HELPING YOUR BUSINESS
Forty Whacks Part 2
As we said a couple of months ago, Dave went through some intense program management training at the semiconductor company where he worked. The small book was written by the trainer and gives great tips on program management, which we all need to do often in our businesses.
Whack #2: Show Your Ignorance
Team members will tend to ask you to solve problems if you're a program manager, or if you're in a higher position than them. If you're not careful, they'll begin to rely on your and not solve problems themselves.
While it's great for your ego, it doesn't help get more done and grow your team.
Instead, act dumb. Say to them, "I don't know. What do you think we should do?"
Get them into problem-solving mode and life is easier for you!
9 Easy Tips for Persuasive Writing
It's a common mistake for writers to picture their "potential audience" when coming up with text for their website. They often overlook that web articles/text aren't perceived or used the same with printed text as they are on a website.
Important point: Website text is glanced at, not read.
These are tips that will definitely improve your writing skills when it comes to website copy:
- Treat them like wild animals. Web visitors are like hungry wild animals hunting for information online. They want their information easy to track, easy to eat and digest. Remember to KISS them (Keep It Simple, Stupid).
- Important information goes on top. Give your audience what they came for immediately.
- Don't try to be clever or creative. Clever phrasing requires thinking. Web visitors have no time for that.
- Write for scanning. Research suggests that only 16% of people read web pages word-for-word. Most people scan. (source: Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox). Make sure that your visitors can understand your most important information by just glancing at your web page.
- Use familiar words. Keep the hunting trail simple to follow for your readers. No need to use fancy words. And avoid jargon.
- Write for lazy people. Short paragraphs.
- Sprinkle Call-To-Actions (CTAs) around your website. Not all web visitors start browsing on your home page. Make sure that your inner pages have plenty of CTAs as well, especially your About page.
- SEO. Use the phrases your potential audience would use. Answer their questions.
Make a Visual impression. Instead of long paragraphs (or even short paragraphs) use bullet points. Play around with text formats (bold, italic, underline). Use images.
Read the full article here: https://www.enchantingmarketing.com/writing-for-the-web-vs-print/
The Power of WordPress!
WordPress now powers over 1/3rd of the web. Over the years WordPress has become the CMS of choice for more people and businesses so you're on the right platform!
Security Issues and Updates
DOMAIN LISTINGS - a scam company in USA.
Dave's sister-in-law received this in the mail from a scam company in the USA:
Dave told her to not pay it. She was being billed for the monthly hosting, and the domain is at Homestead and she was paying $14.99 per year, due in September.
This is a solicitation. There are many complaints on the Better Business Bureau about what they are doing.
One of the complaints: “We received mail from this company that looks like an invoice but is a solicitation. We received mail on January 22, 2019, from this company that looks like an invoice in the amount of $228 but is a solicitation. While the paperwork does include the words "This is not a bill. This is a solicitation.", you do have to read thoroughly. We feel this is predatory in style.”
Please don't fall for it.
Part of the service we render is keeping your website(s) up-to-date. This coming month, we will be upgrading MySQL to 5.7. Expect that your website(s) will be down very briefly, if at all. We'll be scheduling this during late evening times and we'll let you know when this will happen.
We're also in the process of upgrading your website(s) to use the latest programming language version, PHP 7.2. This is important for security and performance reasons.
The Site of the Month
Check out exdirt.com
Exdirt.com is an oldie but a goodie, which proves when a site is designed well, it stays in style longer than normal.
While the content is not being updated anymore, it still looks great.
The site is dedicated to off-road enthusiasts both old and new. The idea was to offer information on fun and exciting places to off-road, what to do when you get there, including events and shows, plus tips on how to do it. The site includes
- A news tracker at the top to inform people of the very latest, catching their eye quickly and easily.
- Video choices displayed in a small area
- Blog posts
- Calendar of events that are synced to a google calendar and displayed in a great style.
If you want to check it out, go to http://exdirt.com
