Author Archive
Grand Rapids Businesses: Give Social Media a Chance!
All we are saying is, “Give Social Media a Chance!”
Give it a good three months — June, July, and August lay before you.
So why not make this your summer of social media love?
photo credit: Phillie Casablanca
How to start. Whether you live in Grand Rapids, Michigan or Bombay, India — start by find, reading, and […]
Grand Rapids Blogs for Businesses
Over the past month, two folks offered me this challenge statement:
“Name a Grand Rapids business that has an active and thriving blog!”
Of course, I brightly answer, “Me! And I know a ton of local Realtors with blogs…”
But this is dismissed. I’m a writer and a sole proprietor. Realtors, too, are dismissed.
“No, no. Not individuals. Major, […]
Stop email attachment abuse!
I love my friends and family dearly. And I really like receiving funny emails and jokes from them. It shows they are thinking of me! They want to stay in touch!
But I run a business, and sometimes an email with a 10mg video attachment of sweet Aunt Sally’s cat can prevent me from getting fast […]
Internet Marketing: Grand Rapids meets Hollywood…
For the past few years, at least one of my websites comes up in the top ten at Google Local Search for the phrases “internet marketing Grand Rapids” or “web marketing Grand Rapids”. Take my Maniactive.com blog, for instance:
Now, this is a good thing. After all, I specialize in internet marketing. And I work in […]
Why Hashtags at Twitter?
Hash is in the air!
Not only did I enjoy “Hippy Hash” at a local diner recently, I also discovered the joys of using hashtags at Twitter.
photo credit: ninjapoodles
What the? Why Hashtags?
Hashtags are a joyous way to track only certain Twitter posts. For example, if you’re at a conference, you might want to use a […]
How One Executive Recruiter Uses LinkedIn…
Last week, I chatted with quite a few folks who use LinkedIn, the online networking tool.
Funny thing: the salespeople I talked to love it for making connections into target companies — but they couldn’t see how it would be helpful for anyone else! Then, I got the same story from two entrepreneurs, who also use […]
What’s on your Google Log? Who’s on your Social Media Profile?
Keep a simple log for one week.
Call it “My Google Search Log”. Just jot down all the searches you did at Google for a one week period.
Now, let’s say your week has passed by. (My, that was fast!)
What’s on your log?
photo credit: vice48sr5005
Dozens of searches phrases? Hundreds maybe?
Now scan the list.
How many times did […]
SPF Protection for Email
photo credit: kweezy mcG
What’s SPF? When you hear “SPF” you might be thinking “Sun Protection Factor”. (Especially now that it’s spring!)
But last week, I set up SPF email protection for two clients.
When it comes to the internet, SPF stands for “Sender Policy Framework“.
What’s SPF do?
Basically, it tries to keep you from getting burned by […]
Just Say No to Catchall Email!
For every piece of legitimate email you receive, how many pieces of spam do you filter?
Sadly, the spam/legitimate ratio is frequently +1. And growing.
Sigh.
That’s why I was surprised to see that a few small business folks I hold in high regard still have catchall email enabled at their servers.
Catchall email is a terrible idea. When […]
Middle Aged, Cranky, and Loving Web Usability
photo credit: dyanna
I love the work of usability expert Jakob Nielson. I really do.
His latest UseIt Alerts are must-reads.
One alert takes a cranky old man’s slap at bad web design. Bad content, bad navigation, big bad badness.
Another discusses middle-aged folks and our declining web performance.
Both contain awesome analyses. Couldn’t agree more.
But keep two things in mind:
1. Criticizing is always easier […]
