There’s an old joke that talks about the angels questioning Jesus about the worldwide evangelization plan after his return to heaven following the Ascension: Angel: So, Jesus, you’ve just returned to heaven as the victorious Lord of Glory, King of Heaven and Earth, what’s your plan for spreading the news of salvation to the whole [...]
This weekend, close to half a million souls will descend upon Washington D.C. Teens will stay up all night Saturday, praying and praising in our national Shrine. Housewives from the south will stand next to University presidents from the north in the freezing cold, while businessmen from the east mingle with college students from the west, [...]
As we turn the page on another new calendar year, many of us have the desired goal of “getting in shape” for the New Year. This is definitely the case in my own life, but the more I ponder my motivations, the more I find that I’m not simply looking for physical changes in my [...]
A well-established copywriting colleague of mine was approached by one of the top SEO companies in the nation. They wanted her to assist their clients by writing web pages. Web pages need to … Grab attention Understand the reader’s desire or pain Present a concept or solution Move the reader to a next action Be [...]
These first few days of 2012 find me returning to my desk and computer after a nice long break over the Christmas holiday to savor time with family and friends. The excitement and busyness of the past few years, with the growth of this website, my speaking engagements around the country and the publications of [...]
Even in the midst of our Advent preparations, many families are contemplating the annual Christmas gifting season. This year, there are ample opportunities to take advantage of online shopping resources in ways that will uplift your loved ones and at the same time support Catholic causes and merchants. It’s important when shopping online to always [...]
Over the years, I’ve worked with numerous business owners who have spent a considerable chunk of change building their websites. Then they sit back and wait for results … but the results are often less than stellar. The owner is discouraged and thinks all this Internet marketing stuff is a bunch of hooey. It’s not [...]
Developing a new website or improving an old one can be a daunting task. There are so many things to keep in mind: the marketing message, the design, the words, the links, the navigation, the keywords, and more. It ain’t easy. Below are some “don’ts” that I recommend keeping in mind as you build or [...]
When working with smaller companies, I always try to stress the need to maintain as much control over their websites as possible. Unfortunately, I’ve run into folks who have given too much power to web developers whose ethics are less than stellar. For example, some developers will take over the task of registering a domain [...]
As hurricane Irene bears down upon the east coast, many people are anticipating how to get by without power for some days. Yesterday I wrote about preparations regarding water: Emergency Water: Store it Now! This will focus on dealing with the perishable foods you already have on hand when you are anticipating an event that [...]
I notice on Facebook people are talking about getting ready for hurricane Irene and storing supplies. An emergency that gives you days of warning to prepare is my favorite kind. Unfortunately though, emergencies don’t always give us warning like that. So let’s take a clue from our collective attention to this storm bearing down on [...]
Most business owners hate Social Networking. I don’t blame them. They have enough to do and now there’s this gorilla in the room that refuses to be ignored. I’m going to tell you briefly how to get started in a non-stressful manner. The main thing is simply to set up a Twitter and business Facebook [...]
Checklists have been with us for many years, especially in critical industries where a mistake could make the difference between life and death. We’ve all seen footage of pilots in the cockpit doing a careful checklist before takeoff. And we know the ground crew does similar check listing before each takeoff. I suspect commercial aircraft [...]
You can learn a lot from watching American Idol year after year. That’s because American Idol offers real lessons about what makes a star. When the top 24 are selected, there are so many wonderful singers that I always wonder, “How will one person ever rise to the top?” But, inevitably, someone does. We, the [...]
What if you had access to powerful marketing research about your company, it cost you absolutely nothing, and you didn’t take advantage of it? If you think that’s not you … then think again. If you are like many, many website owners you are not taking advantage of the free Google Analytics tool available to [...]
There are times when a web site review or site audit is a great resource for diagnosing whether or not your website is under performing. The truth of the matter is that all websites can be improved, including mine. But if you have major problems, they should be attended to as soon as possible. And [...]
We have an abundance of free software options that can help us make better use of our PC’s and Mac’s. Several of them are based in the “cloud” which means our information stays static while we are portable – we can access it wherever we have Internet access. My favorites can make your digital life [...]
Two different types of spam attacks are increasing right now on Facebook. All users need to know how to spot and prevent them – and to fix them if they happen. Bad Apps A bad app will appear in your newsfeed as a story that someone “likes” something that looks like a video or a [...]
Breadmaking can teach us a lot about social media and marketing. I bake bread, and I’m a wheat snob. We have a tabletop wheat grinder, and I buy my wheat in bulk, from Montana, in 50 pound buckets. Wheat isn’t ground until just before I make bread, to ensure the highest nutrition content and best [...]
If you are under 30, you might not remember what a treat it used to be to get your daily mail. We actually got letters from people. A long distance phone call was expensive, so people still wrote to one another. And when you got a letter from someone special, you sat down, studied the [...]
When participating in online forums, message boards, and blogs, please watch what you say. Social media is great for exchanging information. Sometimes criticism is a legitimate part of business. But please try to be diplomatic and temper whatever criticism you may have for another person or company. In fact, it’s best to leave off names [...]
Do you think because you can hammer a nail into a two-by-four, you can build a good piece of furniture? Of course not. You know that building good furniture takes a lot more skill than simply hammering and sawing. It also takes training, equipment, and materials. Most people don’t question the high price of fine [...]
Social networking via online forums is fast becoming an indispensable part of Internet marketing. For the smaller companies, I recommend starting out by joining two or three online forums and getting familiar with the territory. You can join a forum dedicated to your particular business where you swap ideas with others in your field. This [...]
We have an abundance of free software options that can help us make better use of our PC’s and Mac’s. Several of them are based in the “cloud” which means our information stays static while we are portable – we can access it wherever we have Internet access. My favorites can make your digital life [...]
