Whether you’re launching a website for your new business or you’re looking to improve your current website, you want to make sure you get it right the first time. A great website gives visitors all the information they need about your business and products, is easy to navigate, and is laid out properly for the search engines.

Which pages should you include on your website?

• Home—Well, duh, of course you’re going to have a home page, but let me give you a few words of advice for getting the most out of your home page. First, don’t ever have an intro page as you’ll instantly lose new visitors. Second, don’t waste your time with a headline that says “Welcome.” Third, keep the navigation simple and the design clean so that new visitors can find what they’re looking for as quickly as possible. And finally, don’t try to tackle every facet of your business on your home page; it will overwhelm and confuse visitors. Keep it simple!
• About Us—The about us section of your website helps give a face and personality to your business. Furthermore, it builds credibility as website visitors can see you’re a real person and a legitimate company they can trust.
• Products and Services—If you offer multiple products and services, break it down into one page for each product or service. Not only does this make it easier for visitors to find the information they’re looking for, but it also allows you to target more keywords for increasing your search engine presence.
• FAQ—I’ve noticed that a lot of website don’t have FAQ sections, and I think it’s a mistake. Here’s why: Your visitors will have questions. Some of them will email you their questions, but many won’t make the effort as they just leave your website. A FAQ section allows you to give them all the information they need, and it can keep you from having to respond to the same questions over and over again.
• Contact—I recommend placing your contact information on each page, but you should also have a main contact page too. You want to make it as easy as possible for visitors to contact you, and you also want to appear as professional and trustworthy as possible.
• Testimonials—This is another page you don’t always see on websites. Look, new visitors to your website aren’t going to trust you right away. Of course, you’re going to claim your products and services are great; ever company does. Testimonials give skeptical visitors an unbiased recommendation of your company from people just like them. Read my post on giving your testimonials more credibility.
• Guarantee—If you offer a guarantee on your products or services, there are probably some restrictions to it. Lay out the fine print of your guarantee on a separate page, and do so in plain language that the average consumer can understand.
• Site Map—The site neatly outlines your website for both visitors and the search engines.

Are there any other essential pages I left of this list? Leave a comment with your tips.

When it comes to public relations, everyone has their own opinion on what works and what doesn’t. Because PR isn’t pure science, it harbors many myths about what it takes to get publicity and to create a buzz for your company. I’ve come up with a brief list of 4 PR myths I hear on a regular basis. I’m sure there are far more PR myths than this, so please feel free to leave comments sharing your favorite myths.

1. No such thing as bad publicity—Not a week goes by that I don’t hear this phrase uttered by someone who fancies himself a PR expert. If you don’t think there is such a thing as bad publicity, ask any of dozens of politicians who have been caught in sex or financial scandals, forcing them to resign. Or ask Michael Vick. While there are some people who are able to leverage negative publicity to their advantage (e.g. Kanye West), these are the exceptions. Bad publicity can cause irreparable damage.
2. Social media can’t be used for PR—Despite the growth in popularity of Twitter and Facebook, there are still plenty of naysayers who believe social media is a complete waste of time. I feel sorry for these people. Social media is an excellent medium for PR. It allows you to create a buzz around your business and to build relationships with your target audience. But be careful: Many have shot themselves in the foot with social media. Just flip over to ESPN and it won’t take long for you to hear a story about another athlete getting in trouble for something stupid they Tweeted.
3. You need to have a gimmick to get attention—Too many people believe you need to pull off a major PR stunt to get attention. Remember the balloon boy story from just a few weeks ago? Those nutjobs thought pulling this hoax would land them a reality show. Granted, maybe it will…after they serve time in jail. Gimmicks are generally a bad idea for few reasons: 1)Any attention is usually very short lived; 2)The gimmick almost always distracts from your main message; 3) Gimmicks appear desperate and unprofessional.
4. Major media is all that matters—Everyone wants to be the next major story on Oprah, or they want to get interviewed on CNN. Many people think small media is a waste of time. It’s not. Getting coverage in a small magazine, on a podcast, a blog, or on a local TV show is an essential first step for getting the larger coverage you desire. In many cases, media coverage from smaller outlets can also help you more accurately reach your target audience too.

Which PR myths would you add to this list?

When Google Chrome web browser was first introduced, instantly I was hooked. The browser performed beautifully, it was super fast, and amazingly stable. Seriously, it never crashed. But keep in mind, the browser wasn’t perfect. Simple things bothered me such as the lack of add on features, inability to auto discover RSS feeds, and huge complications with setting Chrome as the default web browser. these imperfections, while they might seems severe, were nothing compared to dealing with Internet Explorer crashing, and FireFox performing slow. Again, using Chrome is literally like riding on a greased lightning bolt. It’s fast, super fast.

Google Chrome has other important features that I enjoy, such as being able to use the address bar as a Google search bar:

With all that goodness, unfortunately, my use for Google Chrome came to a sudden end when I purchased my first MacBook computer. Talk about bitter sweet feelings. First off, your next computer purchase totally needs to be a Mac. I personally recommend it. I will never use a Windows based computer again. Mac computers are so well built, I had to take a few minutes to figure out how to turn my MacBook off. I literally had my MacBook running for two months before I finally needed to restart it, and I simply didn’t know how to do it.

That said, here’s the conflict. In my opinion, Google Chrome is by far the best web browser available. It blows Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera, and Safari out of the water. The interface is very clean, simple, and extremely condusive towards a healthy browsing experience. But since I purchased my MacBook, the problem is that Google Chrome hasn’t been available for Mac. The great news is that this has all changed. Google Chrome for Mac is finally available via their early access release channel.

Installing Google Chrome on your Mac computer is very easy. It took me less than a minute. Simply visit the early access release channel. Click on the Mac Tab and proceed to download the Dev Channel: GoogleChrome.dmg. After the file has been downloaded, extract it and then drag the Chrome appliction into your Application folder:

Once Chrome has been installed, you can access it by opening up Finder and navigating to your Applications Folder.

For convenience, you may want to drag the Chrome icon into your Dock. I hope that you’re as happy as I am being able to use Google Chrome again. Now Mac users have the best of both worlds. we can all use the best web browser on the best computer available.

Earlier last month Google introduced Google Sidewiki. Initially, I had a problem with it. Largely, because of two reasons. One, it was available only for FireFox and Internet Explorer via Google Toolbar. And two, users couldn’t syndicate their contributed content on a blog. A few weeks later, Google updated Sidewiki and offered users the option to send comments to Blogger. Somewhat satisfied, but still largely frustrated, I then figured out a way to send Sidewiki Comments to WordPress. At that point, I felt like using Google Sidewiki was worth the effort. But, only one of the two problems I saw were corrected. As it stood, Sidewiki was still not available for other web browsers. Specifically, Safari, Chrome (how ironic), and Opera. That was case up until the last week of October when Google introduced the official bookmarket for Sidewiki.

The official bookmarklet for Sidewiki lets you read and write Sidewiki comments in all web browsers. The bookmarklet is nothing more than a simple shortcut that is dragged into the browser bookmarks bar. When a users click on the shortcut, it opens a new window showing Sidewiki comments for the active page being viewed.

Certain Sidewiki features are not available such as the notification bar. But despite that, I am still very satisfied with the accommodations Google is making for users. And it’s to their benefit too. In other words, offering users the ability to use Sidewiki is all browsers is a feature that should have been available from the get go. Same with sending comments to blogs, and not just limiting the sharing to Blogger either.

Finally, after almost two months, Google Sidewiki has become something that has changed how I contribute and publish content on the web. Every Sidewiki entry I create automatically gets published into my Google Sidewiki Comments category on my blog.

Getting interviewed on a blog, podcast, radio show, or even TV show is an excellent way to gain exposure and to build your authority. But being a great interviewee is often easier said than done. I listen to talk radio quite a bit (mostly sports talk), and I’ve heard my fair share of interviews that made me cringe for the person being interviewed. Nervousness and unpreparedness can turn this golden opportunity into a damaging situation for your company.
Thankfully, there are several things you can do to prepare for a media interview. Here are some tips to help you get started.

1. Know your s*#!—Showing up to your interview unprepared reflects poorly on you and your business. You need to be ready to answer every question the reporter throws your way, but at the same time, if you truly don’t have an answer for a question, don’t be afraid to say “I don’t know.” Do your research and have some statistics and facts ready to support your answers.

2. Learn about the interviewer—First, learning about the interviewer is important because you don’t want to call the host Jim when his name is Tom. But that’s not the only reason it’s important. You need to understand what type of podcast, blog, or show the interviewer runs. Who is his target audience? What do they care about? What’s the tone of his content? The more you know about the interviewer, the better you’ll fit in.

3. Practice key points of your message—Make a list of a few (3-5) key points you want to address during your interview. Simplify them as much as possible, and practice talking about them so that you’ll be comfortable addressing them. Crafting your message can help you stay in control of the interview, making you appear calm and confident.

4. Beware of over preparing—Of course, there are two people involved in an interview, so you can’t control every aspect of it. While being prepared is a top priority, you don’t want to be so prepared that you’re incapable of handling any curveballs that might be thrown your way. If you’re over prepared, not only can you get blindsided by unexpected questions, but you can also end up sounding like a robot with your prepared answers.

5. Go beyond “yes” or “no” answers—If you want to tick an interviewer and his audience off, give short “yes” or “no” type answers to every question you’re asked. Or, deliver a bunch of old, tired, meaningless lines (like the athlete who says “We have to take it one game at a time”). However, if you want to be remembered, give thoughtful answers that incorporate your unique point of view and personal anecdotes. This engages the audience and helps you look your best.

How do you prepare for media interviews? Leave a comment with your best tip.

As a copywriter, I’m occasionally engaged in a battle with my clients over grammar rules. I’ve had clients send me edits from their assistants telling me I broke a certain grammar rule. I’ve had clients send me back edits that cause the copy to go from interesting and conversational to stiff and neutered.
Here’s the thing some people just don’t understand: Sales copy isn’t formal academic writing. Your website copy shouldn’t read like a senior thesis. Your brochures shouldn’t read like an art history textbook. Copywriting is all about engaging and interacting with the audience so you can get them excited enough to take action.
That’s why I’ve come up with a list of 5 grammar rules every copywriter should be okay with breaking.

Rule #1: Don’t use fragments—One of the first things students are taught in elementary school is how to identify and eliminate fragments from their writing. Fragments aren’t complete sentences because they don’t have both a subject and a verb. But in copywriting, a well-placed fragment can help create a conversational pace for your copy. They also help you emphasize a particular point. The key is not to go overboard with using fragments in your copy. Pull them out only when it makes sense to do so.
Rule #2: Don’t use contractions—Just last week, a client sent me back an edit with several contractions removed from the copy. The copy went from friendly and conversational to boring and wordy. Contractions are your friend. Whenever people talk in real life, they use contractions frequently. They play an integral role in giving your copy a conversational tone.
Rule #3: Don’t start a sentence with a conjunction—You’ve always heard that you can’t start a sentence with “and” or “but.” Again, I believe starting a sentence with a contraction can help you emphasize a point and create a certain pace in your copy. An “and” to start off a sentence can create a sense of anticipation. It emphasizes the fact that there are even more benefits to your product.
Rule #4: Remove all extra words—I’m all for keeping sales copy as tight and to the point as possible, but removing every unnecessary word can remove all personality from your copy. Again, it all goes back to trying to create a conversational tone in your copy. In real life, we use unnecessary words occasionally when we talk. It’s just how people talk. So, by all means, cut the fluff from your copy. But don’t get so extreme that you end up creating copy that sounds short and impersonal.
Rule #5: Eliminate slang—If your target audience uses slang, feel free to incorporate it into your copy. But be careful: Slang is always changing. You don’t want to use out of date slang that makes you look like a fake.

Which grammar rules do you feel should be broken? Share your thoughts in the replies.

A growing number of businesses are using podcasting as a means to increase brand awareness, to connect with their target audience, and to grow their online presence. But to get the most out of podcasting, you need to make sure you’re doing all of the right things to give your audience a professional show every time. Here are some easy things you can do to improve your podcast.

• Get a decent microphone—Let me first say that I’m not an audio geek by any means. However, I will say that a cheap mic can make your entire podcast sound unprofessional and difficult to listen to. You want to find a microphone that cuts out a lot of background noise and eliminates static. In short, you want your listeners to be able to clearly hear you without getting distracted by other noises. Visit your local music shop or electronics store to find a good microphone for your podcasting needs.

• Add intro and outro music—Whenever you listen to a talk show on the radio, each segment always begins and ends with about 10 seconds of music. This is called bumper music, and it can add a professional, finished touch to your podcasts. You can easily find royalty free music online that you can use in your podcasts.

• Speak clearly—Recording a podcast isn’t as simple as plugging in a microphone and blabbing away. There’s something known as “proper microphone technique.” This includes everything from properly positioning the microphone to speaking clearly. Speak slowly, and make sure not to mumble. Enunciate every word properly, and always have water on hand so that you can stay hydrated. Always go back and listen to your podcasts before publishing them to make sure every word can be clearly heard.

• Eliminate the noise—You might not normally notice it, but there is always noise all around us. From the sound of the air conditioner to the humming of the refrigerator, these little noises that you might normally overlook can easily become annoying background tracks on your podcast. Record in the quietest place you can find. Place pillows or clothes around windows and doors to block out sound. If you live in the city, you can also try recording at night when traffic has died down some.

• Make your listeners a part of the show—The main difference between podcasts and radio shows is that podcasts are typically prerecorded while radio shows are live. As a result, many podcasters lose the interactive element of the show. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Your listeners can still have a key role in your show. Dedicate a portion of your show to answering listener’s emails. You could even setup a voicemail system that allows listeners to leave messages with questions and comments.

• Always be prepared—Preparation is a podcaster’s best friend. You don’t want to be recording your podcast on the fly. Everything should be planned out properly so that your content comes across smoothly and naturally. Just be sure not to script your show too much as you’ll end up sounding like a robot.
Which podcasting tips would you add to this list? Share your thoughts in the replies.

Although the average direct mail response rate is between just 1%-3%, this form of marketing is still one of the most effective tools available at your disposal. Sure, 3% sounds like a low number, but if you can get 30 responses from 1000 mailers, you can get an impressive return on your investment. 
Of course, you’ll never earn that 3% response rate if you don’t understand what it takes to get someone to open, read, and act upon your sales letter. Here are some tips I’ve come up with to increase the response rate to your direct mail campaign.
• Hand write addresses—Your first goal is to have your letter stand apart from all the junk mail your recipients receive on a daily basis. Did you know about 44% of direct mail ends up in the trash can unopened? So, above all else, that letter needs to get opened. One of the best ways to do this is to add a personal touch to it. You don’t want it to look like junk mail or an advertisement. Hand writing the addresses on your envelopes makes them feel more personal and friendly.

• Use normal stamps—Another way to add a personal touch to your letters is to use actual postage stamps rather than postage meters that are commonly used for mass mailings. Sure, it might take a bit longer to stamp each envelope, but it will instantly separate your mailer from the rest.

• Offer irresistible freebies—People need an incentive to get off their butt and take the time to respond to your direct mail piece. It all boils down to answering the all-too-familiar question of “What’s in it for me?” Offer your customers a free gift card or a free sample of a product for responding to your offer. The more incentive someone has to act, the likelier it is that they’ll do it.

• Try buy one, get one free offer—72% of adults with a household income of $30,000 or less said they responded to direct mail that contained a buy one, get one free offer. If you have a product or service where it makes sense to try this offer, give it a shot. It could boost your direct mail response rate significantly.

• Create  a landing page—A growing number of consumers prefer to respond online to direct mail pieces rather than by mail or phone. This means you need to provide your readers with this option, and sending them to your home page isn’t enough. Think of direct mail like a PPC or email marketing campaign; specific landing pages are necessary for earning the best response rate. Some direct mail experts even suggest using personalized urls for direct mail letters (e.g. JoeSmith.yourdomain.com).

Do you use direct mail marketing? What have you done to increase your conversion rate? Leave a comment with your best tips.

Your brand is your company’s personality. It’s the thing that separates you from your competition and that gives customers a reason to do business with you. Without a strong brand, your company is just another indistinguishable face in the crowd, floating aimlessly while hoping for success.
If you’re interested in creating a successful brand, be sure to avoid these common mistakes.
1. Thinking a brand is just a logo—Your logo isn’t your brand. Neither is your tagline. Or your website. Your brand is everything from the logo to the quality of your products and services. It includes your customer service, the design of your website, your social media profiles, and the packaging of your goods. Everything plays a role in shaping the image of your brand. So, instead of just focusing on the logo, take a look at the bigger picture to create a powerful brand.

2. Not understanding your true strengths—Before you can begin the branding process, you need to understand your true strengths (and weaknesses for that matter). Let’s suppose you run a dry cleaning business. If fast turnaround time isn’t your biggest strength, don’t focus all of your marketing and advertising on your turnaround time. Instead, focus on what you truly do well and better than the competition (e.g. getting stains out of delicate fabrics or something along those lines).

3. Not getting outside help—Going back to the last point, the reason many people don’t understand their business’ true strengths is because they’re too close to it. Sometimes, you need a fresh perspective. Consider working with an experienced branding agency. Their experience and fresh set of eyes will help you to find the best way to position your brand in the marketplace.

4. Having an inconsistent image—Remember earlier when I said your brand is more than a logo…it’s everything? Too many businesses forget about this, and they end up creating an inconsistent image. Everything about your brand should be working together in harmony. Your copy should all use a consistent tone. Your imaging should match the tone of your copy and the overall theme of your brand. Consistency is key to building trust with consumers and to cementing your brand image in their minds.

5. Being different just to be different—If you want to be successful, you need to be able to differentiate your company from the competition. However, some businesses take this overboard by being different just for the sake of being different. Cutting mattresses in half with a chainsaw isn’t branding, and it doesn’t give me a compelling reason to shop at your furniture store. The thing that makes your brand different needs to be something that provides a tangible value to your customers.
Which branding mistakes would you add to this list? Share your thoughts in the replies.

Recently a college student asked me for an interview for a school assignment. I felt like it would also make for a good blog post titled, How To Be a Successful Web Designer. If there is anything that you’d like to add, feel free in the comments below.

- What is your job title and what is the name of the company/organization?

I am a self-employed web designer. My legal business name is Garry Conn Sales.

- What are your responsibilities?

I am responsible for listening to and understanding what customers want their future or current website to look like and then executing what they vision onto the web.

- How long have you been doing this job?

I have been web designer for ten years.

- Briefly, can you let me know how you got to where you are today?

Ten years ago, my father had an idea for a web based business selling aircraft. He needed someone to help him build the website and asked me if I had an interest in learning how. I was interested in learning and taught myself how to do it by reading book and various tutorials on the web.

- What is a typical day like?

A typical day consists of me spending about half an hour checking email. I reply to any new clients or leads generated via the web. From there I spend three and a half hours working on client websites. I then break for lunch and return to check email for about half an hour. The next two hours I work on marketing and promoting my business, in addition to soliciting new business on social networking sites such as FaceBook and Twitter. The end of the day typically includes writing and publishing a helpful article on my company blog. My company blog draws in business from search engines and by the readers who refer their friends and family.

- What skills are required for your job?

In order to be a successful self-employed web designer, you need to be an excellent listener and interpreter of what customers need. From there you need to have the skills to take the customers vision and develop it into a website. The programming skills necessary to be a web designer include: HTML, CSS, PHP, MySql, and Perl. As the web continues to develop, understanding additional programming languages are recommended. Many social networks and search engines have open source API, which allow anyone access into their system architectural backbone. Quite honestly, the more you know, the more you’re able to help your customer.

- What activities do you enjoy doing the most? What are 3 things that you enjoy most about working at your company/organization?

The three things I enjoy most about my career are being able to convert ideas into something live on the web. I enjoy the personal reward. I enjoy the compensation.

- What is the greatest challenge of this job? What are the 3 most challenging aspects of working at your company/organization?

The three greatest challenges of my career are keeping up with the speed of the web and other online companies, keeping up with my continued programming education, and managing my time and keeping customers happy by delivering on time.

- What skills are the most important for you to learn to be successful in this career?

Anyone can be a programmer. Anyone can learn the programming languages needed to be a web designer. The most important element that allows me to be a successful web designer is creativity.

- If I wanted to start in this career area, how would you recommend that I go about it?

The best thing to do is to go to college. However, many people can not afford to go to school. In fact, many people seek web design careers because they need to work from home. If college isn’t an option then I recommend purchasing books at the store. Also, if you can’t afford books, endless information is available on the web. Once you have learned the programming languages, you need to work on promoting your business. Once again, I use the web for this. I use social networks, my blog, and the people who read my blog to gain business.

- What advice would you give to me in regard to my career direction? Or, if you had a chance to do it all over again, what would you have done differently?

I am unsure of what your career direction is. I can say that if I had the chance to start over with my career, the only thing I would do would be to invest more time learning in advanced rather than learning on the spot.