The short answer is: it’s not easily user-editable, but it can be done.

WordPress works by using “theme files” to construct a web page ‘on the fly’. The content of the page is stored in a database, but the design of the page is stored in theme files. While WordPress only requires two theme files (index.php and style.css), most WordPress web sites use at least six files. The main theme files are as follows:

• header.php – contains information for the header
• index.php, front-page.php, page.php, or single.php – calls the header and footer; contains instructions for the middle part of the page
• footer.php – contains information for the footer
• sidebar.php – contains instructions for the sidebar

In this client’s particular design, the header and footers go all the way across the page and the middle content area is split into two columns. The sidebar is a column that goes all the way from the top, just under the header, to the bottom, just above the footer. The other column is where the post or page content goes. Whichever column’s side has more content will determine how long the page is. The sidebar only appears when it’s ‘called’ to appear. Each page you see could be a different type of page. Page types are as follows:

• Front page – what the home page looks like (front-page.php)
• Page page – what a Page looks like (page.php)
• Post page – what a Post looks like (single.php)
• Category page – what a Category view of Posts looks like (index.php, category.php, or archive.php)

For example, the front-page.php theme file controls the home page and it doesn’t call the sidebar. There are other types of theme files like search.php for searches, but this is a short list.  There are also more specific theme files that can be created based on a page name. For example, I could create a theme file called “page-health-benefits.php” for the Health Benefits page and I could code it to look completely different if I wanted to. I could also call a different header, footer, or sidebar, for example.

Here are some options for when columns don’t match up in your WordPress design layout:

• Stop using the sidebar - You can eliminate the problem by only having a one-column layout.
• Page-specific theme file(s) - I can code a theme file specific for the Health Benefits page which would show a different sidebar altogether or none at all.
• Page Continuation / Pagination Code - to make the sidebar area never have white space at the end, I could code in a ‘page continuation code’ so that when the content gets to a certain length, it paginates to a ‘page 2′.
• Manually Code in Scenarios to the Sidebar: I can code in scenarios that say, “If the page is Health Benefits, then display more content in the sidebar”. This would not be something you could easily edit.

Summary

It’s not uncommon for sidebars to have more or less content than it’s corresponding column. Dynamic changes to column length are possible through custom coding. Custom coding makes the site harder to keep updated in the future, but that’s not really your problem unless you’re doing it yourself. If it really bothers you, go to a single-column layout. If you can’t get over that extra white space, contact us. We are an Indianapolis web design firm that makes custom WordPress websites.

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Dr. Misner is the founder of BNI and an prolific author. His latest book is entitled, Business Networking and Sex: Not What You Think.

In his article on Success Net Online, Dr. Misner shares his story of how scared he was of asking a local bookstore to buy his book. “I wasn’t sure that they would be willing to carry a book from an unknown author. I sat there too embarrassed to make any moves toward the entrance,” he wrote.

He rationalized to himself that there were really only two options, of which only one that would result in success. This made the decision, which just a moment prior had seemed so frightening he couldn’t force himself to get out of the car, to being the most logical decision.

Do I struggle with a fear of rejection? While it pains me to admit I’m deficient at something, asking something for someone when there is a chance they will say no is terrifying to me. But I know that tenacity is a key tenet of a successful business person and so it’s something I’m working to conquer.

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I go to the BNI in Carmel, Indiana called “Network Masters”. It’s a referral group where only one person from each professional specialty is allowed. This means that there can’t be two web designers in a group, for example. They call it “exclusivity” and it helps you to be “the guy” for your particular industry or specialty.

BNI is also strict on attendance, meaning that you have to either attend every meeting or find a substitute. You’re only allowed a limited amount of absences per year, but this can be a good thing because you know people are actually going to be there to hear what you have to say. The point is to learn about each other’s businesses so you can be a good referral partner when you’re out working in your field.

Rainmakers is different than BNI in that its events aren’t required, but its “power circle” meetings are. The power circle meetings act more like BNI meetings because their seats are exclusive, meaning you can have only one type of profession in each meeting. The difference in power circles to BNI is that power circles are supposed to be made up of service professionals who naturally refer to each other, making the group potentially more effective than a general BNI group.

Anyone can invite visitors to a BNI meeting or a Rainmakers event, but visitors can only attend twice before having to sign up as a member. BNI and Rainmakers are comparable in price per year and both have their advantages. If you’re interested in attending one, but don’t want to go alone, contact me and we’ll see if we can go to an event together.

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It was raining in Indianapolis and yet the light from the sun was still shining through the clouds, which made for some interesting views of the city. There were also some interesting views discussed after Blake’s presentation when we all sat around discussing possibilities for our personal brands. My favorite was of the IT guy who described his business as fitting like a glove.

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As a blogger and freelance writer, I receive dozens and dozens of press releases a week. About 98% of those are deleted…and that’s on a good day.

Despite what old-school public relations professionals might say, press releases are no longer the only way to get the attention of the media. Social media and modern marketing are far too strong of a driving force in this sector to ignore.

That’s not to say however, that press releases are a lost cause – if you handle them correctly.

Here are a few tips from my personal experience that will help you get the most out of your press release. Note: these tips may not apply in every situation; consider each case on an individual basis.

The easiest way to do this is by checking of the ‘Five Ws’ – Who, What, Where, When, W…and I don’t mean within the copy of your press release.

WHO

If you’re targeting a specific audience – what’s that? You’re just sending out mass emails? Let’s start over.

To get the most value out of a press release, consider reaching out to your subject in a personalized manner. No one wants to feel like they’re part of a cattle call. Unless a publicity email addresses me by name, I don’t read it.

Blogger, Madam, “Hi there” or my favorite yesterday, “Hi lovey!,” don’t count. Find out the person’s name and address them by such (be sure to spell it correctly!)

WHAT

What does the person who you’re contacting cover? If you are trying to pitch the latest and greatest diaper, you should probably note that I don’t have children and have never written anything related to babies. Look at media contact’s previous or recent work to see what topics they usually write about.

WHERE

Where are you sending this press release? Make sure it’s the subjects preferred method of communication. I’ve had people contact me through Facebook, Twitter, and other various platforms to ask for my email address. If they’d take a few minutes, they’d see it’s listed very clearly in several places.

WHEN

Timing is everything. If your media blast is concerning something Christmas related, it’s as effective to send it in July, as it would be to send it on Christmas Eve. As a blogger, I like a six-week lead but when it comes to print publications, the time varies. For a newspaper story, I need about four-weeks notice while something pointed for magazine, two and a half months. Each publication is different though so be sure to consider the timing of your release.

WHY

This is key not only within your content but also when considering your recipient. Why does this person care what you have to say? Referring back to the matter of ‘what’, a food writer isn’t going to care about the latest in fall fashions just as a fashion writer doesn’t care about the best place to create a Fantasy Sports Team.

IN CONCLUSION…

You’ll notice that all of these suggestions take TIME. Sure, you’re a busy person and you’re trying to get a message out to the greatest number of people possible but if you can’t take a moment to find out someone’s name, why do they want to spend hours covering your news? They won’t.

Do your research, make a friendly and personalized introduction and see how much further it takes you.

You can follow Leslie @Lesalina.

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We’ve found that custom HTML email signatures was a way to use our web design and email management skills to create  an introductory product that’s great for a wide variety of clients. Our typical clients are independent business owners or non-profits who can make their own marketing decisions, but now we have a product that can help franchisees or real estate agents who don’t or can’t have their own web site, but do have control over their email signature.

Email signatures provide a way to offer increased interaction, coupons, calls to action, and integration with review sites, business directories, social media sites, and home pages. They can be inserted into many of the major web based email programs as well as traditional email clients. The images can be hosted on your web server or ours.

We’ve considered branding for the email signatures can range from “mini-web sites at the end of your email” or “custom HTML email signatures”. When we do keyword research for doing our SEO, keyword terms like, “professional email signatures,” “email signatures for business”, and others come up so we might use those.

On our home page, we currently have a huge image of the email signatures product with a giant button that says, “Learn More”. This is in response to feedback we got about our old page design which lacked a central call to action. In the future, we’d like to have that central image and text swap out in what’s called a “content slider”.

This is a new product for us and we’re still doing customer development and looking for feedback. We’ve done many customer interviews and implemented a lot of what we heard in order to continue to iterate the product. The end product may change from where it is now, but so far, it’s shaping up to be something people really like.

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Depending on the firm, virtual assistants can help you with everything from checking your email and making appointments to web design or other web services. This is similar to the term, “long hallway”, which means a distributed company. I’ve provided a couple of different types here:

American Virtual Assistants:

eaHELP is the leader in sourcing busy professionals with high-quality American executive virtual assistants.

Longer Days provides a single point of contact called a team lead that enables customers to accomplish a wide variety of work that would traditionally require a half a dozen employees.

Overseas Virtual Assistants:

GetFriday is your personal virtual assistant. GetFriday can undertake any task, business or personal, that does not require our physical presence.

Brick Work India created a unique business solution, the virtual office, to cater to the specific needs of such companies and CXOs.

Other Types of eWorkers:

Elance allows you to post a job with a bid to get proposals from multiple freelance workers across the globe. Also consider Odesk, Guru and vWorker.

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Watershawl is in the business of helping your business and Erich Stauffer will help you every step of the way. He’s helped businesses from startups to established businesses grow using the multiplying power of the Internet.

We believe that sharing, transparency, and engagement with current and potential clients is one of the best ways to reduce barriers to using your products and services. We use web technology to get your message across to those seeking it.

While the Internet is an open playing field, you may be unfamiliar with the terms or all of the new sites, techniques, or jargon. That’s okay. We keep up with that stuff and can explain it all to you when you’re ready. We’re nice like that.

We know how to market businesses online in Indianapolis. We’ve got clients who rank highly on Google in some of the most competitive categories including dentists, landscapers, and retail. If you’re a local business in Indianapolis, Watershawl can help.

Our Process

If you’re interested in learning how Watershawl can help use the power of the Internet to grow your business in the Indianapolis market, call or email us to setup a time to discuss your goals. The first hour of consultation is free at which time we’ll be able to provide a no-obligation, up-front quote on what we believe it would take to achieve your goals.

Indianapolis marketing projects start at $200 and vary according to your needs. If you’re looking for an outsourced marketing team member who can help you get organized and move in the path of growth, Erich Stauffer is a nice guy who’s been there. He’s led successful projects of varying sizes and would love to help you get started with your project soon.

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Hiring a web design company is only one step of the process.  Once you have a new custom website designed that meets your needs, you still have to maintain it.

Sure, there are many website design companies in Indianapolis (and elsewhere) that you can pay to manage all of your site content and marketing. But that may not be within your budget. For many small businesses, keeping their website current falls on their own shoulders. And with all of the work that you have to do for clients, managing the website may fall by the wayside.

Ensure You Have a CMS

One of the benefits of working with a web design firm like Watershawl is their use of a CMS, or content management system, to build your website. A CMS is a software application that lets you edit most of the text and  some of the imagery and layout in your site using point-and-click tools.

WordPress, which is the CMS I’m using to write this post, is a popular and effective product in this category. I don’t have to worry about coding or technical details in order to add content to the site. I just login and type.

Get Training on Your CMS

At first, it may seem like you don’t need training to use a tool like WordPress. It’s similar to a word processor. There’s a box you can type into, and there are buttons at the top that you can use to change formatting or insert pictures.

However, just like a word processor, you don’t know what you don’t know. There are some incredible features inside every CMS and without training, you probably won’t find out about them.

Schedule Time To Maintain Your Site

If you plan to write a new blog post once a week, put an hour aside on your calendar and make an appointment with yourself. Or better yet, reserve a day on your calendar to write blog posts for the next two months. Then use, the scheduling feature of your CMS to parcel the blog posts out over time.

Don’t know how to schedule posts? Talk to your website design company.

Create a Guest Login

This is an incredible productivity secret that will save you time. If you want to have others post on your blog, create a guest account for them. That way, you don’t have to ask them to send their post by email, copy and paste it into WordPress, and deal with formatting issues. Instead, you’ll find out that there’s a new post ready to be reviewed. What could be easier?

In short, you can actually be more efficient when maintaining your website. Talk to your website design company about your CMS. And if you don’t have one, considering checking with Watershawl about moving to a platform like WordPress.

Good luck!

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So, if you have read any business journal, blog, or magazine in the last year you’ve heard ad-naseum about the power of Big Data. Combing through the digital exhaust that all consumers produce to better understand their preferences and habits can produce big dividends to big companies who have big data (notice the trend here?). But what if you are a small shop? You can’t pay MBAs and Quants to comb through your data to produce insights and most likely – you don’t have the mountains of data to pore through anyway. But, I’m here to say that Big Data is simply a way for a large company to feel like a small one. Your small business has the advantage!

Small Business, Big Data

So, ask what your clients think about you. Then be flexible, and most importantly, do something about what you hear! Here are four ways to how to ask clients what they would like more of:

• Add comment boxes on order forms (both online and offline). If you’ve got the space, add some open ended prompts to get them writing. Be creative and write like a human because you are one (and so are your readers!).
• Ask your best clients what it would take for them to leave you for your competition. That will show your their sensitivity points and give you some target areas to focus on.
• Write thank you notes for business are simple and effective. Send a thank you note with a brief survey with plenty of open-ended questions and offer a thank you gift when they return it.
• Engage with your clients via Twitter. This is a no-brainer to get with your most influential clients and just have a conversation with them on why they are your brand champions.

A company who views their client as a number has nothing on a small business owner who truly cares about his or her clients. There is no better way to show that you care than to heed their desires and innovate new products and services to meet their needs inside of the relationship they already have with your business.

This is a guest post by Jason Cobb. Contact Jason today to boost your brand and grow your sales via effective social and web marketing.

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