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The Amazing Power of “HTTP://”

Monday, June 1st, 2009

Huh? What’s that? Or even “yeah, so what…”

How many times in an email, Facebook, Twitter or other sites have you seen a web address like this: www.govisitmysite.com and the damn thing isn’t clickable? A little annoying, right?

How many times have you copied and pasted the link?

My guess… very few. By adding these 7 simple characters, you unleash the mad, straight up power that is the INTERNET! You are leaving money, leads, customers, clients (and did I mention MONEY) on the table by not making your link clickable everywhere and anywhere you can!

NEWS FLASH —–> No one is going to take the time to copy and paste your link, EVER! (almost)

Err on the side of good business – use the http:// and your link becomes live: http://www.govisitmysite.com (this is an example only). Don’t leave prospective clients, customers and/or cash hanging on Facebook, Twitter and even in your email.

The other bonus is that you get those important backlinks to your site – without the http:// all you get is some text on another site…

Here’s a little experiment for you. Pay attention to all the non-working links you see, just on Facebook (especially on the person’s profile and their own link) and report back here. I would love and appreciate the feedback. If you found this post helpful, Please leave a comment!

Thanks and happy linking, Facebooking and Twittering…

Tags: clickable link, Facebook, Linking, Twitter
Posted in Doing Business Online, Facebook, Google, Twitter, Web Design | No Comments »

Web Design – Form vs Function

Saturday, December 20th, 2008

Nobody wants to browse a web page full of text, because, let’s face facts it’s outright boring. When creating a web site, the developer has to implement in the web site components which will make the visitor come back and visit the page again. The perfect way to do this is by using web design thus making the site attractive and eventually, popular. This is form vs. function.

Web design plays an important role in marketing success. With an attractive web site, the success is guaranteed (as long as you have compelling content). Internet marketing is not all about getting as many visitors as possible but also to capture the interest of the visitor once he’s on that specific web site, so what better way to do this if not by web design?

Well, one way is to have compelling content, an authentic message and a strong, congruent marketing message!

This is where the 2 roads meet – Form & Function.

For any website to have success, it must capture a few key components:

Nice visual styling – The big boys (Yahoo, Google, Youtube) can get away with plain styles because the offer so much content. You and I, on the other hand, need clean, smart, even elegant design as a frame to display our compelling, rich content.
Easy, Intuitive Navigation – Don’t make your visitors guess how to navigate your site. Make it easy. ‘Nuff said…
Compelling Content – This would be informative content for site visitors. It should be keyword rich for the search engines too. Remember, stay on topic. Don’t add backpacking content to a site about hamsters…
Marketing Message – It doesn’t matter if your site is a personal site or business site… You are always marketing. Whether it’s to friends, family, spouses, business associates, future customers or clients, keep your message clear!
New Content – Visitors won’t come back to your site if nothing ever changes. Dammit get yourself a blog. It’s easy to update, there are tons of pre-designed templates (and it you want a custom designed one, we can do that for you) and did I mention that it’s easy to update? The best blog out there? WORDPRESS!
Truth – Nobody likes a liar… Stay true, authentic and connected to your message. People are attracted to messages that a consistent with the messenger!

A strong visual presence coupled with a strong message and compelling content will always increase you chance for online success!

Tags: authentic, compelling content, marketing, marketing message, marketing success, online success, Web Design, web page, wordpress
Posted in Internet Marketing, Marketing & Promotion, Web Design, Website Content | No Comments »

New Site For Master Musician Mark Andes Launched

Sunday, August 3rd, 2008

Spirit – I Got a Line on You

Just wanted to announce the launch of our newest site for musician/master bassist Mark Andes.

Heart, Spirit, Firefall, Canned Heat, Stevie Nicks, Dan Fogelberg, Whitesnake, Jo Jo Gunne, Chris Hillman, Kim Carnes, John Fahey, Iain Matthews, Kelly Willis, Jim Lauderdale, Eliza Gilkyson, and Joe Walsh. . . all have relied on the brilliant musicianship of Mark Andes to punctuate their songs and elevate their musical visions to chart-topping status. He has been the rock solid support on bass guitar, songwriting and vocals for all of the above. . . and more.

Growing up in Los Angeles, Mark was a founding member of such cutting edge bands as Canned Heat and Spirit while still a teenager. Spirit is still considered by many to be the first band to successfully fuse jazz and rock with protest, folk-like lyrics and is known as a progressive rock innovator. Their four albums (Spirit, The Family That Plays Together, Clear, and The Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus released from 1967-1970) all are propelled by the visionary rhythm section of Mark and Ed “Cass” Cassidy and include radio staples such as “Got A Line On You” and “Nature’s Way”.

Mark and Spirit’s lead vocalist Jay Ferguson went on to form the hard rockin’ Jo Jo Gunne (which also included Mark’s brother, Matt and Curly Smith on Drums) and quickly scored a top-30 hit with the infectious “Run Run Run”.

Check it out, would love some feedback. Mark Andes Music

Mark Andes Music

Mark AndesMusic

Mark Andes Music

Tags: jo jo gunne, mark andes, spirit, web desiggn
Posted in Branding, Web Design | No Comments »

Ning and the Art of the Viral Spiral

Friday, May 30th, 2008

There is a great article in the new Fast Company Magazine all about the do it yourself social network “”Ning”.

The article begins by letting us in on a little secret:

Here’s something you probably don’t know about the Internet: Simply by designing your product the right way, you can build a billion-dollar business from scratch. No advertising or marketing budget, no need for a sales force, and venture capitalists will kill for the chance to throw money at you.

The secret is what’s called a “viral expansion loop,” a concept little known outside of Silicon Valley (go ahead, Google it — you won’t find much). It’s a type of engineering alchemy that, done right, almost guarantees a self-replicating, borglike growth: One user becomes two, then four, eight, to a million and beyond. It’s not unlike taking a penny and doubling it daily for 30 days. By the end of a week, you’d have 64 cents; within two weeks, $81.92; by day 30, about $5.4 million.

Yeah we all remember that little game, “I’ll give you $1 Million today or one single penny and double everyday for a month, which would you rather have?

Me? I’ll take the “Viral expansion loop” – but I want to call it the “Viral Spiral”.

This article goes on to explain how the viral loops (spirals) work as an accelerant for internet businesses – take Google, PayPal, YouTube, eBay, Facebook, MySpace, Digg, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Flickr as good examples.

So where does Ning fit in?

Well they use this concept on steroids! What they’ve got going is a “double viral loop”.

Only Ning, Andreessen declares, benefits from a “double viral loop,” which spreads two ways, because every network creator is a user and any user can become a network creator. Say someone sets up an Angelina Jolie net with 10 members, which grows as each person draws in others. Then an adoption site breaks off, a Jon Voight hate group rises up, and a Brad Pitt love club forms. Meanwhile, a Lara Croft nostalgia net launches, spawning a legion of soft-core cyberporn spin-offs. Soon you have 2, 3, 10 networks — all expanding simultaneously. Meanwhile, the original group is attracting even more users. Ning swells like a river fed from an ever-growing number of tributaries.

You can read the rest of the article here

Tags: Digg, double viral loop, eBay, Facebook, Flickr, Gina Bianchini, Google, Innovation, LinkedIn, Marc Andreessen, MySpace, Ning, open social, PayPal, social network, Technology, Twitter, viral expansion loop, viral spiral, YouTube
Posted in Facebook, Google, Internet Marketing, Internet Video, Social Bookmarking, Social Networking, Viral Marketing, Web 2.0, Web Design | No Comments »

New Website Design

Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

All right, I have finally done it. In an effort to bring my clients great results, I have, for far too long, neglected this site. So, with a burst of energy, I did a major overhaul and full redesign.

I feel it is very representitive of my overall work and felt it was very important to showcase that work in a frame that did it justice.

I would appreciate any and all comments

Have a great day

Lennie

Tags: Lennie Appelquist, Web Design, website design
Posted in Branding, Doing Business Online, Web Design | No Comments »

Web 2.0 style web design is not a fad

Sunday, November 18th, 2007

Drop shadows were all the rage in the early 90s print world and have now extended into the web space to become a staple in the Web 2.0 style. . . So says this great article on Metafluence.

Now there are quite a few new design conventions available to web designers in this new 2.0 era.

Gradients, 45° angled lines, glossy buttons, wet floor reflections, and bright colors are all traits common to the Web 2.0.

This article posed a lot of good questions and I believe that they are worth asking. With all the slick new tools available for designers I look forward to a brand new era of design.

Colors are brighter, button have become glossy and the new Web 2.0 sites are not show about using strong colors.

Like the Metafluence article states, I too believe that Apple was really the trendsetter in the aesthetic journey that we see in Web 2.0. Come on. . . Ever since Apple’s aqua interface hit the scene, web asthetic has never been the same.

Read the whole article here

Posted in Web 2.0, Web Design | No Comments »

The Power of Blogging

Tuesday, February 6th, 2007

While having a Web site and print marketing materials is important for businesses of all sizes, having a blog may be one of the best ways to market your business. Blog is the shortened form of "Web log" and having one allows you to post information about your business on a regular basis. The reason that blogging is such a popular marketing tool is because having a blog offers so many benefits. Blogs are versatile and can be used to improve your business in many ways. Understanding how a blog can help your business is the first step to blogging for marketing purposes.

Blogging Improves Web Traffic

Everytime you update your blog, a little shiver runs up Google’s spine. This is really no joke. The search engines love blogs because they are updated frequently. Having a blog is one of the best ways to improve your search engine rankings. Content the King reigns here. Pepper targeted keywords into each post you make, drive traffic from your blog to your Web site, and promote your products and services all in one place. Blogging is a sure fire way to generate more traffic to your site.

Blogging Can Make You Extra Money

You can really put your blog to work for you in many ways that will help you to make extra money. You can promote your affiliate products in your blog and include links to order pages. You can use programs like Google AdSense in your blog and earn commissions when your readers click on those advertisements. You can even join referral programs where you promote the services of other businesses and collect a commission each time someone places an order using the link you use on your blog. But most importantly, you can drive your readers (Read: potential customers) to products and services within your own site.

Blogging Can Build Relationships with Customers

Having a blog is a great way to let your customers get to know you so you’re more than just another online business. Blogging help build relationships. People are more inclined to buy from people they know (or feel like they know), so the more you can build your relationships, the more successful you’ll be in selling your products and services.

The Power of Multiple Blogs

My recommendation is to always have a blog installed on your own site. There are a couple of great blogs that I recommend: Wordpress and Textpattern. They install easily and can be heavily modified so the integreate into any site. That being said using free online services like blogger can drive traffic to your site by adding links to your site in the posts. Running multiple blogs can help greatly with the search engine ranking since a major criteria tht they loook for is relevant inbound links. And as an added bonus, readers of your other online blogs are more likely to become customers. Why? If they click the links in these posts, they have already found value in what you are saying, thus more likely to be interested in more. The purpose of multiple blogs is to have several places where you can filter people into your site. Consider it free advertising.

Posted in Internet Marketing, Web Design | No Comments »

Common Steps in Website Creation

Saturday, November 18th, 2006

Content is King. The most important thing to remember about popular web sites is that they are always rich in content. This serves multiple functions. It gives your visitors useful information and probably more importantly, gives the search engines relevent content which greatly helps your ranking.
Stick to your subject. Don’t try to be all things to all people. Keep your goal in mind. Get over the temptation to put as many bells and whistles as you can on a page. The purpose of designing a site carefully is not to make it look cool, or win awards. It’s to accomplish the intended goal of the site. To “sell your service or products. Afterall we are talking about business here.
You only get one chance to make a first impression. Think about the message you are sending to your customer. The first page of your web site should be a concise description of the website. Don’t make this page too busy – entice visitors to dig deeper into your site through the use of inviting text and interesting graphics. The purpose of this page is to capture your customer and their attention. If you are serious about your business, buy your own domain name and don’t use a “free” hosting service.
Design sites, not pages. Your primary concern should be the site’s overall design. When starting to design a new site from scratch, you should try to create a design that will make sense to users, has a consistent look and feel, and is not to difficult to extend in the future. The consistency of design of a site is one of the factors that differentiates amateur sites from professional ones.
Make it easy to get around your site. As Stephen Covey says, “begin with the end in mind.” Your customer should be able to easily navigate to any page in your web from any page in your page. It’s important to link in a consistent, well thought out manner that users can learn to navigate. Have clear links to your pages and, if are selling a product, make it easy for people to buy it! Invite customers to contact you with their questions or comments. This is a great way to capture their information. Add links to other sites only when necessary, or on a special links page at the end of your site. You want visitors to go through your site before surfing off to another!
Make sure your site is functional in all browsers and platforms. You want to get as many visitors to enjoy their visit.
Don’t forget to tell the world about your new site. Make sure that your URL is on all your company business cards, letter heads, brochures, phone systems, etc. Swap links with other related web sites. List your site with the major search engines.
Keep your site current. Come up with a reason for people to visit and revisit your pages and recommend them to their friends. Blogging is perhaps the most effective way to do this.
Use an autoresponder. Entice visitors with a newsletter or free gifts to join your list. You will find that capturing customer’s (or potential customer’s) information is the most important step in creating a successful website.

Posted in Web Design | No Comments »