Eliminate Website Update Headaches

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In: Entrepreneur, Website

Keeping your website up to date can be a challenge – believe me, I know. I spent 16 years maintaining websites full-time. For small businesses and non-profits, websites are sometimes seen as “extra” when it comes to updates, but they’re one of the most important things to keep current, because people are more likely to check you out online before contacting you. That means your website is often their first impression, so you don’t want it to be out of date. I’m going to show you how to set up a system that will help you maintain your website content, as well as show you whereRead More →

Blog - Stop Using Click Here and Improve SEO and Readability

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In: Email, Marketing, Website

There is one thing that makes me bonkers – BONKERS – on websites and in emails – the words “Click Here.” Ugh! When I started working at Shady Side Academy in 2010 as their Manager of Web Communications, the first thing I did was ban the words “click here” in any online communications. It was fine to use it amongst ourselves when we were talking things out, but when it came to creating a web page or email, that phrase was changed to something descriptive. “Click Here” is one of those phrases that just won’t die, but it needs to. It’s a useless phrase forRead More →

Blog - Using Colors to Enhance Design and Usability

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In: Branding, Digital Marketing, Marketing, Social Media

Color choice is an important part of your website and marketing materials. I believe that design and usability go hand-in-hand. It is so frustrating to me when when something is so poorly designed that’s it’s hard to use. It’s also very frustrating to see something that’s designed to be pretty but not very functional. This is true when it comes to marketing, especially with websites. There are many aspects to design, but I want to talk to you about color today, because color choice can make or break a website or marketing piece for one reason: contrast. Contrast Isn’t Sexy I realize that talking aboutRead More →

HTML Basics to Help You Manage Your Website

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In: Email, Website

HTML is the code that makes your website go. It’s also the scary part of your website that I usually tell clients and students to click away from if they find it – but today we’re going to look at HTML right in the eye. I don’t expect you to begin coding in HTML (heck, I don’t even do that), but understanding it just a little bit can really save you time and frustration because even though your CMS (content management system) makes adding and editing content easier, sometimes you need to get into the code. HTML 101 HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. ItRead More →

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In: Branding, Digital Marketing, Entrepreneur, Marketing

Visiting a local mall recently, I ran across a new attraction – Escape Room Pittsburgh Mills. You’ve probably heard of escape rooms – they’re the new Big Thing. The premise is that you need to solve clues to “escape” within a certain amount of time. Since I haven’t tried this before, I grabbed one of the flyers they had. Marketing doesn’t need to be a mystery, and oftentimes there are just a few things that can be done to bring your materials together. The best way to show this is to take real-world examples and show you what they did right and what can beRead More →

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In: Branding, Entrepreneur, Professional Development

Tonight I am starting a new course called Create A Website for a local adult education organization. I love sharing my knowledge with the community, but I’ll tell you a secret – I usually learn as much, if not more, as they do! Creating and teaching classes like these so beneficial for me. I love having an online course available so that anyone can learn from me at any time, but there’s something about teaching a roomful of people face-to-face that can’t be beat! The instant feedback lets me know if I’m explaining things in the best way. As technology changes and people become more comfortable,Read More →

Market Your Udemy Course Without Spending a DIme

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In: Digital Marketing, Social Media, Udemy Courses

Congratulations, your course is published on Udemy! So, now what? It’s time to put on your marketing hat and get the work out about your course. Here are a few ideas to get you started. Give Instructors Your Course For Free I realize that giving your course away may not seem like a great idea, but it is. When you give your course to fellow instructors, you are building up the number of students in your course. It becomes much easier to convince people to pay up to $300 for your course if there are already 1,000 students. I did this and I went fromRead More →