helping small businesses find practical solutions to complex problems.
Over at Raúl’s blog @biancaest wrote a Basic Green Screen effect Tutorial post which we would like you to take a look at.
Here is a test and sample video we created to test out the steps Bianca included in the post.
Thanks to Artifex creation for the background picture.
Recently Raul (@rj_c) has been helping out our friend @Mark_Hayward, owner of The Palmetto Guesthouse in Culebra, Puerto Rico, with organizing a 140Conf Meetup in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Once the details were finalized, we were able to spend time with @JeffPulver , founder of the 140Conf.com and @AlanWeinkrantz who helps with media relations of the #140Conf. We also met Gilad Zirkel and Marc Fischman from @Hashtagart (@Zirkel and @MarcF) who accompanied Jeff and Alan.
We stayed at the San Juan Marriott (Our Client and sponsor of the event) where the event took place and enjoyed conversations with people from all industries in Puerto Rico. The great thing about the event was that many of the individuals, 125 in total, were small businesses owners, entrepreneurs, web and app developers, bloggers who write on a variety of topics, and even a professional clown.
Jeff took the microphone and told us what sparked the #140Conf and what he expected people to learn while attending. One of the key takeaways that stuck in my head was that he wanted all types of people attending the event. There is no elitism and everyone from the farmer to the fisherman should attend this conference.
Prior to the event, Alan had the chance to tour and interview Dana Montenegro, owner of Seriously Creative or @Space4Ideas on Twitter. This leads us to the video below where you can hear Dana explain the concept behind this unique workspace and his views on startups and entreprenurialship.
I agree with Dana when he says there are talented individuals on this island that are starting their own businesses and collaborating with like minded individuals provided that they are able to come together and meet. This is exactly what the 140Conferences are about; collaboration, innovation, and perhaps the chance to work together in order to create mutually beneficial opportunities.
If we are to enable these types of collaborations on the island we must find Sponsors to bring this 140Conf, that is becoming a global event, to Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. If you or your company are interested in Sponsoring, please let us know in the comments or contact form.
Were you at the #140Conf Meet-Up in San Juan last Tuesday?
What were your key take aways?
Thanks to Alan Weinkrantz for the video.
As a small business we are always looking to shape-up our business and try new ideas that we put into practice. Recently we decided that we needed to provide a better understanding of pricing for the websites and blogs we design, develop, and or implement. Instead of just providing one option to small, medium, and large sized organizations, we decided to offer a wide variety of options to choose from that will fit your business goals.
From the options we are offering start from $399 to $7999.99 on up. As you go up in price, there are more details that are enhanced, added, created, and customized for your web or blog to function as people search for your services.
There are small companies and organizations that still don’t know why they are not attracting new clientele.
How can you stand out amongst all of the companies that provide the same service as you?
By providing new customer’s a place to read more about your customer service accolades, how you have been recognized by your peers in your specific industry, and what new services or products you will be able to provide for them in the coming year.
We invite you to take a look at our new pricing chart and give us your feedback on where we can start off for your specific needs.
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$399+
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$599+
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$999+
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$1,999+
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$4,999+
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$7,999+
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Home Page
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SEO Enhanced
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PHP
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Blog & RSS Feed
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Unlimited Blog Posts
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Content Editor
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Newsletter Set Up
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Sharing Via Social Outposts
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WordPress or other CMS
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Unlimited Pages
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Creation of Social Outposts
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Periodic Backups
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Editorial Calendar
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Custom Art Design
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Professional Photographer
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Customized Mobile Site
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E-Commerce
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Content Creation
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Logo Creation
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Multi-Language
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Guy Kawasaki, Raúl Colón (Fundador de CIMA) y Chris Brogan
It isn’t everyday you get Happy Birthday sung to you by one of the Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers but in December, during his show with Joe Sorge called Kitchen Table Companies #KTCO , Chris Brogan sang Happy Birthday to me in Spanish. I really appreciated the gesture as it was something unexpected and with Raul sending him a message, he gave a great performance.
Top 10 of Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers on Forbes
Since CIMA is a Strategic Partner with Chris Brogan’s company called Human Business Works, we were elated to read that author Haydn Shaughnessy , Forbes contributor, compiled a list of Social Media users because he wanted to analyze what these people write about and the following they have when it comes to Social Media. Feel free to read the article in the link above.
Congratulations to Chris for being named number one on the list. If you have ever heard Chris on KTCO, gone to a conference to hear him speak, or read his blog posts, then you know that he genuinely connects with people.
Thanks to Hadyn Shaughnessy for writing the article.
It is a new year and during this month we know that many people will be making resolutions to lose weight, eat healthier, become organized, and enhance their personal lives in all sorts of positive ways.
What resolutions will you make for your small to medium sized business or organizations for this New Year?
Every business should have a need to re-organize and re-structure for the new year. Setting company goals for individuals who help run your business is something that should always be done but more importantly to provide focus to those employees on what you expect of them in the coming year.
As a previous employee for companies like Perkin Elmer LLC and Pitney Bowes we had our performance reviews. In the case of Perkin Elmer, we actually wrote down what we wanted to learn and achieve for the coming months and years. It was up to us in being proactive with our short-term and long-term business goals. Proactive employees means successful projects for the upcoming year translating into a healthier business environment.
How do small and medium sized companies help shape their business?
If you still don’t have a website, or feel the one you have is not living up to your audience’s expectations, make sure you get one made by professionals you can trust. The team and I are ready to help small and medium sized companies with enhancing their web presence by starting with a current state assessment of where your business is and how they are using the internet to market services.
Another way you can shape up the company is by looking at your current marketing strategies. If your company needs help with marketing strategies we can provide detailed recommendations and observations of what is being done well or even better yet identifying areas that need enhancements to meet current business goals and assure the best quality services.
Consulting with our team regarding the content of your website can also help you reach new clients and also put the spotlight on your management and resources while highlighting their expertise and how they can help new and returning clients.
As I have stated before, attracting clients with quality content is important and when it comes directly from your organization it shows that they you are committed towards creating better relationships with your clients and audience.
How has your company started shaping up for this year? How are you involving your resources (employees, management, and staff) to meet those goals?
Photo Credit by by eclipseGrafx
It still amazes me on how many people don’t see the purpose in writing a corporate blog. On many occasions someone wants to establish their online presence and they just want a static page. When I ask business owners why there is only a static page, their answer is that they don’t know what to write about on their corporate blog, or even worse that they don’t have time to be online.
When individuals are so resistant to set up a corporate blog it is obvious that they don’t see the value in establishing one. But maybe if they could get an idea of what they can write about it might sound more appealing to them.
5 Suggestions on what to write about in your corporate Blog that can save you time and money:
It is great to have a FAQ page on your site but if you can also use your blog to clear answers with more detail, I can guarantee that in the long run it will be useful for you. It can even save time because instead of writing an explanation you can just point them towards the details on your blog.
For example, we answered the question in our blog regarding what music you can play on a website. Thankfully the post has been viewed by many people and in researching the topic, have come in though Google which can be converted into clients.
In our case, customer accomplishments are very important. So if we can find a way to congratulate our customers it might be a good idea to write a few paragraphs about their accomplishment and how that client is tied to you. If the outcome or accomplishment is directly tied to any of your team’s efforts it makes it even more important for you to include a post regarding your client.
Example: When we launched Food Truck Freak a few months ago for a client they received good press coverage andwe highlighted their accomplishment by writing:
“CIMA goes along for the ride with Food Truck Freak in Chicago”.
If you are launching a new product or adding services it is a good idea for you to let your customers know via your blog. Communicating things via your blog can help you reach your audience directly and also clear any questions that your prospective customers might have at a faster pace than publishing a Press Release or any printed material.
Example: We announced how we started our translation services and also changed our website into a Bilingual One.
Make sure your posts have an area to comment. This is another source for future posts. Based on what your audience is asking via the comments area or conversations that are going on in that area, you can generate future blog posts. If you can answer the question quickly answer it in the comments section. If the answer is complex or detailed, I recommend writing a follow up post so your answer can clear the questions of others.
Example: Based on previous questions we had in our comments when @margieclayman offered to write a guest post for us we took the opportunity to have her straight to the point post on “ Five Keys to Look For When Searching for a Website Development Partner“
If you join up with another organization it is great that you share the great news of the new partnership. This not only shows your new partners that you are excited about the relationship, it also allows your clients and customers to know who you are aligning with to serve them better.
Example: Soon we will share more insight into our partnership with our business partners Chris Brogan, Rob Hatch and the rest of the Human Business Works Team. (News & Press area).
Similar to answering questions, you can create a post with a tutorial of a process in order to further educate your customers. Instead of running them through the process in an email, you can create a resources section in your blog that is available for everyone to review and understand.
Example: We love to learn from other blogs so we make sure every once in a while we add a tutorial or answer questions that might be useful to our readers like ”Exchanging your LinkedIn Info via QR Code” and “3 Ways To Make Your Keywords Useful On Twitter“
Do you have any other suggestions on what things you can write about on your blog?
photo credit by Keith Williamson
As the holidays approach us we see many people creating content about celebrating Christmas, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Christmas Giveaways, and Christmas Cookie Recipe Bake-offs. Everyone wants to create a list of the Top 10, Top 50, Top 100 blogs, websites, and influential people of the year to drive those people mentioned to the source that names them. What better way to get people to visit your website than mentioning them as the best at a specific genre?
Where are you announcing your events or latest news? What about your holiday party that your company or organization will be hosting as you invite your community of readers and members to join you?
I see many folks using social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google + to make sure everyone reads their holiday experiences. But these networks shouldn’t be your main source of imparting information to your clients or community members. What would happen if these social networks all of a sudden stopped working? How are you going to get information to your readers if you are solely making social networks your home?
Your company needs to make sure that these networks compliment your website which should be your home everyday and not just for the holidays. What we do for our customers at CIMA is create a website that you can call your home.
When customers look for your company or organization, they are going to see if there is a website first. These days one of the first questions we ask people we encounter who state they are a small to medium sized business or organization is the name of their website. It amazes me how many companies don’t have a permanent home where customers can learn more about their product and services.
If you are a small to medium sized business, you need to make sure you have a website to let people know that your brand exists. We also see the other side where small to medium sized companies have a website but it is deadspace or looks outdated. Information has not been updated and the commitment to create content just isn’t there. At CIMA we have created content for our customers. But who knows your business better than you?
One of our clients, RomyBaez.com, sells car insurance, life insurance, and business insurance along with other types of insurance. In his latest blog post, he writes about the importance of having vital insurance information before you purchase a car. The website was made for those looking for all types of insurances in Puerto Rico, created with content in Spanish, and is his homebase for returning and new clients. As a small business, Romy was conscious of having a website where his potential clients could contact him for a quote. Can you upload important documents for your clients to download on Twitter? I have not seen that feature at all.
Although it is great to use social networks to update information about what your company or organization will be doing for the holidays, don’t forget that a website created by our team will celebrate with you everyday of the year.
Like many other small business owners I know who had translated their web sites I was hesitant to translate my corporate site into Spanish. It clearly involved a lot of work. Most of the key areas of my site have been moved over. I have also translated the latest posts. Preferably you can translate 100% of the site but in the case that you can’t do 100% at once here are some tips on how we prioritized what to translate first:
Take a look at your analytics software and see what content has been viewed the most or created the most interactions. Once you have determined what people wanted to read the most you can include these as top items to translate.
If you look at a post and it has content that is not fresh or the situation has changed I would leave those posts as a last priority. Make sure you transfer content into the language a new audience of people wants to read about and look for. If you find content that can be updated go ahead and update both posts. If the updated content has relevance with your audience feel free to put it as a priority if not then leave it towards the end.
Make sure you translate information on your key services and products. If you went through the trouble of translating your site you have to make sure these items get put on the top of the priority list. This will open the possibility of people searching for your products in the target language to find you.
Take a good look at the content that might resonate with the possible visitors and community you are translating your corporate website for. Capturing their attention more often was the main reason why you decided to move your site over. It might be a good idea if you also move those items in your priority list.
Overall I really recommend that you move as much of your site as you can. If you are not sure you can handle translating 100%. Translating parts of the site, prioritizing your most relevant content, might not be a bad idea.
If you don’t have all your content translated make sure to explicitly explain to your customers where that the content has not been translated. Also set clear expectations to explain if the content will be translated and what else they should expect in the future on having more translated content.
Would you see any value in translating any of your online presence to a new audience like for example Spanish readers?
Photo from RickyMartinMusic.com
A bit more than a year ago I wrote a post regarding the lessons I learned from reading Ricky Martin’s Biography Me.
A few weeks ago the Ricky Martin Web team found the post and shared it via their twitter account.
There was a request to have it translated which I have done and posted on here our corporate blog since their might be a few lessons regarding community building and this site also supports multi-language posts.
If you want to read the previous post
10 Lessons in Social Media from @ricky_martin
Wondering how to Find at what time a previous tweet was sent out?
I was asking myself the same until Googled it. I created this 1 minute tutorial on how to find the time tweets where published.
If you can’t see the video click here.
If you have any further questions regarding managing twitter or your presence online feel free to ask in the comments are or contact us.
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