Getting Things DONE: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

Getting Things Done by David Allen

by Karen Nierlich

I read business books as often as I can and love to share the effective ones. This month I’m talking about Getting Things DONE: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen. The book is quite well known and therefore I expect some of you to be familiar with it. I’ve test driven this book for about 4 months now and am happy to say it was tremendously useful.

Here 3 of Allen’s points I found particularly useful:

1. Most of us are tremendously busy and keeping too much info in our brains. As we look around our offices and homes—incomplete tasks are calling our attention, cluttering our thinking and causing us stress.

2. We may always have a lot to do. That’s our choice in taking leadership roles and running companies. However, we can reduce our stress and increase our productivity by organizing our in-box and every pending task.

Allen has you create a listapalozza of all you need to do in your office / work and home. I’ve always had a work to-do list and a household to-do list. Using Allen’s approach…the two lists became one list and more comprehensive. In fact I was able to fill 4 pages with about 100 items in 15 categories! I hope I’m impressing you with how deep he has you go with the list…he says he often gets to 400 items with clients.

The list creation process worked for me…it was refreshing to write everything down…and get it out of my head. I did find that I stopped looking at unfinished stuff and wondering when I’d get it done. Now I can look at tasks and say to myself, “It’s written down and I’ll get to it in time.”

3. Another major point from Allen is to always think in terms of action items. Don’t just list “start Robinson project” on your list…rather put the first step such as “select team for Robinson project.”

I also write a daily list of 5 things I hope to complete that day, as well as phone calls and appointments. I spend less time figuring out what to do and more time just getting stuff done.

I kid you not, now that I have this listapalloza, I can’t imagine doing without it. It has increased my feeling of control and decreased my stress. Tell me if you read the book and if it’s helpful to you.

__________

Getting Things Done by David AllenKaren Nierlich is an internet marketing consultant with Almost Everything Communications. She’s as busy as anyone as she runs her own business with her husband, is the parent of two middle schoolers, serves on a service organization board, is writing a book and volunteers with her Rotary Club and Girl Scouts.

 

 

Posted in business success books | Tagged | Leave a comment

Telemarketers Annoying You?

iStock_000017220889XSmallby Karen Nierlich

Do you get weekly or daily calls and emails from SEO [search engine optimization] telemarketers telling you your traffic can be improved? Or that your site isn’t optimized? Or…?

Do these calls make you insecure about the quality of your website or the keyword work you may have done to date?

You are not alone.

Our business gets these calls too. Clients frequently forward me emails and ask if it means anything OR ask why they are getting these calls when their site is optimized.

So here’s what you need to know:

-All businesses are getting these calls and emails. The SEO marketers are not looking at your website or assessing it.

-80-90% of websites aren’t optimized (that’s my observation; not a fact). That’s why calling every business might work for these telemarketers or why they can safely assume your site isn’t optimized. Many graphic designers / web designers are not optimizing websites or are doing a very minimal job of it.

-Search Engine Optimization is one of the least understood web services. I think it’s up there with mortgages and taxes. Most small businesses don’t understand it, so it’s easy to scam them. Again, that’s part of the motivation for calling / emailing all businesses.

-Search Engine Optimization is one of the bigger ticket items in the web services industry. Again, that’s part of the motivation for calling / emailing all businesses.

-Everyone wants more traffic. Most businesses would love to get more leads from their website but don’t know how to go about it. So they might welcome a chance to talk to a telemarketer. Their confusion makes it harder for them to recognize a scam.

Hope it explains why you get so many SEO telemarketer calls.

In case you were wondering: DO NOT purchase SEO services from a telemarketer. Or if you are tempted, ask for 5 references and call them.

No one should be promising to get you to #1 on Google, because that doesn’t really exist anymore. We all get different results on Google so there are multiple sites that come up #1 not one.

Success is measured in traffic levels and leads coming in as emails and phone calls. If you want to measure or see your website traffic, set up Google Analytics and look at the reports. If you want to measure emails and phone calls, talk to your internet marketing consultant about monitoring the phone calls and emails received.

____________

WordPress Website Redesign

Karen Nierlich is an internet marketing consultant with Almost Everything Communications. I’m dedicated to optimizing websites, adding SEO pages and adding blogs to websites. My goal is to help businesses improve or expand their web presence and online leads within their budget.

Almost Everything is Possible.

 

Posted in blogs, internet marketing | Leave a comment

Karen’s Best Marketing Ideas

Best Marketing Ideas

by Karen Nierlich

In client meetings, people are asking me about generating more leads. These are busy businesses and want to grow 5%, 10% or even 20% in this 2013 healthier economic environment. Below is the big picture of what I’m telling my clients to look at.

Keep in mind, marketing is never one size fits all.

That has to do with a lot of factors from the # of clients your business needs, the level of trust and financial commitment of the average customer, the volume of sales, location and much more. With a broad brush at the top level this is what I suggest people consider for their 5-20% lead/sales growth.

1.  Keep in Touch Strategies for Generating Referrals

Does most of your business come from referrals now? Does a lot or most of your business come from other professionals? Do you sell a high ticket, high trust item like home services, financial services, web services or other? If so, look at how you are keeping in touch with your best clients or your colleagues or your past referral sources. How are you staying visible to them?

Keeping in touch is also important if you rely on a steady stream of smaller-ticket purchases. Those big companies that mail catalogs out every week know what they are doing. People are much more likely to buy within a day or two of contact from a company. You may not have the need to mail out a catalog every week, but being active with an email, social networking, or blog will also keep you in the top of peoples’ minds (even if all they see is the Subject line and “From” address on your email).

Keep in Touch Strategies include email newsletters, phone calls, postcards, gifts, lunches, events, and sending valuable information, etc.

 

2.  In-Person Networking

Best Marketing IdeasIf you answered “yes” to the questions above…high ticket, high trust and lots of referrals kind of business then you might want to expand your networking in the New Year. I get a lot of negative responses to this suggestion. Many people consider it too time consuming.

 

But consider this, you can network outside of traditional networking groups and see your network and thus your business grow. We live in the rich and vibrant Bay Area so consider groups around your personal interests where you can make friends with people who would probably love to do business with you as well (or, better, know lots of people who might love to do business with you). Having fun and expanding your network can go hand and hand. Also, check out the book Never Eat Lunch Alone.  This book is pretty over the top, but it really rocked my world and made me a more empowered networker.

 

3.  Online Marketing

Is your business in the lower price per session / larger volume sales category. That might include some health & wellness services, food services, recreation services and retail? Is your business highly localized in one area? Need your clients to find you (as you can’t find the people who need you through networking)? Need discretion or privacy for your clients? Do you work in a less competitive field? (not all of these need apply)

Then you’ll want to look at online marketing and leverage it for more leads:

-SEO website

- Optimized Google + Page

-possible mobile version of site

-email newsletter

-videos on a YouTube Channel

-blog

-Twitter

-Yelp

- Public Releases (PR) Online

- Facebook & LinkedIn

-more

 

These are the top level of marketing strategies I’d consider. I use strategies from all 3 groups to keep Almost Everything Communications busy year round and in good times and bad. Over time I improved my marketing and added strategies. Most of our business comes from word of mouth which is enhanced or supported by keeping-in-touch, networking and of course, a fine website.

 

—————-

 

WordPress Website Redesign
Karen Nierlich is an internet marketing consultant with Almost Everything Communications. She specializes in helping clients create websites that enhance their marketing and generate more leads. After 10 years talking marketing with clients and reading marketing books, she has a lot of grounded marketing ideas about what works for small businesses. Reach her at 510-527-9920.


Posted in internet marketing | Leave a comment

2013 Website Checklist – The Essentials for Our Lucky New Year

Dowe Bankruptcy Law

SEO WordPress Website for Dowe Bankruptcy Law

by Karen Nierlich

2013 might be a year with “13″ in it’s name, but I think most small business owners are feeling we are lucky and grateful for the improving economy. As we usher in the New Year, it’s time to do a “needs assessment” for your website and your web marketing. Our AEC Website Checklist starts with newer considerations for 2013 and then continues with questions to ask each and every year.

  1. Are you mobile ready?

You’ve probably heard that mobile phone use and mobile searches for local businesses are way up and growing. The numbers are:

  • 50% of Americans own a smart phone as of March 2012 and that number is trending upwards of course (Nielson)
  • 70% of all mobile searches result in action within 1 hour.
  • 70% of online searches result in action in one month. (Mobile Marketer, 2012)
  • 9 out of 10 mobile searches lead to action, over half leading to purchase. (Search Engine Land, 2012)
  • 61% of local searches on a mobile phone result in a phone call. (Google, 2012)

Does your business need a mobile version? Do you run a retail or local service business? Check out your site on a mobile phone. How does it look on a iphone or ipad?

Additional Notes: Sites rendered in Flash (popular programming language) are not well supported by mobile devices. No Apple iOS devices support Flash, and support is poor even for the competing Android and Microsoft platforms. Adobe is no longer developing Flash for mobile.

SEO WordPress Website

SEO WordPress Website for Balance Chiropractic

2. Does your business or organization have a Google + Local Page and is it optimized?

Google Maps Pages became Google + Local during the year. All businesses should claim their free page and add photos, logos, video and background info. This is an easy way to boost your web presence, and is particularly strong in putting your business in front of potential customers who are geographically near you. These pages can be optimized for better results in search engines.

3. Time for Website Redesign?

The Web moves quickly and even sites that are just 1 year old may be in need of an update — especially if your business or marketing has changed. If you aren’t sure, look at some of your competitors sites and ask a few trusted colleagues. Depending on the age of your site and your business goals, you may want to refresh by making some changes to the design or WordPress template or you may be ready for a new site.

4. Is it time to refresh or expand keywords on your site? Do you have a way to measure site traffic like Google Analytics?

When was the last time you reviewed the performance of the key phrases you targeted when creating the content for your site? If your industry changed a lot this year and there were many new trends, then it would be a good idea to get those newsworthy items on to your site and add the relevant keywords. If you site doesn’t get much traffic, consider adding keyword rich text to your site. You can do this by creating 10 to 30 new pages of content about specifics in your industry or by posting to a blog hosted on your site.

If you don’t know how much traffic your site gets, you’ll want to add the free Google Analytics tool. Then you’ll know when your site if visited and how they are finding you and what is viewed etc.

SEO WordPress Website

SEO WordPress Website for Eberle Construction

5. Updates Not Happening or Costly? Ready for a WordPress Conversion?

Our firm has done a ton of WordPress conversions over the last 3 years. If you have a site that you can’t update in-house, converting it to WordPress will give you password protected access from any computer and a friendly administrative tool you can learn in as few as 20 minutes. Plus it can make it easy to upload keywords, add features inexpensively, and integrate with social media.

6. Want to hear my spiel (again) on why your business needs an email newsletter? I’ve been saying this for a decade now-some of you know.

People used to think a newsletter was a lot of work. I’ll tell you folks, this is actually one of the easiest and least expensive marketing tactics I know of and it goes to the people that matter most! My mantra (one of them) is keep in touch with the folks who know and like you…they are the lifeblood of your business! Send them keen, relevant information. This is a great way to use some of the new content you may be developing for your site (se #4 above).

If you are in a business that people don’t want to learn more about, then send a combination of relevant info and fun information of general interest. Whatever you do, find a way that works for you to keep in touch with past clients, current clients, prospects and the good people in your world.

SEO WordPress Website

SEO WordPress Website for Career Consultant

7. When did you last update your LinkedIn page and add some 2012 testimonials?

Lots of people visit your LinkedIn profile after or just before they meet you. Keep adding testimonials there. While you are at it, ask for testimonials for your Goggle + Local page. It’ll help your results on search.

8. When did you last check your site for accuracy?

Read through your whole site and have one employee or trusted colleague read through your whole site in early January. Make sure dates, prices, portfolio, and awards, etc. are up to date.

Awards getting old and no newer ones? Just remove dates. Is the headshot a reasonable likeness? Staff list up-to-date? Add a year to the copyright date on site. Don’t let your site say 2004-2010.

Got some more ideas? Please add suggestions for essential/basic things to check up on for the New Year right here.

Internet Marketing ConsultantKaren Nierlich and Almost Everything Communications are a local Web firm helping small businesses thrive in the Oakland, Berkeley, Richmond, Marin and San Francisco. If you have a web project or wish to have an analysis of the strengths and next steps for your web presence, call her at 510-527-9920. You can also follow AEC on Facebook or Twitter.

 

Posted in internet marketing, WordPress Websites | Tagged , | Leave a comment

3 Online Stores: PrestaShop, WordPress Store & Shopify

PrestaShop LogoIn this article, I’m sharing Tod Abbott’s, our AEC Senior Programer, assessments of 3 online store options. Any of these three stores can be set up for less than $10,000 and in some cases considerably less. This estimate includes the online store, not the website.

Typically, we at AEC match the store (custom, Open Source Software or E-commerce service) to the customer specifications. That means interviewing the client about the plan for the store and their needs and expectations.

This healthcare company wants a store because they are currently selling a large volume of supplements through their front office by phone and to patients with appointments. The goal is to set up the store to free up the office staff’s time.

The store requirements include:

-large variety of product

-keep set up cost down by using an Open Source solution

-make it easy to calculate shipping and cover the shipping & handling cost

-design the store to closely match the existing website.

As there are often newer and better shopping cart solutions available, Tod reviewed the most current shopping cart options in order to make his recommendations.

1. My top recommendation for the supplement store is to use an open source shopping cart called “PrestaShop.”

-modern, well-supported shopping cart with a lot of the features
-lively developer community that offers many add-on modules (some free, but mostly for purchase).
-pretty much complete control over how things look, and slightly less control over how things behave.
-particularly like the single-page checkout. Many shopping carts require the customer to click through several pages while making a purchase. Each page is a barrier that can block the transaction. Prestashop can be set up to handle everything on a single page.
-also impressed with the ease-of-use and features of the Admin tool for the store. I’ve worked with other solutions that are very poorly structured on the admin side, and difficult to work with. Prestashop’s admin tools are generally efficient and well-designed.

You can view live stores built with Prestashop on this page: http://www.prestashop.com/en/showcase (choose an industry…then scroll down for samples.)

WordPress Content Management Systems2. A second recommendation would be to go with a WordPress-based store. As you may know, WordPress is a very popular tool for building websites. It started as a blogging platform, but has grown to be a feature-rich and very flexible tool for building websites of just about any size.

-exceptional and very active developer community and has many options for hosting a store.
-flexible as to how it looks; will be easy to match to the website
-somewhat less control over the operation of the store
-the admin tools, while adequate, would not be as feature-rich as the Prestashop tools

Here are some sample stores:

http://www.funkyfriendsfactory.com
http://www.printingselect.com

3. Finally, the third recommendation is to use the monthly service Shopify.

-hosted store solution. Store resides on vendors website. Disadvantageous to Search Engine Optimization as the new pages and keywords are on the vendor website.
-probably be the fastest and easiest solution to get up and running
-might be difficult to get an exact match for the site design and the store; the specific features and how things work are pretty much going to be the way Shopify presents it (fortunately, that is generally very nice and feature-rich)
-probably the easiest to use of the tools

You can view sample sites here: http://www.shopify.com/examples

There recommendations were specific to one client and one project and might vary for other clients. They happen to be in order from most to least expensive. In this case, our belief is that PrestaShop will be a little more to implement than the WordPress Store and Shopify will be the least expensive. More information after we set up PrestaShop.

_________

PrestaShop Programmer, PHP ProgrammerTod Abbott is a Senior Programmer and Owner at Almost Everything Communications. The firm specializes in Web Programming, Web Design, SEO and Social Media. AEC works with companies through out the SF Bay Area including Marin, Oakland, Berkeley and San Francisco to help them thrive online.

 

Posted in Programming | Tagged , | 3 Comments

WordPress Website Redesign: Oakland Home Organizer

This new WordPress Website Redesign is for a young Oakland Home Organizing business. The original website was built by the organizer when he started his business 3 years ago. It’s an exceptionally good DIY website that is both clean and informative. It does meet the standards of best practices in web design.

Home Organizing

WordPress Website Redesign for Oakland Home Organizer

Now three years later this organizer business is rocking and he wanted to upgrade just about every aspect of his WordPress Website. The deliverables included a more sophisticated, colorful look that integrates his new logo, video, social media and compells people to join his email list. He also wanted better search engine optimization and a better looking gallery which we were able to provide.

ABOVE is the new WordPress Website Redesign. BELOW is the previous (current site).

WordPress Website Redesign

BEFORE site created by business owner

WordPress Website Redesign
If you are like this business owner — looking for better search engine optimization and an improved look and feel, please talk to Karen 510-527-9920 at Almost Everything Communications. Before your redesign is the best time to do keyword research and plan new pages that will attract more traffic to your site.

 

Posted in WordPress Websites | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

WordPress Website Redesign for San Francisco Psycho Spiritual Healer

I have the opportunity to show you some BEFORE and AFTER WordPress Website Redesigns and I’m taking full advantage. This first image is the beautiful, artsy new site of San Francisco Psycho Spiritual Healer Angelique Jan Pera. Her individual private therapy practice has been full and thriving for years. However, she is changing her practice somewhat to offer more workshops and spiritual retreats to some of the most amazing locations in the world.

WordPress Website Redesign

 

The etching on the homepage is by artist Stephen Whittle and from Angelique’s private collection. Each of the inside pages of this WordPress website features original artwork: Song by artist Paula Mills, Lovers by Sergey Konstantinov and Archetypal SHE and HE by Mystical Artist Mary Saint-Marie (also from Angelique’s collection).

Her previous site was built in 1997 and is a good example of early websites. Obviously website design has changed a lot in 15 years. One major improvement is the width of the text. Today web designers are careful keep the text width at around 5 inches which makes the page easier to read. It’s hard for the eye to scan across this wider width.

Additionally, the WordPress Website redesign will make the site easier to update, created a design for the 2000′s and added email sign up so people can get workshop and spiritual retreat information right into their email boxes.

 

WordPress Website Redesign

WordPress Website RedesignIf your business website is more than 4-5 years old, you are probably ready for redesign. Advantages include the ability to update the site in-house, integration of social media and bringing the design up-to-date. Call Karen for WordPress Website Redesign with Almost Everything Communications at 510-527-9920.

 

Posted in WordPress Websites | Tagged , | Leave a comment

7 Benefits of WordPress Website Redesign

 

Sites for Lawyers

This new website for an lawyer will sport about 10 new keyword rich pages, a new design and a new call to action. That'll be the request a consultation email form on the homepage. Site is in development and I'll add it here when ready. See current site photo below for a before and after view.

Websites not only start to look out-of-date after a while, they also start to act out-of-date. This list will show you how websites become less effective and marketing suffers.

Once your site is in the 3-4 year range, you want to start thinking about redesign. If I had to put a number on it, I’d say 5 years is the typical life span of a small/medium business website.

Here some of the benefits of WordPress Website Redesign.

1. Updating or adding SEO pages. When planning a website redesign or new website, be sure to do keyword research first. One of many SEO best practices is to have a separate page for each page or a unique keyword on each page. When you start with keyword research, you can then plan the pages around your keywords and receive more organic traffic to your site.

2. More Available Real Estate – Monitors keep getting bigger & websites have been getting wider; thus if your site is a few years old it may look puny and anemic compared today’s websites. When you redesign you can expand your page width up to 900-1000 pixils giving you more room for your marketing message above fold of the page.

Sites for Lawyers

This new website for an attorney will sport about 10 new keyword rich pages, a new design and a new call to action. That'll be the request a consultation email form on the homepage. Site is in development and I'll add it here when ready. See current site photo below for a before and after view.

3. Make the Site Mobile Friendly. You want to make sure people can navigate your site on a smart phone as the # of smart phone users and searches is climbing dramatically. In the site redesign, your programmer will /should code the site to perform well on various mobile devices.

4. Save Money on Editing – Many businesses and businesses are paying a web person to update their site. With site redesign your business can implement the WordPress Content Management System. Need for webmaster time decreases dramatically when you can do much of your updates yourself on WordPress.

5. Integrate Social Media or improve integration of social media. Your business or organization many have adopted blogging, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter or Google +. However, the website may predate those new marketing platforms and your social media links may be tiny or stuck at the bottom of the page. Redesign allows you to feature your social media prominently on the new site making it easier to attract additional followers. It also shows your firm is embracing social media, using the new way of marketing and forward thinking.

6. Integrating Calls to Action and your company email newsletter. Older sites tended to be informational. You’ll get a better response to your marketing if you include a call to action.  It might be as simple as a button to “request a quote” or “call us now.” Or you could  offer visitors a special report by signing in with email.

7. Updating colors and other design aspects. Colors on web design go in trends just as they do in home decor and clothes. After a few years some colors look out-of-date and updating will help you lose an dated color palette and add a contemporary one.

Below is the BEFORE version of the site I’ve shown you above. This site was built in 2004 and done better than most of that age I’d say.

 

WordPress website Redesign

Law Office Website BEFORE Redesign

 

 

Posted in internet marketing, WordPress Websites | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Best Practices on Mobile-Friendly Websites

Recently, clients have been asking us to build their site so it performs well on a mobile device.  Websites and mobile friendly is also currently a huge topic among designers and programmers. Since I write for non-techies, I’ll keep it simple. If you are a techie, I’ll post to links at the bottom from my sources.

There two options available at the moment.

1. Building one website and making it responsive to the device or platform its on so it adjusts into a readable or “friendly” format.

2. Building a separate website for cell phones and possibly other separate websites for other devices.

We here at AEC are choosing option #1, though we acknowledge there are times when a separate site could be warranted.

The downside of a separate mobile website is that it creates another set of content to keep up-to-date. Consequently (and for other reasons as well), many mobile sites present only a sub-set of the information on the main website. Someone will decide what “most mobile users will want to see,” and that’s all the mobile site will include to keep it easier to update. But too often the guesses are wrong about what content the mobile phone user is looking for. To quote Bruce Lawson, “you never know better than your users what content they want.”

Though, I would add “or how they want to view it.”

What bothers us about much of the mobile web and responsive web discussion is the idea that we can automatically anticipate how people want to view a website, so can remove that control from them. On the contrary, the most important part of any mobile website is that link over to the full website, just like the most important part of any “responsive” website is a link to cancel the responsive features.

 

Users want and need the two “cons” – content and control. Remove content by offering only the content you assume mobile users want, or remove control by assuming you know how users want to view that content, and you are delivering frustration to your users.

Want to read some more:

Why We Shouldn’t Make Separate Mobile Websites by Bruce Lawson

This article on Responsive Web Design by Ethan Harcotte from A List Apart (one of the most respected web design blogs) is considered one of the seminal statements. It’s a good reference if people want to read a bit more on the subject, though it gets a bit technical.

_____________

Responsive Websites

Karen Nierlich is an internet marketing consultant with Almost Everything Communications. If you want to discuss mobile friendly or responsive sites, or other topics related to web development or internet marketing, call Karen at AEC at 510-527-9920.

Posted in internet marketing, WordPress Websites | Tagged , | Leave a comment

New WordPress Website for Oakland Self Help Publisher

CBT_Self_Help_Therapy

New WordPress Website for CBT_Self_Help_Therapy

We at Almost Everything Communications (AEC) are pleased to announce the launch of a new WordPress Website for New Harbinger Publications in Oakland. This new site, called CBT  Self Help Therapy, is a membership / e-commerce / and e-learning site.

New Harbinger is a nearly 40 year publisher of Self Help and Psychology books that cover most topics on these subjects. Now they’ve turned one of their recent workbooks — Mind and Emotions, by Matthew McKay, Patrick Fanning, and Patricia Zurita Ona — into an online workbook people can access from their privacy of their homes. The site allows individuals to participate in online interactive sessions in which they view videos & audio tapes, answer questions and receive feedback on where to focus their learning and on their progress.

The empowering premise of Matthew and Patrick’s work is that skill learning can lighten depression, reduce anxiety, lessen anger and relieve guilt and shame. The site, designed and programed by AEC, provides people with lessons they can work on their own or with the support of a therapist. We believe, as they do, that it will give many more people access to therapy.

Other collaborators for this project include Joe Seidler of Seidler Internet Marketing, who is a valuable expert when we are building online businesses, and Nancy Rosenberg of Frisco Graphics, who provided the bright and clean homepage design.

____________
WordPress Programmer, PHP ProgrammerTod Abbott, our AEC Sr. Programmer, and team are responsible for the creation this sophisticated e-learning website. Tod’s an expert in web information design, WordPress and PHP web development and has been the senior programmer at AEC for over 15 years. To discuss a web development project, contact Karen by phone at 510-527-9920.

Posted in internet marketing, socially-responsible businesses, WordPress Websites | Tagged | Leave a comment