Sometime last year, I started on VA Newsday – an experimental website where I pulled in RSS feeds from my favorite virtual business blogs and compiled them on one site – much like an online “newspaper”.  As I didnt have a lot of time to devote to it, I left the site alone late last year – until I found a way to automate the updating to some degree. Since then, I found a good system for doing this – making VA Newsday take almost no time at all to maintain. There are great links and info from virtual assistants, tech blogs and a guru or two. 

If you are at all interested in virtual business, virtual assistance or web working in general – check out VA Newsday.  Be sure to sign up for the automatic email updates too!!

I’m thrilled to announce a new teleclass that I will be doing with my very good friend and colleague, Carla Wilson, next Wednesday called E-Product Flight Plan.

In this teleclass, Carla & I will be presenting a how-to guide on how to sell your knowledge online. If you are a coach or consultant and have been wondering what you need to have in place in order to start selling your expertise on the web – you owe it to yourself to check this out.

This is not a marketing class – this is about resources, tools and checklists – the meat & potatoes of how to sell online.  If you have an ebook, teleclass, webinar or coaching program (any non-shippable item) that you want to add to your revenue stream, this teleclass will save you time, guesswork and money.

Among the items we will cover:

• E-Commerce 101 – facts you must know in order to understand the online sales process
• Secrets of choosing the best ecommerce tools for your budget, product type  & business goals (there’s no such thing as one-size fits all)
• Pros & cons of using a traditional web page vs. WordPress for your sales page
• Messaging – the importance of mapping out your communications before you start selling
• The must-have items of message copy you need completed and ready to go before you sell.
• How to work with a VA to be sure there are no “missing links” in your selling process
• Getting the word out… learn to leveraging all your communication channels to reach people “where they are”
• Your questions… we will address your burning questions on the call – be sure to include yours when you sign up!

“Business Class” passengers will also receive 4 PDF guides as a bonus, along with a MP3 of the call.  You can also opt to purchase a low-cost “Economy Class” live call only access ticket.

When: Wednesday, June 23rd, 12:00 Noon – 1:30pm Eastern
Where: Teleclass

Click the button below to register, or visit our sales page for full details.  Access information will be sent to you immediately via email after purchase.

PS: Register by Wednesday,  June 16th and save $20.00!

Hope to see you there!

The default WordPress theme

One of the most important parts of any of my WordPress projects is the initial meeting when we discuss which WordPress theme would best meet the client’s needs. If you haven’t worked with WordPress yet, a WordPress theme gives the site its layout and navigation structure, as well as its “look and feel”.  When you initially install WP at your web host – you get the default theme – which works fine, but is very “vanilla”… as you can see in the screenshot at left.

Almost always, I work with premium themes, from established vendors such as WooThemes, DIY Themes’ Thesis, StudioPress, Theme Foundry and more. I find the support is much better, there’s more sophisticated features and is always well worth the expense (which is nominal in any case).  These days, however, there are SO many choices out there and the number of themes available at just one vendor can be overwhelming. To add to the dizzying options, there are new and wonderful themes joining the market almost daily.  Needless to say, I spend quite a bit of time surfing around checking out new releases (which is very fun, by the way!

So, what do I look for in a WordPress theme? Most of the time it’s way more about function than form…

Think FIRST about the planned content.  Will the new site have a lot of photos? Videos? Does it need to appear like  a traditional website, or will blog posts be front and center?  How much “sidebar” content will there be? An email opt-in box? Does the navigation need to be especially flexible? Generally, can you visualize your content “fitting” the theme?  Some themes are for portfolios while others are optimized for video content – there’s a lot of variety out there, so it’s best to be clear on that so you can narrow down your options.

The theme’s navigation structure needs to be looked at carefully. Some advanced themes will actually have two navigation bars, one for blog content (driven by post categories) and a page navigation.  This is immensely useful for a site with a LOT of blog post content, as it makes it easy for your visitors to find post content that is of interest. An example would be using a category called “Product Reviews”. Whenever you post an article to that category, it’s added to that navigation item automatically, and a visitor looking for “Product Reviews” will find them quickly. An example of a dual-navigation theme would be Spectrum by WooThemes.  Older themes would limit you to adding pages only to the navigation, but newer premium themes will sometimes allow you to add outside links as a nav item. An example of this is the “Domains & Hosting” menu item on this site – you will notice that it links to an outside domain.

Are there enough “widgetized” regions? WordPress “widgets” are blocks of content you add (typically, but not always) to a sidebar – easily managed within the WordPress “Widgets” section. Widgets make it very easy for a non-webmaster to add, edit or move content without coding.  Some themes not only have the sidebars “widgetized” – but also regions of the home page, which makes editing much easier.

Are there multiple page templates? Good WordPress themes will give you options on the page layout when you create a new page.  Generally, you get a “default” page template and an “archives” template (for blog posts).  Its always good to have other choices such as “full-width” (a page without sidebars) and even a ready-made sitemap.  Some new themes (Woo’s Inspire, for example) come with a “contact” template with a built-in form, or even image galleries.

On the design side, will the theme lend itself to the desired branding? If you have a clear visual style in mind – a logo, color scheme, a look and feel – it’s important to pick a theme that will adopt that brand without too much of a fight. Almost any theme can be adapted to any brand with a bit of imagination and flexibility, but some themes lend themselves to customization better than others.  On the other hand, you may just fall in love with the look of a theme “out of the box” and decide to not modify too much.  Some themes are very customizable (such as Thesis) but are VERY plain when installed without modifications, so there is always a need for customization time in the project.  Other themes are fabulous looking (such as Elegant Themes) right out of the box, but may also be less flexible – or simply be too time consuming to customize to the desired state -  and this may be just fine if you want a terrific looking site in a hurry.

Here’s a brief list of my favorite WP theme vendors (there are many other great ones, but this is my short-list):

• WooThemes – Both “sexy out of the box” and easy to customize, along with a huge variety of theme types and designs available. New stuff every month and great support, too.
• DIY Themes’ Thesis – The mac-daddy of WP themes… very utilitarian and easy to customize,  I recommend this when the content is primarily a blog, or when SEO and back-end flexibility is a key concern.
• The Theme Foundry – Elegant, clean and solid… great features – and very adaptable to branding.
• StudioPress – Great themes for businesses, combining flexibility and a professional look. Wonderful themes available for real estate pros.
• Elegant Themes – When you are in a hurry and customization isn’t that important, these themes will give you a gorgeous blog ASAP.

The bottom line is that any WordPress blog project is best approached with the end in mind. I always include with blogsite projects a web meeting with the client to discuss the content, branding and preferences   – and demo the theme on-screen, if possible, so that the client can better visualize what the site would look like and how it would fit the content and goals of the site.

What’s your favorite WordPress theme?

I’m delighted to be one of the presenters at the 5th Annual Online International Virtual Assistants Convention, which runs May 20th through May 22nd. This annual multi-speaker event features experts in a variety of fields presenting on topics of interest to Virtual Pros and their clients.

Some of the distinguished OIVAC presenters include Andrea Kalli, Sydni Craig-Hart, Cindy Greenway and Leesa Barnes – among many others. I will be presenting “Shopping Carts for VAs” this Thursday at 10:00 ET.  Be sure to check out the speaker schedule for full details.

Click here to check out the whole schedule and registration options.

Hope to see you there!

In the past month or so, I’ve been relatively quiet on my blog and on social media, as I’ve been very busy putting together my brand new blogsite development and support service packages. After years of working with VAs, Coaches and other Solopreneurs, there’s a clear pattern of what web services these kinds of businesses need in order to make the most of their online presence, not only for marketing and visibility, but also for easy maintenance and low “cost of ownership”.  With that in mind, I’ve come up with four package options – each designed to address the needs of the beginner blogger to the established coaching practice with infoproducts and support staff…

New Blogsite Setup & Coaching Packages: Bones, Essentials, Business and Platinum

Each service package includes everything you need to start blogging for business while also offering related items and services to make your continuing internet marketing and site maintenance easy. Each package includes hosting and domain setup, WordPress installation and configuration, WordPress utility plugins for anti-spam, automated backups, social sharing and more; premium theme license, Google Analytics setup, Feedburner setup and client web training. As a bonus, all packages include one year of ProVirtual Domains web hosting and your choice of an unlimited email package or Google Apps setup for your domain.

A blogsite can only benefit you if you add new content and if you have the tools in place to leverage the new content. That’s why all packages also include follow-up support hours and coaching… so you can decide what areas you may need extra help with. Whatever you need to know about making the most of your new site can easily be addressed in the follow-up training call or support hours.

Please visit the service detail page for more information and be sure to sign up to receive a PDF document which includes all package specifics, deliverables and pricing.

One of the easiest and fastest ways to measure your online audience’s interest in your posts, tweets or email promotions is to use a URL shortener. URL shorteners simply take a long URL and shorten it to a manageable amount of characters, rendering them easier to type, remember and look at. While handy for that alone, URL shorteners can also be used to give you an immediate insight into what subjects and keywords your readers (blog, social media, ezine, etc) are most interested in.

There are a LOT of sites out there that do the link shortening part.  TinyURL was one of the first, and is still widely used, offering an easy way to customize an link with an easy to remember name and safety preview feature. However, TinyURL doesn’t have tracking features – so you don’t have any quick click-through stats to refer to.  With the advent of the social media age (especially Twitter), link shorteners have gained new importance and now offer users on-the-spot analytics.

Two link shortener services stand out:  Bit.ly and HootSuite. HootSuite is more of a web-based social media client, but uses its own shortener (ow.ly)  which delivers stats on clickthroughs. If you are a heavy social media user (it posts to Facebook and LinkedIn as well as Twitter), HootSuite is indispensable.

If you use a desktop app to manage Twitter, TweetDeck and Twirl can be used with other shorteners such as Bit.ly, Cli.gs and Tr.im to deliver tracking.

Along with HootSuite, Bit.ly is my favorite. Easy to use, it provides the user a history of their own shortened links, clickthroughs and total number of bit.ly-shortened links pointing to the same page destination.

Here’s my 5 top tips to get the most out of URL-shorteners:

1.  Create an account at a shortening site that supports tracking and use it consistently to shorten all your links. Bit.ly, Tr.im, Cli.gs or Snipurl support tracking. Check out this URL shortener feature chart to compare.

2.  Use a social media management tool such as HootSuite or Ping.fm (check settings!) to consolidate posting to your profiles.

3.  If you are posting affiliate links, use the shortener to track clickthroughs and check them against your official affiliate stats.

4.  Split-test your mailings by sending two versions of linked text in an email,  then compare your click-through rates.

5.  If you tweet frequently about a variety of subjects, check stats to see what subjects attract the most clickthroughs.  The numbers may surprise you.

When used in conjunction with your normal website stats, URL shorteners can add an immediate layer of analytics to support your marketing efforts.

As part two of my Things You Should Know Before Building Your Website series, I’m going to discuss a common – a very common – pitfall that many fall into when planning a new website project: perfectionism.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not at all saying that we should slap anything online that’s incorrect or poorly written or looks bad. I’m not advocating that at all. What I am advocating is realizing that websites are dynamic things and should be changed, edited, improved, experimented with and toyed with… a lot. This conflicts with traditional print marketing mindset, where there is a practical necessity for committing to design and content and being stuck with it until you are willing to reinvest lots of dollars for rewrites, redesigns and reprints.

On the web, however, the opposite is true. The more you add and edit and test and experiment, the better it is for you – the more you learn, the more traffic you get. Change doesn’t make you look shifty, it makes you engaged in your message and encourages you to pay closer attention to your online presentation (which is where new prospects are going to go FIRST to know more about you, like it or not).

I bring this up because I see so many getting caught up in the “wait till I write that 31st page before we go live” thing quite a bit. However, that truth is that no one will ever notice that that 31st page isn’t there. Don’t wait for that last page to be written. Get your basic stuff online and add to it or edit as you go. Your new website can’t do a thing for you unless it’s online.

DVVAA (Delaware Valley Virtual Assistants Association) is kicking off their 2010 Monthly Teleseminar Series on Tuesday, January 26th at 8:00pm ET.  Yours truly will be presenting the first complimentary webinar:  Shopping Carts 101 for Coaches & VAs. This event is for you if you are thinking of starting an info-product revenue stream or would like to incorporate website shopping carts to sell your coaching or VA services.

The focus of the webinar will be on e-commerce and digital product delivery for Coaches,  Virtual Assistants and other Solopreneurs.  In this webinar, you’ll learn:

• A very brief overview of e-commerce options and how they work
• Who handles the money? Understanding security, credit card processing
  & gateways
• The pros & cons of using PayPal
• A comparison of hosted cart product features – choosing a solution with your end goals in mind
• The little-known shopping cart service that has been around for years
  - and its free!
• How digital download sales work… and what pitfalls to watch out for

There will be time at the end of the session for Q & A, and the webinar will be recorded.  Only DVVAA members and registered attendees will have access to the recording and presentation files.

Event Type:  Webinar
When:   Tuesday, January 26, 2010  8:00 pm  Eastern
Cost:  * Free*

Sign up by clicking below…  hope to see you there!!

If you’re thinking of kicking off 2010 with a new website look for your business – congrats!  There’s nothing like the New Year to inspire a web makeover.  Planning a web project can be a lot of fun and there are great possibilities to increase your visibility with blogsites and social media too. With that in mind, I thought it would be a good time to post a series of articles to highlight what clients need to know before launching a website project. Today’s “Things You Should Know” is about domain name control.

Do you control your domain name?

That’s the first question I ask a new client about their web project.  It seems like an odd question – but many times, the answer is “no”.  By “control” I mean that the client purchased their own domain at a registrar and has access to their own account.  In years past, it was common for well-meaning web designers to “take care” of all such techy details, including purchasing the domain name and site hosting. The problem with this is that inevitably, the designer and client lose touch,  the domain nears its expiration date and there is no way for the client to directly access it to assure that it is renewed.  I have even heard horror stories of clients whose domain name were held hostage by their former webmaster.

In addition to the possibility of losing the name entirely, not having control over the domain is a real problem when you want to change web hosting providers,  switch your mail service, or add redirection or a subdomain. This issue can derail your web project before it even starts.

In short, the domain name is the key to your website kingdom… not to mention your email!  Be sure to purchase it yourself at a registrar with good prices, support and DNS control (you don’t always need DNS changes, but it should be available to you just in case).

A note on price:  some registrars are still charging $25 – $35 a year, like it’s still 1997.   You should never pay more than $10 per year for a .com domain.  If you are still at a high-cost registrar like Network Solutions (still a crazy $34.99 after all these years!), you can purchase a domain transfer from a reasonable provider.  It’s a bit of a tricky process, but it can be done within 7 – 10 days.

I recommend ProVirtual Domains (domains are $3.99 with purchase of another service), GoDaddy and MyDomain.

I just did some redecorating at my hosting and domains sales website – now it coordinates nicely with this site…. it was long overdue.  To celebrate the site makeover, I’m having a holiday sale on all our best products:

All hosting plans on sale – save up to 30%:  Economy hosting plans include 10GB space  – only $3.99/month. Save even more on multi-year plans.

Have lots of sales pages that need their own domains? Don’t buy separate hosting plans! Purchase one Deluxe or Unlimited web hosting plan and host multiple domains on them.. save huge money and have all your websites on one easy-to-manage account… sale starts price  at only $6.99/month through December 31st.

Adding domain names to your portfolio? Register or transfer domains for only $3.99 with each and every new, non-domain product you buy — no quantity limit!

Register or transfer 5 or more domain names on one order and get a free  private registration upgrade for each!

Of course, every purchase comes with 24/7 phone and email support, too.  Sale ends 12/31/09 – buy now and save big!

I work with a lot of virtual professionals (VPs)  on a variety of different web projects. Most of my VP clients have their own team of other VAs/VPs that provide a range of services for their clients. The multiplicity of similar working environments provides a lot of experience to draw from when sizing up the effectiveness of the VA team scenario when providing client services.

Inevitably, this produces a lot of water-cooler chat.  One of the themes that often comes up is how to efficiently provide services to clients when the client is either brand new to working with VAs, or frankly,  just not that good at it.  In all the chatter one conclusion emerges:  clients could save significantly on virtual services costs if they just were more effective at accurately communicating their needs.

Very often, miscommunication between client and VP happens innocently – an email written in haste (lacking important detail),  suggestion of an “emergency” (that really isn’t), or just careless writing.  Not that goofups are always the client’s fault, but there are good strategies to adopt that will increase the efficiency of the working relationship – and yes, reduce your virtual services bill!

So, what can increase your costs when working with a VP, VA or team? Here’s the top-5 cost-inflating pitfalls and how you can avoid them:

1.  Not taking the time to write a clear or complete e-mail. Everyone is pressed for time. It’s understandable to not want to write a novel when requesting work from your VP.  However – if the provider has to request multiple clarifications, that’s just time wasted – and time the client gets billed for.  Worse, your VA/VP acts on incomplete information, thus requiring the task to be redone or adjusted. This alone is the biggest cost-inflator there is.  Avoid wasted time and re-dos by taking the extra few minutes to flesh out the request with any necessary files or details.

2.  Suggesting or communicating urgency that doesn’t really exist -  Generally, VAs/VPs will “batch” work. As an example,  current tasks for client A get put on a punchlist and completed on Tuesdays & Thursdays, etc..  If we get an email with “ASAP” and lots of “!!” and no date deadline – we may,  if possible, drop what we’re working on and tend to the apparently urgent request.  When not included in the usual batch, some minimum time would apply – even if the actual task only takes 5 or 10 minutes.  This doesn’t sound like a big deal, but done repeatedly, all those incident minimums will add up and inflate your bill.  If something is truly urgent, be sure to mention that it cannot wait for the next batch of tasks.

3.  Penny-wisdom & pound-foolishness -  This is common with web services, especially.  For example, websites that are too old or just not built well take longer to update.  Sometimes springing for a new, updated website (in WordPress) will make updating easier – or even do-it-yourself, saving the client big money on services in the long term.

4.  Agonizing and indecision – Details are important in any project. However, the saying “don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good” applies here. Endless rounds of micro-nudging won’t improve things much – but will run up costs…. and sometimes a LOT.

5.  Not asking for input – This is a biggie. Ask your VP if there’s a better way to approach  something that you want to get done. Chances are, she knows of a product or person or method that can save time and effort. We VPs live online – we probably can make some money-saving suggestions…just ask!

TIP:  Erin Blaskie of BSETC is hosting a free webinar on this very topic on Wednesday, November 18th… highly recommended!

Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to sample a more than a few of the thousands of WordPress plugins available that expand the functionality of a WordPress blogsite.  In case you’re wondering, plugins are simple WordPress add-ons that are easily installed and add additional features – typically a utility (such as backups) or a bell/whistle of some sort.

Depending on the WP theme you are using, some plugins are absolutely necessary and add features that, frankly, should already be part of WP (or probably will be in the near future).  Some fulfill a specific requirement (such as social media or analytics needs). This list isn’t intended to be comprehensive – it’s just my default go-to list that I use when building a new site in WP.

So, without further adieu, here’s my list of must-have WP plugins:

Backup Utilities:  Who wants to mess with phpMyAdmin and do database backups manually? Let the plugin handle this for you.  I use two:  WordPress Backup backs up your upload, themes and plugins directories and can optionally send a zip file to you via email at regular intervals. This is especially valuable if you modify your theme files (you never know when you can break something in the theme editor screen).  I use this along with  WP-DBManager, which backs up the content database automatically, at intervals you set.

Social Media Plugins:  There are lots here to choose from, but my favorites include AddToAny, which adds a single customizable button or link at the bottom of your posts and/or pages (like this one). You can alter the colors or even add individual service icons in addition to the standard button. What’s better is that it also gives you an “email this” option as well – all in one elegant button.  Another must-have is TweetMeme Button (also on this site) which adds an easy retweet button to each post. You have options on size and placement too, along with analytics!  Also great for Twitter fans is Twitter for WordPress, which allows you to add your latest tweets easily via a simple widget.

Contact Form 7 is a super-easy-to-configure contact form for your site, with great flexibilty and even CAPTCHA capability (when you also install the Really Simple Captcha plugin).

Reveal IDs for WP-Admin:  Simply makes page, category and post ID numbers visible in the list views. Doesn’t sound exciting until you need to set specific page IDs for theme layout features. You may not ever need it, but it’s just good to have on hand.

Exclude Pages:  If your chosen WP theme doesnt give you the ability to exclude a page from navigation – you need this plugin. Exclude Pages adds a checkbox, “include this page in menus” (selected by default). When unchecked, the page will not appear in the main navigation menu.

Google Analyticator:  Makes it very easy to add Google Analytics to your WordPress site. Activate and insert your tracking “UA” number and you’re all set.

I could go on… but these are my favs.   Feel free to share yours in the comments.

When I mention to clients about how useful Twitter is for marketing and brand-building, they usually are surprised, or think I’m just a Twitter addict (guilty as charged!) trying to justify using the latest distraction. However, there are some real-life case studies of successful Twittering that can easily be observed… just by following and watching how the Twitter Masters (as I like to call them) tweet. There’s a lot of great case studies I could point to, but one very famous personality stands out as a fantastic example of how best to use Twitter:  physician and best-selling author Deepak Chopra ( @Deepak_Chopra ).

First  – a caveat… I tend to think that you can’t be “good” at Twitter unless you at least like Twitter. If you think it’s stupid or a time suck, you probably won’t get much out of it. That said and out of the way, it’s really obvious that those who are great at Twitter also clearly love it….and Deepak Chopra is clearly into Twitter.  So what is it about Dr. Chopra’s tweeting style that works so well?

1.  Original thoughts (tweets) that uplift his Twitter followers. In this case, the “uplift” part here is really important. Dr. Chopra’s message of mind-body connection, spirituality and self-awareness wouldn’t sound too authentic if he were complaining about a cancelled flight or making sarcastic political comments.  Instead, he’s educating newcomers as to what he’s about and reinforcing the public’s perception of him… and it seems to be totally sincere and real.  If a snarky insult comic is adopting this approach to his own tweeting, he should be supplying copious amounts of snark. If a nutritional consultant does the same, there won’t be bitchy tweets about the line at McD’s… you get the idea.

2. Retweet material! This sort of touches on #1, but much of Dr. Chopra’s tweets are just… great:

Now that’s retweetable! Supply lots of useful stuff – depending on what your particular audience defines as “useful”, of course.

3.  Engagement with others… and a lots of it. This is a really successful and famous person who personally answers many who are sending him questions – and is no snob about it (as the following screenshot will attest). He’s basically ministering via Twitter:

Engagement is easy… a retweet, sharing a resource, answering a question… conversing.

4.  Providing answers to the original Twitter question, “what are you doing?”. Dr. Chopra’s Twitter profile has occasional updates as to his day, recording his radio show, hopping a flight, etc.. The effect is humanizing without being boring or self-important.

5. A bit of gentle self-promotion: Dr. Chopra’s profile features occasional tweets about TV appearances, travel and info on his soon-to-be-released book. Note I said occasional… not frequent. They are easily findable in the midst of all the other conversation – and it’s not at all sales-y.

So there you have it – a brief Twitter success case study… who do you think are  “Master Twitterers”?

PS – Click here to  follow Deepak Chopra on Twitter.

It’s late on Saturday night, and yes – Im feeling a bit too lazy to write something original, so I thought I’d share some of my favorite blog articles for the week…

WebWorkerDaily spotlights a new phenom in the world of career management: portfolio careers.  The idea is that many today (including yours truly) have a work life that consists of a string of loosely related projects that could be described as a portfolio. The post mentions the upcoming book And What Do You Do?: 10 Steps to Creating a Portfolio Career by Katie Ledger and Barrie Hopson, in which portfolio workers are described as “free-range humans” who are not “penned into an unhappy job-cage.”   Sounds pretty accurate to me.  Check out the full post here.

ProBlogger is a must-read if you are thinking of starting a blog – especially one that makes money. Darren Rowse posted a 3-part series on how to actually make real money with Amazon Associates (no small achievement, that).  He’s made a bundle and he’s sharing some tips… here,  here and here.  I’m guessing that there’s an ebook in the future on this topic and I will buy it.

Zen Habits has a wonderful post about striving for minimalism and a few pointers on how to get closer to it  – with one basic principle:  Omit Needless Things.

At the risk of this turning into a painting-in-a-painting sort of thing – IttyBiz’s Naomi Dunford posted her fav blog posts of the week.  I particularly enjoyed her views on giving things away for free, sales pages  and her copious swearing.  I don’t know if the post is from this week, but I read it this week and that’s all that matters.

Finally, Smashing Magazine posted this nice overview of corporate blog design trends, emphasizing how the design supports the purpose, such as product promotion, reputation management or corporate responsibility.

Enjoy!

With all the buzz surrounding social media, RSS, video and every other online outlet… one standby that gets taken for granted is good ol’ email. We all use it (and some of us love it), but it also can be a source of enormous frustration that can eat up a lot of the workday. Much of inbox-related angst is easily avoided with a few simple changes in what you use for email and how you process it.  In no particular order, here’s my “Top-Ten” tips for helping email help you…

1. Use a proper email service. Seriously, making a change here can make all the difference in how useful email is to you. Best part is that the best email services are either free or low-cost. Are you using free MSN or (God forbid) AOL?  Stop!! They are awful and they stick ads in your outbound messages. Who needs that, when you can use GMail or Google Apps for free (and is a million times better).  Other excellent email choices: FastMail.fm, Rackspace mail or runbox.com.

2. Discover IMAP. Most standard emailboxes you get from your web host or ISP are POP3 (Post Office Protocol) mailboxes, which allows you to download your messages to one place at a time, and doesn’t synchronize across your devices.  IMAP stands for Internet Message Access Protocol – basically means that all your email folders are synched on the server so what you have on your computer matches your other computer and your smartphone. Best IMAP?  GMail & Google Apps, also Fastmail.fm.

3. Take your time! Everyone is usually rushed when they write emails… but it still counts as writing, and it’s worth a few extra minutes to be sure you are being understood clearly. Better to spend a few extra minutes now than endure a 3-day volley of misunderstandings and clarifications.

4. If you get an important message… acknowledge it. If you don’t have the time to write a full response, just take a second and let the sender know you will get back to them later.  Saves them from wondering if you ever got the message.

5. Use a email signature. This seems like an obvious basic, but many people still (even in a business setting)  don’t do this. Include a marketing message if you want, but definitely include contact info… it makes responding or adding your details to an address book more convenient.

6. Use your mail service’s spam-fighting system. Again, GMail. Google Apps and Fastmail.fm do this wonderfully. No need to depend on anti-spam applications when your mail system does it all for you on the server.  I have several domains that funnel mail to my main mailbox, which means I get a LOT of spam (about 10 to 15 K messages per week) – and  almost every one is caught by Google Apps – you can’t beat it.

7. Consider using other mailboxes you have for non-critical messages. I get a lot (oh, a LOT) of email newsletters and blog updates… and all of them go to an address I set up expressly for that purpose.  I do read them daily, but they don’t get in the way of important client and project-related mail.

8. Check out alternatives to Outlook. Many web-based email systems are great, and you can get to them no matter where you are. Another option is Mozilla Thunderbird. It’s free, lean, mean and has everything you need without clogging your system memory. Lots of plugins available for added features, too.

9.  Check email only 2 – 3 times per day, and not first thing in the morning. To be honest, I couldn’t work this way, but many do and swear by it. If you find that managing your email is disrupting your productivity… this is an option.

10. Use emoticons. Yes, they can be annoying and a bit juvenile, but they are very helpful in conveying the correct emotional tone in an email. A simple smiley-face can mean the difference between your message being perceived as sarcastic or sincere. 

What’s your favorite email management tricks?

Most of my clients are solopreneurs (like myself), small companies or non-profits. As such, their website development and maintenance budgets are small – so  much consideration is given to “bang for the buck” – in terms of function vs. form with initial site development and ongoing maintenance.

It wasn’t too long ago that I did only custom designed websites – that they would have to have ongoing assistance to maintain (usually by me). However, the upside was that the client would have a truly unique site that reflects the company’s brand and allow for complete design freedom, plus they could rely on me to do quick content updates as they needed them.

In the past two years or so, the playing field has shifted entirely. With the current version of WordPress  and the low-cost availability of beautiful, sophisticated WordPress layout themes, I can offer a robust CMS (content management system) along with the huge search visibility advantages of  a blog - and a professional-looking design. Ironically, all these advantages actually reduce the cost of site development, because they are baked-in to WordPress itself.  So, for most clients,  the superior WordPress option is actually less time consuming  to develop AND will deliver better search visibility AND a much lower cost of ownership (most content maintenance can be done by the client).  The only downside of using WordPress for business websites is that it is, after all, a templated managed content system with a set layout – you can’t just slap anything anywhere on the screen.

People don’t shop for website services every day, so I usually have to educate clients as to what may be best for their needs and goals. Once clients get to know the options and their pros and cons,  they usually decide to forgo the design freedom of a custom website for the technical and cost advantages of a WordPress-based site. In almost all cases, that is the better decision for short term costs (development), marketing (search visibility) and long term services cost (maintenance).

So, what’s more important to you in a website? Form or function?

If you are a Twitter veteran or a novice – you have probably been frustrated by the absence of user management tools within Twitter. Even a mildly enthusiastic Twitterer soon finds themselves wishing they could group users they follow, track clickthroughs, or simply make it easier to track outgoing or incoming messages.  HootSuite is a web-based tool that already offered great management tools such as scheduled tweets and multiple profile management. The new HootSuite 2.0 takes Twitter management to a whole new level.

Many Twittizens use desktop apps such as Seesmic or TweetDeck to group their follows and monitor messages. The downside of these apps is that they are desktop-based – so you lose your groups if you are on different computers (unless you want to set them up all over again). Plus, the performance of these apps can be inconsistent at times (especially TweetDeck).  Having a web-based solution is obviously the optimal way to manage Twitter, and although the new HootSuite was just released this week, I have found that the interface is  intuitive,  fast and reliable.  You can do all your Twitter reading and tweeting within HS without ever needing to visit the Twitter home page.

So what can you do with HootSuite? The quick list includes features almost any Twitter user would want, plus a few that you never thought you needed, but will become addictive once you start using them!

• Manage those you follow into custom groups and tabs – with quick links to send replies and DMs
• Monitor DMs and mentions in custom columns
• Easily track custom keyword searches in columns
• Create a custom column – then embed into your website to share with your readers
• Multiple profile support + multiple editors = indispensable if you have a virtual team using Twitter for customer service or brand development
• Post any RSS feed to Twitter – with custom prepends and refresh rates (this is absolutely necessary if you have a blog)
• Stats on clickthroughs. Post exclusively via HootSuite and all your shortened links are tracked. See what interests your followers most.
• Scheduled tweets

HootSuite has this nice overview video to demonstrate the features… check it out!

Also, be sure to follow @HootSuite on Twitter to keep up with the latest updates.

This is just too funny – reminds me of the many times I’ve tried to explain it to “Twitter-resistant”  friends & family.  However, Kevin & Dave are waaaayyy more entertaining…  enjoy!!

You can follow Kevin Spacey at http://twitter.com/KevinSpacey.  David Letterman not yet among the converted yet, as far as I know.

I always struggled (like many solopreneurs) with making the time to create email newsletters, which is ironic since I help clients with e-newsletters all the time! It’s not for lack of topics to talk about or the ability to create the e-newsletters – it can just be time consuming. However, with blogs and RSS,  you can not only repurpose your writing but also automate your newsletter creation process using your blog’s RSS feed and a email marketing provider like AWeber that offers this capability.

Basically the idea is this: you already post to your blog – creating articles of interest to your audience. So, why reinvent the wheel when you create your e-newsletters? Your blog has an RSS feed (as all blogs do), so use it to automatically generate your newsletter content without rewriting or redesigning. This approach not only saves you time, but will keep your email marketing schedule on track with no extra work on your part. Once the initial process is set up, it literally will run itself… all you need to do is continue to post to your blog (there’s no way to automate that process just yet!).

Setting this up is not as geeked-out or difficult as you may suspect – here’s a quick overview:

First – you need to be working with an email marketing service that offers this feature, and not all of them do. Among the major self-service companies, only AWeber, iContact and MailChimp offer this feature.  Constant Contact, although one of the largest and most widely used, does not as of yet.  As a side note, you probably also want to choose an email marketing provider that offers autoresponders as well (as AWeber, iContact and MailChimp do).  My preference is AWeber, as they have fantastic client support and a host of sophisticated features including shopping cart integration. However, if you are looking for something that’s easier to use at a lower price point, iContact and MailChimp are excellent choices.

This how-to overview focuses on AWeber, as that’s the service I use, but the process is basically the same no matter what provider you choose.

1. Within your AWeber account, Go to Messages then Blog Broadcast... then click the Create A New Blog Broadcast button.

2. Enter in the URL (web address) of your blog’s RSS feed. If you use Feedburner, use the Feedburner address, as the feed traffic will be tracked.

3. Type in the email’s subject line. With AWeber, you can enter in the recipient’s first name (if you collected it) so that your email subject line can be personalized – for example:  “Jane, here are your latest blog updates from Mary“.  You can add other variable items too like dates or blog titles.

4. Select an email layout template you like. If you are handy with HTML you can also design your own or make changes to the one you pick.  You can also add other content that will be included with the mailing.  Also be sure the RSS data fields are present so that the feed-generated content will appear correctly within your mailing.  Your template will display the feed content fields – they look something like this:

Be sure to not alter the highlighted fields above – they need to be there to define the area in which the feed content will appear.

5. Select your delivery settings. AWeber offers a lot of delivery options – and most are self-explanatory.  Note that when you are starting out with this, it’s probably best to NOT launch automatically, as you may want to review it or add other content before you send out your broadcast.

So how does all this magic happen? In the case of AWeber, your blog’s feed address is checked every few hours to pick up the latest posts (that have not yet been broadcast). The message is compiled according to the parameters you set, and whenever those specific parameters are met, the broadcast message is automatically created and placed into queue for you to review and launch to your list.

For example, I have my RSS-generated newsletter set up to compile every 1st & 3rd Sunday of the month at 5:00am. So on every 1st & 3rd Sunday of the month – at some time after 5am – I log into AWeber, check the new broadcast message that is in queue, make any adjustments – then launch.

Other options include sending every “X” number of new posts, a particular day (or days) of the month or week.  You can also have the message launch automatically without your involvement at all – much like the Feedburner mailing service…. but with much more personalization and control.

RSS Power Tip:  If you post to your blog frequently and categorize your posts  (you should)… use your blog’s category-specific feeds to create specialty topic newsletters!

Again – there’s a bit of setup work at the beginning – and then – e-newsletter nirvana! Just check in with your email marketing provider at the mailing times you set and the work is already done for you!  Just don’t forget to post to your blog. 

One of my favorite blogs, Web Worker Daily, recently featured a series of posts about the necessity (or not) of developing a personal brand. I know that every solopreneur struggles with this, whether it’s viewed as a fun aspect of being in business for yourself… or an uncomfortable marketing necessity.

The posts delve into the obvious questions, asking about the level of self-expression (or self-exposure, depending on your point of view) needed to achieve a branding or marketing goal. What caught my attention was that the posts  illustrated very different points of view and comfort-levels with the concept of transforming one’s own personality, tastes, opinions and lifestyles into what is essentially just marketing material.

The one post, A Book and a Network: Inspiration for Personal Branding Success, was definitely in the “pro-branding” camp – citing Michael Port’s books that espouse full self-expression and pointing to Food Network stars as examples of how being truly yourself and beaming your  unedited personality to the world are the keys to success -  making it easier to attract ideal clients and build a more successful business.  There’s a great point there – as faking it will breed resentment and stress, no doubt.  However, it should also be noted that  stars of the Food Network are, eh -  TV stars - and not generally expected to behave like obedient dullards – or technical service providers. So I’m not sure if that was the best illustration for the rest of us.

The second post on the subject of personal branding, Personal Branding vs. Self-Awareness, took a very different approach. The author,  Georgina Laidlaw, makes the case that “Personal Branding” can devolve into drama-manufacturing – just to garner some attention and feed the media machine. She cites the example of Madonna’s affair with baseball star Alex Rodriquez (and their respective divorces) as an extreme example. Ironically, the “personal brand” can also become a strait-jacket, inhibiting open mindedness or risk-taking:

I see success as being appreciated for who I am and what I can do, so I balk at the idea of avoiding saying or doing certain things because they might erode the integrity of my personal brand.

I think a middle ground (as usual) is the best approach. I’m an enthusiastic Twitterer, have a Facebook profile and love my blog. I really try to keep it informative and human (I’m guilty of spewing an unsolicited political view now & then), but not very personal. In fact, I don’t think anyone could really learn much about my life specifics  by looking at my profiles. I do hope people can get a good and favorable impression of how I can help their businesses, and maybe a picture of my personality and values.

As a side-note… I’m darned careful about involving others in my online networking. Example – I met a friend for lunch last week, but did not tweet about it specifically, as maybe my lunch date didn’t want the world to know where she was that afternoon. We joked about it over lunch – and yes tweeted afterward (with permission) – but it is a consideration that can easily be overlooked in the drive to become more and more visible online.

Check out the articles – great food for thought! What’s your attitude toward personal branding?

A Book and a Network: Inspiration for Personal Branding Success

Personal Branding vs. Self-Awareness

Personal Branding and Self-Censorship Online