Here are the elements I’d recommend to be a Web designer (as opposed to a Web programmer): -Learn the *design* aspect. There’s much more to making websites than throwing code together. Check out The Non-Designer’s Design Book or The Non-Designer’s Web Book for information on layout, typography, colors, and much more. -Get a decent grounding…
I just responded to a Twitter post asking about transferring your domain, and thought you’d benefit from the answer. Here goes: @RealtorMichelle: Halp! If I move my wordpress blog to my own domain do I still get their easy tools to write and the stats and “backstage” stuff? #wp WordPress is a bit of a…
The Non-Designer’s Design Book (3rd Edition) (Paperback) by Robin Williams From the Back Cover (2nd Edition): So you have a great concept and all the fancy digital tools you could possibly require-what’s stopping you from creating beautiful pages? Namely the training to pull all of these elements together into a cohesive design that effectively communicates…
Blue Widgets, Inc was ready to begin their big push into the Web. They had secured bluewidgetsinc.com and built a decent site; now they were ready to get into other online services. They got the username bluewidgetsinc for Flickr, but it was taken on another site and they had to settle for widgetblue1. Then Bob…
As I said yesterday, interactivity is the way to gain fans on the Internet, not beating them over the head with advertising. Here’s how one small business accomplished that. Blossom Chevrolet Tetris Promotion Social media marketing firm SocialUps created a Facebook promotion for Blossom Chevrolet where people are invited to get a high score on…
It has often been said that social media involves interaction with potential customers more than direct selling. Here’s an explanation for the uninitiated: Understanding the Difference Between Online and Offline Dynamics The concept of marketing with social media is similar to a conversation. Imagine you meet someone at an event who could eventually become a…
Online Video Gaining Popularity According to Website Magazine (which, incidentally, offers a great free quarterly print version), online video is set to really take off in the coming months. Fifty percent of adults regularly watch video online, with video-sharing sites and social media being major referrers. Video advertising is coming into its own, as well.…
Just like a newspaper would be tough to read through if each article were on its own page and thrown in a pile, users struggle with webpages which lack a layout design. Laying out your pages properly can help with the visual organization of a webpage and let people find what they want quickly and…
So you’re in charge of your organization’s mailing list, be it a company newsletter, messages about your website’s new articles, or something to keep your family posted on your activities. Here’s the first thing your readers might see: From: bluewidgetsconews@gmail.com To: 1@1.com, 2@2.com, 3@3.com, 4@4.com, … Subject: … Granted, you may have a riveting email…
Picture a forklift with a really high mast, so that its forks are up about 25 feet in a warehouse. There’s a four-foot platform between the forks and the mast. See the little guy waaaaay up high on the platform, pulling boxes off of the pallets in the shelves? Yeah. That’s me at work. Hello…