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How to Get Social Buzz For Your Website

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social media marketing jupiter fl
Clients have been known to tell me “let’s get some buzz” for my website. On a tennis court, we call that “action”. Action on the racquet. Action on the ball. Techniques that work. You win!
“Buzz” is chatter and traffic, it can be short term, it is quick. Here are some tried-and-true approaches you can follow to get action now:

Facebook Groups

Be sure to join the right group. You can track down groups within your industry to connect with your peers and prospective customers. Start with some research to find groups that fit your needs. Start by asking your colleagues and customers what groups they’re active in.
Facebook also offers a “suggested groups” feature that you can find on your top navigation bar when you view Groups from your profile.
Being active in Facebook groups offers a way to help drive people to your Facebook page. And, it does much more.
Convert prospects into buyers. Create a event or promote a giveaway of your product for a defined length of time.
Best part of groups? They require very little time and you can participate when it’s convenient.

Twitter

I have discovered that image tweets get double the interaction of a standard link tweet. The process is simple. Just click on the little camera icon below the Twitter update box.
Why do you want images in Twitter?
Answer: You will get more favorites! You will get more retweets! You will get more click-throughs!
Overlay Words on Your Images to Convey Quick Meaning
Remember to put words on your image before you share it. A caption or even the title of an article that the image relates to can be useful.
Here is one of my examples with a bit.ly link to an article from a third source … superimposed on an image. I have also included my logo.
Horizontal Images Are Best
Horizontal images work best on most social sites such as Facebook as well as Twitter. Long vertical images get cut off in certain views, or they are difficult to see if fully expanded.
Tag People or Companies in Images
When you can, particularly when you are sharing a product image, remember to include the company’s Twitter handle in the tweet or a hashtag.
TOOLS
Amazingly simple graphic design. Start designing: https://www.canva.com/
– By Marcia Coffey
Find Marcia on Google+
Call Marcia at 561.906.3436.

The New Café Pro Theme for Restaurants

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wordpress restaurant themes web design palm beach
When people research restaurants for a nice dinner out, they head to the web. And if you want them to end up inside of your restaurant, then you need to make a strong, positive impression when they are on your website.
Enter Cafe Pro — the newest StudioPress theme for the Genesis Framework.
Here is a link to a customized Cafe Pro theme I recently developed.
Café Pro combines elements of  two popular Studio Press child themes — Parallax and Foodie — to create the quintessential design solution for not just restaurants, but for any brick and mortar business looking to create a captivating presence online.
What makes Café Pro such an effective design solution for brick and mortar businesses?
First, the full screen background images that are featured on the home page. It is easy to set up and allows you to showcase your business through beautiful photography and dynamic effects.
Second, the pricing table widget allows you to showcase menu items (as shown in the demo) or any other listing of features and benefits that would help show the value your business delivers.
Third, all relevant information that needs to be on every page of your site — contact info, address, hours of operation, etc. — can be included easily, you just set it and forget it, using the convenient footer widgets.
This is essential not only for local SEO, but also for converting web browsers into real-life, in-the-flesh visitors to your establishment.
And of course, there’s more — so you can see for yourself. Take a look at the demo here, and see if Café Pro is the right theme to take your brick and mortar business online presence to the next level.
– By Marcia Coffey
Find Marcia on Google+
Call Marcia at 561.906.3436.

Secrets to Sharp Images on Facebook & The Web

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web graphics blogging
Ever notice that the flyer or poster images with text that you have uploaded on Facebook come out fuzzy?
Try uploading a PNG-24 lossless image instead of a JPEG. That way, Facebook doesn’t mess with the image quality.
Facebook’s JPEG compression is quite aggressive. In fact, Facebook compresses your images twice before they go live! So there’s a good chance you’ll end up with fuzzy compression artifacts around the edge of any text in the image, making it look … well, fuzzy.
JPEGs might be the most common file type you run across on the web. But, did you know that JPEGs are known for their “lossy” compression, meaning that the quality of the image decreases as the file size decreases?
PNGs are amazing for interactive documents such as web pages, but are not suitable for print. You can edit them and not lose quality, but they are still low resolution.
The reason PNGs are used in most web projects is that you can save your image with more colors on a transparent background. This makes for a much sharper image.
How to Choose an Image Format for Screenshots
If you are capturing a web page that has lots of text – like snippets of source code or Google search results pages or even a tweet – use the GIF or PNG format. The screenshots will be clear (JPEG adds grains or noise around text) and file size remains pretty low.
To make sure you’re avoiding other mistakes, this infographic will walk you through the best practices of choosing the right file types for your visual content.
Read up on the whole process by clicking on the image below. This is a fabulous resource!
 
file-types– By Marcia Coffey
Find Marcia on Google+
Call Marcia at 561.906.3436.

Creative Marketing On A Shoestring

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small business inbound marketing
In the 20th century “small businesses” were mostly local and had major marketing challenges.
Without the graphic design and marketing skills required, local car dealers, plumbers, stores, doctors, lawyers, et al. jumped into weekly newspaper advertising, brochure writing & design, direct mail, outdoor signage, radio spots, in-store promotions, and more.
None of this was cheap, though it could appear so. Much of it was hit and miss. All of it was ephemeral. Some of it relied on local “experts” in the field who charged whatever the market would bear.
Meanwhile, all of the above were brick and mortar operations with major overhead like employees.
Who knew?
In this century the same businesses have come to know a totally different universe. A seductive one. A do-it-yourself one.
Champagne Tastes and a Domestic Beer Budget
How to Squeeze the Most Out of Your Marketing Efforts
In her latest blog post, Pamela Wilson, Director of Special Projects, Copyblogger Media and Owner of Big Brand System discusses in fascinating detail all the ways you can get maximum impact from the limited budget you have.
Read Pamela’s post here:
How To Squeeze The Most From Your Marketing
– By Marcia Coffey
Find Marcia on Google+
Call Marcia at 561.906.3436

Promote Your Work With the Author Pro Theme

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author-pro-theme
Until recently, the goal of getting published was beset with a long, arduous road filled with rejection and delays. It was tough to be an author. But times have changed. Advancements in technology and changes in consumer shopping habits over the past ten years have made it possible for more writers to become published authors than ever before, making this the best time in history to be an author.
These days it is essential for any published author to maintain a personal website.

Meet the Author Pro theme

  • A website that’s clean, clear, and easy to navigate.
  • A robust platform you can use to grow your audience both before and after your book launches.
  • A simple way to feature your work and sell from your own platform.

The newest theme from Studio Press, Author Pro, was designed with you — authors — in mind.
See the Author Pro in action.
Websites can range from the very basic to the very complicated, but all author websites should include a few key pages:
Bio and author photo.
An Updated list of all your books.
Events and Appearances
Social Media and Contact Information.

Meet the Genesis Author Pro plugin

This plugin is a one-click free install on your Genesis Framework website, and can be used with any Genesis Framework child theme. The Genesis Author Pro plugin was developed at the request of published authors who were looking for a way to easily display their books on their websites.
Once installed, you’ll get access to a wealth of tools you can use to build an audience, and promote your work. You’ll be able to easily create a library of your published work using our custom book post type.
For each book, you can feature the: title; description; book cover with featured text banner; author; price; ISBN; publisher; editor; edition; publication date; and available formats.
Plus E-commerce Functionality
Plus, you can give your customers easy access to buy your book wherever it’s available with custom button links.
With the streamlined design of the Author Pro theme, your work and your words will shine.
– By Marcia Coffey
Find Marcia on Google+
Call Marcia at 561.906.3436

CONTACT · Marcia Coffey · Palm Beach Gardens, Fl 33410 · Tel. 561-906-3436