GenGlo Consulting and Design

I Squidoo

2009-06-19T13:46:00.000-05:00

I Squidoo Headquarters is a fantastic place to show off your "About Me" or "Calling Card" lenses. The group has a nice Google PageRank and it's setup to feature a large variety of lenses and lensmasters in the group.

If you have not already done so, stop by Squidoo and create a lens or two about you. Why not create a lens featuring your resume, or a lens hightling your business, website, or blog.

When you are done, don't forget to submit it to the group!

I'm looking forward to seeing you there!

Julianne, lensmaster GenGlo on Squidoo

Squid Utils

2007-08-20T09:47:00.000-05:00

SQUIDUtils is a fantastic new tool for Squidoo lensmasters. The website includes an advanced dashboard, where lensmasters can view information such as the PageRank of each of your lenses or groups, all on one page. In addition, it provides handy tools to link to or promote your lenses on other social networking websites.

In addition to the dashboard, the RSS feeds for your lenses, and simple tools for adding Amazon.com products to your lenses.

P.S. If you have not experienced Squidoo yet, it is a free service where anyone can create a one-page overview (called a lens) on the topic of their choice.

No technical expertise is required to create a lens. In addition, the service includes revenue sharing, so one can easily create lenses to earn money, or better yet, raise money for the charities of their choice. They may also choose to split up the pot and do both. A lensmaster is Squidoo's term for people who create lenses. For example, I am a lensmaster named GenGlo.

Please feel free to contact me if you have questions about Squidoo, or promoting your brand online. I may even post your question and answer here on the blog, so include your name and website, if you would like me to post this with your question.

Quick Firefox Tip

2007-08-17T09:03:00.001-05:00

I've been using the Firefox browser for as long as I can remember, but I just discovered this new shortcut today. I guess you can teach an old dog new tricks. Anyway, you can assign keywords to your bookmarks, so that you may quickly bring up your favorite links without sifting through your bookmarks.

For example. Lets say you wanted to bookmark GenGlo Consulting & Design. There are a number of ways to do that, using bookmark this page, bookmark this tab, etc. I think most of us know how to create a bookmark by now. However, once you have created that bookmark, you may create a quick shortcut by adding a keyword.

Go to the Bookmarks menu, right click on the GenGlo Consulting and Design bookmark, select Properties, then enter your desired keyword in the Keyword field, for this example, use genglo. Click ok and you have created your shortcut. Now to get to this website, all you need to do is type your keyword on the Firefox address line. Type the keyword genglo and you will be directed to http://www.genglo.com/news.html

Isn't that handy?

Do you have any great Firefox tips to share? I'd love to hear them.

The Diploma

2007-08-16T12:30:00.001-05:00

Finally! I was not prepared for the emotion involved with receiving my college degree.

First, I received a congratulatory graduation card from my 82 year old Mother. I sobbed when I read it. It reminded me of the importance of this achievement, regardless of one's age. When my Mother was young, few women had the opportunity to graduate from college.

I also had a number of life events that interfered with my life plan. When I was in high school, I had every intention of going directly to college, receiving my degree, and becoming a scientist. Unfortunately, my father died shortly after I graduated high school, and this dramatically changed the path of my life. I entered the work force, rather than going directly to school. I ultimately discovered my passion and focused on my business, before returning to college.

Fortunately, I returned to school and finally earned my degree this year. Once again, I found myself in tears when I opened the folder and read my diploma. I am proud to say that I graduated Summa Cum Laude, with a 4.0 GPA, as well.

Graduation

2007-08-05T14:00:00.000-05:00

I finally completed my Bachelor of Science in Information Technology with a Marketing minor.

Now I begin the task of finding that perfect job. I've updated my resume and signed up for LinkedIn.

Marketing Ideas

2006-09-27T16:27:00.001-05:00

I constantly hear from small business owners, and non-profits that are looking for free and inexpensive ways to promote their organizations online.

One of my biggest recommendations at this time is Squidoo. I learned about Squidoo about a year ago at the EcomXpo, when I attended a presentation given by its creator, Seth Godin. I was so impressed that I immediately signed up for the closed beta, and began creating lenses as soon as I had access.

I have been impressed with my results, and I have also met some great people, and learned some new tricks.

Anyone can quickly and easily create a lens (basically a one-page website) on the topic of their choice. You don't need knowledge of HTML or Web design, and best of all, it's free.

Squidoo is rapidly growing in popularity and a nice community is forming. Right now there are about 40,000 lenses, and the number grows every day. I think everyone should go out and create a lens, if they haven't already. It's an opportunity that everyone should take advantage of.

A few interesting details are that lenses have the potential to earn money, in addition to bringing traffic to your website or helping to promote your interests. They have Google ads, and there are a number of other money making modules available to enhance your lenses. You can choose to receive those earnings as cash, or donate them to your favorite charity.

Since I work with a local charity, the proceeds of all my lenses go to them. This is a really easy way for me to help my favorite charities, while promoting my projects at the same time.

Squidoo has also just launched a new Groups feature, where clubs, organizations, and individuals can create groups on any topic and invite other lensmasters to join. The marketing potential here is endless.

For example, here are a few of the groups I have created:
The Mommy Mall Group
The I Squidoo Group
The Pets Group

The Ferret Shelter where I volunteer also has a charity headquarters at Squidoo, where people may create lenses to benefit the shelter.
Ferrets Unlimited Headquarters

Have you created a lens yet? I'd love to hear about it!

Great Web Design Books

2006-05-08T11:24:00.000-05:00

I just recently read two great books for anyone who is building their first website and wants to do things right the first time. These books are also fantastic for anyone who has been doing this for years, but who wants to understand how their pages work, and why.

The first book is called Spring Into HTML and CSS by Molly Holzschlag. This book is perfect for the people who want to give up FrontPage and learn to correctly hand-code their own pages. The book is organized sequentially, so you start from the first line of your html document, and learn to understand each element of the page. The information is presented in small chunks and the lessons build upon each other. One of the handiest features of this book is that the actual example pages are available for download from the publisher. If you are new to HTML, XHTML, and CSS, or you are an old hat who wants to learn a few new tricks, I highly recommend this book.

The second book I have to recommend is Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, by Steve Krug. This book is an easy read and filled with useful advice on web usability. The examples are great, the text is both humorous and informative, and the concepts are sound. This book is ideal for everyone from the seasoned web designer to the merchant considering his or her first web site.

New Home for GenGlo.com

2006-04-24T22:36:00.000-05:00

If you are looking for The Mommy Mall, the correct address is www.mommymall.com

The domains www.genglo.com and game.genglo.com have been moved to a new web host. After hearing praise about 1&1 Web Hosting, I decided to move a few sites over to see how well it works for us. I will be sure to post my results here after I have spent more time with the new servers.

The other domains are still located at our former web host and they can be accessed from the navigation banner above.

Please feel free to contact me or leave a comment below if you have any comments or questions.

eComXpo

2006-04-18T12:28:00.000-05:00

I attended my second eComXpo recently and it was a wonderful experience. Whether you are a merchant, or an affiliate, or you are simply interested in learning more about affiliate or search marketing, I highly recommend this trade show.

This is an online event, so you can attend from your home or office, and you may come and go as you please. This sure beats dealing with airports, hotels, and rental cars. The online format makes networking so much more convenient. With online chat and virtual card swapping, one can make contact with a large number of people in a short period of time.

The cost for attendees is free, and the prizes available are spectacular! This time, I won an amazing Samsung HDTV from Digital River oneNetwork! Back in October I received a $100 Google Adwords account! The prizes are wonderful, but this is a fantastic opportunity regardless! Don't miss the next show on October 24-26, 2006!

The show includes educational presentations from a variety of experts. They are also now offering eComXpo University, where you may sign up to view all the presentations at your convenience over the next six months.

P.S. I'm not being compensated for my high praise of this event.

Free Marketing Classes

2006-03-18T10:55:00.000-05:00

I recently heard about these free SEO and Internet Marketing classes offered by someone named Cricket. I have seen my share of so-called free classes, so I was more than skeptical. Generally, whenever I hear the words free and marketing together, I expect a program whose sole purpose is harvest email addresses and send me spam. These classes are nothing like this!

I signed up for these classes despite my reservations because of the overwhelming number of positive reviews I was hearing from people who were not compensated for doing so.

The process of signing up is a bit of a pain in the butt. The courses are delivered through Yahoo groups, and there is a registration procedure that must be adhered to, or she will not approve your membership.

She also requires that you take the required marketing and SEO classes together. The courses work in tandem, and they are well designed.

The volume of email generated by these classes is tremendous and she requires that each student receive individual emails. Digest is not an option. I thought she was being a bit demanding when I first signed up, but it really does make sense once you start following the class. As long as you have your email configured to filter these classes properly, you will not mind the email. I highly recommend using gmail for this class, and setting up a separate filter for each class. Gmail automatically places the conversations into threads, which makes the flow of information much more natural.

The new classes begin on April 10, 2006, but you may sign up at any time. At the end of each session, the groups are wiped, so everyone starts fresh at the start of a new class. These classes are very hands-on, so be prepared to follow along by optimizing your site, using the tools and technques learned in this classes. I intend to remain in her class for at least another session, so if you sign up, you just might see me there.

A lot of the information included in these classes is common knowledge. For someone like me, who has been doing this for 10 years, much of the information was also no surprise. However, I did learn a few things, and she offered plenty of valuable tips and suggestions that even the most seasoned experts will benefit from.

For the skeptics out there, I am not compensated for recommending this program, and I still don't really know who Crystal is. However, I was impressed with the courses and would recommend them to anyone.

SEO Course Registration:
http://www.gnc-web-creations.com/class-registration.htm

Quick Online Tips

2006-02-23T21:03:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite daily reads is the Website, Quick Online Tips. The site is a wonderful collection of what's hot and new online. I subscribe to their site feed and so I can see the daily tips at a glance. It's not a flashy site, or a big corporate site, but they seem to have a handle on the latest technology news, blogging, software, and web tips. One of my favorite things about the site is the writing style. The posts are quick and to the point, so it is easy to read when you only have a brief bit of free time.

I would particularly recommend this site to anyone interested in blogging. I have personally benefitted from several posts, and I always learn something new there. I only wish I had the free time to use all the great information available there.

Squidoo

2005-12-16T21:21:00.000-05:00

I participated in the closed beta of Squidoo and created a few lenses to test. Recently they went into open beta, so I can now talk about my experience and encourage others to check Squidoo out.

I bet you are wondering what a lens is... Well, they say that everyone is an expert on something, so a lens is like a glimpse into specific topics, created by individuals. A lens is one page that points to many other places.

For example, Jane Goodall has a lens called Jane Goodall: The Big Picture, which points to various projects and websites about her work.

I think it is very cool and a great way to promote an idea, share your work, or teach others. I have made several lenses to test, that I will develop over time.

Since I love ferrets and I'm involved in ferret rescue and rehab, I created a lens called Ferret Fun.

I also love to collect and share recipes, so I created a lens called Recipes.

Photography is my passion and flickr is my current obsession, so I knew I had to make a lens called We Love Flickr.

P.S. You can also make money doing this, or donate your royalties to a charity of your choice!

Google Analytics

2005-11-19T18:46:00.000-05:00

Google has done it again. Google Analytics is a fantastic (and free) tracking tool that tells you everything you want to know about your Web site traffic. I immediately signed up installed it on my pages, and I am thrilled with the amount of data this program provides. This is really going to give the other tracking programs a run for their money.

Analytics is very simple to use and only requires the addition of a small snippet of code to your pages. The program uses a Web-based interface, so you can check your stats from anywhere, at any time. You may also add users to your account to share this data with other members of your team.

While this free version is limited to five million pageviews per month, there is no limit for active AdWords publishers. If you have an AdWords account, Google Analytics automatically provides detailed tracking for your campaigns

Their tagline says, “Google Analytics shows you which keywords perform and which ones you should cut.” Perfect!

What Works

2005-11-11T10:56:00.000-05:00

I've tried several methods to monetize my sites over the years, with varying degrees of success. Curently, I focus most of my efforts on specific affiliate programs and Google Adsense.

Google Adsense
Currently, Google Adsense performs very well. Adsense provides a consistent income every month. They also provide wonderful tracking tools, and excellent customization options. I have been with Google since the beginning, and I am impressed with their program. I am a loyal fan and highly recommend them (with or without the new referral program).

Affilite Marketing
Affiliate programs are a fantastic method for publishers to monetize their Web sites. With affiliate programs the publishers have control over who they promote, and how. The important thing to remember is that thoughtful planning in necessary for success. It is essential to use care when selecting relevant merchants to partner with. It is also important to remember your visitors needs when deciding what type of links to use, and where. For affiliate links to be effective, they must provide a value to the visitor, because in most cases, the publisher is paid a commission based on sales.

Yahoo! Publisher Network
This is a beta program that is offering contextual text advertising, similar to the Google Adsense program. I am testing this on a few of my pages. Unfortunately, this program is not compatible with Google, so it would take a lot for me to consider switching.

AdBrite
I am about to begin testing this program on some of my pages. A lot of big sites are having success with this. It is a simple method to automate individual ad sales. A vistor may click on a link and easily purchase ad space on specific sites.

Site Feeds

2005-10-19T11:27:00.000-05:00

Anyone who has a blog should know the importance of their site feed. This wonderful feature allows readers to subscribe to a blog, without signing up for anything, or joining a mailing list. Every time one posts to their blog, the site feed is updated, as well.

I absolutely love RSS. It allows me to know at a glance, which sites have updates and whether they look interesting enough to visit. This saves me the trouble of visiting sites that may not have been updated recently.

To have a successful blog, it is important to post regularly, write interesting headlines, and make it easy for visitors to subscribe to the site feed. Then those visitors need an easy way to read these feeds.

There are a number of services that allow one to organize and subscribe to various site feeds, but they require the user to create an account, and then take the time to visit that site to see updates. It’s an extra step, an extra password to remember, and a waste of time. I think a better option is a customized home page like Google personalized, or My Yahoo that allows the viewer to load the page with their favorite RSS feeds. If this page is the user’s start page, then they see their favorite blog updates each time they launch their browser. The new Google Reader is looking very promising, as well.

My favorite RSS reader is included in Thunderbird. Thunderbird is an open source email and newsgroup client that includes a built in RSS reader. This is perfect solution. All one has to do is add the feeds to their News & Blogs section, and then they can get updates every time they check their email. There is nothing to sign up for, nothing to buy, and one can monitor as many blogs as they would like. I highly recommend Thunderbird to anyone who needs a robust email client.

What is your favorite RSS reader?

My Thoughts

2005-10-17T13:19:00.000-05:00

I just discovered my comments posted on the Affiliate Tip Blog, and I had to share.

Affiliate Program Brand Risks includes my response to the survey question, What is wrong with affiliate marketing and how can it be improved?

Basically, I think we need higher standards for publishers, and merchants need more involved affiliate managers. Personally, I will work with companies that not only offer a good value to my visitors, but that make it easy for me to do my job.

Two easy things that affiliate managers can do are staying in touch with affiliates, and keeping their offers updated.

Blogging For Affiliates

2005-10-11T12:20:00.000-05:00

For anyone who missed the eComXpo last week, Shawn Collins has made the powerpoint of his eComXpo presentation, Blogging to Recruit and Retain Affiliates available online.

This is a very good read and helpful for affiliate managers, merchants, and anyone new to blogging.

Blogs at Yahoo!

2005-10-11T11:44:00.000-05:00

The Yahoo! Search Blog announced that Yahoo! News Search is integrating blogs in their results pages.

This is just further evidence of the importance of blogs, for both business and personal use, and as a form of expression. I firmly beleive that everyone needs a blog.

In the same announcement, Yahoo! also mentioned that they are will be including ncluding flickr photos and links from their My Web service. I love flickr, and I was thrilled to see my photos show up in a search on ferrets.

What do you think?

Google Blog Search

2005-09-14T12:26:00.000-05:00

The Google Blog announced the launch of Google Blog Search today. In my opinion, this is the best thing to happen to blogging in a long time.

I already believe that blogs are essential for any business that wishes to have an online presence, but this seals it. Having a public blog allows your customers to easily include your site feed on personalized home pages like Google Personalized and MyYahoo. This puts your business in the eyes and minds of customers on a daily basis. Blogs also create an atmosphere that encourages repeat visits and a sense of community.

The other blog search engines out there have not impressed me at all. I am hopeful that Google's Blog Search will get it right. I had some problems searching for sites that should have been listed under various search terms, but I am hopeful that this will improve, since this is a new feature in beta.

The Blogger service seemed to be spotty this morning. I wonder if this is related to the announcement about Blog Search, and the changes to the Blogger NavBar?

Yahoo Publisher Network Beta

2005-09-01T12:54:00.000-05:00

I finally received an invitation to join the Yahoo Publisher Network Beta. I decided to test it out on the Parents Cafe site. I will track the status and see how it goes.

So far, I like the interface, the ad layout and custimazation options.

I am very pleased with the Google Adsense program, so it will be interesting to see how this program compares.

I would love to hear comments from other people who are testing this program.

The Beginning

2005-08-31T08:42:00.000-05:00

GenGlo Consulting & Design was established in 1997. I was working in the accounting department of a large insurance company, and my husband was working in the IT department of the same company. We had two small children and were working long hours and leaving the children in a preschool/daycare all day.

It was killing me. I loved my job, but every day that I left my children, I felt a piece of me die. To top it off, I had been diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, which was taking its toll on me. In February of 1997, I made the difficult decision to leave my current career behind and try to make it on my own.

I had been thinking about starting my own business for quite a while, and I had the perfect name for it, GenGlo! What is a GenGlo, you ask? Well it is a combination of my maiden name Glover, and my married name Gentile.

I started out as a Web Designer, creating small business Websites. I also created The Mommy Mall for the purpose of promoting my client's Web sites.

Through the mall, I became involved in affiliate marketing. The world of affiliate marketing has changed considerably over the years and I have been involved since the early days, as both a publisher and consultant.

I read so many blogs written by people who have been involved in the affiliate world as long as I have, and I decided perhaps it is time for me to put my own thoughts in writing.

And this is the beginning.