How to set up your first website or blog without losing your mind … or your wallet

by Christy Correll on May 19, 2010 in Blogging, Web Design & Development, Wordpress

First of all, let me say that anyone not well-versed in coding, website design, and SEO should definitely have their website or blog professionally built and maintained if they have the resources to do so. Especially if the site is going to be monetized or represent an already-established brand.

Now that I’ve gotten that disclaimer out of the way, you should also know that I fully understand that many small businesses and individuals making their online debuts have more time than money, and are going to take the DIY route. At least when it comes to updating your site with fresh copy.

If you happen to be one of these folks, I have some excellent news for you. With a little guidance, it is easier than ever to add new content to your blog or website using a content management system (CMS) such as Wordpress. In the old days, it was necessary to be skilled in HTML at the minimum in order to update a website. However, any individual with the time, motivation, and patience to learn their way around a CMS can now update their blog using a built-in WYSIWYG editing program. Similar to a word processing program such as Microsoft Word, a “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” editing program lets you add new content to your blog or website without having to know any type of code such as HTML, CSS or PHP. You can add new text, photos, and sometimes even video and audio clips to your site within a WYSIWYG editor using formatting toolbars. Some CMS platforms even let users optimize their blog posts and pages for search engine optimization (SEO) without touching their code. [READ MORE]

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How Facebook Community Pages can damage your business or nonprofit organization

by Christy Correll on May 7, 2010 in Internet Marketing, Social Media

When it comes to Facebook Community Pages, what you don’t know can hurt your business or nonprofit organization. Facebook purportedly gave users the option to create Community Pages as a way to create an “unofficial” page on a topic, cause or experience — not a brand. And anyone who creates a Facebook Page has to authenticate that they are an official representative of that group or business. This change followed the explosion in popularity of regular Pages being built around informal themes with titles like “Can This Facebook Page Get More Fans Than Nickelback?” In theory, I think Facebook requiring Pages to be authenticated is great news for businesses and organizations because it should (in theory) help them protect their brands.

The problem is that anyone can create a Community Page, including a business or nonprofit organization, but Facebook is not exactly advertising this fact. Nor are they, in my opinion, doing a good job of letting users know that once they create a Community Page (or convert a regular Page to a Community Page), they will lose control over the content of that page. This is because Community Pages operate like wikis, allowing all community members to edit content. [CLICK HERE TO CONTINUE]

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How to promote your Facebook page with the brand new “text to like” feature

by Christy Correll on May 2, 2010 in Internet Marketing

Do you have a Facebook page with a custom URL? If so, then you are eligible to start promoting it right now using Facebook’s new “text to like” feature. Here’s how:
Ask your customers to send a text to 32665, Facebook’s mobile messaging number, with the words “like YourFacebookPageName.” For instance, if you were promoting Denver [...]

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Nice to meet you

by Christy Correll on April 5, 2010 in Internet Marketing

Hi there, fellow Internet user. My name is Christy and I am the founder of Honey Tree Media LLC. If you need help building your online “buzz” on the web, then you have come to the right place. We offer a variety of Internet marketing services that we can custom-tailor to meet your needs. And [...]

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