A client contacted me over the weekend to complain that the navigation on his site had disappeared. The tone of his voice implied that we had somehow screwed something up.
He was wrong.
We hadn’t touched it and if we had, we certainly wouldn’t have disabled any key functionality.
But screwy things happen with websites. In this case something had become unchecked in his theme that prevented the NAV bar from showing.
Easy fix. Continue reading
Free advice to get you started right!
See the resemblance?
For some reason, my friend Felicia Slattery refers to me as her younger brother from another mother.
So, I guess this story is about my older sister from another mother, (and another father, but who wants to ruin a good story?) Felicia and I were recently discussing how to build a website for her husband, Brent. She set up WordPress using a free theme and began adding content.
The purpose of the site is to find Brent work as a corporate fitness trainer, but what you’ll learn here will work on just about any website.
I have a fast-start checklist of things to do when I teach people how to build your own website and getting it indexed by search engines quickly. I’ve trained hundreds of people to do this at conferences, Meetups, webinars and my Website Success Course.
About 3 hours into our Skype chat, I said, “I’m going to blog about this.”
So here are the recommendations I made to my big sister (who is actually 12 years younger than I, but why ruin a good story?) and quickly get it noticed in search engines. These tactics can also be used on existing websites and blogs.
As I mentioned, Felicia is using WordPress to create the site, which is an excellent choice. No need to learn HTML or buy expensive programs. You can choose a theme design that looks like your niche and includes the design/page components you want and not things you don’t. Continue reading
I run two Meetup groups in Chicago’s Western Suburbs. West Suburban Business Networking focuses more on Internet subjects, such as websites, WordPress, Internet marketing and digital strategy.
West Suburban Small Business Support & Mastermind’s biggest audiences have come from similar subjects, but I promote more subjects that would be of interest small to medium size business owners.
I have written previously about why I attend Meetups. I did not write about Meetup etiquette, which is important.
When you join Meetup.com, which is fantastic for networking, learning and building your brand, you are asked some simple questions, such as your name, age, gender and interests. If you select “Career & Biz” you might select sub-categories like Small Business Marketing Strategies, Cashflow or Professional Development.
You can search for Meetups that fit any criteria you like. You can be alerted when any that meet your criteria, including distance from your location, become available.
Some Meetups allow everyone to join. Some ask you to apply first. Both almost always ask you to answer a few questions, if for no other reason than to introduce yourself.
Most social media coaches and consultants talk about the importance of “transparency.” That includes using your real identity, contact information and sharing information freely, without spamming. Act as you would in any networking environment. (Except dating sites, or so I’ve heard!-LOL) Continue reading