What Makes a Good Web Design Client?

So you’re in need of a custom blog design or small business web solution…

You know you need a web/blog designer, and you begin your hunt. You search for sites with design and functions that appeal to you. You track down the designers. You then contact the designers to find out if they can meet your needs and your budget. Your search is focused on finding the best designer you can.

That’s great. You should put in the time necessary to find the best designer for you. (Of course, if you are the right kind of client, we hope that we are your choice!)

But have you considered that even the best web designer is limited by you, the client?

It’s true. No designer can meet unspoken expectations. The best designs are a result of good teamwork between the client and the designer- the client verbalizes what they are looking for, and the designer offers advice regarding the best way to achieve those results and makes the client’s design dreams become a reality.

“So how do I make sure that I am a good web design client?

Before I share with you traits found in my best clients, take a look at this funny, yet sadly true-to-life, video.

Can you believe those people? I am sorry to say that I’ve had my share of these nightmare clients, and I often stop by Clients from Hell to laugh at/sympathize with  the latest horror story.

Unlike the people in the video and the site referenced above, a good client normally gets the results they want.

Here’s why:

• they are prepared and know-
  • the goals they want their site to accomplish
  • their target market
  • the pages they need
  • the functions they need their site to perform
  • the look and feel they want their site to present
• they have realistic deadlines – they aren’t asking for 6 weeks’ worth of work to be completed in 1 week
• they respond quickly to messages
• they promptly provide any information, content, or images the designer requests
• they are honest about their expectations and their budgets
• they offer solid, constructive criticism instead of a vague, “I don’t like that!”, Make it pop!”, and the like.
• they don’t micromanage – it is counter-productive for a client to constantly request changes, point out glitches, and otherwise harass the designer while the work is in progress. Please be patient enough to wait for your designer to tell you your project is ready for review. That is the time to go over it with a fine-tooth comb, not before.

To sum it all up…

being an informed, gracious, polite, and helpful client means you will find that your project goes much more smoothly and will more often than not meet or exceed your expectations.

Are you ready for a professional design?

Berries and Cream Blog Design offers custom blog design packages and small business web solutions.

Contact us if we can be of service to you.

Free Online Bookkeeping from Outright.com

Last week, I told you about the free IRS Virtual Small Business Tax Workshop. Knowing what your tax responsibilities are is great, but how do you keep track of all that information?

Let me introduce you to Outright.com. Outright is a free online bookkeeping program which was created to help sole proprieters and single-member LLCs “track income and expenses from credit cards, invoices, receipts, or even merchant accounts, or enter records quickly in simple ledgers.”

Not only does this program keep track of your income and expenses, but it also proves to be an invaluable tax tool. It will automatically track important tax deadlines (quarterly filing, 1099 deadlines, etc), manage W-9s, tell you who needs a 1099, and automate Schedule C.

You may be thinking the same things I thought when I first learned about the program. “My financial information is ultra-sensitive. Is this site secure? What happens if I cancel my account?”  Here are the answers I found:

• all information in Outright is encrypted
• the site itself is password protected and encrypted
• data is backup hourly
• all data belongs to you and can be downloaded in a format which can be read by spreadsheet software
• if you cancel your account, you data is immediately deleted

I’m recommending this product not because I receive compensation or incentives for any referrals I may give.  I’m not an Outright affiliate. I’m recommending this program because I use it myself and am ecstatic with the results. Once I had entered my 2009 income and expenses, I was able to view and download a pdf of my Schedule C.  Wow! What a time-saver! My CPA is gonna love me.

What is your preferred bookkeeping method?

Custom WordPress Designs: PageOne Marketing Solutions

About PageOne Marketing Solutions

PageOne Marketing solutions helps local business owners develop and put into action a powerful online brand and business presence in order to attract more clients and drastically cut advertising costs while at the same time putting online marketing efforts on “autopilot.”

Reason for Makeover

Brad and Michele contacted me because they were not happy with their business website’s design. The colors did not coordinate with their logo, the video and newsletter opt-in form took up too much valuable space, their ebook cover looked like it had been created by an amateur, and the site’s layout just did not present their content in the best way.

Solution for PageOne Marketing Solutions

Since Brad and Michele already had their content in place, we decided they just needed a site redesign.  The Berries and Cream Decadence package was the perfect solution since business website designs typically require more detail than a personal blog design would.

A New Design

Brad and Michele knew they wanted their site colors to match or coordinate with their logo. They also knew they needed to keep the newsletter opt-in form and the video. I suggested moving the opt-in form to the right side of the header so that it would be easily accessible from every page of the site.

I created a pin-striped background that was dark enough to create great contrast for the white content area. The pin-striping created a subtle texture that was more attractive than just a solid background would have been.

A new ebook cover replaced the poorly designed cover that had been used before. I was able to incorporate the PageOne logo into the cover, further promoting the site’s branding.

I created a sidebar to feature important information that did not belong in the navigation bar. I also created a special page template without a sidebar for those pages where a sidebar would not be appropriate.

A feature specifically requested was title images with shadows. I used the logo colors for the titles and shadows. Every page has a custom title image.

To further fortify the branding, I created a favicon using a portion of their logo.

Home Page

Brad and Michele knew they wanted to keep the video on the home page. I suggested moving it just underneath the home page title. There, it would get the attention they desired, but it would also allow additional content to appear above the fold.

Plenty of relevant images were used in the page content, which helped to make the long page more interesting. Brad and Michele requested that I create custom pull-quotes to emphasize imporant selling point.

Goal Accomplished – Another Satisfied Client

Once the design was complete, I installed the new design at Brad and Michele’s site and made the final tweaks that are nearly always necessary after installation. Brad and Michele were thrilled with their new design and the professional appearance it gave their site.

How is your website working for you? We can transform your site just like we did Brad and Michele’s, giving it a more professional design and better navigation.
Click here to view our Custom Blog Design Packages

Top 5 Fun Traffic Tips for Your Blog

Are you finding the traffic building a bit tiring? Not getting the amount of traffic to your blog that you’d wished for when you started?

Increasing your readership needn’t be tiring or stressful, it can be FUN! If you just have the right mindset when doing it you can benefit immensely and have fun at the same time.

1. Social Networking. This can be too much fun if you don’t watch out.  If you aren’t already on twitter or Facebook I suggest you get on there as soon as possible! Have fund and promote your blog at the same time. Use a service such as Bit.ly to shorten your URL’s and tweet about older posts as well as new. Remember to interact with other tweeters and not only tweet your own content.  Same thing goes for Facebook, reply to statuses of your friends and contacts and make new connections whenever possible. Don’t collect friends for the sake of having friends, only connect with those you really have some kind of relationship to.
2. Join a forum related to your topic. If you write about gardening it make sense to talk to those interested in gardening and not weight loss. Have something in common; you never know what connections you can make on forums. Don’t see it as time wasting, instead as a unique opportunity to meet new interesting people.
3. Comment on other blogs. This is probably one of the most given advice around when it comes to blogging but it works! Making thoughtful comments that show you are actually commenting because you have something to say and not for link building can make a huge difference for your blog.
4. Learn some basic SEO. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and is important for any blogger who wants more readers.  Don’t worry if it seems complicated, it really isn’t and you only need to know some basics.  A good idea is to check out Dan Thies’ free eBook SEO Fast Start. Learn how to use keywords in your titles and posts.
5. Write unique content. Show your personality in your posts; don’t be afraid to show a bit of who you are in your blog.  That is what makes your blog so special. Another tip is to write “Ever Green Content”. The term “Ever Green Content” refers to writing content that can be read today, tomorrow and months from now and it will still be relevant.

Actually you could probably put these tips in any order, they are all very effective. What you do with it is up to you. Blogging is supposed to be fun, so make the most out of your blog and have fun with it!

Need to set up some more strategies for your blog to get it going? Sign up for some Blog Coaching with Linda to see what you can improve on your blog!

IRS Virtual Small Business Tax Workshop

It’s that time of year again here in the US – tax time. As a small business owner, you are probably going through the same ritual I am going through – hunting down all of those receipts to make sure you will be able to claim as many deductions as possible. I try to stay organized throughout the year, but I inevitably slack off toward the end of the year. (As usual, I’ve vowed not to let that happen again this year!)

January is also the month when you have to issue 1099s to your independent contractors and make sure you are in compliance with IRS regulations. Personal taxes are bad enough to keep track of, but there are so many forms, rules, and regulations for businesses that it is easy to feel overwhelmed by it all.

The IRS has a great resource for us small business owners, both newcomers and veterans. They have created a virtual Small Business Tax Workshop. This video workshop is available at any time and is set up so that you can skip to any section that interests you. Topics include the following:

• Introduction – an intro to the workshop
• Lesson 1 – What You Need to Know About Federal Taxes and Your New Business
• Lesson 2 – How to Set Up and Run Your Business So Paying Taxes Isn’t a Hassle
• Lesson 3 – How to File and Pay Your Taxes Using a Computer
• Lesson 4 – What You Need to Know When You Run Your Business Out of Your Home
• Lesson 5 – How to Set Up a Retirement Plan for Yourself and Your Employees
• Lesson 6 – What You Need to Know About Federal Taxes When Hiring Employees/Contractors
• Lesson 7 – How to Manage Payroll So You Withhold the Right Amount from Employees
• Lesson 8 – How to Make Tax Deposits and File Payroll Taxes Using a Computer
• Lesson 9 – What You Need to Know About Federal Unemployment Taxes (FUTA)

While I have a trustworthy CPA, I’m still going to go through this workshop myself.

What is your best tip for complying with IRS regulations for your business?

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