Design Dashboard- the Best Place to Start »

Four years ago, when I put up my first web site to market coaching (applying my new business knowledge along with my counseling skills), I  signed up for a hosting service with a site builder program available as part of the package. I wanted to have a web site quickly and I didn’t want to have to learn how to program HTML. The site builder worked and I still have that site today. As I became more aware of internet marketing sites I wanted more control over the design and function of the sites I was creating.

I’m an amateur at web design, really. I took a Front Page class five years ago but never really got to use it. I finally got my own copy of FrontPage last year and quickly become completely frustrated trying to create something that was close to what I envisioned. I started looking for templates on the internet that could be plugged in to FrontPage. Did I mention that I’ve been trying to do all of this on a shoestring budget? The templates were not up to my standards and design sensibilities. Hiring a professional seemed out of reach for me financially. I tried other HTML editor programs, like NetObjects Fusion, but I was just as frustrated trying to get what I wanted. Then I discovered the Design Dashboard, created by Marlon Sanders, an internet marketing wiz. Click here to read more »

Everybody Markets (Some of Us Better Than Others) »

Marketing is a life skill they don’t teach you in school. I now call myself an internet marketer since I realized that, in reality, every interest I have will likely end up being shared on the internet, sooner or later. The Web Life, as defined by Frank Feather, futurist and author, is becoming a reality (Get a Web Life!).

Why marketing? Marketing, defined as offering goods, services and information for sale, isn’t just on the internet and it isn’t just done by business people. We are all marketing all the time. Every time you attempt to communicate an idea or try to influence another person you are selling, selling an idea, selling your time (ie a job) or offering a personal creation. Marketing isn’t always about money (money is great, of course). Marketing is about persuading someone to take action- sometimes the desired action is buying what you are offering. Sometimes the desired action is a phone call or merely an acknowledgement. Artists know the fine edge of this sword very well. We make art (music, poetry…) because it is who we are. The presentation of our work to others for acceptance, accolades and for sale, is marketing.
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