This is just a test post. My blog was hacked, and I want to see if there’s any way to put it back. You can see posts on the blog, but if you click a title, it takes you to my 404 page and not the post.
December 15, 2009
November 30, 2009
Legal Question
I have a fan page on Facebook for my business, and I’m doing a random drawing in December for the fans. I’ve always heard other contests say that they’re only open to US residents. I will be offering gift vouchers to randomly drawn fans. Legally, do I have to limit this to US residents?
Some people hide their location on Facebook so you can only see it if you’re their friend. This would be a bit of a pain trying to get everyone to respond to me with their location. I could run the drawing with only the people I’m sure about, but that would limit the eligible people a lot.
November 27, 2009
November 23, 2009
New Site Layout
If you haven’t been to our site in awhile, I encourage you to check it out. We have added several great new products, and we have also given the site a new look.
I’m very happy with the new look, although it took a bit of hacking into the PHP template files to get things working. Let me know what you think!
October 24, 2008
Support Your Candidate!
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.
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<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> |
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<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> |
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<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> |
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<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> |
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<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> |
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<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> |
October 15, 2008
Your Business Can Change the World
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?
October 6, 2008
Stand Out with a 100% Free Local Ad Campaign
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!
August 18, 2008
Blog Series: Creating Custom Products (with Poll)
I will be starting a new series of blog posts about how our products are created, and I thought it would be a good idea to start off with the graphics software that we use, including some tips and tricks. I’ll officially kick off the beginning of the series tomorrow, but I wanted to get this started with a poll. If you work with graphics (creating, editing, manipulating photos), what software do you use?
[polldaddy poll="863768"]
August 2, 2008
July 31, 2008
200 for 20 Weekends: Discounts for Visiting My Site
This is a good time to mention my “200 for 20″ campaign since it’s Thursday. Here’s how it works. If we get 200 unique visitors to our website each Friday, we will set up a coupon code to give you 20% off everything in the store on the following Saturday and Sunday. You can keep track of our recorded page loads here. Make sure to watch the blue bar (unique visitors), not the green bar (page loads).
I have submitted this page to Digg and StumbleUpon to generate interest. Obviously, we would like people to have a look around the store, but any page visits are OK, and the Digg submission has increased traffic to that specific page. Tell anyone you know about this offer and everyone benefits for the weekend!
