How to make a difference in the next decade

Yesterday I was reading a post by Matt Perman at What’s Best Next where he talks about making a difference in the next decade.

I love the main thought of the article and that is to make one recurring routine in an area of high impact.

Kim Avery LCfCW

Visit lifecoachingforchristianwomen.com

Congrats to Kim Avery

Kim Avery recently re-launched her Life Coaching for Christian Women website, and we wanted to send her a quick high-five and whoo-hoo!  Way to go, Kim and THANK YOU for allowing the WebServant to be part of your fun project.

What is your unexpected twist?

[Photo Flickr: Malkav]

My husband is the best cook ever and one of my favorite things about his style is his creativity. Like yesterday he made a stir-fry chicken dish, but instead of the usual soy savory flavor, he squeezed a fresh orange into the mix and served it with a fresh orange slice on the side. I loved the surprising flavor zing – yummo!

What conferences are on your 2010 wish list?

If you had unlimited time and travel budget in 2010, what conferences would you not miss?

For me it would be…

• the next Inbound Marketing Summit;
• the next FOWD (Future of Web Design) by Carsonified;
• BigOmaha in May;
• the Ft. Worth ICF (International Coach Federation) Conference in October;
• Steve Krug’s Usability Workshop in London or Seattle.

What a feast!

Where would you go?

Why some websites are ugly and how to make yours a little more beautiful

I see a lot of template and D.I.Y. websites that look ugly and outdated, yet are being used as a calling card for professional people.

I understand that cost is often a consideration and custom design is not for everyone. But I want to encourage those of you who are offering professional services to match your website appearance to the caliber of service you provide.

My mom always told me you can’t judge a book by it’s cover, and that is true, but the problem is, we ALL make snap judgments about quality based on appearance because we live in such a visual society. You are being Googled, whether you realize it or not, and judgments are being made about you by your website.

So if you are using a website template or D.I.Y. tool, here are some tips on how to easily make your website a little more beautiful. I am sure I have overlooked plenty, please add your thoughts in the comments.

• Watch out for cut and paste. I see a lot of  pasted Word document content. The problem is, Word has built in formatting that will override the CSS style settings of your website, so the content you paste directly from Word will not look like it belongs. If you are using Wordpress, try using the Word or Text clipboard paste tool when pasting text, or the text cleaner (eraser tool) to remove formatting from the imported text.

• Padding around images. When text buts up against your images with no breathing room it just looks bad. In Wordpress, when you edit the image, click on the “Advanced” tab and next to Image Properties add “10px” vertical and horizontal spacing. Ahhhh, that’s better.
• Use a transparent background for images. If you want to use your logo or another image in the header of your site, ask your designer for a version with a transparent background vs. white. Your image will blend in to the header better without that white blocky background.

• Consistent image size. Mismatched image sizes from page to page make your site look jumbled. Try to stick with a certain size standard, i.e. 250px square or 250px x 180px.

• Limit font colors. Just because your website editor gives you 20 different font color choices, that doesn’t mean you need to use them all. Stick with one main color for text with a complementary color for headings and links. If you are using a Wordpress theme, this will already be set for you through the style sheet, but again, pasting from Word will override this so just be aware.

• Keep fonts and styles consistent. Your website will look more unified if you limit your font choice to one or two and keep all headings as H1 for example, with H2 for subheadings. Also, watch capitalization, i.e. are the words in the headline all capitalized or just the first word? Either way is okay, just keep it consistent.

• Uniform ad size. I see a lot of pasted ad graphics in sidebars that are a jumble of shapes, sizes and colors. This is really distracting for the reader. If you are going to use advertising, try to keep the ad size and shape uniform. You might not be able to control the color, but the size should be tweak-able.

The website content you offer and the conversions that happen as a result is going to be a better measure of success than the beauty factor. But, if you can make your site easy on the eyes, easy to navigate, and easy to take action — you’ve done it all. I’m with you all the way

What suggestions do you have?

How do you follow up after a conference?

ICF 2009 (International Coach Federation) is over and I am grateful for all the connections with familiar and new friends alike. I have a stack of business cards that I don’t want to get buried by my to-do list. Here’s what I’m thinking…

Some contacts I already know and love like @CoachKimAvery, @SusanFleming, Martha Darwin and Gail Hartin. I will definitey refer prospects and stay in touch.

Conversations are in the works with new contacts @MilanaLeshinsky and @AnnFarrell,  so nice to meet you super coaches!

And for other great coaches I met, like @NgeeKey, I will definitely send a quick email to learn more about their coaching practice and what a great referral would be so I can connect people together. After all, isn’t that what networking is all about?

What do you do to follow up with people you met at a conference?

How to get great feedback about your work

A good testimonial is really important when you are offering professional services, but if you’re like many people, you might feel a little embarrassed to ask for one.

Here are some ideas to help you gather good feedback.

• Create an finish line survey. When you cross the finish line of your project, you want to know what went well and what can be improved, right? As part of this survey simply ask, “Do you have any feedback for me which I could share on my website with a link to yours?” This is a simple question that doesn’t ask for a glowing recommendation, but allows your client to put in his own words what he liked about working with you. Plus, it benefits the client with a link to their site (always good).
• Capture email comments. Throughout the project, your client may share kind words or thank you’s about your work together. Ask permission to use these statements on your website with a link to theirs.
• Get anonymous feedback. The Reach 360 Basic Personal Branding survey is one tool that allows you to gather feedback from your friends, clients, or co-workers anonymously. A tool like this can give you great insight into what is really working with your service.
• Hire an interviewer. One of the best ways to get candid feedback about your services is to have someone ask in an interview. You can create the list of questions, then hire someone to conduct the interview and compile the information. This technique may be more pricey, but the results are more likely to be honest.
• And, this goes without saying, but give it your BEST every time. Your testimonials might just start taking care of themselves

What have I overlooked? Please share your tips.

Is Wordpress a good fit for you?

We like to use Wordpress as a CMS (content management system) here at the WebServant, and from time to time people who are transitioning from a static html website wonder if Wordpress is a good fit.

Here are some questions and considerations to help you decide.

• Do you want to blog? Wordpress was originally developed as a blogging tool, so if you like to write and want to create dialogue and discussion with your posts, Wordpress will be a  great tool.
• Do you want to upload files? Wordpress makes it really easy to upload photos, PDF documents, etc. to your website. Being able to navigate and manage your photo and file documents on your local computer will be a big plus when it comes to using Wordpress.
• Do you want to keep a consistent design between your blog and your other website pages? Wordpress uses design themes to carry a consistent look and feel across your site. You can change out the sidebar or make small content design changes from page to page using templates.
• Are you a hands on person? If you want to be hands on in the management of your website, Wordpress is a great tool. You can easily manage changes to text, links, photos and vidoe, and you can add lots of bells and whistles with plugins.
• Do you want to future proof your website? Wordpress is open source software, which means it is constantly being improved and updated, therefore, there may be several new software releases per year. This means your site can be upgraded to the new version multiple times. You can easily hire someone to do this for you or create a partnership for ongoing support.
• Are you into learning new things? Wordpress.tv is a plethora of Wordpress video tutorials, plus there are many other great learning and tutorial websites (for example, we have some videos in our WebServant Community). If you have a question about Wordpress, chances are someone else has also wondered the same thing.

Hope these thoughts are helpful. What else are you wondering about Wordpress?