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Stop Asking About It And Do It

Business of Software - Youngme MoonThis guest post is by Todd Youngblood of ypsgroup.com and dreamlandinteractive.com

The question comes up all the time.  As a small business, do I really need a web site?  Normally, I’ll politely answer the question with a few more questions.   “What do you do when you first consider buying something?  You Google it to learn more, right?  After you’ve learned more, you Google it again to learn still more, don’t you?  …about different features?  …about different suppliers?  …about pricing?  …about what other people think?  You go to the web sites of businesses selling what you want.

Is it possible to survive, even thrive, without a web site?  Sure!  But why on earth would you purposely choose to go into the business battle hopping on one foot and with one hand tied behind your back?  Is it really more important to prove you can do it with only personal networking, referrals and the other traditional tools?  So what if it requires more time and effort?  I’m going to cut my nose off to spite my face and prove my point!

Face it.  “Do I really need a web site?” is a dumb question.  It’s so dumb, that it leads me to believe it’s not really a question, but a defense mechanism that causes a logical loop.  I think the actual thought process goes something like this:

  1. Gosh, I really need to get a web site
  2. But I have no clue how to even begin
  3. I’ll sound like an idiot if I start asking people
  4. I’ll do some research tonight
  5. Eeeessssh, I really don’t have a clue
  6. Return to step 1

Remove steps 3 and 6 from your brain!  RIGHT NOW!!!  Change step 5 to “Hire a web development service.”  RIGHT NOW!!!

There are tons and tons of small businesses that don’t have a web site for the exact same reason you don’t have a web site.  Leap out in front of them all.  RIGHT NOW!!!

For less than $500 you can not only get it done, you can get something that is extremely professional in less than a month.  And while you’re at it, have them include a blog page.  Your blog will become the foundation of your e-Rep.  An e-Rep is a web site on steroids.  But that’s another post.  And you need the basics first.

Todd Youngblood is passionate about sales productivity and marketing.  You can read more about Sales Process Engineering on his blog and subscribe to his RSS feed.  You can also follow the work at Dreamland Interactive to learn about working on your e-Rep.

Filed Under: Business, Digital Presence, Innovation, WordPress Design Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

The Evolution of Your Ideas

43/365 | Evolution of the StormtrooperWhere do you see your business heading in the short term and/or long term? Does the direction match your business goals? These questions could be simple or complicated if you haven’t clearly thought them through.  A solid website can help formulate answers for both.

An important aspect of your businesses evolution is your electronic presence.  Every day something new is created in the digital universe and you need to take advantage of it to have a continuous presence.

Your Website:

Your website is the backbone for your business electronic presence.  Without it all the fancy new apps, social media websites mean nothing.  The customer has to go somewhere to see your content, products and/or services.  If your selling widgets from a home-based small business, you may be able to survive regionally by word of mouth, but as the world evolves around you it will become difficult to keep up.

Scenario A:

Customer always have questions, good or bad, about your widget. Many of the question will be similar.  Do you want to sit on the phone repeating the same answer? No. Customer interaction is valuable, but you do need time to sell your widgets.

Solution to A:

A website.  Okay, its not that simple but pretty close.  Your website can have an F.A.Q. page and a contact form for the oddball question.   Done.  Now you have created more time to sell your widget.

That is one scenario of many that can be solved with a website built in WordPress.

If you have an idea or question about evolving your business’s digital presence please share your thoughts below.

Filed Under: Business, Innovation, WordPress Design Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Collaboration

LinkedCollaboration – Something created by working jointly with another or others.

Without it I would find creating web design solutions difficult with an abundance of unnecessary, time consuming back and forth.  Please don’t misinterpret that sentence. Communication IS important but it needs to be constructive.  That is why I prefer to call it collaborate.   I want the link between the customer and myself to be two-way.  I always start off with a list of questions (see below).  The key is to know what direction you are heading, and what message you are trying to convey through your website.  This gets everyone on the same page and starts the important first steps of collaboration.

Heres some of the initial questions that are important to the creative process:

  • How do you describe your organization/business/client in one sentence?
  • What three words describe your organization/business/client?
  • What makes you unique? What makes your company/client stand out?
  • What is the primary purpose of the site? What’s the secondary purpose?
  • Is your primary focus on long‐term repeat visits or short‐term single visits?
  • If a visitor spends 2 minutes on your site, what three things (in order of priority) do you want them to know?

WordPress Website Designs

Next Level Innovation can design a WordPress website for you to mirror your current site, or, create an entirely new look for your business.  Once the site is designed to your liking,  we can offer you a short lesson on how to take control of your new website.  Of course, we are always here for your support and to make any modifications you need help with, but we are also more than happy to empower you with the knowledge and capability needed to be the master of your own domain (literally!).

If you are interested in learning more about WordPress website designs, send us an email and we’d be happy to talk to you some more.

In the mean time, check out our gallery of web site designs online at http://www.nextlevelinnovation.com/portfolio/

Filed Under: Business, Innovation, WordPress Design Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

WordPress Websites for Small Business

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One of the most empowering website tools for small business owners today is WordPress.  In its simplest form, WordPress is a platform or tool used to build websites.  What makes it different from most website design tools is that it was created to be extremely user friendly and easy to use by anyone—not just website designers.  Once your website is designed and created for you using the WordPress platform, it’s incredibly simple for business owners to take over.  A simple ½ hour tutorial is all that is needed for the basics of the site.  With this little bit of knowledge, business owners can add new pages on the fly, upload new content with photos to showcase a new product or service, change around the order of the pages in the navigation bar, and LOTS MORE!

Imagine the capabilities that could be at your fingertips and even more so, imagine the amount of money you’ll be saving when you won’t have to rely on your web designer to make any updates to your site.  If you now offer a new service, it’s simple to add a new page to your website highlighting that service, or even change around the copy on the home page to make room for the announcement.

For most with a basic understanding of Microsoft Word, WordPress is a snap to understand and use.  Most will never know the difference between a WordPress website and a website built using a different program such as DreamweaverÒ.

SEO Loves WordPress

Another outstanding advantage of WordPress websites is that are highly Search Engine Friendly.  You’ve heard the term ‘Search Engine Optimization’ or ‘SEO’ hundreds of times…it’s what helps your website show up in Search Engine results when someone types in keywords that relate to your business, or even the name of your business.  WordPress offers simple to use SEO tools so that your website can get found on the web.

Blog On

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past several years, you know that blogging is a major component of any business’s online presence.  WordPress has its own blogging platform that can be built right into the website.  Like everything WordPress does, it’s easier then ever to write and publish your blogs.

Get Plugged In

Once you become familiar with the basics of WordPress, you can explore the thousands of plug-ins offered for your website.  These are free and can help you create even more dynamic website pages.  There are plug-ins for creating high-impact photo galleries, sharing your content across all Social Media sites, transforming your blog into an iPhone application, creating e-commerce sites and much, much more.  There are literally thousands! Plugins can extend WordPress to do almost anything you can imagine.

WordPress Website Designs

Next Level Innovation can design a WordPress website for you to mirror your current site, or, create an entirely new look for your business.  Once the site is designed to your liking,  we can offer you a short lesson on how to take control of your new website.  Of course, we are always here for your support and to make any modifications you need help with, but we are also more than happy to empower you with the knowledge and capability needed to be the master of your own domain (literally!).

If you are interested in learning more about WordPress website designs, send us an email and we’d be happy to talk to you some more.

In the mean time, check out our gallery of web site designs online at http://www.nextlevelinnovation.com/portfolio/

Filed Under: Business, Innovation Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,