Business is and always will be about people.  No matter what anyone says, it is about who you know not what you know.  Business is about people. Business is about the relationships you build, share and maintain. I dedicate this post to five individuals who have had a major impact on my life as a professional and as an individual (outside of my loving and supportive family). One of which recently left this crazy world in hopes of finding peace.  I have tremendous respect and admiration for each and every one of these people.

Jason Baer of Convince & Convert, invoked the fire in me.  He taught me that I needed to get out of my own way to be the best I could be. He taught me to be a better person for myself, to be a better professional and to push myself to the limits.

Maggie Young of Red Flag Consulting, has been a friend and mentor, she has been instrumental in depicting how one handles themselves in a professional manner – no matter what the circumstance.  She is the most diplomatic person I know and articulate beyond belief.

Eva Voorhees of Tiny Advertising, pushed me off the proverbial cliff of entrepreneurship.  She helped me get my first client and has never stopped believing in my talent.  Eva is a wonderful lady that has unabashedly supported me and remains a client and friend to this day.

Chris Johnson of Terralever, from day one, welcomed me into his world. He opened up his business for me to learn without reservation and he gave me his friendship without expecting anything in return.  He has always been open and honest with me, and at times when I faltered he forgave and continued to support me and still does to this day.  He continues to be a integral part in my life as a mentor and friend.

Andy Richter of Terralever wanted me to be the best I could be.  He taught me that hard work deserves reward, and that there should be no hard work without reward. He always believed in me and trusted me from day one without reservation. He had faith in me. Andy was always so supportive and accepting without judgment. He had such a great spirit – he will be missed by so many.

Despite my decision to leave Terralever Andy and Chris always remained supportive and interested in my success.  They really showed me the true meaning of “if you put your mind to it, you can do anything.”

All of these people are entrepreneurs and I have had the good fortune to work for and with all of them.  I am a lucky one, to  be surrounded by kind-hearted genuine people, who are brilliant, inspiring, motivating and supportive. I am truly fortunate to know all of these people and I am grateful for their friendship, their support, and mentoring.

Thank you to all of you for believing in me, for supporting me, for pushing me to be the best I can be. I would not be where I am today without your support and guidance.

Often times, we think to tell our loved ones first that we care and appreciate them and all too often we forget to tell those who have helped us professionally and personally.  The biggest lesson is that many people will never know how much an impact they have made on your life and how very important it is to never assume they did.

It is unfortunate that it takes a tragedy to reflect on who has had an impact on my life and has played an instrumental role in who I have become. I am sorry I will never be able to tell Andy how much he meant to me.

Take this moment, this day, and every day after to tell the people in your life how much they mean to you, how they have inspired you, supported you…just how much of an impact they have made.

While reading my dailies, I came across a fabulous article by Cameron Chapman on Smashing Magazine. Its focus was “Best Practices for Non-profit Website Design.”

And while I have no arguments about how helpful and resourceful this article is with regard to Non-profit Website Design, I do believe these best practices can be repurposed for nearly any organization looking to build a new Web site or update their current one.

A listing of Best Practices for Non-Profit Web sites are as follows:

1. Make your site donor-friendly
2. Make Your Site Media-Friendly
3. Make Your Site Volunteer-Friendly
4. Make Sure Your Organization’s Purpose is Immediately Apparent
5. Make Sure Your Content Takes Center Stage
6. Make Sure Your Website is Consistent with Your Other Promotional Materials
7. Know Your Site’s Purpose Up Front
8. Include a News Section or Blog

Find a breakdown for organizations that are not non-profit, on how to utilize these same Website best practices for your own company below.

Read the original and full article here.

If YOU ARE FOR-PROFIT organization, here are some Web site Key Takeaways and Thoughts from this article that can be utilized for your company:

• Make your site donor-friendly

Whether you are collecting donations, selling a product or providing information your site needs to be easy to navigate and checkout. The checkout process can be collecting donations, moving consumers through an actual purchase process, or requiring them to sign up for a webinar, or fill out information to download a whitepaper – you need to make it easy and requiring too many steps and requesting unnecessary information can mean losing that potential customer.

• Make Sure Your Organization’s Purpose is Immediately Apparent and Know Your Site’s Purpose Upfront

If visitors cannot figure out the purpose of your company or what you offer they cannot be turned into prospective customers. A cute logo and clever tagline won’t cut it. Make sure to include clear precise copy on all pages that informs visitors of what you offer, how to get more information and how it all works.

• Make Sure Your Content Takes Center Stage

Content does not equal copy. Content refers to copy, videos, blogs, Flash elements, images, and other types of media. Consider the types of audiences coming to your site and the best forms of content to include on your site that appeal to many types of personas. From researcher to purchaser, focus on the main types of personas interested in your product or service offering and appeal to their purchase process. What key pieces of information need to be present to get them to the desired action (e.g. requesting more information, signing up for a trial or demo, checking out). Different pieces of content appeal to different users and finding the right mix of content while balancing design and creating clear goal/conversion paths is no small challenge. Measure and test everything.

• Make Sure Your Website is Consistent with Your Other Promotional Materials

Take a hard and fast look at all on and offline materials. Cost efficiencies can be saved across the board by picking standard sizes, having image libraries, and all departments working from the same pool of resources. This ensures consistency across the board and that is the number one rule – consistency makes for success. Your brand identity will also be salvaged. In addition, make sure someone is assigned to managing your Web site and that they are made aware of all marketing initiatives both on and offline. There is nothing worse than having a press release sent out over the Internet and then visiting the actual company Web site for more information and there is little to no information on the product or service that was promoted, let alone the press releases hasn’t even been posted to the company site. You miss out on great search engine visibility opportunities by missing on such a simple web update.

• Include a News Section or Blog

Don’t miss out on opportunities to become an authority in your area. You don’t always have to be promoting your products or services, think inside your box but with regard to end-user. What problems do they encounter that your product or service might help solve? Blogs and News Sections are opportunities to take advantage of ongoing search engine visibility as well as deliver valuable and relevant information to your audiences. They keep your site current and fresh and provide valuable insight into your companies work ethic and level of service.

photo credit: cogdogblog

As we rapidly approach March of 2009, what have you done to stay ahead of the recession? How are you shifting your focus, marketing strategies and messaging to adapt to the new state of mind of your customers?

We’re offering up some basic tips on how to market smarter online and in-house:

• Fix the weaknesses. Invest time internally to understanding your weaknesses. Most of the time, when business is good we are too busy to fix those thorns in our sides that often reduce productivity, efficiency and creativity. A great place to start is your Web site. Review Web site statistics to see how people are getting to your site and review your conversion (sales) process online to see if it can be improved with regard to ease-of-use for the user. Understand your Web site’s visibility online, could you be getting streamlining your online efforts to get more targeted traffic and less riffraff?
• Become great at what you are now good at. Don’t change who you are, don’t try to be everything to everyone but focus on your specialty. We always jump at the chance to work with business that have a niche. Niche businesses thrive online because the Internet is the quickest and best way to find a specialty service or unique product. Folks looking for these niche products or services are more likely to engage with you, thus making it more likely to convert them into a sale or customer. The right mix of online marketing strategies coupled with a good online user experience creates a recipe for success.
• Find a way to change your messaging that still coincides with your brand without jeopardizing what you stand for AND find a way to change your messaging that demonstrates to clients the value of your product or service. A niche client of ours was toiling with the idea of adding a less expensive line to her product offering to accommodate for the down economy. Until now she only focused on offering boutique high-end products. In the end she decided this was not best for her company because this was not representative of her brand. She found a way to reach consumers by changing her messaging and providing reasons for why consumers should purchase this type of quality product in a down economy. Sales have continued to increase since November 2008.
• Work with smaller companies who specialize in specific areas like online marketing, specifically PPC management strategies. You’ll find that often times you will get better service, better results, and overall more value from your investment. Understand, especially with PPC management, that this is a “managed media” and not “placed media.” If you are spending less than $100k/month on PPC and your Internet Marketing agency or current service provider is taking a percentage of ad spend then consider that your first red flag. With smaller specialized Internet marketing companies you have a better chance of stretching your dollar and spending less to get more.
• Focus on relationship marketing. First focus on how much you know about your current and past customers. What are their needs and preferences? How can you adjust your product or service to meet their needs now? If you are suffering from a loss of staff, look to initiatives like email marketing, trigger emails and personalized (yet automated) customer service strategies to make a one-to-one connection with your customers. Invest in reviewing your site statistics to gain a basic understanding of what is and isn’t working so that you can make adjustments that will capture the right customer.
• Be innovative. “Why did so many great companies and products come from the Great Depression? While there’s no question that a bad economy makes it tougher to raise capital and launch new products, the reality is that good ideas executed well always have room to succeed. A different way to look at it, a shrinking wallet means that more attention is given to every purchase, and therefore the best customer value equation have a better chance of success during a downturn.” – Idris Mootee, FutureLab Read the post by FutureLab here.