Continue reading »]]> While searching for the best placement of ads for my websites, I ran across a simple ad tool offered by the big G themselves.  It was interesting to run my websites through the tool.  I quickly realized that I am missing out on offering ads in relevant places.

The name of the tool (original Google) is Google Adsense – Above The Fold Tool. 

Happy Advertising!

Shannon

Continue reading »]]> There are many people who hate working with a boss and prefer an environment where they can work by themselves, have their own working hours and be only answerable to themselves. The advent of freelance sites on the internet has been a blessing for such people and has changed the way businesses hire contractors to get work done. On sites like oDesk, Elance and Freelancer, you can hire people, provide them work details, get the work done, pay the contractor and end the project all within a few hours. Imagine if you had to do this without the internet. The drafting of the ad to be published in the newspaper for the job opening itself will take a day or two. So you can well imagine how much time the hiring process will take.

Freelance sites on the internet have streamlined the way we do work online. But do all these freelance sites work in the same way? Do they all provide the same security and assurances to both buyers and contractors? No they don’t. However, they all have one thing in common and that is that they give the buyer access to high quality work force all around the globe within a matter of minutes.

Let us now take a look at the three big players in the online market namely Elance, oDesk and Freelancer.

Escrow Services and paying the Elance fees:

One of the problems of working online is that you do not have any job security. If a contractor or a buyer disappears without completing the task or making the payment, you can’t do anything about it. This problem was solved to an extent by the introduction of the escrow system where the buyer pays the fee to a third party that holds the payment until the work is completed. Freelancer and Elance have been providing this facility for a long time now. However, oDesk has been hesitant in implementing that feature on its site which is why people feel less secure while working through them.

It is great to have a platform online where all the buyers and contractors meet. However, there is a lot of work that goes into creating such a platform and you as a user are the one who has to pay for the maintenance. But how do all these sites charge you? Well, some do it in a way where you lose a lot while others don’t let you feel the burden. While working on a project, either the buyer or the contractor or both have to pay fees to the site they are working on. Freelancer deducts this fee both from the buyer and the contractor which makes it less popular among contractors. oDesk and Elance however only deduct the pay from the buyer. Hence, people prefer to stay with oDesk and Elance as they don’t charge any fee.

Job Quota

On oDesk, you can apply to 25 jobs per week. If you think you are not going to be selected for a job, you can withdraw your bid and in 12 hours you get your bid added to the quota. Freelancer functions in a similar manner too. However, Elance is rather expensive for contractors as they have to pay fees to get more bids. While paying just to be able to apply on a job is not ideal, it does help keep the site clean of people who spam job posts with generic cover letters. Less spam is what keeps the working atmosphere going at Elance. It is because of this reason that many people who are serious in getting their work done and are willing to pay well for it head to Elance.

So which is the best?

Well, it’s not an easy task to pick one winner but most people, who are willing to work on low pays when they start, prefer freelancer because it is good for beginners. Small companies may prefer Elance as it provides the perfect platform for you to operate a small company. ODesk on the other hand may come out as a winner as it provides benefits to all and is very user-friendly.

Variance of work opportunities

Online freelance sites are for all sorts of services. Someone may be selling a beautifully written article while another would be boasting about the great logos he can design. Even silly services like singing a song for you in the bathroom and dancing while dressed like a beer are available. But the fact remains that some of the skills are more in demand as compared to others. For instance, web design and development is one area that has a lot of scope.

Whenever someone thinks of an online business idea, he has to find someone who can build him a site. And this is where thousands of web developers around the world make money. You can have a site built for anywhere between $30 to $3000 and even more, depending on the type of website desired. A look at the trends on different freelance sites proves this fact. Jobs related to PHP, SEO, Web Design, MySQL and content writing are all in demand. All these services are in some way related to creating a website.

As far as other services are concerned, they do not enjoy as much popularity. However, if you have some unique skill that you can offer, there will always be buyers for your work as long as you offer good quality.

Continue reading »]]> by Shannon Walker

The purpose of this article is to offer insight into how to start the process of writing SEO article content, which is based on keyword research. 

Step 1 – Document the keyword, local traffic, global traffic, CPC, competition. 

Normally, I add this to the end of the document (this does not get added to the live article).

Step 2 – Write article

Keyword Click Through Expectations

480 Local Searches Monthly Total on the Primary Keyword (Dog Food)

Note: This article will also generate long tail keywords based on other related words.

# 1: 36.5% – 172 clicks

# 2: 12.5% – 60 clicks

# 3. 9.5% – 45 clicks

# 4. 7.9% – 37 clicks

# 5. 6.1% – 29 clicks

# 6. 4.1% – 19 clicks

# 7. 3.8% – 18 clicks

# 8. 3.5% – 16 clicks

# 9. 3.0% – 14 clicks

# 10. 2.2% – 10 clicks

Step 3 – Sit and Wait for Google to Rank the Content (2 – 3 months)

Step 4 – Write Next SEO Article

Step 5 – Analyze keyword success (starting approximately 2 months later)

• If successful, write content to point to this article.

• If unsuccessful, (high bounce rate / irrelevant searches leading to content).  Move on to next article.

The process of writing SEO articles is definitely not the quick path to success.  It does offer you the most effective way to write articles to reach your audience.  Instead of tossing a “writing dart” at a target, you have real, verifiable data to show the potential success of your keyword campaign as well actual success of writing SEO articles. 

Special Notes About This Article: The search traffic numbers for this articles are for demonstration purposes.  In addition, this is a top level view at one part of SEO, which is writing SEO articles.  If you are interested in the mechanics of researching keywords, ranking competitors, and analyzing results, check out Spenser’s information on keyword research.

Continue reading »]]> Cheese! You’re on Camera

Using Technology is immensely embedded into our lives.  It would be difficult to think of a day without using some type of technology to benefit our lives.  Starting from your first cup of coffee in your kitchen to turning on your computer in your office.  Technologies are everywhere.

With this said, technology by itself isn’t necessarily great.  The most important thing for us is to make the best use of it! You can easily make your business more effective by adding technology.  For example, you may consider integrating YouTube videos into your business strategy.  YouTube and other online video sources are a great source of entertainment, education and a means to broadcast and receive a message.  Most businesses have not tapped into the benefits that YouTube and other video hosting venues offer.  By integrating YouTube videos into your business, you provide another stream of traffic to your website.  You get a chance to provide customers with information, entertainment and your message.

So, why don’t you try it for your business?  By promoting your business via YouTube videos, you have the opportunity to spread your message virally.

It is important to create a strategy prior to randomly uploading videos that you want to integrate into your business.  First, you need to know what types of products or services you are promoting.  Think of your consumers.  Who would get excited about what you have to offer?

One of the most important parts of integrating YouTube videos into your business is targeting the perfect audience for your advertising campaign. 

Research.  What videos in your target market are receiving many views (hits)?  This will give you an idea of the type of videos that people like to watch. 

Generally speaking, videos that entertain are openly accepted as opposed to dry material with no personality.  Therefore, to reach your audience, make videos for your business entertaining as well as informative.

Keyword(s) / Phrases.  The next thing you need to do is make your video searchable.  To do this, use the proper tags for your video so that people can find it easily. For instance, the best tags to use for your home electronics delivery business would be electronic, products, home service, etc.  The more relevant your tags are to the search, the more likely people are going to find your business video on YouTube.

Embedding / Linking. Another good way of integrating YouTube videos into your business is by embedding the video into your website as well as adding the URL of the video on your blog.  This will offer a rich media element as well as give people a way to visually view your services and products.  In addition, adding YouTube videos offers a means for people to rate and comment on your products and services.  (Don’t worry.  You can approve comments.) Socialize.  A great way to advertise your videos is through social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn are a great way to transmit your YouTube videos to a broad audience.

Gain Social Buy-in.  By encouraging people to “like” the video, the inevitable effect is that their network of friends and family will be compelled to do the same.  In this way, you have the potential of a huge response from people.  

Great publicity for your business!

!

Continue reading »]]> As an entrepreneur who depends on business data, file recovery should be part of your business strategy.  While you can store files in your office, this is does protect you from fire and other natural disasters.  Finding offsite storage that is affordable is a great option for entrepreneurs. 

Two such companies that offer offsite data storage are Dropbox and SugarSync.  Let’s talk about the pros and cons between both of these storage platforms.  With respect to compatibility, SugarSync supports almost all leading mobile operating systems, including Windows mobile and Symbian.  It can synchronize several folders between many PCs. It performs scheduled backups and works with Facebook as well. Great for those Facebook social butterflies!

If you are fond of features, SugarSync is better.  SugarSync is a complete package for cloud storage, offering cloud backup, integrates and synchronize with many third party services, such as Facebook. You can synchronize folders to your mobile devices. Dropbox does not have as many features, thus making it easier for low-tech people to setup.  You just need to download the setup file, perform installation and log in.  After these steps, you are ready to synchronize files. If you move a folder accidently, it will display a message to confirm whether you want to move it or download it from the cloud. For simplicity, Dropbox wins. 

Download and upload speed is of paramount importance.

Both SugarSync and Dropbox used full bandwidth when tested on a 25Mbps connection.  However, SugarSync’s system performed a bit slower.  Both of these services were equally quick at synchronization—synchronizing in seconds.  However, Dropbox hogged a bit less RAM (only few MB).

SugarSync provides a better collaborative sharing.  With this service, you can password protect your folders to make them private. No one can access your files, so you need not worry about security. Moreover, the ability of SugarSync to work with Facebook photographs is an amazing feature.

Both Dropbox and SugarSync offer high-grade accessibility options, along with friendly websites and scores of mobile clients. However, SugarSync now has multilingual support.  It also offers a Symbian operating system application, which is the most exciting operating system overseas.

SugarSync transfers files from a PC to the cloud thru a secure SSL connection. It encrypts files with AES-128. On the other hand, Dropbox uses AES-256 to encrypt files prior to sending them through a secured SSL connection.

SugarSync’s aggressiveness towards its pricing is on the rise. Users have seen changes in its business model at least twice since December 2010.  In March 2010, SugarSync started providing 10GBmore storage space at the same price offered by Dropbox.  Moreover, SugarSync gives a discount of $5 a month if you use a 100 GB plan. It is less expensive than Dropbox in this way.

More Bang for your Buck!

Furthermore, SugarSync offers a wide variety of storage options.  However, it does not differentiate it from Dropbox as you can request extra options be added in Dropbox once you choose a plan greater than 100 GB storage space.  More storage is especially useful for large organizations.  Although, most home users / small businesses need up to 10 GB storage space.

In a word, both of the service providers have their own advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is up to you which service you select according to your needs.

Continue reading »]]> The crop tool is one of the most useful ways to edit pictures with GIMP.  With it, you can easily redefine a specific region of your picture to become a standalone image.  For example, in the image below, you’ll find a cactus surrounded by Joshua trees off to the left.  Using the crop tool, we are able to transform the original picture into a new edit of the picture with just the saguaro cactus and cluster of plants.

Figure 1-1

As the red arrow points out (Figure 1-1), the crop tool can be accessed by clicking the symbol that resembles a knife in GIMP’s toolbox panel.  It can also be accessed by selecting tools in the menu panel, mousing over transform tools and then selecting crop to edit pictures.  With the crop tool selected, you can then hold down the mouse button and drag a rectangular selection around the area of the picture you wish to edit.  Don’t worry about getting the rectangle perfect right now, you will have a chance to change it soon.

Figure 1-2

Once you release the mouse button, the portion of the unedited picture that you did not select will become grayed out, leaving the cropped section unaltered.  You will also notice that squares appear in the corners of the cropped area.  Mousing over the corners (or near the edge of your selection) will allow you to change the dimensions of the cropped area.  You may also notice that your mouse turns into a cross when positioned within the selection.  The cross allows you to change the crop selection by holding your mouse button down.

Figure 1-3

After making your selection, you may also notice that a new set of options are included in the lower section of the GIMP toolbar (Figure 1-4).  If these options do not appear, go to the “windows” menu section, select “dockable windows” and then choose “tool options”. 

Figure 1-4

The following features provide additional functionality for the crop tool:

Current Layer Only: This option allows you to determine whether the selected layer is cropped or if all layers should be cropped within that region. 

Allow Growing: Use this option if you need to crop the image beyond the boundaries of the visible image.

Expand from Center:  This tool provides an alternative method for creating your selection.  By holding down the mouse button on a given point in the image, you can drag the mouse to create a selection that maintains that area as the central point. 

Fixed:  Various options are provided that force your selection to adhere to specific parameters based on its size and aspect ratio.

Position:  If precision is particularly important, you may want to use the coordinates available in this section to precisely place your selection.  These coordinates correspond with the rulers that appear above and to the left of the image (if these rulers do not appear, simultaneously press shift, control and the “R” key). 

Size:  Here you can select the exact size needed for your selection.

Highlight:  If you deselect this option, the area outside of your selection will not be grayed out. 

Guides:  If the cropped image should conform to basic photographic standards, these options will provide guides to help ensure conformity. 

Autoshrink:  If a high level of contrast exists within your image, this option can be used to automatically search for a border than can be used to define the selection area. 

Shrink Merged:  Same functionality as the Autoshrink option, except that it considers each layer rather than just the selected one. 

When you are satisfied with the selection and settings, simply double click inside the rectangle or press enter to crop.  The rest of your picture will disappear and the cropped section will become the new image (Figure 1-5).

Figure 1-5

The end result for cropping with GIMP is perfect picture edits!

Related Articles: Image Editing Software Analysis

Continue reading »]]>

One of the hardest questions of the image editing world is whether to use GIMP or Adobe Photoshop for image editing software. This is a paradoxical question, as there are moments where GIMP is more preferable than Adobe Photoshop, and others where Photoshop is the better choice of software. However, by analyzing the user’s needs prior to choosing between the two, one can better decide which program to use.

For Economy – GIMP

GIMP is free while Photoshop costs anywhere from $75 to $600, depending on the package. This is perhaps the greatest advantage of GIMP, as it is more than capable to perform everything a photography enthusiast or semi-professional designer would need. However, GIMP is unequipped with the advanced features that many professionals require. For example, the lack of a full-blown CYMK support would cut the deal immediately for many of the users working in the printing industry.

For Professionals – Photoshop

Photoshop has more full blown features, whereas GIMP is but a toddler compared to Photoshop. This is very important for many professionals who require usage of specific features such as CYMK support, among many others. Photoshop also has better integration with applications, allowing graphics design for games and animation to be done in the software itself, whereas GIMP does not have such mature features. While GIMP has more than enough features for the average user, one must keep in mind that most professionals are not average users.

For Enthusiasts – GIMP

The average user usually does not need the bulk of the features Photoshop has to offer. Most people do not have printing equipment that requires CYMK support. Most people also do not wish to spend a couple hundred dollars on a software package with features that they will probably never use. GIMP, on the other hand, has the basic features that an amateur photographer or enthusiast might need to use. However, it does not cost a couple hundred dollars. In fact, it costs nothing at all. It is a lot more economically efficient for an amateur enthusiast to use GIMP.

For Being Straightforward – Photoshop

Photoshop is developed by a team of professional programmers at Adobe and has been constantly updated for several years. Adobe Photoshop’s user interface is much more fine tuned and is simpler to use than GIMP. The user interface for GIMP is quite rough when in comparison with Photoshop, and the hotkeys not so simple to grasp. In addition to this, GIMP only has several published books and references to aid the user in areas they do not have experience in. However, there are countless books that include full lessons on every function of Photoshop out there in book stores as well as the internet.

The answer to whether one should use GIMP or Photoshop depends entirely on the person and what they will be using the software for. For professionals and those who prefer straightforward experiences – Photoshop is the way to go. On the other hand, for users who wish to edit a few pictures now and then and wish to use the software for simple projects – GIMP is the image editing software to consider.

Continue reading »]]> By Shannon Walker

Social Media Changing the Way We Do Business

Unlike our predecessors in commerce, the role of small business owner has significantly changed in terms of advertising.  To gain market share and effectively engage customers; companies must take a social media approach to marketing.  This means marketing to clients beyond normal business hours (8am to 5pm) and reaching new consumers beyond the doorstep of the business.  

Why to Incorporate Social Media into Your Business Growth Strategy

First, social media marketing offers an avenue for multi-directional conversations with customers on a personal basis.  Facebook illustrates a great example of how this interaction works.  My hairstylist started a Facebook page for her business.  She gives her clients her business card with information to find her on Facebook.  Why would her customers want to check out her Facebook page?  Simple.  There are several hairstyle photo galleries including New Hairdo’s hot on the scene, Wedding and Other Special Occasion Hairdo’s and client Hairdo’s.  The client hairdo’s are also posted by her clients.  Her clients will tag her as their hairstylist, which links entire client network back to the hairstylist.  It’s brilliant!  And you know what?  The new customers produced from this interaction are a warm sell.  They have already seen the results of a satisfied client.  

Secondly, Social media provides asynchronous communication.  It does not require both parties to be present.  For example, your last appointment left early and you have a few minutes to follow up with a potential client.  Great!  Instead of calling on the phone unsure of the time commitment you just made, you can zip onto Twitter and type a message (no longer than 140 characters) to find out how things are going.  Can you imagine?  What a quick way to stay in touch with your clients.  

Third, social media offers small businesses the means to perform large scale Research and Development (R&D) for new and potential products.  Let’s say that you are interested in carrying XYZ brand of Golfballs, however, you are unsure of their popularity.  Why not check Twitter?  Type #Golfballs  or #XYZbrand which will give you what people think of that particular product throughout the world. 

Finally, social media breaks traditional borders that normally would limit new client growth.  For example, I recently found a new customer through a social networking site that is interested in a product (still in development).  This new client is on a completely different continent!  This is not unheard of; however, what provided a competitive edge over someone else offering similar web-based services was my ability to personalize our interaction and answer questions that general website information and auto responders do not offer.

These are just a few of the advantages social media marketing has to offer small businesses.  Social media allows you to break into extended client networks without being overbearing.  Instead, the contact becomes a natural progression.  This progression happens 24 hours a day 7 days a week—while you are sleeping your comments are being read.  In addition, social media provides cost effective avenues to find out how new products will be received and how current products are performing.  

Overall, social media marketing is equivalent to the transformation from the Industrial Age into the Information Age.  In the Social Media Age, it is not just about how we use data.  It is about humanizing our relationship with our clients while using technology.   

Continue reading »]]> Welcome to the New Year! 

Have you thought about what your goals will be this year?  I have been thinking about it and I would like to share with you what I plan on focusing on this year.

Build repository for online help for small business owners.  Over the past couple years, I have focused mostly on helping my clients with their projects and put many of my own on the back burner.  Not this year… As I see it, I can help a greater number of people by creating content online.  So, please keep checking back to BrainworkCreative.com for helpful tips and tricks for YOUR business. 

1. Get over the stage fright!  I have wanted to make video training for software a long time coming.  However, I have a bit of stage fright on the end result.  I am a great public speaker/ trainer and fairly good at writing, however, the idea of being immortalized poorly on video has held me back.  I will let you know when I post my first video.  Very exciting stuff!
2. Keep plugging away on my personal goals.  I set goals last year and I am proud to say that I have been doing very well with those.  This year I will keep heading in the right direction.

What are your goals for this year?  Might I suggest – PUT YOUR GOALS IN WRITING!  There are a great many minds that agree on the fact that written goals are much more likely to be accomplished.  Also, it gives you a way to bench mark how you are doing throughout the year.

What ever your goals will be, here’s a cheer for you – YOU CAN DO IT!

Take Care,

S. Walker

Continue reading »]]> By S.Walker

6:30 am – Our four year old son comes into our bedroom to tell me he has to pee.  “Go pee.  Make sure to put the seat up and turn the light on.”  Son, “I peed!  I get a treat!”  I, mom, stumble out of bed to the kitchen to start our day.  (Try to convince a child that a mandarin orange is a special treat. Quite the trick that I have perfected!)

6:45 am – Turn the Television on in the living room and turn on the computer in the dining area (right next to the living room).  Unfortunately, I am not one of those lucky people with an office secluded in some part of the house.  During the course of a normal day, I constantly flip between web designer, copywriter, social media guru, search engine optimization expert, and mommy.  Talk about Jekle and Mr. Hyde.  One minute I have my sweet, loving voice explaining why there’s sunshine outside to strong willed and intelligent business woman explaining the merit of running a campaign for product launches. 

7:00 am – Husband stirring and looking for coffee.  I make a pot of coffee, throw a load of laundry in the washer and sit down to write an article for one of my blog sites. 

7:40 am – It’s time to run downstairs and put another load of laundry in the washer, start the first load in the dryer.  Oh, crap, forgot to print out that article to check for editing errors.  Run back upstairs, click print.  Our son is foraging and looking for a snack and a drink.  Done.  It’s time to find graphics, edit article and post on the blog. 

8:00 am – Finished and I feel great.  Switching Gears to social media and backlinking.  Twitter, done.  Redgage, done.  Infobarrel, done.  Follow up on forums and research new strategies. 

8:45 am – Time to dress our son and get him to preschool.  He doesn’t want to wear that shirt.  He can’t remember how to change his pants or his boots.  Finally, a tantrum.  Time for parenting. 

9:05 am – Arrive to preschool late, again.  Apologize to the teacher.  Teacher asks if I am able to stay and help with special projects.  (Out of guilt of disrupting the class… “Yes, I can stay.”)  By the way, I really love his teacher.  One of the most patient, loving and intelligent people I know.  I enjoy helping her.  In the perfect world, I wouldn’t be thinking of my client’s project that’s due this afternoon the entire time I am helping.

11:30 am – Time to head home.

11:45 am – Make lunch for my son and myself.  Start another pot of coffee.  Eat lunch at my computer while checking / answering emails. 

12:30 pm – Create an agenda for client meeting and email client the agenda.  Run downstairs, throw dry clothes in a basket and swap wet and dirty clothes to keep the process moving.

1:00 pm Call client to discuss projects and deadlines. 

1:30 pm Check on our son and start him with playdough at the kitchen table.  Time to start client projects. 

2:45 pm I wonder why the dog has playdough in his fur.  Kitchen, dear lord.  Ask son to clean up his mess.  Turn on the television.  Sweep up the rest of the mess.

3:00 pm Continue working on projects.

4:30 pm Finish projects.  It’s time to start dinner, wash dishes, and teach son how to set the table. 

5:30 pm Dinner time! 

6:30 pm Clean up.  Start a bath for son. 

6:45 pm Check analytics on websites, check to see if anything needs attention in email.  Start next client’s project. 

7:00 pm PJ time for our son!  He watches a bit of TV  while I continue working on projects.  Doh!  Laundry!  Run downstairs and swap laundry again…. The clean laundry is starting to pile up.  It will definitely be wrinkled.  Does it matter?  I work from home.  Meh, there’s always a wet washcloth in the dry to take out wrinkles. 

8:30 pm Time to read books in bed with our son.  I know you’re tired, mommy… You still need to show your enthuasiam – bring the books alive.  “Growl said mamma bear, someone’s been sleeping in my bed…”  Hugs and Pisses (He can’t get his K’s yet. I need to work on that one.)

9:00 pm Sit down at my computer again.  I am exhausted.  There’s still more to do.  I can see the leftovers on the counter from where I am.  Gah, those need to go in the fridge.  Walk over and clean up the kitchen.  Start a pot of tea. 

9:30 pm Sit down at the computer with a cup of hot tea.  Relax, while working at a leasurely pace on web work—mostly my projects at this point. 

11:00 pm I really should go to bed.  It’s late.

12:42 am I am so tired.  I just want to finish this last little bit.  It’s soooo quiet and peaceful. 

 1:15 am Ok, laundry is folded.  I can’t keep my eyes open any longer.  I can put the clothes away tomorrow and work on unfinished projects-they will be here tomorrow.

 6:30 am “I need to pee, mommy.”