Helpful Tools

Are you bogged down with fru-fru, fancy plugins and features?

I can't help myself.  I'm decluttering a website, finding neglected areas, sloppy code and cleaning it up. It will sparkle when I'm done and very few people other than those with slow computer and search engines will notice the difference, but it will run more efficiently, have correct dates on posts for the spiders to …

Read moreAre you bogged down with fru-fru, fancy plugins and features?

Susan Finch Interviewed on SLMA Radio: Mistakes Bloggers Make

Sales Lead Management Association CEO/Host Jim Obermayer Interviews Dan McDade president of PointClear and Susan Finch. McDade publishes ViewPoint, The Truth About Lead Generation which was just named One of Top 50 Blogs by Top Sales World. Susan Finch, the director web services for the SLMA, has created over 100 blogs for her clients. Learn …

Read moreSusan Finch Interviewed on SLMA Radio: Mistakes Bloggers Make

B2B B2C: Why don’t you think Pinterest is for you?

By Susan Finch, Director, Sales Lead Management Association, Susan Finch Solutions.

Perhaps you've noticed this icon at the top of the Sales Lead Management Association's site or under my "connect" menu item, perhaps not. Perhaps you did and wondered why would the SLMA bother with Pinterest. For several of our sponsors, they understand the importance of sharing images and having them indexed immediately in the search engines. Pinterest is a highly-effective microblog, as Twitter is a mircroblog. The difference is that people are visual by nature. Pinterest is all about sharing an image that grabs the attention of your existing or potential audience and driving them to want to learn more.

While building the SLMA boards I was actually surprised at how few of our sponsors are participating. Perhaps I was unable to ferret out their accounts, but when  you search for a company name, you would hope it would come up in the search results on the Pinterest site.

Read moreB2B B2C: Why don’t you think Pinterest is for you?

Changing your main URL in Typepad – 6 steps – one of them is painful.

Recently I got around to switching my site to WordPress. I put it off because I was with Typepad and they make it nearly impossible. It was a hotsage situation, or at least felt like it.  Sure you can export your blog, but what is really included?  No pages, no comments, no files. There is …

Read moreChanging your main URL in Typepad – 6 steps – one of them is painful.

Careful not to “over-widget” in WordPress

Careful not to add too many widgets to your WordPress site.

  We are all embracing how easy WordPress is to use, set up and enhance through plugins.  A word of caution, actually a few words, "Don't over-widget."  By adding many plugins to the same WP installation, you not only slow your site down substantially, you risk conflict with overlapping calls to JavaScript, such as mootools.js.  …

Read moreCareful not to “over-widget” in WordPress

Who Owns Your List of Followers and Fans?

Many companies are spread thin, especially small businesses, when it comes to maintaining and setting up social media venues such as Twitter accounts, Facebook fan pages and the like.  Everyone wants to pitch in and help. Or do they? Many times our employees are well-intentioned when they take the initiative to set these accounts up with their email as the contact because it's easier, etc.  I'm warning you – set up company policies regarding the use of the company name, tagline, logo, lists as soon as possible. It's difficult to go back and gain "custody" after a messy divorce.

Social Media Venues
If an employee sets up a Twitter account for your company using their email address, and then proceeds to represent the company with their tweets and efforts, this is no longer THEIR Twitter account.  People follow with the assumption they are following the company or product. If a list of followers is gained, then the staff person is fired or leaves the company, they can simply change their Twitter username and retain the list of followers. It's similar to stealing a company client list or mailing list of customers.  Don't think that some people won't intentionally do this to gain a big list of YOUR customers and fans with the plan to leave and bring the list with them.

Read moreWho Owns Your List of Followers and Fans?

QR Codes need to be mobile friendly and offer incentive.

From AdAge – the article is good, but the conversation in the comments is much more revealing and helpful.   Some of the handy ways to use them is for instructional videos when shipping out products – how to assemble,maintain a product. QR codes makes it easy to update the online content if it needs to change frequently. Cuts down on printing space and having to throw away print runs. Print ads – especially fashion, need to link to mobile friendly or mobile detecting landing pages, preferably with video or something more engaging the the original "flat" location of the code. It's the opportunity to "speak" to your potential and existing customers.

Some silly uses include adding them to your email signature – really?  You thought that was a clever idea?  How about on your website? BAD idea.

Do you use QR Codes?  How do you use them? Are you seeing any success?  Tell me about it please by commenting.  I'm working with a client to create landing page videos that are also mobile friendly explaining the product in the ad and then giving them a place to go to buy the product online.  So much easier to give a lengthy, compelling message than just with a flat/print ad.

Read moreQR Codes need to be mobile friendly and offer incentive.

Ever wonder how to delete old gmail contacts from being suggested?

Since all of my accounts come and go through gmail, I had a huge amount of contacts. And, as people delete old account, I was annoyed that when I created a new message to them, their old accounts kept being suggested even though I updated their records in my contact information. Has this happened to …

Read moreEver wonder how to delete old gmail contacts from being suggested?

What is the Right Solution for Client SEO? Avoid a sad ending.

I’ve had several clients recently hire SEO firms that give them great promises. I always caution client when choosing an SEO firm to “push them to the top” for many reasons.

1. Their methods could give results – temporarily and then get you blacklisted due to their shady practices.

2. The rankings only last as long as you continue with the SEO firm at their inflated rates.

3. ANY competitor can come in a bash another for their lack of SEO skill.  That’s easy. We do it with another’s web design, programming language, lemon drop martini execution.  If we feel we are good at something, we will defend it to the death.

When it comes to SEO a client can really be duped. It’s always easy for another SEO firm to come in a check the SEO work of a website and make all kinds of claims about the lack of proper SEO on a site even if the site is “completely perfect” from an SEO perspective. These are cheap shots that cost many companies a lot of money.

Read moreWhat is the Right Solution for Client SEO? Avoid a sad ending.

DuBuff Law Group, LLC shares about the new Internet Copyright Law

The DeBuff Group law firm is on top of communicating all laws and tips for businesses, especially as it relates to intellectual property, copyrights and trademarks.  Thank you, DuBuff for your newsletters.
The New Internet Copyright Alert System

 

A coalition of major entertainment companies and Internet service providers (ISPs) is creating the Center for Copyright Information to crack down on Internet piracy. The ISPs, including AT&T, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Verizon, have agreed to send "Copyright Alerts" to Internet subscribers when their connections are being used to illegally download content owned by the major entertainment companies. The first alerts will provide educational information, but if a subscriber receives multiple alerts and fails to respond, the ISPs may limit the user's connection speed or block the user from accessing the Internet.

Read moreDuBuff Law Group, LLC shares about the new Internet Copyright Law

How to help tech support help you quicker.

For those of you who have to regularly or even periodically contact tech or IT support via email, there are some ways you can help them solve your issues quickly and with fewer back and forth emails. 

It’s similar to walking into a restaurant hungry.  Ordering: “I’d like lunch today.” When actually you were interested in the daily vegan specials that were gluten free due to your intolerance, and you’d like a vegan beer to go with it.

Do you go into Starbucks and ever order “1 coffee” without being bombarded with at least three questions in rapid succession?

Until someone launches the “mindApp,” we support people are stuck asking you the questions to get in your heads the old-fashioned way without assumptions.

This may seem like a lot of detail, but try this – they’ll thank you and help you quicker:

Read moreHow to help tech support help you quicker.

The importance of a good headshot

There are instances when you may be invited to speak at an event, participate on a panel, guest author an article or get promoted.  These events have one thing in common; they all require a good headshot of you.  A headshot is a photo, not an avatar or cartoon but a photograph of yourself from the shoulders up dressed professionally.*

If you have ever been asked to speak and don't have a high resolution headshot to provide, it is almost guaranteed that the people posting the information will turn to the popular online photo resource, "GOOGLE," to find what photos they can of you. It may not even be you, it may of you dancing on tables.  Go to Google and type in your name if you don't believe me. Then, click on the "images" category in the left of the results.  Any of these could be used for your headshot if you don't provide one. Not pretty, huh?

Read moreThe importance of a good headshot

Twitter and Texting Abbreviations Have a Lot in Common

There are abbreviations unique to Twitter, but most are the same used in texting.  If you find yourself walking through phrases to create these abbreviations, you want to make sure others will be able to decipher your quickspeak.  Keep to the list of common ones. These may help:

Technical Twitter abbreviations:

  • MT = Modified tweet. This means the tweet you're looking at is a paraphrase of a tweet originally written by someone else.
  • RT = Retweet. The tweet you're looking at was forwarded to you by another user.
  • DM = Direct message. A direct-message is a message only you and the person who sent it can read. IMPORTANT: To DM someone all you need to type is D username message.
  • PRT = Partial retweet. The tweet you're looking at is the truncated version of someone else's tweet.
    AND, Please retweet. This is for when you want help getting the word out to your followers followers.
  • HT = Hat tip. This is a way of attributing a link to another Twitter user.
  • CC = Carbon-copy. Works the same way as email.

Read moreTwitter and Texting Abbreviations Have a Lot in Common