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Category: Digital Marketing

Learn SEO basics with these videos & guides

My clients often ask me how they can improve their SEO (search engine optimization) to rank higher. If their budget allows for it, I partner with an SEO expert, because a successful SEO or SEM (search engine marketing) campaign requires specialized expertise. If such a campaign isn't in their budget, as is often the case […]

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Best business podcasts

I've recently been writing about my favorite podcasts about the business of web design. Here are my favorite business podcasts that aren't about web design, but do have great business content. I’ve listed these from most to least favorite. If you like these, you should read my other posts about podcasts. I’m always looking for […]

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Review: The Elements of Content Strategy by Erin Kissane

The Elements of Content Strategy by Erin Kissane My rating: 3 of 5 stars This short book is a good overview of content strategy. It presents the concepts and includes many references for deeper reading. I’m a web designer who creates websites for small businesses, and those sites are too small to warrant a sophisticated […]

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Review: The Wealthy Freelancer by Steve Slaunwhite

The Wealthy Freelancer: 12 Secrets to a Great Income and an Enviable Lifestyle by Steve Slaunwhite My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is definitely the best book on freelancing I’ve read so far! Many freelancers assume that they must choose between a high income and the freedom of freelancing, so they settle for an […]

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The Referral Engine by John Jantsch (Book Summary)

The Referral Engine: Teaching Your Business to Market Itself by John Jantsch My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is one of the best marketing books I’ve read! Jantsch, clearly a master marketer, shows how to guide prospects to you. How? Educate, and you won’t need to sell. He tells how to build a referral […]

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Customize Google search results with options and tools

Google’s search results are generally quite good by default, but customizing the results can make them even better. Google provides several options for doing this, which appear along the left side of the search results page. These work best if you’re signed into a Google account. Type of content The top group of options filters […]

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Create email distribution lists with Google Workspace

Learn how to create a group in Google Workspace, to use as an email distribution list.

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Google search operators and tips

It’s time to improve your Google search techniques! The simplest tip is to start by using as few words as possible, because each word focuses the search further and thus limits the results. Then, add more words to narrow your results. You can also use the following search operators: Search single word exactly as is […]

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Email management and Inbox Zero

I use GTD principles to achieve Inbox Zero. What does that mean? GTD is short for Getting Things Done, a popular method of organization and productivity that David Allen describes in his bestselling book Getting Things Done. Inbox Zero is the point at which you have no emails in your inbox, because you’ve acted on […]

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Manage email with rules in Outlook

If you hand-sort your email, you’re living in the past! You should use rules to automate your email management. Intro to rules in Outlook A rule is an action that Microsoft Outlook performs automatically upon incoming or outgoing messages, based on conditions that you have specified. You can create a rule from a template, from […]

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How to write good subject lines

Poorly written subject lines are one of my pet peeves. These subject line tips apply to messages sent by email, Facebook, LinkedIn, or other messaging systems with subject lines. Always write a subject line. Don’t leave it blank! Don’t use the subject line to start a conversation, with lines such as "hi" or "what’s up?". […]

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Use Facebook securely with HTTPS

Facebook just added an option to secure your connection with HTTPS! This is great news for any security-conscious Facebook users. Normally, when you use Facebook, anyone on the same network can sniff the network traffic and see what you're doing. Firesheep made this even easier than it already was. It used to be that you […]

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