I highly recommend to you Steven Pressfield’s short but powerful book, The War of Art. You could read in an hour to two, but don’t. Savor it. Better yet, ponder it. Let it sink in.

Pressfield begins by noting Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.

He is speaking of creativity—since he himself is a writer, he often using writing as the example. But he does not exclude the seemingly non-creative. He also considers the plumbing supply store, because there is no reason the plumber …

E-commerce websites seem straightforward, and some of them are. However, we tend to end up building the complicated ones! They are only complicated because there are many, many details to consider and test… both on our end and the client’s end. It’s best to do all of the planning at the beginning to avoid changing specifications as the site is being built. Here are a few key items to consider.

1. Focus on the Objective

• Selling your product

Every design decision on an e-commerce site should be made with this goal in …

One of the largest challenges a business owner faces is capturing the attention of a customer or viewer long enough to tell your story and make them understand what your business is about. Video allows you to do this in a limited space and time. You can tell a lengthy story in a condensed and appealing manner. Video is often seen as a costly endeavor, but short, well planned videos can be put together professionally for under $5000. As business owners, you must always remember the quality of the video and website should be on par with the quality of …

A website is only useful if people see it.

The following six strategies are essential in any plan to boost the number of visitors reaching your site.
Gather External Links[1]
This remains the #1 way to improve your search rankings, especially when the links come from trusted and popular sources.
Effective Title Tags
Limit yourself to 70 characters, and put the most relevant keywords near the front. If your brand is a household name, it should come first, otherwise put it at …

Soap box time. I’m anti-multitasking and I’m here to say why.

I have clients and colleagues who multi-task in an unproductive way: They make phone calls while concentrating on something else. (Often, they’re driving. Sometimes, they’re on their computers while also pretending to be on the phone with me.)

They think they’re being productive. They think they’re getting two things done at once. Let’s look at what they are actually communicating:
I’m not concentrating on the point of this phone call

These people lose track of the conversation. They struggle with simultaneous, competing thoughts—such as “Can I merge safely into traffic now?” and “What …

All this month the office has been abuzz with activity to bring back the Webshop, a collaborative website creation workshop for business people to work on their sites side by side with the MB/I team on-hand to guide the process and tackle the sticky technical problems. We’ve been doing our very best to address every obstacle we’ve ever encountered to producing a website, then we’re parceling that process out into manageable pieces so that everyday people can walk through the process with us.
Outside the Bowl
Webshop isn’t just about our process; it’s about people like you.

• Executives who know a website …
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It is widely understood that a content management system allows you to both edit the current content of your site and add new content using the provided templates. One advantage of a CMS that’s not that widely known is personalization. Instead of sending everyone to your homepage and hoping that they connect the dots properly, you can create custom “mini-sites” for each prospect, using hand-picked samples to show how you meet their particular needs.  Using a CMS in this way evolves your website from an informational brochure to a …

One of the largest mental hurdles to maintaining a consistent business blog is coming up with a topic week after week.  It is easy to trap yourself with an artificial need for novelty instead of sticking to your strengths.  But if you’re really unsure of your ability to come up with relevant topics, the following strategies help.
1. Follow the News
Whether you listen to the radio while you commute or read an industry magazine on the weekends, make sure you keep abreast of current events.  The modern online reader is interested in relevant commentary.

Look for the stories that interest you as …

One of my favorite clothing stores had their big summer sale recently. They posted signs in their windows and throughout the store: End of Summer! Final Sale! 45% Off!  Lucky me, I found a snazzy orange top which I was 90% sure would look great with my floral print skirt.

10% of uncertainty didn’t worry me, because the store has a decent return policy. I’ve often taken a garment home, found that it did not work with my wardrobe, and then brought it back. In fact, the salespeople often suggest doing so.

But as the sales clerk rang up my purchase, I …

Over the past month we’ve been helping one of our clients launch their Facebook presence. This has given me time to reflect on you can develop a personal and respectful relationship even when “you” are acting as a company or organization.
Narrative Voice
Facebook is filled with people who want to connect with people, companies, and causes they care about. However, many are slipping in during the odd moment of freedom at work and don’t have time to waste.

It’s therefore a good idea to aim for something short, clever, and conversational. It’s fine to acknowledge your personal agency as …