using Pinterest?  If you have never used but are interested, feel free to ask questions.  It&#8217;s easy to use once you get the hang of pinning an image from anywhere on the web.</p>
<p>And here&#8217;s the link if you want to <a href="http://pinterest.com/leorawenger/">follow me on Pinterest</a>.</p>
<p>More posts on Pinterest:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.mattaboutbusiness.com/why-pinterest-is-your-business-new-best-friend/">Why Pinterest is Your Business’ New Best Friend</a> (lots of links on this article, including one to Pinterest for lawyers)</li>
<li><a href="http://socialnetworkinglibrarian.com/2011/12/10/pinterest-and-libraries/">Pinterest and libraries</a></li>
<li><a href="http://searchengineland.com/how-to-use-pinterest-for-local-seo-102697">Tips For Local Search Engine Optimization On Pinterest For Local Businesses</a></li>
</ul>
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		<item>
		<title>Google+: the Increasing Plusses of Google Plus</title>
		<link>http://biz.leoraw.com/google-plus/</link>
		<comments>http://biz.leoraw.com/google-plus/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:27:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Leora Wenger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Google]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugins]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://biz.leoraw.com/?p=3896</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Google+ - learn to verify authorship of your articles; get the Google +1 button on your posts; and use Google+ to develop relationships. Learn how Google Search Plus changes the search engine - set up your articles so you benefit.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div style="float:right; width: 130px; margin-left: 10px;"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/google-plus.png" alt="google+" title="google-plus" width="128" height="128" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3925" /></div>
<p>When I last talked about <a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/google-plus-small-biz/">Google Plus</a>, I remarked on filling out one&#8217;s profile and developing relationships with others.  It has a nice platform for conversing, similar to that of Facebook, but the conversations tend to be more business-like in nature.  I also find photos look pleasing on Google+ &#8211; many photographers have taken to the platform, especially since, unlike Facebook, the terms of service do not want to claim your photos.</p>
<p>Since that time, Google+ has updated its logo to the bright red with the small g+.  The platform also added pages for business.  Last week brought a new change:<br /> <strong>Google Search Plus</strong>.</p>
<h3 class="present">Game Changer &#8211; Google Search Plus</h3>
<div style="float:right; width: 153px; margin-left: 10px; margin-top: 20px;">
<img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/google-search-on-off.jpg" alt="Google Search Plus - turn it on or off" title="google-search-on-off" width="153" height="102" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3912" /></div>
<p>Praveen has a <a href="http://www.dailymorningcoffee.com/what-is-google-search-plus/">review and some great images of how Google Search Plus</a> looks on his site.  You can go to Google now and see it in action for your own searches. </p>
<p>I&#8217;ve seen some complain about the new Google search &#8211; some are threatening to switch to Bing.  My feeling, however, is just know that you can turn it on and off. I put the on and off buttons on the right side of this paragraph to show how the on and off buttons appear on my browser.</p>
<h3 class="present">Get the Google+ Code for Your Own Site</h3>
<p>First of all, if you don&#8217;t yet have the +1 button on your posts, <a href="https://developers.google.com/+/plugins/+1button/">here&#8217;s the code for the +1 button</a>.  There are also WordPress plugins for the +1 button.  You want to give your readers the opportunity to vote on your posts.</p>
<p>Finally, learn about <strong>Google Authorship</strong>.  Google has a method for verifying whether you actually wrote a post.  This is matched up with your Google profile.  You can learn a way to set up the code on <a href="http://web-design-sussex-seo.co.uk/how-to-set-up-google-authorship-markup-on-wordpress/">Steve Hippel&#8217;s post</a>.  If you want a more detailed method for setting up the code on your author.php, you can check out <a href="http://yoast.com/wordpress-rel-author-rel-me/">Yoast&#8217;s post on Google Authorship</a>.  I used Yoast&#8217;s version, because it allowed me to have separate Google profile links on guest post pages.  One small detail with Google+ profile links on guest post pages: in order for these to be verified by Google, the guest blogger would need to have a link back to your blog on their Google+ About page.  Not likely if they have only written one guest post.  There is now a <a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/google-authorship-widget/">WordPress plugin for Google Authorship</a>.  Whatever method you use, you should check that it is working using <a href="http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets">Google Webmaster Rich Snippets</a>.</p>
<p>Have you taken out the time to set up Google Authorship on your site?  With the new search changes, it might bring you even more clicks to your blog posts.</p>
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		<title>Related Posts &#8211; CSS Method</title>
		<link>http://biz.leoraw.com/related-posts-css/</link>
		<comments>http://biz.leoraw.com/related-posts-css/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:32:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Leora Wenger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[CSS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugins]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://biz.leoraw.com/?p=3820</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Related Posts can be created with a plugin or with PHP code.  You can also use HTML and CSS code to create unique related posts. In this article, learn the HTML and CSS code to create Related Posts.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div style="padding: 10px; background-color: #eee;border: 1px solid #ccc; margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; text-align:center;"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/related-posts.jpg" alt="Related Posts - How to Set Up Using CSS" title="related-posts" width="550" height="230" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3848" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;" /></div>
<h3 class="present">What are Related Posts</h3>
<p>When someone visits your blog post, you can display some related posts at the bottom to entice your visitor to view other posts on your site as well. So, for example, let&#8217;s say you are posting about a new WordPress plugin. You might want to display some other posts you wrote about WordPress plugins, or you might want to display a post about content management systems, or maybe one about why WordPress is so popular.</p>
<h3 class="present">Are There Easy Ways to Display Related Posts?</h3>
<p>You want an easy way to do this?  There are some nice plugins to display Related Posts, here are two:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/yet-another-related-posts-plugin/">Yet Another Related Posts Plugin (YARPP)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/efficient-related-posts/">Efficient Related Posts</a> (thanks to Barry Wells for the recommendation)</li>
</ul>
<p>If you have self-hosted WordPress, you can install a plugin easily on your blog.  And you don&#8217;t really have to read the rest of this post.  But if you install a related posts plugin and you don&#8217;t like the way it appears or which posts it chooses as related posts, maybe you want to keep reading this post.</p>
<p>If you like a coding way to display related posts, without a plugin, try one of these articles:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://alexwhinfield.com/display-related-posts-using-php-instead-of-a-plugin/">Display Related Posts using PHP instead of a Plugin</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.wprecipes.com/how-to-show-related-posts-without-a-plugin">How to: Show related posts without a plugin</a>
</li>
</ul>
<p>You will find, however, that those coded posts are based on tags.  What if you want to display a post that doesn&#8217;t have the same tag?  Or you want the 6th post in the second tag on your post to display?</p>
<p style="text-align:center; color: #666;font-size: 24px;">&bull;&nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;&bull;</p>
<p>What? You are still here?  Oh, yes, now I am going to teach the slow and meticulous way to set up related posts, so you can tweak every little detail.  And you can learn some CSS (Cascading Style Sheets &#8211; it&#8217;s the best way to make your website shine with design) in the process.  Once you set this up for one post, you will find it quite easy to re-use the code with new links on another post.</p>
<h3 class="present">Thinking Through Our Layout Needs for the Related Posts</h3>
<div style="float:right; width: 200px; margin-left: 10px; margin-top: 10px;"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/related-posts-200px.jpg" alt="related posts" title="related-posts-200px" width="200" height="200" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3889" /></div>
<p>To set up our related posts, we are going to need:</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>Thumbnail images for each post</strong> &#8211; if you have these already, great.  But if not, you will need to create some thumbnails.  I am going to make mine 100px by 100px, but they don&#8217;t have to be that size.</li>
<li><strong>Links to the Posts</strong> &#8211; I find it handy to set up my code in a code editor separate from WordPress (I used Dreamweaver).  For now, just paste into your code editor 3-4 links that you would like to appear in your related posts.</li>
</ul>
<p>We want these thumbnail images to line up nicely on the bottom of a post, each with a little caption underneath.  Both the thumbnails and the captions should be linked to the related post.  One&#8217;s first reaction might be to put this in a table, but a nicer way to code that will help if you are also doing responsive design (you want this to appear on mobile neatly, too) would be to float each little area of the related links. (If you don&#8217;t know about floats, <a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/float-that-image/">read about floats</a>).</p>
<h3 class="present">Set up the HTML and CSS</h3>
<p>Here&#8217;s how the HTML should look for three links (add another related-area div for four links):</p>
<pre>
<div class="codecolorer-container html4strict default" style="overflow:auto;white-space:nowrap;border:1px solid #9F9F9F;width:435px;"><div class="html4strict codecolorer" style="padding:5px;font:normal 12px/1.4em Monaco, Lucida Console, monospace;white-space:nowrap"><span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/hr.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">hr</span></a> <span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span>&gt;</span><br />
<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/strong.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">strong</span></a>&gt;</span>Related Posts:<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/strong.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">strong</span></a>&gt;</span><br />
<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/div.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">div</span></a> <span style="color: #000066;">class</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;related-links clearfix&quot;</span>&gt;</span><span style="color: #808080; font-style: italic;">&lt;!--start related links area--&gt;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/div.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">div</span></a> <span style="color: #000066;">class</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;related-area&quot;</span>&gt;&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/div.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">div</span></a> <span style="color: #000066;">class</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;related-img&quot;</span>&gt;&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/a.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">a</span></a> <span style="color: #000066;">href</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;http://biz.leoraw.com/clear-float/&quot;</span>&gt;&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/img.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">img</span></a> <span style="color: #000066;">src</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/water_effect2-100x100.jpg&quot;</span> <span style="color: #000066;">alt</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;unwanted wrap around text - needs to clear float&quot;</span> <span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span>&gt;&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/a.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">a</span></a>&gt;&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/div.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">div</span></a>&gt;&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/div.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">div</span></a> <span style="color: #000066;">class</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;related-tag&quot;</span>&gt;&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/a.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">a</span></a> <span style="color: #000066;">href</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;http://biz.leoraw.com/clear-float/&quot;</span>&gt;</span>Unwanted Wrap<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/a.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">a</span></a>&gt;&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/div.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">div</span></a>&gt;&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/div.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">div</span></a>&gt;</span><br />
&nbsp; &nbsp; <br />
<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/div.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">div</span></a> <span style="color: #000066;">class</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;related-area&quot;</span>&gt;&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/div.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">div</span></a> <span style="color: #000066;">class</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;related-img&quot;</span>&gt;&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/a.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">a</span></a> <span style="color: #000066;">href</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;http://biz.leoraw.com/css-spacing-woes-and-solutions/&quot;</span>&gt;&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/img.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">img</span></a> <span style="color: #000066;">src</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/spacing_woes-sq.jpg&quot;</span> <span style="color: #000066;">alt</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;CSS spacing woes&quot;</span> <span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span>&gt;&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/a.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">a</span></a>&gt;&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/div.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">div</span></a>&gt;&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/div.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">div</span></a> <span style="color: #000066;">class</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;related-tag&quot;</span>&gt;&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/a.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">a</span></a> <span style="color: #000066;">href</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;http://biz.leoraw.com/css-spacing-woes-and-solutions/&quot;</span>&gt;</span>CSS Spacing<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/a.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">a</span></a>&gt;&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/div.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">div</span></a>&gt;&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/div.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">div</span></a>&gt;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/div.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">div</span></a> <span style="color: #000066;">class</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;related-area&quot;</span>&gt;&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/div.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">div</span></a> <span style="color: #000066;">class</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;related-img&quot;</span>&gt;&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/a.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">a</span></a> <span style="color: #000066;">href</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;http://biz.leoraw.com/fancy-colored-boxes-with-css/&quot;</span>&gt;&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/img.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">img</span></a> <span style="color: #000066;">src</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/fancy-boxes-css.jpg&quot;</span> <span style="color: #000066;">alt</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;Fancy Colored Boxes with CSS&quot;</span> <span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span>&gt;&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/a.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">a</span></a>&gt;&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/div.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">div</span></a>&gt;&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/div.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">div</span></a> <span style="color: #000066;">class</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;related-tag&quot;</span>&gt;&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/a.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">a</span></a> <span style="color: #000066;">href</span><span style="color: #66cc66;">=</span><span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;http://biz.leoraw.com/fancy-colored-boxes-with-css/&quot;</span>&gt;</span>Fancy Boxes<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/a.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">a</span></a>&gt;&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/div.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">div</span></a>&gt;&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/div.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">div</span></a>&gt;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span><a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/div.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">div</span></a>&gt;</span><span style="color: #808080; font-style: italic;">&lt;!--end related links area--&gt;</span><br />
<span style="color: #009900;">&lt;<a href="http://december.com/html/4/element/hr.html"><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">hr</span></a> <span style="color: #66cc66;">/</span>&gt;</span></div></div>
</pre>
<p>And here&#8217;s the CSS:</p>
<pre>
<div class="codecolorer-container css default" style="overflow:auto;white-space:nowrap;border:1px solid #9F9F9F;width:435px;"><div class="css codecolorer" style="padding:5px;font:normal 12px/1.4em Monaco, Lucida Console, monospace;white-space:nowrap"><span style="color: #808080; font-style: italic;">/*RELATED POSTS<br />
========================================*/</span><br />
<span style="color: #6666ff;">.related-area</span> <span style="color: #00AA00;">&#123;</span><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">text-align</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">:</span> <span style="color: #993333;">center</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">;</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">&#125;</span><br />
<span style="color: #6666ff;">.related-links</span> <span style="color: #6666ff;">.related-area</span> <span style="color: #00AA00;">&#123;</span><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">float</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">:</span> <span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">left</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">;</span> <span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">width</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">:</span> <span style="color: #933;">135px</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">;</span> <span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">margin-right</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">:</span> <span style="color: #933;">30px</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">;</span> <span style="color: #00AA00;">&#125;</span><br />
<span style="color: #6666ff;">.related-img</span> <span style="color: #00AA00;">&#123;</span><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">padding</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">:</span> <span style="color: #933;">15px</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">;</span> <span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">background-color</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">:</span><span style="color: #cc00cc;">#eee</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">;</span> <span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">border</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">:</span> <span style="color: #933;">1px</span> <span style="color: #993333;">solid</span> <span style="color: #cc00cc;">#999999</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">&#125;</span><br />
<span style="color: #6666ff;">.related-img</span> img <span style="color: #00AA00;">&#123;</span><span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">border</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">:</span> <span style="color: #933;">1px</span> <span style="color: #993333;">solid</span> <span style="color: #cc00cc;">#999999</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">&#125;</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #6666ff;">.clearfix</span><span style="color: #3333ff;">:after </span><span style="color: #00AA00;">&#123;</span><br />
&nbsp; &nbsp;<span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">content</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">:</span> <span style="color: #ff0000;">&quot;.&quot;</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">;</span><br />
&nbsp; &nbsp;<span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">visibility</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">:</span> <span style="color: #993333;">hidden</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">;</span><br />
&nbsp; &nbsp;<span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">display</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">:</span> <span style="color: #993333;">block</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">;</span><br />
&nbsp; &nbsp;<span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">height</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">:</span> <span style="color: #cc66cc;">0</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">;</span><br />
&nbsp; &nbsp;<span style="color: #000000; font-weight: bold;">clear</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">:</span> <span style="color: #993333;">both</span><span style="color: #00AA00;">;</span><br />
<span style="color: #00AA00;">&#125;</span></div></div>
</pre>
<p>I would suggest doing all this in your code editor, check it offline, and then copy to your WordPress post.  You should save the HTML code somewhere convenient so you can use it again for a later post, just add different related links.  </p>
<p>You should copy the CSS to the bottom of your theme&#8217;s style.css.  Be sure to put a comment on top of the CSS that says /*Related Posts*/ so you know what this section of your style.css does.</p>
<p>Hope some of you find this Related Posts with CSS useful!  If it&#8217;s too much code for you, go to the top of this post and try the YARRP plugin.</p>
<hr />
<strong>Related Posts:</strong></p>
<div class="related-links clearfix"><!--start related links area--></p>
<div class="related-area">
<div class="related-img"><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/clear-float/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/water_effect2-100x100.jpg" alt="unwanted wrap around text - needs to clear float" /></a></div>
<div class="related-tag"><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/clear-float/">Unwanted Wrap</a></div>
</div>
<div class="related-area">
<div class="related-img"><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/css-spacing-woes-and-solutions/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/spacing_woes-sq.jpg" alt="CSS spacing woes" /></a></div>
<div class="related-tag"><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/css-spacing-woes-and-solutions/">CSS Spacing</a></div>
</div>
<div class="related-area">
<div class="related-img"><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/fancy-colored-boxes-with-css/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/fancy-boxes-css.jpg" alt="Fancy Colored Boxes with CSS" /></a></div>
<div class="related-tag"><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/fancy-colored-boxes-with-css/">Fancy Boxes</a></div>
</div>
</div>
<p><!--end related links area--></p>
<hr />
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Tips for Beginning Bloggers</title>
		<link>http://biz.leoraw.com/beginning-bloggers/</link>
		<comments>http://biz.leoraw.com/beginning-bloggers/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 08 Jan 2012 15:07:54 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Leora Wenger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wordpress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://biz.leoraw.com/?p=3766</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Tips for beginning bloggers: know your purpose, blog regularly, respond to comments, choose platform, write good content.  Experienced bloggers share advice and ideas.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><div id="attachment_3799" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 560px"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/bartolomedelascasas-detail.jpg" alt="portrait of Bartolomé de Las Casas" title="bartolomedelascasas-detail" width="550" height="215" class="size-full wp-image-3799" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Detail from Portrait of Bartolomé de Las Casas</p></div><br />
Are you thinking of starting to blog?  Whether you are blogging for business, for pleasure or for a favorite cause, there are two major aspects beginning bloggers need to think about:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>Technical: </strong>What platform will you use to blog?  WordPress.com?  Blogger? Tumblr?  <a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/pros-and-cons-of-self-hosted-wordpress/">Self-hosted WordPress</a>?  Or perhaps some other platform.</li>
<li style="margin-top: 10px;"><strong>Content and Readership: </strong>What will you blog about?  How will you find readers?  How will you get responses (i.e., comments) from readers?</li>
</ol>
<p>If you are blogging to <strong>promote your own business or to sell affiliate products</strong>, then that is a third aspect for thought.  This post will mostly talk about developing your content and readership.</p>
<p style="text-align:center; color: #666;font-size: 24px;">&bull;&nbsp;&bull;&nbsp;&bull;</p>
<p>I asked some of my favorite bloggers on Google+ the following question:  </p>
<h3>What is one piece of advice that you would give a beginning blogger? </h3>
<p>I organized their comments into categories, and I added a few of my own comments.</p>
<h3 class="present">Why are You Blogging?</h3>
<p><a href="https://plus.google.com/101792381383311300945/posts">Jack Steiner</a>:</p>
<p>Sustain your effort and understand why you are blogging. That is critical for personal and business bloggers. It takes time to build your platform and to find your voice. Give yourself the time to do so and understand that it is ok.</p>
<p>It is all about realistic expectations.</p>
<p><a href="https://plus.google.com/107779029598075532555/posts">Haim Cohen</a>:<br />
Blog for a purpose, even if that purpose is to journal privately.</p>
<h3 class="present">Get Your Content on Your Blog</h3>
<div style="float:right; width: 200px; margin-left: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 20px;"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/bloggers.jpg" alt="bloggers" title="bloggers" width="200" height="200" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3806" /></div>
<p><a href="https://plus.google.com/115919399429868244664/posts">Bennett Ruda</a>: be prepared to invest the time to post on a regular basis.</p>
<p><a href="https://plus.google.com/117246810372608260389/posts">Praveen Rajarao</a>: As a beginner myself, it was very tempting to achieve overnight success by signing up for all sorts of affiliate programs and try to make money fast.</p>
<p>I later realized that to be a successful blogger, I will need to write content which has NOT been seen or read elsewhere and try to get other bloggers to notice you and your blog.</p>
<p><a href="https://plus.google.com/100297472352630681335/posts">Jacob Alonzo</a>: 1. Focus on 1 piece of qualitative or quantitative piece of information. A blog entry should not be generic. A blog entry on a recipe on American apple pie can be identical to all others except maybe in how you make or decorate the top crust. But, the reader is left with a singular or valuable piece of information that will stay with them.<br />
2. A beginner blogger needs to blog for themselves alone. Forgo any thought of a follow-ship/readership initially!</p>
<p><a href="https://plus.google.com/107779029598075532555/posts">Haim Cohen</a>: People like content, so if it is relevant to them, consistent, as well as informative, you should get an audience.</p>
<h3 class="present" >Respond to Comments</h3>
<p>Responding to comments on your blog is not only good etiquette, it can also expand your readership.</p>
<p><a href="https://plus.google.com/100807645192187023347/posts">Emily Seuss</a>: Respond to comments so that you can meaningfully engage with your readers.</p>
<p><a href="https://plus.google.com/115919399429868244664/posts">Bennett Ruda</a>: Following up on what Emily wrote, it is also important to engage with bloggers of similar interests:</p>
<ul>
<li>Leave comments on other blogs of similar interest.</li>
<li>Link to posts of other bloggers and quote them by name.</li>
</ul>
<p><a href="https://plus.google.com/107779029598075532555/posts">Haim Cohen</a>: If you want comments, make it as easy as you can for readers to comment on it, but obviously stay clear of just allowing anyone to post. </p>
<h3 class="present">Choosing a Platform for your Blog</h3>
<p>Note: choosing a platform for your blog (Blogger, WordPress, Tumblr, etc.) is a topic for another post, but I want to leave you with one insightful comment on Google+:</p>
<p><a href="https://plus.google.com/107779029598075532555/posts">Haim Cohen</a>: Google+ at this point is about to take over for ease of use. Links are public, share able, and have great SEO, and engagement value.</p>
<p>In response to Haim&#8217;s comment, I would add that I find some intelligent, educational and inspirational conversations (and lovely imagery, too &#8211; many photographers have taken to Google+) occur on Google+.  Also, as he notes, the search engine Google picks up the information on Google+ and it receives priority in search engine rankings.  A downside would be it is not your own platform with your own name or brand, as self-hosted WordPress would be (or WordPress.com with your own domain name).</p>
<hr />
<p>As an experiment, I decided to link to each of these people&#8217;s Google+ profiles instead of their blogs.  I&#8217;m wondering if they will attract some new followers on Google+ as a result.  If you would like to circle me on Google+, I&#8217;m <a href="https://plus.google.com/101882809989649733490/posts">Leora Wenger</a>.</p>
<h3 class="present">Your Turn, Please</h3>
<p>If you are an experienced blogger, how would you respond to my question?  Also, if you have any responses to the bloggers&#8217; comments, I would love to hear those, too. What else might you tell beginning bloggers? Thanks!</p>
<hr />
<p>More posts like this one:</p>
<table style="border-collapse:collapse; padding: 0;">
<tr>
<td style="padding-right: 20px;"><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011-websites-for-small-biz/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/2011-sq.jpg" alt="highlights" title="highlights" width="100" height="100" class="alignnone size-thumbnail wp-image-2870 " style="border: 1px solid #00c;margin: 5px;padding:10px; background-color: #eee;"  /></a><br /><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011-websites-for-small-biz/" style="text-align:center">Blog Highlights</a></td>
<td style="padding-right: 20px;"><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/twitter-profile/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/twitter_birdie.jpg" title="cookingmanager" width="100" height="100" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3242"  alt="Twitter bird" style="border: 1px solid #00c; margin: 5px; padding: 10px; background-color: #ccc;"/></a><br /><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/twitter-profile/" style="text-align:center">Twitter Profile</a></td>
<td style="padding-right: 20px;"><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/08/blog-site-improvements/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/girl_stare_sq.jpg" alt="girl stares at laptop" title="girl stares" width="95" height="100" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-2600" style="border: 1px solid #00c; margin: 5px; padding: 10px; background-color: #eee;" /></a><br /><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/08/blog-site-improvements/" style="text-align:center">Blog Improvements</a></td>
</tr>
</table>
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		<title>Case Study: Suggestions for a Website Strategy</title>
		<link>http://biz.leoraw.com/website-strategy/</link>
		<comments>http://biz.leoraw.com/website-strategy/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 03 Jan 2012 17:55:36 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Leora Wenger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Design]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Joomla]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[small business]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://biz.leoraw.com/?p=3724</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A case study: Develop a website strategy for your home page. Clear header, explain the business concisely, use social media to develop contacts.  Can you help this UK small business with their website strategy?]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A reader named Dr. Ed wrote in about his site, saying he <a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/add-a-slideshow-on-your-website/">added a slideshow</a>, but he didn&#8217;t see any addition to his &#8220;rankings&#8221; (maybe he means traffic? or his Google rankings?).  I took a look at his site, and I decided it would make a nice case study on website strategy.  So, Dr. Ed, I hope you find this helpful!</p>
<h3 class="present">Make Sure the Header is Legible</h3>
<p>Below is the top of the home page for <a href="http://www.mobile-festival-stores.co.uk/">http://www.mobile-festival-stores.co.uk/</a> &#8211; you can click on the image to see the entire home page.<br />
<a href="http://www.mobile-festival-stores.co.uk/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/home-page-festival.jpg" alt="home page mobile festival uk" title="home-page-festival" width="580" height="385" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3727" /></a><br />
My first reaction is that I cannot read his header.  He acknowledged in a comment that it is hard to read.  I would suggest even the simplest of headers instead of something that one can&#8217;t read.  I decided to do a basic header with a fancy font that I thought might work a little better for him:<br />
<a href="http://www.mobile-festival-stores.co.uk/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/mobile-festival-uk.png" alt="mobile festival stores UK" title="mobile-festival-uk" width="580" height="150" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3728" /></a><br />
I used Illustrator, and I created two shapes to contain the text.  The word <strong>mobile</strong> is done with the type path tool, so you can get all sorts of interesting displays of text.  The font is called rosewood std &#8211; seems like one that is fun for a festival atmosphere.  One could certainly put some color into this as well as define the shapes in some way, but too much color often ruins a design.  Simple is the easiest and usually does the trick!</p>
<h3 class="present">State What Your Business About &#8211; Clearly and Concisely</h3>
<p>I am not quite sure how Dr. Ed&#8217;s business operates &#8211; does he sell these? rent them?  offer them as a franchise? Or offer himself with the mobile unit at a festival?  Whatever it is, I would like that stated in big, bold words very concisely on the home page.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s an example of my own home page, in which I advertise my web building skills:<br />
<img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/leoraw-home-page-website-skills.jpg" alt="Leora Wenger home page website skills " title="leoraw-home-page-website-skills" width="554" height="265" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3748" /><br />
I believe I make it clear that I am offering website help &#8211; I state some of my most important web skills offered right there on the home page.</p>
<p>He would also do well to eliminate the extraneous stuff on the home page; for example, there is no need for the date/time on the home page.  Also, if he has no Latest Events, he might as well eliminate that plugin from the right side of his home page.  He is using Joomla!, and usually it is one click to un-publish a plugin, but one has to know where in the back end to click. If he were starting from scratch, I would <a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/why-use-wordpress-for-your-small-biz-website/">suggest using WordPress</a> &#8211; less clutter.</p>
<h3 class="present">Study Social Media for Your Niche</h3>
<p>Dr. Ed made it clear that his market is exclusively in the UK.  He should be concentrating his social media skills on building connections in those networks.  I did some investigating, and I found these links might be useful:</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/">http://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/forums/</a> &#8211; UK Business Forums</li>
<li><a href="http://twitter.com/socialmbossuk">@socialmbossuk</a></li>
<li><a href="http://barry-wells.com/about/">About Barry Wells</a> &#8211; Barry Wells writes in general about internet traffic, but since he is in the UK, I bet he would be a good resource!</li>
</ul>
<p>I found the top two links by using the Twitter search service Tweepz.com &#8211; I just typed in &#8220;social media UK&#8221; and &#8220;small business UK&#8221; to find some accounts that are active on Twitter.  Twitter accounts list websites, so there is plenty to explore.</p>
<h3 class="present">Your Turn, Please</h3>
<div style="float:right; width: 100px; margin-left: 20px; margin-top: 5px;"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/uk-case-study-sq.jpg" alt="UK case study" title="uk-case-study-sq" width="100" height="100" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3757" style="border: 1px solid #ccc;" /></div>
<p><strong>Do you have any suggestions for Dr. Ed and his business?</strong>  If you have a business background, perhaps you can suggest ways he can market his business.  If you know design, how would you design his page? Maybe you know someone who knows someone who knows the business market in the UK&#8230;</p>
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		<title>Link Picks: Tweepi, SEO, Social Media and WordPress Permalinks</title>
		<link>http://biz.leoraw.com/link-picks-tweepi-seo-social-media-and-wordpress-permalinks/</link>
		<comments>http://biz.leoraw.com/link-picks-tweepi-seo-social-media-and-wordpress-permalinks/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 01 Jan 2012 11:32:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Leora Wenger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Link Picks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wordpress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[permalinks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[redirection]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://biz.leoraw.com/?p=3666</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Link Picks talks about the Twitter tool Tweepi, simple SEO techniques, social media icons on your small business website, and changing your WordPress permalinks to postname.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<h3 class="present">About Link Picks</h3>
<div style="float:left; width: 141px; margin-right: 20px;border: 3px solid #666; margin-top: 10px;"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/link-picks.jpg" alt="Link Picks for Websites for Small Biz" title="link-picks" width="141" height="134" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3685" /></div>
<p>Link Picks is a selection of posts by bloggers to help grow your small business, blog or non-profit organization.  Note on choices:  I tend to pick recent links from bloggers with whom I&#8217;ve interacted, whether on their blog, this <a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/about/">Websites for Small Biz blog</a>, on Twitter, on Google+ or elsewhere in social media.  I then might include important news, such as on WordPress permalinks.  Enjoy, and please give feedback on what you find useful.</p>
<h3 class="present">Suggested Posts by Knowledgeable, Friendly Bloggers</h3>
<p><a href="http://slymarketing.com/unfollow-twitter-users-the-easy-way"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/unfollow-twitter-users-jens-berget.jpg" alt="unfollow twitter users with Tweepi by Jens Berget" title="unfollow-twitter-users-jens-berget" width="580" height="329" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3678" /></a><br />
<a href="http://slymarketing.com/unfollow-twitter-users-the-easy-way">Unfollow Twitter Users – The Easy Way</a><br />
Too many followers on Twitter?  Not sure who is following you and who isn&#8217;t?  Want more followers? <strong>Jens Berget</strong> teaches us about various tools useful for managing followers on your Twitter account.  In particular, he talks about a tool called Tweepi, and he demonstrates in a video how to use Tweepi.</p>
<hr style="color: #666;" />
<p><a href="http://keepupwiththeweb.com/4-seo-tips-to-optimize-your-wordpress-blog/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/seo-tips-keepupweb.jpg" alt="seo tips keep up web Sherryl Perry" title="seo-tips-keepupweb" width="580" height="211" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3673" style="border: 3px solid #666;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://keepupwiththeweb.com/4-seo-tips-to-optimize-your-wordpress-blog/">4 SEO Tips to Optimize your WordPress Blog</a><br />
Much has been written on SEO, search engine optimization.  The difference on <strong>Sherryl Perry</strong>&#8216;s blog is she lays out a few basic tips for you to follow and explains carefully as a teacher would (she has a teaching background) how to set up your post for search engine optimization.  For example, she shows how you can put important headers (h1, h2, h3, h4) tags in your post.</p>
<hr style="color: #666;" />
<p><a href="http://www.expand2web.com/blog/social-media-and-your-small-business-website/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/plugins-social-media-integration.jpg" alt="plugins for social media integration small business website" title="plugins-social-media-integration" width="580" height="228" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3690" style="border: 3px solid #666;" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.expand2web.com/blog/social-media-and-your-small-business-website/">Social Media and Your Small Business Website</a><br />
I was pleased when <strong>Don Campbell</strong> of Expand2web asked me to write a guest post for his blog.  The result is a post on ways to integrate social media with your small business website.  What sorts of plugins can you use?  Where can you place the social media icons &#8211; you may decide to place them in multiple locations on your website or blog.  How can you track the success of your social media integration?</p>
<h3 class="present">Links to help your Small Business Grow &#8211; WordPress Permalinks</h3>
<p>It used to be that if you use <strong>/%postname%/</strong> for WordPress permalinks, there was an issue of a performance problem with sites that have large numbers of pages.  This <a href="http://ottopress.com/2011/how-the-postname-permalinks-in-wordpress-3-3-work/">Postname Permalinks issue was solved with WordPress 3.3</a>, and Yoast explains in his post <a href="http://yoast.com/change-wordpress-permalink-structure/">How to change your WordPress Permalinks</a>.  He has a button on that page to a tool to <strong>Generate Redirects</strong> &#8211; it will produce a line you can put in your .htaccess file.  If you use the Redirect tool, you can put the first part of the redirect in Source URL and the second half in Target URL (and click Regular Expression box).  I just tried it for this site, and it worked just fine.<br />
<img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/redirects-550x207.jpg" alt="" title="redirects" width="550" height="207" class="alignnone size-large wp-image-3702" style="border: 3px solid #666;" /><br />
The red arrow points to the Source URL and the green arrow points to the Target URL.</p>
<p>The redirection tool set up for this redirection of <strong>old URLs with dates</strong> to <strong>new URLs with postname only</strong> looks like this:<br />
<img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/add-new-redirect.jpg" alt="add new reidrect with redirection tool" title="add-new-redirect" width="580" height="153" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3711" style="border: 3px solid #666;" /></p>
<h3 class="present">Your Turn, Please</h3>
<p>Did you find any posts in the past week that were particularly helpful to your small business?  Feel free to leave a link in the comments. Also, please let me know which topics reviewed in this post were helpful.</p>
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		<title>Highlights of 2011 on Websites for Small Biz</title>
		<link>http://biz.leoraw.com/2011-websites-for-small-biz/</link>
		<comments>http://biz.leoraw.com/2011-websites-for-small-biz/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 Dec 2011 13:46:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Leora Wenger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[General]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[New Jersey]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Twitter]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Facebook]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://biz.leoraw.com/?p=3608</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Highlights of 2011 - how to set up a Twitter profile, how to set up a Facebook business page, responsive web design - think mobile, error 404 pages, slideshows and photo galleries, and SEO (search engine optimization) ]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Introductory note:</strong> if you are new to Websites for Small Biz, you may want to learn more <a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/about/">about Websites for Small Biz</a>.  You can learn who has <a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/12/guest-blogger/">guest posted and who has been interviewed</a>. Once you have been reading for a while (and hopefully, participating as well by commenting), you are invited to check out <a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/write-guest-post/">guest posting opportunities</a>. Small business owners, tech experts, marketers, bloggers, non-profit professionals, writers and students of life are all invited to participate in Websites for Small Biz.</p>
<div style="width: 100%; text-align:center; background-color: #ccc; padding: 10px;"><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/10/twitter-profile/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/setting-twitter-profile.jpg" alt="Setting up a Twitter Profile" title="setting-twitter-profile" width="550" height="170" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3618" style="border: 5px solid #666;" /></a></div>
<p><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/10/twitter-profile/">How to Set Up a Twitter Profile</a> was one of the popular posts on Websites for Small Biz this fall.  It is important for those running a small business, a non-profit organization or a blog to spend time carefully setting up a Twitter account in order to get valuable interactions on Twitter.</p>
<div style="width: 100%; text-align:center; background-color: #ccc; margin-top: 20px; padding: 10px;"><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/06/ease-of-a-facebook-business-page/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/facebook-business-page.jpg" alt="Ease of a Facebook Business Page" title="facebook-business-page" width="550" height="182" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3622" style="border: 5px solid #666; " /></a></div>
<p><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/06/ease-of-a-facebook-business-page/">Ease of a Facebook Business Page</a> introduces the mechanics of setting up a page (as opposed to a profile) on Facebook.  Ideas on how to engage one&#8217;s readers and keep interest is part of this post.</p>
<div style="width: 100%; text-align:center; background-color: #ccc; margin-top: 20px; padding: 10px;"><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/07/what-is-responsive-web-design-think-mobile/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/responsive-web-design-mobile.jpg" alt="responsive web design - think mobile" title="responsive-web-design-mobile" width="550" height="232" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3632" style="border: 5px solid #666; " /></a></div>
<p><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/07/what-is-responsive-web-design-think-mobile/">Responsive Web Design</a> is a new trend in web building that is here to stay, because mobile usage is increasing (people are reading or trying to read your blog posts on their mobile phones) and platforms like iPads are becoming more relevant.  Is your website ready for mobile?</p>
<div style="width: 100%; text-align:center; background-color: #ccc; margin-top: 20px; padding: 10px;"><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/06/ease-of-a-facebook-business-page/"><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/10/lets-explore-error-404/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/error-404.jpg" alt="Error 404" title="error-404" width="550" height="255" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3629"  style="border: 5px solid #666; "/></a></div>
<p><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/10/lets-explore-error-404/">Error 404 pages</a> can add fun and increase the message of your brand on your website.  Learn how various websites use Error 404 pages.</p>
<div style="width: 100%; text-align:center; background-color: #ccc;  margin-top: 20px;padding: 10px;"><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/05/display-information-without-being-overly-geeky/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/display-information.jpg" alt="Display information such as a slideshow or a photo gallery" title="display-information" width="550" height="264" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3636"  style="border: 5px solid #666;" /></a></div>
<p><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/05/display-information-without-being-overly-geeky/">Display Information Without Being Overly Geeky</a> is a post about slideshows, photo galleries, infographics, friendly photos, interviews and videos.  How many different ways can you display information, and are you keeping the readers interested?</p>
<div style="width: 100%; text-align:center; background-color: #ccc;  margin-top: 20px;padding: 10px;"><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/03/10-ideas-for-seo-of-your-small-biz-website/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/seo-small-biz-website.jpg" alt="Search engine optimization for small business website" title="seo-small-biz-website" width="550" height="157" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3645" style="border: 5px solid #666;" /></a></div>
<p><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/03/10-ideas-for-seo-of-your-small-biz-website/">10 Ideas for SEO of Your Small Biz Website</a> presents keywords, title tags, alt tags, site maps, commenting and more as ways to search engine optimize your small business website.</p>
<div style="width: 100%; text-align:center; background-color: #ccc;  margin-top: 20px;padding: 10px;"><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/new-jersey-on-twitter-by-profession/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/new-jersey-on-twitter-profession.jpg" alt="New Jersey on Twitter by Profession" title="new-jersey-on-twitter-profession" width="550" height="216" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3641" style="border: 5px solid #666;" /></a></div>
<p>Strictly speaking, <a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/new-jersey-on-twitter-by-profession/">New Jersey on Twitter by Profession</a> is a page, but it is one of the most popular on Websites for Small Biz.   If you are doing business in New Jersey, this might be a valuable way to figure out who to follow in New Jersey and make valuable contacts.</p>
<hr />
<div style="float:left; width: 100px; margin-right: 20px; border: 1px solid #ccc;"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/2011-sq.jpg" alt="2011 highlights of websites for small biz" title="2011-sq" width="100" height="100" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3654" /></div>
<p>2011 was a good year for building websites and for building the blog Websites for Small Biz.  I&#8217;ve enjoyed all the <a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/12/guest-blogger/">guest posts and interviews</a>.  May the new year of 2012 bring lots of new, innovative ideas on how to expand small businesses with marketing, well-built websites, networking, and lots of good blog post sharing!</p>
<hr />
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		<title>So You Want to Be a Guest Blogger?</title>
		<link>http://biz.leoraw.com/guest-blogger/</link>
		<comments>http://biz.leoraw.com/guest-blogger/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 Dec 2011 12:47:24 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Leora Wenger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Social Media]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[blogging]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[interviews]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://biz.leoraw.com/?p=3528</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Websites for Small Biz encourages guest bloggers on technical and business topics.  Learn 1) guidelines on how to submit a guest post to Websites for Small Biz, 2) how you can go about asking me to write a guest post for your blog and 3) how you can be interviewed about your small business or blog.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><div id="attachment_3549" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 560px"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/guest-topics.jpg" alt="guest topics for Websites for Small Biz" title="guest-topics" width="550" height="348" class="size-full wp-image-3549" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Possible guest topics for Websites for Small Biz: design, photography, networking, marketing, CSS, SEO, blogging, Twitter, writing, WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, business, Facebook</p></div><br />
Guest blogging is a way to reach a new audience, share ideas with a fresh voice, and get incoming links to your own site.</p>
<p>I have been fortunate to have a few guest bloggers on this blog.  Here is a list of the wonderful <del datetime="2011-12-19T18:39:13+00:00">souls</del> writers who contributed guests posts to this blog:</p>
<p><strong>Praveen Rajarro:</strong> <a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/08/blog-site-improvements/">5 Quick Improvements for Your Blog</a> and<br /> <span style="padding-left: 130px;"><a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/07/seo-for-bing-the-queen-of-search-engines/">SEO for Bing – the Queen of Search Engines</a></span><br />
<strong>Harry Glazer:</strong> <a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/12/promotional-products/">What Promo Products Suit Your Company Best?</a><br />
<strong>Emily Seuss:</strong> <a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/07/how-to-land-your-first-freelance-client/">How to Land Your First Freelance Client</a><br />
<strong>Ben Hook:</strong> <a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2010/03/sem-options-for-small-businesses/">SEM Options for Small Business &#8211; Testing the Waters</a></p>
<p>I have also interviewed bloggers and business people:</p>
<p>Hannah Katsman: <a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/08/blogging-careers-making-money-making-friends/">Blogging, Careers, Making Money, Making Friends</a><br />
<a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/08/interview-with-janice-tomich-of-calculated-presentations/">Interview with Janice Tomich of Calculated Presentations</a><br />
<a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/09/interview-julie-weishaar-marketing/">Interview with Julie Weishaar, Marketing Specialist</a><br />
<a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2011/07/interview-with-freakin-flamingo/">Interview with Freakin’ Flamingo</a><br />
<a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/2010/11/social-media-at-rutgers-with-greg-jarboe/">Social Media at Rutgers with Greg Jarboe</a><br />
<a href="http://www.leoraw.com/blog/2010/02/interview-with-raritan-air-water-power-service/">Interview with Raritan Air Water Power Service</a></p>
<p>Taking a <a href="http://www.dailymorningcoffee.com/write-for-dmc/">page from Praveen</a>, I have decided the time has come to write up a guest post page &#8211; this page includes 1) guidelines if you would like to submit a guest post to Websites for Small Biz and 2) how you can go about asking me to write a guest post for your blog. Please visit the <a href="http://biz.leoraw.com/write-guest-post/">guest post page</a>.</p>
<p>Topics for this blog should be technical, social-media or business-oriented.  Benefits include new audience, incoming links from this blog to yours, and lots of applause from me.  Would you like to be a guest blogger?</p>
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		<title>Two Plugins: NextGen Gallery and WordPress SEO</title>
		<link>http://biz.leoraw.com/plugins-nextgen-gallery-wordpress-seo/</link>
		<comments>http://biz.leoraw.com/plugins-nextgen-gallery-wordpress-seo/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 17 Dec 2011 23:23:01 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Leora Wenger</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[SEO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wordpress]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[image gallery]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[plugins]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[WordPress SEO by Yoast has handy tools for search engine optimization, such as focus keyword and SEO Title fields.  NextGen Gallery is great for managing, uploading, sorting and displaying images.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>NextGen Gallery and WordPress SEO are two very different plugins, but both can be helpful in accomplishing important tasks on your blog or website.</p>
<h3 class="present">WordPress SEO</h3>
<p>WordPress SEO by Yoast can be useful to anyone interesting in maximizing the search engine optimization of a site.  You can fine tune each post with a focus keyword, helping you to tailor your post as you write it.  It comes with XML sitemaps, RSS enhancements, and more goodies for working on search engine optimization. For more on WordPress SEO, read <a href="http://yoast.com/wordpress/seo/">http://yoast.com/wordpress/seo/</a>.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s one example of how it works.  The screenshot below is how the plugin box looks on this post.<br />
<img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/yoast-seo-plugin.jpg" alt="yoast seo plugin screenshot" title="yoast-seo-plugin" width="550" height="359" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3498" /><br />
We are going to fill in those three empty boxes: <strong>Focus Keyword</strong>, <strong>SEO Title</strong>, and <strong>Meta Description</strong>.  But first, what&#8217;s that in red?  Whenever you see something in red, pay attention.  It seems our default title for this post is too long, by a whopping 18 characters.  Using the handy SEO Title tool, I click on <strong>Generate SEO title</strong>, and now I can create a new title.  The tool gives me the same title that I have now, but now I can edit it.  And do so, creating a new title that is not too long this time:<br />
<img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/seo-title.jpg" alt="seo title on yoast plugin" title="seo-title" width="550" height="285" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3503" /></p>
<p>Now I write up a meta-description in the box provided.  This is a paragraph with keywords of 140 characters or less. I also try out focus keywords &#8211; they can be adjacent words that show up in your content.</p>
<p><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/meta-yoast-seo.jpg" alt="meta description too long - yoast wordpress seo plugin" title="meta-yoast-seo" width="550" height="365" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3507" /></p>
<p>I save my draft, and the next screen has two pieces of valuable information:<br />
<img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/yoast-focus-keyword.jpg" alt="yoast focus keyword" title="yoast-focus-keyword" width="550" height="477" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3510" /><br />
It seems my meta-description is too long, and I don&#8217;t have the focus keyword in the meta-description. I fix those, and I am ready with my post.  Two notes: I did take out the words &#8216;two&#8217; and &#8216;and&#8217; from the URL to make it shorter and more to the point by clicking the Edit button on the Permalink line, right below the title.  Also, you can probably come up with a better keyword than plugins &#8211; I would suggest aiming for what&#8217;s known as a long-tail keyword, which is usually is at least three words together.  Maybe I could have gone with &#8216;WordPress SEO&#8217; as my focus keyword.</p>
<p>If any of this is confusing, my suggestion is to try the plugin.  It will become more apparent as you experiment with the WordPress SEO plugin.</p>
<h3 class="present">NextGen Gallery</h3>
<p>Do you have an image rich site?  Do you want to be able to display your images in a variety of ways?  Would you like to be able to upload images in bulk or one by one, manage your photos in galleries and albums, sort them as needed and tag them as well?  NextGen Gallery has all these features.  Here&#8217;s an <a href="http://www.leoraw.com/blog/2011/12/chanukah-photo-gallery/">example that I did on my photo blog</a>:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.leoraw.com/blog/2011/12/chanukah-photo-gallery/"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/nextgen-gallery.jpg" alt="next gen gallery of images" title="nextgen-gallery" width="550" height="357" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3514" /></a></p>
<p>You can learn more about the NextGen Gallery on the <a href="http://nextgen-gallery.com/">NextGen Gallery website</a>.</p>
<p>Have you used either of these plugins?</p>
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		<title>What Promo Products Suit Your Company Best?</title>
		<link>http://biz.leoraw.com/promotional-products/</link>
		<comments>http://biz.leoraw.com/promotional-products/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:41:09 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Harry Glazer</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Business]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[guest blogger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[marketing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[promotional materials]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://biz.leoraw.com/?p=3466</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Choosing promotional products: Does the item complement your company's mission/services? Do a test before ordering.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><div id="attachment_3471" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 510px"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/promotional-products.jpg" alt="promotional products - photo by Leora Wenger" title="promotional-products" width="500" height="324" class="size-full wp-image-3471" /><p class="wp-caption-text">promotional products - photo by Leora Wenger</p></div><br />
Have you given much thought to the branded promotional items you hand out at trade shows, town fairs, and other outreach events?</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/1793498/does-swag-work">recent article in Fast Company magazine</a> extols the value of giveaway items to the companies that use them, asserting that they are more &#8216;accessible&#8217; than higher-cost advertising ventures and that free gifts appeal to most people. The article suggests that the best promotional products have the intended recipients&#8217; lifestyle/habits in mind, are durable but not too expensive, and carry a meaningful imprint.</p>
<p>Based on my experiences, there are two other criteria that companies should also consider to get the most out of their promotional products.</p>
<div style="padding-left: 20px;">
1. <strong>Does the item complement your company&#8217;s mission/services?</strong><br />
Ask yourself &#8211; will this particular item encourage people to think of our company, at/near the point of need, or is there likely to be a yawning gap between the reminder and the opportunity?</p>
<p>For example &#8211; as a communications director for a university library system, I don&#8217;t think that frisbees are a great giveaway for us because when students are playing, they&#8217;re probably not thinking about schoolwork. A much better bet would be pens, highlighters, or a flashdrive.</p>
<p>2) <strong>Pre-test your products</strong><br />
A savvy marketer should yield to the fact that there is likely to be some distance between his/her sense of customers&#8217; preferences and their actual desires/perspective. So it makes a lot of sense to pre-test your hunches before ordering.
</div>
<p>This past summer I ran around the flagship library in our system and asked a number of students about their opinion on possible new Libraries pens. I was surprised to learn that the funky pen with the stress ball top, that I and other administrators thought was lots of fun and sure to be popular, was shunned by most students who instead favored a design that was easier to use and put in their pockets. I&#8217;m really glad I asked first!</p>
<p><strong>Parting thoughts:</strong> Have you considered your audience (and, if possible, polled a sample) before choosing a giveaway?  Will this product reflect well on your company and will it do so at the right time?</p>
<div style="background-color: #eee; border: 1px solid #ccc; padding: 10px 20px; height: 100px;">
<div style="float:left; width: 100px; margin-right: 50px;"><img src="http://biz.leoraw.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/hglazer-sq.jpg" alt="Harry Glazer" title="hglazer-sq" width="100" height="100" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-3480" /></div>
<p><strong>About Harry Glazer</strong> &#8211; Harry Glazer is Communications Director at Rutgers University Libraries. He can be reached at <a href="mailto: hglazer@rulmail.rutgers.edu">hglazer@rulmail.rutgers.edu</a>.</div>
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