http://www.businessinsider.
I’ve identified a program that’s been running in my subconscious mind that always believes there is something coming along around the bend to provide a windfall. The problem is that there is no windfall coming. I have to do the work always. ‘always working’ instead of ‘working until’ needs to be my new programmed thought.
In the 10 months since I went full-time running Erich Stauffer I have taken clients from a dysfunctional, disparate web presence to having a cohesive web platform that they can use to self-market their own business in a responsive manner. I’ve converted clients to WordPress, implemented Google Apps, and ensured their files were getting backed-up.
I had a client email me to tell me. “[We] are progressing with WordPress. Little steps but steps none the less. Although I was not always thrilled with the WordPress idea I do want to thank you again for leading me down this path. All things considered it is not everything I want…but, it has allowed [us] to make changes and updates from my desktop that were never possible before.”
All of this has led me to discover that the clients I have now are not the same clients I had 10 months ago. They are not the same clients without a website, a social marketing strategy, or an email newsletter. They are clients with questions about how to use their new marketing platform to integrate into how they run their business. They are businesses who want to get more out of their initial marketing to see a return on that investment (ROI).
Integrated Marketing is Responsive Marketing
When you use your web platform to respond to marketing data to fulfill daily production goals, fill appointment slots, or push a particular product, you are practicing integrated marketing techniques. At Erich Stauffer, we can teach you how to have a responsive marketing strategy that is integrated with your business processes and procedures. We will train you or your staff to use your web marketing platform to work for you.
I still serve that first type of client who needs their first web page or their web site converted to WordPress for easier management. I still help people setup their Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, and Pinterest accounts. I still help people setup or optimize their email marketing solutions, but now we also do more. We are technology consultants specializing in web technology and business analysis. I am Erich Stauffer.
Recently, Aaron B. Hockley wrote about, The Dirty Little Secret of Attending Meetups. Aaron states that he doesn’t go to meetups to learn, but “to meet interesting people.” Having written about Meetups extensively in the past, I decided to comment:
“I go to meetups to learn new things, things that aren’t taught in any class, things that you wouldn’t have learned if you hadn’t been in a group setting to learn them. There are things that happen in group dynamics that don’t happen while reading a blog post on how to do something. But to your point, the people make the difference and if you go to it with that mindset of just wanting to meet interesting people, then learning or networking or anything else is just a bonus on top of that.”
Unlike Portland, Indianapolis doesn’t have an Instagram meetup, but any photographer could create one. It does have a WordPress meetup – two of them, in fact. Indiana may not be the west coast, but here’s 4 reasons why Indiana entrepreneurs rock.
Here’s what Meetups mean to me. What do Meetups mean to you?
For the next few weeks I’m going to be talking about how to integrate marketing into the management of your business.
Today I’m going to introduce a term called “platform”. Your platform is a combination of your website, social media, and any other form of advertising you may have. When you buy Google ads or run a Groupon, you’re paying for using those other company’s platforms. The bigger you can build your own platform, the greater your own reach can be and the more money you can save (and make).
Here’s a couple of examples of how you can use your platform:
“To be successful in the market today, you must possess two strategic assets: a compelling product and a meaningful platform.” In this step-by-step guide, Michael Hyatt, former CEO and current Chairman of Thomas Nelson Publishers, takes readers behind the scenes, into the new world of social media success. He shows you what best-selling authors, public speakers, entrepreneurs, musicians, and other creatives are doing differently to win customers in today’s crowded marketplace. Hyatt speaks from experience. He writes one of the top 800 blogs in the world and has more than 100,000 followers on Twitter. His large and growing platform serves as the foundation for his successful writing, speaking, and consulting practice.
In Platform, Hyatt will teach readers not only how to extend their influence, but also how to monetize it and build a sustainable career. The key? By building a platform. It has never been easier, less expensive, or more possible than right now.
No electrician necessary.
While white roof paint is a great way to save energy, sometimes you want to make more energy too. This UL-listed 120-Volt AC solar kit is truly “plug & play”. The 240-Watt “DeckPower120” is designed for ease of use and allows you to simply mount to a deck or outside post with included deck bracket. Simply plug the DeckPower120 into a standard dedicated outside electrical receptacle, and that’s it, no electrician required!
Buy one panel, or buy up to five at any time for up to 1,300 watts of household AC electricity on one circuit! NO costly installation, NO headaches, and NO worries: the “DeckPower120” is a technological breakthrough that offers up to a 50% reduction in wiring requirements by eliminating all DC-side design and installation issues! The deck bracket assembles quickly and attaches to your deck railing as-is with no modification of your deck, and it’s adjustable for a “just right” angle to the sun year round!
DeckPower120 kits are eligible for the 30% Federal tax credit, and additional State tax credits may apply, further reducing your payback time! With SpinRay Energy’s advanced technology, our panels require no maintenance, are easily expandable, and have a 15-year limited warranty. Just sit back and enjoy the lower electric bills!
Here’s what one reviewer had to say, “This is a great way to get started in “green” energy. When combined with the SpinRay deck mounting kit this was made for the “do-it-yourselfer”. It took about 30 minutes to unpack the panel and mount it on the home deck railing. The customer designed mount allowed the solar panel to be mounted securely and easily to the deck rail. After mounting, just plugged it into the outdoor deck electrical outlet nand it was creating over 200 watts of power that was feeding into the house electrical system. Just need to find which deck railing direction had the most sun exposure. What is great about the solar power system, is that additional solar panels can be easily added and plugged together and do not require additional outdoor outlets. Really like all the water proof components and electrical connections.”
Another reviewer said, “Well, purchased both the 120 and 240 volt AC panel and kits from SpinRay Energy. I plugged in the 240 watt panel a few days ago and today I did the same to the 120 volt system. Was super easy to get running. I opened the 2 boxes, panel in one and mounting kit in the other. I put the deck mounting kit together and mounted the panel on it. Took about 20 minutes to assemble. After I got it put together I went over to my deck and it easily hooked onto it, AMAZING….lol. Then I plugged it into an outside plug that I use for my hedge trimmer, outside lights, etc. I also purchased a “kill a watt” electrical monitor from them and to check to see if this panel/inverter worked correctly. After 5 minutes of the system getting electricity from the house plug the inverter turned on and started producing about 218 watts, when you unplug the house plug the solar panel stops producing power, just like it supposed to. The system came with UL certifcates that say the solar panel and the inverter are UL approved and listed so I guess nothing is more safe then that. And after plugging in and unplugging a dozen times I feel safe that this system works as advertised.”
A client recently asked what they could do to make the content in their sidebar column match their main content column.
The short answer is: it’s not easily user-editable, but it can be done.
WordPress works by using “theme files” to construct a web page ‘on the fly’. The content of the page is stored in a database, but the design of the page is stored in theme files. While WordPress only requires two theme files (index.php and style.css), most WordPress web sites use at least six files. The main theme files are as follows:
In this client’s particular design, the header and footers go all the way across the page and the middle content area is split into two columns. The sidebar is a column that goes all the way from the top, just under the header, to the bottom, just above the footer. The other column is where the post or page content goes. Whichever column’s side has more content will determine how long the page is. The sidebar only appears when it’s ‘called’ to appear. Each page you see could be a different type of page. Page types are as follows:
For example, the front-page.php theme file controls the home page and it doesn’t call the sidebar. There are other types of theme files like search.php for searches, but this is a short list. There are also more specific theme files that can be created based on a page name. For example, I could create a theme file called “page-health-benefits.php” for the Health Benefits page and I could code it to look completely different if I wanted to. I could also call a different header, footer, or sidebar, for example.
Here are some options for when columns don’t match up in your WordPress design layout:
Summary
It’s not uncommon for sidebars to have more or less content than it’s corresponding column. Dynamic changes to column length are possible through custom coding. Custom coding makes the site harder to keep updated in the future, but that’s not really your problem unless you’re doing it yourself. If it really bothers you, go to a single-column layout. If you can’t get over that extra white space, contact us. We are an Indianapolis web design firm that makes custom WordPress websites.
In one of my last posts about networking in Indianapolis, Jeremy Houchens of Pro Media Publishing said, “Thanks for including the links to the local events!”, which when juxtaposed against a recent comment from Ashley Hardy of ANH Media about how, “You know all the networking events in Indianapolis”, and it made me wonder if I really had become a source for Indianapolis networking knowledge.
Jeremy, Ashley, and I are all business owners with loose affiliations and referral partners that allow us to sustain and grow without the burden of an employee/partnership relationship. This is more than just the gig economy‘s freelancers who are in the business of creating jobs for themselves. This is about building bigger companies with less employees. It’s The Startup of You without the Long Hallway. It’s Mesh Networking.
Now I know ‘mesh networking’ is already a term for interconnected devices who can communicate to use each other as nodes on a network, but that’s exactly what I’m suggesting these new types of solopreneur businesses are. The business owners are the ‘devices’ and through each other, they find work.
3 Ways you Know You’re a Mesh Networker
1. You’re a power connector – a power connector connects two people who didn’t previously know each other, thereby helping two people at once. Mesh networkers need to be power connectors in order to leverage their networking time.
2. You’re building a business, not a job for yourself – like Steven Covey, you begin with the end in mind and that end does not include you being in the employee corner of the Cash Flow Quadrant for long. Your end goal is lower-right and you’re moving there as fast as possible.
3. You’re not interested in partnerships and employees right away – you’re more interested in finding the right referral partners who can funnel business to you while you’re funneling business to them. It’s all about strategic partnerships and selling first.
7 Indianapolis Networking Events You May Not Have Heard Of
1. Power Circle Network – PCN is a free version of Rainmakers and BNI-type networking that meets weekly on the north side in Carmel, Westfield, and Noblesville; on the east side in Broad Ripple, Cumberland, Greenfield, and New Palestine; on the south side in Greenwood, Southport, Beech Grove, and Franklin; and on the west side in Avon and at Initech Park.
2. Linking Indiana – a Facebook and Smaller Indiana group that holds monthly networking events with a training session – usually with a speaker, but sometimes simply fun exercises like “speed networking”. In the past the events have been at the Rathskeller downtown, but they could be anywhere in the future so sign up for the Facebook group to stay informed.
3. Meetup.com – after 9/11 the founders wanted to use the Internet to help people meet together in person around topics they loved or found interesting. It just so happens that meetups (as they are called) can also be used to network with other like-minded individuals. I currently run a meetup on Indianapolis Marketing. Most meetups are free. Verge Indy is currently the biggest meetup in Indianapolis.
4. BNI Indiana – Business Networking International is a networking group that meets weekly in groups all around the Greater Indianapolis area. It’s a paid membership group, but this and the strict attendance rules means the members are more likely to come. Seeing the same people week after week leads to trust and more referrals. You can attend each BNI meeting twice for free to try them out.
5. Glazer Kennedy Insider’s Circle Indianapolis aka “No BS Indy” – you won’t see this billed as a networking group, because it’s not – but anytime you get a room full of business owners in one place, networking is bound to happen. Scott Manning teaches business owners how to grow their business as fast as possible and charges them for this information, but you can go twice for free.
6. Blog Indiana – this conference is an annual event for bloggers and Internet marketers hosted by Noah Coffey and Shawn Plew. It’s a chance to meet the big players in the business like Douglas Karr, Erik Deckers, or Tricia Meyer. It’s also a chance to meet up-and-comers like Ben Risinger who built DoItIndy with Scott Tolin and just recently founded Somnium Media with Stephanie Eppich Daily and Susan Decker. It’s a two-day event.
7. The Combine – this conference is also an annual event for startups, which is sponsored by, among others, Sproutbox. Like Blog Indiana, The Combine is a two-day event, but it’s in Bloomington spread over the IU campus. This is where I saw Merlin Mann speak and I met Cedric Savarese, the founder of Form Assembly, and up-and-comer Nick Tippman, both of whom I invited to Verge Indy (’cause I’m a mesh networker).
As you may have read in my bio, not only do I write this blog and build web sites, I do affiliate marketing through Cost Publishing, which publishes over 100 web sites covering topics ranging from technological gadgets to food to business products and services, but what I don’t often talk about is why I write or how I got started.
I started out writing books on PFS Write about the songs I’d hear kids sing at school. This was before Tim Berners Lee invented the World Wide Web and Marc Andreessen wrote Netcape. I had to collect each song by hand and type it up on my computer at home. I called it, Gross Songs Kids Love.
When the time came to translate the files from PFS Write to a document type that could be read on Windows, my dad had to use his computer at work to print each document to file. During this process he must have read the material for the first time and was not as pleased with my efforts as I was. However, one of my teachers in high school thought the idea of capturing kids songs was good. That was the same year Amazon.com went online.
In high school, I wrote books during Math class like “Tales from Trigonometry Class”, which was a set of fictional stories about heroic teens overcoming their fears of asking the Swedish exchange student out and other feats of the heart. It was printed and distributed by hand. If I find a copy, I’ll reproduce it here someday.
In college I started buying used books from local libraries and selling them on Half.com under the name BluBux Company. In the early days, the margins were big enough for this to be profitable, but over time, the market became saturated and I had to get out. It was the first experience I had working together with my wife (before we were married). She would help me input all of the books into the system to be sold – an arduous task.
After college I started making websites and promoting them online. That’s when I discovered affiliate marketing and how to make money online. Since I was named after a figurine designer named Erich Stauffer, I started this blog to promote it, and eventually wrote a book about Erich Stauffer, the figurine designer. I also wrote a fictional story about time travel and teen romance – a theme for me I guess.