By Jessica Albon
Image by Respres on Flickr
Remember Slip ‘N Slides? You set up the slippery plastic on a hill or flat part in the yard, hook it to the hose, and turn the water on. Then, you run, jump, and slide down the length.
On the one hand, we have the Slip ‘N Slide. And on the other, we have small business branding–the act of puffing out your chest and crowing about why folks should hire you and not some other guy in a way that’s got intrigue and drama and story or at least a morsel of integrity.
When you put the two together, you get something like this:
It’s a Slip ‘N Slide’s worth of “Why Sprint is cool and on the pulse of what’s happening and therefore you should use our network.” The first time I saw this commercial, I thought, “Where did they get all those …
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By Jessica Albon
Have you balked at the idea of starting a newsletter because you just don’t see how you could stick to a regular schedule? Does the idea of committing to having something to say every Wednesday at 8 a.m. just sound flat out uninspiring?
If you’ve put off launching a newsletter because you simply don’t like the idea of being expected to show up in a certain way at a certain time, you’re not alone. And you just might find an educational autoresponder to be the approach your rebellious streak can put to work.
What’s an Educational Autoresponder?
An autoresponder is a program that automatically sends an email in response to an email trigger. So, if you’re away on vacation and set up an automatic away message, you’ve just created an autoresponder.
An Educational Autoresponder is a bit different. This is an email (or, more often, several emails on one …
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By Jessica Albon
I’ve got oodles of links to share today! If you happen to be in the office instead of out on vacation, enjoy today’s variety.
If you haven’t yet taken your Web Style Quiz, you want to do that soon. In the next few weeks, I’m going to start talking about how this quiz is the only tool you need to determine that all important Color Scheme. If that’s something you’ve been wrestling with, take the quiz and keep your eyes glued to this spot because I’m going to make it uber easy for you.
Second, my upcoming Client Attraction call was mentioned by Naomi Dunford at Itty Biz. She says really nice things *and* was kind enough to pull out specific sections of the letter you should pay attention to if you want to learn how to write your own copy. Her blog post would be well …
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By Jessica Albon
I formed a resolution to never write a word I did not want to write; to think only of my own tastes and ideals.
C. S. Forester
Is this your approach to your own newsletter or blog: to write only what you want, to think only of your own tastes? If you’re like a lot of business owners, your first, and only, consideration is whether or not you’re interested in a topic. To me, this is akin to thinking your best niche is people who are carbon copies of you. (Like life coaches who only work with women between 45 and 48 who have recently been divorced, have no kids, like to play the ukulele, and watch documentaries about parrots who save people from burning buildings.)
It’s not inherently wrong, but it is limiting, and probably not in the best interests of your readers (and, therefore, you).
If you were …
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By Jessica Albon
Newsletters are magical things–they can attract customers, increase company profits, establish expertise and much more. But, did you know they can also help you increase your search engine rankings?
Your newsletter can help your search engine ranking by specifically focusing on your keyword phrases. Perhaps the easiest way to keep each issue of your newsletter relevant to your keyword phrases is to make a list of the phrases you target and brainstorm article ideas for each phrase. Then, as you write each article from your list, try to incorporate the keyword phrase into the title of the article, and, of course, use it regularly throughout your article (caution: don’t overdo it or your article will be awkward to read).
By posting archives of your newsletter on your website, you’ll be keeping each targeted issue available to search engine spiders. If you archive issues by subject (using your keyword phrases, …
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By Jessica Albon
“A man will give his life for a simple bit of colored ribbon.”
–Napoleon
First-grade-teacher Katrina decided to hold an awards ceremony mid-year to encourage great behavior during that time of year when kids tend to climb the walls.
She announced the ceremony a few weeks before it was to happen and told the kids about the different awards she’d be giving out–things like “Most imaginative color-er” and “Best at hand-raising.” As part of her announcement, she highlighted five specific awards.
“The student who does the best job finishing their homework between now and then will receive the “Homework Good Do-er Award,” she said. She had one student who struggled with his homework considerably. He often brought it back incomplete, usually a mess.
But something about her announcement inspired him and after the rest of the class had gone out to recess, he announced that he planned to win the …
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