Don’t use Netfirms for WordPress blog
A client who hosted his Web site at Netfirms asked me to redesign his Web site using WordPress. Netfirms, like most hosting companies, offers easy WordPress installation through Fantastico.
Big mistake.
They installed an older version of WordPress! So I had to spend precious time doing a manual upgrade. Then I discovered that the Permalinks feature didn’t work. I tried in vain to get tech support to understand the problem and my questions (I even pointed the tech to the appropriate articles in their knowledgebase).
Due to the poor tech support, we ended up moving to another hosting service, where the Permalinks feature works just fine.
WordPress Permalinks allow for blog post and page URLs to include the post or page title, for instance, instead of a string of numbers. This is very important for making your blog or site friendly for visitors and search engines.
What’s your story?
Jerry Bader of MRPwebmedia in his article “Ten Stories That Can Sell Anything” reminds us that effective advertising is about telling stories about universal truths and primal needs.
There are only so many stories you can tell and the art of advertising, or corporate storytelling, is the ability to present that story in fresh new ways. … There are some disagreements as to what these seven stories are, and if there are really only seven. This magic number seven is interesting as it coincides with noted psychologist Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
Maslow identified seven basic human motivations that guide peoples’ conduct: physical needs, safety needs, social needs, self-esteem needs, cognitive needs, aesthetic needs, and self-actualization needs. Develop a marketing campaign consisting of stories that satisfy one of these motivational triggers and you have a campaign that your audience will respond to and consider relevant. …
Not everyone limits the number of prime stories to seven, Blake Snyder, professional screenwriter and author of “Save The Cat,” says there are ten. Snyder approaches the problem with a more flamboyant flair than Maslow, but still based on fundamental emotional and psychological criteria.
Snyder’s ten basic story scenarios are: Monster In the House, Dude With a Problem, Fool Triumphant, Superhero, Buddy Love, Out Of a Bottle, Institution, Golden Fleece, Rights-of-Passage, and Whydunit. This is all very interesting but does it help you develop an advertising campaign that delivers your marketing message?
Read the entire article here or here (reader-friendly and printer-friendly version!)
How new USPS rates can save businesses money
Inc.com reports that new USPS rates effective May 14 could save businesses money. The cost of mailing a letter will go up by two cents, but rates for other categories will drop.
Letters weighing up to two ounces will drop to 58 cents — five cents less than the 63 cents they currently cost. Businesses that reduce the frequency of their mailers by combining them stand to gain. A small business mailing 5,000 such letters would save $250 more than what it would have saved before the rate drop.
Get print jobs done and in the mail before the USPS rate increase May 14
Are you planning any large mailings? Tip — get it printed and in the mail before the USPS rate increase effective May 14.
Need a good printer? Check out my favorite, PrintingForLess.com. Use my Promotional Code RP1LQZ43O to receive $25 off your first order. Get any printing orders in by Friday, May 4, to take advantage of the current postage rates.
Here are some other money-saving tips from PrintingForLess:
- Mail postcards to your customers instead of sending letters
- Save up to 50 percent by folding large marketing pieces before mailing
- Check your mailing list and remove questionable addresses and duplicates
For more tips, visit PFL’s mailing services information page.
Free guide from online copywriter Nick Usborne
Veteran copywriter Nick Usborne is getting his feet wet at the new FreeIQ information site by offering a truly valuable resource for free. Go on over and pick up your copy of Writing for The Web #1.
This is a 35-page guide to writing for the Web, written by Nick Usborne, a leading online copywriter and author of “Net Words — Creating High Impact Online Copy.” This free guide outlines 7 challenges every writer and copywriter faces when writing for the Web.
Writing for the Web is different than writing for print. According to Usborne, the challenges online copywriters face include:
- You need to help every visitor avoid getting lost.
- You need to write for the company, your readers AND the search engines.
- You need to earn your visitors’ trust.
- You need to write every page as a landing page… or not.
- You need to make your content pre-sell.
- You need to make the sale before it’s too late.
- You need to know that web designers are not always on your side.
I read Usborne’s book Net Words - Creating High Impact Online Copy several years ago and used it to write an article geared to technical communicators who were getting into writing for the Web. Read the article, What Every Writer For the Web Should Know.
Be sure to get your free copy of Writing for The Web #1.
Also consider joining FreeIQ as a content provider. They are looking for experts with quality content!