As time progresses we will look at what we do to make our business and how we market ourselves better based on customer demand and feedback as well as trends in the marketplace. We have changed some broad categories into more focused niches. We are also making the fact that we are about providing marketing services for our clients and are committed to consistent branding more obvious. We used the word, “share” to describe the final part of our 4-step work flow and now we have replaced it with the word, market or marketing. Our new motto of “Harmonious New Media” also reflects this.

We are making our photography service more prominent and instead of covering the broad category of “portable media” with are going to focus on Podcasting as a service. We will continue to explore other areas for future products and services but those will be feature and discussed in a “labs” section to be announced at a later date. You will probably see those innovative explorations at our portal site, SpinningSilk.com . One new service we are offering is an enterprise level/server based e-mail service via MXLogic. You can find what we are offering at our SpinningSilk.com Marketplace.

This is a question we get asked a lot when we encounter people in public and hand out our business cards. When most people think of silk they usually think of clothing items made from the product of a silk worm. Actually when we came up with the name for our business we were combining some new services into with our older business name, Greer Web Design. We didn’t want a name that would restrict us to our family name or web design only so we debated several names and SpinningSilk stuck. Why? Well the majority of the work we did and still continue to do revolves around the World Wide Web, a subset of the Internet. We were not thinking as much about the material silk worms produce for fine textiles but rather the webs spiders construct. Spider silk is extremely thin and lightweight but don’t let that fool you. It is also one of the strongest fibers on the planet. Designing for the web and print works best when you can make files as small as possible while at the same time crafting compelling words and images.

I have mentioned and explained in a previous series the concept of “personal branding.” We usually think of branding as something connected to commercial products you buy off the shelf but really the idea of “personal branding” is nothing new, it’s basically a new term for the old concept of having a good name and reputation.  What is new however is the ways we encounter potential employers, clients, etc. We are a new media centric company in that has the web and related media as the core of our business with photography, print, audio and video services used in critical support roles with a mindset of consistent branding across those media. However I left our one critical “media” and that is you.  Ideas, the way you dress, speak and your reliability are how other people perceive you. Resumes and portfolios can be one thing but it’s amazing how a face to face interview and good references can make or break the decision to hire.

The same holds true for business owners, sales people and marketers. Yesterday we started the process of looking for a new car. One of the things I dread the most is stepping on to the lot of a car dealership. The high price points, choices and stereotypes of car salesmen make thinking about the experience stressful.  However yesterday was not such an event. The salesman approached us and yes he was aggressive but I expect some degree of aggressiveness from sales.  He was not dressed in the usual sport jacket and tie but still smartly and neatly in dressy casual attire.  That made me feel more comfortable from the beginning. As he began talking he never mentioned the price. Instead he started talking about features and then took us for a ride pointing out such things as the design of the vehicle, suspension, braking. It was also refreshing to hear him admit he didn’t know some things about the particular model but would get the information for us. This reminded me of an article I read this morning by Chris Garrett called, “What is Authority?“.  He mentioned that it is a combination of personality, expertise and visibility and when those three come together the core is authority. Of course expertise and visibility come to mind but personality? Yes I can see how that sets on up as an authority.  If you come across as selfish, a jerk or you’re trying to trick people all expectations of authority more often than not may be lost.

How do you come across on your web site, social networks, e-mail, etc?  Does the design you have make you look professional? Would you be proud or embarrassed for employers or clients to see the activities you “advertise” across forums, blogs and online social networks? How do “brand yourself” in real life networking meetings, sales calls and presentations?

This month we are pleased to be an advertiser in Personal Branding Magazine. You can get a sample issue at personalbrandingsample.com and then have an opportunity to subscribe to the full version for the following year. Connected with that is the Personal Branding Blog which I would encourage you to subscribe to and read frequently.

We have been going through some reorganization and refinements in our company. Technically we’re not doing anything different in terms of the services and products we’re offering but we are changing the way we communicate who we are and what we do.

If you look at our menu on this web site you will notice some wording of  categories and terms has changed.  “Internet” has been changed to “web” and while we are still exploring and optimizing web sites for portable devices we are making podcasting our singular focus within the realm of portable media. Our photography services will also be displayed more prominently.

Another area of clarification is we will start using the word, “market” instead of “share” to better focus on the fact we are helping our clients market their business, organization or personal brand. We are still in the process or making these changes but thanks to valuable feedback we have gotten from clients, business partners, friends and family we are making a step in the right direction to bring greater clarity to communicating the products and services we provide. We will be going over this site in the days ahead according to the same work flow procedure we provide our clients.  In addition expect to see news about our parent company, SpinningSilk, LLC in the days ahead. Exciting days are ahead.

If you’ve been on the Internet or involved in any kind of business development I’m sure you have heard the term, Search Engine Optimization or SEO for short. This is nothing new. Ever since search engines or directories have been on the Internet companies have wanted to be at the top of the listing.

I hate to use the term “early days” but the previous mindset regarding preparing a web site to be easily found by a search engine involved some back-end technical steps which at one time made sense when search engines and portals had more of a directory approach.  The initial approach involved adding what is known as “meta tags” in the code of the web site and while some of these are still important to a degree modern search engine optimization is focused and hopefully will always be focused on the actual content in terms of text, images and other non design elements.

In terms of marketing this is actually a huge advantage in terms of competition, making updates known quicker and standing a better change at being found. Provided a web site has compelling content and is updated frequently.

What are some ways to to optimize, design and develop a web site so one can make frequent updates and provide compelling content? Here a few things to consider;

• Have a web site designed around a content management system - The makes it easier and faster for the non-designer, i.e. owner or employee of a company to update a web site without asking the web designer to make those updates.
• Incorporate a blog feature on your web site - The search engines love frequent content and writing on the topic related to your business on a frequent basis increases your search engine ratings
• Register your domain name for more than one year. The more years the better as search engines like Google rate domains with a longer registration period higher as it makes them look less, “fly by night.”
• Include words in your title tag you think people will use to search for a business like yours
• When writing, write naturally. Be sincere and don’t try to trick the system by stuffing keywords in the document.

These are just a few tips but they are ones they have helped us tremendously in the past few years to the point we rank on the first or second page of important search terms, many of which we have a lot competition.

Some SEO resources you may want to look at include;

• The Search Engine Academy of South Carolina
• The Wikipedia SEO entry
• Google’s page about working with SEO companies

Again these are just a few resources. We are constantly looking at ways to optimize web site for our clients and also our own business so we can not only get more customers but also practice what we preach and become more experienced to help others. If you are struggling with getting good search results for your web site contact us and find out what tools and resources we have that can help you be more successful. Of no one can guarantee you will be number one, that’s impossible and always changes but we can help you get achieve greater visibility amongst all the other choices out there. What are your SEO Success stories or concerns?