Motivating Mum is a community for mumpreneurs based in the UK. It is full of goodies and freebies for business mums, including:

• Affordable Business Mentoring – specific help for business from mums who have done it themselves;
• Business Networking Events;
• Daily Dose of Motivation in your inbox every morning.

Once a year (in March) Motivating Mum runs a Mummy Mentoring Month which offers a blog carnival, services’ auction, mentoring. Over 50 business women joined in this year donating their time, services or products to support the business community and other women running their small businesses. We didn’t miss a chance to offer our support too and provided:

• Twitter profile design (2 auction winners);
• WordPress starter package design (2 auction winners);
• Mentoring on 1:1 basis covering a range of online marketing topics and issues;
• Help with the run up to the event – we uploaded and set up all profiles for business mentors and services they were offering (using Joomla CMS) so that Debbie, the great lady behind Motivating Mum, could focus on promoting the event and increasing the awareness amongst wider business community.

The services auction worked in the way that we donated our prizes (services in this case) completely free of charge, bidders submitted how much they were going to pay for each prize but whatever amount they paid at the end – went straight to charity. This year the nominated charity was Nema Foundation.

Two months since the event

Twitter profiles have been designed and are now live. WordPress websites have been postponed by the request of winners until later in 2012 – when they are ready with their content. We’ll post an update with site links once the sites are completed.

Twitter.com/mumsthebusiness

Twitter.com/alisonbcoach

Although the Mentoring Month is over you can still book in a session of business mentoring with Tamara focussing on online marketing strategy, social media, SEO and web design. The reason is that Tamara is a resident mentor at Motivating Mum so her sessions are up for grabs throughout the year. There is a limited availability though every month so don’t delay to book your slot!

And if you would like to get a chance to get some fantastic prizes, offers, services and products at really low prices (and support a charity at the same time!) then check back on Motivating Mum in early 2013. If the Mentoring Month is back – so shall we!

Explore your discussion settings and decide how you want to allow your readers to comment. The following tips will guide you through the settings:

• On the WordPress dashboard go to settings and choose discussions to check your options;
• Default article settings can be set but may be overridden for individual articles;
• Other comment settings selects the extent a reader has to be able to comment whether it’s just name and email or whether they need to be registered and logged in;
• You can close comments on articles older than a specified amount of days;
• Enable or disable threaded comments – e.g. enable others to respond to comments and keep these responses organised;
• Break comments into pages (and identify how many comments to list per page). You could either have a long list of comments on one page or break it into sub-pages. In the latter case make sure to display latest comments on page 1 to keep the discussion going;
• Email notification whenever a comment is made and if it is held for moderation;
• Tick – admin always need to approve a comment – this stops potential spam comments get published however it means that genuine comments will have to wait to be moderated;
• When a user has already made a comment, further comments they make do not have to be approved – this helps reduce the number of comments you’ll need to moderate from regular readers.

Comment Moderation

• A large number of links in a comment is usually a sure sign that the comment is spam!
• Comments can be held for moderation if they contain a number of hyperlinks or certain words;
• Words placed in the box will require any comment containing them to be held for moderation;
• Blacklist – add words here that may be used by spammers (certain medications and similar), comments will then be automatically spammed.

A conversation with your followers is large part of blogging. So try to be lenient with your readers and not give them too many hurdles to jump to leave comments. This may open you up to spammers but if you install a spam filter like WordPress Akismet plugin you can moderate comments and trash the spammers!

And finally… don’t forget to leave your comment below. It’s very easy, but it will be held for moderation

The Law on Cookies

As of May 26th this year, changes made to EU Law will effect how websites use cookies. This date is now looming and everyone is obliged to make the necessary changes. In a nutshell, the changes relate to the storage of cookies on your computer, and as of May 26th cookies cannot be stored without a user’s consent. As your web design agency we are here to help all our clients with these changes.

Why have these changes happened?

Mainly because of the small number of data companies who use cookie data inappropriately for intrusive marketing activity. So these few have spoilt it for the rest of us, frankly.

What is a cookie? (Not the double chocolate variety)

Cookies are basically snippets of information relating to any web user, but in most cases this is just the IP address of the device you are using to view the internet and not personal details. This is sent by web servers (the IP address of the website you are viewing) to web browsers (such as Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Firefox) where the information is stored. It is then sent back to the web server each time you click to view another page on the website you are visiting. This enables the web server to identify and track the web browser you are using.

There are three main types of cookie:

1. Session Cookie – This just stores your information whilst you are viewing the website, and once you leave the site the cookie is deleted. An example of this is websites which feature shopping carts, so your chosen items remain in the cart until you finish browsing and leave the website, or when you pay for your items.
2. Persistent or Tracking Cookie – These cookies continue to store your information even after you have left the website, as seen on your most visited website list on your computer, or online banking websites.
3. Third Party Cookie – You’ll be familiar with these from sites such as Amazon which will not only remember you after storing your information, but can also suggest ‘items you might like’ based on the products you recently viewed or purchased.

How does this work with Google Analytics?

You may have already identified that this is going to cause a problem for those of you who are currently using Google Analytics to assess your website traffic. It has been suggested that we can expect only 10% of site visitors to accept the use of cookies, which will have a dramatic effect on the results tracked by Google Analytics. This is going to change the way we view this data and effect how valuable it is to companies.

So, what are your options?

A. You could choose to do nothing and see what happens. You would be breaking the law and you may run the risk of being caught out and heavily fined.

B. Or the best thing to do would be to have your website audited to find out how you’re currently using cookies and therefore identify what you need to do to your website in order to comply with the new regulations.

C. You will need to review your existing Privacy Policy to include a Cookie Policy which will detail where and why cookies are used on your site. The link to this policy should be clearly displayed on your website. If you don’t currently have one, you will need one writing and adding to your website.

Ultimately, to fully conform to the regulations you should consider implementing a ‘Cookie Acceptor’ device on your website. The user must click to confirm that they are happy with this, before continuing to view your website.

All websites are different, so please contact us today to see how we can make your website compliant. Drop us an email and we’ll call you right back, or if you’d prefer to call us, the number is 01733 807216.

Have you ever read a blog and thought you would like to share it with friends and colleagues? Then looked for the ‘share’ button only to find nothing there.

How desperate are you to share this information? Not enough to copy and paste the link or put it through a link shortener!

Mindful of this scenario, make sure your blog is quick and easy to share. If you give your readers easy and various ways to share your blog, they will spread the word!

• WordPress have a plug-in which can be added at the bottom of your page for people to share your blog.
• Addthis added at the bottom of your pages keeps readers favourite services to the fore to help increase sharing.
• Facebook like button is another plugin from WordPress so people can share your posts on Facebook.
• Twitter Button – another WordPress plugin or gives readers the opportunity to spread the word on Twitter.
• AddtoAny can be easily added to any website (even if you haven’t got a WordPress site). With a myriad of options to choose from you’ll be able to please everyone and get your readers sharing.

Other options are SexyBookmarks, Sociable and ShareThis - they all work in different ways but the outcome is the same, the ability for your readers to share your content easily.

Have a look around and see which you prefer, whether it’s SexyBookmarks pop out icons or Sociable’s understated small icons, but do make it easy for readers to share your blog.

And while we are on this subject – feel free to use the buttons on the left to share our posts with your friends and clients!

1. Firstly, do some keyword research on the theme of your blog.
2. Find 3-5 keywords that you will use in your blog.
3. Using these keywords search for articles or videos that have your keyword in the title.
4. To create a buzz use a video/article from a well-known name in your industry or area of interest.
5. When you tweet or share your post mention their name to attract interest.
6. Put the video in your post.
7. Using the keywords that you have researched, write a few lines above, which introduce the video.
8. Mention web pages, names and say what you think about the clip in your own words.
9. Below your post express your view about the topic and this video in particular, again in your own words.
10. Ask your readers what they think about the video.

Not exactly a blog, but when time is of the essence, these quick-fix mini-blogs can work. If they contain keywords and relevant material there is no necessity to miss your deadline. Regular blogging is a good practice to keep people coming back to see what you have to say. Now if they return to find you haven’t blogged since last year, they will not add you to their ‘follow’ list!

Check these pages to see how Shortstacklab, Mari Smith and My Social Identity have changed their app tabs.

And here are some of our designs:

• WPDesignGenies
• TJConsulting VA
• Mums The Business
• Julia Burman VA
• Alison Bradford Coaching

The new Timeline for Pages allows you to change an image on your tab to one which measures 111×74 pixel. It’s an opportunity to brand and create tabs that represent you and your business.

• Click on your Facebook Page’s Admin Panel in the upper-right to expand panel.
• Click on Manage and select Edit Page from the drop-down menu
• Click on Apps in the left hand column.
• Find the application you want to change the large icon for, click Edit Settings, and a small pop-up window will appear.
• Click the “Change” link next to “Custom Tab Image” text. This will take you to a new page.
• Click Change to the right side of the default image. This will open another pop-up window.
• Click Choose File to choose the 111px x 74px image you want to upload. If the image doesn’t appear instantly you may have to check the size.When the image is uploaded, the image will change instantly and your new 111px x 74px image will be visible on your Page.

All the changes can also be made from clicking on the app tab at the bottom right of your cover image and highlighting the edit icon which appears top right and following the instructions as above.

Need help with creating your own timeline cover, profile or apps images? Give us a call – it doesn’t cost the earth but makes your Facebook business page look polished and professional!

Do you want a blog to:

• share family pictures and events,
• supply information that helps others in your industry,
• share an interest with others, books, recipes or model aircraft,
• direct people to your website, or
• share thoughts in your head with the world?

Whatever the reason, when you have made this decision, your content will be easier to find.

Tips for Content Ideas

• Begin by jotting down short phrases that express something about you or what you have done. I would write Silent Witness, social media, sign up for WordPress, marketing, Google+ and work-life balance. Choose some that you are comfortable with and will find it easy to converse with a friend about the subject.
• Questions placed on Twitter, Facebook, Quora and Google+ can lead to more ideas for blog content. Asking what your followers thought of a book you’ve read can lead to other authors which you can in turn research and write about. Or see what users ask about a field you know a lot about and write your answers not just on that social network but on your blog too.
• A to Z of your business can be used in a variety of ways: A to Z of your services or products, of special terminology, of software tools you recommend, of authors or expert you recommend to follow, of business tips or advice etc. Can you come up with a list for your business?
• Check what’s trending on various channels. Are there experts in your industry talking and writing about new research and products? Can you comment on it, or collate comments from others as a review? Or maybe you can promote your own product?
• When readers comment on your blog it can lead to more ideas for content: they may introduce other aspects that you hadn’t covered in your post. You can write a follow-up post answering their questions or points raised.
• Guest blogs are always a good source of content, it means you don’t have to write everything yourself and you gain links to other bloggers and visibility to their followers.
• Have you attended a conference or a workshop? Have you presented at a business meeting? Has your business been nominated or won an award? Have you hired a new member of staff or secured an important contract? All these business news can be discussed and shared on your blog: at the end of the day it’s a virtual log (“blog”) and it’s up to you what you choose to log in it!
• Google Alerts – set up alerts so you are informed when items are in the news and on the internet. You can limit your alerts by country or have Google tell you the whole world news. I have mine set up to alert me when there are articles published about various people, social media, and key phrases related to our business. Alerts can be delivered in digest form or as the articles become live.

Have you found these useful? Have you got any more ideas for blog content? Please do share below!