website

End Of Year Sale!! Wahoo!

Do you have a project in mind that you need a quickie site for?
Ready to start a blog but don’t want to deal with setting it up?
Ready to move your static over to the wonderful WordPress platform?

Even if you’re not ready to start the project now, you can “get on the list” for a site — and maybe light a little fire under yourself in the meantime.

Now through November 30th, 2010 ALL WEB PACKAGES are 20% OFF!!

Here’s the deal – in order to qualify for this killer deal, you must submit a design request, accept the proposal and pay for the package BEFORE November 30th, 2010. All packages purchased with this sales can be “redeemed” (i.e. scheduled) within 6 months — so you have some time to get your “ducks in a row”. Openings for site design projects start November 1st, 2010 — and space is limited!!

So here’s the breakdown:

The “Get Your Feet Wet” Package: $500 $400
WordPress install, theme install, theme & plugin setup, general customization. The basics to get started blogging!

The Good ‘Ol Standard Blogsite Package: $1000 $800
WordPress install, theme install, theme & plugin setup, some helpful planning calls, a little extra customization, and some other extras!

The Rockstar Blogsite Package: $1500 $1200
All the stuff from the other packages plus a ton of hand-holding throughout the process, extra customization, and a lot of other extras!!

Want to find out what is included standard in these packages? Go here to see the breakdown…

What’s The Drill?

Since space is limited in my design schedule, projects are scheduled based on a first come, first serve basis AND project size. Smaller packages can tend to be completed sooner then the big daddy packages, since the time investment is smaller. In order to get in on this deal, you first have to send me a design request!

I’ll look at your design request and see 1) if I have the skills needed to do your project justice, 2) if I can meet your requested deadline without having a panic attack, and 3) if the project request fits in to the budget you need. If I can give all those a big ‘ol checkmark, then I will send you a proposal via Freshbooks.

Once you have reviewed the proposal (which will include available dates to schedule the project, if you are ready to start asap) and are ready to go, you simply click “accept” and I will send you the payment invoice and homework to get the project going!

*Please note payment must be made before November 30th 2010 to get the discount!! After November 30th, packages will go back to their normal rates.

Are You Ready???

Awesome!! Simply go here to fill out the website request and send it over!! Or if you have more questions about this, please contact me here and I will give you all the details you want.

Not Quite Ready Yet?

That’s cool. But please let me know if you have questions that, if answered, may get you ready! I’m really excited since this is my first web design sale… and I’d love to get my calendar filled with eager biz folks like you who want to get moving on new sites for the new year!!

Remember — space is limited (I am only one little lady, after all) so get on the list as soon as possible if you want something done before the end of the year. I have room for only 5 1 new package before the end of 2010 before the sale closes … so don’t hesitate!

Ready now? Simply go here to fill out the website request and send it over!!

Want to find out what is included standard in these packages? Go here to see the breakdown…

Plan. Create. Evaluate.

My approach to a website design (or REdesign, as the case may be) is threefold.

Plan. Create. Evaluate. Those are three key pieces to a website that sometimes gets overlooked, or set aside. I think one of the reasons this happens is because people assume (or in the past have been conditioned to believe) that website design is about the pretty graphics or colors or fanciness. So they hire a designer who makes something sparkle. Something flash. A fantastic looking header that could be stuck on a wall in a gallery. But when it comes down to actually using that website as a business tool, all the flash and fancy in the world won’t keep profits coming in. Enter Plan. Create. Evaluate.

Plan. Create. Evaluate.

My personal threefold approach to website design takes into consideration first and foremost one of my favorite sayings in the world: “Do everything on purpose”. Take time to plan out your site elements, from the small to the big, and do it ON PURPOSE. After you have a plan, create the beautiful site of your dreams (or the basic, black text on white background. Whatever. Doesn’t matter as long as it fits in with your plan.) Then let that site sit for a while (albeit, with updates and posts and normal activity from you). See what happens. Give it 3-6 months. Once you have let your site stew, then it’s time to evaluate. Is it working? Are you getting the traffic you need? Are you getting sales? What reaction do visitors give you? If it’s working, then keep it up!! If not, it may be time to start a new (or altered) plan.

Thing is, your website (and total web presence for that matter) is kind of a living thing. It needs attention. It needs care. It needs to be checked up on every once in a while. Letting a site sit dormant with no activity and no evaluation will not help your business grow.

Looking back.

Many times entrepreneurs either already have or are getting ready to launch a web presence that just “gets the job done”. I have seen many people invest hundreds and thousands of dollars in coaching programs, products, seminars and networking events all with the goal of creating a profitable business – but when it comes time to implement all they have learned, their web presence gets the least amount of attention and in many cases the least budget. Entrepreneurs tend to develop this idea that their product/service/skill can “sell itself!” and why invest a lot of money in creating a flashy site?!?! But the truth of the matter is this: It does not matter how awesome your product is. If buyers can’t find it. If happy customers can’t share it. If you can’t use a success from the past to promote something new. Then what’s the point of having a business in the first place?

I often compare an online entrepreneur’s website to your average, everyday store. Look at where YOU shop in your normal week, month or year. Why do you shop there?? For me, it’s Target. I love Target. And I love Target because:

I can always find one. The brand is unmistakable. It’s a bull’s eye for goodness sake! But I know bull’s eye = Target b/c I see it so much in everything. And driving in a strange area of the city / country I can spot that logo from a mile away!
I know where everything is in the store. Almost all their stores are laid out the same. I can go into a Target in Hoboken and find paper towels in a heartbeat because they are in the same place as my neighborhood store. Familiarity makes it appealing to me.
New items, sale items and special lines are showcased in obvious places, so I see all kinds of cool things I never would have thought to buy each time I go in there. (Ok, not so good for the checkbook – but you get my gist)
I get what I pay for. The quality of their products is totally in line with the cost.

I then compare it to other stores in my area – maybe a specialty shop or a boutique. Why don’t I shop there? Well, because I have never heard of the name. Maybe the storefront is not very appealing, maybe I feel lost when I enter the store or the prices are WAY out of my league (or maybe I just THINK they are).

Now, I don’t say this because I think all entrepreneurs websites should be big box sites. No!! I don’t want your site to be an amazon.com.

But what I DO want to see is a brand that I recognize (maybe from seeing stuff posted on Facebook, or talked about on a blog or on Twitter) and a site I can actually find, a site that lets me find what I want on it easily, calls to action that tell me what new, cool things I should be looking at, and products/programs/services that have VALUE (i.e. get what I pay for).

When I see a site that screams “gets the job done” I immediately think that entrepreneur either doesn’t have the money to afford a well designed website (read: business not doing well), doesn’t care about their website (read: they don’t care about what they are selling, or me as a client), or has no idea what they are doing online (read: they have no idea what they are doing online). While that may not be the case at all, it’s important to understand that your website is a virtual representation of you and your business, and it’s worth the time, effort and money to make it right.

Warning Signs.

There are a lot of warning signs that can tell you if your current site needs a change (or if your current “plan of attack” for an upcoming site needs work). I’m gonna focus on right now on sites that are currently up, but this can be related to sites that have not been created yet – so keep these in mind, new business folks.

Sales have taken a nose dive since the site first lauched.
You have a high bounce rate.
The time people spend on your site is small.
You have no idea how to find out your bounce rate or time spent on site.
You’re not getting many (or any) incoming links to your site.
You blog traffic is not converting into website traffic.
No one can find your site without a direct URL.
You rarely get sign ups for your newsletter or downloads of your freebies.

If any (or – yikes – all) of these fit you, it’s high time you get some help for your website.

Problem Areas.

It can be an overwhelming task to evaluate your site, especially if you don’t know what you are looking for! Below are a few key areas to look at when doing a self evaluation.

Finding you. Good SEO takes time, but bad SEO can rip the bottom out from under you in no time. Does your site utilize all the basic SEO tools like meta data, keywords and simple URLs? (If you thought “What does that stuff mean?” then your answer is most likely NO) And does your web presence have a fluid brand? (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, sales pages, etc…)

Figuring you out. Navigation is the backbone to business websites. Does your navigation, wherever it may be, make sense to your target market? Are you making it hard to find your products or programs?

Spreading the word. Word of mouth is key. Are you giving people an easy way to spread the word on you?

Keeping it fresh. How fresh is the content on your site? Has it been months (or even years) since you added content to your site? Does your blog get updated daily, but the site you sell your services on never get touched?

While there are many more areas to check on, looking at these four basic things and making adjustments to them will make a difference.

I swear I am wrapping this up!

Did you recognize any of the warning signs for your website? Did you see some of those problem areas on your site? Then take action!! Spend 30 minutes a day doing something to move your site out of the danger zone (sorry for the Top Gun reference there).

Are you feeling overwhelmed? Dizzy? Freaked? Many entrepreneurs do. And I think that is why many don’t take action when they need to. And here is where all my rambling is going… get help!!

I can pitch to you right now that you should hire me to help you (and yes, I am a great option ) but in total truth I am less concerned with WHO you get to help you then I am with the fact that you recognize that there ARE people out there who can help you, who do this for a living, for a reason, and that you can utilize to make the most out of your business.

You would not hire a plumber to remodel your house, would you? (Gosh I hope not!) And while you may physically and intellectually be able to remodel your own house, the best option you can choose is to hire a skilled contractor who can draw up plans, perform all the work, and get the job done right. The same goes for your website. Whether you need to build your first website or your current site needs a boost, find a skilled web designer who will work with you to plan out and create a site FOR YOU and your needs.

On purpose.

You Have a Website … Now What?

Many business owners get that first big website (or sales page, or opt-in page), spending *months* working on writing the copy, getting their logo done, finalizing the website design, and all of the other busy work involved in the launching of a new site.

Then it’s launched, and it’s like, well, now what?

Cause I’m here to tell you, no magical fairies are going to send traffic, leads, or customers to your website just because it exists. Advertising is expensive, and all of those too-good-to-be-true schemes and tricks to drive traffic to your site are just that, too good to be true (trust me, I tried most of them to no avail!). Especially in the beginning, you will need to take action to drive good, targeted traffic to your site, to build your list and make sales.

Here are three strategies you should use to build your list & customer base, now that you’ve launched your website.

1. Publish High Quality Content

You *must* be creating high quality content if you want anyone to come to your website (or for that matter, buy from you). I don’t mean content with a load of keywords, or any particular type of content (could be articles, audios, or videos) … just content that a human being in your target market will get value from and will *love* you for providing.

Not only should this content be on your website, but you will also be using it in teleclasses/webinars, on your social networking sites, as give-aways for joining your list, and in your email promotions. So if you’ve built a site that only contains information about you & your business, now it’s time to add valuable tools, tips, and strategies that your audience will find interesting, useful, and/or enlightening.

2. Develop Relationships With Your Target Market & Others Who Serve Your Target Market

Very few people will stumble upon your site and buy something right away, especially if you are selling high-ticket items or services. You must develop a relationship with them over time if they will trust you enough to start working with you.

My favorite way to develop that relationship is via social networking on Twitter and Facebook. Not only to I provide great content to my networks on these sites, but I engage them in a conversation about themselves and their businesses… and even help them by sending traffic to their sites! If social networking is not your thing yet, the same strategy applies for in person networking, phone calls, and live meetings with potential clients… develop that relationship before you expect them to go to your website (or make the sale).

Same concept applies to other people & businesses who also serve your target market. Once you develop a relationship with them, you may be able to engage in joint ventures where you promote each other, become affiliates for each other, and even create projects together. But this is not going to happen until you develop a relationship with them & they know you are a high quality partner.

3. Ask

There’s nothing wrong with promoting yourself, your website, and your business … as long as you do it in a way that shows “what’s in it for them”. The easiest way to do this is to offer free high quality content. If what you are “selling” is free and valuable to your target market, it will be easy & straightforward to “sell” them to go onto your site. But this only works if you already have valuable content *and* have already developed that relationship.

WordPress, Themes and the New Trends in Websites.

Long ago in the blog world, blogs were limited in their style to a simple format – a header, footer and pages upon pages of blog posts. But with the release of new versions of WordPress there also came a new feature to customize your blog with different “skins” called Themes. These themes were custom designed to work behind the scenes of your WordPress blog to control the display of your site with style, color and flair.

Over the years, Themes have become more robust and now offer so many new and unique features that sites built using WordPress now have the ability to look and feel like a “real” website and site owners are staring to embrace the usability of WordPress to control their entire online business.

With the new trend emerging to use WordPress to create a business website, there is still a lot of confusion as to what a Theme is, how it works and what using WordPress can offer you. Here’s a brief rundown of what Themes are and how a WordPress site can work for you.

Your WordPress Site vs. Your Theme

In the past, a business owner might have a blog and a static website that were separate from each other. The downside of that is two-fold. For one, your content is separated for visitors to search out on multiple sites. For two, you lose out on the SEO benefits of the ever-changing, content-rich blog posts for your main website. Combining the two makes it easy for your visitors to find what they need in one place AND boosts your SEO by having a lot of content for the search engines to crawl.

Many people have come to me worried that all the work and time they have put into their blog will be lost if they switch to a new theme that will display their site as more of a website then a blog. That is not the case, since the site content and the theme are two separate entities (for the most part). Think of it this way – Your WordPress site is like your dinner. Your content (posts, pages, images, etc…) is the meat and potatoes of your site. Your theme is like the plate you serve it on. You can move your meat and potatoes to a different plate and you won’t loose any of the food – just change the way your dinner is displayed. In WordPress, you can change the theme as much as you want, and your content will still remain the same – albeit displayed differently.

Some Themes require custom coding to set up the end result – like uploading images for your header, background and footer, or adding pages to your navigation. This is where a web designer would step in. Rather then building a static (standard) website from scratch, a designer can take a pre-built Theme and customize it to look and feel like a static website that showcases your businesses brand. Depending on your needs, some Themes will look perfect straight out of the box while other will need tweaking to look and feel the right way. When a designer customizes a Theme, many times you as a visitor can not even tell the site is a WordPress site. But, then, what’s the point?

The Point of Using WordPress.

Here’s one of the biggest reasons for the trend: usability. I can’t tell you the number of times I have had a new client come to me, exasperated because they spent XXX dollars on a beautiful, custom static site only to find out that they either could not update their site at all, could not find the original designer to help them update the site, or were charged insane fees by the designer to make updates. With the fast paced world of internet marketing, you have to be able to update your site with new, fresh content to keep your visitors coming back. Introduce WordPress – a content management system that allows anyone with a little bit of computer knowledge (i.e. using Microsoft Word) to control their website, update pages and post new, fresh articles and resources to their own site without needed a web designer. Yay! With a little bit of practice and some training, anyone can operate a robust website with ease. (That’s not to say that some changes and edits may need the help of a web designer – but for the most part – you have control!!)

Choosing a Theme.

There are thousands of Theme options out there – in my experience, the style of a Theme is not as important as the way the Theme is built – clear, uncluttered coding makes a world of difference and a well built Theme offers more then just style. SEO is important (ok, REALLY important) and a well built Theme will keep in line with industry standards for SEO, making it easy for you to increase your traffic. Another benefit of a well-built Theme is the ease of customization – even someone with very little coding knowledge can make sense out of the custom coding and tweak things to make their website perfect for them. Take caution when choosing a theme that just looks good – you may find that in the backend, its pure chaos.

When searching for a Theme, some of the key things to look at are header/footer size & style, navigation menu style and home page style. Some Themes do not offer much in the way of customizing the header and navigation menu – some offer unlimited options. Home page style is also a big determining factor since your home page is the first thing your visitor will see. When looking at Themes check out their demo home page. Many will limit your home page to either feature blog posts or a static page (like Thesis), while others will have “modules” that display multiple sections of information, combining blog posts, static content and other media (like the StudioPress Themes).

Many other factors play a roll in Theme choice – like the type of content you will have (heavy on static content or blog posts, media heavy or graphics heavy). It’s best to decide prior to your Theme search what the most important information is on your site and what types of things you want to feature. Tell your web designer what your priorities are and they can help you find a Theme to build onto that will work best for you. Themes to me are a lot like a puzzle – the Theme developer has provided the puzzle pieces and your web designer can put those together to create the perfect end-result for your needs.

Using WordPress Like a Website.

Using a robust Theme, you can position your WordPress website to work like a static site while keeping the blog feature active. Many Themes have developed navigation menus that allow you to feature your static pages and allow your visitors to locate pertinent blog posts by using category listings. If you take a look at the LynnRaeDesigns.com site, you can see how the main, top navigation menu displays all the main pages of the site – like our services and FAQ’s. The submenu (the menu bar underneath the main menu) lists our categories for blog posts. You may not even realize this site operates using WordPress – since the static content is at the forefront of the site.

Your Sidebar.

Siderbars of the past were used to help a visitor navigate through the blog, with lists upon lists of categories, recent posts and links to other blogs (i.e. blogroll). When positioning your site as a static site using WordPress, you can take the sidebar area and use it to display important content that you don’t want your visitors to miss – like your newsletter sign up, a feature product or our most recent video. The options are endless for your sidebars (save width restrictions) and it offers a great way to get content in front of your visitor fast. You also have the option to remove the sidebar feature from your site and make every page a simple, full page of content. One of the best ways to use this feature is for sales pages and thank you pages – you can create new programs quickly by creating pages within your site that do not appear in the navigation menu, but can be accessed by typing in the full page address.

Wrapping it Up.

I’ve tried to touch on the major points in using WordPress as your website – by far not passing along everything (there’s just too much info to include in one article!!) The key thing to remember is – the line between static websites and blogs is so blurred now, the options are really endless. You can have the best of both worlds –the usability of a blog and the professional look of a static site – and it won’t take months or thousands of dollars to create – -and the end result gets you better SEO, a cleaner, user-friendly website and control over your own site.

~Victoria Potts Keale is a newbie blogger, website designer, entrepreneur extraordinaire, mom, wife, daughter, sister… well, you get the gist. She lives in her hometown of St. Louis, MO in an old haunted farmhouse with her 2 kids and drummer hubby. She has 15 tattoos and wants more. She loves 80’s music. She thinks writing bios in the 3rd person is wacky. You should email her and tell her what else to put in her bio – victoria@lynnraedesigns.com – but don’t spam her, cause she’ll get angry.

Please feel free to use this blog in whatever, but make sure you credit it back to the author (link it up here!!) and send us a note that you used it, cause we’ll give you some link-love right back.

SEO Basics

So, you have a website. It’s got a fabulous design, you’ve written high quality content, and you’ve launched it on the World Wide Web… and now you just have to sit back and wait and people will come, right?

I’m not even going to say “wrong” there, because you already know that. Driving traffic to your site takes a lot of work. You could spend hours looking for advice on SEO, and digging through the good vs. the bad is enough to drive you totally crazy. So let’s start from the beginning, and take a look at the foundation for good SEO – then compare those items listed to your current site. Missing anything? If not, great!! If so… you can spend just a little bit of time updating those tools and over time, you will start to see a boost in page rank.

1. Metadata

The actual definition of Metadata is “data about other data”. In your websites code, it’s a list of information about your site – from the type of site code used, to the title of your website or page, to the author of the content – metadata is used to tell those wonderful robots what they will be finding on your page.

Why you need it: Basically, your metadata helps tell the robots visiting your site where they are and what they are looking at. It’s as simple as that. It’s kind of like the “welcome mat” for your website, as far as robots are concerned.

What to include: The recommended ones are description, keywords, author.
Description: The meta description is what frequently shows up under your page title in search results and convinces people to click-through to your site – try limit your description to 20-25 words or less and tell potential visitors what your site is about in a catchy way.
Keywords: Include between 8-12 keywords that are relevant to your site. It helps to use these keywords in your content, as well.
Author: Stick your name in there, it will help if someone forgets your domain address and just searches for you!

Where to find it: Metadata is listed within the <head> tags of your source code. The easy way to check and see if your site included metadata? In your browser, open up your site and then click “VIEW” > “Page Source” (or just “Source” for IE users) in your browsers menu bar. What you’ll see is a page with a whole bunch of weird code. But at the top of the page, you should see things like <meta name=”____”>. If you don’t, you may not have your metatags set!! If you have FTP access to your site, open up your pages and add this code within the <head> element:

Why you need it: The page title describes the content found on the page. It displays across the top of major browsers and is the text that displays in bookmarks. The title tells search engines what your site is about.

What to include: Write a catchy statement about your business, use your big keywords and your name or your business name. Keep it under 70 characters!!

Where to find it: Open your site in a browser and look at the top of the screen. What does it say up there? You can change you title in your sites code by looking in the <head> section… it’s simply listed as <title>. For blogs, you normally have to change the sites title within the admin site (where you post blog articles from). Keep in mind you can use a different title custom written for each page, too!!

3. Site Maps.

Why you need it: A site map is just that, a map of your site. It tells the visitor what pages you have and how they work together and helps people and robots navigate your site. If you have a simple site (5 pages or less) you can include an html page with a simple map (a bunch of links) of your pages. If you have a complex site (more then 10 pages) it’s recommended to use an XML sitemap so the robots know what pages are there and how they work together.

What to include: This one is easy – all your pages. For HTML site maps, just create a linked list of all your main pages and subpages. Its highly recommended that if you use anchor links ( a link that takes you to another part of the same webpage) you make the link text actual keywords rather then “click here”.

Where to find it: This is tricky if you don’t have access to your server files. Chances are, if you don’t know if you have one, you probably don’t. If you have a small site, contact your webmaster and ask them to create an html sitemap to include in the footer (or navigation menu) of your page. If you have a large site, there are tools you can use to generate your site map. For static sites, you can check out http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/ or use Google’s Webmaster Tools. For blogs, you can download a plugin to create your sitemap. I recommend Google Sitemap Generator.

4. Other Quick SEO Tools:

Domain Stability: Register your domain for longer then one year. Search engines like to see domains that have extended registration. This tells them that the domain has “staying power” and is probably not just a spam site.

Use Text: Fancy, flashy, sites sure are pretty. But they get a big fail in SEO because robots can’t read graphics. Make sure you have plenty of actual text on your site, your graphics have “alt” tags describing what they are, and you use relevant headlines in your content (like the H1, H2 & H3 tags).

Take Advantage of Linking: There are many, many ways for using links to boost SEO – I can’t go over all of them here, but here’s a few that can help.
-Don’t fall prey to link dumping and link spamming – these tricks never work on robots and no matter what anyone says, will hurt you rather then help you.
-Use keywords in your anchor links (not “click here”).
- Make your page links easy and clear (like www.yoursite.com/recipes.html – tells us that page will probably include recipes).
-Trade links with relevant websites and put them in relevant sections of content within your site – “links” pages with a big list of links won’t help you.

Want to see how your webpage scores on its SEO? Submit your site to http://website.grader.com/ and get a free report on your site. Once you have that report, you’ll know exactly what steps you can take to boost your site’s SEO quickly.

Stop Selling Yourself Short… and Start Simply Selling Yourself!

This is a guest post on The Wealth Spa Magazine (www.thewealthspa.com) by me!! (Yay!). Just thought I would share, since I am proud.

I launched my web design business 4 years ago when the list of people who needed my services grew to a point where I could not ignore the need anymore. So I spent just 3 days building my own site – taking design cues from my peers and creating a very “industry standard” website. It was a nice enough site; it brought in business and allowed me to quit my “real job” to invest all my time into design. I had a steady client base but no real niche. I was dealing with clients who did not really mesh well with me personally and I found myself more stressed then satisfied.

Since that time I have had 5 incarnations of my business site. When I got frustrated, to the end of my rope with stress, I would redesign my site hoping it would draw in a different clientele. Each time I took cues from other design sites or utilized the newest fad in design and each time I got a new batch of clients… but walked away with the same stress and dissatisfaction.

So what was I doing wrong?

In the summer of 2008, with my introduction (and slight addiction) to the social networking site Twitter, I figured it out. What was I missing in marketing my business? Me!!

The one thing all those design incarnations was missing was my personality. So once again I went and redesigned my site – and instead of designing something that “fit” with my peers, I created a style that screamed “Victoria!!”

In the weeks after I made the switch to marketing myself rather then my business, I witnessed a complete turnaround, and boom (Yay!), in my business. Instead of trying to figure out what my clients wanted me to be, I was simply myself. In my web presence, my social networking and my communications with clients and prospects I stayed true to my personality and the response was phenomenal! The best part about this newfound business identity: I’ve developed friendships with my clients and a true pride in the work that I provide for them.

This idea of marketing yourself is nothing new. Throughout the ages, women have utilized their appearance as a signature of their style – from clothing, hair, or accessories, woman have found a way to distinguish themselves by their look. When we get dressed in the morning or for a night out, we take care in choosing the right look so that we can show who we are to everyone, ultimately marketing ourselves socially.

As we venture into this new Web 2.0 world, our online style becomes a virtual “look” for our business, distinguishing what the business it all about. As important as first impressions are in the “real world”, the online world works the same. The look and feel of your blog, website or social networking profile will tell your visitors who you are and help them decide if you are the right person to do business with.

wardrobe

Think about the look that you personally display everyday – do your graphics, logo and style for your sites match that look? Do your clients know who they are doing business with?

In my design business, my sites act as my virtual wardrobe. I do not have one particular style all the time in the “real world” just like I do not have one particular style for my designs – but they all have parts that represent me. When I build my sites, I take the piece of my style that fits in with the theme of that site (i.e. my site catering to musicians has a different feel then my site catering to online marketers, but both have their own “Victoria” flair.)

Whether you are selling a product or a service, you are ultimately selling you. Is your website a virtual representation of you?

Capturing you… and your audience.

What does your website say about you? Take some time and review your own site, through the eyes of a prospect. Ignore for a moment the content (while content is the main ingredient of a website, it is the look and feel of a site that will keep your visitor engaged) and look at your color scheme, your fonts, your picture, the flow of the page. What does it tell someone who does not know who you are? If you were the prospect, would you be compelled to hand your money over to this person? Why?

Challenge: poll a group of people who do not know you on a personal level to look at your website and try to describe you.

Now check out your competition. Your competitor’s site can tell you a lot about what you should – and shouldn’t- be doing on yours. Analyze their site the same way – what does their design say about their personality? What would make your target market hire them before you?

Next, take a look at your current client list. Those clients that you love to work with, who give repeat business and referrals, what types of people are they? If you have found your niche already, great! If not, it’s time. One of the biggest teachings in marketing yourself as an entrepreneur is to find your target market. It’s a struggle at first to put limitations on who you market to for fear that you will then limit your income. On the contrary, most often you end up increasing your income… and your sanity. Look a little deeper into who hires you and you will probably find that the majority of those people who love to work with you and who you love to work with have personalities just like you.

What now?

So you reviewed your site… and something about it doesn’t scream ‘you!’ Where do you go from here?

Decide where it’s going wrong. Make a list for the designer of the good and bad of your site – from style all the way down to function.
Figure out the ‘you’ that you want to represent. Here’s a tip: Check out your testimonials! Most testimonials include something that points out a character trait that makes that client love you. Is there a common theme in your testimonials that can help you see why your current clients work with you? If most of your clients stress how “down to earth” you are, then there’s a pretty good chance that’s what sets you apart from your competitors!
Look for a designer that ‘fits’. Ask your clients, friends, family if they know designers – then surf their sites and find one that appeals to you emotionally. There’s a good chance that once you find a site you like, you will probably like working with that designer. Be wary of design firms that offer to customize a pre-built template – while it may be cheaper, tweaking a canned template does nothing for promoting your uniqueness.
Start small when designing a new brand – logos are the easiest to start with. Most designers will send you multiple examples to choose from. Before choosing, ask your peers their opinion on the designs. Sometimes others can see things that you cannot.
Build your entire online empire around the new vision of ‘you!’ Branding is everything to entrepreneurs – and when you overhaul your website, follow up by using that style in your eNewsletters, Blogs, Social Networking Sites, etc. Since the key to sales is trust – when you show your prospects that you remain consistent across the board, their trust in who you are grows. Keep in mind what makes you stand out from your competitors is the “you” factor. Whether selling a product or a service, you are ultimately selling you.

Your business identity should reflect your personality. When you look over your website, when you see your logo, when you review your eNewsletter, how does it make you feel? If it feels impersonal to you, chances are it won’t pull in your prospects either. Showing off how awesome you are in your brand will not only help you develop strong relationships with your clients and bring in the new business that you really want, but it gives you confidence and pride in your business and yourself.

About the Author

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Photo of me courtesy of Corey Woodruff.

Photo of “wardrobe remix” courtesy of Mai Le via Flickr.