Kaya Singer, Awakening Business Solutions
Meet Kaya,
A modern business owner
Kaya is the business owner of Awakening Business Solutions and her talent is in helping others overcome mental blocks, and to assist in developing and growing their business. Her strengths are her ability to create processes and tools that makes it easy for people to understand business and to make a permanent shift from the inside out.
Kaya’s website, a common situation
Kaya had been using her website as a communication tool. She was using an HTML based platform using Adobe Contribute publishing software. The website was functional, it did its job, but Kaya was frustrated that she had to purchase Adobe’s updates in order to keep her site functional. The updates increased in frequency and for each upgrade she had to shell out a pretty penny.
She was also limited to using one computer for administrative access. This became problematic as her business grew and she needed to have access away from her home computer to perform updates.
It had been a few years since she had originally designed her business’ website and Kaya felt it was time for a new look and energy that reflected her growing business.
Knowing what you want
Kaya realized she needed more than just a website face-lift. She needed a platform that was easier to use and less costly. A website that made it easier to navigate and one that would increase potential clients to contact her via her site. By this time she has been working with Jocelyn Mozak for several months, as her Business Coach. “I already had a relationship with Jocelyn, already hired her for small jobs and knew that she was good communicator and worked quickly. I knew she would do a good job. She does what she says she’s going to do and she’s supportive at the same time. It’s hard to find someone like this. I finally I knew what I needed.” Kaya hired Mozak Design for the job.
Working together, creating positive business impacts
Jocelyn worked together with Kaya side by side to create a site that was more suited to her client’s needs and reached out to her target market in a clear and creative way. Kaya reflects on her experience and says that her new website, “reflects the culture of my business…it wasn’t bad before, the content is about the same, but the presentation part is much better. The new site’s navigation is much clearer and easier to use by nature, WordPress is functional and easy to use. It’s great to have some bells and whistles on the footer, and I love the way the Blog post goes on the bottom. The site has an impact.”
Where to Host your WordPress Blog
So you have decided to begin blogging with WordPress … but now what to do. For most of us the next natural step is to Google the term “wordpress” and begin creating our blog.
When I type WordPress into a Google search I get two results.
- www.wordpress.org > Blog Tool and Publishing Platform
- www.wordpress.com > Get a Free Blog Here
Humm … so what is the difference?
WordPress.org is the true open source software avaliable for download. The benefit to this is that you will be able to install and customize you blog however you wish. You own the domain. You own the design. The downside, you need to install it in your hosting area. Thankfully the majority of web hosts have Fantastico or another Open Source software installer to simplify this task. Most hosts also have great customer service so feel free to give them a call and ask them to walk you though the process if you want the extra support.
WordPress.com is a site that will host your wordpress blog for you for free. However, free is not exactly free. With the free blog you will not be able to pick your own domain; you will be given a subdomain of www.{business_name}.wordpress.com. You will not be able to customize the blog presentation beyond choosing one of seventy seven options and there will be ads on your blog. Now, you can pay $55 a year to enable the custom domain, custom presentation and removal of ads; but why? You are already paying for hosting for your business’ website.
Give a choice between the two for a Business Blog I highly recommend wordpress.org. I’m a big fan of controlling all the strings when it comes to my business.
Robin E. Pope, Attorney at Law
Like most self-employed individuals, Robin does it all. But one area that she didn’t have time to deal with, was learning how to design, build and update a website.
Hassle Free & Immediate Results
I didn’t have time to figure it all out. I run all aspects of my business and didn’t want to to learn how to create a website. It was such a relief that I could tell Jocelyn what I needed and that it was done immediately. I also didn’t want to deal with updating the site, and am very pleased that Jocelyn continues to take care of managing my website.
Trusted References, Talent & Commitment
My website was functional, but I felt that it was outdated and not comprehensive enough for my clients. A trusted business colleague suggested that I contact Mozak Design to solve my website needs. I browsed her portfolio and I liked how she had a real talent for creating a website that is both appealing in design and business functional. Her strong referral and great products lead me to hire Jocelyn. I also like to support local, women owned business’ when I can, as I am a small business owner myself.
A+ in Design, Function & Communication
Jocelyn guided me over the next few months and together we figured out my true website needs, created a course of action and kept at a steady pace. Jocelyn encouraged me to look at a lot of different websites. I would tell her, I liked this particular design from this website and that particular function of another and she would bring everything together. I didn’t realize how involved I would become, but in the long run it was well worth it and am very happy that decisions were made together. I now have a website that fits both the personality and the needs of my business.
Over the next few months Jocelyn and I met on a regular basis hammering out details and ensuring the website truly reflected the spirit of my business. It’s important for me to make a personal connection with the people I work with and sometimes email and online communication just isn’t enough. One of the best parts of working with Jocelyn was having the option to meet face to face. When people meet me they say the website is a reflection of who I am. One reason clients contact me is because they like the impression that they’ve gotten from my website.
Now my website is complete, and I keep Mozak Design on retainer to assist with quarterly website updates and revisions. I know that I could create and update a website myself, but I’m glad I went with a pro. She’s good at figuring out what suited me, her fees are fair and she saved me un-countable hours of frustration and headaches.
Robin has been helping build legally secure families through adoption and assisted reproduction. Her law practice located in Beaverton, Oregon, is dedicated to family formation law, which encompasses many types of adoption and surrogacy matters. Her clients, who hail from Oregon and all over the U.S., as well as from numerous countries around the world, create and grow their families in a multitude of ways.
I’ve got an idea … now what?
- Write a contact. How frequently do you get stymied for which to express in an email to a friend? Probably not very often. So rather than telling yourself you’re writing A Article (which can sound intimidating and important), tell yourself you’re writing a contact to some friend. You can even do this inside your email program. Put your headline in the subject line, keep your point and call to action in mind, and begin writing. Then you can cut and paste to your blog publishing software, editing a little when needed, and you are done.
- Outline it. This is probably my favorite method, though it gives some people uncomfortable flashbacks to ninth grade English class. Write your title, after which list 3 or 4 main points you’d like to make or examples you need to include. Flesh them out, and you’re done!
- Speak it. Record yourself referring to the topic, or just take a seat with a friend and talk through your posting, taking notes of points and ideas generate as you chat. (Bonus: If your audio recording is pretty coherent, you can release it as being a podcast on iTunes for added value for your money).
- Just write. Take a seat, start typing, and see what comes out. Don’t edit yourself until you’re done. Then go back and reformat, tighten, cut, and expand when needed.
Writing is as difficult or as simple as you allow it to be. Many of us originate from backgrounds where we were told we weren’t good writers, or that our spelling and grammar were atrocious. But don’t allow that to stop you for those who have something to say!
First, blog writing is not like the essay-writing I was graded on as students; it’s much more conversational. Second, no one (probably not even your ninth grade English teacher!) is going to be grading your blogging efforts. Third, great writers, even Stephen King, Scott Turow, and Problogger Darrin Rowse edit their work. And if they do not, they must be.
What is the Objective of a Business Blog?
Recently I’ve been noticing that a lot of my customers know that they need a WordPress Blog for their business’ website but they are unsure as to the why. As a result, it is unclear to them what to do with their Blog once it is created. These conversations have prompted me to share some of the ways I see a Blog impacting a Business’ Website & Customer Base.
So, what is the objective of a Business’ Blog
-
To establish a relationship with a potential client
- There are 4 tiers of connecting with a client
- Website Home Page
- Blog Posts / Website Internal Pages
- Newsletter / RSS Feed
- phone call
- Each of these items offer a level for your customers to connect with you. Some customers may know that they are ready to work with you and will call or email your business. However, for those that are unsure you need to offer them options of connectedness. If a customers only options are a phone call or browsing the website; you will find that your business will lose many potential customers.
- Instead by offering stepping stones of connectedness customers can start by browsing your site and wordpress blog to learn about you. They may then choose to be on you Blog Rss feed or your Newsletter mailing list. Then with time they will be ready to take the step of a phone call or email. The key point here is you are meeting their need to build a relationship with your business on their terms
- There are 4 tiers of connecting with a client
- To add new content to your website on a regular basis
- New Content simple means new text containing information on things relating to your business. There are 2 key reasons new content is valuable
- New content gives your customer a reason to come back and look at your website. Especially if they are on your Rss feed
- New content attracts the Search Engines to your site resulting in them viewing your website at current and relevant.
- New Content simple means new text containing information on things relating to your business. There are 2 key reasons new content is valuable
-
To increase the quality of relevant content
- Google’s goal is to provide searchers with websites holding information on what they seek. The more relevant content you have on your wordpress website & blog, the more your site is seen as a valuable resource. This results in a higher placement in the Search Engine Results.
- A high content Blog allows you to keep the remainder of your business’ website sales oriented and not content dense. This is key as most customers prefer to scan headers and lists. Not wade through paragraphs. A WordPress Blog allows those paragraphs to remain on your website without compromising the sale portion of your site.
- To be able to add content without the assistance of a web designer
- It is essential that you are able to control the content of your Business’ Blog on your schedule not your web developers. There is nothing more frustrating then needing a edit done asap and having to wait on another.
- …. I’d love to hear your comments on how you see your WordPress Blog impacting Your Business!
