A compilation of interesting articles and other resources that will help you to make the most of your online marketing initiatives.
Optimizing images for the web
Having a Content Management Systems (CMS) such as Joomla! to update your website is a huge step forward for managing your website and use it as an effective marketing tool.
However, when it comes to uploading images and files to the site, it is very important to optimize the images to make sure that they load fast in the web browser that your customer is using. This is probably the number one mistake that is made by people that do not fully understand the concept of web image optimization. Without getting too technical, I will try to explain this concept.
Can you see any difference between these two images, when viewing them on the screen?
I can't! The picture on the right is smaller in size but looks actually better.
The reason for this is that a computer screen can only display images at 72 dpi (actually called ppi; Points Per Inch). Pictures that we take with our digital camera are generally much larger than what we need to display the image on the screen and the filesize can be enormous. This is a problem if you want your website to load fast, especially for people with a lower speed Internet connection.
There are many tools available that can take care of this for you. Programs like Photoshop, Fireworks, etc do a wonderful job but are more geared toward the graphic professionals.
The following website is a FREE online tool that I have found very useful for quickly optimizing images:
Google Picasa is another free tool, but needs to be downloaded
Finally, there are many other free (mostly web-based) tools available to use. This article has a good overview of some of the more common ones:
http://www.lifeclever.com/10-free-web-based-alternatives-to-photoshop/
Web 2.0 Seminar Powerpoint
Today we held a seminar on Web 2.0 in Red Deer together with Brass Media and Advanced Systems. We had about 15 people come out and had a good discussion about the Web 2.0 and what it can do for business.
This is a copy of the PowerPoint presentation. A link to the Podcast about this event is posted in the Blog section of this site.
Free Web 2.0 seminar May 22
Advanced Systems Lunch & Learn
Grow Your Business Online. A Web 2.0 seminar
Speakers:
Dean Owen, owner of BRASSmedia, a Central Alberta business specializing in bringing web 2.0 to the enterprise through podcasts and media production. Dean will be speaking about what web 2.0 is and what it can do for your business.
Peter DeWit, president of Nova Media Inc, a web development and Internet Marketing firm from Red Deer will be speaking on how to use the Internet as a marketing communication tool, and how to grow your business online.
Date: Thursday, May 22, 2008
Time: 11:30 – 2:00 pm
Place: Advanced Systems Office, #34, 4917 48 St. Red Deer
Cost: Free, but please RSVP at 347-3344. Lunch will be provided.
Presentation
What is Web 2.0? How can you use the Internet to grow your business? How can Internet Marketing help you to be more successful? Come and find out at this free seminar sponsored by Advanced Systems. This seminar will help you as a business owner or manager to take advantage of this powerful marketing communication medium.
For more information call 347-3344 or visit the presenters online at www.brassmedia.ca or www.novamedia.ca
Ten Ways to Use LinkedIn
By adding connections, you increase the likelihood that people will see your profile first when they’re searching for someone to hire or do business with. In addition to appearing at the top of search results (which is a major plus if you’re one of the 52,000 product managers on LinkedIn), people would much rather work with people who their friends know and trust.
The Best Salesperson
Ramon Ray, Courtesy of Entrepreneur.com
I know that a business's website is one of the most powerful sales tools a small business can have, but I've never thought of a website as a salesperson until now. Do it yourself and you might start looking at websites differently.
If you think of your website as a salesperson, you'll begin to think of it as more than just a glorified brochure. You'll even want it to be better designed, since you probably want your sales reps to look good.
