Bright Stars Online

Pleasing Tweets

admin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 15:46:02 +0000

Twitter, like your blog, feels more informal than a newsletter or article. However, if people are following your business Twitter account, they expect to hear something interesting about your product or service. How can a business take advantage of Twitter without getting too personal?

Identify Yourself. Take some time to set your profile page with accurate contact information. Use your face, or a clear business logo, in your profile picture. Use your business imagery in your profile background, and consider using similar imagery in both your website and your Twitter page. People feel more connected with you when they can identify your product and visualize who is tweeting to them.
Add Value. Use Twitter to announce details about your business - that new product has finally arrived, or your appearance at a new market. If you don’t have anything to announce about your business, link to a relevant article online. For example, if your product is soup, you could link to a story about the nutrient value in some of your ingredients.
Not Too Much. Don’t constantly point out the connection between the story and your product. As long as the connection is there, your followers will see it - if they want to. Remember that your followers use Twitter for more than to find out about your product, and if you overwhelm them, they could unfollow you with a single click! Avoid being perceived as a Twitter spammer.
Be Fun. As in your blog, you should let your voice shine through your tweets. Excitement and optimism about your business and product is more likely to catch your followers’ attention.
Stay On-Topic. Business twitterers always have to remember that they are tweeting for the business. Don’t fall into the habit of tweeting your lunch break, or your bad mood. Maintain a separate private Twitter account for your non-business-related tweets.
Link To Your Blog. If you have an important blog post, share the link in a Tweet. This is a great way to offer your content without making your followers read a huge tweet, or series of tweets. Give a brief 3-5 word title, followed by the link. Interested followers will click through! If you use WordPress, there is a plug-in that can tweet your posts automatically.

© 2009 Bright Stars Online | All rights reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

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Let Yourself Shine

admin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:20:25 +0000

If you are a small business with a blog, you may feel uncomfortable about how “professional” you should appear in the “Blog” part of your website. Some businesses shy away from the word “blog,” believing the medium to be too nontraditional to carry their brand identity.

On the contrary, blogs are a great way to let your personality shine through to your customers. As you provide your brand message or product information, you should take the opportunity to connect with your audience on a more personal level. Customers feel more personally connected with your brand if they feel like they are friends with you.

You can “let your personality shine” by using an informal name or title, and by sharing some of your daily experiences running your business. When people visit your site, they will be open to hearing interesting stories about your business and industry. Use a conversational tone, so people feel like you are speaking directly to them.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you should let a day’s negativity, or bad feelings (we all have those, once in a while!), show through to your audience. Your blog isn’t an open portal to your personality: it’s a marketing tool that helps build your online image. Allow it to show some personality - but don’t feel that it has to show everything about you.

Start using your blog to build customer loyalty and trust by creating a more personal image online. You’ll be way ahead of businesses that don’t bother to connect with their online customers.

© 2009 Bright Stars Online | All rights reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

Pleasing Tweets Twitter, like your blog, feels more informal than a newsletter...

New Website: Sarah Eve Kelly

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:50:45 +0000

Sarah is a new author with a political thriller about the destruction of Anne Boleyn. She decided to invest in a website as a dynamic CV, with pages tailored to publishers and potential readership. Her page includes:

a static front page

custom horizontal navigation menu

tailored header image

Chapter 1 teaser page

custom links organization (sidebar blogroll)

© 2009 Bright Stars Online | All rights reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

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New Website: Paint For Joy

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:19:49 +0000

Paint For Joy is a vibrant part of the St. Albert art community. They provide classes for art students at all levels, often with well-known artists providing the instruction. Paint For Joy also carries all kinds of painting tools and equipment, from paints, brushes, and canvasses to frames and unfinished wooden items for painting. Their website needed to be attractive and well-organized on the outside, but powerful enough to carry an enormous stock of products for sale and constantly updated schedule. The website features:

personalized web design

photo slide show tour of the shop

pages with buttons organizing products and services

large stock of products online, using the upgraded (”Gold”) shopping cart

If you need a shop like this, give us a shout!

© 2009 Bright Stars Online | All rights reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

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New Website: Catfish Coffee Roasters

admin — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 00:06:21 +0000

Catfish Coffee Roasters are a locally owned and operated small batch coffee roasting company that is environmentally and socially responsible from the beans up. They needed a website that represented their brand and informed customers of their current product line. Their website has:

a sliding header with products and descriptions (try it!)

strong featured “Philosophy” section

consistent formatting for recent blog entries and images

email subscription service

Twitter and Facebook integration

separate “About Catfish Coffee” business profile section

shopping cart optional, pre-installed for the client

Check out Catfish Coffee Roasters for yourself, and then email us for your quote!

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New Website: Luigi’s Concrete

admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:35:17 +0000

Luigi’s Concrete is a concrete contractor that specializes in excavation, removal and replacement, concrete coring and cutting. They needed a simple website that would profile their work in stamped, exposed aggregate and acid stained concrete, and provide a means for customers to get in touch with them. The website has:

custom graphics that incorporate a pre-existing logo

gallery of completed projects

information about concrete products and processes

links for customers to find out more about concrete

contact form

If you need a simple, yet elegant page like this, email Bright Stars Online to arrange an estimate.

© 2009 Bright Stars Online | All rights reserved. This post cannot be republished without express written permission.

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New Website: Spicy Cocoa

admin — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 23:26:51 +0000

Spicy Cocoa is a small business that sells spiced organic, fair trade hot chocolate at the St. Albert Farmer’s Market and online. We chose a clean template with some nice custom features to put Spicy Cocoa online. The theme installation features:

shopping cart

email subscription service

chocolatey graphic look

custom shop buttons in the sidebar

lots of custom color work throughout

footer area containing informative widgets

…and more! View the website at SpicyCocoa.ca, and if you like this look for your online business, give us a shout!

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Masthead: Space Whimsy

admin — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 21:01:26 +0000

This masthead combines bright colors and sharp lines with a glowing motif. It suggests a contrast between the grandeur of our universe and the little scotty angel. Did it make you smile?

If you need to inject some grandeur and humor into your site, contact Liz!

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Masthead: Mom-Blog

admin — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:35:29 +0000

Keeling requested this pink and personalized masthead for her blog. You can see it in action at Confessions.

Contact Liz for a custom masthead designed for your business or personal website.

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Masthead: Christmas Theme

admin — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:33:37 +0000

Here, a fun masthead has been custom styled with photos of Christmas ornaments for a personal blog. Several layering and vector effects were added to create the final graphic.

Contact Liz for a custom masthead designed for your business or personal website.

Masthead: Mom-Blog Keeling requested this pink and personalized masthead for her blog....
Masthead: Space Whimsy This masthead combines bright colors and sharp lines with a...