Election season is upon us, and you know what that means. No, I’m not talking about the endless name calling and advertisements. It means that it is time to excercise your right to vote and show your support for your candidate.
I have designed two simple buttons in several sizes for you to display on your websites and message forums. If you use these, I would like to ask you to copy the code I have provided instead of just saving the images so I can get some credit for them.
I appreciate any comments or suggestions about the buttons. Here are the buttons and the code you need for each size.
<a href=”http://www.blakesdesigns.com/store/Featured-Content/c2/p4/Election-2008-Buttons/pages.html” title=”Click here to get your button!”><img src=”http://www.blakesdesigns.com/mccain/mccainxs.png” border=”0″/></a>
<a href=”http://www.blakesdesigns.com/store/Featured-Content/c2/p4/Election-2008-Buttons/pages.html” title=”Click here to get your button!”><img src=”http://www.blakesdesigns.com/mccain/mccainsm.png” border=”0″/></a>
<a href=”http://www.blakesdesigns.com/store/Featured-Content/c2/p4/Election-2008-Buttons/pages.html” title=”Click here to get your button!”><img src=”http://www.blakesdesigns.com/mccain/mccainlg.png” border=”0″ /></a>
<a href=”http://www.blakesdesigns.com/store/Featured-Content/c2/p4/Election-2008-Buttons/pages.html” title=”Click here to get your button!”><img src=”http://www.blakesdesigns.com/obama/obamaxs.png” border=”0″/></a>
<a href=”http://www.blakesdesigns.com/store/Featured-Content/c2/p4/Election-2008-Buttons/pages.html” title=”Click here to get your button!”><img src=”http://www.blakesdesigns.com/obama/obamasm.png” border=”0″/></a>
<a href=”http://www.blakesdesigns.com/store/Featured-Content/c2/p4/Election-2008-Buttons/pages.html” title=”Click here to get your button!”><img src=”http://www.blakesdesigns.com/obama/obamalg.png” border=”0″/></a>
I will be the first to admit that it is my fault for not adding credits to the end of one of my tutorial videos on YouTube. YouTube was one site, like Flickr, that I realized could be good for naturally promoting my business while providing value. I had created a simple tutorial video showing how to remove the background of a photo in Paint .NET. Yesterday, I checked on my video and found that it was being embedded on a website. The language on the site seemed to me like they were taking credit for the video. I left a comment thanking them for using my video, and found today that they had deleted the comment. This made it clear to me that they were not going to give me any credit for it. My first inclination was to delete the video, but it has over 6000 views, and I have the right to keep it. YouTube has a feature to add annotations to videos, so you can add notes that will show up, even in videos embedded on sites. You can see below what I have done with this one to claim credit for it.
I wanted to help out anyone who posts comments on this blog, so I have installed a “No Follow Free” plugin. I tried one awhile back, and it didn’t work for some reason. This should be helpful for getting backlinks to your websites and blogs. Just a short post here to let you know.
I wanted to help out anyone who posts comments on this blog, so I have installed a “No Follow Free” plugin. I tried one awhile back, and it didn’t work for some reason. This should be helpful for getting backlinks to your websites and blogs. Just a short post here to let you know.
I thought I would give you a brief glimpse into the fun and exciting world of producing custom products. When I first got started researching dye sublimation (the process used to create my products), I talked to a guy in a professional forum and he told me that a dye sub business was “like printing money”. At the time, I wondered if he was joking or serious. I have since answered the question for myself. Let me introduce you to my latest creation, an 11 oz. black ceramic mug.
This looks like it came out pretty well, right? Wrong! Have a look from another angle.
Yes, the transfer was placed upside down! Aaaaarrrggghh! Printing money, all right! Wonder if I can give this one to Mitch. Just kidding, although this goof-up is for sale at a very discounted rate if anyone wants it.
I thought I would give you a brief glimpse into the fun and exciting world of producing custom products. When I first got started researching dye sublimation (the process used to create my products), I talked to a guy in a professional forum and he told me that a dye sub business was “like printing money”. At the time, I wondered if he was joking or serious. I have since answered the question for myself. Let me introduce you to my latest creation, an 11 oz. black ceramic mug.
This looks like it came out pretty well, right? Wrong! Have a look from another angle.
Yes, the transfer was placed upside down! Aaaaarrrggghh! Printing money, all right! Wonder if I can give this one to Mitch. Just kidding, although this goof-up is for sale at a very discounted rate if anyone wants it.
As a part of my discussion about business social responsibility, I think it is important to talk about how businesses can, and should, contribute to alleviating some of the problems facing our world. The theme for this year’s Blog Action Day is global poverty, so I would like to point out some ways that small businesses can contribute to relieving global poverty.
Source: http://www.globalissues.org
Make Discounts Count – Do you offer a discount coupon for first-time customers? This is a great opportunity to demonstrate that your business cares about global poverty. Why not offer the option of that discount going to a relief organization?
Go Green – Find ways to reduce the paper used in your office, and recycle that paper, along with electronics, and many other everyday items. Reducing spending and waste makes your business more efficient and frees up some money that could go to worthwhile causes.
Think Before You Toss – This is not just in the recycling sense. My business makes many custom products, like mugs, mouse pads, shirts, and tote bags. Occasionally, one of the products doesn’t come out right on the heat press, so it can’t be sent to the customer. Instead of tossing some of these items in the trash, I can donate them to charities. They are still good, usable products. What does your business have that you’ve been throwing away that could be donated?
Sponsor a Child – Have you heard of World Vision? For a few cents a day, your business could sponsor a child. You get a short biography of a specific child when you sign up to sponsor. Your business could feature this on your website with the option to allow your visitors to donate to the fund.
Donate on this Blog! – Right here, right now, you can donate $1 which will go to Change.org to treat malaria and other diseases in many countries around the world.
You do not need a PayPal account to donate.
What is your business doing to help those in need?
Recently, I was approached by our local Humane Society about working with them to sell products. I am looking forward to the opportunity, and I wondered how many other businesses have considered nonprofit organizations in the customer role. As a new business that is still working on building steady customers, this is a great situation for me. Obviously, it is good from the business perspective, but it is also good from a public relations standpoint.
I think it’s important for businesses to accept social responsibility and contribute to causes that they find worthwhile. I will be blogging about another part of this next week for Blog Action Day.
Let’s hear some ways that your business is participating with nonprofit or charitable organizations.
How much are you spending on advertising? Do you think you could be doing better? If you’re like me, you have had advertising campaigns that left you thinking that you got a very low return on investment and not much publicity. When I think of a standard ad campaign, I usually think of the time frame in terms of days, weeks, and maybe months. What would you think about a campaign that would still be running a year from now with no additional investment? Let me introduce you to a truly unique advertising campaign idea.
If you market locally, some of your goals probably include maintaining visibility and establishing yourself as a leader in your community. Here comes the “meat” of my advertising plan. A standard 11 ounce ceramic mug has an area about 8″ x 3″ that can accommodate images and logos. According to my calculations, that would be enough space for up to four small advertising spots.
An 11 ounce mug can fit up to four ads
Your first plan of action would be to find local “mom and pop” restaurants, diners, and coffee shops that would be willing (and happy!) to accept one or two cases of free coffee mugs to use at their tables. Next, find other local businesses to purchase ad space on these mugs. One of my 11 ounce custom mugs is about $14. Fitting four ads on each mug makes each ad cost about $3.50. Make sure to mention to your advertisers and restaurants that these mugs are dishwasher safe and that the image will not crack or peel. That’s $3.50 for permanent advertising on each mug!
Local businesses will appreciate your efforts to boost visibility for everyone involved, and local restaurants will be very happy to be receiving a free supply of mugs. Make sure to notify the local media and submit a press release!
This relates to my previous post about SEO and backlinks, and it also relates to my business. I recently purchased a new domain, Photo-Mugs.net, which is an e-commerce site selling custom photo mugs. I have already been selling custom mugs from my main site, but I decided to try this as part of two experiments. The first part is to see if a site without an overwhelming number of products does better when it is more narrowly focused. The second part is to see if a more SEO-friendly domain name, Photo-Mugs.net, will do better.
I have also added a plugin that rewrites the URLs for each product to enhance SEO. A URL on the site will now look like this:
As you can see, the URL now has the product name in it, which is more descriptive and hits some of my keywords. I’ll let you know how the experiment is going.
As always, your comments, Diggs, Stumbles, and Tweets are greatly appreciated.
Just kidding, although this goof-up is for sale at a very discounted rate if anyone wants it.
