Some things to consider when planning out your new website:

• Domain Name – New Online Entrepreneurs want their domain name to be something they can stick with for as long as they plan to work their online business. Changing a domain name in which your website is hosted through can be time consuming and not an easy task to achieve.

  Keeping a domain relevant to your website is just as important as sticking with something that can easily be converted into something different in case your focus shifts in a new direction down the road. Thinking through a domain name before starting a new website will certainly save the online entrepreneur time and a big headache later on.

• Choosing a Website Host – Just like switching a domain on your website host isn’t easy, neither is switching website hosts. Especially if your website has scripts like Wordpress or a forum, switching your website host can again be very time consuming and confusing.

  Choosing a website host that can accommodate your websites growing needs, and who can provide a reliable service is certainly important to an online business.

• Platform – Choosing what type of platform your new website will run on, again is something that should be planned ahead of time.

  By platform I am referring to whether or not you will be building an html website, or will you be using a script for your platform like a website builder or Wordpress?

  Deciding now what platform your new website will be built on is essential when starting a new website. This information is needed in order to know what type of design will be needed for the new website.

  Also changing platforms later on, again, is very time consuming. We all know, in the online business world especially, time is money.

Planning a new website is not an easy task. Taking short cuts to choosing a domain name, a website host, and which platform to use can certainly stunt the growth of an online business later on.

Putting a lot of thought and research into planning out these three things will certainly save the new online entrepreneur time and money.

Premium Wordpress Themes vs. Custom Wordpress Design: What's the difference?

Planning A New Website

What is networking?

Networking is simply a matter of getting out there and letting people get to know who you are. That’s it. All there is to networking is to meet the people.

You learned it all in kindergarten: Play nice, share and make new friends.

Based on its exponential growth, Twitter is the number one place to get out and network. All you need to do is create a Twitter account and start using it. Use your business name or your real name for your Twitter username and upload a real picture of yourself. Plug in the link to your site or blog and create a quick little bio that tells folks who you are and what you do.

Next, post a few tweets saying hello. Offer up a pearl or two of wisdom relating to your expertise. Then, start following people. Don’t know who to follow? Use Twitter search (the link is at the bottom of your main page) and type in a keyword or two describing the topics you’re interested in. For business, it’s often easiest to begin by following people in your own field. Type in your industry and step back while you watch the results start pouring in. Click on the usernames you see and start checking people out until you find some you like, then follow those people and start interacting.

Do NOT go on Twitter and start posting link after link about your business.

Instead, share some of the insight and wisdom you have about your business. Good, juicy, useful information. Just give it away! Heck, it’s only 140 characters, you can spring for it. Share links to great stuff you find on the web. Cut and paste someone else’s post with “RT” in front of it. This is called a Retweet and it’s an easy way to share and make new friends. We all love to be re-tweeted because it makes us feel important and special.

Yes, there are all kinds of tips and tricks to using Twitter (and other networking sites) effectively for marketing your business. A lot of the teleseminars, books and programs are worth every penny you pay for them, some even more. However, you don’t need even one of them to get started using Twitter to network for your business.

Premium Wordpress Themes vs. Custom Wordpress Design: What's the difference?

How to Network on Twitter

Today, just about any subject you can think of uses hashtags in order to follow a particular stream of tweeted data. They are used for promotions and contests, as well as groups of people communicating together. One common hashtag seen on Twitter is #gno, which is Girls Night Out. This group is growing every week and you can join in the fun simply by searching Twitter for #gno.

Your business can also utilize this nifty symbol in order to announce new products or projects, keep customers informed of current events going on throughout your company. You can even build your business by providing clients with a useful way to keep track of you and your brand.

Hashtags also force you to keep certain key words (such as #SEO or other searchable keywords) your business might be working to develop as optimized search terms in your text. Since all Twitter messages can be indexed by Google, the use of these key words will also help your business in developing their search engine rankings.

Here are a few things to remember when creating hashtags for Twitter.

Availability – Check places like www.hashtags.org to see if the hashtag you want is already in use. If your term is available, make sure you are following @hashtags and just input the hashtag you wish to use preceded by the # mark, of course.

Relevancy – Make sure your hashtag is relevant to what you are trying to track. For instance, do not use #newyork if you are trying to sell watches in the New York area. Use something a little more specific to your business such as #FossilNY.

Memorable – Keep your hashtags memorable so customers can find them easily. Remember, the longer your hashtag, the fewer characters you will have to use in your actual text. Keep it short, simple and to the point.

Branding – Use your hashtags to help develop a business brand. By using your tags to enhance your search engine optimization terms, your brand will be more visible to customers searching for what you offer. Remember to keep your hashtag in line with your business and business goals.

As you can see, hashtags are a great way to help build your business. Give them a shot and let your customers know you are using them too. The easiest hashtag to use is your business name. If you tell your customers to search for your hashtag they are guaranteed to have the most up-to-date information about what is going on with your business. Happy hashtagging!

Premium Wordpress Themes vs. Custom Wordpress Design: What's the difference?

Your Business & Twitter Hashtags

There are a few different rules businesses must follow when networking on Twitter, but for the most part, things work the same as they do for an individual user. Here are a few things to think about when using Twitter as a business tool.

Update your profile – Keep your profile updated and current with any new developments or projects currently in the works. This helps your customers understand where you are going as a business and it also makes them aware of any changes you have planned.

Stay professional – While it may be fun to get into a heated debate over who will win the Kentucky Derby, keep your tweeting business oriented. It is not a bad thing to express your opinion every once in a while, but do make sure that it falls directly in line with the mission statement and operating procedures of the company under whose name you are tweeting. If you are a sole proprietor, obviously you have the decision making power here, but if you are in business with others, develop a policy for how individuals will tweet.

Be personal – People like to know they are talking with actual people. In this age where digital voices prompting our actions are standard, people find great delight in the ability to communicate with intelligent human people who can actually listen and respond rather than deal with canned impersonal messages that don’t meet their individual needs and desires.

Use tracking devices – Implement the use of hashtags and other tracking devices as searchable references for your customers. This makes it easy for them to follow you and your business developments. The easier it is to follow you and what you are doing, the better chance you have they will actually do it. Let your customers know when you have initiated a new search term and what those terms mean to them. Your business is about helping the customer get to your product as easy as possible. Hashtags are a great tool to help this happen.

Make their life easy – While conversing with your prospects, make sure to ask if there is anything they believe your business can do to improve – and then listen. Customer feedback is one of the most valuable tools to a business. You can develop customer loyalty simply through listening to and responding to their opinions.

The biggest difference between a business account and a personal account on Twitter is the language and posture you present while socializing. Don’t be a machine, check your replies and messages, respond to questions and be human. Follow these simple rules and your business will develop a new social networking tool that can be used to reach thousands more clients in no time.

Premium Wordpress Themes vs. Custom Wordpress Design: What's the difference?

Socializing on Twitter: Business

Who: Your hosts will be Heather Bixler & Kelly McCausey
What: Mom Masterminds Tweet Up
Where: Indianapolis, Indiana
When: Friday May 29, 2009 @ 10am
Cost: FREE – just the cost of your lunch is all that’s required to attend!

Sometimes sitting behind a computer can be lonely, that’s why I am SO excited to finally be able to meet the moms I talk to online on a daily basis in person.

This opportunity is a great way to meet with local work at home moms. Join us for insight, motivation, and support to growing your online business.

This local event is FREE to the public, all you need to worry about is the cost of your food as we chat at Panera Bread!

CLICK HERE to register for this FREE event! {More details about when and where is provided through the registration form.}

If you have any questions then please feel free to contact me here!

Premium Wordpress Themes vs. Custom Wordpress Design: What's the difference?

Indy MMWeetup

Like other social networks, millions of people use Twitter. It is a micro-universe of potential visitors just waiting to be tapped. The question is how to get them to take a look at you.

First of all, sign up for an account. You can’t find the right people unless you get in the game. Don’t worry about creating a business account at this point. You are only concerned with connecting with people now.

Next, get involved. Read other people’s tweets; join as a follower for popular tweeters. You can use Twitter applications to track the tweets of others and also do keyword searches for interesting tweets. Comment on current tweets and get a feel for how it works and who everyone is following.

The best thing about Twitter is that it works in real time from your PC. You can ask questions to find out any type of information. If you are looking for followers (Twitter friends) interested in gardening (if that is what your blog is about), pose the question in a tweet and wait for responses. You’ll be surprised what you hear back.

Posing questions is one way to find suitable traffic for your blog. You want more visitors but the kind of visitors who are likely to come back and buy from you if you are selling a product. It is a research tool that returns immediate results.

More advice…

There are a few things to observe. In your tweets, use keywords. It might be hard with so few characters, but you want to include searchable words that anyone will enter into a Twitter search engine to find your tweets.

Don’t be a spammer. If your tweets always include links to your blog or your work on other sites, people will get the idea that you are not there to connect but just to fill the site with links. Use the site to find others with similar business interests or to pose interesting views and get feedback. You can link to your blog when appropriate but don’t overdo it or people will get that fishy feeling about you.

It takes time to build up a following of followers on Twitter just like any other social networking site. The plus with Twitter is that the results are more immediate that with other social sites. Find the targeted visitors you are after with a few questions and then join in the twittering to build a rapport that translates into more traffic.

P.S. Be sure to follow Girly Blog Designz on Twitter!

Premium Wordpress Themes vs. Custom Wordpress Design: What's the difference?

How to Use Twitter for Blog Traffic

However there are a lot of what we call “Premium Wordpress Themes” floating around on the internet and to the new and veteran Wordpress bloggers it might be a little confusing as to what the difference is between a Custom Wordpress Design and a Premium Wordpress Theme. So I would like to take a minute to clarify a bit on what the difference is between the two.

Custom Wordpress Design

A Custom Wordpress Design is a total theme/template designed to your specific needs as a blogger. Typically you will purchase a design spot, and fill out a questionnaire so the designer knows what you are looking for in a design. Most custom designs are made for you and you alone and will not be sold to another blog owner.

Some custom designs are based off your current Wordpress Theme or the designer may start the entire design from scratch. Either way your custom design is made uniquely for you.

The disadvantage – Since a Custom Wordpress Design is made uniquely for you it typically costs a lot more than a Premium Wordpress Theme.

Premium Wordpress Themes

Premium Wordpress Themes are very similar to Premade Wordpress Designs. They are sold as is – basically the design you purchase is the design that will appear on your blog once you install the theme. Premium Wordpress Themes are designed to be sold more than once, so it is very likely that there are a lot of people on the interwebs using the same design.

Even though Premium Wordpress Themes aren’t uniquely made for you, they certainly are useful to the Wordpress blogger. Most Premium Themes are of better quality than a free theme and more affordable than a Custom Wordpress Design. It is really a great middle ground if you don’t want to use a free theme, but your pocket book can’t handle the price tag of a Custom Wordpress Design.

Another awesome thing about Premium Wordpress Themes is that some of them offer unique functions not available in free themes. For example the Thesis Wordpress Theme offers a lot of great functions to help manage your new Wordpress Blog – I would say with the functions available, the Thesis Theme is a great choice for the newbie blogger.

Studio Press is another Premium Wordpress Theme that offers unique magazine style themes which are great for major content based websites.

Premium Wordpress Themes can easily be customized with a simple Custom Header Design to help spread your brand and make your blog stand out.

Conclusion

Purchasing a Premium Wordpress Theme is certainly not the same as purchasing a Custom Wordpress Design. However they both have their advantages and disadvantages, but if you shop wisely and look for guidance you will surely have the tools to make your blog stand out among the crowd.

Premium Wordpress Themes vs. Custom Wordpress Design: What's the difference?

Premium Theme vs. Custom Design

What are we saying?

Let’s look at article marketing. People come to the Internet for several reasons.

One is to find useful information on a topic. When keywords are entered into a search box, it is expected to receive results that get right to the point. If you are looking for information on how to make a soufflé then you want recipes and articles about useful tips for creating a perfect soufflé.

Articles show that you are an expert in your area. They provide current information on a variety of topics for the readers. In the resource box, you can put your website address and any other pertinent facts so someone can find you.

Twitter vs. Article Marketing

1. The tweets are short. They are meant to be short. But, as a marketing tool, it is not in the same realm as article marketing. You have a full 450 or more words to demonstrate your expertise. If readers find your information helpful they will go looking for more.

2. Articles are versatile. Articles can also be used with software that can churn out a number of rewrites that can be used in article directories for increased visibility. Three articles with eight paragraphs each can be mixed and matched to create an infinite number of new articles for you to use.

3. Article marketing is targeted. Using keyword optimization in your articles, you are targeting those people who will look for those keywords in their search engines. With Twitter, your tweets are not so targeted. You may get a thousand people viewing your tweets but all of those people may not be interested in your business.

4. Twitter is a social network first and foremost. There are many people that use Twitter for business, but it is mostly for enjoyment. There is business applications that can help you connect with your established customers, but most don’t use it for direct sales.

5. Articles are ranked by major search engines. People can find your work. Everyone used the major search engines but not everyone is on Twitter. As long as you use SEO techniques for your articles, they will rank high and be viewed by your target market.

Article marketing won’t be replaced by Twitter anytime soon. Articles are useful for drawing in business and driving traffic to your site. Twitter is handy to communicate with existing clients or to connect with people on a personal level or make valuable business connections.

Don’t Forget to follow Girly Blog Designz on Twitter!

Premium Wordpress Themes vs. Custom Wordpress Design: What's the difference?

Twitter Will Never Replace Article Marketing

What’s included with a custom Wordpress Design?

Below is a break down of what’s included in our custom blog design package:

• A complete Custom Wordpress design (2 or 3 column or magazine style theme!)
• Up to 10 image credits from www.istockphoto.com or www.dreamstime.com
• Free Installation – We will install your custom design in order to make sure everything is working properly on your Wordpress blog!
• Custom Sidebar Titles – are you tired of the boring sidebar titles like “archives” “categories” and “blogroll” well with a Custom Wordpress design by Girly Blog Designz you will receive custom sidebar titles to reflect your personality throughout your entire blog. *Please note that custom sidebar titles cannot be used with the sidebar widgets. *
• Custom Fancy Pants Siggy – Let your name shine on your blog, and get a free fancy pants siggy installed on your custom Wordpress design!

We are currently scheduling designs for June 22, 2009 – this is a limited time offer so hurry and reserve your design today!

Premium Wordpress Themes vs. Custom Wordpress Design: What's the difference?

$50 Off Custom Wordpress Design

Twitter is just like instant messaging or text messaging. You feel like you’ve stepped into an alternate universe because everyone looks human but they are speaking some sort of gibberish. Well, it is not really gibberish but the Twitter language. You’ll think you are developing a lisp but that’s okay – everyone who uses it has one.

What are the Basics?

To get you started, here are some basic things to know. The site is called Twitter. Some interchange Twitter and Tweeter and that’s a faux pas. A tweeter is something that works with woofers in your car speakers. Now, you can use “tweeter” to refer to someone who uses Twitter if you want to.

The messages that you send are called Tweets. Don’t confuse it with chirps. A bird chirps and even though a bird is the logo, the messages that you chirp out are known as tweets. Each message is 140 characters or shorter.

A person that uses Twitter is a Twitterer. You can say a Twitter user but twitterer is more accepted. Twittering (or tweeting) is the act of sending and receiving tweets and using various aspects of the service.

On Facebook you have friends, but on Twitter you have followers. Yea, it sounds like you are recruiting for a cult, but it distinguishes Twitter from the other social networking media out there these days. You can be followed or have people that you follow.

There are several tools or applications that can be used with Twitter service. All of these will either begin with “Tw”, hence the lisp. For example you have TweetDeck, Twhirl, Twitterfeed, Twitterrati and so on and so on.

Texting, Anyone?

Twitter does use some of the same lingo as text messaging or chat room users. With 140 characters, space is precious. Instead of typing “see you later,” change it to “CUL8R.” so, not only do you need to be familiar with Twitter lingo but text messaging terms help as well.

Follow Suit

Remember the lisp? Many Twitter terms are recycled terms with a Tw- prefix. For instance, “twalking” is someone who twitters (by text) while they are walking. “Twaffic” is twitter traffic. You get the idea.

For a more comprehensive list of Twitter lingo go to http://twittonary.com for more. This Twitter dictionary includes text messaging abbreviations, Twitter lingo and names for Twitter tools. Keep this handy and you’ll always look like a hip Twitterer.

Remember: Follow Girly Blog Designz on Twitter!

Premium Wordpress Themes vs. Custom Wordpress Design: What's the difference?

Learning Twitter Lingo