Website 1. Basic Business website, with blog, customized theme design.  All the bells and whistles.

Cost: $1,200 (Can be more based on other elements needed) Half due up front, half due upon completion

Referral fee 20% = $120 cash when we start the website, and another $120 when we finish in typically 4-6 weeks.

Website 2. Basic E commerce website, with blog, customized theme design.  All the Bells and Whistles.

Cost:  $1,500 (Can be more based on other elements needed) Half due up front, half due upon completion

Referral fee 20% = $150 cash when we start the website, and another $150 when we finish in typically 6-8 weeks.

Website 3. Fully custom Website, all options needed.

Cost:  $3,000 or more (this package is totally customizable)

Referral fee 20% = $300 cash when we start the website, and another $300 when we finish in typically 6-10 weeks.

We can also do a referral payment plan for a website if you need your own website, but don’t have it in the budget.

Say, you need a $1,200 website, send us 5 website referrals, and yours is paid for.  How does that sound?

In order for you to take advantage of this awesome referral plan, you must Have direct communication with the potential client, and with JFdoes, and payment is only made if said referral leads to a signed contract and payment is received by JFdoes.

So, you want to get started blogging, or want a simple landing page?  This is your deal.  Save over $150 until the end of January.  Hurry, this deal won’t last long, we have 5 slots available. For $200 or $225 including your own custom domain, JFdoes will get you started with a custom blog, or a custom landing page so that you can begin your process off building your brand.

Take your big moments and look at them, it helps to list them out on a sheet of paper, and go ahead and separate them into Wins and Losses.  Now, look at your lists, Start with the Losses, always eat the toad first (If you don’t know what eating the toad is, read this http://personaldevelopmentmaster.com/brian-tracy-eat-a-toad.html ).  Take it line by line and ask yourself, “Self, what did I learn from this?”, then ask “Self, did I repeat this failure?”, if so, ask “Self, what was I thinking?”  Once you figured out what you learned from it, put that in the Win category.  The more you learn, the more you win, that is how it works.  My worst years always turn into the best once I look at it from this perspective.  I am prone to making mistakes, I tend to make really big hairy mistakes.  The difference between me and most people that make huge mistakes, is I look at my choices, step by step and examine what lead to it, and guess what, I don’t do it again.  So you know, turns out there are a lot of mistakes you can make.

Ok, now to the win list, this is fun.  Look at each item, and think about what came together to make that happen.  I have had some big wins this year, and they all start with the people around me.  Coincidentally, (actually I don’t believe in coincidences) the losses tend to start the same way.  So, for every relationship that lead to a big win, contact that person and thank them, whether it be on the phone, Facebook, in person.  These are the people that you want to keep around you, unless they lead to a big chunk of your losses as well.  Now, in this process you also need to reward yourself for making great decisions along the way.  Only you knows what motivates you.  Maybe you need to go get a big bag of Hershey’s Kisses and for every 5 wins you kiss yourself.  Just an option.

Now, the new year is here, how will this year be different.  Take the culmination of last year mixed with all your years beforehand, and create a plan.  Think BIG, nothing great ever happened from thinking small (with exception to electronics, and science).  It it now TIME TO START SOMETHING NEW!  Not a new resolution, not something that you will get around to.  Maybe it is something you have been wanting to do for a long time.  You know, that deep glimmer of a thought that you always think, “I can’t do that, I don’t have the ability, or the resources, or the …”.  This can be tied to what you are already doing, or it can be totally separate.  The only prerequisites are that you have to use the lessons learned from years past, and that whatever it is, it will make you strive to be better.

Is this going to be easy?  NO!  Is it worth doing?  YES!

“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”
– Theodore Roosevelt

Then here is a movie clip that I believe I will be referring to a lot in my life this year.

So, let’s talk immediate time sensitive issues.  Facebook just turned your facebook business page into a timeline.  Are you where you need to be?  Here is a checklist to think about.

• Does your Facebook Timeline match your websites branding?
• Do you have a cover picture, you know the big pic on the top of the page?
• Does your profile pic fit with your cover pic?
• Have you customized your app bar?
• Is your about section optimized?
• Are you featuring stories on your timeline?
• Have you fully setup your timeline?

If you have not completed all these tasks, it may be time to ask for help.  We would love to help you with this process, and for a limited time only, we are offering a $100 Facebook Timeline conversion package, to help you get up to par.  If you are interested, please visit our contact page and tell us what you need.

What is a CMS?

So, in the world of webdesign there are many different ways to make something happen.  In the old days, you sat down at a computer and started typing something like this:

<p style=”font: 14pt/20pt Garamond, Georgia, serif;color:#ff9900;”>This font is 14pt, the line height is 20pt, it’s color is orange, and the font family will be ‘Garamond’. If the user’s computer doesn’t have ‘Garamond’, it will use ‘Georgia’. Failing that it will use the default ‘serif’ font on the user’s computer (this is often ‘Times’ or ‘Times Roman’ – just leave it as ‘serif’). You can also specify <span style=”font-weight:bold;”>bold text</span> and <span style=”font-style:italic”>italics</span> if you wish!</p>

Which equals this:

This font is 14pt, the line height is 20pt, it’s color is orange, and the font family will be ‘Garamond’. If the user’s computer doesn’t have ‘Garamond’, it will use ‘Georgia’. Failing that it will use the default ‘serif’ font on the user’s computer (this is often ‘Times’ or ‘Times Roman’ – just leave it as ‘serif’). You can also specify bold text and italics if you wish!

Most people would look at this and run, but a  developer looks at it and wants to add to it.  Of course, that is just a couple lines of text, imagine what a complete website looks like, it is crazy.  So, now that you know the old way, A CMS allows you to edit the content of a website, just like you would edit a MS Word document, it has features to make it easy to modify the text.  The design of the website is still a load of coding, but when you get to the editing stage of a website content, this is by far the way to go.

What you need in a CMS

Now, the ability to edit the content is one minor thing to look at when thinking about which CMS to use.  Here is a list of things that you want to look at.

• Is it Secure, is your site safe from hackers, and bugs.
• How much is it going to cost, some CMS’s cost a lot of money, WordPress is free
• How is the support?  WordPress has a user community that is one of the best support systems in the world.
• Is it updating with technology?  WordPress is constantly updating as technology allows.
• Functionality, WordPress has the largest plugin community around, it is the Iphone App Store of the CMS industry
• Design, most CMS’s operate off of templates, WP calls them themes, of which there is no end to what is available.
• Search engine friendly- Search Engines love WordPress
• Editing- is it easy to edit and see your content?

When shopping, look at the whole picture

I just spoke to a person that wanted to go with an outdated system, just because it was WYSIWYG.  Do not judge a CMS based on one criteria, look at the whole enchilada.  If your site is outdated, what do your clients automatically think about your business?  It is never a good idea to make yourself look less than 100% professional.  If you have more questions, JFdoes would be glad to sit down with you.

I am sure that has gone through your mind at some point or another.  You go to a networking meeting, like the OKC Happy Hour, meet lot’s of people, and collect lots ofbusiness cards.  So, now what?  Of course you want to follow up, connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in, etc.  Maybe even toss them into your E-marketing program.  So, how do you do this without sitting for hours upon hours doing mundane data entry?  You need all the info, but what is the best way to get it off of that little piece of card stock that everyone hands you?

Business Card reader apps are the easiest way to farm that information.  There are several different types of these apps.

• Business Card Scanners- you will spend anywhere from $60 to $300, I am sure you can probably spend more, but for this purpose I will just talk these prices.  This connects to your computer, you slide it through the scanner, it pulls the info and plugs it into your system.  Typically, this is the most accurate way to gather card info.  This is a great option if you don’t have a smart phone, of course, who doesn’t have a smart phone these days?  This is also great if you don’t want to deal with managing your contacts on your phone.
• Paid Cell Phone Apps- This is varied between platforms.   Typically, you are going to spend $1 to $9, I am sure there are more expensive ones out there.  Keep in mind, you get what you pay for.  Here are a few that I have seen and heard good things about.

1. Iphone- Business Card Reader, simple app, great reviews, and pretty cheap for what you get.
2. Android- Cam Card, one of the best apps, but also a little higher at $14, very accurate and lot’s of options.
3. Windows Mobile and Blackberry- Business Card Reader, very good app, lots of options and sits at $10

• Free Cell Phone apps- These are use at your own risk, because they are free.  My thought, give it a try, don’t invest a lot of time.  But, if it works, you got it free, and if it doesn’t work for you, it was still free.  These are easy enough to find, just Google “Free business card scanner app for ________”

Now that you have options, it is also important to choose how to use them.  I would suggest having a desk top and a cell phone app, so that you can put the high priorities into your cell phone, and then put everyone on your computer.  Bottom line, don’t let those valuable pieces of card stock sit in that box waiting to, well who are we kidding, you aren’t going to do anything with them, because tomorrow never comes.  Invest a little time, maybe a little money and find the best card scanner option for you, and just do it (sorry Nike).

And that is your JF App of the month.

• Voicemail Transcription
• Personalized Greetings
• Low cost international calling
• Send text messages through email
• Share your voicemails with other people
• Block certain callers
• Screen your callers
• Conference Calls
• Mobile apps for Android, Iphone, and Blackberry
• One number that can call multiple phones
• Use Google Voice for your cell phones voicemail

With all these options and more, Google Voice is one app that you shouldn’t do without. My favorite use, is tracking how well an advertising campaign is working. You can log in and see every call that comes through that number. Now that is valuable. To find out more about Google Voice Click here.

In this end of year season, it is important to reflect.  Reflect on where you have been, what you have done, and how you have grown.  In doing this you are able to evaluate how you have spent the last 365 days, and orchestrate a way to move on into the next 365 days.  This is not a time to beat yourself up if you have not lived up to your perceived potential.  This is a time to say, that is where I was, now, how can I make this year better.  I will leave you with this encouragement, daily do something.  Here is what I am putting into this next year that will continue to give me strength to grow.  I will relive the following affirmation everyday.

Today I will live.  I am no longer satisfied with being, I must live.

Today I begin a new life.  My old ways will pass away and life will be fresh.

Today I greet this day with love in my heart.  Love never fails.

Today I will persist until I succeed.  Failure will be my stepping stone to success.

Today I will remember I am nature’s greatest miracle.  I am created with a purpose.

Today I will live this day as if it were my last.  I have no time for regrets.

Today I will be the master of my emotions.  I am responsible and in control of myself.

Today I will laugh at the world.  Humor will be my catalyst.

Today I will multiply my value a hundredfold.  My productivity will have no limits.

Today I will act.  I am no longer satisfied with sitting, I must run.

Today I will Pray.  My strength will be only as strong as who I pray to.

Today I will begin my life, not with resolutions that fade away.  I will make goals that will drive me to success.  I will seek friends to encourage me and to chastise me.  I will share my goals  with those closest to me.

These are some of my Goals:

1. Learn more- read at least 2 books a month.

2. Love more- spend more quality time with my boys.

3. Listen more- build quality relationships with people smarter than myself.

4. Live more- Improve my health, by adding a consistent workout routine.

5. Spend more- Not on junk, but wisely invest in my future.  (and yes, I ran out of L words)

So there it is, Live!  Don’t just sit there, get your hind end into action and live that life.

A few months ago we covered a Wired story on Google’s algorithm where Udi Manber, Google’s head of search said Google has introduced 550 “improvements” to the search algorithm in the past year alone. So I guess Matt was being conservative with his math?

Here is the video: