Sure, blogging is about writing, connecting, marketing, and free expression; so why not get informed about some really neat tools that can help to enhance not only your blogging experience but the experience of those who visit your blog?

25 Cool Tools for Bloggers

1. AdSense- an ad program run by Google to help bloggers generate some $
2. Akismet- to help you kill the spam!
3. Blogger Mobile- a great moblogging tool that allows you to update your blog via your phone
4. Blogger Toolbox- a list of over 100 Tools and Themes for your Blogger blog
5. Blogpulse- a neat blog search tool
6. Blogpoll- because putting polls on your blog is fun
7. Blogsitter-because sometimes you need a vacation from writing
8. Creative Commons on Flickr-provides you with photos that you may legally borrow
9. DomainsBot- helps you find a name for your website
10. Ether- allows people to consult you via phone by clicking on a link
11. Feedburner-because you want people to subscribe to your blog & read what you have to say
12. Gabbly-a platform that enables people to connect and collaborate instantly
13. HaloScan- allows you to track your blog traffic
14. Keyword Tracker-an SEO tool that allows you to track certain keywords
15. MyBlogLog-via Yahoo, allows you to track outbound links, and create blog-centered communities
16. NicheBot-another keyword search tool
17. PayPal-because people like to get paid
18. Photobucket-allows you to upload and save pictures online
19. ShareThis- allows you to share your blog post(s) with the world
20. Skype- allows you to make phone calls from your computer
21. StatCounter-another great traffic-tracking site that provides you with great stats
22. Unobtrusive Sidenotes-an easy way to incorporate side notes into your web pages or blog(s)
23. WebPad- a really neat web-based text editor
24. WebmasterWorld- a forum for masters of the web
25. YouTube- a great site for viral marketing

For more information about Internet marketing, visit Create Business Growth today!

You know the saying, “One bad apple can spoil the bunch”?  Well, it’s true.  Recently, I read an article that talked about how marketers are ruining the Facebook experience by creating fake groups in order to “conduct research”.  This article was one of a few that have popped up in the past few days in response to Andrew Careaga’s post about the Facebook debacle.

According to Careaga’s post, Brad Ward uncovered some disturbing information about Facebook with regards to fake groups and pages that were being set up in order to lure unsuspecting students- much like a stranger tries to tempt a child with candy.  Ward realized that something was amiss after examining hundreds of “Class of 2013″ groups that popped up and realizing that they were all created by the same person/company.  Careaga writes:

According to Brad’s investigation, a cadre of Facebookers are either setting up unofficial “Class of 2013? pages that purport to represent various colleges and universities, or they’re joining already-established pages and becoming co-administrators. (These types of pages are usually created by students who have been accepted into a college and want to start networking with their fellow classmates-to-be. Some colleges and universities encourage the development of these pages, while others just let it happen.) Brad discovered that certain names appeared over and over again in the category of page administrator for many of these pages. In his post, Brad suggests that someone — or some organization, or group — has set up a ring to create Facebook pages in order to connect with “easily 1,000,000+ freshman college students.”

Updates

Brad’s original post, entitled There’s Something Going Down on Facebook. Pay Attention, created such a buzz that after a relatively short period of time, people were leaving a ton of comments on the blog post wanting to get to the bottom of the matter.  After all, why would someone want to purposely dissuade Facebook users?  Who was behind this?  Brad had traced several of the names he found in the fake Facebook groups to a site called College Prowler, a company based out of Pennsylvania that publishes student-written guidebooks about colleges.

Figures.

Before long, the chief executive officer of College Prowler, Luke Skurman, confirmed that his company was directly or indirectly involved in the creation of the “2013″ Facebook groups when he left the following blog comment on Ward’s blog:

Yes, College Prowler has been directly or indirectly involved with the creation of multiple Class of 2013 groups. The original purpose was to use these groups as a way to inform students that they can access a free guide about their new college on our site. No employee or anyone else associated with College Prowler has used these groups to send out messages or wall posts.

Until about an hour ago, I was unaware that College Prowler was working with another company that may have been using fake aliases to create to these groups. The groups that College Prowler was responsible for creating were set up with real accounts. Here are the names that are associated with College Prowler, and they will all be removed immediately from the Class of 2013 groups(all other names are not controlled by College Prowler):
• Mark Tressler
• Ron Tressler
• Brenna Young
• Lisa Young
• Lauren Plavchek
• Jessica Lash

From a big picture perspective, having a marketing strategy using social networking sites (like Facebook) is something that is necessary to be effective in our business. We do pride ourselves on being forward thinking and aggressive. In this instance, in its current form, we have crossed the line and to reiterate, we will be removing our administrator privileges from all of these 2013 groups immediately.

Feel free to email, luke@collegeprowler.com, with any additional concerns or questions.

Luke

You can read more about it the following blog post published on The Chronicle of Higher Education website.  While the issue seems to have temporarily resolved itself (with this particular matter), it makes you wonder how many more groups like this one there are on popular sites like Facebook.  Additionally, while the dust may seem to be settling, I can’t help but think that increasing numbers of people are feeling more unsettled with how they view and/or value marketing when things like this happen.

For more information about Internet marketing, visit Create Business Growth today!

Surfing the Internet has quickly developed over the years into one of the top things that people like to do.  However, nothing turns Internet users off faster than those web pages that have too much or too little going on.  The following is a list of some of these things that annoy us:

Ten Web Design No-Nos

1. Flash-  Flash introductions are usually met with a click of the mouse.  While many people think that flash introductions will make their page stand out, quite the opposite is true.  Even if your page loads your fancy introduction quickly, the same may not be true for others with varying computers and high speed access.  Impatient Internet users won’t have time to wait around for the “page loading” bar to disappear before they do.
2. Text Size- As if reading text on a computer isn’t difficult enough, some web pages contain text that is way too small.  For most, this problem is corrected simply by holding down the ‘control’ button and then pressing the ‘+/=’ button to enlarge the text.  But, why should you have to go to these lengths?  Small text can turn off an Internet user who doesn’t want to sit there and squint or figure out how to make the text bigger.
3. Images & Color Schemes-  When people click on your web page, does it look like you’ve just taken a trip back to the 1980s?  People are incredibly smart.  They can spot a crappy picture a mile away.  If your images are lacking in quality and the only color on your page is the white spaces inbetween your text, then you’ve got a problem.  You want to have a good balance of white space on your pages in conjunction with a good balance of imagery so that readers don’t feel overwhelmed by text, text, text.
4. Pop-ups-  Perhaps the most annoying thing to any Internet user is having to wage a war against pop-ups.  Not only are they distracting, but all it will take is one pop-up to turn a reader off to your site.
5. Horizontal Scrolling- People who use the Internet tend to be one-dimensional- or should I say- ‘one-directional’.  We hate having to scroll horizontally and avoid it at all costs.  Typically, most web pages are created so that users only have to scroll vertically.  Know what the standard size pixels are for most windows and try to adhere to it!
6. Opening New Windows- Cross-linking is great because the thought behind it is that it keeps the user on your web site.  However, if when people click on a hyperlink, it opens up a new window, things can get hairy fast.  I don’t proclaim to be a web designer by any stretch of the imagination, but if you’re using a laptop or a computer with a smaller monitor/screen, having too many windows open can add up pretty quickly.  In most cases, when someone clicks on a hyperlink, it should refresh the page so that the new content appears on the same page that they’re looking at- not in a separate window.  Get it?  Nowadays, most Internet users are savvy enough to know that if they DO want to have something open up in a different window, all they have to do is right click on the hyperlink and choose the option to do so.
7. PDFs-  If there’s anything Internet users hate coming across, it’s a PDF file.  If you’ve ever seen those commercials for the Visa checkcard then you know what I’m about to say.  Coming across a PDF file while your out and about on the Internet is akin to what happens in the Visa commercial; it interrupts your flow of web browsing! Often, if you are brave enough to open up a PDF, it will take a little time to load and then once it comes up, it is often not formatted properly which means that you will have to resize it so that you can actually read the text. Whenever you have the chance or option, convert PDFs so that they are readable on the web.  It’ll keep your readers happy!
8. Scannability- Most people reading things on the Internet don’t actually read everything; they scan it.  Keeping this in mind, it is important to remember when you are writing web content (i.e. blogs or actual content pages), make sure that you include bold text along with italicized or underlined (whatever is appropriate).  Remember the rules that you learned when you were in elementary school about how sentences and paragraphs are formed?  Now would be a good time to use these rules.  Know how, where and when to recognize that a sentence is getting too long or when a group of sentences need to be broken up into two paragraphs.  All of these things contribute to the usability and readability of your web page and will make it easier on the reader.
9. About Me- I certainly can’t speak for everyone out there, but one of the first things that I look for whenever I visit a new site or blog is an “About Me” tab or link.  If your web page doesn’t have one yet, I highly advocate creating one.  The “About Me” section should include a little more in-depth information about you and your site and what it’s all about.  Some people choose to disclose more personal information here although it is certainly not necessary.  Sometimes, I will click off of a web site if it doesn’t have an “About Me” section because it raises suspicion as to ownership and what the intentions of the site/person/persons really are.
10. Linking-  When it comes to website design and usability, the attention truly is in the details.  This brings me to hyperlinking.  When linking to other pages, ALWAYS make sure that the link works and that it is linking to the page you intended.  Additionally, it is sometimes helpful (although certainly not necessary) to have the links change color once the person has clicked on them.  This sort of acts as a reminder to the user that they have already looked at a particular link (just in case they forgot).

So, you’ve finally come to the realization that the economy is in trouble. Now what? As a business owner, you may start to panic. Which employee are you going to cut first? How are you going to pay the landlord the money you owe on the lease next month? What about your clients? These are all questions that many business owners are facing.

The first thing that most businesses will want to cut back on when it comes to budgeting is their marketing. However, nothing could be worse if you’re trying to save your business. According to an article published in the Harvard Business Review earlier this year:

It is well documented that brands that increase (marketing) during a recession, when competitors are cutting back, can improve market share and return on investment at lower cost than during good economic times.

There is no better time to take advantage of your niche market than in an economic downturn. Because most people are quick to cut marketing, this creates the perfect opportunity as well as advantage for you to continue to pound your message home to prospective customers. In notes he took during a Sequoia meeting, Lance Weatherby, a technology entrepreneur, noted Doug Leone as having said:

In a downturn, aggressive PR and Communications strategy is key.

The Time is Now! 5 Things to Keep in Mind

1. Mental- When it comes to helping your business stay afloat, keep a cool mental attitude. It is usually when people start to “freak out” and panic that poor decisions are made which can affect the entire company.
2. Marketing-Do NOT cut your marketing no matter what; leave that to the poor judgment of your competitors! Instead, look at various ways and plans for implementing even better marketing strategies through the uses of things such as viral marketing, email marketing, web site redesign, etc.
3. Money- During an economic crisis, everyone is worried about money-especially if they are a small business owner. This is why it is even more important to always be aware of what your budget constraints are. Too often, budding businesses ‘jump the gun’ and act as if they are a big business when they aren’t. For example, instead of rushing into that bigger office space, take a look at how much you’re spending on other things already. Will the move end up costing you more than it’s worse?
4. Model- What is your business model? How many employees do you currently have working for you and what are their respective roles within the company? What are your short and long-term goals for the company? Do you have a plan of action in case the economy takes a dive? Do you have contracts in place with your clients?
5. Method-When you are a business owner, there should always be a method to the madness. Staying organized and upbeat will not only help you; it will also help your employees to do the same as well. State clearly what you expect out of each of your employees in writing when they are hired. Have company policies and let employees know what the termination policy is should they do something out of character or should the economy negatively affect your business. Avoid micromanaging, as this could hurt company morale and the quality of the work put out by employees.

Other Articles of Interest

• Defending Marketing Budgets in Tough Times- The Chronicle of Philanthropy
• Marketers Expecting Cuts During Economic Crisis- Marketing Profs Daily Fix
• “Cut the PR Agency? Are You *Sure* About That?”-PR Squared
• 6 Small Business Survival Ideas During an Economic Crises-Ms. Financial Savvy
• Should You Cut Prices in a Bad Economy?- MSNBC

For more information about Internet marketing, visit Create Business Growth today!

There are more jobs which require humans to work with computers today than there has ever been. Additionally, there are more people with computers in their homes than ever before. So, what does this translate to? A lot more Internet surfing for starters! But are we “surfing the Internet” too much? When does it cross over from just being a hobby into being more of an obsession?

“Just one more page…I’ve got to find this site to show you something..” insists my boyfriend, who is more than eager to show me…well, something fascinating that he saw on the Internet. At one point, we had to have a discussion about how the Internet, not the computer, was beginning to interfere with our relationship. Now, we have a deal where neither one of us will use the Internet or even go near the computer while we are in each other’s company. Now, there are, of course, exceptions to this rule. For example, if we need to look up directions to something or if he has to do work for school, etc., then it’s ok.

We aren’t the only people suffering from Internet overload though. There are millions of people out there (I’m sure of it) who can’t seem to peel themselves away from their computers. And what are these people looking up? Is it information related to work? Is it for laughs? There’s no telling. With the invention of laptop computers, web surfing has only gotten worse, not better. I just recently started using a laptop, and it’s insane how difficult it is to not want to use it! There are only 24 hours in a day; yet, there seems to be an infinite number of web sites out there..waiting…waiting for a surfer like you or me to stumble upon it!

For more information about Internet Marketing, contact Create Business Growth today!

Do you live a life where you wake up each morning anxious or simply thinking about the work day ahead of you and then return each evening to your home to do even more work while thinking about all of the work you didn’t get done while at work? What about those of you who work for a boss who is somewhat disorganized and who doesn’t necessarily know how to manage that well? If any of these situations sound familiar, it isn’t surprising. There are millions of Americans who go to work each day and are miserable because they are being overworked, underpaid and mismanaged. However, there are some things you can do to improve your work productivity and overall happiness.

10 Ways to Increase Productivity at Work

1. Take a Break:
   • We all need breaks, and research shows that working long hours without a break is not nearly as productive as working in short bursts.
2. Get Rid of Distractions:
   • If you’re a popular person who tends to receive a lot of phone calls, then make sure that your phone is either out of sight or turned off so that it won’t distract you or others around you who may be trying to work. If you work in a small office with several other employees who tend to talk a lot, try talking to them or letting your boss know that the added noise is a distraction that is taking away from your productivity.
3. Use Music to Soothe:
   • If you can’t escape the noises around you, then try to listen to a little bit of soothing music such as classical music or something that doesn’t require too much attention, this way you will be able to continue to work. Research also shows that listening to soothing music can help to relax you (which is always a good thing).
4. Save the Easiest for Last:
   • Whatever task is the most difficult, make sure that you start with that one first. It’ll save you the time of having to worry about it later, plus it will make you feel better to have easier things to look forward to as the day progresses.
5. Learn to Say “No”:
   • Many bosses take advantage of salaried employees by loading them down with work that will never get finished in a 40 hour workweek unless they put in extra, unpaid time outside of work. If you find that your boss is giving you work that falls outside of the general working parameters, let him/her know. You don’t always have to agree with what your boss or another employer tells you. Simply find a polite way to say that you are overloaded with work (i.e. “While I would love to complete this task, my plate is already full. Perhaps we can take something off of my plate so that I can help out; or perhaps we can re-assign it to someone else..”).
6. Figure Out Your “Time of Day”:
   • There are some people who are extremely lucid during the early morning hours and grow less productive as the day wears on. On the other hand, there are those of us who are extremely productive at night. Figure out what kind of person you are and tailor your work around it.
7. Plan out Meals Ahead:
   • You would think that eating would be the easiest and perhaps most basic function. However, many people neglect to prepare meals ahead of time that they can bring with them to work. Therefore, they are tasked with trying to figure out where and when they are going to fit lunch in around their busy afternoons. Save yourself the trouble of eating junk food as well as spending unnecessary money on gas and food by preparing meals ahead of time. It’ll save you an incredible amount of stress (and weight) in the end.
8. Avoid Too Much Multi-Tasking:
   • Many employees feel that the better they are able to multi-task, the more work they are getting done. This is true and false…mostly false. Research has shown that multi-tasking is not as productive as the vast majority of people think. Contrary to popular belief, if you focus on one thing at a time, you will do a much better job and be that much more effective as an employee.
9. Stay Organized:
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   • When you are given what seems like an infinite amount of work, take a deep breath and make a list to help you organize it all. If you have to, invest in a desk planner or some sort of calendar program that you can use to help you keep track of what your daily tasks are. As you are assigned more tasks throughout the day, you should already have a list made for the next day that you can simply add the task to (listed from highest to lowest priority of course).

For more information about Internet Marketing, contact Create Business Growth today!

Have you ever looked up information that led you to a web site and when you finally got to the web site, you were waiting forever for the page to load? Chances are that if the page took forever to load, you didn’t hang around to wait for it. With more and more people using the Internet to do business as well as connect with other people, it seems like no one has the patience to wait for slow sites.

According to eMarketer, 16% of people leave the page if it takes longer than 10 seconds to load, and only every second person or so will wait longer than 15 seconds. If you’re an SEO company or even if you’re a business owner, this should send up a red flag. As a general rule, Search Engine Journal suggests keeping your web page size up to 150k because pages that are any bigger than this are not fully cached by search engines.  For example, the longer a search crawler waits, the less it will visit your page.

Three sites that Search Engine Journal suggests to help you with your improve your page loading time as well as the overall performance of your web page include:

1. Web Page Speed Report
2. Page Size Extractor
3. Web Developer FireFox Extension
   

With regards to running a business online, little things such as how long it takes your page to load can equate from hundreds to billions of dollars of business lost (depending on who your company is).  After all, you must remember, the Internet is a popular tool that many people use; millions of businesses are competing for the consumer’s attention.  It only takes a split second for a person to realize that they are interested based on what they see….or don’t see.

For more information about Internet marketing, contact Create Business Growth today!

We’ve all had it happen to us at one point or another. For me, it’s an everyday thing- although it is not that bad. I’m talking about spam. I’ve been making a somewhat weak attempt NOT to check my email as much over the weekend as part of this great plan to try to keep work separate from my personal life. However, I can be sure that by the time Monday rolls around, I will have at least 20 messages in my inbox, 80% of which will be spam.

Now, I realize that I don’t have it nearly as bad as some other people; but nonetheless, spam is a real concern for a lot of people. It certainly matters in Canada. A recent article published in thestar.com talks about how spam has become such a problem in Canada that the Canadian government has tried, unsuccessfully, to address the issue by passing an anti-spam bill through legislation. There is no doubt that a great majority of email that is transmitted is spam. This can lead to all sorts of problems including but not limited to things such as bandwidth overloads, slower servers, hacking, viruses and identity theft.

What to Do

Some suggestions for dealing with spam include:

• Create a separate “spam” folder in your email account.
• Switch to a more secure email account.
• Keep your email address private.
• Filter your email by using the spam features to identify spam.
• Do not click on an email if you aren’t sure who sent it.

For more information on Internet marketing, contact Create Business Growth today!