You know those little images you see next to some people’s comments on blogs? Those are called “avatars.” (Yep, just like the blockbuster 3D movie from this past year.) A Gravatar is a name for
Globally Recognized Avatars. While Gravatars aren’t really quite “globally” recognized yet, they are used by WordPress sites, so they’re handy to have so that your face shows up when you leave comments instead of just a generic symbol.

The video below shows you how to get set up with Gravatar.

If you like a typed-up list, here are your steps:

Step 1: Surf over to http://gravatar.com

Step 2: Point your mouse to the spot on the upper toolbar that says “Log in/Sign up.” In the drop-down menu that appears, click on “Sign up.”

Step 3: Enter your email address in the spot provided. Click “Signup.”

Step 4: Head over to your email inbox. Gravatar will send you a confirmation email with a link in it that you’ll need to click in order to activate your account. Watch for that email and then go ahead and click that link.

Step 5: Choose a “Nickname.” This is your screenname for Gravatar, and you can’t change it, so make sure it’s one you like and will remember. If you use Twitter, you might try using your Twitter name as your Gravatar nickname. Or use your real name (e.g., davidcaruso) as your nickname, or your website title (e.g., haveasmoothie). Also choose a password, and enter that in both blanks provided.

Step 6: You’ll next go to a page that shows you the email address you just set up, and it will give you a message that says “Whoops, looks like you don’t have any images yet!” Click where it says “Add one by clicking here!” You’ll have the option of choosing an image from your computer, from somewhere on the web, or by using your computer’s webcam. You’ll want an image that shows your face–it’s going to get trimmed down to be a small square, so don’t worry about trying to find a head-to-toe shot of yourself looking glamorous. And also don’t worry if you need to crop your photo. You get to do that in the next step.

Step 7: Once you’ve chosen an image, you’ll be able to crop it so that only the part of the image you want for your Gravatar will be displayed.

Step 8: Next choose a rating for your Gravatar. You can choose G, PG, R or X (just like movie ratings). If you’re just uploading a basic profile picture, you can choose G. Some websites will be configured to not allow Gravatars with higher ratings (no R-rated photos or X-rated photos, for instance), so rating your photo appropriately makes sure it will be displayed on the right sites.

Step 9: And that’s it–you’ve got a Gravatar! Now when you leave comments on WordPress blogs using the email address you used when you signed up for Gravatar, the image you selected will be displayed, so people will know who you are. Nice!

It doesn’t have to be. How do I know this? Because I’m not a writer either, I’m a small business owner who writes.

I admit that when you first get started you may feel overwhelmed and your blog will feel foreign to you, but as you settle in and keep at it, you’ll one day realize that it has become an extension of you and your business.

So how do you beat the overwhelm, find good topics, engage your readers and make it all a profitable extension of your business?

Easy! Ready? Here we go:

1. Start with a schedule:

If you create an editorial calendar you will be light years ahead of most of the blogging world. An editorial calendar does a couple of things for you: first, you know when you are going to post and how often which really eliminates the stress of worrying about when you should blog. Just like doing your payroll or sales tax filing or any other scheduled task, your blog will be just another To Do List item. Second, knowing that you have it on the calendar frees up brain energy to think about topics you might want to cover.

2. Begin a topic list

I use a Word doc that I save to my desktop called Blog Ideas and Topics. When something comes to me I open the doc file, add the thought, concept or idea and save it. Easy, schmeasy, done!

Depending upon how you work, you may want to keep a tablet handy or a journal or notebook. Choose something that you can throw in your briefcase and keep with you. Or use your iPhone or smart phone, whatever works for you.

The most important part of this process is to be consistent and get your thoughts down. At this point you are taking notes; you aren’t writing a blog post. Some of my notes include a headline with a few bullet points, other times it is just an idea.

3. Begin a clip file or folder

As I skim through magazines, websites, newsletters or even advertising and mail I may find a piece of information that could be relevant to my readers/customers. If I’m online I either bookmark it or use Read It Later to tag it. If it’s a physical item like a magazine or trade journal, I highlight the relevant info and then tear the page out and throw it into a file folder. I may put a post it with notes on the torn sheet. The idea is to collect information that will make it easier to put your posts together.

I have a terrible memory and sometimes spend 30 minutes flipping through a book looking for a statistic. Sometimes there is just no other way. However, using a clip folder and bookmark folder will cut down on research time.

4. Start the day before

Starting your post the day before or even two days before you plan to post it will give you time to “stew” on it. You’ll want to write out your draft, quickly proof it and then let it “simmer” for several hours or overnight.

Proof it again after it has “simmered”. If you have someone who can proof for spelling and grammar, do it. Be clear about what you expect them to look for.

It’s best not to have them proof for tone or voice because those things can be very subjective. You can spend way too much time on subjective stuff and never ever get the post published. Your posts should reflect your personality as much as possible, so keep that in mind as you have proof readers go through your material.

5. Use a template

Use a template or formula when working on your posts. This makes it easy to fill in the blanks and quickly get a blog post written. There are various types of blog post types and you’ll find that certain formats work best for your subject matter and audience. Some examples include the “How to” post, the list post, review posts, interviews, case studies, etc.

Depending on the types of posts that work best for your audience, create a short fill-in-the blank outline to help you get through the blog post creation quickly. An example might look like this:

“How to” Post Outline

1. Introduction – lead in or story
2. Problem or How to description
3. Why you need a good solution
4. Solution with examples
5. Conclusion

Now, this is a very simple outline and everyone does this differently, what is important is that you have a beginning, a middle and an end.

Getting started and getting your first, second and third post up will be the most difficult but it will get easier. As you get a handle on what works for you and your audience, you’ll learn how to best connect with them. Surf around, check out what other people are doing and use those as inspiration. You may start out using someone else’s format but you will begin to change it as your personal style emerges.

The most important thing here is to get started and stick with it. Before long your audience will coming back for more and more!

There’s a ton of travel ideas on this site, yet it’s all easy to find because the Smoothie automatically adds newly-built pages to the drop down menus.

Each of the West Coast Hosts has it’s own pages (great for inbound links and search engine optimization), but they’re also grouped into summary pages like this one listing tours for Adrenaline Junkies. These summaries are automatically built out of individual pages for each tour operator so the DWC team only needs to maintain the content in one place.

The team is adding new partners and blog posts frequently so if you’re interested in traveling the West Coast of B.C. you should definitely check it out.

Now imagine all that effort you put into this stuff, but doing it with impaired vision. Or, as Glenda Watson Hyatt does it: with only your left thumb to navigate. It boggles the mind and puts things in perspective.

Just as in the physical world, the online world has ways of making things more or less accessible for people with some kinds of disabilities. Websites can have varying degrees of readability (by screen readers, or by users who need to zoom in to read content), navigability, and so on.

What you might not know is that there are things you can do as a blogger to improve the accessibility of the content you create. If you want to learn more about this subject, you might start with Glenda’s Do It Myself blog or the free ebook she’s currently offering at BlogAccessibility.com. She asks: how POUR is your blog? I love this acronym she uses for the attributes that make up an accessible site:

• Perceivable – can people hear or touch the content if they cannot see it? (Yes, I said touch. Did you know there were braille devices that communicate web content?)
• Operable – can you operate your website by keyboard only, no mouse?
• Understandable – is the language and navigation easy to understand?
• Robust – does it work in various device setups? This one is becoming even more important with the proliferation of mobile devices.

Suffice to say I haven’t even finished reading her e-book and I’ve learned some new things about web accessibility. I encourage you to take a look and see what you can do to make your website more accessible. I know I am.

P.S. My aim in this blog is to share resources which will help you make the most of your website. What would you like to learn about? I’d love to hear your burning questions or comments below.

Figuring out what to write about at your blog can be tricky. You might have so many ideas that you don’t know where to start. Or you might feel like you have no ideas at all. Lots of us fall into that category. You stare at your computer screen and think, “I have nothing to say that anyone else would want to read.”

Here’s the good news

You probably have a lot of great stuff to write about… you just don’t realize it. We often overlook the subjects that we’re best-suited to write about because we’re so used to thinking about them. We assume everyone knows about them and thinks about them like we do.

For example, suppose you’re an avid birdwatcher, and you just set up a website about birdhouses. You might suppose that anyone buying a birdhouse knows about the kinds of birds they’re likely to see. After all, identifying birds is second nature to you–it probably seems like it’s second nature to everyone else, right?

Not at all. That skill or knowledge you’ve developed is exactly what someone else needs. Someone else who buys a birdhouse might watch out their window and think, “Now if only I had the first clue what kinds of birds these are…” The knowledge that comes as second-nature to you is exactly what that person wants to read about.

Write about what you already know or love

One of the best starting points for blogging, then, is just to write what you know about and what interests you. The birdwatcher might write about how to tell the difference between two kinds of finches, or might write about why one kind of birdseed is better for bluejays than another kind. Someone who loves taking photographs might write about what kind of camera she prefers, and why, and what tricks she’s learned about to take great photos. A bicyclist might talk about the best local bike trails, or how to find a helmet that fits, or how to tell if your tires need air.

Whatever you love, study, read about, are skilled in, or are just interested in is a good topic for your blog.

Need some additional ideas?

A fellow named Chris Brogan wrote a list of 100 blog topics as jumping-off points for people to use. Take a look at that list–something might jump out at you.

But also consider tweaking those ideas to fit you. For instance, number 87 on the list is “Podcamp has to change.” You might read that and think, “I don’t even know what Podcamp is.” But maybe, if you’re the bicyclist, you might think that “Bicycling laws have to change” or “Bicycle seats have to change.” Either of those topics might make a great blog post!

Another example: number 27 is “How women use social media.” You might not have a clue how women use social media. But maybe you know a lot about how women do (or should) use gyms or hairstyling products or libraries. You can write about that!

So use that list of 100 topics as ideas, not necessarily as exact topics you have to stick to.

Consider the blogs you like to read.

What sorts of topics do those blogs cover? Do you have thoughts on those topics? Write about your thoughts on those topics and why they matter to you (or why they should matter to the reader). Do you agree with what those blogs say? Write about why they’re right. Do you think those blogs missed a point? Write about the point they missed and why it’s important.

Write about what’s happening in your life

This doesn’t mean that you have to wait until something monumental occurs. Everyday happenings can make excellent blog posts.

• Naomi Dunford wrote about getting her hand stuck in a box of wine and turned it into a marketing lesson.
• Charlie Gilkey posted a video of himself performing an acoustic song, and used it as an example of working through fear.
• Kelly Parkinson told the story of nearly getting a speeding ticket as a way to illustrate a sales technique called the “assumptive close.”
• Pam Slim wrote about an email she received from one of her blog readers, John the Baseball Player, because she really liked the email. It turned into a series of posts that generated a huge response from her readers.
• Gwen Bell turned a conversation she had in the car with her husband into a blog post about life and awareness.

As each of the folks above demonstrate, there are topics for blog posts all around us. The trick is to practice noticing them and taking the time to sit down and type them out.

So… what’s on your mind and when will you write about it?

Image credit: “Writer’s Block Dungeon” by Orkboi – Creative Commons Licensed.

How do you choose a good domain name?

The aspects that make a domain name great for you might vary. But these are some good questions to ask when you’re trying to decide.

• Is it memorable and easily understood? …if you overhear the domain name at the grocery store, are you going to have a pretty good idea how to spell it, and have a good chance of remembering it? Would you understand what it means, or get some ideas about what the website is for?
• Does it contain some of the keywords you think people will use when searching for you? …if your specialty is costumes and you’re in the Portland area, then www.portlandcostumes.com would give you an extra edge in showing up when someone Googles “portland costumes”. If you think people will Google for your (company) name because they are looking for you specifically, then the same logic applies. And regardless, it’s always a good idea to snag yourcomanyname.com and/or yourname.com if you can. You can always register more than one and “point” the others to your main site even if you don’t have a full site at each one.
• How long is it? …it used to be that we tried to keep them really short, but it’s tough to find a short .com name that’s good and available these days. Luckily if it’s memorable the long ones aren’t much of a problem.
• Is it available? …oh yeah, that. It may be a great idea but until you own it you gotta keep on looking. More on checking availability below.

Brainstorming your domain name

When I went through the process of branding my web design services, I took forever to come up with a name. I did a lot of brainstorming for the business name and also checking if a good domain name was available. I spent hours switching between thesaurus.com and other sites checking if the ones I wanted were available.

Then I found Bust A Name. You enter a few words and get back various combinations of those words as well as suggestions from a thesaurus. You can also select a few prefixes or suffixes to throw into the mix. Handy and fun.

How do you know if it’s available?

The first thing most people do is try to visit the new URL they’ve dreamed up to see what’s there. If nothing turns up that’s a good start, but not the end of the story.

Regardless of whether a website exists or not you must check if the name has been registered. You can do this with any company that registers domain names (a.k.a. a “registrar”), or at the Bust A Name site which also includes an availability check.

Where should I buy my Domain name?

My favourite registrar is Netfirms.ca/Netfirms.com. They have reasonable prices, great service, and minimal upsell. Meaning: you don’t have to click 1000 things to say “Just give me the darn name for $10 thankyouverymuch”. And, their website is user friendly so it’s easy to then redirect the domain to wherever you actually host your website.

The anti-favourite loathed by every web designer I know is GoDaddy. We generally want to throw things through the intertubes at their website out of sheer frustration. So I would say avoid that one if you can.

So those are some of my thoughts on the exciting journey of finding yourself a good domain name. Have you got any you’d like to share?

For those of you who like a step-by-step list, here’s what to do:

Step 1: Surf over to http://www.google.com/analytics

Step 2: You’ll see a big blue button on the right-hand side of the page that says “Access Analytics.” Look for the link just underneath that button that says “Sign up now” and click that.

Step 3: On the next page, you’ll have the option of signing in to Analytics with an existing Google account or setting up a new one. If you already use Gmail, Google Calendar, or Google Reader, you’ve got a Google account, and you can sign in to Analytics using the same email address and password that you use to log in to your gmail, calendar, or reader. If you don’t already have a Google account, or if you want to access your Analytics from a different account, then click the link that says “Don’t have a Google account? Sign up now.”

Step 4: After you’ve signed in to your Google account, you’ll be on the “Getting Started” page of Analytics. There’s a box on that page that says “Sign Up for Google Analytics.” Click the button in that box that says “Sign up.”

Step 5: Fill in the information requested on the next page:

• Your website’s URL (e.g., yourwebsitename.com)
• Account name: Whatever you want to name this account. The title of your website is usually a good choice.
• Time zone country
• Time zone

Then hit “Continue.”

Step 6: Fill in the next set of information:

• Your last name
• Your first name
• Your phone number
• Your country

Then click “Continue.”

Step 7: Agree to the terms of service. (You can’t use the Analytics service until you do.) So click the checkbox next to “Yes, I agree to the above terms and conditions” and then click the “Create new account” button.

Step 8: Next you’ll see a box with some code in it. Don’t worry about most of that. Just look for a part of the code that says something like ._getTracker(“UA-1234567-1″). It will be about three lines up from the bottom of the code. Jot down or copy the the UA-1234567-1 part (replacing 1234567-1 with whatever numbers show up in your code). That’s the info you’ll send to your Mixmasters so they can work their magic on getting the rest of Analytics set up for you.

Step 9: You’re done! Send an email to Tzaddi or Dave with you UA code from step 8, and then kick back and relax… you’re on your way to an Analytics-enabled website!

A fuzzy pink poodle! Photo by Kind of Bruin

If you’ve spent any time searching online for a photo for your website, you know that it’s a deep, dark cave of wonders. Before you know it, you’re looking at alien autopsy photos when you really should be looking for a simple image of a teapot. I could spend all day browsing images online and sadly, I have.

Even when I’m not getting distracted by the Roswell Incident, sometimes it still takes hours to find the right picture. This gets frustrating because I really just want to get back to the designing part.

It’s like shopping when you’re hungry. After a while, even SPAM starts to look appetizing. Just grab the frikkin’ can and let’s eat.

Unfortunately that’s not the best way to satisfy my hunger. Likewise, slapping any old picture onto your project isn’t going to solve anything, either. In fact, it can be harmful.

So after a sensible SPAM-free meal, I did some research and found a few ways to make choosing stock photos a little easier.

Speed up your search already

A narrow street in Malta, by Foxypar4

Narrow your search terms
This might sound obvious, but sometimes I catch myself using vague keywords in an online search. Like “dog” for example. That’s a lazy search term. When I see 163,000,000 images come up, I wake from my dream world and actually get to work.

Even when I narrow it down, “frizzy pink poodle” turns up 19,800 images – and not all of them are porn.

Consider your audience
This one isn’t so obvious. If you’re writing a blog post about the recent knitting craze, you might use a photo of well, someone knitting. If your audience is hip moms who wear their daughter’s clothes and drive Hummers, you might want to steer clear of photos of grandma and opt for something fun instead.

This actually speeds up your search because you won’t waste time looking at 70,000 fascinating flickr photos of grandma’s summer visit. Skip over, skip over, skip…

Consider the source
We like Google for searching, yes we do. Even though it will bring you the most results, we’ve already determined that you’re not interested in large numbers here. Better to have a smaller pond with more of the fish you want than an ocean with everything plus mammals. Just like marketing. But you knew that, right?

A few alternate sources to try:

iStockphoto.com: Yes, you have to purchase the image. This has advantages that we’ll get to in a minute, but you can do a better targeted search here.

Search.CreativeCommons.org: This one actually uses other search engines to show results, but you can narrow your search considerably based on usage rights selections (more on that in a minute).

stock.xchng: This is sort of like a free iStockphoto. It’s pretty easy to search. It actually uses some of the iStockphoto collection in its results.

Don’t Get Sued

I’ve never been sued before, but from all those movies I’ve seen it doesn’t appear to be a treat. I try to avoid it. There’s a simple way to figure out if an image is legal for you to use. Ask. If you find the creator of the image and get written approval, you’re covered. However, most of us don’t have time for that. Fish sticks. So here are your alternatives:

iStockphoto
Yes, you have to buy the images. Sometimes you can get a photo for $1. So skip Starbucks for a day. Besides, it explains in detail exactly what rights you have to use the image. I would venture to say that any image you find there is suitable for a blog post. Don’t take it on my word, though. Find an image, read, and get clear on your rights. Then relax.

Creative Commons
It’s not only a great way to search for images, they tell you how the images can be used. Just read their disclaimer first:
Do not assume that the results displayed in this search portal are under a CC license. You should always verify that the work is actually under a CC license by following the link.

Some of this legal stuff can sound scary. If you err on the side of not using an image because the rights aren’t clear, you’ll sleep just fine. There are plenty of other fish. In fact, there are at least 19,800 if you’re looking for a fuzzy pink poodle fish.

stock.xchng
From what I’ve seen, the images are all free of charge and free to use. However, you can’t use them in logos or on products for sale without contacting the artist. When in doubt, ask. Play it safe.

Alien Incubator by Jurvetson

Distractions

I have not found a solution for this. I start at “teapot” and before long I’m zooming in on an operating table to see if there are seams on an alien.

I’ll get back to you on that one. In the meantime, don’t let this image-selection process bog you down and stress you out. Consider (gasp!) not using an image at all. Focus on creating useful and interesting content. That’s what people really need, anyway.

I totally understand this. I’ve been the one stuck, staring at that bleeping blinking cursor and a mess of words that just don’t flow. Or staring at a blank Photoshop canvas too long because I didn’t figure out what kind of picture I need to paint before I started.

I know for me, that stuck-with-no-flow situation is really about deeper things like not knowing what your audience needs to hear. It’s from not having those key messages figured out.

That’s why I was super excited when I met Kelly Parkinson and learned about her Wilderness Concierge service. It’s an idea-generating, message-honing session with Kelly who is both a copywriter and a “collaborative marketing guide”. That sounds to me like a great way to get a fresh, genius perspective on what your website business needs to be saying, so you can get on with saying it loud and clear.

I used to get kid’s room envy. Big time.

The rooms were always immaculate, with the coolest beds. A pirate ship? They have pirate ship beds? Can I have one?

This was the ’80s, so there was usually a fake Apple IIe juxtaposed with a huge, Captain-themed desk. Rope ladders that disappeared into a ceiling mural of a crow’s nest, pointing toward a hurricane sky. Awesome.

Mom, can we live here?

When you see really gorgeous, art-driven sites with lots of eye candy, it’s kind of like browsing model homes. You want to move your content in and put your own books on the shelves. Mine.

Think about this: what will you really do with that rope ladder?

We love to look at pretty web sites and we all want our own to inspire eye drool (if we’re being honest with ourselves). They can. We just have to be smart about it.

Damn. I know how you feel. I hate being “smart” about creative stuff, too.

Purpose-driven visuals

Imagine if you filled every blog post, your about page, and your sales pages with random, pretty words? It might look like this:

Serendipity swimming gorgeous lily onomatopoeia banana nostril silvery flicker…

You get the point. Those words may be lovely to read, but they don’t tell us anything about what we’re doing on the site. While we’re at it, those words aren’t equally lovely to everyone. It’s a pretty subjective thing.

Ask yourself if the graphics on your site are like this. Are they a hodge-podge of different styles and randomly selected bits of fluff?

The reason we admire the “pretty” sites aren’t simply because they have great graphics. It’s because the graphic elements they use have a purpose.

The graphics support the content.

Figuring out the best visuals for your site is hard. It takes time. There are a bazillion choices possible and by the way – it’s hard for me, too.

But there is a way to help narrow down the choices and at least get some clarity and a sense of direction. You even have some of the answers already waiting for you, right inside your content.

Sometimes it’s obvious. If you bake squirrel pies, putting a photo of a gorgeous bayou sunset will throw people off. Even if it’s the sunset you see out your kitchen window while you skin squirrels, not many folks are gonna get that unless you spell it out.

On a web site, you have a very short time to communicate an idea with only visuals. In this case I would suggest a photo of you smiling, in front of the gorgeous bayou sunset, holding a dead squirrel. No explanation required.

Hopefully if you’re running a business site you’ve already got a logo that works. Put it in your header. If your logo looks as out of place as squirrel pie at a State dinner, you need to either rethink your logo or your web site.

What if you sell products? Putting an image next to the product name can really help fix that product in the viewer’s mind. If you’re with me so far, you’ll understand why I would suggest putting some sort of iconic audio-based graphic next to an audio recording.

But what should it be?

Before you just grab the closest piece of clipart, think about this. It may seem obvious that the best graphic to represent an mp3 download would be something digitally-themed, like the iTunes icon or equalizer bars. Remember:

The graphics support the content.

If your site is about making squirrel pies, think about the fact that it’s not immediately seen as an ultra-modern activity. Skinning critters is kinda folksy.

How about an old Victrola? Or one of those humongous retro mics?

The Reason You Love that Site

The object of your web site envy may have beautiful imagery. That can be enough to make you swoon, but think about what you do on the site. Do you spend time there or just admire the scenery? Could you describe something you learned from the site or point someone there to make a purchase?

The thing is, the great site designs use nice imagery with a purpose. The main purpose is to draw you in, sure. The secondary purpose is to guide you to the content.

If you see a gorgeous site and you click away without participating in the content (reading a blog post, learning a new skill, finding out about a product), then the site has failed.

When you’re planning visuals to use on your site, start with your content. It’s a lot harder than picking out the prettiest pictures, but it could be the difference between visitors who just envy and visitors who stick around to find out more.