How Do I Start My Small Business WordPress Website Design?

On August 10, 2020   /   Branding - Marketing, Graphic Design and Web design, Web Hosting Web Security   /   1 Comment
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Before marketers or advertisers start any advertising or brand campaign they start with the 5 Ws. These basic problem solving and information gathering questions set a framework for small business WordPress website design and development too. Matter of fact they come in handy for a lot of life choices. In this post, we will focus on using them for website design planning.

Let’s start with the Why

The first ‘Why’ is why do you need a website? Why do your customers want to work with you instead of your competition? What are the differentiators that set your company apart? Clarify a value proposition for prospects and customers to connect with.

Begin to compile evidence of this expertise. Include all the content that proves your claim throughout the website.

  • marketing and website plan diagramtestimonials
  • awards
  • client list
  • reviews
  • certifications
  • quantitative facts

The What is the Website Format and Function

What type of website do you need for your business? Are you selling products online? What style do you want for your website? What type of content will be included? What features need to be included? Have you looked at different WordPress themes that are suitable for your industry? Some themes are industry-specific and include plugins that are targeted to increase functionality based on the needs of your company such as calendars, easy to edit contact forms, woo-commerce shops, and more.

As You Begin to Research Themes and Styles Consider the Who

In marketing speak, who is your specific target market? While planning your small business website, think about who it is intended for. Who will benefit from the content on the website? Who do you want to attract to the website?

Determining the Who, in the beginning, will help you select the appropriate website style and the tone. If your website is meant to reach professionals as a business to business service the colors, features, and tone will be very different than if you are a company needing an e-commerce website selling kids pay supplies.

Where Does the Information Go?

The ‘Where’ gets into the actual design and flow of your small business WordPress website design. As in all design, your website layout needs to consider eye flow. When a visitor lands on your website what do you want them to see first? Where will you place key information so the visitors see the most important information first? Placement of website elements, including calls to action, contact information, photos, and videos can either help guide the visitor or confuse them.

sample xml sitemapPlacement and flow considerations also include the website navigation. The goal of your website navigation interface is to maximize usability. When you know what information and media you want to include, begin to categorize it. Select no more than 6 categories for your main navigation. Once these main categories are defined start placing your content on pages under the main sections and quickly a site map will begin to develop.

For more robust websites with a lot of content and pages, there are additional options for website navigation built into the user interface.

Optional navigational schemes include:

  • Hierarchical navigation systems – The primary navigation system that allows users to navigate within the site using levels
  • Global Navigation – serves as the outline and template to allow users ease in maneuverability throughout the site
  • Local Navigation – helps visitors in a specific area of the site (often referred to as sub-navigation)
  • Adaptive web navigation – Personalized website experience based on a user’s browsing pattern in order to find relevant information more quickly and efficiently

Considering all aspects of navigation in advance allows for more efficient experiences for visitors to the webpage.

Moving Deeper into the Website Content Leads us to the When

The goal of every successful website is to lead the prospect to action. Whether it is a step by step funnel, a short contact form or a quick chat option the goal is to encourage visitors to act and act now before they are distracted by another cat video alert. Calls to action (CTAs) with a sense of urgency are key here. In some instances, you may want to offer limited-time specials. Other times offering a lead generator such as a free download or a 15% coupon with your next purchase will capture their contact information right away. This helps to stay connected with every website visitor even if they don’t purchase or contact you on the first visit.

Lastly, We Get to the How to Begin a Small Business WordPress Website Design

There is a couple of considerations when we look closely at the ‘How’ question.

Screen cap of a WordPress back endHow includes the securing of your domain name and choosing where your website will be hosted. Also the actual building of the pages uploading the theme and website content to the webserver. When choosing website hosting make sure you select a WordPress hosting plan that offers fast page load speeds and also helps to keep your website secure. For over 20 years Connection Group has chosen to work with Network Solutions for our customer domain registrations and we use Liquid Web for our small business WordPress website hosting. There are many companies offering these services. Choose one that is reputable and make sure you track the name and the URL of the companies you are working with and note your login credentials.

The other ‘How’ is the actual building of the website. The beauty of a small business WordPress website design is that you don’t have to be trained in website code and development to build it yourself. There are many WordPress website design tutorial videos on YouTube, local community education courses, and colleges that offer WordPress design classes.

small business website under developmentIf you are an entrepreneur who hopes to build your own company website I suggest starting on YouTube with some introductory videos. If the videos are easy to follow and you are starting with a small website, answer the questions above and begin your build-out. If you require a website that is more complicated or if the website design tutorials are confusing save time, money, and sanity and hire a professional WordPress website design firm.

Connection Group provides small business WordPress website design and development and we offer training once it is complete. We help you get to the business of running your business by doing the heavy lifting of building the entire website for you. Then when you need to make updates or edits you can choose to do that in-house without additional cost. Our goal is to lighten your workload and create a website design that contributes to the success of your business. Give us a call, we’re available for a consultation and we’re always here to assist with making critical updates for you as needed.

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Format and Design of a Webinar or Digital Meeting

On August 4, 2020   /   Design Tips, Entrepreneurs - Small Business, General, Graphic Design and Web design   /   Leave a comment
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Most of us never thought we would be responsible for the format and design of a webinar. Nor did we expect we would be spending entire mornings in digital meetings with colleagues we use to share a cubicle with.

Historically, webinars have been embraced as lead generation tools. As a result of the pandemic, webinars and Zoom meetings have become the solutions for all forms of business communication. Today many customers have gone beyond merely attending Zoom and GoToMeeting events to now creating their own webinars. To help in this effort we have put together an outline of things to consider as you create webinars and online meetings.

We will touch on:

  1. Determining the objective for the webinar
  2. Create a webinar format and plan
  3. Establish deadlines
  4. Developing webinar content
  5. Pre-Webinar marketing and advertising to gain attendees
  6. Post-webinar follow up
  7. What to do on the day of the webinar
  8. Creating a webinar registration page on your website or email
  9. Following an outline for webinar creation.

Your first step is setting clear webinar objectives. How will you know if the webinar was successful if you have not defined the objectives beforehand?

#1. Determining the objective for the webinar

  • Are you introducing a new product?
  • Do you want attendees to purchase a product or service at the end?
  • Are you seeking input on new features or training attendees on the use of a product?
  • Do you hope attendees will view you as an expert in your industry by attending your webinar?

Determining the objective for the webinar will help define what content to include, what format the content should take, how you market to prospective attendees, and the results you hope to receive.

#2. Format and Design of a Webinar with a plan and deadlines

Determining the format and design of a webinar comes next. Will the webinar consist of one person going through Powerpoint or pdf slides? Will you have a panel of experts in various departments or companies sharing insights or extolling the benefits of working with you? Will people need to access it live for the best results? Will recordings be available?

Once the format and design of a webinar is determined it’s time to recruit speakers. If you are the presenter or will serve as the facilitator, you can begin to organize content or questions for panelists.

#3. Establish Deadlines for each Phase of Webinar Development

Once guest speakers are secured determine a date and time for optimal attendance. Make sure you avoid holidays, popular industry events, etc. Then work backward from the presentation date to set deadlines for marketing your webinar and completing content.

Consider the following when establishing deadlines:

  • Consider time zones for your prospects
  • If you are delivering a series of webinars can you set them to be consistent with the time of day and day of the week?
  • If guests will have slides, set a date to receive them in advance to avoid any concerns on the day of the webinar
  • Choose dates when announcements will be ready to send out for registration
  • When will registration and website support pages be ready to launch?
  • Determine the last date to enroll

#4. Finally, we get into the Webinar Content

Whether you’re developing webinar content for a software product, professional service, publishing, manufacturing or packaged goods your actual content will vary. Do some research on the content that is getting the best results in your industry.

  • Can you offer a full demonstration of your product?
  • Are there popular highlights of your product or services that all attendees will benefit from learning?
  • Will you let your attendees guide which aspects you will cover through their questions?
  • Should your content be adjusted depending on the audience/demographic, etc?
  •  Do you have a clear niche or unique offering to share that will set you apart from the completion?
  • Will you be explaining your pricing model?
  •  How do you want attendees to interact with you? Can you create leading questions to increase involvement through chat?

5. Creating a webinar registration page on your website

Before you begin marketing your webinar create the supporting pages and links. Create a landing page on your website that all webinar promotions will lead the prospects to. Consider the format and design of the webinar when you create the supporting promotions.  You also do not want to put a webinar/meeting login information on this page. That will be shared in a follow-up email once the attendee registers.

This page should include:

  •  title of the webinar,
  •  brief description of the webinar content
  •  benefits of attending (special offers/discounts to attendees?)
  •  date and time
  •  speaker information
  • simple registration form (Least requirement is name and email. You may want to include company name, role in the company, and other fields depending on your objective.)

Be sure to copy this page URL to include in pre-webinar marketing and advertising.

6. Pre-Webinar marketing and advertising campaigns to attract attendees

To increase webinar registrations you can use a drip campaign to lead visitors to your website through a funnel.

  • Email announcement to current contacts about the upcoming webinar
  • Social media posts with messaging about the webinar and a link to the registration page
  •  Website messaging including banners, pop-ups, buttons, graphics and website sections that link to the registration

Be consistent with your messaging and be clear on what attendees will receive when they register. Consider offering a value-added incentive to attend or to register by a specific date. A discount on a purchase or the opportunity to have questions answered personally, a giveaway to the first 20 enrolled, etc.

If you are just beginning to build your contact list or if you are seeking a large number of attendees right away, consider paying to advertise your webinar. If you choose to purchase pay per click (PPC) advertising on social media, search engines, or targeted websites double-check that links are included for registration. If you are implementing traditional media including tv, print publication, direct mail, etc. double-check that the steps to register are accurate and functioning prior to running any ads. Always ensure your messaging is consistent.

7. What to do the day of your webinar

You can choose to send login information when people first register or you can hold off until a few days before the webinar. It is also advised to send a reminder email on the day of the webinar. Include a contact phone number and or email for troubleshooting issues.

  • Check your system to make sure everything is functioning as expected.
  • Check-in with speakers, you have lined up to remind them of timing and log in contact.
  • Do a test-run with all presenters. Have them share their screen and their presentation.
  • You may also want to share an agenda with everyone in advance so that they know what to expect.

We recommend to skip updates of webinar or meeting software within 24 hours of your scheduled webinars. Functions and features can change and software incompatibilities can arise. Rather than becoming flustered and appearing unprofessional hold off on any updates if you can.

8. Post-webinar follow up

One of the greatest benefits of webinars is the ability to capture the contact information of each attendee. Be sure to request attendees to opt-into future correspondence. This will allow you to reach out to them in response to this webinar and long into the future for other opportunities.

Determine what information or call to action you would like from attendees when you set up your follow up plan.

  • Do you want to survey attendees about specific elements of the webinar?
  • Will you have a drip campaign created that is in line with the webinar topic to continue to keep attendees engaged and interested?
  • Will you offer a limited-time or exclusive discount for purchase or enrollment for attendees?
  • Can you provide a value-added download or membership that is aligned with the webinar topic?

If the survey is most important send that follow up first. Then remember to pace your correspondence. If attendees become overwhelmed with communications from you they may choose to opt-out and you will lose the lead entirely.

We hope this content is helpful to you. Please let us know if we can help you create registration landing pages or format and design of a webinar presentation and slides.  Webinars and online meetings have been forced upon all us in response to the pandemic stay-at-home-orders. Although it may not be the preferred format there is value in adopting digital communication. Companies and organizations, large and small, are seeing cost savings with reduced meeting travel and in-person training begin with addressing the format and design of a webinar. Getting comfortable with the ‘new normal’ of digital meetings will help you stay connected now and in the future.

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Hope for Small Businesses During Crisis – Hope in Uncertain Times

On March 31, 2020   /   Entrepreneurs - Small Business   /   Leave a comment
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How are you feeling? Hopeful? Hopeless? Overwhelmed? Grateful? Rested? Frustrated?

 
hope - thich nhat hanhMore opportunities of hope for small businesses during this crisis launch every day. As our new COVID-19 normal continues I have found solace in finding ways to be hopeful.  If you had momentum on stock investments or 2020 small business goals this quarter,  you may be experiencing frustration or fear right now. If you’re an essential service you may be feeling overwhelmed and need a rest. If you’re at home alone or with kids, every hour can bring a new emotion.
 
For the month of April, I am filling my social feeds with hope. I’m grabbing my favorite hope quotes and going through my oh so many iPhone photos and I’m creating a daily hope post. I am hopeful one or more will speak to you and help just a little bit. Please share, like, and comment. I would love to get a conversation going on how hope is helping you through.
For all United States and Michigan based small businesses out there in unknown territory, there is hope for small businesses during a crisis. The United States government is making grants, and low-interest loans available. Practice some meditation, listen to some inspiring podcasts, get out and walk or run, and explore all opportunities that fit.
Many people I talk to are viewing this time as a positive reset. A time to repair from burn out, a time to adjust course. The only way through it is with hope. Hope for the best outcome, hope for new insights, hope for the future.  Hope and believe you will move away from feeling overwhelmed to feeling your personal strength, the strength of the world and hope for the future. It may look different than you imagined coming into 2020. Release the controls, hope and believe in the best outcome.
I am not blind to the fact that lives will be lost, families and businesses will suffer. My hope is there will be fewer fatalities than the estimates and our first responders and health care workers will feel all of the gratitude we share for their countless hours. and dedication to our loved ones and us.  As we continue to take precautions and practice good citizenship by staying home and taking care of those we can, we can all join in the hope for healing.
Please visit our social media platforms and join in our daily conversations of hope. Find us on Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
 in all industries please stay safe AND be vigilant. These moments are allowing some to regroup from burnout, set up plans with their teams (at home and at work), learn Zoom, research new products or services to offer. Making the most of the changed landscape and hoping to come out stronger.
For those on the front line, thank you for continuing to provide care and product availability so the world can continue to turn.
Small Businesses who see layoffs or reduced revenue smacking their bottom line look at the CARES Act and the SBA Loans. Stay attentive to new opportunities that can help keep your staff working, or bring them back quickly. This article on Medium outlines some of the grants, loans, and programs available right now.
Here’s hoping you keep your lights burning and you are prepared for the deluge of activity when we are all released from our sequester
For deeper inspiration and life-long techniques for developing hope in every day, meditate with Oprah and Deepak Chopra’s Hope in Uncertain Times free meditation.
Please stay well and hopeful.
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Essential Businesses and Michigan’s Stay-at-Home Executive Order

On March 27, 2020   /   Entrepreneurs - Small Business, General   /   Leave a comment
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If your company or organization has  Essential business designation in Michigan’s stay-at-home order, remember to communicate as outlined under Executive Order 2020-21 (COVID-19).

Connection Group is not considered an essential business under the order however we are open and working remotely. We are busy posting website alerts and creating email announcements, for some of Michigan’s essential business in an effort to meet the March 31, 2020 deadline.

As stated in Michigan’s Stay-at-Home Executive Order:

Businesses and operations must determine which of their workers are necessary to conduct minimum basic operations and inform critical infrastructure workers under that designation. Businesses and operations must make such designations in writing, whether by electronic message, public website, or other appropriate means. Such designations, however, may be made orally until March 31, 2020 at 11:59 pm.

On March 26, 2020 clickondetroit asked Governor Whitmer about the businesses who are opened and the considerable traffic on the roads, Governor Whitmer stated:

“If you are not a life-sustaining business, you’re in violation of the law and you’re unnecessarily exposing your employees to COVID-19 and you’re needlessly endangering our communities by putting more pressure on a healthcare system that is very close to the max already,” Whitmer said.

Michigan’s Stay-at-Home Executive Order is Not Just a Suggestion

Let’s do well with this mandatory time-out so we can get it over with quicker. Thank you to the first responders, health care workers, hospital staff, and all of the essential companies and workers. Essential businesses that need help getting their COVID 19 announcements in place for customers and staff, contact us if we can help.

Be well everyone, reach out to your loved ones and stay connected with your people.

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Digital Marketing for Business: Start With A Content Calendar

On January 2, 2020   /   Branding - Marketing, Entrepreneurs - Small Business   /   Leave a comment
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One Thing for You to do for your 2020 Digital Marketing for Business is: A Content Calendar

Annual Marketing To Support Your Business Goals

What are the products and services your customers need the most? How will they know your organization is the best resource for them? Beginning the year clarifying digital marketing for business is one of the biggest time-saving tools a small business can adopt. Identify the main topic for each month that is aligned with the services or products your business provides and the ones you want to increase. Think of your digital marketing calendar as a road map to keep you on track throughout the year. In each of the 12 months identify special promotions and events.
Too busy running your business to tackle marketing too? Connect with us for a quick conversation to see if we can outline a plan and strategy for DIY digital marketing. Or, if you prefer, we’ll provide options and budgeting to take marketing off your to-do list completely. Developing copy, digital graphics, website content, and consistent social media posts to reach your audience is what we do. Meanwhile, your time can be spent meeting your business goals.

Benefits of an Annual Digital Marketing Calendar for Business

Starting with a full year content calendar makes digital marketing for businesses less stressful by eliminating last-minute projects and promoting events or campaigns well in advance. It puts annual business goals at the forefront of marketing planning.
Annual content marketing calendars also allow you to work ahead during slow times. Sharing save the date announcements for events months in advance never hurts! Plus, every industry has evergreen content that can be created in advance of posting.
Remember, the calendar offers flexibility to make changes as needed. If campaign results are not as expected or if changes occur midway throughout the year, you can make edits.

digital content calendar 2020Content Tactics for Digital Marketing for Business Include:

  • Social media posts
  • Blog post
  • Pages on your website
  • E-mail campaigns
  • Webinars
  • Digital advertising campaigns
  • Website graphics

A Content Calendar Should Not Start With a Blank Sheet

Start with a calendar that includes the main holidays for the year. This is useful if you create holiday promotions. Or avoid holidays if people will be otherwise engaged and not available to participate in your promotion. Get creative and consider how sentimental holidays could humanize your brand story to your audience. Share helpful advice or memories with your customers. Tie advice to your business such as an insurance company reminding people to check their holiday lights.

Do You Need More Digital Marketing Content Ideas?

Reference a calendar that contains additional observances. For instance, January is National Hobby Month in the U.S. It is also International Creativity Month. A flour mill could create posts that encourage people to take up baking as a hobby. Similarly, a wine and canvas studio could offer painting class packages.
These monthly observances offer unlimited ideas for digital marketing for business. You will discover month-long, week-long and special day observances each month throughout the year. Some are serious and some are purely silly and if you can connect them to your industry and make someone laugh or increase awareness your efforts will be memorable.

No Need to Pay for a Monthly Service

Content calendars can be created digitally or as hard copy. Use Google, iCal, Excel, online scheduling platform or print out a full calendar and handwrite the information.  I often start with a handwritten calendar for the outline and then convert to digital and add in details. A digital content calendar allows me to add content in any month easily as it comes up.
If you are a lean team and you don’t have the manpower to get all or any of these solutions in place, connect with us today. The time commitment is not lost on us because we do it for ourselves and our customers. We can work with your content calendar and develop all the elements and get them scheduled to post on time each month. Creating a calendar and turning it over for your content development and management for your monthly management is another option.

Download our annual content marketing calendar template here.

Best Approach for Digital Marketing Content Strategy

Aligning your digital marketing and content strategy with your annual business goals will increase success. For instance, if the top goal is to increase product demonstration views consider everything that can be put in place to drive those numbers. Do you have a digital product demo on your website already? If not, how will it get developed? Who will develop it and by when? Where will it be posted once complete? If you have a digital demo on your website already, how can you drive people to view it? Does the product demo need to be presented in person or in an on-screen presentation with a company representative?

Digital tactics we would recommend driving this goal include:

  • Blog entry/distribution channels
  • Email Campaigns
  • Social Media posts
  • Website SEO
  • Seeking Guest Blog Posts
  • Digital Advertising

On your January calendar add product demonstrations as the main topic/goal. Next, begin identifying the individual digital marketing tactics and assign dates to them. Include as many details as you can. Before assigning dates consider how each can be achieved. (In consideration of time you may only include “Blog on Product Demo” on the content calendar in January. Add as many details as time allows. Remember, the goal is to get the full year of content outlined.
Once the entire 12 month content marketing calendar is complete, circle back to add more details in each month.  Be sure you are always working a month in advance, at the very least.

content calendar strategy some people start with a board of sticky notesUsing a blog as an example, ask and answer:

  • When can the blog post be written?
  • What should the blog include?
  • Who will write it?
  • Do you have a proofreader for grammar and spelling?
  • Who will create the blog graphic?
  • Can the creator post the blog?
  • How will it be distributed?

What will be included in the blog post about the demo? Information to include:

  • Product values
  • How it addresses customers pain
  • Customer testimonials
  • Awards/recognition received
  • Unique features
  • Call to action – link

Next, do the same for the remaining digital marketing tactics you have identified. Are there product benefit snippets that can be used in social media posts? Can you pull snippets from the blog? All the while considering how the call to action (CTA) will be included in each tactic. (View the product demo here… or …complete this form to schedule a product demo.)

Set realistic goals:

  • Decide which platforms to post on
  • How often will you post?
  • What content appeals to your follower base?
  • Customize, and personalize content

Creating a road map for annual digital marketing for business aligned with annual goals takes away the guesswork and keeps you in front of your customers consistently. Assisting companies with their annual content marketing is one of our favorite services. Whether you share your company goals and we create an outline or detailed annual content calendar or we do create and post all the content – we always recommend starting with a plan. Contact us if we can help you meet (or exceed) your annual business marketing goals.

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Our brand story – The Beauty of All Things Connected

On November 9, 2019   /   Branding - Marketing, Inspiring Stories, Wisdom and Opportunities   /   Leave a comment
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Our brand story con

From an early age, it has been my desire to see and spread beauty. This purpose has enhanced my love for nature and design and the appreciation of the interconnectedness of all things.

Connecting nature, beauty, and design is the key component of our brand story. It’s what makes me stop and take a picture in a city park, a foggy forest or a trendy restaurant. It has inspired interest in landscape design, interior design, jewelry, and fashion design. All the design things. Consequently, show me a clever graphic design on retail packaging with an inspiring brand story, and you’ve got an instant brand ambassador.

This appreciation of nature and beauty inspired me to pursue graphic design training and launch Connection Group, Inc.  As a result, for over two decades the Connection Group team has created beautiful logos, beautiful graphic designs, and beautiful publications that people pay attention to.

Connection Group Brand Story

Articulating beauty is our purpose, graphic design is our talent, and increasing connection is our mission.

“In nature, we never see anything isolated, but everything in connection with something else which is before it, beside it, under it and over it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

This partnership of beauty and nature and the belief that everything is connected was the inspiration behind our name. As a graphic designer, the patterns of nature and beauty in natural form have always captivated me. My morning dog walks remind me to be grateful and slow down and enjoy the beauty around me. These moments allow me to ease into my day with gratitude and clarity. I then bring to my work a creator’s mind and an artist’s eye.

Recently, a TED Radio Hour presenter on climate change expressed his belief that humans will outlive nature. Humans will live on but they will have to live without trees. No trees, no beauty. I began to wonder how much we take for granted the role nature plays in defining what beauty is?  What of living without beauty, without the beauty of trees? What kind of world will it be without the sight of a tulip tree in bloom, an apple tree at harvest time, a Michigan sugar maple aglow in October? Trees encompass all of the elemental rules of design; symmetry, color, organic line, patterns, textures, and placement. Like a beautiful design, they evoke a response.

#aTreeaDay

all-things-connect-a-tree-a-dayIn response, I have slowed my walk in my favorite parks and dirt roads. I started seeing each tree individually and as a connection to each other and all of us. I started connecting with them and photographing them. The beauty of nature, the beauty of a forest of trees, the beauty of that one special tree that makes you gasp every time you see it. We are celebrating nature’s beauty in the Connection Group #aTreeaDay posts. We want to share the wonder and variety and strength and power and fortitude that is the beauty of each tree. Each day we share a tree on our social media platforms, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. We encourage you to spread beauty and share #aTreeaDay to pages too.

People find beauty in many things; in other people, architecture, art, cars, shoes, a new Apple anything, the list goes on. If sharing a favorite tree of the day helps people remember to breathe and appreciate beauty, we have succeeded in our mission. I can’t think of a better depiction of our brand story, than honoring our personal practice to connect with everyone through recognizing and spreading beauty. This includes creating beautiful marketing materials for our customers and sharing posts of trees that remind you to slow down and take a long, beautiful breath.

“All things are connected like the blood that unites us. We do not weave the web of life, we are merely a strand in it. Whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves.” – Chief Seattle

Stay connected!

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The Golden Rule of Content Marketing

On November 8, 2019   /   Branding - Marketing, Entrepreneurs - Small Business, Social Media Tips   /   Leave a comment
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Content marketing free content calendar

Are you keeping up with the latest trends in content marketing? Are you feeding those social media pages like a champ? Keeping the website updated regularly to help bring you up in search results? Optimizing your blog posts with SEO? So much to do and there’s not enough time in the month!

That’s where planning, organizing, choosing, and acting, come together. Create your own editorial calendar, or get our free content calendar to help keep you on track.

Developing an Editorial and Content Marketing Calendar

1. Plan  – Every Year /Month / Week

Discuss and plan how you will stay connected with your customers and communicate beneficial services and products throughout the year.

  • What are your goals in January? How about
  • What services can you post about in March that customers order in April?
  • Identify your monthly focus for the whole year. Next determine who, where, what content to provide each week to communicate the monthly focus. If your goals and planning dictate further detail, clarify days and hours content will be posted.

2. Form – Organize / Schedule

Whether you prefer an excel spreadsheet, daily pop-up reminders, or handwritten to-do list, create a reference that is easy to follow.

  • For a marketing team of one, create a calendar in a format you will use.
  • Larger teams choose a format everyone can access and update. I like to use this content calendar template for my customers.
  • The fields included are campaign notes, monthly theme,  week, day plus each platform we will be using.

3. Choose – Social Media Networks with the Highest Return

Once your main campaigns or themes are chosen, determine which networks you will be using. Which profiles or social media networks you choose will depend on your industry, your sales, your budget, and most importantly your company marketing and sales goals. Chosen networks range from  Facebook company pages, Instagram, Twitter, etc.  to blogs, websites, print materials, tv, radio, billboards, etc. If you are a one or two owner shop, or a marketing department in a large organization practice the keep it simple, realistic, and affordable rule.

4.  Act – What content will you post and where?

  • All businesses have evergreen content – content that never goes out of style. Mix in branding images, photos, tips, instructions.
  • Share other member posts that are relevant to you and your followers.
  • Implement content marketing practices such as using hashtags on specific days; #mindfulmondays, #tbthursday or #tacotuesday, etc.
  • Interact and comment on other profile posts.
  • Mix in funny posts, tips for your industry / clients, completed projects, customer reviews, a percentage of sales copy and calls to actions that suit your goals.
  • Follow leaders in the industry on Linkedin, share popular articles inline with your company and of value to your customers and targets.

5. Strategize – Identify how often you will post content

  • Reference your editorial calendar that breaks down content monthly, weekly, daily, depending on your goals and budget. It is better to note your monthly and weekly content strategy for the full year and then circle back to add it in per day and hour. Forecasting posts too far out by the hour may not be addressing current events or trends. However, custom hourly content is appropriate during specific sales, events, or advertising and email campaigns.

By incorporating an editorial calendar and our free content calendar you can keep sharing content marketing to your target audience and still have time to do your own job! If you find all of this is overly time-consuming please connect with us today. We are happy to assist customers in all of the above. We can also schedule a consult to help identify where to start.
Stay connected!

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Save 2% off postage IF You Stand Out From the Crowd

On September 23, 2019   /   Branding - Marketing   /   Leave a comment
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A Unique Approach to Direct Mail save 2% off postage

This holiday season is a great time to save money and capture attention by reaching people where they are. With the United States Postal Service direct mail incentive program for 2019 you can save 2% off postage for the following categories of mail:

  • Tactile and Sensory (think textured stock, embossing, …)
  • Interactive Mail Pieces (think unique folds…)
  • Emerging and Advanced Technology (think QR codes, etc.)
    Personalized color transpromotional mail (paycheck stuffer / message with billing)
  • Informed Delivery (think combing direct mail and email messaging)

Promote special events, fundraisers, and special sales with eye-catching invitations, not to be missed coupons, colorful calendars and holiday greetings people want to display. You can stand out from the crowd and save 2% off postage.  This is a winning addition to your 2019 small business marketing.  If you can combine another discount such as design, printing, or mailing lists, with the 2% off postage and plus a high rate of response – bonus!
I like to think the USPS has developed this incentive for mail items to be more attractive. This makes receiving mail is a treat again. Imagine receiving a direct mail catalog or sales brochure that felt like leather or linen. Or opening a mailing with unique folds that unveil an elegant invitation or special customer coupon. Guaranteed you will spend more time with that mailing than all the plain white #10 envelopes in the pile.
Give us a call or email, before the promotion ends to save the 2% off postage.

A phone consult can cover:
  1. end result you desire
  2. best mail category to reach key targets
  3. how it will look and feel to get noticed

Did you know that Connection Group offers a discount for non-profit organizations? Depending on the project, quantity and frequency non-profit design discount range from 3% – 10%.
To be fair to for-profit businesses too – if you’re ready to step out of your marketing comfort zone and put out a memorable and impactful marketing promotion contact us today. We’ll apply our non-profit discount to your project. Mention this post and receive 3- 10% off design and still save 2% off postage.
USPS Every Door Direct mailing incentive can be another option for specific marketing goals – especially if you want to capture your own neighborhood.

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Most Common Questions of Website Design Bids and RFPs

On July 23, 2019   /   Entrepreneurs - Small Business, General   /   Leave a comment
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1. Difference between hosting and maintenance.

Many understand the main difference, the innuendos are what cause the cost variable.

  • For large content management system (CMS) based sites you need individual (not shared) hosting.
  • Host server speed and reliability are the next considerations.
  • Although your Small Business, City, County or Government website may not have large traffic volume normally, you may have an increase if there is a storm or a major event that drives people to the site all at once. It needs to handle that. Most professional bidders won’t be working with a personal server in their home office. There may be some clarification needed once you get down to the chosen few bidders.

    2. Design Development Platform (WordPress, Drupal, Custom CMS, etc.)

    Big debates on this one.

    • WordPress is the most recognized, so is the most likely to have features desired now and in the future. Also if there is an issue there are many local experts to fix or update and not have to hit the budget hard.
    • Drupal – is a strong CMS, it is a good program. Some of our clients have found it is not as easy to learn. There are also not as many developers available resulting in higher pricing and harder to find experts.
    • Joomla! – We don’t see as much about this one anymore but it is still out there – not as many developers supporting it as previous.
    • Custom CMS – Many developers can build their own CMS. Before we embraced the simplicity and ease of updating of WordPress we also did so. However, the code is proprietary, and if something happens to the developer or someone else has to step in, it can get costly to pay someone to decipher what the original company did. The other caveat is if you want to move away from it, you are starting from scratch again. With WordPress and Drupal you can move to a new template, a new host, a new developer, and you can do as little or as much as you want. You don’t have to start all over.

    There are other free CMS systems such as WIX, Weebly, Chamilo. Dotclear, Serendipity, Typo3.. etc. Typically these systems are very basic. They are great for individuals or small businesses with little to no budget, but hopefully are not recommended by any responders for your Small Business, City, County or Government website RFP.
    We are partial to WordPress, we have chose it as the best CMS for our customers for over 10 years and have not regretted it due to its ease of use (front and back end) and high level of customization.

    3. Maintenance – look for clarification on this line item.

    Maintenance can be a developer/designer posting every meeting, street light out, etc. or just updating software and maintaining backups. There is a wide range. When you are closer to the chosen few RFPs or bid responders, make a list of what you think you are going to need (example: Updates, File Back-up). You may find some for the maintenance estimates include more than your Small Business, City, County or Government website needs and there could be a considerable cost savings per year.

    We are happy to answer any questions when we bid on your website project as are most designers and developers, so don’t be afraid to ask for clarification.

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