JBCR Virtual Solutions Blog

Teach or Learn - A Great Site For Both!

2009-10-10T21:58:00.000-07:00

Just found OneMinueU thanks to a post from my Facebook friend Adam Urbanski.

At this site you can post a video or article, or watch a video / read an article. It is a networking service that allows users to create and post online educational "how-to" multi-media for enjoyment, knowledge and entertainment.

The Terms of Use is quite long but probably worth reading.

Check it out!

http://www.oneminuteu.com/

Jan

A Great Video About Facebook

2009-10-07T12:11:00.000-07:00

Scott Stratten, unmarketing on Twitter, created this great video called "Why Don't You Leave Me Alone? A Facebook Song". It is a must see and a must pass on.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-Ge6RkbJpE

Enjoy!

Jan

Protecting Privacy For Users of Social Networks

2009-08-28T20:44:00.000-07:00

An article in the Vancouver Sun (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) today states that Facebook will revamp the way it protects personal information.

"Privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart on Thursday announced Facebook will add "significant new privacy safeguards" to bring the California company into compliance with Canada's private-sector privacy law."

Another point I find important:

"The biggest change, to be implemented across the entire Facebook network over the next 12 months, will curtail the access outside software developers have to the personal information of users."

I don't know about you but ever since I signed up for Facebook my spam emails has tripled and I get newsletters / announcements / advertisements / etc., from people and companies that I never signed up for OR opted in to. I am hoping this will help stop that.

Read more of this article here:

http://snipurl.com/rgxlv

What is with Google Toolbar Results?!

2009-08-12T14:00:00.000-07:00

Over the last few days I have noticed that when I type in a search term the results I get have nothing to do with my search, or if they do they go to a site that has nothing to do with my search term. Here is an example of when I did a search on facebook.com

Even the second one that clearly states www.facebook.com is not when I click on it. This is just one example of many. What the heck is going on?!

Has anyone else had this problem?

Jan

Heat Stress - How To Work And Stay Cool

2009-08-01T20:33:00.000-07:00

We have been having a heat wave here in the Pacific Northwest that has broken all records they have ever recorded. So how to you work when the heat is on?

Here on some tips.

1. Go to bed earlier and get up earlier. You will still get your needed sleep when the sun is down. Have your fan running at high speed and put water or ice in front of it to get the air conditioning effect.

2. Put your feet in water to help keep your body temperature down while at the computer. May sound strange but cooling down your head/feet will help your entire body.

3. Make a "To Do List" in the cool part of the day. When the heat is on it is hard to concentrate - you will have your list to follow.

4. Arrange meetings in the early hours. Heat will make you tired so get those meetings out of the way in the morning.

5. Shut your computer(s) off during lunch and dinner breaks to keep the heat down in the office.

Heat can affect all or your environments so besides trying to stay cool make sure that you monitor the basics - speech (including email), appearance (no meetings - keep your attire minimal), productivity (if you need a cool break have a quick shower and get back to work with a refreshed body and mind).

Always remember, this to will pass.

Very Warmly :-)

Jan

Facebook Update

2009-07-26T21:16:00.000-07:00

Most of you that read my blog are on Facebook, or certainly know about Facebook, so I just wanted to let you know this new update I read about recently.

Facebook is now 'allowing' you to change you Facebook username. I know, they said you couldn't change it once you had created it at sign-up but...

So here is what you do:

Go into the “Settings” at the top-right of the Facebook page and then click on “Account Settings.” The second option from the top is “Username" - press “Change” to enter in your new username and then click “Confirm” when you’re ready to set it. BUT - BUT -before you do that make sure that is the name you want to use and is viewed on Facebook.

Facebook says this is the only username change you can make - so think about it before you change it.

Hope this is a helpful hint!

Jan

How a Song Can Touch You

2009-07-20T21:23:00.000-07:00

I love music. Almost every type of music.. almost.

Recently I heard a song by Nickelback called "If Today Was Your Last Day". It touched me so much for many, many, reasons. It speaks to our mortality - yes - and makes you ask questions.

You can also listen to it in relation to how you deal in business.

Think about that not only in relation to your mortality, but how you can help folks that come to you for business help. What would you do if today was your last day? Would you make your mark? Shoot for the stars? What would you do if you had one thing you could do to make a difference today?

If today was your last day....what would you do?

Think about it.

Jan

Michael Jackson's Branding

2009-07-01T21:55:00.000-07:00

No I am not trying to jump on the band wagon of getting hits for using the name 'Michael Jackson". What I wanted to do was show you just how important branding is and how Michael Jackson was a master. Let me give you an example.

When you hear the phrase 'moon walk' do you think of:

1) Neil Armstrong
2) Michael Jackson

Of course you think Michael Jackson.

When you hear the phrase 'glove' do you think of:

1) OJ Simpson
2) Michael Jackson

Of course you think Michael Jackson.

It's not just because of his recent passing, it's because he was a Master at branding. He knew that everything about him was a brand. Everything from his voice, hair, face, clothes, to his Howard Huges eccentricity was a brand. Make no mistake he knew what he was doing. RIP MJ

What does that mean to you - pay attention to a master (as is Gene Simmons of KISS & Family Jewels fame).

What you may think is over the top, in branding you and your business, may just be what you need to bring your brand to life.

To read more articles like this click here.

Let's Think 'We' Not 'Me'

2009-06-21T21:28:00.000-07:00

This video is so funny, you just have to look at it. But before you watch it, I just want to say that I feel most of us, if we are really, [ really ], honest with ourselves, will admit to having been on either end of this equation at one time or another. The lesson to me here is; show respect the other person, whether you are the client or the service provider. Both sides need to respect each other's need to survive and even flourish if possible. Both need to respect the other's valuable contribution to their lives. The value of the work and of the person. It's not supposed to be a battle of getting the better of one another. We should instead work together for the benefit of each other.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2a8TRSgzZY

Did You Know Facebook Has Secrets?

2009-06-17T21:02:00.000-07:00

I was reading an article today about Facebook and there were a couple of points I wanted to pass along to you.

1. Facebook limits the number of new invites that can be sent in a day, or week. The exact number of invitations that are allowed is a Facebook secret (apparently), but according to my research, if you exceed this secret amount you can get booted.

2. Facebook permits only 5000 friends (from my research). If you go over that a waiting list will be created. However, they can always become a 'fan'.

So do go out and prosper at Facebook, but do keep this in mind.

Jan

WeFollow

2009-06-03T14:45:00.000-07:00

From the title of my last blog post you would think I knew about "WeFollow", but I just bumped into this today.

I was on Facebook today and a poster mentioned wefollow so I decided to check out what it is.

WeFollow is a Twitter directory that has just been launched - still in beta they say.

You can register for free.

You fill in 3 tags that describes your interests and people can find you. You can also find folks with similar interests.

In your 'What are you doing?' box, type in @wefollow as the first thing you type, to bring it to their attention. Then you type in a hashtag - the # symbol, immediately followed by any keyword you want to be listed under.

Currently there are no help pages on WeFollow but if you want some good info on it check out Danny Sullivan's post here:

http://searchengineland.com/wefollow-new-twitter-directory-16940

Check it WeFollow here:

http://wefollow.com/

p.s. I added myself as webdesigner, graphicsdesigner, entrepreneur
Come Follow :-)

Have Bing - Will Follow?

2009-05-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

Bing (aka Live Search) is the new Microsoft search engine. Is it going to be major competition to Google - certainly not at this point.

When I checked it out myself I only got a "Coming Soon" and a video. So I can't test it yet to give you my views.

You can see the video here:

http://www.decisionengine.com/Default.html

Seems some have been offered the beta version as I found a few articles on the differences between Google and Bing. Here is one article I found that I recommend you read if interested:

http://searchengineland.com/microsofts-bing-vs-google-head-to-head-search-results-20006

Apparently it goes live next week - so stay tuned.

Use Twitter - Who Follows

2009-05-29T12:31:00.000-07:00

I came across an article on Twitter use and they had a link to a site that allows you to quickly see who is following you on Twitter and not following you back and visa versa. Thought you might be interested.

http://friendorfollow.com/

Happy Friday!

Jan

Mercury Retrograde and Business

2009-05-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

Do you know what Mercury Retrograde is? A basic definition of retrograde is:

"When a planet goes retrograde, it appears to be moving backwards."

The planet Mercury rules communication, travel, contracts, transportation, education.

Retrograde periods are often problematic.

Whether you believe in this or not, have you noticed that communication between clients / customers has been difficult lately? Have you noticed that projects are not going as smoothly or as planned? Have you noticed unresolved issues have returned or people you have not had contact with for quite some time have returned?

Understanding when Mercury goes retrograde can actually help you in business as you are more prepared and more understanding when communication is difficult, etc.

On May 7th this Mercury retrograde started and won't go direct until May 30th. However, everything won't straighten out until June 14th.

Read more articles here:
http://www.jbcr-virtualsolutions.com/tips-and-articles.html

Online Shopping

2009-04-15T11:44:00.000-07:00

Most web sites use a shopping cart for online shopping. There is a feature in the product area that I use with clients that I wanted to mention because it is usually used for an upsell feature, but it can also be used to help finalize a sale. This feature is "Top HTML for Checkout". The checkout page is where your customer will add all their information to make their purchase.

What the "Top HTML for Checkout" feature can be used for, in this case, is confirming what the customer is purchasing. You can put a picture of the product, price and shipping (if applicable). What this does is immediately confirms to the customer what they are agreeing to purchase. This gives them confidence in the purchase process.

The "Top HTML for Checkout" feature can be straight text or html.

Do you know what long tail keywords are?

2009-03-19T20:07:00.000-07:00

I have been reading a lot about long tail keywords lately. In truth, maybe the phrase is new but the concept is not.

When you think about it, would you search for "car" if you were looking for a car? I doubt it. You would probably type in car, model, color, features, etc. That is basically what long tail keywords refer to.

So why use them? The best description I read is:

"The core idea of long tail keywords is that there is less competition for them, so it's easier to get good search engine rankings. As well, people who search certain long tail keywords are much more likely to be potential purchasers. By optimizing your website and delivering content to match these search queries you will be attracting visitors who are searching for specific (my note: specific is important) service/product information."

So, for example, if you are a coach, don't just use coach, or career coach, as your keywords, use something like "coach to help with career goals" or "need a coach to help with career goals". But - but- take it one step further, for example, "coach to help with my career goal as a published author in children's books". Now that is long tail!!

Read more here:

http://www.jbcr-virtualsolutions.com/SEO.html

Jan

Authority Sites and FAQ Pages

2009-03-14T22:05:00.000-07:00

In previous blog posts I have explained to you that authority sites are what you should be striving for if you are interested in top positions on the search engines and a few key things to do to get you there. In a new post, one item I read about today (which I do on my own site) is a FAQ page.

FAQ page content answers real user questions about your products or services. One page may work but you also may want to look at having multiple FAQ pages if it fits your products/services.

In a recent WebProNews post Chris Crum states "Web businesses may benefit by creating FAQ content that is targeted at answering real user questions about their products." Read more here:

http://www.webpronews.com/topnews/2009/03/05/why-faq-pages-could-boost-your-google-rankings

Check out my FAQ pages here for the basic idea of FAQ pages:

http://www.jbcr-virtualsolutions.com/faq.html

Jan

Business in 2009, The Feng Shui Way

2009-01-30T22:12:00.000-08:00

I subscribe to many newsletters to keep up to date of what is going on in many areas of the virtual world. One newsletter I received this week struck a cord with me and I wanted to share it with you.

This is from Feng Shui Truth:

There heading is "BUSINESS in 2009 is "Collaborative, Mindful and Proactive" ENERGY, that serves the greater good of All."

Sounds a lot like what is going on with the newly elected President, Barack Obama.

They go on to say, and I will quote:
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lesson #1: Companies and entrepreneurs who build reliable teams, “vendor networks” and strategic alliances accelerate the growth of their businesses faster, better and with less effort.

Lesson #2: Companies and entrepreneurs who willingly accept "feedback" from their target market accelerate the growth of their business faster, better and with less effort.

Lesson #3: Companies and entrepreneurs who “honk” at their team members, staff and vendors with "encouragement," accelerate their personal productivity and business growth, exponentially ... FAST.

Lesson #4: Companies and entrepreneurs who protect and educate their teams' and clients' in challenging times, "grow" their businesses even during economic down-swings.

Lesson #5: Companies and entrepreneurs who show COMPASSION and SUPPORT the companies and people they serve, will survive and thrive (like Geese) in this "new world order" of collaborative CO-CREATION.
~~~~~~~~~~
There is more but I highly suggest you actually sign up for this newsletter. It is always full of powerful energies (and no, I do not get anything out of this other then the joy of sharing).

Here is their link: http://www.fengshuiparadigms.com/

Jan

Have You Watched Your Searches In Google Lately?

2009-01-25T22:11:00.000-08:00

What you/searchers select from search results shape future queries based on your choices. Have you noticed when you search for one thing and then another that you are shown options? These options that may be of interest but may be way off the mark of what you are looking for? Yes, they are following your preferences and this will happen with your potential visitor as well. This, in fact, could actually make it harder for searchers to find what they are looking for.

So what can you do to help searchers find you?

The best organic SEO is content (Content Is King!)

Bob Massa put it well:

"I believe anyone can be successful at online marketing or even traffic generation and search engine placement specifically, if they just stop looking for ways to trick machines and instead look for ways to connect with humans".

The need for quality, engaging, and usable content is becoming more important than ever.

I didn't "Knol" until now!!

2009-01-16T22:31:00.000-08:00

For those of you 'in the know' Google Knol may not be new to you but I just came across it tonight.

Knol is "authoritative articles about specific topics, written by people who know about those subjects.

As stated on the Google Blog:

~~~~~~~~~~~
The key principle behind Knol is authorship. Every knol will have an author (or group of authors) who put their name behind their content. It's their knol, their voice, their opinion. We expect that there will be multiple knols on the same subject, and we think that is good.
With Knol, we are introducing a new method for authors to work together that we call "moderated collaboration." With this feature, any reader can make suggested edits to a knol which the author may then choose to accept, reject, or modify before these contributions become visible to the public. This allows authors to accept suggestions from everyone in the world while remaining in control of their content. After all, their name is associated with it!

Knols include strong community tools which allow for many modes of interaction between readers and authors. People can submit comments, rate, or write a review of a knol. At the discretion of the author, a knol may include ads from our AdSense program. If an author chooses to include ads, Google will provide the author with a revenue share from the proceeds of those ad placements.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looks like a great place to share your knowledge. I'm going to check it out, want to join me?

http://knol.google.com

Jan

News On The Remote

2009-01-15T22:40:00.000-08:00

So we found the remote but it did not work for the TV. We had to hook up the cd player for the remote to work. Well that in itself was a major event!

Got the cd player hooked up. Yep the remote worked with the cd player. Hooked the cd player to the TV. Tried the remote for the TV - no go.

So we are still at "is it your turn to get up and change the channel".

Moving sucks LOL

p.s. If you follow this blog you know we are web designers, scripters, graphic artists. Can you believe we have such a problem!!!

Back To Pioneer Life In a "Remote" Location On The West Coast

2009-01-10T22:39:00.000-08:00

Even if you don't live in the West Coast of Canada, many of you may have read about the massive snow falls we have been having here. Yes, our mild 'lotus land' climate 'went South' big time this winter and we are looking like the stereotype 'Great White North'.

But with the primitive instincts of our pioneer ancestors, we knew we must be prepared... We watched the weather reports, stocked up on wood and food ahead of the storms and hunkered down.

But wait...

We recently moved and found ourselves with a TV but no remote control. What??!!

Ok, forget about building a fire, the task one was figuring out how to 'manually' turn the TV on. After a few tries we did manage that. Next, changing channels. Next, volume.

Later that night we sat down to watch and, oh no, where is the remote? Ok, have to get up and turn it on. Sit back down, hmmm, not the right channel, where is the remote? Ok, get up and change the channel. Program over, where is the remote. Hmmm ok, so who's turn is to get up and change the channel this time.

Now most of us can relate to the 'olden' days' of having to walk miles, through huge snow drifts. to get to school. But no remote, now THAT IS roughen' it.

For those of your going through the same predicament we will provide an instruction video on how to operate a TV without a remote.

:)

Jan

Looking Forward to 2009

2008-12-24T21:00:00.000-08:00

I live on the balmy west coast of Canada, which I can tell you is not balmy right now. We have had almost 3 feet of snow in the last few days and more to come. What does this have to do with "looking forward to 2009"? Well, as I looked at the claustrophobic snow piling up I realized that in all things it is time to do more with less.

So for 2009:

- take a look at your website and see what pages may not be working any longer. Maybe it is time to redirect them to a page on your site that you can cover the same topic(s) and not just bulk up your site.

- take a look at your content, especially the index page. When was the last time you changed the content? Is your content outdated?

- take a look at the keywords / key phrases that you are using. Are they relevant for today's market? Are there more keywords/phrases then you need - probably more targeted words will work better?

- take a look at your linking. Are there links that no longer work for your site? Are there links that no longer work period?

- take a look at your visual web design. This may be listed last but certainly not least! When was the last time you updated your website (2-4- or more years?) Are visitors coming in and seeing the same-old-same-old?

Look ahead to 2009. It is a new start and you can do more with less and succeed - YES YOU CAN!!

Jan

Happy Happy and Merry Merry

2008-12-23T22:00:00.001-08:00

Wishing you a joyous holiday season and dreams come true in the New Year.

View our card online here:

http://www.jbcr-virtualsolutions.com/SeasonsGreetings08/

How to Recognize Places to Optimize on Your Website

2008-11-23T12:25:00.000-08:00

I read a great article at Web Pro News called "Is Bounce Rate a Google Ranking Factor?" by Chris Crum. Here are a few points.

Pay attention to Bounce Rates. Maybe the page content is not good or maybe the keywords in the content are not good.

Analytics evaluation tips

1. Set up goals

2. Pay attention to the Geographic stats.

3. Pay attention to what visitors are typing in to find you (they are saying here's what I want to find).

This article also has a video on personalized (subjective) search results. This is very interesting and well worth the few minutes to watch. Briefly Google search is determining what you are looking for based on what you previously searched for.