photo credit: axbom

So, your site now has all the bells and whistles. It’s SEO compliant. It’s mobile-friendly. You’ve even got the latest and greatest social media share buttons on the market. But the question is…

is your site responsive?

What is a responsive site, you say? Glad you asked.

Simply put, a responsive site is a site that displays in the proper dimensions based on the device that is being used to view it. For instance, standard site dimensions are 1024, minimally. Viewed on a mobile device, that site would be either humungous or imperceptibly small, depending on whether you viewed it real size or tried to fit it all on a mobile phone. So you make a site that is properly viewable on a mobile phone. Ok. That’s better; but have you considered that people who view your site on a mobile phone are not necessarily just “surfing sites”? Chances are, they are seeking specific information that your company, and thus your site, has. So give priority to the information your mobile viewer is most likely looking for. Yes, that may only be 3-5 items, but if it gets them to the exact information they’re looking for, you’ve succeeded. Give them the information they want; not the information you want them to have.

The same is true for tablet devices, although you do have more room to work with and may not have to be as concerned with displaying only a few items at a time. But now you have to also deal with the directionality of the device; it is landscape or portrait? This is true for phones as well, but it is much more critical for tablet devices.

Then, let’s throw in a variety of viewing resolutions for good measure.

So, what that means is, you need a site that can determine what device it is being viewed on, at what dimension, what resolution, so that you can deliver the appropriately designed site. Cool! That means I have to make 4 versions of my website.

Ok, now you’re just being ridiculous.

Let’s bring in a responsive website. A website built responsively (responsibly?) knows all the answers to those questions and offers up the right site design automatically. This is important from a user-friendly standpoint. The whole reason you’re on the web to begin with is to meet your customers’ needs and get more customers, and that means making it as easy as possible for your customers to get what they need from you. And one way to do that is through a responsive site: a site that responds to your customer in the way that best meets their needs.

If you’re not sure what your website looks like on a mobile phone, check it out. If you don’t have a smart phone, ask someone who does; and if you’re not happy with what you see, give us call.

“Meet Evernote.”
“Evernote, meet every piece of information I will ever want to find again.”

Well, I just discovered that January is Get Organized Month and I’m tickled about that because it’s the perfect excuse to share about my latest discovery: Evernote.

I’ve heard of Evernote for years, but never really got into it till now. At this point I’ve been using it for about a month and not only do I feel more organized, but I’m always finding more uses or advantages to it and get more excited about what a useful program this is. And that “organizing” is always at my fingertips for instant access. Paper filing can’t do that!

To be honest, at the very beginning, getting started can be a little tricky. Here’s what I wish I’d known:

Organize Your Life

Everything you put into Evernote (EN) is a Note. EN does not use the typical hierarchical file/folder structure we are all used to. It basically only goes one level deep, but that really doesn’t matter. The search power of EN eases any need for that type of structure. So you don’t need to worry about how to organize everything, to start with.

So think of each item you want to store (like tear-outs from magazine articles, recipes or quotes) as individual Notes. One “thought” per note, although you can put multiple pages together, like pdf’s (scanned warranties or manuals). Give each Note an appropriate title. TIP+: you can have “untitled” notes, but as you scan the Notes list looking for something, it’s incredibly helpful to see a real title. Just make it something to jog your memory.

Next, Notes are organized by topics called Notebooks. Think of this simple metaphor: imagine you have a Notebook for every topic of your life–business, personal, recipes, Books to Read, Movies to See, receipts, bills, whatever else you need that fits your life. Then every “page” in the Notebook is a Note. For instance, I have a Medical – Eyes notebook. In it are several Notes: a scan of my glasses prescription; pictures I’ve taken of frames I like. I then tagged each of those pictures (Notes) with easily searchable terms, i.e. frames, and the store where the frames are. TIP+: every word in a note is a search term, so don’t worry about getting too specific. Think more in terms of what you are most likely to think of a month from now to find that note. I could even find that prescription by the doctor’s name because he’s on the prescription form I scanned.

There are several formats you can use to work with EN: web app, phone app, and standalone app. I use the standalone app the most.

The left column is my list of notebooks. Once you click on a notebook, the center column is a thumbnail of the notes in that notebook. The right column is the specific note. The very first notebook at the top, “All Notebooks,” is where all the notes are listed in the order they were added. Sometimes recent notes are easiest found there than trying to come up with a search term.

The first things I put into EN were all the written notes I had on my desk, like phone numbers or to do lists; each one being its own note. The name of the note was whatever the note was about; I also tagged it with something I’d be sure to remember later: “notes from my desk”. TIP+: the fun thing is, even handwritten notes are searchable. Here you can see several of my handwritten notes with the “notes from my desk” tag.

Ok. that’s enough for now. There is just absolutely no end to the power of EN, but this should be enough to get you started. So here it is broken down into steps you can do now.

First 3 Steps to Getting Started with Evernote (after setting up an account and installing it)

1. Make a New Notebook. Call it something pretty generic, like your name. Mine is “Auto-Import”. Almost everything I put in EN starts out there. Make this your Default Notebook. As you email, scan or clip things to EN, it will automatically go in there and you can decide on a specific notebook later.

1B. Make some more Notebooks based on broad categories of your life, like Business, Hobbies, Recipes, Workout, Mom’s Birthday Party. “Books to Read” or “Movies to See” are popular; make a Notebook for a project you might be doing, “Sales Presentation” or “Website”. Be sure to keep the “sync” checked.

2. Remember, each individual piece of information is a Note. Get 5 items into EN. Keeping it simple, click New Note and type something up
• grocery list
• write a blog post article
• room measurements, paint colors
• snippets of info you always seem to have to look up (keyboard shortcuts?)
• make 1 note for each book you want to read, or movie you want to see

If you want a bit more of a challenge, do some scanning. I suggest making an EVERNOTE folder on your computer and have your scanner automatically put things for EN in there. Then go back and send it to EN. (There’s a lot more to this, but I’ll cover that later. This is enough for now.)

• take-out menus
• magazine article you want to save (business or personal)
• receipts (paper ones scanned in)
• digital receipts (email to your EN account) (challenge + for emailing to EN)
3. Now assign each of the notes to a notebook. You can do this by either dragging and dropping the note into the correct notebook, or you can select a notebook from the dropdown menu at the right of the note. I have some notes that just don’t seem to have a notebook I’d like them in, so I made a “Miscellaneous” notebook just to get things out of my auto-import notebook.

Some excellent resources are the Evernote Blog, Michael Hyatt, and the forums. You’ll find more information there than you’ll ever want to know. This is an amazing program. You owe it to yourself to give it an honest try and stop worrying about hoping you’ll find that scrap of note you wrote last Wednesday.

After you’re finished with this, be sure to come back and leave me a comment telling me how it went. I’d love to know your first impressions.

Once again, we were privileged to be a part of the 2012 Loveland Valentine Kickoff Celebration. This year the kickoff was held at the Loveland Stage Company. The festivities opened with a dance number by the Loveland Stage Company Dancers who did a tap dance number to the catchy Glenn Miller song “In The Mood”. Then Jodi Inabnitt, Loveland Chamber President, read a bit of the history of the Loveland Lady tradition, after which Pastor Bill Hounshell, of New Hope Baptist Church, honored past Loveland Ladies and announced the 2012 winner, Jan Ranard, owner of Pizazz Studio. Each Valentine Lady and nominee were presented with a bouquet of flowers as they were escorted to their seat on stage by either Mayor Rob Weisgerber, Vice Mayor David Bednar, or City Manager Tom Carroll.

Here is Marirose Stiver’s beautiful song as an individual video.

Along with the announcement of the new Valentine Lady is the unveiling of the official Loveland Valentine Card. This year’s winning designer is Jamie Morath. The cards are available for $1.50 at Kroger, the UPS Store, Loveland Healthcare Center, Loveland Chamber, Pizazz Studio, Huntington Bank, Union Savings Bank, Historical Museum, The Lodge, and the City of Loveland. Then be sure to drop your card off at the post office to be postmarked “Loveland, Ohio” and sent on to your valentine.

After the fun at the Stage Company, the party continued as the Ladies headed to brunch over at Tano’s Bistro. It was so special to stand back and watch these ladies, who are not only friends because of being Valentine Ladies, but are truer friends through the bond of loving Loveland.

VS Productions was honored to be asked to take pictures of these events. Be sure to check out All Around Loveland website for more pictures.

Just when you got it all figured out, Google comes along with Panda, the latest algorithm for their search engine, and changes the game. A lot of what used to work now doesn’t, and it’s hurting content farms, like How.com and About.com. But social media news giant Mashable seems to have a handle on it. By strategically placing social media links above advertising banners, they’ve managed to remain at the top.

Alternatively, Sports Illustrated puts their social links on the bottom of their site and gives priority to print and email buttons over social media icons, thus making people have to “work” harder to share their content.

The goal for Google is to bring more relevant content to the top of search results, give you more of what you’re really looking for, and weed out the automated, mechanical info. By bringing the best content to the top, which Google believes to be what is shared most frequently, it becomes obvious, and necessary, that sites make it as easy as possible for people to share their content.

http://emediavitals.com/content/seo-vs-smo-why-google-may-favor-social-media-optimization

Anderson Senior Center
Job Search Learning Lab
Friday 1:30-2:30pm

Are you out of work? Have you been out of work for a while now and feel like you’ve done everything you can to get a job, but you’ve long since run out of anything else you can do? Are you using every tool at your disposal to promote yourself? Are you using video?

Please don’t do a video resume: don’t read your resume and don’t give your whole work history. And PLEASE don’t give your interview on video. Use video as a finely honed instrument in your job search arsenal.

I will be doing a presentation on how to more effectively use video in your job search. We all know the ever-exponentially-growing popularity of video, and what a powerful medium it is for business. Too powerful to ignore. But have you thought about using video in your job search?

Come find out why you need to use video; what you should put in your video; and what to do with that video once you’ve created it.

We’d like you to signup, but if you can’t get to that and you’re still interested, please come anyway.

7970 Beechmont Ave., 45255 [BEHIND THE FIREHOUSE]
Every Friday
More info at jobsearchlearninglabs.wikidot.com

Don and I had the opportunity to speak at a new media conference called PodcampCincinnati. This is the first time this event has been here; for the past few years it has been in Columbus, but with the increased attendance from Cincinnati, it was decided to move it here. It was held at the brand-spanking new Griffin Hall at NKU on October 22.

Podcamp itself started in Boston by Chris Brogan as a way to bring together people interested in various forms of new media – social media, podcasting, video, audio, websites. The popularity has spread throughout the country and each city that wants the event hosts their own (there’s no official team that comes in and plans it).

Don and I have attended several Podcamps, in Columbus and Nashville, and I have been blessed to speak at both of them. Don did his first presentation this year. He talked about the proper uses for QR Codes. I spoke about how to take better video.

Here are some clips from our presentations:

When economic times are challenging, it is even more crucial that businesses continue to market themselves. Businesses are struggling to maintain an advertising budget while they are seeing fewer and fewer customers. Marketing becomes a balancing act between ad expenses and a return on that investment. So rather than continue to spend those dollars and hope things eventually turn around, it is time to evaluate what is working and what isn’t and what other options may be available.

If you’ve been a bit hesitant to jump into the social media fray, perhaps now is the time to reconsider. Old media marketing–newspaper, yellow pages, television–is expensive and not working as well as it used to. New media marketing–social media, video, blogging, email–cost less to produce and implement, and have a much greater scope of reach.

So let’s look at new media marketing a bit more. The bottom line of new media marketing is actually Word-of-Mouth Marketing. That’s what the social mediums are all about…engaging customers with such great products/services that they tell others about you, and those people then become customers as well. Social media tools are how those happy customers reach and tell others; and how you can reach and tell others as well. Just be sure you are reaching out with stellar customer service for the purpose of building a relationship, and not just an opportunity to give a sales pitch. Old media is “sales pitch”; new media is “relationship through engagement”. Yes, there is a point at which you ask for the sale, but it’s not, “Hi. How are you? Do you wanna buy my widget.” Build that relationship of trust first.

We’ll be taking a look at affordable ways to use Word of Mouth Marketing to build your business. Social networking, video, blogging, mobile and email are the tools. But this is not a new, free way to market your business. Granted, costs are considerably lower, but in order to be successful, requires a greater level of involvement.

Another key to remember is, this is not a “post it and they will come” formula. You must give it time. That’s why a strategy is important. When, what, how much and how often must work together to bring success.

Question: What old media marketing tools have you been using that aren’t working as well any more? Have you tried any social media arenas? Leave a comment below.

As you can tell from the title, this is Part 2 of my expo experience. I do recommend reading that post first, but it’s not mandatory.

This expo was special. Like I said, the open floor plan facilitated mingling among vendors at nearby booths as well as booths across the room. This was especially beneficial for the Taste vendors. While I don’t believe many of those walked the room (they did have to serve food, after all), as others did, they would make their way around the room more than once, perhaps having seconds while visiting other booths. Through Jodi’s special connections, the expo was promoted by at least 5 other area chambers who encouraged their members to attend the expo and experience a Taste of Loveland and Loveland businesses. This brought many people out and the networking was fantastic.

Almost 200 people attended the lunch where Cammie Dierking was emcee and Icky Woods was the main speaker. After teaching us all the Icky shuffle (which I have on video), Icky told the story of the death of his son and how he brought some good out of the tragedy by starting a foundation that promotes asthma awareness and also provides scholarships for athletically as well as academically qualified teens. After the lunch, Icky sat in the lobby and signed tee shirts to support the foundation. The Chamber gifted the Jovante Woods Foundation with $1000 in appreciation for his speaking.

Cammie was given a basket of Loveland treats from chamber members to welcome her to Loveland. She is building a house and anticipates moving here in about a year. Welcome, Cammie!

The creativity abounded at the expo this year by some vendors thinking “outside the box” for their displays.

Avalon Otterbein Small House for Nursing Care highlighted their pet therapy by bringing one of their dogs, a beautiful blond dog (sorry, I forgot to ask what kind it was). But what a delight to meet them and I had a wonderful conversation with them about their facility in Maineville.

Probably the highlight of the day, vendor-wise, was the live music provided by Matt Snow, “The Cincinnati Sinatra”. It was such a nice change of pace from the typical muzak. And I don’t believe it was a planned occurrence. It was so much fun to watch him entertain the room and I got some of it on video. Kudos to the chamber for allowing this extra bit of exposure for him as well.

The day was capped with Matt Snow announcing the winners of the vendor drawings.

Everyone I talked to throughout the day was very happy with the change of style for the expo. Being able to walk the room and not be stuck at one’s table seemed to be a big hit with everyone. Deepest special thanks to all the hard work by Jodi and Tracy. The vendor gift bags were a nice touch and put a smile on everyone’s face. Giving me an opportunity to showcase my work by playing my video during the lunch has touched me deeply.

As this first year of new management comes to an end, and if the great success of several events throughout the year is any indication, I think the Loveland Area Chamber of Commerce is in for some incredible growth.

Well, after looking forward to the business expo for so long, it’s hard to believe it’s finally over. October was a busy time that also included going to Florida for a week for my brother’s wedding, a presentation at Podcamp Cincinnati the Saturday before the expo, and creating a video to be shown at the expo luncheon. Even though it was good stress, it was stress, nonetheless and the next day, Friday, I felt like a physical weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Although my chiropractor would disagree, based on the tension in my neck!

The expo, for me, was a huge success. Having been involved the last two years as well, I believe this was the best one yet. First of all, the open floor plan this year, by definition, encouraged vendors to visit with each other before the lunch as well as throughout the day. And I took extreme advantage of that. I set up my booth (table) display, but was rarely there. I don’t know if that was a good thing or not, but I think it worked for me. I did manage to meet up with several people as they were walking around the exhibits, but I would imagine there were some I missed as well. Too bad I couldn’t be in two places at once! The biggest unfortunate was that my business partner (ok, my husband) couldn’t attend. Even though I always appreciate how much he does for me, I become even more painfully aware of how much that is when he isn’t there. But he was able to help me setup and tear down, so he was able to be there for me at the most work-filled times.

Since I wanted to spend most of the day roaming, I made sure there was a sign to that effect on my table. My sign had my picture and told people I was around taking pictures and video. If they wanted to talk, please find me. And a few did. My display also consisted of a few tools of my trade such as a professional studio light, my Sony VX2100 video camera, a professional directional microphone, and some basic marketing signs and rack card brochures. It resemble a little video set. I also brought my 27″ iMac that played a short Keynote which displayed some social media / video statistics and a clip from the Boost video. While I didn’t get many business cards in my shopping cart (yes, a real shopping cart), I didn’t really expect to (I wasn’t doing a giveaway) but I did get a lot of cards from people I personally met, which means a more valuable warm call than an anonymous dropoff any way.

The next week, as I sat down to make my follow-up calls, I didn’t get that feeling of dread and self-consciousness that I usually do. The calls were to people I had already met and I knew would remember me and our conversation. So I could relax and “be myself” and was able to confidently get appointments.

Well, that’s all for now. Check out the next installment of my recap (I have gotten a bit “winded”, but I was (and am) so excited about it, that I must go on…

Loveland Chamber Expo 2011 BOOST Video

This video was produced for the Loveland Area Chamber of Commerce’s 2011 Business Expo on October 27, 2011. It aired during lunch, and on occasion during the event.

I am honored that Jodi Inabnitt, President of the Chamber, asked me to create this video for the lunch. I had a total blast creating it and learning some new special effects in order to evoke feelings of fun and excitement to carry people through lunch and into the expo. Of course this video is not one person’s achievement; this video could not have been possible without the generous gifts of time given to me by everyone represented in this video, and I thank you all profusely!

I’d also like to thank Luke Hitchcock for creating such an inspirational logo for the event, and I look forward to working with you again for more phenomenal graphic design work.

If you market your business, you should be marketing with video. If you don’t think video can help grow your business, or you don’t know HOW video can help your business, then please call me for a free consultation and I can share with you several ways video can help BOOST your business!

If you need any of these services, I can personally, professionally, AND CONFIDENTLY recommend any of these people to give you top quality service!

Luke Hitchcock, Luke Hitchcock Design, 513-310-8124
Marsha Burton, Oasis Golf Club and Conference Center, 513-583-8383
Jesse Powell, Sam’s Club, 513-677-5020
Nancy Kaufman, Huntington Bank, 513-683-0970
Darian Gaines, Image Cleaning Systems, 513-583-8885
Jan Phillips, Evolving Design, 513-293-1090
Robert Zins, Julian’s Deli, 513-583-1725