Professional Presence Designs

Blogging & Ministry

Lakita — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 01:01:49 +0000

Blogging & Ministry was the latest topic for discussion on The Praise Dance Life hosted by Minister Jocelyn Richard. It was an honor & privilege to be selected to be interviewed on the subject. While Jocelyn & I are both dance ministers, the content regarding starting and building a blog should prove helpful to all types of ministries.

Some of the topics covered in the discussion include:

Why should someone else start a blog? (5:20)
How to get started (8:38)
Additional tips & encouragement for ministry bloggers (18:00)

Listen to the entire interview

(this will open a new window so you can keep reading)

What about you?

How are you using social media? Do you have a blog?

If you would like Professional Presence Designs to help you start or revamp your blog in 2010, contact us for a free quote and consultation.

When you DON’T need a website

Lakita — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:48:40 +0000

I’m sure you are wondering WHY on earth a web design company would write an article that at the surface would deter people from having websites. the The truth is, if your website does not reflect your company then you may be doing more harm than good.

There are some excellent businesses/services that I use continually because they are GREAT! However, their websites leave much to be desired. Typically, these are people I met before I saw their website. Had I seen their website first, I would not have given them a second thought! I would have missed out on a great service or product and they would have missed out on a patron.

How many people are NOT doing business with you because your website leaves the wrong impression?

You’ll never know! But in today’s information age your website may be the first impression of your company. Follow these tips to ensure your website exhibits professionalism and excellence.

- Flash & Animation….especially as an intro. Skip it! Too much is perceived as amateur. Limit this to a header banner or sidebar, not an entire page.

- Spelling & Grammar. Check your website for spelling errors. Everyone makes a mistake now and then, but a page littered with errors leave a bad impression.

- Outdated information. If your website is more than an electronic white page ad, then it probably has content that will change. Seeing a website with events that are over a year old with no new activity looks stagnant. People will think your business is stagnant and move on.

- Color combination. Unless you are advertising a Day Care or Pre-school your page should not be in all primary colors! Use color combinations that are pleasing to the eye.

- Animated GIFs & Cursors……don’t even think about it! OK, a few animated GIFs strategically placed are OK, but the cursors need to go!

- Layout, flow and consistency. If people cannot find the information they want on your page they are going to leave.

- Load time. Most Internet surfers are using some form of high-speed Internet. People are impatient. If your page takes more than 4 seconds to load (probably because of animated GIFs, cursors, flash and other things to avoid), they will leave.

- No pictures or poor pictures. Pictures have their place, especially if you are offering a product. Show off your best work with quality photos. Do not upload the photo you took from your cell phone (we can tell) or with a cluttered background. Take the time to create a nice backdrop and display your work.

Do you think your website is repelling business? Contact Professional Presence today for a free email consultation!

Why YOU need an e-mail service provider

Lakita — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:36:10 +0000

If you have information that you would frequently like to share with more than one person, you need an email service provider.

In its simplest terms, an email service provider is an account that allows you to launch a marketing email campaign by sending out mass emails and reporting statistics, safeguarding information, and reducing spam. Most people are familiar with Constant Contact. It is a popular email service provider, but is also expensive. There are alternative solutions, I’ve listed the one I am using below, but first, here are more benefits to having one:

Keep in touch with your audience through e-mail newsletters. Why use “snail mail” when you can instantly let a group of subscribers know about your latest event, products, or thoughts? Maintaining an active newsletter gives you instant access to a captive audience.

It has a Professional Presence! Aside from the shameless pun, email service providers are the professional way to do business. If you are sending out information from your personal account to your contact list please CEASE & DESIST for the following reasons:
* Your personal email is NOT a service provider and is not meant to handle that type of email load. Doing this will get your email domain blacklisted eventually, meaning your emails are not reaching their intended recipients.

* There is no way to insure you are following ICANN’s Anti-Spam protocols. An email service provider allows people to opt-in (or subscribe) to your email list, and they can also unsubscribe. There is an audit trail to prove you are not a spammer (something you do NOT want to be labeled as)

* Email service providers will give you reader statistics and reports. You can track when your emails are opened and what links are being clicked on. This type of information is valuable as you continue to become a savvy email marketer….OK, maybe you don’t want to be a savvy marketer…that stats are still pretty cool!

* Professional HTML templates will help you draft a visually appealing email. You don’t have to be a techie, just choose a template, plug in your information and hit send!

Put yourself on the receiving end….which would be more likely to open?
A. An email with 50 other people in the TO block and a large attached flyer that clogs up your email
B. An email from a list that you signed up for, addressed only to you designed with rich colors, photos and text

Hopefully you choose B!
Email Service Providers don’t need to break the bank! Streamsend is an email service provider that has all the advantages listed above and accounts start as low as $19.95/month. Personally, I’ve been using Streamsend for my dance ministry newsletter for years and have no complaints about their service. The investment has definitely been worth it as it is the easiest way to disseminate information about upcoming events.

Click the link below to see if StreamSend is right for you

How to Use Eventbrite to Organize Your Events

Lakita — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:42:02 +0000

Setting up an event with the registration Eventbrite is pretty simple. The service is simple enough that you can have a registration site online for your event in 10 minutes or less. It is robust enough that if you want to spend more time customizing your page, you can do that too.

Before you get started:

- Compile the basic facts about your event. Don’t worry if you do not have everything, you can always come back to edit them before you publish your event. The more information you can plug in as you go, the better. So try to have: date, time, location, and registration costs at a bare minimum

- Set up a Paypal or Google Checkout account if you plan to allow online payments (highly recommended)

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Once you have your information gathered, head over to Eventbrite to set up your page

1. Click on Sign-up

2. Fill out the form

3. The Create Event Page

a. The Event Name:

b. Create a ticket with a description, price, and quantity available (there are advance options beyond the scope of this tutorial)

i. Set payment options

c. Add Event Details using the WYSIWYG Editor

e. Add the date and time (top right)

f. Add location

g. Add information about the event organizer / host (optional)

h. Select a color theme. Alternatively, you can custom select your colors…we will save that for the advance tutorial

i. Additional options: classify and tag event!

4. Save as Draft or Publish

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Presto! Simple right? Once you hit “Publish” you will have a fully operational registration page for your event. If you’d rather concentrate on your event, you can always contact Professional Presence Designs. We will set up your Eventbrite page for you for a flat rate.

How Much Does a Website Cost?

Lakita — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 21:59:35 +0000

This is typically the first question someone asks when interested in a new website or a redesign. The answer depends entirely on what you (the customer) wants in a website. For example, if you ask “how much will a new car cost”? you will not be able to obtain an accurate quote without providing more information on the type of car you want. The price for a Porsche is going to be significantly different than a Neon. If you are interested in obtaining an accurate quote from Professional Presence Designs, be prepared to answer the following:

1. Do you want a static or databased driven website?
With a static site, the content does not change very often and is updated manually using an editor.
A database driven site provides dynamic content that is easier to maintain by usually providing an administration panel to edit your data.

2. Will you need our web hosting services as well?

Web hosting stores your files on the Internet on a public web server so the rest of the world can view your website.

3. Approximately how many pages will you need within your site?

4. Will you need components such as photo album, calendar, etc

5. Do you have examples of other websites that show what you are looking for.

6. Is this a new website or a redesign of an existing site.

If you would like to receive a free price quote from Professional Presence Designs, feel free to contact us with as much of the above information as possible.