Well, she’s not! On Friday I had the pleasure of spending a few hours with Liz face-to-face. And you know what? Even though that was the first time I had ever met Liz in person, it didn’t feel that way.

Liz called me Thursday morning and  said “I have an idea.” Anyone who knows Liz will tell you, if she says that, you had better be prepared! She said I’m coming to Washington DC for the weekend and could we meet Friday afternoon? We are working on a project together and there were lots of loose ends that needed to be discussed and this just seemed like the most efficient way to get it done.

And it was! No technology. Just paper, pencils, two minds working, talking, and sharing ideas. The meeting was a tremendous success on so many levels. There was also plenty of talk about SOBcon 07 & 08, Blogher, blogs we love, rock stars, families, education and silly stuff.

I got to meet two of her friends – Peg, who is super cool and made me laugh – and Vincent, who was kind enough to take this picture of Liz and me.

Thanks Liz! It was a wonderful meeting.

Apart from the daily professional development and being exposed to the trends in my field, blogging has given me the opportunity to synergize with super talented professionals that I would have never met otherwise!

Synergy or synergism (from the Greek synergos, meaning working together, circa 1660) refers to the phenomenon in which two or more discrete influences or agents acting together create an effect greater than that predicted by knowing only the separate effects of the individual agents. (wiki)

I have experienced the satisfaction of helping others and I have certainly been on the receiving end of a lot of great help!

In her guest post at Alister Cameron’s blog today, Randa Clay writes about The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers. All of her points are valid and certainly worth the read, but her item #5 – synergize – is the one thing that I think every blogger needs to do, as it delivers the most pay off. As an example, Randa talks about our niche blogs and how we have generously given each other insight, feedback, how to’s and support – to the benefit of both of us. The end result is something much greater than we could achieve on our own.

At the MomGadget forum, members regularly share their tips, ideas, and support for the benefit of all members. The community is thriving and as a result, we are all better for it – the synergy at play even sparked a new blogging network where bloggers bring their own blog. After all – what fun is success if you don’t have anyone to share it with. And those who have walked a similar path to yours understand the meaning of that success much more!

Most recently, I experienced blogging synergy first hand when I decided to make over this blog – right before your very eyes! Many designers would have considered it unprofessional – not me! I knew that some of my readers would love to see the transformation happen and could learn from it. Me, I got some genius ideas out of it – things I might have missed out on if I were designing in a vacuum. (Thanks Kevin and everyone else who gave me input – you rock!)

What is your favorite blogging perk? Join the conversation and we will all benefit!

Tags: blogging, synergy, alister cameron, randa clay, mom gadget, gack ink

It’s my first Thursday Thirteen and I figured I would return to my roots on this one. Let’s give our sites a mini-audit using this checklist of 13 things every website needs!

1. Title – Do you see that blue bar at the top of your screen? What does it say? At a minimum, it should have the title of your site plus a few key words or phrases that will help your users find you in their bookmarks. 50-80 characters is optimum.
2. Description – You need an “elevator speech” for your site – a concise, descriptive summary of your site – up to 250 characters including spaces. You need this in your meta tags, but also keep it handy for when you register your site with directories and/or social marketing sites. It is also what appears under your site title (see #1) when being listed in the search engines.
3. Keywords – Not just any old words, but approximately 1024 solid characters of descriptive words used in your site. Don’t list keywords you think might be popular but don’t appear in or apply to your site.
4. Navigation – Is the navigation on your site intuitive? Is it laid out in a logical manner? Keep it simple and specific. You don’t want to lose your readers because they have to click through 8 layers of navigation to get to the info they need.
5. White Space – Make your site easy on your readers’ eyes by giving all the elements room to breathe. Ample white space around images and margins will give these elements more impact. See this article at A List Apart for more explanation.
6. Content - But not just any old copy. Your main page needs a minimum of 250 meaningful, content rich words. Remember, your visitors are in a hurry – give them the content they need in small, easy to read chunks, set off by subheads, bulleted lists and short paragraphs.
7. Fresh Information – When was the last time you updated your site? Create a news section or at a minimum, change out the content or images on your home page regularly.
8. Spell Check – Don’t tell me you forgot this one! Take the time to tend to the details like spell and grammar check – it will save you future embarrassment.
9. Images – A picture is worth a thousand words and a well-placed picture or graphical element will save your web site from eternal loneliness. There are plenty of places to get images for free or at a small cost. And don’t forget to tag those images, too!!!
10. Quality Links – Provide your readers with quality outbound links and seek out quality inbound links. Your PageRank will thank you.
11. Call to Action – What is the purpose of your site? To sell a product? A service? To get more readers? Make it easy for your readers to figure out what your purpose is and to act on it. And don’t forget to put your ads above the fold.
12. Copyright – Your content is yours and while the average, rule following individual can understand the Creative Commons License, others can’t. Protect your information.
13. Contact – How can anyone do business with you if they can’t contact you?

There you have it! I’m sure there is more to the list – feel free to share!

Having reliable web hosting can make or break a business nowadays and there are many options for quality hosting solutions including options for Linux web hosting or Windows hosting.

Lorelle posts her list of Things I Want Gone From the Web in 2007. While I am guilty of one or more of her pet peeves, her list is well thought out and very timely.

Kian Ann has just about convinced me to convert two of my "static" sites over to blog/traditional site hybrids thanks to his 3 Reasons Why 30 Blog Visitors Are Better than 300 Website Visitors post.

I  frequently practice Easton’s Daily Blogging Tip – Practice Blogging Quickly. I am one of those people that has to go with the first answer or thought I come up with so this strategy works well for me.

Tony Hung has done a great job filling in this week at ProBlogger – every entry worth reading, but How to Market Your Blog in 2007 is a must read.

Angela has had some timely how-to’s this week with instructions on adding MyBlogLog to the new Blogger sites and how-to’s for phpBB board administrators.

There you have my top of the charts for the week. And as for Qumana – more pros than cons so far. Download it and give a test drive of your own over the weekend. I’ll give it a full review after I have more time with it.

Tags: qumana, lorelle, blogpreneur, blogging, tips, easton, tony hung, angela, problogger, marketing

• ProBlogger writes a very compelling piece called Blogging Wills – What happens to your blog when you die? His checklist is easy to follow and applies not only to bloggers, but to all businesses who do anything online. MUST READ – do it now.
• Ben spells it out loud and clear with his 3 Business Rules to Live By. I personally need to focus on #3 in the next year. And you?
• Check out Wendy’s S.M.A.R.T strategy and Plan a 2007 That You Can Be Proud Of. Now.

I’m done being bossy now. Enjoy your evening!

I started my blogging adventure 5 months ago today and can not believe how much I have learned and how many cool bloggers I have met in the process. The following is my official Thank You to all who have brought me this far and I look forward to a long, happy blogging existence!

• V-Grrrl – Inspiration #1 when she asked me to help her set up a blog in Aug. 2005. This blogger is one talented writer who I have had the pleasure of working with for many years.
• Energize Me – Inspiration #2 when she asked me to help her set up her blog in Spring 2006. Gail has been a client of mine for almost a decade and is one major ball of energy and motivation.
• BusinessBlogWire – Thanks Easton for teaching me the art of Blogtipping!
• Successful Blog – Oh, Liz! You have taught me the importance of conversation and finding your writing voice!
• MomGadget – Thank you Gayla for creating such a great forum for bloggers to share ideas and for your friendship!
• Work at Home Blog – Angela’s tips and commentary on how she makes it work are inspiring.
• Lorelle on WordPress came to my rescue and answered a question I had posted. Thank you for your comprehensive resources on WordPress!
• Copyblogger - Thank you Brian for teaching us how to maximize the bang for our buck when it comes to writing on the web!
• Tony at Success from the Nest – all I can say is thank you for the wonderful illustrations that go along with your words of wisdom. They truly set you apart.
• Leah at Working Solo – Thank you for all the great tips and tidbits at your blog. Did I mention I love the new look?
• Robyn and I discovered that we are just too alike! Thanks for the ongoing conversation and giggles.
• Converstations – Thank you for your posts that reassure me that I am on the right track (no pun intended).
• Wendy at eMoms at Home can read my mind and seems to know what I need to be working on! Thanks!
• Thanks to TechZ for teaching me to stumble-upon and all the nice comments.
• Blogopreneur gets a thank you for recognizing work at home moms and getting the conversation going.
• And I have learned quite a bit from John Chow about different monetizing techniques, tools, and places to eat if I am ever in Canada.

Thanks again to all these bloggers! You all have so much to contribute to the blogosphere. I would also like to express my gratitude to anyone not mentioned here who took the time to leave me a comment on my blog – I hope I have been able to teach you something, help you become more productive, or made you laugh a bit.

Happy Thanksgiving ALL.

STEP 5 – TAKE STOCK AND REASSESS

How do you know if your plan is working?  Periodically you have to step back, evaluate and reassess your methods.

One of the most frequently made mistakes in small business is not giving your marketing efforts enough time to work. These things take time. You are not going to get indexed on all the search engines overnight. You are not going to build a newsletter subscription list overnight. You will not sell 100,000 mega-niche widgets overnight, either.

Set a schedule for reassessment. Check in on your results monthly, do a bit of tweaking along the way and look for patterns. Most marketing efforts take a good 3-6 months to really do their job. Look at your plan and results after 6 months. What is working? What is not? Have you learned some new tricks along the way?  Use your orignal marketing plan (you know, the one you have been creating with me this week) as a first draft. Revise and re-implement.

Continue your cycle of assessment, revision and implementation every 6 months or so. Over time you may discover that you only need to do a major revision yearly. Again, these variables ultimately depend on your website and its goals.

P.S. I really hope this series was useful and that it will help you achieve greater success in your business!  I am going to be adding this article in its entirety at my 30 Second Commute web site. If you wish to use the article on your site, credit it properly.

STEP 4 – WORK YOUR PLAN

Step 4 of creating a website marketing plan is kind of like embarking on a diet or other life enriching activity – you may know what to do, but if you don’t work on it, nothing will come of it! You have defined your purpose, set goals, created a strategy and now you have to follow through and work the plan.

There are many tools available to help you stay on track, but you have to actually use them. Find the tool that fits your personal productivity style and use it.

David Seah has some wonderful printable task planning sheets available for download. These can help you allocate time and resources for your marketing tasks throughout the day/week/month.  Some tasks will need to be done daily and others weekly or monthly. Pencil them in on your calendar for the entire month and they will be less likely to be forgotten.

Another method is to look at your week and set certain tasks to occur on certain days. Maybe you spend 30 minutes on Mondays planning your posts or news for the week, Tuesday’s marketing time is spent reviewing and tweaking affiliate and other monetization links, and so on. If you have multiple sites, you may want to set aside different days for different sites or similar activities for all sites on the same day. Whatever works for you!

Hold yourself accountable and keep track of your progress. You’ll need to have this information ready for tomorrow’s post: Step 5 – Take Stock and Reassess.

STEP 3 – CREATE STRATEGY

In steps 1 and 2 of creating your marketing plan you defined your site’s purpose and set some goals. In step 3 you need to lay out a strategy for achieving those goals – after all, your site isn’t going to grow all by itself. You will need to do some research and some trial and error to figure out what methods work best for you, but here are some ideas.

Search Engine Optimization and Submission

Take some time going through your site and make sure you are using standard search engine optimization techniques (Self SEO has great tips) and hand submit your site to the major search engines (some say this isn’t necessary – I say it can’t hurt).

Keep Your Content Fresh

Your site will get indexed more efficiently and visitors are more apt to come back if they see that your site has regularly updated information on it.

Social Networking

Posting comments on relevant blogs and getting involved in discussion boards/forums is a great way to get the word out about your site. The key is to get involved in a meaningful way. Don’t just spam. When leaving comments on blogs, add to the conversation. Forums can be an excellent way to boost traffic, establish yourself as someone in the know, and to network. Again, do so with the attitude of giving more than you get and you’ll be happier with the outcome. (Great article on Using Forums to Promote Your Website)

Traditional Advertising

Depending on the type of site you have and/or the product you are selling, don’t forget traditional advertising vehicles. At a minimum, you want to make sure you have your web address on your email signature, your business cards, and printed collateral. Newspaper, magazine, radio and TV spots may be worthwhile too; you just need to know your audience.

New Media Advertising

Is a pay per click campaign just what the doctor ordered? Maybe, maybe not. From link exchanges, banner ads, Adwords, Overture, and affiliate campaigns, it just depends on what you are trying to accomplish with your site. If you choose these options, be sure to allow sufficient time for them to work. Many companies abandon marketing campaigns before they have had sufficient time to be successful. Do your research!

You will need to prioritize your tasks and allocate the proper time and monetary allowances, then get ready to work your plan. Tomorrow we will focus on working the plan, because you are ultimately the one who must put the wheels in motion.

In the meantime, here are two posts I have recently read that add to the concept of marketing your business and your website:

• Copyblogger’s 10 Effective Ways to Get More Blog Subscribers
  
• Success from the Nest’s Your Business Plan as a Story

STEP 2 – SET GOALS

You have defined the purpose for your site, so now you need some goals. You need to set realistic goals – some short-term, some long-term.

Define timeframes:

Get your web site marketing notebook out that you created in step 1 and write down three categories:

• One month
• Six months
• One year

Define goals:

For each of these categories, write down a handful of goals. Depending on the purpose of your site, not all of these will apply, but some ideas include:

• Number of unique visitors (i.e., a certain level of traffic to your site)
• Number of leads
• Number of subscribers (to your RSS feed, newsletter, etc)
• Number of downloads (could be an article, newsletter, e-product)
• Sales amounts (number of products or dollar amount)
• Number of members (for a discussion board or similar)

Once you have defined your short term goals, sit back and think long-term. Where do you see this site in 3 years, 5 years? With technology changing at the rate it is, these are a little tricky, but you will reassess along the way. Without a beacon far off in the distance or some form of a road map for your site, you may look back and find that you have been going in circles, never really moving forward.

Stay tuned! Tomorrow’s segment is on going after these goals; defining the steps you need to take to reach them.

P.S. Did you miss something? Check out the introduction and Part 1 – Define Your Purpose.