A few years ago I worked with my friend Elizabeth Varian on a website for a wonderful lady named Lori Saitz. Lori’s incredible products were truly an amazing concept to me at the time, and I knew that she would be successful…not only because of the product, but also because of her attitude and professionalism.

Since that time her business HAS grown, and just recently – March 24, 2009 – one of her products (Zen Crunch) was featured on the Rachel Ray show as the “Snack of the Day”!

The absolute best part of Lori’s business-Zen Rabbit Cookies, is that it’s built around the concept of expressing Gratitude. No matter what you need to show your appreciation for, or to whom you need to show it, she’s got a product for you! It’s a great way to say “Thank you!” to your customers or clients! Why not pop in over at Zen Rabbit and show your gratitude for all your VA does to help make your business successful?

It’s a frequent discussion when designing websites…

Why can’t I use a really cool looking font everywhere on my site?

The answer is simple…You can, IF you make everything an image, or you go with an all Flash website (not recommended for SEO). Why is this? Again, simple, but not widely understood….Not every computer in the world has those cool fonts installed on it.

Scenario: So let’s say your using a really neat handwritten style font you have called “Ex Ponto Pro” because you want your site to look like a handwritten letter. On your machine it looks fabulous! However, you decide to check out your site on your son’s laptop, and then you see it….a substitution! His laptop doesn’t have “Ex Ponto Pro” installed on it, so it’s substituting that font with something it has…and boy is it UGLY! The whole idea of your site is completely moot because the font’s not right!

Solutions: There are two ways to fix this issue. They can and should be combined.

(1) Create Images. You can make every page full of textual images, increase your load time and lose all your Search Engine Optimization, or you can choose certain sections that you really want to stand out, and change those text areas into images. Keep in mind that images do not carry the same “weight” with the search engines as text (even with detailed alt tags), so you should make every effort to only use non-keywords (or keywords that you repeat frequently) in your textual images. (example for me would be: design, graphics, purchase, contact, about, email, etc.).

(2) Use Browser Safe Fonts. Using these commonly installed fonts will mean that your site content will look the same no matter who is browsing, and what type of computer they are using (PC or Mac).

List of Browser Safe Fonts:

Arial
Book Antiqua/Palatino
Comic Sans
Courier New
Georgia
Lucida Console
Tahoma
Times New Roman
Trebuchet MS
Verdana

Verdana happens to be my personal favorite, because there is a very significant difference between bolded and normal…why bother to bold something if it’s not going to stand out?

Once you understand this very important aspect of web design, you’ll be able to make the decisions necessary to create your “killer” website!

I’ve written before about using your tagline (or slogan) in your logo, so most of you know that I’m against it in the logo in the first place (The Memorability of Your Logo). But another good point to bring up when it comes to the internet is whether to use a text tagline, or an image.

It’s actually a very easy question to answer. Does your tagline include any of your keywords? If that answer is yes, then your tagline should be text and should be placed in your website header.

This was a lesson I learned early in my internet career. When I went online in 2002 with my Stationery shop, I decided that my creativity meant that I could design and implement my own website. I had a logo for “Classic Creations Stationery & Gifts” and so I used it. Within 6 months of starting my website, I had learned a lot about keywords and SEO. I realized that “Classic Creations” could be anything and while it was important to my current catalog customers (for finding my site), my crucial keywords were “Stationery and Gifts”. Thus, I made the decision to use them as a text tagline in my page header. Of all the things I did back then, that was the smartest! My traffic tripled within the days and weeks following that change!

If your tagline is something akin to “Your One Stop Shop”-there are two issues at play here…

ONE: it obviously is not important to your SEO, so use an image with a cool font.

TWO: WHY aren’t you using keywords in your tagline and taking advantage of the benefits it will provide to your Search Engine Optimization??? Just adding one word would make all the difference: “Your One Stop Stationery Shop”. And suddenly the text “stationery” is on the top of every page of your site.

Something very important to consider…

Welcome to our latest team members here at The Business Image Journal: Direct Sales Contributor-Leanna Giltmier and Communication Consultant- Felicia Slattery. Read more abou them on our Contributors Page.

Also, there’s alot of excitement in the air, as our first issue of the ezine goes out to subscribers on Sunday, April 15th! Sign up a a member to receive your copy.

Becoming a small business owner can be very exciting! Keep in mind that it’s not an “overnight” accomplishment, and it takes some thought and planning before-hand, as well as persistence and patience in the first several years.

Before you start your business, you need to decide on a name…..and maybe design a logo (that can be saved for later, if you want). The name will be the most important. Think about what your business will offer, and what kind of first impression you want to give. Write down ANY words that come to mind when you think about your new business….the name you choose will come from those words. Use nouns and adjectives, use words that have caught YOUR attention when you’re shopping.

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This has been my worst week ever for staying connected to the internet in my office. I had high expectations when we switched to Windstream DSL in February. After all, when you design websites, plus connect with all of your clients via email (a majority of the time)….your Internet Service Provider becomes your best friend.

Well, my friend needs some time in the dog house. When I arrived in my office Wednesday morning at 6 am, my internet connection did not exist. I gave it a couple of hours while I got my kids off to school, etc. and still it was nowhere to be found. Since February, we’ve called Windstream approximately 6 times before this week about our internet connectivity (and lack thereof). 9 times out of 10 we got a nasty customer service rep, who assumed we were computer illiterate, and didn’t know what we were talking about. They (apparently) just chalked our outages and slow connections up to ignorance (which, if you knew my hubby, is laughable). Never sent anyone out here.

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The American Heritage Dictionary defines success as “The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted”.

Along that vein, continued success would require that you adjust that “something” as you reach it. To truly be successful as a business owner, you must set goals that are attainable…and then as we achieve each of those goals, we must set new ones to move forward. You should be able to reach short term goals more easily, and with a little less effort than long term ones. Long term goals should be things that require extended effort, and will give you a strong sense of accomplishment when achieved.

Realistic Goal setting is a very important aspect of becoming successful in life…whether it’s success as a business owner, as a Parent, or just as a Person.

What kind of goals have you set recently?

Happy April, All!

These days most of us are doing the majority of our business in a technological bubble. We use emails, telephones, and voice mail to do our communicating….even in many “store” situations.

There are times however, for every business owner, when you’ll represent your business in the public eye. There might even be more of those times than you are aware of, in your day to day routine. I’ve seen some business owners do things, that made me cringe…

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Trustworthy and Confident. Two very important traits in a successful business owner.

Definitions:

Trustworthy: worthy of one’s trust, belief, or confidence.

Confident: persuaded of; assured of.

What’s the easiest way to project yourself in this fashion? Use these guidelines:

1-Eye contact (don’t look up, down, or all around. If you have trouble with “eyes” use the eyebrows or the bridge of the nose as a focal point).

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As a business owner, there’s no better time than a slow week to establish your goals.

I always make two lists-Short Term Goals and Long Term Goals. By having two, you allow yourself to achieve smaller goals on a regular basis…thus giving yourself that boost of confidence needed to achieve the larger goals!

Some things to consider for your goals:

~Revamping a website-Is your site getting you the business you want and deserve? Maybe it’s the navigation, maybe it’s the content…or it could be the graphics and/or color scheme. Remember to think like a customer…not like the owner!

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