Summary

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• Click the Add New Sub Tab
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For further details follow the video tutorials below.

Logging In

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You will then see the Administration Panel similar to that shown below.

Writing a new post or editing an existing post

Working with images

A client recently asked me how to set up and send HTML emails

This is quite simple to do from Outlook. I use Outlook 2003 but the principle is the same whatever version you’re using.

A word of caution though before you start using it to bulk email to your client list. If you’re sending to a large distribution list I advise against using Outlook through you ISP’s server.  ISPs tend to get upset about sending a large volume of email through their servers. Also, if people complain about spam, you could be in big trouble with your ISP and lose your email account.

It’s better to use one of the online services to send bulk html email. I use a service called Campaign Monitor to send bulk html emails. It costs a few pounds but well worth it in the end.

Firstly set Outlook to use Word as the editor of choice and set the message format to be HTML. To do this:

Click on Tools in the main menu bar and from the drop-down click options. Then select the Mail Format tab in the Options box.

Then compose your template. You can do this using Word. Use tables to format and layout the template as you want it.You can paste images in the document.

When you’ve set up the template and added your content you’re ready to create the email.

Start a new email message. If you want the background coloured set this first using the Background option under Format in the top menu bar of the message window.

Then paste the template you created into the new message, set the addressees and title and then send.

That’s it. Have fun.

This is a perfect illustration of something that I’ve been saying for years. The government (the establishment) is scared stiff of the internet. Not because they don’t understand it. I think they do. They have enough advisors to tell them. No. The reason is that it potentially puts power in the hands of ordinary people.

Why? Firstly, because the people have unprecedented access to vast amounts of information. Until the internet came along the ruling classes essentially controlled the information that was available to the ruled classes. Freedom of the press? Forget it. The traditional media has always been controlled directly or indirectly by the Establishment.

Secondly the internet allows almost instant communication between people anywhere in the world. One presumes that it was this that triggered Cameron’s knee jerk reaction to the riots. I seem to remember a similar issue with email back in the days of the fuel protests.

Never before have ordinary people had so much power at their fingertips. The tragedy of it though is that most people don’t realize what they’ve got. Perhaps they will eventually. But by then it may be too late and governments will have figured out ways to control it.

I often get approached by potential clients who are concerned because their website can’t be found on Google

The first thing I always do in these situations is to take a look at the website concerned. Nine times out of ten we find that the site is badly designed. So the first thing I tell the potential client is that there is absolutely no point in spending money to get people to find the website if the first thing they do is to click away.

You should be thinking in terms of how much business the site will generate not how many visitors it gets. This means that the site should be designed such that visitors will stay on the site, read it and take action depending on what the site has been designed to do. For example, this could be to make an enquiry via phone or email or to buy something online if the site has an online shop.

So what does a well designed website look like?

It should be well organised – your potential customer should be able to understand the site immediately. If he is faced with a jumble of information on the first screen, he won’t go any further.

It should be easy to navigate – your visitors should be able to find their way around the site easily. A nicely structured menu should appear on each page.

Your business benefits should be clear - when your visitors arrive on your site, they have very little idea what its trying to offer or what benefits they can get from it. If the basic message doesn’t get through to them within about the first 10 seconds, you will lose them.

Content not image – the words on your site are crucial. The site must look attractive but flashy graphics will not make up for poor content. If you write your own content remember the following. Don’t use big words. Keep the sentences short. Above all, keep it well structured to guide your visitors through a sales process.

Professional looking – Last but not least your site should look professional. The layout should be well balanced. The colours should be complementary and should be appropriate to your business.

How not to do it?

If you want to see examples of how not to do it, take a look at www.webpagesthatasuck.com (yes it really exists!). Their strap line is “learn good web design by looking at bad we design”.

Search engines

Once the design has been improved, then we can consider search engines. Getting a site to appear on a search engine is not a simple matter. Factors such as the number of competing sites, the keywords that people are likely to use to find it and how the site has been structured all come into play.

Large companies often spend thousands of pounds to get their websites on the first page of Google. Fortunately, for a smaller company with a local client base, it doesn’t have to be like that. We design all our websites to be search engine friendly and many of them can be found on the first page of Google and other search engines.

That’s all there is to it?

Well actually no. This is just the start. I assume you want people to revisit your site? In that case you need to refresh and update the site from time to time.

But that will be the subject of another article. Watch this space…

In reality, there is no such thing as a business. A business is a notional and legal entity. Instead we have individuals. Some “businesses” are single individuals, others are collections of individuals.

A business cannot manufacture. People do. Even if most of the work is done by machines, it’s people who control the machines. Businesses don’t do marketing. People do. And when we’re talking about who we sell to we don’t sell to businesses. We sell to individuals.

From the smallest sole trader to large corporations, at the end of the day, it almost always boils down to a single individual who makes the buying decision. Granted, in larger companies, there are more people involved in the process. But most of these are just steps along the way to the final decision which is usually made by a single individual.

So in terms of our websites, this means that the site must have a voice that is aimed at that single individual who makes the final decision. And also the voice must sound as if it’s coming from an individual. Use the active voice as much as possible instead of the passive. Include names on the site, particularly if you’re a sole trader or small company. Include photographs.

And in terms of actually marketing the site, this then ties in directly with social networking which you should be using. But that’s for another article.

Remember B2B and B2C are dead 20th century concepts. In the 21st century teens, it’s person to person (P2P) that matters.

Mike Brogan – Day 10 Solutions

Day 10 has just completed a brand new website for Roop. See it at www.roopm.com.

Will it succeed? Time will tell. Competition in the social networking applications is pretty fierce now – Facebook already gets more impressions than search engines so is there room for another one? Who knows, but this is Google and anything could happen.

My advice is don’t ignore it. Check it out now. If it does become one of the major players in social networking then it could have a much bigger influence than the current crop of applications. Integration into Google search results is almost certain to happen at some point.

Read more about Google+ here.

“Strategy is good tactics seen in retrospect” – Mike Brogan, Day 10 Solutions.

“Fake it ’till you make it!” – Unknown.

“It is the set of the sails, not the direction of the wind that determines which way we will go” – Jim Rohn.

“Man does not control his own fate. The women in his life do that for him” – Groucho Marx

“Fear is the path to the dark side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering” – Yoda, Star Wars –  The Phantom Menace.

“Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose” – Yoda, Star Wars  - Revenge of the Sith.

“Yesterday is gone for ever. Tomorrow never comes. Today is in your hands” – Unknown.

“Don’t wish it were easier, wish you were better” – Jim Rohn.