Erik Qualman's Blog, page 512

Cash Reward For Accidental Google Domain Purchase

What to say when you just really heart Google…

Last week, a Google fanboy was searching domain names to purchase when Google.com was for sale. It seemed like it was an end of the year sale or something because the domain only cost him $12 which was charged to his credit card. He got a confirmation that he owned the site and receive notifications not intended for him but rather the search engine’s administration team. Uh oh. Fast forward about a minute when Google probably said oh crap we just sold our site…The domain purchase was quickly transferred and the purchaser was offered a cash reward for spotting the error. Slow clap for Google. (Source: BBC)

Inbox (1): Sorry, You Are No Longer Needed

It was speculated that Twitter’s new CEO, Jack Dorsey, would be cutting some jobs in order to make the social media site more efficient. Well it turns out that becoming more efficient means cutting 8% of its workforce. Dorsey’s first big decision was cutting off 336 staff members mainly coming from product and engineering teams. Dorsey sent an email with the subject “a more focused Twitter”, basically breaking up with these employees saying that it isn’t easy but it will make them grow. (Source: CNN)

Quote of the Day: “The American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails.”

The much anticipated Democratic Debate took place Tuesday night. Think climate change, gun control, military and of course emails. Senator Bernie Sanders won quote of the night when he said what most people were thinking. When asked about her email scandal for the millionth time, Clinton commented about how she wanted to focus on the issues for the American people when Sanders chimed in saying, “I think the secretary is right, the American people are sick and tired of hearing about your damn emails.” *Cue the thank you and handshake between Clinton and Sanders.* This received a standing ovation from the crowd and a lot of aftermath social media talk. Check it out here.  (Source: The New York Times)

 

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Does Your Business Have the Best Social Media Prescription?

Not everyone gets excited about medical sales training, but it’s an important part of the field. People are always trying new training techniques to find the most productive one.

Recently, social media has entered the realm of training when it comes to pharma sales and other fields in the medical community.

Maybe some aspects of this are more effective, but what are they?

Role of Social Media Here

The question may be how does social media come into play during training. It’s not just a matter of spending time on Facebook or Instagram. It delves much deeper than that.

According to the article, “Can Social Media Tools Be Effective in Pharma Sales Training?”, social media allows creation of virtual communities that encourage extensive interaction, and this was not always an easy environment to create before social media. Social media allows indirect, organic instruction from peer-to-peer in addition to traditional training from an instructor.

Whether it’s a formal or informal training, social media has a lot to offer. And yes, Facebook does have a place here.

Very successful and worthwhile groups can be set up via Facebook Groups or LinkedIn

Groups to create thriving, sharing communities to enhance each other’s learning. It’s a forum where members can ask questions, share experience and report in on new findings.

A mix of those newer to the field and those with experience can all enhance each other while offering informative insight and value.

Does it Always Work?

It’s important to realize that not all social media is effective for training purposes. And some may be presented as effective but not come off that way.

Some may work in some instances, but not in others, depending on many factors, including audience, participation, experience and motivation.

Social media training in the medical sales world is still in the earlier stages, so just like anything else, it will take some time to prove itself.

One of the smartest methods is to use social media training tools in conjunction with other training tools and strategies.

Let it be an enhancement rather than a main component, and see where it takes you and your groups.

You may find great success and the social media groups may stick around long after training is completed.

Please share any successful training methods you have taken part in, especially those centered on social media.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

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I’ll Take a Pepsi Smartphone with that Meal Please…

I’ll Take a Pepsi Smartphone with that Meal Please…

In an out of left field announcement, Pepsi declared it’s going into the smartphone business. If that’s not surprising enough the release date for their mystery phone is October 20th.. of 2015. Pepsi will be testing their new smartphone in China so the rest of us will have to wait. **Cue fake cry**   The phone is called P1 (really) and includes the following features:

16 GB of of internal storage

13 – megapixel rear camera

5 – megapixel front camera

5.5 inch, 1080p display

Pepsi announced they didn’t actually manufacture the phone, they told someone to build it for them and they put the Pepsi name on it. Their end game is to introduce more Pepsi products around the globe and this expansion is one avenue of that effort. (Source MSN)

Tech History has been Made…

Congrats folks, you have lived to encounter the largest tech acquisition deal in history.  That’s right, Dell and EMC Corp are getting hitched. Dell announced they are buying EMC for $67 billion. This is perfect for EMC because they’ve been encountering huge amounts of pressure to innovate from their investors. While Dell has been trying to heighten its game in the data center scene. CEO Michael Dell will be running the company, and shares are going $33.15. Hopefully they don’t get divorced anytime soon. (Source MSN)

Celebratory News

Keeping with the married theme a couple recently said  “I do” while running the Chicago marathon. Under a golden arch, the couple declared their vows at the 8-mile mark. Reminding us to be kind today, and love exists. (Source MSN)

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A Look at the Future of Online Poker

The mobile gaming market represents significant business in the modern age, from social titles Farmville to platforms like Iron Poker. While there are a number of core independent elements that drive the online gaming sector, however, the virtual casino niche is dominant and continues to grow at an exponential rate. Expected to be worth in excess of $41 billion by the end of 2015, the market is continuing to diversify at a frightening rate and is likely to proliferate further in the next few years.

With this in mind, here are three potential developments that we should expect in the coming months and years.

Further financial Growth

While we have already stated that the value of the online casino market will reach $41 billion by the end of this year, it is important to put this figure into context. The corresponding value of the market in 2005 was just over $13 billion, for example, and the difference represents three-fold growth despite ongoing legal disputes in the U.S. This rate of growth is likely to continue into the future, meaning that the value of the market will exceed $100 billion by 2030.

The Integration of Augmented Reality

As anyone who has seen or sampled the fabled Microsoft HoloLens will testify, augmented reality represents the future of gaming across multiple genres. It will be particularly impactful for online casino players, as it has the potential to create an authentic gaming environment that accurately replicates the pace and interaction that defines games like poker, blackjack and roulette. This could ultimately sound the death knell for bricks and mortar establishments, while driving online casino gameplay onto brand new levels.

Live Gameplay will dominate the Market

On a similar note, augmented reality will also underpin the enjoyment of live casino gameplay online. It will essentially build on the existing capacity for live, online gaming, integrating these increasingly authentic experiences with realistic backgrounds and settings. As a result of this, competitive live tournaments will begin to dominate the online casino market, driving higher revenues and increasingly inflated profit margins.

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Can You Bank on Social Media?

Social media is a great resource to find information and opinions on just about any subject matter – including banking.

If you’re in search of a local bank that meets all of your business or personal finance needs, then it’s time to set your sights on social media.

Here are just a few ways you can use social media to find the right bank:

Facebook Business Pages

A growing number of businesses are turning to social media to launch their own Facebook business pages and banks are no exception.

In fact, there’s a good chance banks in your area have business pages they use to connect with customers and the social masses.

By visiting the Facebook business pages of banks in your area, you can get a feel for what kind of customer service each bank has to offer.

Likewise, by friending and following banking business pages, you can also receive helpful information and promotions from each institution.

Posting Questions

Once you’ve found a few local banks with active social media profiles and business pages, you can then reach out and ask questions.

Banks as well as other businesses are beginning to use social sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn as real-time FAQ pages to answer customer questions.

Whether you want some information on current interest rates or mortgage loan options, social media is a great outreach tool. You can also gauge how customer-centric each bank is by how quick their social responses are.

Banks that respond to your questions quickly and accurately will likely have better customer service.

Banking Blogs

If you’re a casual banking customer; then visiting the business pages of banks in your area probably provide enough details to make a decision about which bank to go with. However, if you’re in search of a bank for your business or personal investing, then you might need to get more in-depth with your research.

A number of banks are starting banking blogs to offer customers more information on their banking practices.

By reading articles like “full-service bank takes partnership with marketplace lender to a new level“, you can get a better sense of how financially savvy banks in your area actually are.

Reaching Out to Friends and Family

If you’re looking for the most honest opinions and reviews of banks in your area, look no further than your social followers.

That’s right, social media is a great resource when it comes to getting first-hand reviews and advice from the most trusted source available: your friends and family.

Whether you want opinions on the best bank to use for a business loan or you’re just looking for a bank with better interest rates, your social friends and family will provide you with their unbiased opinions.

You can either post a general question on your Facebook page or privately message local friends and family about their experiences with banks in your area.

Before you choose a bank for your personal or business needs, take the time to research your options on social media first.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

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Dell Purchases EMC

What to say when your friend tells you about their big splurge…

What is being called the biggest deal in tech, took place Monday morning. Dell just spent $67 billion in cash and stock to purchase data storage company EMC. That’s a lot of money. With this purchase, Dell wants to find themselves again and reinvent their security and storage. Dell CEO Michael Dell said, “The combination of Dell and EMC creates an enterprise solutions powerhouse bringing our customers industry leading innovation across their entire technology environment”. If this deal makes you want to buy a Dell then great! But if not, let’s hope Dell didn’t just waste a lot of money. (Source: USA Today)

Quote of the Day: “There is a huge desire for more efficiency.”

Last week, Twitter and Jack Dorsey decided to stay together. Now Twitter CEO, Dorsey has a lot of work to do. Dorsey has been making some comments on how efficiency is his number one focus. Well it turns out this efficiency might mean goodbye to some jobs. According to a person familiar with the situation, Twitter has been restructuring and job cuts are likely to play out in all departments. Don’t worry if Twitter is your dream job though, they are continuing to hire with extra emphasis on recruiting great people. (Source: Bloomberg)

Things to Know As Christmas Approaches

Microsoft has been wanting to connect with Xbox for a while now. The two companies have been testing out how to come together and Microsoft has a great idea. Releasing on October 20th, a Xbox Wireless Adapter for Windows, will allow Xbox gamers to also play on Windows devices with their Xbox controller. If you are a Xbox playing, Windows-using gamer, this might be for you. (Source: Tech Times)

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Effective Tips on Using Social Media to Drive Traffic to Your Site

If there’s one thing that content marketers are always talking about is driving more organic traffic to their websites. But recent statistics show that we’re amid a social media revolution, so focusing on organic traffic while neglecting social media may be counterproductive.

Social media is responsible for driving over 31% of a site’s overall referral traffic according to this Shareaholic post, so it’s high time content marketers become aware of this shift from search to social.

1.      Strategize, plan, don’t automatize

There are hundreds of social networking websites and each of them represent a unique opportunity for you to connect to your audience. The question, though, is to choose which of those platforms can best suit the needs of your audience and serve you best. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest are clear go-to platforms, not only because of their enormous user bases but also because of their influence potential.

Using software that automatically updates a Facebook or a Twitter page can be a great time saver, but remember that you’re interacting with people. Your brand needs a human touch and while some things can be automated, make sure that you also directly engage with your audience, either by posting team photos or by showcasing your creative side.

2.      Make Posts Social-media Friendly

Though exceptional content is the key factor in determining your success, there are some tiny adjustments that can turn a great piece into a social media goldmine. Including easy-to-tweet quotes into your article, as Rob New did, which will greatly increase the odds that readers also engage with your content via Twitter. Neil Patel and Kissmetrics also experimented with this technique when creating a simple, 3-word advice list on improving your business. It’s such a unique approach that makes readers want to engage.

3.      Be Valuable

Keep in mind that you’re interacting with real people and they often need real solutions. Social media is the perfect solution for you to become a trusted, unbiased reference. So stay away from only promoting your products and services and focus on social updates that provide real value for your followers. Such an approach works on other types of social media platforms if you take the time to adapt it correctly.

The key is to build a community. Whether on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or LinkedIn, your approach should focus on providing valuable answers. If you’ve created groups (businesses benefit greatly from creating or becoming members of groups as they come together with like-minded people), you announce great products or blog posts from time to time. Be careful, though, to do so sparingly.

Junta42 founder Joe Pulizzi’s 4-1-1 rule is a great starting point. What he suggests is to approach social media carefully. For any self-serving tweet, make sure to re-tweet one relevant tweet and also share four other pieces of valuable content that your readers can find useful. Feel free to edit this approach in accordance to your readers but never forget to share the love.

4.      Think of Engagement Rates

Since you’re not trying to overdo it with too much posting, you only have a limited window of opportunity. So make sure to choose the best Facebook publishing times. Several studies suggest that Saturdays and Sundays are great publishing days since engagement rates are significantly higher than during the workweek. Now, even such studies have to be taken with a grain of salt. Your blog is unique and statistics don’t always reflect the reality of your particular situation. It’s best to do some research of your own and consult your Facebook insights. You may have an international audience and if that’s the case, you should account for time zone differences.

Personalizing your posting schedule and habits in accordance to your audience is much more important than sticking to statistically-proven publishing times.

5.      Worth with and through Your Employees

Facebook is nothing more than a facilitator: it allows people to connect with other people. Your employees also have social media profiles and asking them to mention your company as part of their social media bio information (@username mentions on Twitter for instance or Facebook fan pages) can be a great way to promote your business.

6.      Consider High Conversion Keywords

There are some keywords that, when used correctly and in connection to specific social networks, generate more engagement. As you may have expected, they differ from one social platform to another. While Facebook users prefer keywords such as “inspire”, “deals”, “submit”, “tell us”, “discount”, ”warns”, Twitter users respond better to “follow”, “social media”, “top”, “check out”. LinkedIn users seemed to respond well to words such as “increased”, “improved”, “developed”, “created”, and “researched”.

7.      Don’t Ignore the Facebook News Feed Algorithm

It’s only logical that you try to understand how Facebook’s news feed algorithm works if you want your content to reach as many people as possible. Brian Boland explained that over 1,500 stories compete on average to appear in a user’s news feed. As a result of the massive increase of shared content on Facebook, the social media platform’s algorithms have changed to ensure that users engage with the stories that are featured in its News Feed.

For a story to be featured in Facebook’s news feed, thousands of factors are taken into consideration, including the post creator’s previous performance, the post type itself, how recent that post is and how users interact with that particular post. Basically, the more activity your post experiences, the better its chances are of being included in news feeds.

8.      Links vs. Images

Link posts seem to be triumphing. In fact, they generate a whopping 82% more page views as compared to posts containing photographs and links in the caption. The question is whether you should refocus your strategy on sharing links. Experts agree that you should naturally share content (in all its forms) with your readers. That means sharing links, photos, videos or status updates. Then use the data you obtain from analyzing Facebook insights to understand what your audience best resonates with and increase that particular post type without neglecting the others.

9.      Take Care of the Little Things

When trying to achieve so many with your social media strategy, it’s easy to overlook things that seem less relevant. Don’t forget, though, that first impressions are the most important (and sometimes only) chance you get to impress potential clients. So make sure that your profile is correctly set up and looks professional. Another thing to keep in mind is that you are not your website or blog: if you want to create an account for your website, by all means, do so. But make sure that you have a separate profile on Facebook and Twitter and use them when engaging your readers.

10.  Use Facebook Hashtags

Since Facebook introduced hashtags to their platform, bloggers and business owners have yet another ace up their sleeve when it comes to driving traffic. Incorporating Facebook hashtags in certain posts may help bring in readers who aren’t already following you or your page. The key, though, is to use less than 2 hashtags in any given post. Their guide to hashtags offers relevant information as to the correct use of hashtags.

11.  Consider Promoted Posts if Budget Allows

It may seem difficult to get traffic from Facebook if you don’t invest in promoted posts. Ads and promoted posts are a great solution for quick traffic boosts.

The idea is to get creative: after all, it’s originality that would spark your interest. Test your strategies and see what works best. Oh, and don’t forget to share your tips and tricks in the comments section below!

Effective Tips on Using Social Media to Drive Traffic to Your Site

If there’s one thing that content marketers are always talking about is driving more organic traffic to their websites. But recent statistics show that we’re amid a social media revolution, so focusing on organic traffic while neglecting social media may be counterproductive.

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Social media is responsible for driving over 31% of a site’s overall referral traffic according to this Shareaholic post, so it’s high time content marketers become aware of this shift from search to social. Here are some tips on how you can harness the power of social media and drive more traffic to your site.

1.      Strategize, plan, don’t automatize

There are hundreds of social networking websites and each of them represent a unique opportunity for you to connect to your audience. The question, though, is to choose which of those platforms can best suit the needs of your audience and serve you best. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest are clear go-to platforms, not only because of their enormous user bases but also because of their influence potential.

Using software that automatically updates a Facebook or a Twitter page can be a great time saver, but remember that you’re interacting with people. Your brand needs a human touch and while some things can be automated, make sure that you also directly engage with your audience, either by posting team photos or by showcasing your creative side.

2.      Make Posts Social-media Friendly

Though exceptional content is the key factor in determining your success, there are some tiny adjustments that can turn a great piece into a social media goldmine. Including easy-to-tweet quotes into your article, as Rob New did, will greatly increase the odds that readers also engage with your content via Twitter. Neil Patel and Kissmetrics also experimented with this technique when creating a simple, 3-word advice list on improving your business. It’s such a unique approach that makes readers want to engage.

3.      Be Valuable

Keep in mind that you’re interacting with real people and they often need real solutions. Social media is the perfect solution for you to become a trusted, unbiased reference. So stay away from only promoting your products and services and focus on social updates that provide real value for your followers. Such an approach works on other types of social media platforms if you take the time to adapt it correctly.

The key is to build a community. Whether on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or LinkedIn, your approach should focus on providing valuable answers. If you’ve created groups (businesses benefit greatly from creating or becoming members of groups as they come together with like-minded people), you announce great products or blog posts from time to time. Be careful, though, to do so sparingly.

Junta42 founder Joe Pulizzi’s 4-1-1 rule is a great starting point. What he suggests is to approach social media carefully. For any self-serving tweet, make sure to re-tweet one relevant tweet and also share four other pieces of valuable content that your readers can find useful. Feel free to edit this approach in accordance to your readers but never forget to share the love.

4.      Think of Engagement Rates

Since you’re not trying to overdo it with too much posting, you only have a limited window of opportunity. So make sure to choose the best Facebook publishing times. Several studies suggest that Saturdays and Sundays are great publishing days since engagement rates are significantly higher than during the workweek. Now, even such studies have to be taken with a grain of salt. Your blog is unique and statistics don’t always reflect the reality of your particular situation. It’s best to do some research of your own and consult your Facebook insights. You may have an international audience and if that’s the case, you should account for time zone differences.

Personalizing your posting schedule and habits in accordance to your audience is much more important than sticking to statistically-proven publishing times.

5.      Worth with and through Your Employees

Facebook is nothing more than a facilitator: it allows people to connect with other people. Your employees also have social media profiles and asking them to mention your company as part of their social media bio information (@username mentions on Twitter for instance or Facebook fan pages) can be a great way to promote your business.

6.      Consider High Conversion Keywords

There are some keywords that, when used correctly and in connection to specific social networks, generate more engagement. As you may have expected, they differ from one social platform to another. While Facebook users prefer keywords such as “inspire”, “deals”, “submit”, “tell us”, “discount”, ”warns”, Twitter users respond better to “follow”, “social media”, “top”, “check out”. LinkedIn users seemed to respond well to words such as “increased”, “improved”, “developed”, “created”, and “researched”.

7.      Don’t Ignore the Facebook News Feed Algorithm

It’s only logical that you try to understand how Facebook’s news feed algorithm works if you want your content to reach as many people as possible. Brian Boland explained that over 1,500 stories compete on average to appear in a user’s news feed. As a result of the massive increase of shared content on Facebook, the social media platform’s algorithms have changed to ensure that users engage with the stories that are featured in its News Feed.

For a story to be featured in Facebook’s news feed, thousands of factors are taken into consideration, including the post creator’s previous performance, the post type itself, how recent that post is and how users interact with that particular post. Basically, the more activity your post experiences, the better its chances are of being included in news feeds.

8.      Links vs. Images

Link posts seem to be triumphing. In fact, they generate a whopping 82% more page views as compared to posts containing photographs and links in the caption. The question is whether you should refocus your strategy on sharing links. Experts agree that you should naturally share content (in all its forms) with your readers. That means sharing links, photos, videos or status updates. Then use the data you obtain from analyzing Facebook insights to understand what your audience best resonates with and increase that particular post type without neglecting the others.

9.      Take Care of the Little Things

When trying to achieve so many with your social media strategy, it’s easy to overlook things that seem less relevant. Don’t forget, though, that first impressions are the most important (and sometimes only) chance you get to impress potential clients. So make sure that your profile is correctly set up and looks professional. Another thing to keep in mind is that you are not your website or blog: if you want to create an account for your website, by all means, do so. But make sure that you have a separate profile on Facebook and Twitter and use them when engaging your readers.

10.  Use Facebook Hashtags

Since Facebook introduced hashtags to their platform, bloggers and business owners have yet another ace up their sleeve when it comes to driving traffic. Incorporating Facebook hashtags in certain posts may help bring in readers who aren’t already following you or your page. The key, though, is to use less than 2 hashtags in any given post. Their guide to hashtags offers relevant information as to the correct use of hashtags.

11.  Consider Promoted Posts if Budget Allows

It may seem difficult to get traffic from Facebook if you don’t invest in promoted posts. Ads and promoted posts are a great solution for quick traffic boosts.

The idea is to get creative: after all, it’s originality that would spark your interest. Test your strategies and see what works best. Oh, and don’t forget to share your tips and tricks in the comments section below!

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Picture Better Options with Social Media

When it comes to social media in 2015 and likely beyond, both businesses and consumers need to be social butterflies.

For the business owner, social media is a great and relatively free means of promoting one’s brand.

Companies can use social sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, You Tube and countless others to push their brands without sounding like a sales commercial. With an emphasis in recent years nationwide on “do not” call lists and restricting other ways of businesses going after potential customers, social networking is a valuable weapon for the business owner.

Meantime, consumers stand to benefit when they are socially active because they can review a company’s social activities. From offering promotional items to seeing how a business interacts online with other consumers, the individual looking to possibly do business with the brand can learn a ton of information.

Make Social Networking a Win-Win Scenario

In order for both businesses and consumers to get the most possible out of social media, here are some tidbits to remember….

For the business owner:

Be pro-active – Whether your business sells real estate and you want to provide more information on upcoming listings, different coverages for insurance that consumers need in their daily lives, cable TV packages that can present a better home entertainment experience, or household furnishings to brighten the home just to name a few, make sure you are pro-active and not reactive on social media;
Avoid confrontation – Nothing looks worse for a business owner than when they react to a consumer in a negative way. Face it; some consumers (current or potential customers) will turn to social networking sites when they feel they have been wronged by a business. If the business then engages the consumer in a negative manner, it makes him or her and their business look unprofessional;
Lend a hand – More and more consumers are going social in order to learn more about a business of interest. Your business can stand out from the crowd when you quickly and accurately respond to the consumer’s needs. Don’t wait a few days or offer an unhelpful response, one or both of which could close the door on potential sales.

For the consumer:

Ask questions and make comments – One of the reasons businesses have social sites like Facebook, Twitter and others is to use them as information highways in their overall marketing plans. Take advantage of this fact by socially engaging the business. From questions about products and services to leaving comments on customer service and more, be active when visiting a company’s social offerings;
Compare and contrast – Along with traditional means like sales pitches and putting products and services up against one another, use companies’ social media sites to compare and contrast their offerings and how quickly/accurately they respond to consumer questions and comments. You can learn a great deal about a business and its brand by how effectively it uses social networking.

When it comes to social media, both businesses and consumers should picture all the options available to them.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

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Elements of web design: Why it’s crucial to consult a professional

The influence of technology is everywhere. In this post-industrial age, information is power and the greatest repository of knowledge available these days is the internet. So much information exists that there is more data than could ever be absorbed by one person in a hundred thousand lifetimes. The sheer amount of information is absolutely staggering and is being added to every single day.

Considering this information overload, the question that begs to be asked of someone wanting to create a website is this; how is it possible to attract attention and draw visitors to just one particular website out of the many millions that are available. What can one do to create a meaningful presence on the web and having the right people find and respond to it?

The answer lies in the elements of web design and knowing what makes the difference between an excellent website and a terrible one. This kind of knowledge is acquired through excellent training, years of experience, and a unique combination of artistic ability and technological know-how.

Times have changed

It once was the case that anyone with a computer and some basic knowledge could build a website; but today things are so much more difficult. It’s a simple matter to read a book or take a basic course in web design and theoretically understand certain aspects of building a website. The same could be said for architecture, illustration or poetry. Anyone is free to pick up a pencil and begin to draw, sketch and write, but the results will vary wildly and are likely to range from mediocre at best to absolutely terrible.

The difference with hiring a Web Design Agency to build a website is like night and day due to the elements involved. Websites need to be compatible with a variety of web browsers. They must look good and function properly on hundreds of different smart phones, tablets and computer screens.

Where art meets technology

Websites aren’t just composed of information, they are also works of art that invoke a certain presence and speak volumes about those that they represent. A website is the storefront of one’s business, the digital shop window that conveys an immediate first impression of what is contained within. An amateurish looking website that has been cobbled together without a deeper sensibility for design and aesthetic is only going to be harmful to one’s business. Design is both an art and a science and the value and importance of using the services of a professional who is well-trained and has the experience and portfolio to match cannot be overstated.

Style and Substance

There are still many things a business owner can do when considering the design of their website. One simple, but powerful tip is to begin taking notice of the websites that stand out, that have a look and feel that is particularly pleasing. Pay attention to colour schemes, fonts and layouts and perhaps take screen shots of the very best examples to bring along when consulting the designer for the first time. A great web designer will always listen to the clients needs and be able to translate them into a website that is an attractive and functional statement that is pleasing to all who interact with it.

One’s business is often the wellspring of security and prosperity. Be certain that the image it projects into the world is professional, pleasing and worthy of those who bring their passion to it.

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Amazon Introduces Amazon Handmade

What to say when you’ve been quite crafty lately…

Amazon is pretty much taking over taking over the internet and now they have decided to heighten their game a little more or something along those lines. On Thursday, the company announced Amazon Handmade. Handmade items sold include: jewelry, furniture, pottery, bedding, essentially anything that someone can make from hand. And the items are definitely one of a kind…For example you can get a salvaged black walnut conference table for $13,800, or if that’s not in your budget, a yellow submarine wine stopper for $45.

Does this sound familiar? Because that is what popular e-commerce site, Etsy, already does. Etsy hasn’t made any side comments (that we know of) in regards to this face-palm but they must be a little mad considering their stock slumped yesterday on the news. (Source CNN)

I “surprised wow face” That Status

Facebook is testing out a new way to ‘like’ statuses. Ever like what your friend said so much that a simple ‘like’ just isn’t enough? Problem solved. You can hit a heart for love, a laughing face for “haha”, a surprised face for “wow” or an eyes closed smile for “yay”! Or if you don’t like it, teary eyed face or fuming angry face could be the way to go. The site is testing these, “Reactions”, out in Ireland and Spain before giving all users access to the emotions.  (Source CNN)

Unlimited Data Starts Verizon Drama

Unlimited data is basically unheard of to Verizon customers except for their one percenters. Yes, about 1% of customers are still on the unlimited data plan since the company took the option away in 2011 and were not able to make these people put down their phones. Well, these customers are soon going to be paying more for their data. Those grandfathered into the unlimited data plan now pay $30/month for data alone. Starting November 15th, they will start paying $50/month for data alone. Whether or not this will make the unlimited data users switch their plans isn’t known, but maybe they will realize unlimited data isn’t all that necessary. (Source CNET)

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