Recent Projects: GVC Chamber of Commerce website

We've nearly completed the make over for the Greenwhich Village-Chelsea Chamber of Commerce (GVCCC) website. Lauren Danziger, the Exectutive Director, was eager to launch, so we did a soft launch while we work out a few last technical issues.

Check out the transformation and visit the new site.

Before / After

GVCCC is a great organization and really cares about helping its members succeed. Attend an event if you haven't yet. They are always great and well-attended by lots of interesting people.

Recent Projects: KG Properties Postcard Mailer

We recently finished up a postcard for KG properties. Its intended to introduce prospective coop owners to KG's exceptional building management services.

Last year we helped KG properties launch their sister website KG Furnished.

KG is a GREAT company - the owner, Kevin Geloso is very responsive, smart and so easy to work with. If you need a real estate broker or property managing agent that makes your life easy, or if you need to list or find a furnished rental property in NYC - call Kevin at KG Properties. He'll take excellent care of you.

Hot Tips and Cool Stuff

Here are some cool things I wanted to share

• Disconnect: The truth about cell phone radiation

I just heard part of an interview with the author of this new book on NPR talking about cell phone radiation. I'm going to pick up a copy myself. In the meanwhile, don't put the cell phone up next to your BRAIN! Use a headset.

• I recently discovered Mail Chimp for email marketing

They are AWESOME! Their website is beautiful, fun with very intuitive navigation. Their product is great, easy to use, powerful and tiered to fit any budget - including no budget! And... they have all the bells and whistles you could want for integrating and tracking with Social Media. Check them out! 

• Is this your website on an Iphone?  

A recent article in Wired talks about the fate of the internet and where technology is headed. And its important because it may impact your online marketing in unexpected ways. In particular, if you have a wesbsite made entirely in Flash - then what people may see on an iphone is a BLANK. Why? Because the makers of Apple and Flash are war! And Apple's iphone and ipad won't display anything Flash.

• Still think Social Media is a fad?

for the answer - watch this video. And I'm pretty sure I saw this one months ago... so it might already be dated! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeTiX_cnLZk&NR=1

International Freelancers Day FREE

I've been attending International Freelancers Day online - and its been just great. A few technical glitches, but nothing to worry about.

Its a 2 day online conference for freelance and solo practitioners. Lots of good stuff about marketing, productivity, social media and such. Good for nearly anyone in business.

There are still some great sessions and space available. And if you sign up today, you can have access to all the sessions by video next week. But you have to sign up.


http://www.internationalfreelancersday.com/

Adventures with Blogging 101 - Part 2

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I recently took a webinar on blogging for business with Social Media Magic. It was taught by Dave Barnhart. It was great. I learned things I wish I hadn't and other things I'm glad I did. My previous post was about things didn't want to hear about... ('cause they mean more work for me!)

And now I thought I'd mention some of the cool things I was happy to discover. Here are some:

1. Blog posts can be short and sweet. Its actually good to have long and short blog posts - so posting weekly or even twice weekly doesn't have to be a burden (phew!)
   
2. What to blog about? This was especially helpful in terms of building a brand. There are four topics Dave suggested you blog about;
   

• Aspects of your business you're passionate about (I've done virtually no blogging on that - oops!)
• Industry trends (I think I've done a fair amount of blogging on that...)
• Behind the scenes of your business (one might consider this blog post in that category.)
• And personal stuff. He recommends between 5-15% of your posts fall into this category (I've done many blog posts related to my passion for social activism - not sure if that counts as personal...) And it seems from what Dave's saying, I could mention something about my love of animals and the many rescue efforts we've engaged in (for instance, last year we drove 6 injured pigeons three hours upstate to a sanctuary, after having nursed one pigeon back to health for a year. - I know.)

I'm also a fine artist and painter when the spirit moves me. Did I mention my pet portrait website? (No. I thought that would be confusing. Now I may choose to mention it within the context of sharing something "personal".) Sneaky huh?

It had been my strategy, up until now, simply to experiment with blogging; find out how much time it takes, see if I enjoy it and determine if I'm really willing to commit to it. Learning about advanced tactics and strategy at this juncture is perfect timing. I followed what he was talking about easily because it wasn't theoretical, I had already been blogging.

My next step then, as a business, is to articulate a revised strategy based on what I've learned and go forward from there.

All and all it was a great webinar. Those are some of the highlights. I hope it helps you as you think about blogging for your situation.

Humane Society Partners with Ad Council to Help Animals

I was thrilled to learn tonight a client of mine, The Advertising Council, will be creating a major PSA campaign to support the efforts of Humane Society of the United States (HSUS).

I just came back from a town hall meeting with Wayne Pacelle, CEO of the HSUS. He is a personal hero of mine. I was so impressed with their response to hurricane Katrina and have been a dedicated member ever since. The HSUS has been fighting successfully for animals suffering all forms of cruelty; factory farms, puppy mills, the barbaric seal hunt in Canada to name only afew. Their growth in membership, the passage of significant pieces of legislation, the raising of public awareness has helped hundreds of thousands of animals over the years. Much of this is attributed to Wayne's leadership.

It was so satisfying to be there and get personally updated. I hope to get trained in animal rescue so I can be of use during natural disasters. Alas, the curse of enthusiasm strikes again!

Adventures with Blogging 101 - Part 1

I was talking with a women the other day about possibly re-designing her website.  She spoke about being overwhelmed by all the technology that comes with being on the internet as a business. I could only empathize. I do this for a living, and I find the amount of information there is to process and learn about an ongoing challenge. And in other ways, I'm completely excited by it all. The possibilities are really quite amazing. I have a bit of a love hate relationship with it all.

Today I took a webinar on blogging for business with Social Media Magic. It was taught by Dave Barnhart. It was great overall. I learned things I wish I hadn't and other things I'm glad I did. Here's what I didn't want to hear... (Did I mention I have a love hate relationship?)

1. The minimum one should blog is once a week. Posting twice a week is even better. And anything beyond that is "prolific". I've been blogging sporadically about twice a month. And why, you may ask must you blog more? The frequency of posts makes your blog more likely to be found by Google. And that's a good thing.
2. Blogger is not the best platform to be blogging on. (shhhhh - don't tell blogger!) Wordpress.org and Typepad are preferred. Well I already knew that, now I know why. They both have trackback features and technorati tags and blogger doesn't. Those are fancy things that help you track and gauge your efforts. Sort of important wouldn't you agree?

The reason I'm unhappy to learn these things is it means more work for me, like writing more blog posts, and moving over to WordPress. As a small business owner, more work is never good news. Sigh...

There were also things I learned that I was happy to discover. However, to find out what they were, you'll have to come back and visit my blog next time. (This is part of my strategy to start posting once or twice a week. See how it works??)

To be continued....