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  • Training
  • and so much more!
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Websites/Blogs

Love Your Website and It Will Love You Back

By admin · Comments (0)
Monday, April 26th, 2010
Is your website neglected? If you haven’t updated it in six months or more, you need to ask a few questions, give your site some T.L.C., and get it to start working for you again! Here’s a checklist to get you started:

☐ Is your site “static” or “dynamic?” The most important step to take in upgrading your site is to take control of it yourself! Read about the benefits of converting your site from a “static” site that is dependent upon your web designer’s availability and cost – and a “dynamic” site that you control yourself. Girl Friday can convert that static site to a WordPress content management (dynamic) sites in no time! It’s sort of like magic, but not really!

☐ What does your landing/home page look like? Does it contain a prominent Call to Action like: “Buy Now!” or “Sign Up” or “Contact Us”? Does the visitor know immediately what you are selling, or what they are supposed to do? If your home page is confusing, you will lose their interest. Consider simplifying your home page with Call to Action buttons, condensed text, and  just one or two clean graphic images.

☐ What are your web traffic statistics? Is your site bringing you new leads/customers/email sign ups? If your site is not hooked up to Google Analytics, you could missing some very valuable information about how, or whether, your website is functioning as a marketing tool that attracts new business. WordPress sites contain a Google Analytics feature, built-in to the admin of your site, that makes it easy to set up and access reporting on your site’s traffic.

☐ How fast does your site load? If you have Flash movies, music, or lots of graphics on your home page, not only do those elements detract from the Search Engine friendliness of your site, but they take a looooong time to load the page and I don’t know about you but I don’t like that and your customers probably don’t either! They want the information they’ve come for, and they want it now! WordPress sites can contain widgets, or designated areas for your Flash files that do not detract from the site’s SEO.

☐ Speaking of Search Engine Optimization: I seriously hope you haven’t spent thousands of dollars on Search Engine Optimization, Bonky! With a dynamic site that contains a blog, social media, and/or is built on the WordPress platform…you won’t need to anything like that! Read about how you can use your WordPress site, in combination with the content on your blog, and/or your social media, to increase your site’s presence in the search engines. You’ll be thanking me, oh yes you will.

The bottom line is this: is your website working for YOU? Are you selling product? Is the site bringing you new customers? If not, consider a Spring Cleaning – an upgrade from static to dynamic, or, at the very least, make adjustments, update your content, refresh your design. Email me at: info@e-girlfriday.com to get started today.

PS: Girl Friday is completely overhauling this site and converting it to a new WordPress theme built with…Builder! Same neato graphics and groovy style, but more functionality, fun and fabulousness. Stay tuned, friends!!

Categories : Fun Marketing
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When is a blog NOT a blog?

By admin · Comments (0)
Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

A blog is not a blog when it is a WordPress static site or Content Management System (CMS).

Helloooo!! WordPress is NOT just for blogs, you silly! It is a powerful Content Management System (CMS) , and thousands of companies are switching to WordPress to manage their own sites right now as we speak!

(Get a free evaluation of your current site and how it could benefit from converting to WordPress –
Be sure to include your URL; Girl Friday will  email you an evaluation within 48 hours!)

Take wine and restaurant websites, for example. These sites often have designs using Flash, music and layout elements that make for a visually beautiful page, but that actually prevent search engines from finding the site. Now just how sensible is that, I ask you? Why have a beautiful site that no one will see? Why, that’s like being all dressed up with nowhere to go to show off your pretty dress!

Be a smart cookie and convert your static site to a dynamic site on WordPress, and suddenly you have a platform that is beautiful AND search engine friendly (WP has built-in search engine-friendly stuff). Want the bells and the whistles, too? OK, honey you got it; with WordPress you can have a shopping cart, video, revolving images, Facebook, Twitter, etc. (and without a blog if you don’t want one)!

So, here’s the 411 again: you can have a beautifully designed site with revolving photos, video and other elements that would typically degrade your site’s visibility, AND you can have great Search Engine Optimization…all with a WordPress site.

Here are some samples of companies with beautiful websites built with WordPress that are NOT used primarily as blogs:

http://www.herout-caves.com/
(I know, the site is in French. But just look at the design…it’s a great example of a beautiful, simple, and very SEO and social media friendly site.)

http://fernwoodcoffee.com/
This site is very content heavy, which makes for great Search Engine friendliness. Their main focus is their STORY, which WordPress does beautifully!

http://theprobar.com/
This uses a very colorful background and images to great effect.

Girl Friday just loves WordPress sites and can build one for you, too or convert your current site to WordPress! It’s your party, so you get to decide how you want to work it honey!

Email for more info: info@e-girlfriday.com

Categories : Fun Marketing
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Nifty Trick to Select All Your Facebook Friends at One Time for Invite

By admin · Comments (0)
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

Girl Friday found a super-keen blog post on how to “Select All” of your Facebook friends using a string of code, rather than relying on Facebook’s “list” option. (If you have your Friends in a “list” category, you can send invites to them in a block by list name. But, if you’re like Girl Friday, who started gathering Friends BEFORE the List tool and doesn’t have time now to go thru every single one of them and assign them a List, this is not a good solution.). BTW, Facebook…you could think of these things ahead of time, y’know? Just sayin’!!!

SO ANYWAY…’cause GF is always in a hurry and looking for the quick way out, she tried the following solution that worked like a charm:

1. Create your Invite
2. When you get to the “Invite Friends” part of the Invite, it opens a Window with all your Friends listed. Don’t click on any of your Friends! Instead, Copy and Paste the following bit of code into the URL box at the top of the page  (Yes, you want to Paste OVER the URL address that is showing):

javascript:elms=document.getElementById(‘friends’).getElementsByTagName(‘li’);for(var fid in elms){if(typeof elms[fid] === ‘object’){fs.click(elms[fid]);}}

3. After you’ve pasted that code string into your URL box, left click your mouse in the URL box (anywhere is fine) and hit Enter.

4. BE PATIENT!! If  you have several hundreds (or over a thousand) Friends, it will take a minute or two (literally). Don’t touch anything, let it do it’s thing, go get a Diet Tab and a Slim Jim and take a break fer gosh sakes already!

5. When it’s finished processing, you will see ALL of your Friends highlighted in the Friends box. Now, just click “Invite” or “Send” and you’re done. You DID it!! I KNEW you could!! See…those strings of code are not evil…just ugly!! So don’t be afraid!

So NIFTY! how it works, huh?!

Click here for the link to the original blog posting.

Now you go and have yourself a Sunshiney day, Pumpkin!

Categories : Helpful Hints from Your Girl Friday
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Your static site vs. a WordPress site. Which is better for Social Media?

By admin · Comments (0)
Monday, March 15th, 2010

HELLOOOOOOO?? Is this the party to which I am speaking?

You’ve probably figured out by now that If your website is a static HTML site, it’s expensive and time-consuming to program the site in order to connect it to your social media like Facebook and Twitter. You probably have to get on the phone to your site designer, or whomever did your site, and ask them to program it for Social Media. Oh Jiminy Criminy Grits, what a pain in the you-know-what!! Easier to take control of your own website, Girl Friday always says. But HOW??

Consider converting your HTML site to a WordPress site/content management system, Bonky!! That way, you can add Social Media, video, a blog, a portfolio, music, event calendars and so much more quite easily. And you can do all that fun Social Media stuff yourself. Or have your Girl Friday (or Boy Friday) do it for you. It’s easy! (Do you know Microsoft Word? Well, the WordPress content editor looks a lot like Word – so simple to use!) (Ask me how:  info@e-girlfriday.com)

When you log-in to your WordPress administration panel, YOU are able to control, edit and add content, pages, photos and more (once it is set up for you). (READ this forum posting for discussion among real users regarding static (HTML) site vs. WordPress).

WordPress is a content management system…and Social Media is also built on content. Visitors, customers, or clients interact with your WordPress site’s content by making comments, asking questions, purchasing product or downloading information you’ve provided. The same process occurs within your Facebook and Twitter profiles.

And so, it makes sense to have a content-managed WordPress site that connects to your social media and even your email blast software (like Vertical Response). The WordPress site becomes your marketing hub, the center of your content exchange with site visitors, and the site around which your social media revolves.

Think about it, then contact Girl Friday!! Now get back to work, dear. You’ve procrastinated long enough.

Categories : Fun Marketing
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Protecting Your Facebook Privacy for Dummies (Not!)

By admin · Comments (0)
Monday, January 25th, 2010

You’re not a dummy, bunny! I just wrote that headline to get your attention. :) You are actually quite brilliant at what you do, so why the heck should you be all knowledgeable about Facebook and all this techie stuff? Fact is, you shouldn’t, cause that’s my job!!  And now that I have your attention, there is an important Public Service Announcement that I would like to pass on to you from an article Girl Friday saw in the New York Times the other day. And because I truly care about you and your marketing needs (you know I do! there’s nothin’ but love here, baby-boo!), I pass it on to you.

Here’s the scoop, served in a nutshell, covered in chocolate sauce, whipped cream and a cherry:

  1. Status Updates are now seen on Google, Yahoo, etc. search engines: So if you post any colorful updates that you wouldn’t want Mom or your boss to see, you can change  your Privacy Setting under “Profile Information” and “Posts by Me” to show your Updates to “Only Friends,” rather than the “Everyone” setting. Because “Everyone” means Everyone.
  2. Your “Personal Info” is also now set to default to “Everyone” by the new Facebook settings for family and relationships (relationship status) and your birth date (do you really want this information seen to anyone and everyone online? Think about identity theft here). You can change this setting.  Go to “Privacy Settings,” “Profile Information” and for each field listed on this page, change the pull-down menu (to the right). You can choose “Everyone,” “Friends of Friends,” “Only Friends,” and “Custom.”  The “Custom” field allows you to choose “Only Me,” which might be the best choice for your sensitive data like birth date.
  3. All of the above Personal Information, if it is checked or defaulted to “Everyone,” is also available to the search engines. Under “Settings/Privacy Settings/Search,” look to see if the “Allow” box is checked. If you do not want your Profile information to be search-able, uncheck this box.

For the complete article, and links to more information on protecting your privacy within Facebook, see the sourced article here.

Now go out there, and take on this Facebook thingy, and don’t be afraid!! ‘Cause once you’ve conquered this small challenge:   “You [will be] able to say to yourself, “I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.” You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” Eleanor Roosevelt said that, and I just love that lady. Have a sunny day!  Love, –your Girl Friday

Categories : Fun Marketing, Helpful Hints from Your Girl Friday
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Telemarkers Now Have Your Cell Phone Number

By admin · Comments (0)
Sunday, January 24th, 2010

Cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies this month (January 2010), so guess what?? YOU may be the lucky recipient of sales calls AND in many cases, you even get to PAY for that unwanted, unsolicited, annoying call, depending on your cell phone plan!! Ain’t technology grand?

Well, don’t worry your brains about it, Cookie. IF YOU ACT NOW, all ya gotta do is call 888.382.1222 and tell those nice people at the National Do Not Call center to put your number on the list to be BLOCKED from those nasty ole TELEMARKETERS. Make sure you CALL FROM YOUR CELL PHONE. Your number will be blocked for five years. Proving that, yes…technology IS grand!! Now call them right now, and you have yourself a lovely day.

–your Girl Friday

Categories : Helpful Hints from Your Girl Friday
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