Great Ways to Use Twitter for Small Business

Here are some links to some great ways to use Twitter for your small business....

Google Local Coupons

Yet another (Free) way to attract customers online.  Small businesses can use Google Local listings to promote special offers, discounts and giveaways, offering Google searchers incentive to choose your business above your competition.  By adding coupons to your listing in Google Maps, Google’s users can print your coupons and bring them to your business.  Coupons will appear alongside...

My Favorite Directories

Having quality inbound links pointing to your website is essential for search engine success.  Need some ideas for where to look for quality inbound links to your website?  Here are some of my favorite directories… Kauai Vacation Resorts Directory Need to promote your Kauai vacation rental property? This directory will help drive traffic and ...

Creating a Social Media Contest

Here’s a great article on how to effectively promote your brand through Social Media channels. 5 Tips for Creating a Successful Social Media Contest by Clay...

Send Large Files with YouSendIt.com

Ever need to send a really large file to someone but it’s too big to send or receive via email?  Try YouSendIt.com.  It’s free and works like a...

Software Tutorials & Online Training

If learning a new piece of software or improving on an existing skill set is on your New Year’s resolution list, then I highly recommend that you check out Lynda.com’s online training library.  Learn the latest tools and techniques with access to 730 online courses and get unbiased, clear, and comprehensive training in 3D, audio, video, photography, graphic design, web and...

How to Build Facebooks Fans

John Haydon had a great idea on his blog for building Facebook Fans by offering Fan-Only content.    Check out his article link below to learn how to do it… How To Create An Incentive For Visitors To Fan Your Facebook...

GoMyLocal.com

Here’s another local directory/social media site that you can add your business to for free.  GoMyLocal.com directory listings are a free and easy way to get more exposure online for your business or store front.  Visit the site and see if your business is listed, if not click on “Add a Listing” and fill out a short form with details about your business.  Even if you have a...

Encourage Reviews on TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor is a free travel guide website that allows users to post opinions and reviews of travel related issues.  TripAdvisor-branded sites alone make up the most popular and largest travel community in the world, with more than 25 million unique monthly visitors, 15 million+ members, and more than 30 million reviews and opinions. Featuring real advice from real travelers, TripAdvisor-branded...

Small Business Web Marketing on a Shoestring Budget

I’m moving over some content from my website and found this gem of an article from David Wallace.  It’s a few years old but the advice and suggestions for small businesses on a shoestring budget (who isn’t these days?) is still great. Increase the Visibility of Your Small Business Website on a Shoestring...

Claim Your Google Maps Listing

Here’s a free way to get some great local exposure for your small business on Google – claim your Google Maps listing. Watch the video on how to Claim Your Google Maps Listing. To determine which categories to use for your Google Maps listing, go...

Promoting Your Facebook Page

I’ve posted a bunch of posts on the topic of Facebook and how to create a page for your small business.  Now here’s some resources for promoting your Facebook page outside of Facebook, like on your blog or website or other social media sites.  Click on the link below to see Facebooks’ guidelines for promoting your FB page and to find FB images and  a FB badge to be used on...

Hawaiian Diacriticals

Diacritical punctuation marks are an important element of Hawaiian language, affecting both the pronunciation and meaning of particular words.   When I come across a Hawaiian name or word that requires the proper Hawaiian punctuation, I visit this website to find the HTML code for the kāhako and ‘okina for the appropriate letter. Hawaiian Language Punctuation – A table of letters with...

How to use WordPress Gallery Feature

There is a WordPress plugin called ShadowBox JS that I recommend for enhancing the look of your image galleries if you use Word Press.  Here’s where to find the plugin and how to use it....

It’s Not All About You…

When writing copy for your website, it’s NOT all about you. Karon Thackston is one of my favorite experts in the web copywriting  field and her article “Writing TO Your Customers—Not AT Them” was featured on Jill Whalen’s High Rankings newsletter recently.  Karon offers a few examples of copy that is business-focused and then shows how the copy can be modified to be...

Expanding the WYSIWYG Editor in WordPress

If you are a WordPress user and are finding the writing area too small in the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor window, here’s how to make it bigger.  You can manually drag out the window by looking to the lower right hand corner for the three angled lines – hover over those lines and the cursor will turn into double arrows, click and drag those down to create more space...

Building a Business Presence on Facebook

If you have a business or a store front and haven’t taken advantage of Facebook yet, you might want to add that to your list of things to do before the year is out.  To read my earlier post on building a Facebook profile and business page, click here. You’ll need a personal Facebook profile to be able to build a Facebook business/store page.  Once your Facebook page is created you...

How To Organize Your Digital Photos

I’ve had a few people ask me recently, how I keep my digital photographs organized.  Here’s how I do it and some tips and resources that might help you get organized…...

Can’t Afford a Website?

So you can’t afford a professional website?  Don’t worry, there’s still plenty that you can do to spread the word online about your business.  The following suggestions are for free online services designed to help you promote your business whether you have a website or not....

WordPress – Manage Your Own Website Content

WordPress is a popular blogging software that can also be used to build and manage website content.  There are a ton of professionally designed themes (think “templates”)  to choose from, some are free and some cost a minimal fee .  The open source (free) application and a helpful forum/community make WordPress a great option for do-it-yourself website/blog enthusiasts . To build a...

Online Photo Editting Can Be a “Picnik”…

I am pleased to introduce my 13 year old daughter, Gabrielle as today’s guest author on the topic of web-based photo editing software.  Take it away Gabby…...

Spiffy Up Your Craig’s List Posting

A client asked me recently how some postings on  Craig’s List look so much better than others.  He had noticed brochure-type postings and wanted the same format for his listings. So I did a little research and here’s what I found….   Postlets.com offers a free service to create attractive brochure-type listings for real estate and vacation rental properties.  The listings...

Options Not Obligations by Marc Warnke

I just recently finished reading Marc Warnke’s booked call “ONO – Options Not Obligations“.  Marc is what you would call a “Family First Entrepreneur” which is the reason the book caught my attention in the first place.  Ever since building my home-based business almost 9 years ago, I have appreciated and valued the quality of life I have in being able to...

Email & Web-Based Tools from Google

I recently helped a client configure their domain-based email accounts to use Gmail instead of their website host email service.  The client preferred to use Gmail (as many of their employees were already familiar with it from using it for their personal accounts) and the client liked the ability to manage their email user accounts in one easy-to-use control panel....

Free Online Image Editing Software from Aviary.com

Don’t have the money to buy an expensive image editing program but want to be able to size, enhance and customize your photos?  No problem, check out the nifty web-based image editing and vector art tools at Aviary.com....

Identifying Duplicate Content on the Web

Ever wonder if someone has stolen your website copy?  Writing quality content for your website or hiring a professional to do it involves an investment of time and/or money and there’s nothing more irritating than having another website owner come along and copy it.   Not to mention the fact that Google may penalize a site for having duplicate content if it appears that the intent of the...

How to Install the New Microsoft Word Viewer

If you haven’t wanted to upgrade to Microsoft’s newest version of  Office software you’ve  probably encountered the new version of Word’s documents’ (.docx file)  from friends or co-workers.   If you’d like to be able to view these files without having to upgrade your software, just download and install the Word viewer.  Here’s how:...

How To Use Google Insights

If you haven’t heard, Google has a neat tool called Google Insights.   Google Insights provides a comprehensive set of statistics based on search volume and patterns.  You can compare seasonal trends, view regional interest and  view related and “rising terms” (keywords which have risen in volume in your specified time parameters).   This information can help you plan for demand,...

What is an Ecofont?

In the latest issue of “O” magazine I saw a note about a “Green” font that uses 20% less ink when printed.    It suggested trading in “Arial” for the more eco-friendly “Ecofont” so I checked it out. The picture illustrates how the Ecofont was created by omitting parts of the letter. At the shown size, this obviously is not very nice, but at a...

Marketing Ideas for Tough Times

Times are tough and your message to potential customers should reflect what consumers are concerned with – and at present it is the economy.  Remember to think like a consumer when you are designing your Pay Per Click ads, website copy, or any advertising for that matter.  Figure out why buying from you is an excellent value (especially in these tough economic times) and be sure to use...

Getting the Most Out of Pay Per Click Advertising

If you have thought about doing Pay Per Click advertising but just don’t know how or where to get started, you may find the following article by Brian Carter helpful in understanding the nuances of paid search. 5 Common AdWords Myths Absolutely Destroyed If you would like assistance in establishing or optimizing a paid search campaign for your business, contact Emagine for more...

Creating a Facebook Profile & Building a Business Page

Facebook is a widely used social media site that has over 120 million users, is growing by 250,000 users daily and is the 4th most trafficked website on the internet.  Chances are many of your business partners and potential clients are using it, so it’s a great place to establish a presence for yourself and your business for more exposure on the web....

Some of the Best Free Downloads for Small Businesses

Here are some of my favorite Free downloads for small business marketing, link building, social media and more… Zero Dollars, a Little Talent and 30 days by Jennifer Laycock This is a great place to start if you’re new to marketing yourself or your small business online.  Zero Dollars follows entrepreneur and writer Jennifer Laycock as she tries to start a successful online business...

Ways to Promote Flattering Content

Don’t forget to promote client testimonials and reviews on your website and blog.  If someone endorses your service, product or property, make sure you share it with the world by including it on your website, blog and on your list of testimonials that you mail to prospective clients....

Preparing Photos for the Web

The following steps are recommended for cropping, adjusting and optimizing your images to be used on the web.  You can use Adobe Photoshop, Fireworks or your favorite image editor:...

Windows XP Service Pack 3

If  you’re like me – still running Windows XP – you’ve probably been reminded recently to update to Service Pack 3.   A few months ago I tried to update both my PC and my laptop to Service Pack 3 and kept running into errors.  Well this week I finally decided to tackle the job of figuring out why the service packs weren’t updating properly on my machines. I like...

Promoting Your Blog…

If you’ve started a blog recently, here’s a list of sites you’ll want to submit to so more people can find and be exposed to your blog content. Feedburner Technorati (claim your blog at the bottom of the page) Blog TopSites Reddit (submit a link) Digg (Provide social media icons on every blog post, encourage readers to submit your posts) Delicious (Create an account and...

Getting Started with Social Media…

You’re probably wondering what all the buzz is about over “social media”. Here’s a great short video (3 1/2 minutes) that will help you to understand what social media is and how it can benefit your small business or organization. Social Media in Plain English A simple story that illustrates the forces shaping social media. ...

What’s a Gravatar anyway?

If you’ve started to use any of the social media sites online, you’ll notice that you can upload an image for your “avatar” so others can see a thumbnail of you anytime you post a review, a blog article, comment, tweet or favorite. With the increasing popularity of Social Media, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc.,  I’ve found myself creating individual...

Embed Flickr Image Browser into your blog or website

Here’s a neat tool called PictoBrowser which anyone can use for free to embed your Flickr images into a website or blog.  Just follow the simple set up instructions, choose your configuration settings, copy and paste the code into your website or blog and you’ve got a dynamic image viewer! Here’s a sample of one I just did for a client of mine… ...

Make it easy for others to spread the buzz about your business…

Some friends of mine recently launched a new business and website called Por Favor Favors.   They sent out an email blast to their mailing list – friends, family, clients and allies announcing their new venture, inviting everyone to visit the new site and have a look.  ...

Incorporate Gratitude into Your Business

I happened upon another designer’s blog this past week and became an instant fan of his work and his articles.  The first of his articles I would like to share with you is about making Gratitude a part of your business.  It’s a must read for anyone wanting to improve their business simply by showing more gratitude to existing and potential customers. 8 Ways to Improve Your Business...

Take Your Group Online with Ning.com

I have had the pleasure to work with many of Kauai’s organizations – ranging from leadership, economic development, Hawaiian culture and community associations.  Now more than ever, organizations are feeling the economic pinch as donations and funding are harder to secure.  Ning.com provides a free online social network product that most organizations will find very valuable....

How to Install Google’s Blog Reader

There’s a ton of blogs on the internet these days and chances are you’ve happened upon at least a few of them you would like to keep “tabs” on.  Here’s a free and simple Blog Reader you can download from Google. The Reader will let you know when new blog posts have been posted and enable you to have one central area to keep your favorite blogs organized. Watch a...

Put Your Press Release to Work on the Web

Press Releases aren’t just for your local newspapers and print publications anymore.  A well written press release featuring your targeted keyword phrases can provide exposure for your business as well as your website when submitted online....

Using Smart PlayList in iTunes.com

While taking some time off over the holidays I happened upon a book called “iPod, the Missing Manual” and did some reading of it to make sure I was taking advantage of all the nifty features that my iPod and iTunes offers. The book provided great instructionals on how to use all of the iPod and iTunes features including using “Genius”, add title/album/genre/rating info to...

Holiday e-card Greetings

If you’re a procrastinator, then I’ve got some good news.  It’s not too late to send out a Holiday e-greeting to your clients and prospects.  Yes, I know we only have about 4 more days before Christmas but that’s one of the great things about e-cards – they don’t take that long to create or send out.  Not to mention the fact that you can feel good knowing...

Use Craig’s List to Promote Your Vacation Rental

Craig’s List is a great place to advertise your vacation rental deals or last minute vacancies for free.  It’s easy to set up an account and create a listing, including a description of your property, links to your website, multiple photos and contact information.  More and more people use Craigslist.com everyday to locate services, rentals, real estate, products, used items for...

Batch Processing of Images in Photoshop

When you have a lot of images you need to re-size, It is helpful to know how to batch process images. Here are some tutorials on how to create an action and then batch process a folder of images. Photoshop Batch Processing Tutorial Here’s a helpful YouTube.com video on Photoshop Batch Processing. (I suggest using 72 dpi for the web vs. 100 that she uses as an example in the...

Start a Customer Database

If you aren’t capturing the names and email addresses of the people who contact you or buy from your website you are missing out on a valuable opportunity to build a customer database.  Anyone who has  expressed interest in your products or services or has purchased from your website should be added to your customer database.    ...