1 large photo that everyone can fully see is better than 2 or more smaller photos that no one an see

1 word or short sentence per screen

Whole paragraphs do not belong in a presentation - hand out more information on a sheet of paper if you need to.

Use images wisely

Real images from your workplace or organization are always more powerful than stock images or photography.

If you do have to use stock choose wisely!

Mix it up!

Is it possible to start with a video of slideshow with music? This will captures the attention and focus of the room. Also if you're nervous, it gives you time to relax!

We were back on the farm for the event of the year - the annual Cooyar bush dance. The talk that night began with the usual well-worn topics of blight and famine, before turning to the impressive turnout, then to the conspicuous absences of a few locals. In a town of less than 6 houses, it's pretty hard to be inconspicuous, and in this case it was a couple of well-known local business owners who'd pulled a no-show.

And that's when Lloyd dropped this nugget of wisdom:

"If you live and work in a community, you'd reckon you'd show up to the dance wouldn't you?"

As small businesses all of us are at the mercy of our community - be it on a street, suburb or city scale. In the daily hustle it's easy to get caught up in extracting as much from them as we can, and forget that the businesses around us need us as much as we need them.

Why should we expect anything from that community if we aren't giving back to it?

Entered in a search term that relates to your business to see if you came up on the first page of search results?

I have, and the results were depressing. A few years back I was spending a lot of time worrying about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). If we were on page 6 for "Branding Gold Coast" how on earth would people find us?

I think the allure of SEO for many of us is that it feels like a free lunch. A silver bullet solution to our marketing and sales efforts (or lack thereof). As long as the traffic is magically flowing in from searches it absolves us the guilt of not picking up the phone and make those painful sales calls. It spares us the awkward coffee meetings where the stench of the Dreaded Sell hangs in the air. More traffic means more chance of winning - it's a game of numbers right?

Wrong.

So, for this weeks post we wanted to ensure you take the Fight and Fright out of your website. It's a case study in how building your site the right way at the start will prevent any nasty suprises in the future.

Bonus: Make sure you check out our 9 tips for building your website to learn more.

Ask yourself, what is the purpose of your website? Generally speaking, a website is built for 1 of 3 reasons. It can be an online shop, an email captcha or a lead generator. If you're thinking about building a website just for the sake of having an online presence, you need to ask yourself what the return on investment will be? 

2. FULLY updatable. EASILY updatable. 

If you can update text, but you can't add a page, that's not fully updatable. If you can format text but need to use any sort of weird code, thats not easily updatable. 

3. Ask to see their back-end!

Always ask for a tour of your potential web designer's content management system (CMS). What level of control you have? How easy is it? If it looks complicated or annoying - you don't want to go there.  

4. Better yet - just build on Squarespace.

There's a lot of sites being built on Wordpress at the moment. Technically, it's fully updatable - but most people struggle to use its full capabilities. We recommend Squarespace. We have no affiliation, they're just the most user-friendly, most fully updatable, and most awesomest website platform we've used. 

5. Blog. Blog. Blog. 

Brings people to your site, and keeps them coming back. Make it helpful, keep it regular. Bonus: Great for Google!

6. Use video whenever possible. 

Have you noticed the amount of video that is starting to pop up on websites? With internet speeds lighting fast and attention spans rapidly dwindling, video is best way to engage with your website viewers. Technology allows anyone with a smart phone or camera to shoot and edit video. Look at your website content and work out - what would translate better into a video?

7. Make it mobile friendly.

Mobile device usage (phone and tablet) is through the roof. Consider the size of peoples thumbs as well as font sizes, 'rollovers' and content width. Flash is not your friend, friends.

8. Grab their email (but ask politely!)

Building your database is key - make it easy and obvious. Use Campaign Monitor, MailChimp or similar to streamline your database and styled e-newsletter mailouts. Consider an offer to maximise sign-ups.

9. Be social.  

Include social media feeds and links. It keeps the site fresh and opens the doors to other channels of communication.

10. The more, the merrier.

Think beyond website - think website suite. Choice debilitates, so consider subsites for major services, programs or products.

11. Ditch the deadweight.

If you've got a lemon that's costing you money - cut it loose and start again. It'll hurt now, but it'll be worth it in the long run. 

My personal experience with website designers has been one of frustration with the feeling of being left in the dark not knowing when changes I needed for the site would take place or how much they would cost. This led me to under value the usefulness of a website in general & thus leaving this powerful tool untapped for my business. 

Dougs & Jen from www.empoweryourbrand.com.au came highly recommended through a trustworthy source. I was skeptical at first from previous dealings but by teaching me the knowledge & skills, Jenjaxyn  have let me take control of what goes on my site & when. Both my websites have been created through them & are being used as they should be…a powerful funnelling tool to interact & bring business in. 

I cannot recommend their work highly enough nor their work ethic..true professionals that not only understand their industry but more importantly have the people skills to communicate and hear what their customer wants.

If you currently have no idea or control of your website…your website isn't interactive…it's not driving traffic to you…people aren't talking about your site…stop paying peanuts..you'll only get monkeys!!

Cheerz

Nathan Helberg
www.thezuu.com.au
www.nathanhelberg.com.au

It was Cohen's first-hand account of Julia Gillard that grabbed me:

"Julia has a problem. I have met her on only two occasions lasting about two minutes each and was quite charmed by her warm, friendly manner, which was in stark contrast to her public persona…. Those who know her well assure me she is charming, witty, warm and highly intelligent. However, that's not the image that comes across."

Here is someone who clearly has a branding problem. Where's the real Julia? 

In another post I wrote about why it's important to be real. The powerful connections we form when we step out from behind impersonal business facades of the past decades and become comfortable in our own skin.

How to be real is the easiest (and the hardest) part. It starts with being connected to our brand, and then embodying it. Think Branson and Virgin. It begins by loving what we do, and what we stand for. Loving our logo. Loving our website. 

Because real passion is really contagious. 

Cohen's final words, although directed at Julia, sum things up nicely for any of us who've ever felt like our customer's don't know the 'real me':

"A final word to Julia: if you can be the person those close to you say you are, then be that person."

Article source: The Australian