7 Things Highly Productive People Do by Ilya Pozin

You have more important things to focus on than, um, focusing. Get back on track with these tips.

You probably don’t want to admit it but you love distractions. In fact, just like monkeys, you get a shot of dopamine every time something pulls you in another direction. Why do you think you check your email so much?

Want to be more productive and get your focus back? There are no secret tricks here… do one thing at a time. Stop multitasking—it’s just another form of distraction.

Easier said than done, I know.

Continue reading at Inc.com

Here are my top 10 things people won’t tell you about your website:

1. Your website looks home-made.
2. Your website does not speak to your market
3. Your website has many spelling and grammatical errors
4. Many links on your website aren’t working
5. The images on your website are not of great quality
6. Your website is difficult to navigate
7. Your website does not have any “call to action”
8. Your free gift is not set up correctly
9. Your website is too cluttered
10. You should take down empty pages

The reason why people won’t say anything is because you haven’t asked them to. It’s so much easier to give positive feedback than negative feedback especially when your opinion has not been solicited.

You might almost have a panic attack when you ask for feedback about your website/business from someone that you value their opinion and know that they would give you honest feedback. But ask all the same.

A while ago, someone mentioned that I had a stock photo on my site that had a watermark on it. I was so glad that she said this because I had asked for feedback. The watermarked photo on my site had been on my home page for almost a year and I’d missed it! We had put some text over the photo instead of the purchased version, so you could easily miss seeing the watermark if you didn’t look at it long enough and I saw the photo almost everyday! This is one of the reasons why you should ask more than a few people to review your website because everyone sees some different.

You have my permission to review my website but please be kind in your feedback delivery. I would rather have feedback that would be helpful than bury my head in the sand. We should use feedback as opportunity to correct errors, enhance our brands and grow our businesses.

Also don’t hesitate to ask me for feedback about your business website…I would be kind in delivering my constructive criticism and better yet, positive feedback if that is the case – won’t you love that!  I won’t just be giving  feedback but would also work with you in fixing the problem areas…only if you Ask.

Contact me for your complimentary website review and don’t hesitate to schedule a Branding and Marketing Discovery Session for your business.

Also don’t hesitate to download my free gift to you, a blueprint/guide Is Your Website Holding You Back? 7 Easy Ways to Attract and Retain Customers on Your Website. This guide is jam packed with valuable information that you can use immediately to enhance your website and business.

Internet technology changes very quickly and you cannot afford for your website to be out-dated as this reflects on your company. Websites should be reevaluated every three months for content tweaks, images replacements, and links corrections. You can’t leave a website alone for a long periods of time as your website creates an impression of your business- positive or negative.

You should re-examine your website more often than not. If it’s been a year since your website had any changes, it is way past due for a revision.

Finally a website redesign should not not be about tweaking what you already have. It’s involves the same process as an initial design, aligning the website design with your business and marketing strategies plus the latest technologies. Websites should be constantly optimized for the search engines and social networking. All websites at any point in time, should be easy to navigate, be functional and contain web copy that would attract your ideal clients and customers.

Read Post:

I’m often asked by my Virtual Assistant clients, “I submit articles, I tweet on Twitter, and post on Facebook, I publish an ezine – do I still really need to blog?”

Yes, you do! And here’s why:

Connect on a personal level: A blog is a way to start a conversation about a particular subject – in this case related to your business and the issues surrounding it. By inviting your readers to join the dialogue, you create an opportunity to engage your readers – clients and potential clients — on a more personal level than in a website or even an ezine. Your posts reflect your thoughts and ideas on certain matters, making deeper connections with your readers’ ideals, values and needs. Readers can comment and commiserate on issues, offering you the chance to offer solutions. This is relationship building – taking you a step further toward creating clients for life.

The consistency of your topics is key to building and keeping an audience. Readers turn to blogs for specific information, news, ideas and conversation about a topic that is important to them. By keeping your posts consistent, you become an expert and the source of what they are searching for.

Search Engine Ranking: Fresh content is the steam that fuels search engines. And as we all know, steam rises! Again, the key is consistency in your posts. When your posts contain related keywords and phrases time and time again, search engines, like Google, put you higher in the rankings. Don’t let your blog sit idle. Post regularly and send your search engine ranking skyward!

Fewer people are subscribing to ezines: I’m one of them. I can now count on one hand the number of ezines I receive in my inbox. People are becoming overwhelmed with email and fewer are signing up to receive ezines. More people are signing up for news feeds to receive new information from sources they know and trust- blogs. If your readers are signing up for your news feed, you’re delivering fresh, timely information to them every time you post.

Not everyone is on social media: On the flip side, there are some people who are not on social media, who may prefer to receive information by e-mail. Blogs generally offer either an RSS feed or an e-mail digest. Or, with applications like Google’s Feedburner, you can create e-mail newsletters from your RSS feeds, and track the usage of your subscribers.

Reliability and control: A month or so ago both Facebook and twitter were ‘down’ for a substantial amount of time. That was a wake-up call for us to be equally active on platforms that we can control, such as a blog. Who knows what might happen to Facebook or twitter – but I know nothing will happen to my own site/blog – and therefore I make it a priority to be active there also.

Remember – there is no single magic pill in Online Marketing. Just because Facebook and twitter are so popular, doesn’t mean you should neglect the other areas. Having a blog can be an invaluable way to build a following, brand yourself as an expert, and rise in search engine rankings. Having a presence on multiple fronts (blogging, social media, website, ezine…) will put you in front of more readers, and give you the optimal return on your time.

Author: Donna Toothaker is CEO, founder and coach of Step It Up VA Coaching, http://www.stepitupva.com.

PS: We design custom blogs to match your website and seamlessly merge your existing website with your new blog. Contact us about how to get you blogging in 2011. WordPress CMS is our number one choice for blogging and web design applications. Check out our portfolio for our very extensive examples of WordPress blogs and websites.

In these latter parts of the year, a lot of business owners are working on revamping their websites and I do know that a lot of the websites that I use for various reasons are rolling out their new sites instead of waiting till the start of the upcoming year.

Are you thinking about rolling out a new dynamic website for 2011? Here are some questions on an important aspect of having a business website:

• Is your website going to showcase your products and or services effectively?
• Will you be offering quality real life examples for potential and existing clients to review?
• Will you be putting on display rave reviews, projects, services and products you have completed?

If you are not highlighting your expertise, demonstrating the value that your potential clients and customers need….then STOP! And get back to the drawing board.

Your website is the one place where there are no restrictions to showcasing what you have to offer.

I provide a FREE 30 minutes consultation, use this opportunity to chat about upgrading your online marketing presence and how to strategically showcase your products and services.

1. A professionally designed website gives you an edge over your competitors.
2. To potential customers, your website is like a store and your business card.
3. Your website acts as an interface between your organization and the rest of the world, year round.
4. Critical points of building an online business presence is having an appealing, informative & interactive website.
5. Having a great website is an absolute first step in creating a marketing brand for your company.
6. Your website is a great way to communicate with potential customers.
7. Usability of your website can convert more people to purchase services from your business.
8. Well designed web sites work so that your company is well-presented in the business environment
9. Your website is a reflection of the way you do business.
10. Your website has the potential to give your business a larger customer base online.

For additional tips and to see how AI Virtual Solutions can help you get started on your website, do call or email us. Here are a few additional tips to consider as your website comes together:

1. Besides a having a great look, a website must be also be user friendly, easy to navigate, understand and find.
2. An attractive & professional looking website will give your business credibility & help strengthen your brand.
3. Visitors typically decide within seconds whether or not they are staying on a website aka buy from you!

So you say to yourself why would you need the services of a trained web designer, if you can get it done on your own.

Sooner or later, it gets to the point where you need your business website to reflect your commitment to your business.

Do not think that the well informed potential client would have a positive impression when they view your website as “homemade”.

Here are some of the assumptions that they will form:

• You are new in business: Being new in business should not be perceived as negative but truth be told, people would be reluctant to want to buy from a person that is just starting out. You should not blatantly promote that a potential client would be your first client. You should promote your expertise and previous experience.
• Your business isn’t making any money: If people see a “Free website by Blah Blah” on the footer of your website, they would think “Can’t afford a paid-for website”.
• You don’t have clients and/or customers: People want to deal with businesses that have a proven track record.
• You are not committed to the business: This means that you can pack up shop tomorrow and not finish their project or provide after sale care.

Did you know that these conclusions would be drawn in less than a minute? All of these assumptions would take them to your competitors, period.

These are some of the reasons to hire a professional web designer:

• Many are business owners themselves
• They understand what gives a positive or negative impression
• They provide more than just web design
• Many are trained not only in web design but web development, search engine optimization, internet marketing and more; and have in depth knowledge and experience in these areas
• Many don’t charge an arm and a leg, they have affordable services packages to meet the needs and budget of a potential client

A very important thing that I continue to see in successful business owners and I’m privileged to continue to connect with many; is that they delegate to experts in fields that they don’t have the a background or in depth experience in.

Remember, First Impress Counts! and Anything Worth Doing is Worth Doing Well!

1. Always have the email come from the same person at your end. It helps to create a sense of rapport and stability.
2. Never use a subject or title line that is misleading; always make it descriptive of what is in the body of the email.
3. On the other hand, keep it snappy. Instead of “Your November Newsletter”, use the title of one of the more important articles in your newsletter.
4. Make it clear that it is okay to forward the email to others, if the subscriber likes. This form of viral marketing can grow your subscriber list over time.
5. Always include links to your product pages in the body of the email.
6. Also include an easy opt-out link at the bottom of the communication.
7. Be sure to solicit responses and comments. People love to share their thoughts.
8. Formatting is especially important in plain text messages. Keep the attention going by using bulleted lists instead of lengthy paragraphs.
9. Stay away from using all capital letters or italicizing words, as they can be harder to view on a computer screen.
10. Watch the use of color in your emails, especially with text; lighter colors tend to be hard to read, especially on a white background.
11. Use fonts that are similar to those used in most email clients; it will make it easier to arrange the text to best advantage, especially for plain text emails.
12. Include some incentive to visit your website, such as promoting a new product or noting a new blog entry.
13. Don’t forget to include a special offer or a discount from time to time.
14. Always thank the subscribers for their time and support.
15. Before you send the emails to clients, send them to an email address of your own, with one in HTML and another in plain text. That way, you know exactly what the subscriber will see.
16. Don’t be afraid to try something different now and then. Vary texts, layouts, and other elements to see what subscribers respond to best.
17. Keep the text of the email focused; rambling will lose your audience, just as wandering text on your website will drive visitors away.
18. Use a reliable program to blast mail to your subscriber list; most allow you to review a report of successful deliveries once the job is complete.
19. Review the reports regularly, and compare them to spikes in your web site traffic, and the responses you get about specifics of the emails.
20. Used software to tabulate and categorize the responses. It will make it much easier to process them and turn them into usable data.
21. Assess the percentage of response you get. The industry standard is between five and fifteen percent. If you are getting less than that, it is time to rethink your approach.
22. If a response serves as the inspiration for an article in the next newsletter, ask the subscriber if it is okay to mention them by first name and initial. This is enough to maintain anonymity, while still recognizing their contribution.
23. Ask subscribers to submit some of their own copy once or twice a year. You may be surprised with the quality of what you receive. Reward the best one with a free ebook or other product.
24. Send out special holiday emails along with your regular weekly communications.
25. Listen to the feedback from your subscribers. It will help you refine the mailings as you go along.

Here are five simple ways that your website could be losing you business:

1. Slow Page Loads: People get really frustrated when pages take long to load. If you have this problem then check the size of your images and ensure that their sizes are optimized to load quicker while still maintaining the integrity of these images. Find ways to optimize your pages as well, also contact your web hosting company about this issue if everything you’ve tried hasn’t resolved the issue.
2. Dead/Broken Links: No one likes to click on a link and it goes to a “not found” page. Use a good broken links checker regularly to ensure that all your links are valid. A great tool to use for checking links is the W3C links checker.
3. Inactive Contact Forms: Imagine someone who is really interested in your products and/or services and then they’d taken the time to complete your contact form, click on the send button and NOTHING HAPPENS! Many people would immediately move on to the next person.
4. Poor Navigation: It’s important to give visitors to your website many ways to navigate through your web pages. It comes highly recommended from the usability point, to have more than one way to click through pages.
5. Visible Contact: Not every potential client wants to use your contact form. So create other options for they to contact you via. Some people like to send emails and some like to speak to a person. Adding an email address link and telephone number can make a difference.

Taking into consideration the mentioned above points can makes a huge difference in whether you gain more business or not.

I purchased 2 ShareO licenses for both myself and my VA and we used it for two months to manage my emails and have had many issues. Our emails weren’t syncing, attachments were getting corrupt, etc. I got fed up with these issues and have migrated to Google mail. I have a Virtual Assistant business and  99.98% of my communication is done via email, I needed something that would WORK!

In the first month, my assistant wasn’t getting new emails, we were also getting multiple folders issues where we could end up with 3 0r 4 of the same folder. In the end I realized as my inbox continued to get fuller, that we weren’t seeing the same things. Basically we were not seamlessly synced!

I just asked for a refund and didn’t get one. They would rather hang on to my $69.90 than do the right thing! So now there is the question of standing behind your policies and customer satisfaction. But who am I to say anything?, I don’t also run a business.

NOTE: When I spoke with Don, I said that I had had tech support for 2 months. I was trying to say that I had had support from their tech department. We dealt with tech support in a 2-3 weeks period.

I had a livechat with ShareO sales support team member, Marlow. Below is our full conversation:

Chat InformationPlease wait for a site operator to respond.

Chat InformationYou are now chatting with ‘Marlow‘

Chat InformationYour Issue ID for this chat is LTK146042066807X

Marlow: Hello.  How may I assist you?

agnes: hi, I purchased 2 shareo licenses for both myself and my assistant and we’ve had issues with email management and I now just starting using gmail for email management purposes. I made my purchase in Feb and my assistant’s in march. I would appreciate a refund as we weren’t able to work with shareo for outlook.
Marlow: Have you contacted our tech support via LiveChat?

Marlow: According to our money-back policy we only give a refund if our technicians are not able to make our software work on your computer during 14-day money back performance guarantee period.

agnes: yes, your tech support guy helped on several occassions, with my assistant and finally with myself. he accessed my computer, did some such and also my assistant’s but we still weren’t synced and I still ended up doing my emails.

Marlow: Ok. Our technicians can solve your issue.

Marlow: I will transfer you to them.

Chat InformationPlease wait while I transfer the chat to ‘Don‘.

Chat InformationYou are now chatting with ‘Don‘

Chat InformationYour Issue ID for this chat is LTK146042066807X

Don: Hello.

agnes: Hi Don, I don’t want any more technical help. I’ve imported all my emails, calendar, contact to gmail. I just want to get a refund. Another technical guy has tried to help but we still have issues.

agnes: Marlow was too quick to transfer me…

Don: Please note that refund is not possible if you refuse our tech support. Sorry, it is our sales policy. You can check our money back policy at: http://www.4team.biz/TRIAL_moneyback_policy.asp

agnes: I’ve had technical help for 2 months. Many online chats and remote access on both my assistant’s and my computers. I patiently did all this. Its taking time away from my work. I do all my work via email.

agnes: I’m sure there are records of all our communications

Don: Ok, in that case I will transfer you back to Marlow if that’s OK with you and you can proceed with your refund request.

Don: Yes, there are.

agnes: thanks

Don: One moment please.

Chat InformationPlease wait while I transfer the chat to ‘Marlow‘.

Chat InformationYou are now chatting with ‘Marlow‘

Chat InformationYour Issue ID for this chat is LTK146042066807X

Marlow: Hello, again.

agnes: Marlow, you were too quick to transfer me.

Marlow: Yes, we have records of these communications. However our tech support department states that all issues were solved.

agnes: I have communicated with your tech support on many occassions. I work virtually, so I need my email management to work perfectly.

Marlow: We can not issue a refund if you refuse our support.

Marlow: This is our refund policy.

agnes: I’ve already had your support. Chats and remote access on our computers.

Marlow: Yes and all issues were solved.

agnes: I reloaded new versions and such as well.

Marlow: Now you have encountered other issues. Please let our tech support to solve them.

agnes: its the same issues, not new.

Marlow: They can make ShareO work on your computers.

Marlow: If they will not be able to solve your issues, we will issue a refund.

agnes: I’ve used shareo for 2 months and now gone to google mail. it takes time trying to continue to do this. my whole work is dopendent on email.

agnes: It’s feels like you are strong arming me.

Marlow: Refund is possible only if you visit our technical support and they are unable to fix the issues you have encountered.

agnes: I’ve already done that many times. when should I say no more.

Marlow: Refund is not possible in such case.

Marlow: Do you have any more questions for me?

agnes: Your tech support has tried many things…nothing has worked. Now I’m using google mail.

agnes: why are refunds not possible??? I’ve being very patient and dealt with tech support. Now you tell me that I can’t get a refund when I can’t use your product.

Marlow: Our technicians can make our product work, but you refuse our support.

Marlow: In such case refund is not possible.

Marlow: You can check our refund policy at: http://www.4team.biz/TRIAL_moneyback_policy.asp

agnes: I didin’t refuse your support, I’ve already used your support and now migrated to google mail.

Marlow: You are now refusing our support.

agnes: You are trying to strong arm me.

Marlow: You should have contacted our support before you moved to google mail.

agnes: I have already started using google mail.

agnes: I no longer had the luxury of time to continue with my daily email issues.

agnes: I’m waiting.

Marlow: Each time you have contacted our tech support, your issues were solved.

Marlow: We can solve issues this time as well.

agnes: No one contacted me to ask if the problems were resolved.

Marlow: You should have contacted, if they were not solved.

agnes: All i need now is my refund for both licenses.

Marlow: Have you checked our refund policy?

Marlow: It is written in bold: We will only refund your money if our technicians are not able to make our software work on your computer during 14-day money back performance guarantee period. There is no refund after that.

Marlow: Do you have any more questions for me?

agnes: I will be posting this conversation on my blog as a review of your product and customer service. Thanks. Agnes Ikotun

Marlow: I do regret for inconveniences. My pleasure to help. Goodbye.

agnes: Enough said!

Chat InformationChat session has been terminated by the site operator.

I hope this review helps other people deciding to use ShareO.

Note to Corporation 4 Team (ShareO):  I also welcome your comments.