Connectivity
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Capital Area Michigan Works! is participating with the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth and Microsoft to implement Elevate America, a program designed to build Greater Lansing’s workforce-related skills in a 21st Century economy.
Elevate America provides access to FREE Microsoft E-Learning courses and certification exams. Beginning learners can access free training online. Intermediate and Advanced learners can visit a Capital Area Michigan Works Service Center to receive a voucher. Vouchers are available through April 9, 2010.
Intermediate vouchers are available to help job seekers, students, small business owners and residents upgrade their Microsoft Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Access and Excel skills (2003 or 2007), as well as Microsoft Vista skills. Additionally, learners can receive vouchers for the Microsoft Office Specialist Exam (2003) and Microsoft Office Certified Application Specialist Vista and Office Exam (2007). Free testing is available with vouchers at New Horizons in Lansing.
Those with existing IT experience can upgrade their skills further with vouchers for access to 89 different e-learning courses to help IT professionals prepare for Microsoft Certifications. Elevate America advanced e-learning courses support occupations such as Web/Windows Developers, Support Technicians, Database Administrators, Systems Administrators, Systems Engineers, Enterprise Administrators and Server Administrators.
Small businesses and existing professionals are welcome and encouraged to receive vouchers.
For more information, visit your local Capital Area Michigan Works! office in Lansing, St. Johns, or Charlotte.
Teri Sand, PHR, CBSP Capital Area Michigan Works!, 2110 South Cedar Street, Lansing, MI 48910 Direct Phone 517-492-5516; Fax 517-492-5501; Email tsand@camw.net
March 12 Grand Rapids 9am-4:30pm Davenport University M-6 Campus
March 19 Livonia 9am – 4:30pm Davenport University
Register at www.miceed.org
The theme this year is “Bridging the Gap from Good to GREAT!” All our companies are good and many of them are great. The training is geared to make even the great greater. Our focus this year is on GROWTH!
Steven Hughes, who received rave reviews for his presentation on “Emotional Intelligence” last year, is presenting “Seven Essentials of Greatness” as a follow up this year. Davenport is also part of the Marketing Panel to bring us up-to-date on Internet Marketing and Social Media for business. Chrysler is providing insight into customer diversifi cation. And two of our powerful women business owners will be presenting on branding (online and off). Connie Sweet of Connection Group will discuss branding and corporate identity as it relates to small and large corporations – on and off line. Our keynote this year is Rita Woodruff of Gill Industries. Rita and her sister have taken over from her mother, Rita Williams, and she will be sharing the story of their ups and downs and lessons learned along the way to a multi-million dollar enterprise. Not bad for a full day of training. Don’t miss this event! Last year’s participants were overwhelmed with the value they received and it is our goal to make this event even better this year. The cost for CEED members will be $125 and for non-members $139. For registration or questions, please call Kathi Boyle at 734.677.1400 or email kboyle@miceed.org. Register at www.miceed.org
Sponsored by:
Small Business Administration, Comerica Bank and Davenport
I have to share this special event information with all of you. Marianne Williamson, who is a wonderful, passionate, change maker in this world, will be hosting a seminar called Sister Giant on February 26, 27 and 28, 2010 at the Sheraton Hotel in Los Angeles.
Those of you who receive Connection Group quarterly calendars may notice all of the quotes on the 2010 calendars are by Marianne. (Of course all you have received is the first quarter…so now you have even more to look forward to…) She is an inspiring woman and this effort is just another example of how she has spent her life empowering women. Below is an excerpt of her explanation of the seminar. If you can not make it to the seminar , Marianne is planning to do more work on this subject so please visit her Web site and join the email list to be a part of something larger than yourself. Briefly, the information is not about the power women don’t have – but the power we are not using.
This seminar/conference speaks to the role of women at this pivotal moment in history. It’s a critically important time to transition from disastrous probabilities to fantastic possibilities, and women can lead the way.
If you are a woman who feels a prompting in your heart that goes something like this: “Okay, it’s time. I might not be perfect, but I’m good enough. And I’m ready,” then this invitation is for you.
Learn more here and sign up for Marianne’s mailing list.
Ever wonder what happened in the year you were born? The following Website offers a thorough answer to the question whathappenedinmybirthyear.com. The site is the 2010 creation of German writer and programmer Philipp Lenssen, who has marshaled the resources of Wikipedia and a Star Wars type effect into an interesting way to learn about the state of the world the year you were born and during the whole decade – including the time you arrived in it. Learn what people were watching, reading, and doing, fun facts include the best selling book and top rated movie plus a visual of the movie poster . Interesting fun facts to visit and help appreciate the world we live in. Just click the link, enter the year you were born, and …have fun!
Sweet Christmas Tree 2009
At the end of the year I have always found it helpful to review the previous one for the successes and losses that will help me to set goals for the new year. Following is a list of great questions to ask yourself when you have a few private moments to reflect. These questions pertain to all aspects of life, not only business, but personally and spiritually. I hope you find it beneficial and I wish you much success, love, peace, and prosperity for 2010.
These insightful questions were offered by Louise Hay, founder of Hay House Publishing. Take time to ask and explore these simple questions:
What shall I now release from my life?
What or who no longer works for me?
What am I holding on to that holds me back?
What thoughts or beliefs belong to the old me?
How am I being unloving to myself?
Am I ready to let go?
What do I believe that really works for me?
What is going on in my life that is terrific and wonderful?
Where am I being very loving to myself?
Where am I most content?
Let me acknowledge myself for all the growth and change.
What do I want to bring to my life?
What do I want to create?
How do I want the next year to be?
Who do I want to bring into my world?
How do I want to look?
What image do I want to project?
How healthy do I want to be?
How prosperous do I want to feel?
How much love am I willing to experience?
What kind of world do I want to live in?
Affirm:
I know that where I am is the totality of possibilities . . . not just a few possibilities, but the totality of all creation.
I am not limited by statistics, medical opinions, time, or authorities.
I am one with the infinite wisdom and capabilities of the Universe itself.
All good is available to me, right here and right now.
All I have to do is to use the power of my thoughts to create that which I desire. I know that. Now let me live it!
Louise Hay – www.hayhouse.com
Be thankful that you don’t already have everything you desire.
If you did, what would there be to look forward to?
Be thankful when you don’t know something,
for it gives you the opportunity to learn.
Be thankful for the difficult times.
During those times you grow.
Be thankful for your limitations,
because they give you opportunities for improvement.
Be thankful for each new challenge,
because it will build your strength and character.
Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons.
Be thankful when you’re tired and weary,
because it means you’ve made a difference.
It’s easy to be thankful for the good things.
A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who
are also thankful for the setbacks.
Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive.
Find a way to be thankful for your troubles,
and they can become your blessings.
These tips are current as of today Dec. 2009.
SEO changes rapidly so please check back with us for questions regularly.
Text, Content & Keywords on your Site
• Site content
• Location of text the search engines can see.
Inbound links
• Other sites linking to your site
Site Architecture
• Code or Back-end of your Web site
To find our what words searchers are using go to:
Google™ Keyword Tool
https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal?defaultView=2
Where to Place the Keywords
Title Tag
Once you find some top key words to use, include them in your page title tags. Be sure to pay attention to spelling, singular or plural (graphic, graphics) and the order the words are listed (design graphics (no), graphic design (yes)
Title Tag Tips
<title>Title text</title>
<title>The name of your company here: your specialty and industry</title>
<title>Connection Group: Branding Design </title>
Other Places to Add Keywords
Meta tags
• Description tag is the most important
• Keywords in site copy- currently the first 25 words of your home page are most critical.
Other Areas Bots Pay attention to:
Headlines
Bold and italicized words
Within links to other places on your site
Inbound Links
Who is linking to your site?
• Go to: http://yahoo.com
link:domainname (exam. in the search box I typed:
link:connectiongraphics.com then hit return. Be sure to check your whole site, not just your home page.
Inbound Link Summary
Check your page rank: http://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php
Sign your site up for a free link: (quality sites only)
• miwomen.com
• Online directories
• Link to customers, groups, charities, etc.
How Links to Your Site Help
• Check Google Page Rank
(0 to 10 – 10 is best) http://toolbar.google.com
The above is free and installs in seconds
• Are the links relevant to what you are selling? Are there similar keywords on both sites?
• Title Keywords / Title Tag relevant?
• Anchor Keyword – The text that, when clicked, brings the user to your Web site should be descriptive (not just click here).
• Quantity – Number of sites linking to your Web site helps your page rank.
How you can get Web sites to link to Your Site
• Work with connectiongraphics.com (let us add your ad and Web link!)
• Join Membership & Networking Organizations: Chamber of Commerce, WISE, your LocalFirst, Social Media Groups, etc.
• Online Directories
• Yellow Pages / Yellow Book (pay 🙁 )
• Yahoo, Business.com (various levels)
• Add Good Site Content and become a noted expert and resource.
• Add content to other sites (social networking and resource sites, blogs, etc.)
Ask for Links
• Suppliers and Customers
• Business Partners
• Organizations (charitable, groups, associations)
• Event Sponsorship
• WISE http://wiseconnections.org/ accepts articles in exchange
• Fundraiser Outings (News Page)
• Reciprocal Links
• Search on your site name and find out who is linking to you and recirocate.
Why to hire experienced Web designers and developers to build your site architecture…
Major Problem Areas for Search Engines
• Site designed with frames
• Sites that are all FLASH. Currently Flash is not Search Engine friendly.
• Your URL does not change when browsing to another page or site
• Too much animation
• Entire page is a “image/graphic” or pdf.
• Slow loading because graphics have not been optimized properly or poor text quality.
• NavBars in Flash or Java Script (this is also important for readability on the Web. Some people do not have these programs on their computer or have disabled them. If you have used flash or Javascript in your site navigation and visitors do not have them installed, all access to pages in your site are not reachable.
This short tip just scratches the surface of SEO. Please return to our tips page as we add to this information. If you’d like to see our graphic and web design samples, you can view by case study, or by service on our Web site: connectiongraphics.com
Be prepared for a random entry, I realized chances of fitting a post in before months end (as I promised myself) was getting slimmer so I am filling the page with weekend musings. (Wish I had photos for all that I did – there would be a lot less reading for you)…
First and foremost is the securing of the most enormous Christmas tree. Okay, its not the State tree huge, but it fills the space and the fresh pine holiday scent – oh so cozy. We did not take the time to decorate yet and so it’s a shot of green life in the space we’re bonding with. (I know, this entry does so scream out for visuals… maybe later.) Anyway, Thanksgiving and the weekend left-overs filled us with holiday spirit and bringing the tree home welcomes in Christmas.
Much goings on with family and holiday prep. Thad traveled to Ford Field to watch his Lowell Football team capture the State Championship…(..and more great visuals.) A happy day, Lowell Wins, Lowell Wins!
It all ends with Sunday devoted to creating a web site from scratch…a few bumps along the way but mostly energetic and inspiring. I am so grateful for All that Is. The end of the night was an injection of tv that was actually time worthy, the HBO 25th Anniversary Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Concert. Inspiring to see so many great musicians sharing a stage – can’t imagine the energy at the Madison Square Garden that night.It was heartwarming to see Simon and Garfunkel, Crosby and Nash, harmonize on stage. Stevie Wonder, touched with emotion while performing a Michael Jackson tune. The passion and the love for music radiated from many of my very favorite story-telling songwriters – who can rock out.
I enjoyed the flashbacks and wondered, who are the story-telling song writers like Sting, Bruce, Petty and Fogerty during these times? The ones who can also rock a bit? (…hmmm, maybe next time I should add some audio…).
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- 8th Level by Lowell Michigan Artist Gary Aldridge. Photo is not good quality unfortunately.
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- Incredible realism painting of by Grand Rapids artist Jon Post
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- Impactful 7′ foot painting of Lincoln in battle field.
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- Large energetic painting of Obama at the B.O.B.
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- Lock-Ness monster sculpture in Grand River
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- Beautiful kinetic sculpture in the Grand River directly across from the JW Marriott and G.R. Museum.
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- Beautiful bronze sculpture of woman in flowing garments with eyes hidden by fabric.
