Emotion plays an important role in the way we see the world. The first time I saw this commercial and every time since I didn’t tune it out, because it plays into many aspects of things I value in my life. It is not easy. Though when you can inspire or delight you create magic. It has a life of its own.

If you are in the creative arts industry, know this well. Go forth and delight.

Here are some other links you might find interesting:

• 25 Beautifully Colorful Websites Vandelay Design Blog – This is a great list of sites thanks for the mention of inspiredology I really like pixelhouse and El Tesoro both very cool sites. personally i liked the web designer wall entry. i like the mix of color and art.
• Photography Websites Vandelay Design Blog – If you’re looking to learn more about design websites, please see our post Learn Web Design. Awesome selection, definitely worth a Stumble! And now I also know who took the photos for that cool Prison Break poster. I loved looking at these photography portfolio sites.
• Cool Website Designs 20 Websites With Unique Layouts Vandelay. – It’s difficult to break out of those tidy two column CSS layouts sometimes. I think it’s nice just to see how some designers are using creativity. Wow, some very cool site designs here Steven.

In the world of online marketing information is king. We don’t have the luxury of seeing people’s reactions. Today I found a new site that changes that in ways. It is something that I immediately became excited about. Usability testing has been the common way for a long time to see how people will interact with your website. This has not been a strong possibility for most small businesses because it can be very expensive and time consuming. It does have great benefits though. The website I found is called clicktale.com. It allows you to track user movements throughout a site. Giving you a strong understanding of where your strengths and weaknesses lie.

I just finished implementing this on my site and I am anxious to see how it will help me to improve my website further. There is a specific type of visualization that I would like to see called a heatmap. It creates an overlay on top of the website to visually indicate the hot and cold areas of user activity for a website.

Article writing has become a large part of the white hat SEO landscape. As an individual looking to progress your business online and putting the time in yourself, what do you need to do? Where do you need to go to get exposure? And most importantly what do you write about?

One of the foundational concepts of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is to create a structure of relevant content for visitors. Google tries to offer its clientele the most relevant content possible. This has evolved through time because individuals have learned how to take advantage of the system. Times have changed and now relevant content and backlinks prevail to make a large difference on your SEO rankings.

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Tags: Articles, knowledge, learning, Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, seo

There are endless businesses out there that specialize in marketing your business. You being the clever person that you are would like to start finding ways to improve on an already good thing. You would like to figure out how you can spend your free time helping your business succeed. The following are ideas that can help to make your website more successful.

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Tags: Advertising, Blog, Business, Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, seo, web design

Do you offer a great product or service and would like to share it with the world? You might ask yourself, “Where do I start?” I recommend first establishing a presence for your business on the Internet with a website.  Your website will become the center of your marketing universe by tying together all of your other forms of marketing. Its purpose is to inform, engage, and entice your visitors.

Once you establish your website you have some options:

-       Search Engine Optimization

-       Search Engine Marketing

-       Banner Ad Placement

-       Blogs

-       Social Media

-       Print Media

These are your primary tools. They range in cost from free to expensive. Just remember, advertising is worth the expense if it yields profitable returns. If you spend $50 to land a $900 job, then it is money well spent.

For those of you just starting out, I recommend starting with Social Media and Search Engine Optimization. These two marketing methods require only an  investment of your time and creativity. Create a business fan page on Facebook and put your profile up on all of the major social media giant websites. As people see your brand more, it will gain value in their minds.

Search engine optimization is the act of doing tasks that can positively impact your ranking on search engines. Some of these tasks include: a good hierarchy of information, using keyword rich text on your pages, using proper markup and creating a network of websites that link to yours.

I want you to imagine a spider’s web with a point in the very center that represents your website. From that point, there are lines connected to other points that represent all of the other websites connected to yours. This process carries out infinitely from these other points. The greater the number of connections, the more value search engines put on your website.

These ideas are the foundation of marketing your business.  Your business card, ad, postcard, Facebook page, etc., may be the only point of contact someone may ever see of your business. Your goal is to engage them, make them want to learn more and take the next step.

Tags: Ad, Advertising, Blog, Multi-Media, Print, Search Engine Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Social Media, Website