For those of us that know being in business is by no means stationary, the idea of not updating a website for 2, 4, or (gasp) 6 years is appalling. Apalling and Dismaying.
Before you go running away convinced that I’m one of the greedy monsters that want you to pay me $50k for imaginary work (how does something invisible cost SO MUCH??), take a deep breath and read on… Streamline before you Redesign

What is streamlining?

<a href=”http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/streamline”>Websters </a>has a great definition as “to alter in order to make more efficient or simple.” BINGO.

The internet works very simply. People walk around looking for stuff. These days we now have computer programs that walk around and look for stuff for us. When people (or computers) go walking around the internet looking for stuff… if they can’t find it, they don’t buy it. Pretty simple.

Some of you will tell me you don’t sell anything on your website. Bullcrud. There’s an old adage that says “you’re always selling something” and that’s not just true for salespeople. You are always selling YOU and your website’s job should be to sell people on whatever the website is for.

If you sell stuff, then your site should make it easy for people to buy stuff.
If you sell a service, then your site should make it easy for people to know what you mean by service(like, literally!! – who, what, when, where, why, how)

DUH, if I can’t find what your stuff is and how to buy it in the first 15 seconds I’m not buyin it. Don’t just think I’m the jerk, <a href=”http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4616700.stm”>studies </a>say people make their buying web first impression in as little as 1/20th of a second.

So sit down and make a note to yourself – why do you have a website? What should people do/find/learn on your website? Now your job is to make your website accomplish these goals. Go to your website as a consumer and try to do/find/learn. Here’s some rules:

1. Can I get there easily (less than 3 clicks – preferably no clicks)
2. Can I see it clearly (even if I haven’t updated quicktime or flash in the last 3 months)
3. Can I learn more online?
4. Can I ask questions?
5. Can I find a real person?

There’s your basics. We’ll get more in-depth later. Now get to it!

Rebekah

In three days since the program’s inception, OnlineLabels.com has honored the requests of over 15 different charitable causes, donating approximately 10,000 labels.  These organizations include Habitat for Humanity, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Child Abuse Prevention Association, Autism Society of America and The Georgia Writers Association.  For an updated list, visit http://www.onlinelabels.com/ol_helped.htm.

“I heard that OnlineLabels.com was a great place to buy labels, so when I received an email from them I checked out their site and noticed they were offering to donate labels to non-profit organizations,” said Jeanne Powers, founder of Handicapped Friends Pen Pals Club.  “I was a little skeptical, but filled out the request anyway.  I was so blown away when I got a response telling me they were sending the labels I asked for.”
Representatives from non-profit organizations or special events that benefit non-profit organizations may visit http://www.onlinelabels.com/charity.htm to view the terms and conditions of the program.  When filling out the application, users may select any label size and material in quantities of up to 100 label sheets per request.  Currently, any label shape offered by OnlineLabels.com may be requested including, ribbon labels, name tags, address labels, CD/DVD labels, specialty shape labels, water bottle labels, circle labels, shipping labels and many more.

“As a company, we decided this program would be a fantastic way for us to give back to the many causes that do good in this world, since they have a need and we have the labels” says Dave Carmany, president of OnlineLabels.com.  “To us, there’s no limit on how many causes and organizations we can help through our Cause Related Labeling program, and it’s absolutely brought everyone in our company closer together since we’ve already helped a few causes that personally mean a great deal to people around here.”

To further support this initiative, OnlineLabels.com will provide free access to Maestro Label Designer, an exclusive tool that enables users to create, save and print label designs with no downloading necessary.  Additionally, free blank label templates as well as predesigned label templates are available on the Company’s website for use in label creation.

“The Cause Related Labeling program enables every size and type of non-profit organization to receive labels that they can use for whatever their need may be,” adds Carmany.  “Whether it’s customizing water bottle labels for an event, addressing postcards for a mailing, or simply creating name tags for a fundraiser, if we can make buying labels one less headache to worry about, then this program will be a success.”

Launched 1998, Online Labels Inc. offers the world’s largest selection of blank labels for laser and inkjet printers.  A division of Consolidated Label, Inc., the Company is a privately-held label manufacturer and Internet retailer based in Longwood Fla. OnlineLabels.com serves customers all over the world for personal and professional labeling needs in a variety of applications.  For more information, visit www.OnlineLabels.com or call 1-888-575-2235.

If you’re a jerk, now the whole world knows it.
If you’re a nice person with jerk tendencies, now the whole world knows it.

Some people are freaked out by this, the merging of public and private lives, and often one must find a new set of boundaries (ie. stop twittering after 9pm – DUH!)

And often as these tools creep in to further degrade the private/public boundaries.. tools like myspace and facebook crossing over to LinkedIN, email, etc. We come up with more ways to waste time and to share our OCD with the world – tools like twitter and digg and del.icio.us

The trick in all this is balance – and one of the easiest ways to balance is to be a slow-adopter. Don’t necessary jump on every bandwagon… give it 6 months or so for the bugs to get worked out and the syncing tools to catch up. Sure you may miss a freebie here and there, but you’ll save yourself hours of headaches.

Take Myspace for example. I thought that tool was great and jumped right on… only to become a target for spammers of the world to unitedly blast. Every time I make an update, I get hit with half a dozen spammers… not to mention the porn and the current dramas in the news about kids publicizing their cruelty.

LinkedIN is one of my success stories. I signed up for it a year ago, but waited 6 months to really get into it… now it’s a huge tool for my networking and KIT systems.

Plaxo’s a 50/50 split… the plaxo pulse is a weak attempt to compete with other social networking tools, while the address book and calendar syncing tools remain unparalleled for those of us that have to sync home computer|cellphone|office|laptop and aren’t interested in thousands of duplicates.

So when in doubt – sign up but don’t email blast your address book immediately… sit around (aka “lurk) until you see a few friends in there, and then go forward. Always look for syncing ability to your existing technology tools, and never give up your right to wait.

Being the first one to adopt a new technology is very rarely worth being the first one to have a system crash.

Unless you’re in IT, of course.

Cheers,

Rebekah

So like a good nerd, I started researching other ways to use this new technology. I tried twitterific and twhirl and twillions of other twools that just made me feel lispy.

Meanwhile, I notice that all my other “social networking” tools are trying to get in on the action, with a series of “what are you doing” post options. These just added to the twitteration and twistication of my poor head. Being visible and “plugged in” is one thing…. but all of this stuff is just NOT WORK.

And then I found PING.fm
and my life was forever changed.

Ping let’s me post to all my blogs, all my micro-blogs, and even all the stupid little “status” messages across my metaverse. While it’s not perfect (thus is the world of beta) it is by far the easiest way for me to trick all the non-techies into thinking I’m a social networking queen.
(come on – you know you were thinking it)

Checkout Ping.fm on me – enter the invite code “pingfood” for access.

Fellow MLPF friends,

I have a simple, very simple question: how to manage such a huge amount
of information when doing networking?

How many hours do you spend per day doing business networking? And hot
to manage that with our normal work?

Thanks in advance for all the answers and comments.

I hear you! Take heart though, I think feeling just a few steps behind is a good sign that you are actively networking – it’s that sense of drowning that I often take as a reminder to update my networking maintenance systems.

I use plaxo sync’d w/ my computers (both home and office) to keep my address book and calendar’s lined up. I sync my office computer to my treo and then everything stays in line very well. I don’t participate much in the “connections” portion – I just use the tools to update contact information quickly and easily (if anyone you know is in plaxo, when they change their information it will automatically update in your address book).

I use LinkedIN as an online networking tool, and sync that to outlook quarterly. I don’t do the LinkedIN blast invites – I just invite people one-on-one & I let them know it helps me to refer them to my network.

I keep a rolodex sorted by industry (vs company name) that I keep cards in – this is a 2 1/2 inch binder at this point… I only keep cards of people I want to refer, or that I work with. Folks that I know well or refer often I ask for several cards so I can give one away and still have one in the binder. I’ll look through it periodically when I need a networking brainstorm.

I know it sounds like alot, but it’s actually a very simple workflow when you come back from an event: enter the contact info to your computer (which syncs everywhere), put away in rolodex, when done w/ all cards from that event, sync linkedin… ta-da!!

In Followup Mode: I set aside 2 hours a week to go through my new connections and see what we have in common or who they know that I’d like to know. If I took notes at the event that the person was interested in something I can pass along, I will do that within a week. Often there are folks that want to be updated on interesting articles or groups I am a member of, so I will forward an invitation to the group or the articles on a weekly basis – nothing to take more than my 2 hours a week.

I also go to 5 or so events a week, but only take away the business cards that are relevant to what I’m looking for at that event (always have an objective before you walk into an event). Staying active in several particular circles keeps me in touch with the membership.

Cheers,

Rebekah