Wednesday, February 11, Gary Harwyn, owner of Daniel Island Mortgage,  unveiled his new green mortgage services and association with myEnergyLoan. (photo below: Gary Harwyn and Jeff Cole, founder of myEnergyLoan)

We are so excited to be helping promote Daniel Island Mortgage and its new ecofriendly mortgage products, and writing the web copy for their new site.

The event, hosted by Green Drinks Charleston, was held in downtown Charleston at Yo Burrito. As you can tell from the photo, we had a huge turn out for the event.

Designing a company website requires some compromising. It involves the perfect balance between visually appealing and functional elements. It’s important that one element doesn’t dominate the other. This is where many companies go wrong.

Many times company websites are polluted with too much flash, pointless graphics, and unnecessary copy. The combination of these elements is a major risk factor for decreasing website SEO.

In order to ensure your website ranks #1 in search engines, you must adhere to some kind of compromise. Make sure your entire website isn’t in flash. Many people might think flash is more appealing—and it is at times—but it greatly reduces your SEO if overused. Flash limits the amount of copy you can have on your page. Great copy is your best chance at ranking #1 in search engines and should never be substituted for unnecessary elements.

Result-driven copy . . .
· Increases SEO with effective keywords placed throughout. It’s important that these keywords add to the message and mission of your company.
· Converts leads into sales and motivates visitors to take action on your website.
· Increases site traffic.
· Targets your company’s specific market and keeps them on your website.
· Works to reinforce your brand image. Compressed, informative, and concise web copy is easy to read, gets to the point, and expresses your brand image in merely a few sentences without compromising important details.

It’s important to hire a web designer and web copywriter who work toward expressing your brand image online. An excellent web designer will ensure your site is attractive and functional, while an effective web copywriter will guarantee your company message comes across accurately and thoroughly.

The functionality and visual elements of your website may require a slight compromise, but you shouldn’t compromise on a web copywriter and web designer who don’t understand your needs and message. Grow your business. Grow to success. Hire the right copywriter and web designer.

Message from Michelle

Exciting things are happening around the office. Last night was our client, Daniel Island Mortgage’s big event—owner Gary Harwyn unveiled his new Green Mortgage service and partnership with myEnergyLoan. (As you can tell from the photo, we had a huge turn out for the event, which was hosted by Charleston Greendrinks). We are so excited to be helping promote their company and their new ecofriendly mortgage products, and writing the web copy for their new site.

And in other client news, Nest Realty launched their website on January 30—make sure to check out this new breed of broker.

I’m also excited to announce I’ve begun the process of rebranding my company. As we continue to grow and shift our services to better accommodate the market, I’ve decided it’s time for a new company name, tagline, and logo, and to clearly define my brand personality. Really amazing things are in store, so stayed tuned for new information, free gifts, new services, and more teleseminars.

Follow us on Facebook! Join our new group, The Path to Online Success, created for businesses eager to grow their company online. If you are struggling with growing your online presence, getting traffic to your website, and converting site visitors into paying customers, then this group is perfect for you.

Feature Article

Using Social Media Marketing: Attracting Internet Users to You

According to eMarketer, 30% of Internet users in 2007 visited social media sites at least once a month. This number increased 11% in 2008 and is expected to rise another 11% by 2013, with nearly 52% of Internet users visiting social media sites.

Yes, you read that correctly: in less than 4 years, 52% of Internet users will be using social media sites.

With this rapid increase in users, the time is now to begin promoting your company via these social media sites. Not only will doing so benefit your company in the future but taking advantage of these sites now will also greatly increase your online presence and grow your client base.

If you’re looking to grow your company, increase site traffic, and reach thousands of potential clients, set aside a few hours a week to promote your company’s social media sites, such as Facebook, Digg, Stumbleupon, Twitter, and YouTube.

With so many to choose from, it’s important to find a site that works with your business’s goals. Start with one, and see how it goes. The key is to formulate a marketing strategy and to stick with it—regularly post information, company updates, and photos. Steady participation is the only way to grow a strong social media client base.

If you’re looking to get your company noticed on social media sites . . .

Social media sites are free to join and it’s free to post information. Look into social media sites today, and watch your company grow tomorrow.

Tip of the Month

According to eMarketer, in 2008, 41% of internet users visited social media sites, and that number continues to rise.

Your business image–from your marketing materials to your personal dress–affect potential clients’ perception of your company. First impressions are everything.

Check out the style contest hosted by Charleston Style Concierge. The deadline is the end of this week — so hurry and enter today!  

Enter to Win a Style Consultation

Add some excitement to your Valentines Day with the gift you really want:

EFFORTLESS STYLE.

Enter to win a

Virtual Style Consultation

($100.00 Value)

Enter to win your Virtual Style Consultation.

During a 60-minute Virtual Style Consultation over the phone, we’ll discuss your style goals, answer your questions, and uncover the best way for you to get effortless style. We will use a style-assessment workbook and digital pictures you send to help develop the personal style you desire.

In your 60-minute Virtual Style Consultation, you’ll learn . . .

• What clothes are right for your body.
• How to dress based on the proportions of your body.
• What you need to buy to create a versatile wardrobe.
• How to develop a great style within your budget and for your unique lifestyle.

Here’s how it works: Using a style assessment and digital photos, we will help you determine the right clothing for your body type and easy ways to update your current wardrobe. All you need to do is fill out our style assessment, send photos, and show up for the call. It’s that easy.

Celebrate you this Valentines Day and enter to win.

Winner to be randomly chosen and announced on Valentines Day, February 14th.

Click here for your chance to win a FREE Virtual Style Consultation

The main goal of your company’s website is to get your target client to take action. If your navigation is confusing, they won’t take action because they won’t know how to.

Caution: This is where many businesses lose their customers. Easy navigation is crucial. Eliminating any ambiguity about where to look for information within a site is important.

Web copy works with design to help promote navigation through the site. Your website should encourage visitors to click on certain links, such as contact information, newsletter subscription, and the company’s blog. It’s important to have well-written web copy to motivate viewers to further investigate your site.

The four main things to remember about navigation: Make it simple. Make it fast. Make it clear. Make it work.

In a nutshell, your customers shouldn’t have to make too many decisions on your website. Too many websites have extra links they don’t need. If you give too many choices, you overwhelm the visitor, and they get frustrated and click out of your site.

People who visit your site are busy and can become impatient if they have to search your entire site to find what they need. Chances are, they won’t stick around to do that. Visitors want to get to what they need quickly and easily. If you make it too difficult, they’re gone, and they’ll buy from your competition. The more copy and graphics you throw at them, the more confused they’ll be, and then you’ve lost them. Your site needs to have strong focus.

One of the greatest challenges companies face with their online presence is lack of time and effort to market their company online. One of the most important aspects of growing a booming business is to market your company online in the most efficient way possible.

Using social media resources to promote the presence of your business online drives website traffic, reaches thousands of potential clients, and gets you involved in your industry’s online community.   

Since social media marketing is one of the most important ways to grow your business online, it’s important to set aside a minimum of three hours a week to promote your business on various social media sources. You can reach out to thousands of potential clients by simply adding three hours a week of social marketing to your schedule. Your business will thank you.

Below are important social media marketing vehicles to utilize.

Video Posting

Videos are an excellent way to allow customers to see the face behind the business. According to comScore, a global internet information provider, internet users in the U.S. watched 13.5 billion videos in October 2008, which was a 45% increase from October 2007.

Video provides a personal connection to customers and allows you to show them how certain services are done, how you work, how the company works, how your product works, and so much more.

YouTube is one of the most popular sites to post videos, since thousands of potential clients view them. Developing a video for YouTube is simple and benefits your company tremendously. You can place the YouTube video on your website or blog to further promote your company.

Blogging

Posting professional advice, information relating to your industry, company projects, and more on a blog, shows customers you’re an expert in your field and are passionate about getting the word out to the online community.

Commenting on other blogs relating to your industry, adding companies to your blog roll and vice versa, and using interactive media on your blog, all create an excellent haven of company / industry information. Using a call to action at the bottom of each blog post and linking it back to your website is an excellent way to bring in potential clients. 

Social Networking

Social media is the key to successful networking. There are many social media websites where you can post your company profile, interact with other companies, integrate yourself into the online community, and share information. Facebook, Twitter, Stumbleupon, MySpace, and discussion forums are just a few places worth checking out. Facebook, for example, allows you to create a company page with your mission statement, basic information, photos, events, video, a place to put your logo, and an area where your blog is fed directly onto the page every time you add a post. Stay active on these sites by posting comments, joining groups, joining causes, and becoming a fan of company pages.

NOTE: Social media sites are not a place to simply promote your company / product / service. They’re a place to build relationships and network with others.

We are very excited about the launch of Nest Realty’s website. We worked for weeks with Blue Ion to make this site a one-of-a-kind real estate website.

Nest is the new breed of broker and the website had to reflect the company’s brand and their unique business model. We oversaw the direction of the creative content and wrote the web copy. It was a great project because we worked closely with Nest owner Jonathan Kaufman and the awesome team at the brilliant crew at Blue Ion to create the end product. And we had a blast writing the copy.

We interviewed Jonathan on why he decided to build a strong online presence immediately after he launched his new company.  

Here’s a excerpt from our conversation.

How do you think the decision will affect the success of your business online?

The Nest web site is the face of the company.  Therefore, I had to have a site that was head and shoulders above the competition in all respects.  Within the last 10 years, real estate has shifted from an offline industry to one that is starting to become dependent on technology and the web.  In fact, 87% of   home buyers now begin their search online.  I believe that having a strong web presence will set apart the winners and the losers in the real estate world.  Hiring Blue Ion to design and develop the Nest site to be aesthetically pleasing and functional is helping to set me apart. 

Having great copy was really the icing on the cake. If the site was beautiful and functional, but the copy was clunky, I would lose prospects and the site wouldn’t be as appealing to visitors.  Michelle took pages and pages of business plans and company beliefs and consolidated them down into simple, concise, and easy-to-read copy.  Since Nest is different than your typical real estate brokerage, so it was important for me to be able to express those differences in a clear and concise manner.  And from a search engine standpoint, great copy will help me attract visitors to the site so that I can then convert them to clients.

I knew I wanted a top-notch web site and actually started researching real estate web sites and design firms almost 12 months ago.  However, just before I launched Nest Realty this past summer, I began interviewing different web designers throughout the country.  Blue Ion had been on my radar because I stumbled across another web site they had done after picking up a real estate flyer while I was visiting Charleston in 2006.  I ended up interviewing 4 different firms, but chose Blue Ion because I felt confident in their abilities and developed a good rapport with them. I decided to bring on a copywriter at the suggestion of Chris and Robert at Blue Ion. 

I have been involved in large web projects in the past, but never considered a copywriter.  However, I felt it was important to have professionally-written copy not only to enhance the visitor experience, but also from a search engine optimization standpoint.

What’s going on? To get potential visitors to purchase your products or services, you must effectively address concerns and answer additional questions. Remember, less is better. Keep it simple.

 The best way to do this is with a Frequently Asked Questions and Answers page—a separate FAQ section. Bold the question, and then answer it. The secret is to answer it as clearly and concisely as you can—in the shortest amount of words possible. List the most commonly asked questions first.

A great way to know what potential customers need and want to know is to email a satisfaction questionnaire shortly after they have taken your garden tour or purchased your hand-designed jewelry. Ask relevant questions that are clear and direct; then use this information to narrow your FAQ section.

Client testimonials are also a great way to learn more about your company: how clients perceived the level of service, what they liked and disliked, and why they chose to do business with you. Paying attention to these statements and mining them for valuable information will also help in determining what potential customers want and need to know.

Do not forget the power of offering free information. Posting online articles or blog entries will help you establish credibility and help with your online presence. Remember, the information must be useful. The more useful it is, the better credibility you will have.

The key is to make sure it will work to your benefit and turn potential clients into customers.

We are excited to announce the launch of Handsome Properties new website. We headed up the creative content direction and wrote the web copy while the Charleston-based design firm Studio Blur worked their magic.

Handsome Properties is a boutique real estate firm specalizing in historic and luxury properties in and around Charleston, South Carolina.

A year ago, many businesses could safely assume what worked for one successful business worked for all. This is not the case today.

Business practices and marketing strategies, which made a company successful last year, aren’t the same ones companies should implement today. It’s important to understand the pros and cons of this economic downturn and change the way you do business. It’s about marketing your company in a unique fashion and flipping past practices upside down.

The businesses succeeding during this time . . .

• Don’t simply follow trends—they’re ahead of the trends.
• Think outside the box.
• Educate themselves on the economy as a whole and in niche areas, not necessarily related to their industry.
• Analyze what other successful businesses are doing and put a unique spin on it.
• Acknowledge the negative aspects of this economy but do not dwell on them.
• Go the extra mile to discover what their competition isn’t doing.

Don’t let this recession frighten you into hiding. You don’t have to spend a ton of money to get on top. Use your mind as your main tool and resource for creating a successful business during this time. This will help you exercise your creativity for the future benefits of your business.

Change the way you do business today, and succeed in this troubled economy. You won’t regret it.