Monday, April 24, 2006

Marshall Field's 12 Things to Remember

The main points are from Marshall Field's and the comments underneath are mine.

1. The Value of Time
Nothing is more precious than my time. I try to make the important people in my life consume my most precious time, whether personal or professional. Relationships are so much more important than business, money or material things.

2. The Success of Perseverance
One thing I know about my business…if I keep putting one foot in front of the other, my business will be successful. Think of the successful people you know. They all have stories of failing a few times, heck, maybe even a few HUNDRED times. But one thing is consistent--they didn't get where they are by giving up.

3. The Pleasure of Working
The pleasure in working is the satisfaction and enjoyment I get when it all comes together.

4. The Dignity of Simplicity
I've learned the hard way that I need a simple life. Too much complication and too many activities just bring more stress. I've learned to say "NO" a lot more often and choose my involvement wisely.

5. The Worth of Character
Character to me means that I'm honest, forthright, reliable, and dependable.

6. The Power of Kindness
Never underestimate the power of kindness. This line is included in most of my online signatures: "Practice Random Acts of Kindness". It's amazing to me that when I'm not self-focused [you know--What's in it for me?] and I can think "Who can I bless today?, that I usually end up being the one whose blessed! It can change your entire outlook.

7. The Influence of Example
Being a mom, I sure hope I've grasped this one! I can think of many people in my life that led by example and profoundly influenced me personally and professionally.

8. The Obligation of Duty
I really don't like the wording of this--to me it seems to imply our obligations are chores; maybe I'm not getting it?! I choose to fulfill my obligations because I want people to be able to count on me. I strive for excellence in all I do.

9. The Wisdom of Economy
To me this means the wisdom of managing my money. Here's my simple motto: Give first, Save second, Spend third.

10. The Virtue of Patience
I'm not quite sure I've completely mastered this yet, but I'm persevering :)

11. The Improvement of Talent
Be a continual learner. I don't know everything and I feel each person I come in contact with can teach me something. I try to be humble enough to be teachable.

12. The Joy of Originating
Be original. Try something new even if no one has ever done it before. Someone has to be the first--might as well be you!

75% Doing, 25% Learning

I've been approaching this whole website learning curve exactly opposite of this! I've been spending WAY too much time absorbing information and not enough time applying what I've learned. It can seem overwhelming because trends change so quickly.

So, I'm going to try and flip that around and apply more of what I've learned. But I do think that this might get a little out of balance when you're trying to learn something new. But if you let it become 25% doing and 75% learning, I fear your business will go forward very slowly!

75% Doing, 25% Learning! Let's try it :)
-Paula

Tuesday, April 18, 2006

Back at it!

I took a little break over Easter to visit with my family. Also needed some time away from my office :) Although I was back in town today, I wasn't back to work. But I did want to check my email and clean out my inbox so I could be back on my game tomorrow.

I continued work on my newsletter. Last week I signed up to use VerticalResponse.com and have been testing it. It's an online postcard and email tool that's really slick. You can create email marketing campaigns or newsletters, as well as postcards. They have several templates to choose from or you can import your own images, logo, etc.

Check it out--you can even send yourself a free sample. Or do what I did--I sent it a client so he could see firsthand the quality of the end product.

Cool! Super easy and a great time-saver whether it's for your own use or for a client.

Banner 10000058

Ciao, Paula

Monday, April 10, 2006

Web Images...

Don't Forget!

One thing most sites forget when using images in web pages are the use of alt text tags.
Alt text makes images viewable for people who surf with 'images turned off' in their browsers. This way even if the image doesn't appear, there is a bit of descriptive alt text. If the image is a link, it can still be clicked if the image doesn't load.

Instead of seeing an empty box--they get a description of what's in the image. So be sure if you use images, to optimize for the web by resizing them, use the correct format, and use alt text to describe what's in the image.

-Paula

The Use of Images on Your Site

Keep Your Web Images Small
Small images means faster page loads. Not everyone has a DSL connection, so you have more flexibility if you keep images optimized, but small.

Web images take the longest to download on most web pages. Optimizing so that you have a faster loading site will keep your visitor around. Remember you only get a few seconds to make a first impression and if they have to hang around waiting for your page to appear--they won't! If you have many images or items that have long download times, make sure you stagger them on your page open so that some text comes up first and they can start reading while the rest downloads.

Learn how to resize images. If you have a photo, make sure it's cropped so that only the relevant part is shown and be sure you use the correct format--most web images are either .jpeg or .gif.

Here's a helpful website for managing images with Microsoft Editor:
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/6470/photoed.htm

Until next time...
-paula :)

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Search Engine Marketing Activities: Where should I submit my site?

You can list your website free to the top 3. It may take several weeks for your listing to show up, and there is no guarantee that they will index your site. But it's free--so once you're up and running you might as well submit your site to Google, Yahoo! and MSN Search. Just click to these sites, and follow the instructions listed:

Google Add URL http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl
Yahoo! Site Submission http://submit.search.yahoo.com/
MSN Search URL Submission http://beta.search.msn.com/docs/submit.aspx

Sign-up for my newsletter and find out reasons why you should extend your search engine marketing activities beyond the Big 3.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Practice Kaizen

[This is a little tidbit passed along to me by Perry Marshall :)]
'Kaizen is a Japanese word that means continuous, incremental improvement.'

There are always ways to improve...

In business, try to apply one new thing every day--or at least one every week--to your site, your blog, your newsletter, etc. See the big things that can come from small changes and improvements.

In your personal life, make quiet time to contemplate ways you might improve your relationships with family and friends. Make time for these important people--they are what makes your world a more joyous place!

Until next time--continue to learn new things.

Paula