Your website is the single most important tool you have to promote your business online. Start smart…it’s easy to avoid these common mistakes, plan ahead, and save yourself a lot of money and time:

1.    DO know what the goal, or the purpose is, of your site. Without a clear goal, you can’t come up with a clear plan, and without a clear plan, the resulting site will be a wasted opportunity to get your message out there.
2.    DON’T plan your site around a DESIGN concept and then fill the design with CONTENT. You must know what that CONTENT is first, then plan the DESIGN around that CONTENT. This is critical to clarifying your website’s goal or message.
3.    DON’T use a non-professional to build your site in order to save money. You will eventually have to hire a professional to fix the problems that WILL occur, costing you more money in the long run than if you had hired a professional to begin with.
4.    DON’T hire a website designer who doesn’t understand how to optimize the site for Search Engines. You’ll wind up with a site…and no visitors.
5.    DON’T begin the build process until you have the previous four suggestions worked out, and you have your art, content, and plan IN HAND. If you start without your materials ready to go, you will encounter countless delays. It should not take six months to build your site.

Girl Friday Virtual Marketing and NeighborhoodNow are actual professionals…we don’t just play one on TV! Learn about our Workshops on “How to Navigate the Maze Of Online Marketing.” We are offering them in the North Bay and beyond, and can present to your company and staff, too.  For more information, email Girl Friday at info@e-girlfriday.com today!

Another way to get past the “Live News Feed” or “News Feed” is to Create a List:

1. On your HOME page, under the Left Sidebar, click on the “More” link to expand the Sidebar.
2. Click on “Create New List.” It will open a new window, where you will see all of your Friends listed.
3. Name your New List and then click on all the Friends whose Status Updates you would like to see (instead of the “News Feed”). When finished, click on “Create New List” button at the bottom of the window, and close it. (PS: you could even name your new list something like: “MY News Feed” if that works for you, or “My Music Friends,” or “Business Friends,” etc….you get the picture!)
4. It will place your New List in your left sidebar. Now, if you ONLY want to see the Status Updates of those Friends in your New List, just CLICK on that New List, and Facebook will only show you THOSE Friends’ Status Updates…there ya go!

It’s easy as buying an apple pie (not making one – I don’t think that is really easy!) You will be filtering your own News Feed and only seeing the stuff YOU have determined is of interest to you. FACEBOOK -  get outta our brains, fer gosh sakes!

(thanks Kirk for reminding me about this feature!)

Want to learn more? Girl Friday teaches workshops, consults with small businesses, designs stuff and writes things. Send her an email: info@e-girlfriday.com

Dear Facebook,

I finally understand it now:  The “News Feed” is the OLD “Highlights,” which used to live in the right sidebar. In the OLD “Highlights” section, you benevolently placed the updates and posts that received the most “Likes” or were widely read or linked to by Facebook friends. I get it! You have NOW placed those “Highlights” in the “News Feed” section, and you are so kindly determining which posts YOU think I might find interesting based on how many people read, “liked” or “commented” on those posts, or, which posts I commented on. Thank you!! (you could have told us!)

If I combine my new-found knowledge (almost impossible to find, no thanks to you) with my powers of deduction, my crystal ball, my astrologer and the Wiccan practitioner who lives down the street, I think I’ve unraveled The Mystery of Facebook’s Myriad Magical and Constant Changes to Their Interface, and have come to the conclusion that you are just trying to be helpful. Again. Thanks.

Please stop, dear. Just stop it. You’re confusing my Friends and they are getting cranky.

PLEASE send out some form of CLEAR, CONCISE information that will explain the DIFFERENCE BETWEEN:

the “News Feed”

the “Live News Feed”

and

the “Wall”

In the absence of your obviously understaffed Customer Relations department, Girl Friday will do her best now for her cranky, annoyed Friends:

1. The “Wall” on your PROFILE page: Post here, my dear Friends, when you want to Update your Status or post a Link, Video, Music and so on. When you Update Your Profile, your FRIENDS will see it )in their “News Feed” or “Live News Feed,” depending (see below!)  and, depending on your Settings, it may also come up on a Google search, etc. If what you post is particular interesting, and lots of Friends “like” it, “Comment” on it, etc., Facebook’s Magical Mystery Algorithm will deem that Update more worthy than others, and will stream it to the “News Feed” of your Friends who have shown through THEIR postings, usage, comments, etc. that what YOU’VE posted is interesting to them.  YOU NO LONGER NEED TO THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU ENJOY…FACEBOOK KNOWS FOR YOU!!! Woo hoo!!?
2. So, the “News Feed” is basically filtered Updates and posts that show up on your Home page, based on your past usage. Girl Friday thinks she has discovered this font of knowledge regarding Facebook’s changes, has researched it, and to the best of her knowledge, may even be slightly correct about this. However, Girl Friday would like to state right here, right now, that the information provided on this website should not be construed as personal medical advice or instruction and readers should consult appropriate health professionals on any matter relating to their health and well being. Going nuts over Facebook does not constitute an actual medical condition, but rather presents itself as evidence that you may require other activities with which to occupy your time. Readers who fail to consult appropriate health authorities assume the risk of any injuries.
3. The “Live News Feed” is pure, unadulterated STUFF, STUFF and MORE STUFF from pretty much every one of your “Friends.” You know those Friends who tell you that they’ve: “Just had coffee, think I’ll visit the john” in their Updates? I’m talkin’ about them. They’re in your “Live News Feed.” That “Live News Feed” collects all the fascinating bits of trivia and drivel, along with the brilliant and witty art-music-poetry-life-affirmations that occasionally burst like little stars in the Facebook firmament. You could spend your whole day reading the “Live News Feed.” I suspect some of you do. But just in case you miss something while you are out actually living your life (as Girl Friday does manage to do, too, once in a while), Facebook stores up all those tidbits for you. So that when you log in again…they are waiting for you. You cannot escape them. Effluvia awaits, to drown your brain in Information Overload. Proceed with caution.
4. So: what to do? To remove the “News Feed” and begin the Road to Thought Recovery, go to your Home Page. In the left sidebar, click on “Status Updates.” You’re done. The News Feeds, both of them…the chum and the good stuff, will cease to exist for you. All you need to read will be the Status Updates of your Friends. That’s the stuff you’re interested in…right?
5. The Moral of This Story:  In a way, I think this is a Good Thing…the fact that Facebook has just really messed up your online mojo. Why? Because Girl Friday thinks there is enough irrelevant nonsense on the internet, and in Facebook and Twitter and on and on. If you’re going to write something….make it Entertaining, Communicative, Collaborative, Educational. Give something meaningful to the world. Facebook wants to filter out the boring, irrelevant stuff, and their attempts to do so are just annoying. Why not just provide some quality here, so that the geniuses at Facebook don’t have to spend their time trying to read our minds. Let’s make our Minds BETTER!!!  Better as in:  Write something edifying, post a beautiful photo or incredible video, or uplifting song, or quote from JesusBuddahMohammedOprah…whatever you are passionate about. If you do that consistently, Facebook may have to lay off some of their workers, which will be unfortunate, but they may then go out and start serving Curry Without Worry and making the world a better place in a new and different way and they will all get away from their computers which is what Girl Friday is going to do right now.PS: you can learn this stuff if you really want to. Girl Friday teaches workshops, barn dances, and cow-tipping…no, not really. She teaches a workshop on Online Marketing. Send her an email and ask about it:  info@e-girlfriday.com

Insert appropriate words where indicated:

“I’ve spent a ton of (money / time / effort) on my (website / blog / shopping cart) and I (haven’t sold a thing / have no traffic / have no clue what’s going on! )“

Sound familiar?? It sure does to Girl Friday! You can’t imagine how many times she has heard that sad story. But how could you know, really, that even though your brother-in-law did read “HTML for Dummies” cover-to-cover, he really doesn’t know how to build you a site that actually functions as a website should – that is, as a marketing tool to promote you online!!

Listen, dearie, you are one smart cookie…you’re reading this blog!!  So before you invest any more money or time:

1. 1. 1. figure out, based on what your goals are, which type of site is best for you; then
      2. learn to recognize the important factors that make up a good website
      3. ask some very important questions of your web designer and internet service provider (ISP)
      4. make sure they incorporate those critical tools and elements into your website/blog/e-commerce site.

You’ll save yourself a lot of stuff like money and time and aggravation and you’ll have more fun doing the other stuff you love!

Think about these things, and then have yourself a nice day.

PS: if you’d like to take a workshop on the above, Girl Friday is offering one with her friends at NeighborhoodNow. Just click here to read more details!!

Bye now!

Your Girl Friday

Ponder:

• What makes a good website? What’s better for your business and goals? A static site with a Content Management System? A Blog? An E-Commerce Site?

• Starting Over? Learn what you need to know and the steps you must take BEFORE investing time and effort in a website that gets no visitors and no customers. You can turn your website into an effective and dynamic marketing tool that WILL attract prospects, leads and customers.

• Ask the Right Questions: Does your website designer know about best techniques for optimizing your site for search engines, both behind the scenes and on your site pages? Is your website provider doing everything they can to make sure you are attracting visitors, extracting information from those visitors, and/or getting the website visitors to convert to a customer/client? This is stuff you need to ask, Bonky…don’t be shy!!

“Isn’t it funny?” Girl Friday thought to herself this morning over her double-Sanka with CoffeMate and a Tang chaser.

“Online marketing is about communities. But you are using a “machine” (your computer, PDA or mobile device) to participate in that community. And that “machine” is a barrier – so your perception of the experience is that you are looking in to the group, and not truly of the group. Geez, Louise, that’s a bit depressing!  So…you’re actually using a “machine” to create the illusion of human community and heartfelt interaction? Darling, bring me another Sanka so I can chew on this a bit more!”

That desire to truly belong to the online community is what businesses need to tap into when they decide to go with an online marketing or social media plan.

Make your online community (blog, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn) a place where we want to belong. You are the expert. We want to trust you and like you. We really do want what you have, whether it’s a product you’re offering, a service, or just the coolness of belonging to your groovy group. You just have to remind us that you’re just like us, we’re just like you, we all want the same things. Help us remember our desire.

And it occurred to Girl Friday, just this minute, that THE KEY to creating that place of belonging online, is to RE-HUMANIZE the experience.

Since you can’t take away the computer – the barrier –  be online who you are in person. Write like you talk. Deliver your message or product or cool factor with humor. Make your point matter-of-factly if you are a stiff, dry, nerdy type. Hey, that’s who you are? Revel in it, honey!

I betchya dollars to donuts the MadMen guys and gals never had to RE-humanize their ad campaigns in order to create that desire in their magazine ads. They didn’t have to “create a community.” Everyone seemed to belong to the same group, and the message brought them even closer together in their shared desire for the product.

But we’re going with digital dots dashes bits and bytes these days…

So the short moral of this long story?

We’re all human, baby…
act like one online
You’ll gather your community in no time!

Twitter. Facebook. Social Media. Blogs. Search Engine Optimization… Let’s face it…for most business owners, the new world of online marketing technologies is intimidating and overwhelming.

You’ve heard about it, you might have even have tried to figure this stuff out on your own – but you don’t have the time, you don’t have the resources and you don’t know why it matters to you. Right?

Wrong. The majority of your prospects and customers are ALREADY using online tools EVERY day to find information and to make purchasing decisions. In fact, 98% of buying decisions today involve some form of online search or inquiry. If you’re not there – where the conversation is ALREADY happening – you miss out on a vast pool of potential customers/clients. Additionally: an overwhelming 93% of social media users expect companies to have an online presence. What’s yours?

NeighborhoodNow.com founder Roohi Moolla, and Girl Friday Virtual Marketing founder Elaine Lucia are combining their 40+ years of Online Technology and Marketing experience to bring you a Powerhouse of Professional Knowledge and Tools that you can implement IMMEDIATELY to create a successful Online Marketing Strategy (read more about Roohi and Elaine below).

In this 3-part series of workshops, we’ll walk you through the process of creating and implementing an Online Marketing Strategy suited specifically to your business – and we’ll make it painless, simple and effective.

WORKSHOPS BEGIN NEXT THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5! REGISTER HERE

We’ll help you navigate the maze of Online Marketing Tools that are on the internet today, and we’ll work WITH you to select those tools best suited to promoting YOUR business, show you how you can easily incorporate simple marketing steps into your schedule and teach you how to turn online prospects into real paying customers.

At the end of the Workshop Series, you’ll have:

1. A solid understanding of why you need to use Online Marketing Tools for your Business
2. The right mix of Tools to attract prospects and customers for your business
3. How to implement those Tools easily and effectively

Each Workshop includes a Training Session, followed by Lunch and a Question/Answer Session, where you can finally get answers to your own questions about Social Media, Your Website’s effectiveness etc.

Workshop 1: Thurs. Nov. 5
Navigating the Maze –
Which Online Tools Do You Need for YOUR Business?

• Intro to Online Marketing: What exactly is it? We know, and we’ll tell you. Take away solid facts, and a list with links and resources.

• An A to Z of Online Marketing Tools: We’ll show you the best and the most effective. Take away a glossary of terms and definitions.

• Your Online Toolbox: Complete your Business Profile and we’ll use it to help you figure out which online tools are right for your business and your goals. 

Take away: your own Online Marketing “Toolbox.”

Workshop 2: Thurs. Nov. 12

Stake Your Claim –
Determine Your Best Online Presence: Website, Blog, E-commerce?

• What makes a good website? What’s better for your business and goals? We’ll tell you which type of site you really need and why Take away some solid facts that will help you decide your next step:

• Starting Over?: We’ll tell you what you need to know and the steps you must take BEFORE investing time and effort in a website that gets no visitors and no customers. We’ll help you turn your website into an effective and dynamic marketing tool that WILL attract prospects, leads and customers.

• Work with What You Have: Complete a Website Health checklist so you can find out if your website is really working FOR you and what to do to get it into shape.

 Take away: The Key Factors to an effective Online Presence.

Workshop 3: Thurs. Nov. 19
Raise Your Banner High–Drive traffic and customers to your site with Social Media

• Twitter: What exactly is it and how does it work? Is it right for your business? We’ll help you figure it out and tell you how to get started.

• Facebook: Should you use the most popular social media tool? How can your business benefit?
• LinkedIn: Professionals use this for networking. Can you use it for your business? If so…how? Take away: A Roadmap for an effective Online Social Media Strategy

THURSDAY: Nov. 5, Nov. 12 and Nov. 19
10 am – 12 pm: Workshop
12 – 1 pm: Lunch (provided) PLUS Question/Answer Session

WORKSHOP FEE (Includes Lunch):
$95/workshop; OR
$240 for all 3 workshops ($80/workshop)
if you pre-register by November 2nd 
-
use discount code WSALL3
on the 3rd workshop to receive your discount ($45 value)

Workshops are limited seating.
Register now to reserve your seat.

WORKSHOP LOCATION:
Petaluma Area Chamber of Commerce
6 Petaluma Blvd. N., Suite A-2
Petaluma, CA 94952

Questions? Need More Info?
EMAIL: info@neighborhoodnow.com or CALL: 707.338.8900
info@e-girlfriday.com or CALL: 707.696.9404