I constantly hear from small business owners, and non-profits that are looking for free and inexpensive ways to promote their organizations online.
One of my biggest recommendations at this time is Squidoo. I learned about Squidoo about a year ago at the EcomXpo, when I attended a presentation given by its creator, Seth Godin. I was so impressed that I immediately signed up for the closed beta, and began creating lenses as soon as I had access.
I have been impressed with my results, and I have also met some great people, and learned some new tricks.
Anyone can quickly and easily create a lens (basically a one-page website) on the topic of their choice. You don't need knowledge of HTML or Web design, and best of all, it's free.
Squidoo is rapidly growing in popularity and a nice community is forming. Right now there are about 40,000 lenses, and the number grows every day. I think everyone should go out and create a lens, if they haven't already. It's an opportunity that everyone should take advantage of.
A few interesting details are that lenses have the potential to earn money, in addition to bringing traffic to your website or helping to promote your interests. They have Google ads, and there are a number of other money making modules available to enhance your lenses. You can choose to receive those earnings as cash, or donate them to your favorite charity.
Since I work with a local charity, the proceeds of all my lenses go to them. This is a really easy way for me to help my favorite charities, while promoting my projects at the same time.
Squidoo has also just launched a new Groups feature, where clubs, organizations, and individuals can create groups on any topic and invite other lensmasters to join. The marketing potential here is endless.
For example, here are a few of the groups I have created:
The Mommy Mall Group
The I Squidoo Group
The Pets Group
The Ferret Shelter where I volunteer also has a charity headquarters at Squidoo, where people may create lenses to benefit the shelter.
Ferrets Unlimited Headquarters
Have you created a lens yet? I'd love to hear about it!
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Monday, May 08, 2006
Great Web Design Books
I just recently read two great books for anyone who is building their first website and wants to do things right the first time. These books are also fantastic for anyone who has been doing this for years, but who wants to understand how their pages work, and why.
The first book is called Spring Into HTML and CSS by Molly Holzschlag. This book is perfect for the people who want to give up FrontPage and learn to correctly hand-code their own pages. The book is organized sequentially, so you start from the first line of your html document, and learn to understand each element of the page. The information is presented in small chunks and the lessons build upon each other. One of the handiest features of this book is that the actual example pages are available for download from the publisher. If you are new to HTML, XHTML, and CSS, or you are an old hat who wants to learn a few new tricks, I highly recommend this book.
The second book I have to recommend is Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, by Steve Krug. This book is an easy read and filled with useful advice on web usability. The examples are great, the text is both humorous and informative, and the concepts are sound. This book is ideal for everyone from the seasoned web designer to the merchant considering his or her first web site.
The first book is called Spring Into HTML and CSS by Molly Holzschlag. This book is perfect for the people who want to give up FrontPage and learn to correctly hand-code their own pages. The book is organized sequentially, so you start from the first line of your html document, and learn to understand each element of the page. The information is presented in small chunks and the lessons build upon each other. One of the handiest features of this book is that the actual example pages are available for download from the publisher. If you are new to HTML, XHTML, and CSS, or you are an old hat who wants to learn a few new tricks, I highly recommend this book.
The second book I have to recommend is Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability, by Steve Krug. This book is an easy read and filled with useful advice on web usability. The examples are great, the text is both humorous and informative, and the concepts are sound. This book is ideal for everyone from the seasoned web designer to the merchant considering his or her first web site.
Monday, April 24, 2006
New Home for GenGlo.com
If you are looking for The Mommy Mall, the correct address is www.mommymall.com
The domains www.genglo.com and game.genglo.com have been moved to a new web host. After hearing praise about 1&1 Web Hosting, I decided to move a few sites over to see how well it works for us. I will be sure to post my results here after I have spent more time with the new servers.
The other domains are still located at our former web host and they can be accessed from the navigation banner above.
Please feel free to contact me or leave a comment below if you have any comments or questions.
The domains www.genglo.com and game.genglo.com have been moved to a new web host. After hearing praise about 1&1 Web Hosting, I decided to move a few sites over to see how well it works for us. I will be sure to post my results here after I have spent more time with the new servers.
The other domains are still located at our former web host and they can be accessed from the navigation banner above.
Please feel free to contact me or leave a comment below if you have any comments or questions.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
eComXpo
I attended my second eComXpo recently and it was a wonderful experience. Whether you are a merchant, or an affiliate, or you are simply interested in learning more about affiliate or search marketing, I highly recommend this trade show.
This is an online event, so you can attend from your home or office, and you may come and go as you please. This sure beats dealing with airports, hotels, and rental cars. The online format makes networking so much more convenient. With online chat and virtual card swapping, one can make contact with a large number of people in a short period of time.
The cost for attendees is free, and the prizes available are spectacular! This time, I won an amazing Samsung HDTV from Digital River oneNetwork! Back in October I received a $100 Google Adwords account! The prizes are wonderful, but this is a fantastic opportunity regardless! Don't miss the next show on October 24-26, 2006!
The show includes educational presentations from a variety of experts. They are also now offering eComXpo University, where you may sign up to view all the presentations at your convenience over the next six months.
P.S. I'm not being compensated for my high praise of this event.
This is an online event, so you can attend from your home or office, and you may come and go as you please. This sure beats dealing with airports, hotels, and rental cars. The online format makes networking so much more convenient. With online chat and virtual card swapping, one can make contact with a large number of people in a short period of time.
The cost for attendees is free, and the prizes available are spectacular! This time, I won an amazing Samsung HDTV from Digital River oneNetwork! Back in October I received a $100 Google Adwords account! The prizes are wonderful, but this is a fantastic opportunity regardless! Don't miss the next show on October 24-26, 2006!
The show includes educational presentations from a variety of experts. They are also now offering eComXpo University, where you may sign up to view all the presentations at your convenience over the next six months.
P.S. I'm not being compensated for my high praise of this event.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Free Marketing Classes
I recently heard about these free SEO and Internet Marketing classes offered by someone named Cricket. I have seen my share of so-called free classes, so I was more than skeptical. Generally, whenever I hear the words free and marketing together, I expect a program whose sole purpose is harvest email addresses and send me spam. These classes are nothing like this!
I signed up for these classes despite my reservations because of the overwhelming number of positive reviews I was hearing from people who were not compensated for doing so.
The process of signing up is a bit of a pain in the butt. The courses are delivered through Yahoo groups, and there is a registration procedure that must be adhered to, or she will not approve your membership.
She also requires that you take the required marketing and SEO classes together. The courses work in tandem, and they are well designed.
The volume of email generated by these classes is tremendous and she requires that each student receive individual emails. Digest is not an option. I thought she was being a bit demanding when I first signed up, but it really does make sense once you start following the class. As long as you have your email configured to filter these classes properly, you will not mind the email. I highly recommend using gmail for this class, and setting up a separate filter for each class. Gmail automatically places the conversations into threads, which makes the flow of information much more natural.
The new classes begin on April 10, 2006, but you may sign up at any time. At the end of each session, the groups are wiped, so everyone starts fresh at the start of a new class. These classes are very hands-on, so be prepared to follow along by optimizing your site, using the tools and technques learned in this classes. I intend to remain in her class for at least another session, so if you sign up, you just might see me there.
A lot of the information included in these classes is common knowledge. For someone like me, who has been doing this for 10 years, much of the information was also no surprise. However, I did learn a few things, and she offered plenty of valuable tips and suggestions that even the most seasoned experts will benefit from.
For the skeptics out there, I am not compensated for recommending this program, and I still don't really know who Crystal is. However, I was impressed with the courses and would recommend them to anyone.
SEO Course Registration:
http://www.gnc-web-creations.com/class-registration.htm
I signed up for these classes despite my reservations because of the overwhelming number of positive reviews I was hearing from people who were not compensated for doing so.
The process of signing up is a bit of a pain in the butt. The courses are delivered through Yahoo groups, and there is a registration procedure that must be adhered to, or she will not approve your membership.
She also requires that you take the required marketing and SEO classes together. The courses work in tandem, and they are well designed.
The volume of email generated by these classes is tremendous and she requires that each student receive individual emails. Digest is not an option. I thought she was being a bit demanding when I first signed up, but it really does make sense once you start following the class. As long as you have your email configured to filter these classes properly, you will not mind the email. I highly recommend using gmail for this class, and setting up a separate filter for each class. Gmail automatically places the conversations into threads, which makes the flow of information much more natural.
The new classes begin on April 10, 2006, but you may sign up at any time. At the end of each session, the groups are wiped, so everyone starts fresh at the start of a new class. These classes are very hands-on, so be prepared to follow along by optimizing your site, using the tools and technques learned in this classes. I intend to remain in her class for at least another session, so if you sign up, you just might see me there.
A lot of the information included in these classes is common knowledge. For someone like me, who has been doing this for 10 years, much of the information was also no surprise. However, I did learn a few things, and she offered plenty of valuable tips and suggestions that even the most seasoned experts will benefit from.
For the skeptics out there, I am not compensated for recommending this program, and I still don't really know who Crystal is. However, I was impressed with the courses and would recommend them to anyone.
SEO Course Registration:
http://www.gnc-web-creations.com/class-registration.htm
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Quick Online Tips
One of my favorite daily reads is the Website, Quick Online Tips. The site is a wonderful collection of what's hot and new online. I subscribe to their site feed and so I can see the daily tips at a glance. It's not a flashy site, or a big corporate site, but they seem to have a handle on the latest technology news, blogging, software, and web tips. One of my favorite things about the site is the writing style. The posts are quick and to the point, so it is easy to read when you only have a brief bit of free time.
I would particularly recommend this site to anyone interested in blogging. I have personally benefitted from several posts, and I always learn something new there. I only wish I had the free time to use all the great information available there.
I would particularly recommend this site to anyone interested in blogging. I have personally benefitted from several posts, and I always learn something new there. I only wish I had the free time to use all the great information available there.
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