Evaluate Your Small Business Website

So we've all made our New Year resolutions for 2010. . . or most of us have anyway. Many are personal aspirations and others careeer and business related. Did at least one resolution include updating your website?

If not, then add it to the list! Below is an article written by Deborah Crawford that I think is definitelty worth the read and follow-up. Step into the New Year in the right pair of high heels and make sure that this major marketing tool is updated and streamlined with your mission and vision for your organization.

~Nicole Wright (Niche Market Program Manager; Gwinnett Chamber)


Evaluate Your Small Business Website

Have you taken time to evaluate your website lately? Your website is a marketing tool—in some instances, it may be your only marketing tool! Just like print ads, sales kits, radio or TV ads, billboards, signs, business cards, sales letters, and so on, your website represents your business to the world. It’s a good idea to visit your site frequently and try to look through the eyes of your visitors and/or customers.

Some things to consider when evaluating your site:

First Impressions: Does your site come up quickly when you type your URL into your browser? Is your URL easy to remember and easy to spell? Does your home page download within eight seconds? People are impatient and will not wait for flashy intros and tons of graphics to download. Do you get right to the point? Can you tell immediately what this company does?

Credibility: Does your website give your company credibility? Does it look professional for your industry? A jewelry designer and an accountant would have different images for their companies, and should not use the same canned website themes. Fun, creative businesses need to demonstrate their creativity online. More serious professions should choose more sedate web designs. Nobody wants to hire an accountant whose website features dollar bills dancing along with “We’re in the Money”. It may be funny, but I don’t want my accountant to be funny.

Easy to Read: Can the average reader of your site easily read your content? Journalists have long used the 8th grade reading level as their goal when writing. Avoid jargon and acronyms that readers unfamiliar with your industry do no know--unless you are writing content explaining those terms. It’s a good idea to have someone outside your industry read the content on your website and give you feedback. Remember, white space is good—don’t try to fill up every inch of the page with words. Short paragraphs, short sentences and short articles are more likely to be read online.

Easy to Navigate: Are key links to your site easy to find, and are they consistent throughout the site? If they are on the left on the homepage, keep them on the left. Do you have too many links on the homepage? If you have over 20 links on your homepage, consider reorganizing and condensing them. Make it easy for visitors to find what they are looking for. Cut the clutter and minimize the ads.

Valuable Content: Good content is still king on the web. Educate your visitors—they are looking for information. Tell them about you, your company, your products, and your industry. Update frequently so they will return. Delete outdated information. Learn to write for the web, or hire a freelance writer with some experience in writing for the internet. Provide resources and links helpful to your readers.

Branding: Make sure your website is consistent with your offline marketing materials in color, design, impression. If you have a logo, put it on each page, along with contact information—your name, company name, phone, fax, URL, address. Make sure customers can contact you. Nobody wants to do business with an unknown entity. If you run a home-based business and do not want your home address online, rent a PO Box, or at least put your city & town there. Check that each page supports your mission and vision statements if you have them, or that it supports the image you want your company to have.

Links: Make sure you have links to relevant sites and make sure they all work. Make sure your internal links work, too. Broken links are frustrating and will lose visitors quickly. Check them often. Check your outgoing links to make sure they still work and that the sites you link to are sites you personally recommend. Exchanging links is a great idea, but make sure you don’t exchange links with businesses you wouldn’t support.

Graphics: You need graphics—just like pictures in the newspaper or in a magazine, they create interest and aid in communication. Make sure yours are small enough to load quickly. Make sure they support your message—don’t have your visitors trying to guess why you have a picture of a pig on your page.

Keeping your website current, efficient, and informative can help you grow your business and build your brand. It can help you reach people around the world! Make sure that what you have online truly represents your business to every one of them.

Deborah Crawford
BellaOnline's Small Office/Home Office Editor
www.bellaonline.com

Why Can't I Lose Weight?

You are exercising, eating right (for the most part), and drinking lots of water and still can’t shed the pounds. What is going on?

There are numerous weight loss programs that claim to make you lose weight, in fact, weight loss business is a multi-million dollar industry because IT DOESN’T WORK! How many times have you tried to diet and tried different diet programs only to gain it back and then some? Why can’t you lose the weight like before?

Is it becoming more and more difficult to lose the weight as you age? Women are considered peri-menopausal from approximately 35 years of age and significant fluctuations in our hormones can cause such an imbalance in our hormones that can ultimately cause weight gain, fatigue, joint pain, DM, heart disease, breast cancer, to name a few.

As women age, we have various fluctuations in our hormones that make us prone to weight gain.

There are several culprits that make women gain weight:
· Changing ratios of ovarian hormones as we age: estradiol and estrone
· Increased progesterone relative to estrogen
· Excess adrenal androgens and cortisol relative to estradiol
· Increased insulin levels as we age; Decreased estradiol
· Decreased in thyroid function with age

All of the above has a negative impact on our metabolism. It causes a cascade of reaction:
· Decreased metabolism
· Loss of muscle mass
· Increased stress
· Decreased physical activity
· Fatigue
· Increased food cravings and intake
· Increased fat stores
· Increased weight
· Increased insulin production
· Increased fat store around the middle (waist)

We need to optimize our health by creating balance within our own body. We should not resign ourselves to not feeling and looking our best. It is our time to refocus, start taking better care of ourselves, and take control of our future. Understand your body and start taking the steps to find a balance between body and mind. Strive to look and feel your best!

Consider the following:

Reflect on your own health risks: are you overweight, have high cholesterol, medical diagnosis, blood pressure, etc.

Family History: Do your parents, siblings, cousins, grandparents, aunt, etc. have history of : Diabetes, Hypertension, High cholesterol, heart disease, thyroid disorders, cancer, obesity?

Find a physician who will measure objective testing:
1. Ovarian Hormones: FSH, estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, DHEA-S
2. Cortisol, TSH, T3, T4, Thyroid antibodies
3. Fasting lipid profile: cholesterol, LDL, HDL, Triglyceride
4. Metabolic profile
5. Fasting Glucose: HgbA1C
6. Bone Density

Evaluate your lifestyle:
1. Types of foods you eat daily
2. Do you exercise
3. Smoke, Drink
4. OTC medications, supplements, herbs, etc.
5. Bad habits
6. Good habits

Stress: evaluate the stressors in you life and determine how you can minimize and participate in activities that may relieve and help you cope better such as yoga, exercise, counseling, etc.


By Connie Jeon, DPT, MPH, RD/LD, HFS, CPI, CYT http://www.elementssuwanee.com/

GET A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP

The body naturally works in tune with the sun, moon and earth's rotation. Research indicates the body's natural, involuntary system is interrupted when normal sleep patterns are skewed.

What types of activities interrupt normal sleep patterns? One is an altered work schedule – changing from a daytime work schedule to the "graveyard shift.” Another negative sleep habit is going to bed late and waking early, which doesn’t allow the body to get the 6-8 hours of sleep recommended for health. Finally, if you do not sleep continuously through the night, you’re setting yourself up for irritability, lethargy and possible weight gain. I’ve had clients report getting up at 1 or 2 in the morning to snack, read or watch television. This type of unnatural activity negatively affects the involuntary processes the body goes through when we sleep – digestion, cell rebuilding, and memory “download” or storage by the brain. Additionally, nighttime snacking increases caloric intake without expending those calories, which causes weight gain.

If you find it difficult to unwind and enjoy a night of peaceful sleep, here are a few tips:

*Avoid strenuous exercise 1-2 hours before bedtime. Metabolism increases during exercise and typically remains up 1-2 hours after a bout of rigorous exercise. Instead, participate in less active physical activities like gentle stretching, meditation, or reading.

*Engage in focused deep breathing while lying in bed. Inhale for 10-20 seconds, then exhale for the same amount of time. Don’t hold your breath between inhalations and exhalations. Let the breath flow evenly in and out through your nose. Breathing through the nose will filter and warm the air coming into the body. Slow, concentrated breathing relaxes the muscles of the body and slows the heart rate.

*Do not eat immediately before going to bed. Move around a bit after dinner – clean the dishes or go for an evening stroll. Light activity after a meal helps to burn calories and aids digestion.

*Take a warm bath with Lavender and/or Chamomile oil in your bath water. These two essential oils have a calming affect when inhaled. If you do not have time for a bath, take a warm shower and smooth Lavender or Chamomile scented lotion or cream on your body afterwards.

*Drink warm (not boiling) decaffeinated Chamomile or white tea about 1-2 hours before bedtime. Chamomile tea, like the oil, has a calming affect. Since tea is a diuretic, make sure to allow an hour or so before bed so you won’t wake up for a bathroom run.

*Sleep in your bed, not on the couch. I know this sounds simple, but how many people do you know fall asleep late at night in a chair with the television on? Your spine needs the support of a sturdy mattress and your neck and head need the support of a good pillow.

*Discuss any breathing and sleep challenges with your physician. Obesity, heavy snoring and sleep apnea are three common causes of abnormal sleep patterns due to interrupted breathing. Check to see if you suffer from these or other issues.

Be good to yourself – you might be pleasantly surprised with the results of 6-8 hours of peaceful slumber.

Althea Lawton-Thompson, Certified Fitness Expert, is the owner of Aerobics, Yoga & More Fitness Studios in Lilburn, GA and the Fitness Coordinator of the Johns Hopkins Youth Obesity Program in Baltimore, MD. See classes and workshops she offers at www.AYMFitness.com.

Stop Selling Failure by Talking Yourself Out of Success

By Sarah Hathorn, AICI CIP, CPBS

One of the obstacles I face with my professional clients is their inability to recognize and overcome sabotaging self-talk. Through coaching them I realize how personal image can be, and how easy it is to be overly critical of ourselves –when we really need to be our own biggest fans. We often catch ourselves saying things like “I am not good enough to get that higher position”, or “I’ve gained weight and I feel fat”, or “I’m losing my hair and developing more wrinkles.” But what’s worse is that we often do not catch those negative critiques and instead let them slip past our radar and become assimilated into our core identity. When that happens they become empowered because we start believing them to be true. So we need to instead empower ourselves with positivity, not sabotage ourselves with negativity. Being critical of our image blocks the flow of positive intentions that help us flourish. But a thriving inner drive is sustained by daily positive thoughts and expectations for the future. When you switch on self-talk it generates an inner dialog of positive thoughts and affirmations, and you start to believe it and get energy and confidence. The impact is transferred to your personal presence and inspires a happier, more successful life. Let’s explore five techniques to create more confident image through self-talk: Score More Points and Win the Self-Talk Game

I find it interesting that when I ask a client to rate himself or herself on a scale from 1-10, with 10 being the highest; the majority of people give themselves a rating between four and seven. Since it is your choice to evaluate yourself, why not award yourself a 10? We are all full of so much potential but we don’t tap into it because we get caught up in the negative talk that lowers our self-graded score. Think four or five and others will respond to you accordingly. But think and feel that you deserve a nine or 10 and your confidence will be contagious. Others will see you differently and respect you for it. Every morning, when you are getting dressed for work or sitting in traffic, think and say to yourself that you are a 10 – or even an 11 – and remember that you deserve it and are worth it. You’ll be amazed how much more positive and confident you feel by just owning and acknowledging your valuable self worth.

Access Your Personal Attributes
Okay, so we all have a few challenges, but I have yet to meet the perfectly proportioned male or female who has no personal flaws. We are all human and that’s what makes us unique and interesting - versus looking like we were all cookie cutter people like something out of the Stepford Wives. Really look at your personal attributes or ask a trusted colleague to point out your greatest features. If you are a woman ask yourself, do you have a long neck, broad tapered shoulders, shapely legs, or a smooth complexion? Do you men have great eyes, broad shoulders, a genuine smile, long muscular legs, or chiseled facial structures?

Both men and women have numerous positive features we utilize in the image industry to highlight unique body architecture. Look for your own great features and then play them up by highlighting them through dress and style, to build a powerful look and stand out from the crowd.

Positive Thoughts = Positive Results
The negative thoughts that live in our subconscious mind are an invisible, silent and powerful force in our lives. But the good news is that so are those ultra-potent positive thoughts. Self-talk dialogs leak into our subconscious mind from the outer world, and they also percolate up from deep within the subconscious level to influence our conscious awareness. Flourish into a beautiful, sassy woman or a handsome, successful man through positive affirmation, not negative self-criticism. Realize that you can continue to develop and aspire to have that big corner office if you keep the flow of positive energy going to grow and expand. Capture the power of the positive mind, and then capture the opportunities that present themselves to you because of your positive outlook and demeanor.

Daily Affirmations
Affirmations are designed to help you overcome negative self-talk, however this process works only if you say them aloud. Knowing them isn’t enough to really move you from vision to action. State your affirmations in the present tense such as “I am a prosperous, young high achiever.” Don’t use the future tense, as in “I want to become a high achiever.” Future talk sounds like you are talking about something indefinitely postponed. Rather than delay success, go ahead and picture yourself as a prosperous high achiever. I recommend writing out some daily affirmations about things you wish to achieve in your life. Start today to say and think about them, to shift your energy toward improvement in those areas where you desire greater growth.

Positive Affirmations Fuel and Drive Our Dreams
Whether you are looking to change careers, achieve a high level position, or gain greater confidence – it all can happen through positive daily affirmations. As a Senior Level Executive with Macys, Inc. I often coached executives who didn’t believe in themselves and observed how positive self-talk, positive affirmations, and belief in themselves inspired an internal shift. They transformed a lack of confidence into a powerful presence of confidence and self assurance. Opportunities to work on key projects, chair committees, and lead teams were then presented to these people as they became major players in our succession-planning process.

Positive affirmations are powerful statements that lead to an end result you expect. Setting an intention, you expect to get the intended result – just like when you set an alarm clock you know that it will wake you up at the chosen hour. Think about your personal image or professional life and identify an area of your life that is not working to your satisfaction. Change those sabotaging and limiting beliefs and reprogram your brain with positive affirmations, such as “I am a confident credible business professional who is capable of being the Director of Sales,” or “I am a professional who is influential and trustworthy with a dynamic personality.” Look in the mirror when you first start this process or daily exercise of claiming affirmations, because the hardest sell is always to ourselves. Say them out loud. Allow yourself to claim them. Change those conversations and thoughts in your head to attain the results in your life that you desire.

Through practice of these techniques you will be amazed how your internal energies shift to create a more powerful presence, giving you greater productivity and many subsequent health benefits – as you bring to fruition the kind of results you deserve.

Sarah Hathorn is a certified image consultant, speaker, brand strategist and corporate image advisor. Illustra Image Consulting works with individual men and women who wish to update their fashion and professional presence. The company also provides corporate image services to organizations that wish to enhance their corporate brand within the marketplace. Illustra Image Consulting Copyright © 2009, Sarah Hathorn, AICI CIP, CPBS 678-528-1239, sarah@illustraimageconsulting.com

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