The Lily Pad - A Blog for Small Business Owners

Understanding Private Domain Registration

February 24th, 2011 | Posted in Tech Tips by Angela Nielsen

I got an email from a client yesterday who was trying to buy an additional domain from his existing domain registrar. He is an attorney, and the company knew that meant that on his website he would show his phone number, address etc. However, the registrar (we won't name names here), kept insisting that he ...

3 Ways To Do Less And Accomplish More

February 23rd, 2011 | Posted in Web Design & Strategy, Web Marketing by Angela Nielsen

Most of us go into business because we love doing our thing and want to make money by doing it all the time. So if your thing is coaching, you are probably killer at that. Or if you’re a speaker you never met a platform you didn’t like. But when it comes to running your ...

The New Facebook Fan Page: 5 Nice Features

February 18th, 2011 | Posted in Blogging & Social Media, Web Design & Strategy by Sanna B. Coates

If you handle a Facebook fan page for yourself or your company, you might have noticed a suggestion from Facebook to switch to a new fan page design. Since the new design will be mandatory starting in the middle of March, here’s a quick breakdown of some of the more important new features. 1. Brand exposure: ...

5 Ways to Add Boldness to Your Website

February 17th, 2011 | Posted in Web Design & Strategy, Web Marketing by Angela Nielsen

When someone lands on your website they may be thinking…. -- Am I in the right place? -- How can this person help me? -- What do I do next? I think taking a BOLD approach to design and content will help your reader stay put instead of hitting the back button. Here are five ways you can mix in ...

Domain Name Renewal Scams – Beware!

February 9th, 2011 | Posted in Tech Tips by Angela Nielsen

If you own a domain name, chances are this post will not be news to you. but if it is - we wanted to make sure you were aware of two very common domain scams that have been circulating for years. The first is a registrar scam. If you are unsure what a registrar is... Wikipedia ...

Pingbacks and Trackbacks – The Basics

January 28th, 2011 | Posted in Blogging & Social Media by Sanna B. Coates

If you’re new to blogging, you might have heard terms such as Pingbacks, Trackbacks and Pings – without knowing what they mean, and how to tell one from the other. You are not alone. These terms can get confusing, especially since a lot of people using them are not sure of the differences themselves. Let’s ...

How To Come Up With Blog Post Topics

January 21st, 2011 | Posted in Blogging & Social Media by Sanna B. Coates

Let’s say you manage a reasonably successful blog – you have an established fan base of devoted readers, you’re staying on top of your statistics, and you publish at least one new post a week. But you have a dark secret. Every week, as time to publish a new blog post comes closer, you break out in ...

One Thing All Great Websites Have In Common

January 19th, 2011 | Posted in Web Design & Strategy by Angela Nielsen

Have you ever hired a professional organizer to help you declutter a space? Me neither. But I seriously wanted to declutter my office last fall, so I asked my super-organized daughter if she would give me a hand. She placed three large bath towels on the floor of my office. The Orange = throw away. The Blue = ...

How To Write Captivating Blog Post Titles

January 14th, 2011 | Posted in Blogging & Social Media by Sanna B. Coates

There are plenty of ways to draw traffic to your blog, some of them more effective than other.  If you are not a full time blogger, chances are you won’t have time to spend several hours a day posting comments on other blogs, or to completely search engine optimize every single post. But there are ...

Google Instant Preview – Now Design and Content Matter More Than Ever

January 13th, 2011 | Posted in Web Design & Strategy, Web Marketing by Angela Nielsen and Tom Bruein

Outpacing your competition on the web just took a new twist. Here’s what you can do to pull ahead. “Google's Instant Preview May Just Shake Up Web Design Forever” says Fast Company. We couldn’t agree more, and would also add that every word on your website must now contribute like never before. What is Google Instant Preview? ...