Jeff King

Your website doesn’t need to be amazing, just useful.

Jeff King — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 21:58:53 +0000

One of the reasons clients give me for why they don’t have more content on their websites is that they simply do not know what to put there. They don’t think they have anything that would be of interest to anyone. They may have been discouraged by the droning of some “marketing experts” saying that your website content has to be AMAZING in order to hold the interest of your site visitors.

These “experts” argue that you have to have amazing content on your site because amazing content is what will bring people to your site, encourage them to stick around or come back, and motivate them to tell their friends about you.

I disagree. The reality is that your content does not need to be amazing. It just needs to be useful. When I am searching for something I am not looking to be amazed. Nor is your prospect. They just want their question to be answered. They want their problem to be solved. They want to find that piece of information they need in order to proceed with their plans. They want to find someone who is qualified to help them.

Prospects don’t care about your “amazing” site design. They are not looking for amazing. They are looking for useful. Finding what they need on your site might be amazing to them. But only because of its immediate usefulness. Perhaps it was the precise answer they were looking for. Or it solved their exact problem. Maybe it gave them clarity and confidence on whom to contact for help.

Rather than worrying about being “amazing” or impressing people, I help my clients focus on the creation of value for their customers. Value is intrinsically understood and immediately useful. Trying to constantly amaze or wow people gets old quickly. In fact, it creates boredom.

Creating an interesting and useful website is not a matter of rocket science or show business. It may simply require changing your thinking about a few things.

To be continued . . .

Customer Experience: Thomas Music Co.

Jeff King — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 02:56:01 +0000

It took me many years to realize the value of having a website. I had a steady stream of referral business, so I did not think that having a website was important for me. Developing a site seemed like a huge time investment and a lot of work on top of a very busy schedule. I wasn’t even sure how I would use it or how I would maintain it. Generally, I was comfortable with the way my business was running.

Then several years ago I noticed that something was changing. Referrals dropped off and it became more and more difficult to bring in new business. At first I did some soul-searching to see if I had lost my edge, but my skills were actually getting better. I tried the traditional route of advertising but it barely made any difference. What I did not realize was how much the business climate was changing and that customers were now using the web to find information and recommendations.

This was the point where I began to talk with Jeff King about the real value of developing a web site. He asked a lot of questions about my business and what I thought I needed. Next he gave me a step-by-step process for developing my content that focused on what I did and how it helped my customers. After I gave him all my content, he quickly developed the site.

The business results were immediate. I actually felt a little overwhelmed by the volume of email and calls from new prospects. After changing a few habits and developing some new intake procedures it became more manageable. I thought it would take about a year to get my business back to a full schedule, but it was there in just two months.

The content development was hard work, but not having a full business schedule was even harder. In retrospect it has made my business life much easier because my site regularly sends me pre-qualified clients. The site is a valuable resource for my customers, and having it has also given me the confidence to pursue even newer technologies such as app development so I can always be there where new prospects can easily find me.

- Jim Thomas

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How to Change WordPress Directory Name or Location

Jeff King — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 02:16:10 +0000

Here are the links I reference when needing to move WordPress from one directory to another.

Changing WordPress directory name

http://wordpress.org/support/topic/changing-directory-name-1

Changing WordPress location

http://codex.wordpress.org/Moving_WordPress#Moving_WordPress_Within_Your_Site

http://www.mydigitallife.info/how-to-move-wordpress-blog-to-new-domain-or-location/

Giving WordPress its own directory but keeping site in root directory

A related task is placing all WordPress files in their own directory but having the site’s index page in the root directory. This keeps the root directory much more organized, especially if you need to manage files on the server via FTP — outside the WordPress interface.

This is also useful when converting a static html/css site over to WordPress. You can develop the WordPress redesign in its own directory without interfering with the current site. When the redesign is finished, you just follow these steps to make the WordPress version of the site live.

http://codex.wordpress.org/Giving_WordPress_Its_Own_Directory

Bonus: because sometimes you’re working late with reduced cognitive ability . . .

Help! I Messed Up My WordPress URL Settings

Believer Website Redesign and New Album Release

Jeff King — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:16:41 +0000

Yesterday was the European release date for my band’s new album, Transhuman. Today it’s being released in North America.

Here is a sample track. In addition to the keyboards I also recorded the guitar solo for this song:

Believer “Mindsteps” by Metal Blade Records

I may write about this project in more detail in the future. We wrapped up the music end of things last fall. After finishing the actual writing and recording process, a great deal of work is needed to set up the marketing and promotion phase. That’s why there is typically several months between the end of production and the release of an album.

Our label, Metal Blade Records has been great to work with. We are in frequent communication with their office in Los Angeles and when it comes to press and interviews we also work with their offices in the U.K. and Europe. The band’s website will have links to some of the press and interviews for this album as they are published.

Website redesigns have become a standard component of an album release. Because the Believer website needs to be updated frequently by multiple users I moved it over to the WordPress platform. In keeping with the overall artistic theme of the album art, the site is clean and mainly black and white. The body painting was created by Michael Rosner of Eye Level Studio.

Visit the Believer Website

Getting Started in Mobile Development

Jeff King — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 21:56:08 +0000

As a web designer or web developer one can no longer ignore mobile and expect to compete in today’s marketplace. There are many opportunities for helping businesses right now with mobile websites and apps, and the demand will continue to grow.

Last year when I first began to dabble with designing apps it seemed like I was a little late to the party. However, there are still many people out there — just like I was — who would like to get started in mobile development but don’t know how. I thought I would share some of my experiences moving into this area of business in the hope that it would be of some value to my clients and anyone else who might be interested in developing for mobile.

There are lots of resources out there for getting started, along with lots of hype. Here is the essence of what I’ve found thus far:

Getting Started Creating Mobile Websites

Anyone who can create websites can also create mobile sites using the exact same tools. It’s really that simple. Whether you code by hand or use a WYSIWYG like Dreamweaver, you already have what you need.

Getting Started Creating Mobile Apps

There are several options for getting started with mobile apps. I am only including those pertaining to cross-platform development for at least Android and iOS devices, because that’s what I’m interested in.

Learn to code natively for Android and iOS operating systems. You can do a couple simple google searches to see what that involves.
Use web-based app template services. These offer ease of use but are not very flexible in terms of design.
PhoneGap allows you to develop apps using HTML, CSS and Javascript. It offers incredible flexibility but still requires some knowledge of native OS programming.
AppMobi runs on top of PhoneGap and completely does away with the need for native programming. You can stick with HTML, CSS and Javascript. This page has more technical info about the differences between PhoneGap and AppMobi.

Although each of these options vary in price and value, the bottom line is that there is an extremely low barrier to entry from the developer side. I am using AppMobi because they offer the best solution for someone like myself who is experienced with web design and development but is just starting out with mobile development. It promises the best of both worlds — complete flexibility in developing cross-platform mobile sites and mobile apps without the need to learn new programming languages. This will allow me to utilize the skills that I currently have and that currently exist in my network while I expand into mobile development.

It’s Time to Get Mobile

Jeff King — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:50:41 +0000

A couple years ago we saw the “localization” trend taking hold. Google was pushing Google Local Business Center, which is now Google Places, local review sites like Yelp! were getting lots of attention and local search was coming into its own.

The emergence of the “local web” has significant ramifications for all businesses, whether or not they’re built on a local business model, but now it’s getting really interesting. Enter the mobile web.

In a nutshell, we’re seeing the web gaining its freedom. Breaking out of the universities, offices and living rooms and into our pockets. This will significantly alter how we live our lives and how we do business in ways we can’t even imagine now.

As business people, website owners and web developers we need to be proactive and adaptive. For example, do you know how your website looks and functions on a phone? It’s time to find out because more and more of your customers will be using one to access your site.

Business models will change. Very soon a large percentage of smart phone users will be able to make and receive payments with their phones. You won’t need to take cash or have a credit card machine to sell to them. What if they don’t have one of those phones? No problem, you’ll be able to accept their credit card with your phone. . . anywhere, any time. This is exciting news for everyone — not just for the musician who will be able to jump off stage and sell downloads to members of the audience in the middle of a show.

I haven’t even mentioned mobile apps yet, which are a major driver of the revolution we’re experiencing. Many web designers are focusing their efforts on the mobile web and ignoring the app market because of the perceived difficulty of getting started in it. However, this is a huge misperception, as I found out last year when I started working with mobile. There are tools out there that many people are not aware of and that I will be discussing in future posts.

The bottom line is that it’s time to get mobile.

They Won’t Know Unless You Tell Them

Jeff King — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 15:30:37 +0000

What’s the simplest way to breathe new life into your business? Tell people what you’re doing. Period. This sounds like an obvious thing to do if you’re interested in growth, but it’s so obvious that it’s often overlooked. I’m not talking about providing a list of services. I’m talking about discussing your real-world activities. What are you doing?

This blog is a way of taking my own advice. I’ve been working on some interesting things and have found that my clients enjoy hearing about what I’m doing with other clients and in my own projects. It helps them to understand what it is I can do for them. Furthermore, I am always learning new things and am interested in finding others whom I can learn from or work with.

Initially, I plan to post twice a month in order to provide info about projects I’m working on and things I’m learning. I’ll also post pieces of information, news, how-to’s, etc. that I think would be useful to my clients and others who are interested in similar things.

So . . . what are you up to? What gets you excited? Let someone know.