You now know the biggest mistake people make with their content (and you’re not going to go there this time). And you’ve named your box. Now it’s time to actually figure out what the blog portion of your content strategy is going to be about. Since you’ve already got the overall content concept figured out (that’s what naming your box was for), this should actually be the easy part.

Let’s take Tim for instance (he’s such an easy-going guy…he really doesn’t mind us using him for target practice). A short recap: Ted designs amazing custom letterpress stationery for all sorts of events. He’s figured out a magazine concept that would be extremely useful for his audience (and therefore, will attract them in droves): he’s going to connect them with the best event resources in town and beyond. Not only is he going to attract his audience, but he’s also going to attract all of the people in his field that offer complimentary services…which is a really, really fantastic thing for growing his audience even further. I’m pretty sure Tim is going to be the kingpin of letterpress stationers when we’re done with him.

So now all Tim has to do is come up with ways of presenting that content. One of the best ways I’ve found to do this is to come up with columns that you repeat on a regular basis. Kind of like a magazine does. If you’re using WordPress, the categories function handles this nicely. The difference between a “column” and a “category” is that categories often don’t mean a whole lot when people navigate through them. They’re often so vague that they are no longer useful. Or you’ve got 25 of them, which is WAY too many for your readers to grasp at one time. By thinking of them as columns, you’re forced to be more specific.

Some examples of what Tim could use as his featured columns:

• Hide and seek: Where has our stationery got to this time? (This would be a photo or series of photos with a backstory. For example, a photo of one of their letterpressed wedding invitations hiding behind the wedding cake.)
• Party on, Portland: Shake hands with our favorite people in the event industry (Not a boring interview series, but more of an editorial-style inside-peek at these people and why they’re so amazing)
• Grab this: Snazzy stuff to use at your next get-together (This would be a roundup of cool, inspiring decor and stuff for your event)
• Letterprezzies: Free downloads for your printing pleasure (Because everyone loves free stuff)

That doesn’t mean that you always have to box yourself into your chosen features, but it gives your blog some structure when you’ve thought clearly through what you’re going to be writing about. You don’t even have to explicitly state that these are your features — that helps YOU more than anything else. However you choose to present it, the main idea is to create a resource that your customers and clients would sorely miss if it were gone. And now to the questions!

Unravelling the confusion around blogging

I’m super-busy running my business. How do I stay on top of running a blog as well?
First of all, good for you! Your blog is not your business…it’s a marketing tool for reaching and expanding your audience. You’ve got to be realistic about your resources when you’re mapping this out. I have this exact same issue, and I won’t pretend that it’s easy. But instead of apologizing for writing once a week or less, I’ve learned to use it to my advantage.

First, I get a lot more email subscribers, because they know they’re not going to be inundated with emails every day. (And by the way, I LOVE email subscribers. We’ll be talking more about how much I love them in my next post.) Second, I make sure that there is nothing crappy or unimaginative coming out of my mouth. Which makes people pay attention when I do have something to say.

It’s true that the more often you post, the more eyeballs you will get. Your audience will grow faster, and you’ll get a lot more comments, tweets, and Facebook likes. But you can’t have it all. You have to decide what’s most important to you and stick with it.

What about having other people write for my blog? Is that a viable option?
Definitely. Yes. And no. In my ideal fantasy world, I can see how creating a community of really cool bloggers to write for your site could be infinitely awesome. But have I seen it done effectively? Never (though please prove me wrong if you’ve seen it done well…I’d love to have an example to share). The blog posts usually end up being uninspiring and mediocre, and the audience has difficulty connecting with all of the different writers. And with so much content available these days, that’s not going to cut it.

I have my content-strategy all mapped out, but now I have blog-avoidance issues! What do I do?
You’ve probably put unreasonable expectations on yourself. Give yourself a break! As important as it is to be consistent (and the most successful bloggers certainly ARE), the world does not end if you don’t post something. In the meantime, tweak your content strategy so that it’s not so scary (maybe change your posting schedule or change the type of things that you post — some content is quicker to produce than others). And set reasonable expectations for your readers, as well.

How many times should I post a week?
Hrrrrm. I hate the word “should”. I think it’s more helpful to say, “What is this particular posting schedule likely to achieve for me? And am I okay with that?”

When you’re first starting your blog, it’s best to be super-consistent and post more often (2-3 times a week or more). It’s like getting a huge boulder rolling. At first, it takes some manpower to shove it down the hill. But once you’ve established an audience that will support your business, you can begin to take it easier. Like I’ve said before, the more often you post, the more eyeballs you’ll have. But that is definitely not the only thing to consider. Consider your time. Consider how large of an audience you need to sell your stuff (hint: you need a much smaller audience to successfully sell services than you do products). Consider how fast you want your audience to grow. And then adjust your posting schedule as needed.

How do I get more comments on my blog?
If it’s super-important to you to have hundreds of comments, you’re going to have to work at it. And before you do, ask yourself — is this worth it? Are more comments going to give me a good return for the time I’m spending getting them? If the answer is YES, then go forth, my friend. A few strategies to help you along the way (in addition to the general advice smart people give, such as “comment on other people’s blogs”, “ask people to comment”, “ask a question at the end of your blog posts”, “write more often”, “spend all day on Facebook and Twitter”, ad nauseum):

Write posts that are likely to generate lots of comments. Certain types of posts do not lend themselves to commenting (like instructional, how-to posts, for instance, which may not get a lot of comments, but tend to get a lot more subscribers). In order to get people talking, write a post that makes people want to cry, laugh, vomit, scream, dance, or otherwise exhibit emotion.

Make your “Leave a comment” button super-prominent. And make sure it’s at least at the bottom of the post. That’s the most likely time people are going to think to comment…when they’re done reading, not before.

Make commenting EASY. If people have to register/login to comment, that is a HUGE barrier. And you want to remove those barriers, not create them. Get a good spam blocker, let go of your control freak tendencies, and let people comment in peace.

How do I get more tweets/facebook shares on my blog?
If this is a huge priority (and it’s definitely a good priority to have…more sharing means more audience growth, and more audience growth means more sharing), you’re going to have to exhibit some tenacity. For clients that have this as their main goal, I advise them to go on a month-long audience-growing spree (once their excellent content-strategy is in place, of course). For a month, be super-laser focused in interacting with your community. Tweet, Facebook, blog with the best of them. Share other people’s stuff. Share YOUR stuff. A lot. Produce the best content that this world has ever seen. And then relish the fact that if this were your only job, you would have the most active audience on the planet!

And now…a baby update!

4 weeks to go before Charlotte gets here! (And yes, I know my other two have come early, but I would like my 4 weeks, please.) In answer to your question, no we’re not shutting down the office. Julianne, Leah, and Shenee have super-powers, people. And I’m not going anywhere (though I will be spending countless hours doting on our newest little one). We’ve organized our calendar in the most loveliest of ways — we’re currently booking for LiteSites starting March 9th and from-the-ground-up sites starting May 4th — and I’m super-thankful that we’re able to make all of this happen and still take on the juicy, fun projects that we like. (Isn’t technology wonderful?)

We’re also rolling out a couple of fun things of our own over the next few months, but I’m hungry, so I’ll have to save that for later. (I’ve been on a cheetos/bologna sandwich kick lately, which is SO unlike my fruit-loving self that even I can’t believe it.) And now I’ve successfully sent you to the fridge. Happy munching!

Now that my blood pressure is significantly elevated for no good reason (I’m good at that), let me reassure us all. While an effective content strategy has many pieces that make it work, there are multiple ways that it can fit together. So no piece is ever “missing”. You don’t have to have all the pieces that are on the list. And you may make up your very own magical piece that no one else has thought of – which is actually an excellent way to do things (and one of my personal favorite ways to work). But for those of you who like lists (and to start your brain churning), here’s a list of potential pieces and what they’re good for. (Also? There is way more meat to this post after the list, so if you’re scanning, don’t skip that part.)

Content-strategy: Grab a slice!

• Blog: We started talking about this last week, since it’s the most obvious content source that people think of (and most of the time, it’s the only one people think of, besides the dreaded snoozeletter).

  Your blog is the swiss army knife of your content strategy. Done right, its purpose is to build trust, credibility, and bring people back to your site over and over again. It helps weed out your right people from your wrong ones and keeps you from being a commodity that people choose based on price. (Also known as “you’re the cheapest, so I’ll hire you” syndrome.)

• Mailing list: Notice I said “mailing list” instead of newsletter. Newsletters are boring. Nobody wants your newsletter. You hate writing newsletters. And even if you heart the newsletter-creation process and yours is a really good, awesome newsletter, you might as well put it on your blog instead where it can be indexed by Google and cherished by all. (Note: there are exceptions to this, as there are to all things. I actually like getting newsletters from Colleen Wainwright. But I think she puts addictive substances in them, which is not generally recommended.)

  But your mailing list is super important. I mean SUPER. This is where 50% or more of my sales come from when I launch a new product or service. We’ll talk in more detail about your list in the weeks to come, but in general, these are people who have already raised their hands to say, “I’m in for the Sarah-juice!” And that is such useful information, I can’t even tell you. Successful launches require a mailing list made up of people who truly love what you’re doing and consider everything you do as worth investing in.

• Free downloads: I like free downloads, but only if they’re really really good. I also hate having to sign up for mailing lists in order to receive them. If the mailing list is not good enough to entice me on its own, then I make a cognitive leap that the free download sucks, too.

  But free downloads can be really wonderful things; especially if they’re well-done. Their purpose can be to generate leads (if you do it in a creative, not-annoying way), but they’re also a great way to start building a relationship with potential clients/customers. If they love your free thing, they know that they would die to get their hands on something they actually pay you for. And if your free thing is really, really amazing, people will pass it around and link to you and give you lots of high-fives. Which helps grow your audience beyond the people you would normally reach.

• Social media outlets: Everybody’s favorite baby to kiss. Instead of people coming to you, you’re going to them. Which is a great way of meeting new folks (and eventually, those people will start coming to you). Depending on who you surround yourself with, your social media outlets will serve you in different ways.

  For me, Twitter is the online equivalent of a giant biz conference. There are definitely the cool kids that I want to hang out with, no matter what they’re doing. And the trying-too-hard kids that want to shove their business card in my face every five seconds. For me, Facebook acts more like a family reunion. Everybody’s on Facebook, and the interactions tend to be more personal.

• User-generated content: The content that your users contribute is often overlooked; a lot of people have it, but don’t think about how they’re using it. Take comments, for instance. Do you accept comments? How do you interact with them? How do people know that someone’s responded to a comment? Do you use comments regularly to spawn other content? Do you feature commenters regularly? And the most useful question of all (to steal a phrase from my pastor)…how’s that working for you?

  There’s no right or wrong answer, but think it through. Most people want to “get more comments”, but why? What business purpose would that serve? And if the purpose is significant, how can you build that growth in participation into your content strategy? And are there other ways, besides comments, to allow your audience to contribute? If so, how can you make it seamless (because people are generally lazy, and won’t do something that takes multiple steps)?

• Products: E-commerce is hard. It’s not a simple matter of throwing up a store and seeing what happens. You have to sell something that’s better or different than what amazon is selling, and you’ve got to be able to do that at a profit. Which means selling lots of units or selling at a high profit margin. Which means lots of eyeballs, and the right kind.

  It makes it a ton easier when you figure out a way to make useful content out of your products. Because then people are looking at your products, not as something that you’re trying to sell, but as a service to themselves. And it gives them a feeling that they found this amazing thing, they need to share it with everyone, and aren’t they lucky? Yes. They are very lucky. And so are you.

• Sidebar content: Oh, the sidebar. We all put so much thought into what goes here. Don’t we? Well, there’s a reason for that. First, because it’s where you can actually feature the stuff that you want people to look at. It’s where you’re allowed to sell things and make announcements and enhance your audience’s experience with your website. So they stick around longer and (perhaps) buy your stuff.

  Sidebars definitely require frequent attention. Or else, your audience will get a dreaded case of sidebar blindness, which is what happens on most websites that have sidebars. But not yours. You will overcome.

• Static content: These are your sales pages, your services pages, your about pages, your contact pages…all of your “let’s do business” pages, and then some. Even people with successful blog content often overlook this as part of their content strategy. It’s like they have this great sticky content, but then they forget to convert that traffic to actual buyers. Which is really the whole point (well, not the whole point, but a big hairy chunk of the point).

Haven’t I always told you to pick up your toys?

So those are your basic pieces. They can, of course, get more elaborate than that, but for starters, there you have it. You probably knew about them all separately, but haven’t put them together in your brain as part of a cohesive content strategy. Congratulations! We’re on our way to a more income-producing website already!

But we’ve still got a long way to go. First, we’ve got to put all of these pieces in the same box. We’ve got to come up with a common thread that all of these pieces fall into, so that they make sense as a whole. To do that, I’m going to ask you to name your box.

Oh, but what’s in a name?

I often call this your “magazine name”. If all of your content were in a magazine that people actually want to pick up and read, what would that magazine be called? Think about your audience. What magazine would they read? For Ted (see Ted’s story if you’ve forgotten), what would his female, suburbanite, design-minded, fancy-job-holding, eco-minded audience want to read about? Probably not the letterpress process, as we’ve discovered.

The trick is to find a magazine concept that closely ties into your product or service. Ted’s clients may love to know insider information on all of the best local eateries in town, but that’s not going to bring him business for his letterpress studio. We need more information.

I asked Ted what experiences/situations his clients are currently in. He says, “Well, most of them are hosting some sort of event. Because we sell custom-designed letterpress stationery.” Ahhh…the light is coming on. So I asked Ted if these people are planning the event themselves. He says, “To a limited extent. But they like to hire people to provide the goods and carry out their plans.” So. What if Ted’s magazine was a resource for people who are planning an event for themselves? What if he knew all of the best event planners, caterers, florists, entertainers, etc. and featured them on a regular basis?

Not only would Ted be providing something that his clients desperately want and need, but he would be aligning himself with some of the best people in the business. His clients will think “If Ted works with X, then Ted must be as good as X. And X is really, really good.” So Ted is increasing his credibility and getting better clients.

Once he figures out an actual name for that particular magazine, all of his other content can go in that box. What is his blog about? That’s easy. What will his resources page have on it? Easy. What could he offer his mailing list people that will make them LOVE being on his mailing list and keep them lining up in DROVES to sign up? Again, easy. What will be in his sidebar? Ummm…easy. What could be offered as a free download? Easy-peasy.

(Shhh…don’t tell Ted that he just found his niche. He doesn’t know what a niche is, and big marketing words tend to scare the pants off of him.)

Do you have a magazine name? Does your content all fall into that particular box? If not, how’s that working for you?

Today, we’re going to talk about your target market.

…

Oh, sorry. I fell asleep for a second. No we’re not. We’re going to talk about one of the biggest mistakes companies make when they start blogging, newsletter-ing, video-ing, tweeting, facebooking, or engaging in any other kind of content production. They write what they know.

Take my friend Ted, for instance (and please don’t say anything about his lack of ears…he’s pretty sensitive about that). Ted is a stand-up guy. He runs an indie letterpress studio with his brother Gerald. Ted is a good writer and pretty personable, so he decides that he’s going to be the face of the company and start getting into the whole social media scene.

Ted figures he’ll start with a blog. What to write about? Oh, that’s easy! He’ll write about the letterpress printing process. Maybe he’ll post some designs and resources that inspire him. He’ll talk about design and illustration and what it’s like to be in a small startup indie biz.

Ted starts to blog. He starts getting comments! People are subscribing! His work is getting featured on letterpress and illustration sites! But wait. Nobody’s buying. Sales haven’t increased. Ted bangs his head on his desk in agony and defeat (I will admit, Ted is a little dramatic. I’ve tried talking to him about it, but you know those artist-types).

So I ask you…what’s wrong with Ted’s blog?

It’s interesting, witty, and definitely shows that Ted’s studio has serious talent. It’s the perfect content…to attract his colleagues and competitors. The thing is, if he were to run a letterpress printing workshop, he’s got a bang-up start to his content-strategy. He’s attracting letterpress aficionados, hobbyists, and wannabes right and left. But where, oh where, are the customers?

This is where Ted needs to go back to his Business 101 handbook and flip to the “target market” section. Oh yes, there it is. As Ted looks over his fill-in-the-blank “find your target market” worksheet, he finds his answer. (If you don’t know what a target market is, or have no clue what yours is, skip over to Naomi Dunford’s monster-in-her-pants post for a raunchy, yet helpful, visual.)

Ted’s target market lives in the suburbs. They know and appreciate good design when they see it, but they are not designers themselves. They have day jobs as managers, executives, or something else equally high-paying. They buy beautiful objects for their home. They shop at West Elm and Restoration Hardware and Pottery Barn. They also like things that are sustainable and green and handmade. Most of them are women. They would buy Ted’s work if they knew about it. But the thing is, Ted’s customers don’t read blogs about the letterpress process. It would simply never occur to them.

Someone, please help Ted!

He has no ear to cut off, so I’m afraid he might try a finger. Except he has no hands. This could be bad.

Ted? Listen up. You have a couple of options here.

You could…think about what you know in the context of what your customers want to read, watch, see. In other words, think about your blog as a magazine. What magazine would your customers read and subscribe to?

Or you could…decide that your customers don’t read blogs (gasp!) and focus less energy and time on your blog. Instead, use it as a trust-building place that’s updated less often, and focus your attention on building your mailing list and bringing people in using other marketing methods. Whatever the case, when you’re selling products, the heft and quality of your mailing list is super important. We’ll talk more about that later.

Or you could even…choose a different target market that’s easier to reach online. You need to know where these people live. And if you can’t get to their house (figuratively, you stalker, you), you’ve either got to find a way or find another neighborhood.

There there, Ted. I’m sure your customers read blogs. Just not your blog. Yet.

We’ll be fixing that over the next couple of weeks. In the meantime, let’s all give Ted a big giant hug. He really will get through this, I’m sure of it.

P.S. Today’s illustration brought to you by my 5 year old son, Nolan. I have no idea why we even hire David Billings.

So we’re going to take it slow. Over the next few weeks, I’m taking you through the process of creating an effective content strategy, just like we do in our content strategy sessions. And you won’t have to pay 1000 bucks! Hooray!

A good content strategy is…

In the spirit of taking it slow (which is as much for me as it is for you…I’m nearly 33 weeks pregnant and walking around like a stuffed penguin), today all we’re going to do is define content strategy. Which, I fear, is not going to be easy. *clears throat, grabs mic and puts on best spelling bee announcer voice*

A content strategy is a plan of action for all of the content on your website. It’s what to create. Who to create it for. How to create it. Which formats to use. How to facilitate the spread of your ideas. All with the combined purpose of reaching your most important goals.

(Not exactly worthy of Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, but I think we’ll manage.)

An effective content strategy needs to be:

• Intentional (even if that means intentionally eclectic)
• Directed toward the right audience (in most cases, that means the people who are going to buy your stuff)
• Created with your available resources in mind (i.e. time, money, skill).
• Published with some sort of consistency (which is more important if you’re trying to grow your audience or getting ready to launch something new)
• Either better or different than what’s already out there (Yep, you’ve heard that before. Still true.)

I’m busy actually running my business. Why not just slap a blog up there and be done with it?

If that’s what gets you started, do it. That’s how most people start out, and it’s tons better than planning out an intricate content strategy that you’re never going to actually implement. But at some point, a lot of folks get frustrated with their results. They end up feeling like they’re wasting a lot of resources on something that’s ultimately not drumming up business.

Why do you call it content? Why not call it a blog? Isn’t it the same thing?

A blog contains content just like a newsletter contains content. And there are many different types of content, not just blog entries. Read more of my take on that (especially if you don’t want to blog…ever).

Why do you call it “building an audience”? That is so 2009.

Call it your tribe. Call it your band of sea monkeys. Call it your mutual admiration society, if you’re feeling this is all a bit too much about you. I call it an audience because it’s easier than saying “big group of people who are a fan of what you create”.

Dang it! I think I hear someone snoring!

Well, you can’t please everyone. If you’re ready to start this year off with an actual plan for producing content that helps you reach your goals, stick around, my friends. Or better yet, sign up to receive email updates in your inbox. Then there’s no sticking needed…I’ll stick to you (which isn’t as creepy as it sounds).

By the way, say hey to Shenee!

In case you didn’t know, “way” and “hey” both rhyme with “Shenee”. Which means that I’m very, very clever (I am sure no one else is quite as proficient at rhyming as I am).

Shenee is our new intern (you can find her on her blog or on twitter). She is delightful and is especially good at story-telling. And type. And whitespace. I feel that giddy “I just made a new friend…and she is all mine!” feeling. Except she’s not all mine. She actually knows a lot of people. You, probably. So I’ll try not to be selfish.

And another thing; if you’ve ever dreamed of picking my brain on the “running a web design business” side of things, now’s the time to ask. I’m picking the best questions and…doing something with them. Something secret. But I’ve sort of mentioned it once before, if you were listening very closely.

There I was. Whistling a happy tune at my lucky lack of night blindness, color blindness, and (narrowly escaping) ad blindness. Things couldn’t have been better. Then suddenly -wham!- it hit me. Sidebar blindness.

Poor sidebar. So much of a content-driven website’s effectiveness hinges on it. That’s quite a lot of pressure. It’s no wonder that some of our sidebars end up throwing in the towel. Most of them don’t even know they’ve given up. And neither do we. Because when a sidebar is feeling overwhelmed, distracted, or inadequate, it often throws on a protective invisibility cloak without even knowing it. Leading to sidebar-blindness in all who come near.

Does your website induce sidebar-blindness? Eight symptoms to watch for:

• Has your sidebar remained the exact same for the last 3 months?
• Does your sidebar exhibit signs of “sidebar creep” ?
• Was there a time when people clicked around in your sidebar, but now you’re thinking you might have dreamed it?
• Do you have more than 4 affiliate buttons showing at one time? (not a guarantee of sidebar-blindness, but a possible indicator)
• Do you have 3 or more of your own offers and specials showing at one time?
• Do you have more than 1 social media feed in your sidebar? (ex: latest tweets, latest Flickr photos, latest Facebook statuses)
• Do you have anything in your sidebar that makes you look less cool than you really are? (ex: I have 40 Twitter followers! 12 people subscribe to this blog!)
• Is anything in your sidebar boring, unimaginative, or physically painful to look at?

If you answered yes to any of the above questions…

Don’t worry. So did I. (#1…hello!) We can never be permanently safe from sidebar-blindness, but if we’re vigilant, we can make sure it doesn’t happen to us (or cure it when it does).

My special blend of natural home remedies (for sidebars who hate taking medicine)

Fill in the blank: “This is here because…” for every element in your sidebar. Does it directly help you reach your most important goals? If not, axe it.

One thing to keep in mind when you’re doing this exercise: effective website goals are very specific. And only one primary goal should reign supreme at any given time. Other goals can be secondary or even tertiary (big words today!), but having one laser-focused supremo goal at any given time will greatly enhance your success at reaching it.

And make sure that your goals aren’t sneakily bundling themselves up with each other. This happens more than you’d think. “Expand my blog readership” might look like one goal, but break it apart: Do you want to get more unique visitors, get more RSS subscribers, or increase your mailing list? Remember: ONE goal to rule them all. All the rest are secondary. (Yes, I’m reading Lord of the Rings right now. It can’t be helped.)

Make your sidebar elements focused on your audience and not yourself

Most of us put stuff in our sidebars that we want other people to click on. We use it as a place to promote our latest offers, tell people about ourselves, make money off of advertising and affiliate sales, etc. In most of our minds, whether we acknowledge it or not, “The blog content is for the people…the sidebar is for me”.

But your visitors are smart. If your sidebar is clearly a promotional place with maybe a little bit of underwhelming blog navigation thrown in, then you’re only reaching the 5-10% of people who are looking to actively buy stuff. And maybe not even them.

We still need to promote, of course. But instead of viewing the sidebar space as “your” space, look at it from a visitor’s perspective. What would make a particular element more useful or entertaining? Are there things you can add that are for “them” and not (directly) for you? How can you make everything in your sidebar a delightful gift to all who gaze and click?

Update your sidebar elements at regular intervals

Sidenote: When I was a wee fledgling (read: barely making any money), this part was easy. Paying super-close attention to my web presence is a gigantic part of what got me here. But at this stage of my business, it’s what I struggle with the most. So no “but you aren’t following your own advice, you hypocrite you!” I’m already saying that enough times in my head, thankyouverymuch.

One of the easiest ways to defeat the dreaded sidebar blindness is to change things up regularly. Just like your blog would become invisible if you never updated it, your sidebar will eventually suffer the same fate.

Some ideas:

• Dedicate one element of your sidebar to helping you reach your most important goal. Make it prominent, and change it out whenever your most important goal changes.
• If you’re not getting the response you want to one of your sidebar elements, change the order that it appears in the sidebar. For example, if it was the third thing down, make it the second thing.
• Instead of showing 4 affiliate buttons at one time, show two at a time and rotate them. Better yet, show one at a time, along with an entertaining, informative blurb and a link to your experience/story about the product or service.

Make the uppermost items in your sidebar dynamic instead of static

Caveat: This is not a home-remedy, but it’s also not a necessity of life. Just a nice, potentially strategic thing to have in place.

This one’s a bit hard to explain, but here goes. What if updating your sidebar were as simple as writing a new blog post and putting it in a certain category? Dynamic content is like that. That’s why using a content-management system like WordPress is so brilliant. We’ve always had the power to update our websites with fresh content, but it was never easy. WordPress (or whatever CMS you use) makes it easy. And it can make updating your sidebars easy, too.

I would say 99.5% of people who use WordPress have not yet discovered this piece of brilliance when it comes to their sidebars. For most of us, updating our sidebars requires messing with the code, either in our theme’s files or within our sidebar widgets. Which is fine if you know code AND are relentless about creating new sidebar content. But it’s akin to the limitations we had in the old days with our static, non-CMS-based websites.

So how do you make your sidebar dynamic? Super-good question. And one involving research and code kung-fu. In other words, not something I would attempt to explain in a blog post (most of you would probably fall asleep or start throwing tomatoes). Don’t shoot me — it IS possible, but probably beyond the average layperson’s technical capabilities. Keep it in mind, though, for your next site development project when you have a pro to do it for you.

I can see again!

Ahhh…isn’t that better? That sidebar-blindness should be clearing up any minute now. Anyone have their own case to report? Chime in while I go grab another sandwich.

Because honestly? Two months ago, I was woefully ignorant about how to do video. Yes, I had read all of the articles on making screencasts and using your webcam. I had a vague idea that lighting was important. I knew how to edit using Screenflow with the best of them. I did the Gold-Digging Excursion, for pete’s sake. In capitals!

But I was an idiot. Now that I’ve produced three episodes into our web series, I am fully aware of my video shortcomings. Here is proof.

I used to think that my crappy videos gave me an approachable, honest feel.

And I’m nothing if not approachable and honest, right? I would rather help people than impress them. I felt like professionally done videos were corporate and fake. In order to be real, you had to film yourself staring at your webcam, completely impromptu-like. Ways that this was totally wrong:

• Staring at the webcam actually makes you look more like an infomercial than if you look slightly away from it.
• There are so many factors that determine whether a video has an approachable, grassroots feel. Crappy quality is not one of them. The script, lighting, camera shots…yes.

I used to think that video was appropriate for all kinds of information

I thought video was used for a more visual learning style, but beyond that, anything done in text form could theoretically be done in video to capture a broader audience. Again, wrong.

• Although you can use video to reverse-transcribe a message meant for text, doesn’t mean that you should. When people say they don’t like video, it’s usually because they don’t like this type of video usage (or abusage, as the case may be). Being forced to listen to a half hour lecture that you could have read in 5 minutes is not the funnest way to spend your time (and believe me, I’m preaching to my former self here). Audio is a much better use for lecturing, since people can listen on the go.
• It’s hard to explain what does work really well in a visual medium. Think “anything that you need to see with your eyes to get a full grasp of”. (I never said I was the queen of definitions.)

I used to think that the sound captured by the camera was great.

Well, not great, but I couldn’t really tell why I sounded like I was in a box. Or why the refrigerator humming sounded nearly as loud as my voice. So I figured that was just normal and nothing to concern myself over.

• Built-in microphones pick up crappy sound quality, and an otherwise professionally-done video will feel like it sucks if the sound is bad.
• There is this little thing called “ambient noise” that I’d never heard about before. It’s basically the noises in a room (or outside) that we pretty much block out of our regular hearing. You can’t get rid of ambient noise altogether, but using a separate microphone (for instance, a boom mike) to capture sound helps eliminate it.
• Unless you own or have rented the whole block of where you’re shooting, capturing good sound outdoors is a challenge. Unless you have the chutzpa to tell every one of your neighbors to stop screaming on trampolines, mowing their lawn, and driving down the street during the shoot.

I used to think that adequate lighting could be achieved by sticking my bedside lamp by my head.

Now I know why I always looked a little orange. Or stark white. Or slightly green. Bad lighting can make you look like you are starring in an old 80s video. Or worse, in an old 80s video about vampires.

I don’t pretend to know anything about lighting even now, but I do know:

• Achieving consistent lighting outdoors is really, really hard. The reflectors get blown around by the wind, so you get this weird disco ball effect. The sun and the clouds keep moving around without your permission. Lighting is much easier to control indoors.
• If you wear white, it’s really hard to get the right lighting on you. Even if it’s off-white. You can easily end up looking like you are emanating an angelic glow.

I had no idea how long shooting a video would really take.

Our shoot for the first 2-minute episode was supposed to be four hours. It ended up being eight. We took a much simpler approach for the second two episodes, and did both of those in 9 hours. Still, we’ll end up with 4 or 5 minutes of film total for those two episodes.

• If you want to shoot a 2-minute film in four hours (which is probably some kind of record if you’re using one camera and a tiny 4-person crew), limit the number of camera shots you are going to use. Every time the crew has to set up the camera and lighting in a new place, it takes a good 60-90 minutes of setup time.
• In the same way, limit your camera movement. Any time the camera has to dolly (which means setting up the camera on a roly-cart sort of thing so it can move smoothly), it takes a lot more tries to get it right.

I never believed I had the resources to hire a film crew.

Filming without a crew is fine if you’re setting up the camera and lighting yourself and then filming yourself in one stationery location. Especially if you’ve got some video skills of your own. But you can hire a crew. If you’re filming a web series or something like that, you’ll definitely want to.

Actors and crew are usually paid on a half-day (4 hours or less) or full-day (8-10 hours) basis. If you’ve got a university or two in your area, it’s very likely that you can find students who are building their portfolios who will work at really reasonable rates (or free). Or you can find people who do this as a hobby who are wanting to make some extra money on the side. Often, if you find one person, they’ll already have a crew of people that they’ve worked with before and can recommend.

• You’ll need someone to write the script. This could be you or a team. Just make sure whoever’s doing it is good at writing dialogue that sounds natural and not contrived. (Go Julianne!)
• You’ll need someone to do all the pre-production work. This could be you or someone else. This means settling on the location, gathering the props, planning meals (if you’re doing a full day, you usually provide breakfast and lunch to your crew, which can be as simple as doughnuts and coffee for breakfast and pizza for lunch), and basically making sure all of the people are there at the right time.
• You may need actors. Make sure you find people who are easy to direct. Novice actors who can take direction can give great performances if they’ve got a patient director who explains things well.
• You’ll need a director. (Again, all hail Julianne!) It’s really important to get someone who knows what needs to be done and is organized enough to do it. They’ll make all the important decisions that result in the video’s outcome.
• You’ll need a camera operator. If you’re lucky, you can find someone like Jeff who is really more a director of photography. They’ll be responsible for the overall feel of the film, so it’s important to get someone who really knows what they’re doing.
• You’ll need a sound operator. If you’re lucky, you can find someone like Ashley who has mad sound design skills. Sound is a lot more complicated than you think. They will be capturing the sound, putting together the sound files, and also mixing the sound once the editing is in its final stages.
• You’ll need a gaffer. The gaffer is the guy who does the lighting. Ultimately, the director and camera director tell the gaffer what they want, and then the gaffer makes it happen.

Obviously, I still have a lot to learn.

We are using a really small crew on a small, but adequate budget (and if you’re wondering what “small” means, approx. $1500-$2000 for a full day’s shoot, not counting the time that Julianne and I spend). It can be done cheaper. It can be done simpler.

For what we are doing, I think we’ve pared it down pretty much as far as it will go. But I’m getting ready to re-shoot all of the Gold-Digging Excursion videos for v.2 that will be coming out (I’m super-stoked!), and those will go a lot faster and could theoretically be done with just me and the camera operator if we can pre-set the lighting and sound.

Do you have any questions about filming for the web? I probably don’t have answers, but I now know the people who do.

• They have no website

or…

• Their site design entirely sucketh

Combine this with the fact that I’m currently booked for design work until May 31st, and you’ve got a humdinger of a problem. But I’m not a problem kinda gal. I’m a solution kinda gal. So here’s what I did.

I designed this beautiful, gorgeous, oh-wow-I-wish-I-had-this-site kind of site. I built it on Headway, a WordPress framework that gives the non-techy person drag ‘n drop superpowers (even techy people will love it). And I decided to give it away to all of my Gold-Digger participants.

Go ahead, you can dance if you want to. (I am.)

So here’s the plan. If you have no website (or if your site design entirely sucketh), come with us. I designed this site for you and will show you how to get it going and customize it in the most strategic way possible. And you’ll get to do all of the other fun, empowering stuff that will help you find your website’s untapped cash potential (read more about the excursion here).

Wanna take a look?

I’m calling it Vega (click on the image for the full version).

Vega is a clean, customizable design that says “I am awesome!” without even trying. It’s WordPress-built, which means it’s easy for you to handle your content yourself, and even more than that, it’s Headway-built, which means it’s easy for you to customize the design yourself (if there’s something easier than drag ‘n drop, let me know…but I’m pretty sure that’s as simple as it gets). And it’s only available to Gold-Digging participants.

And with that…a shocking announcement

Well, sort of shocking. And kind of hard for me to say, actually. LiteSites are going on a vacation. (To Maui, I think. Someplace tropical.) I’m going to be focusing on my from-the-ground-up work and the Gold-Digging Excursion for a while.

If you’re already booked for a LiteSite, don’t fret! You’re still booked. And you are more than welcome to switch over to the Gold-Digging Excursion if you’re drooling over the Vega design and want to do in-depth profit-discovering activities with us.

And finally…

Early-bird registration is ending Wednesday. As in, tomorrow. And unless you’re signed up for yummies, you won’t be getting a reminder.

Bon voyage, LiteSites. Have fun in Maui. Bring me back something.

If you’ve got a pretty recent version of WordPress, login to your admin panel and expand the “Tools” section. Click on “Upgrade.” That should clue you in on whether or not you are using the most recent version. Recent versions have a one-click upgrade option, but it doesn’t work with all hosting configurations. If yours doesn’t, you’ll have to go through the whole fun-tastic upgrade process.

Lorelle’s covering the issue more thoroughly, and she’s got a list of other articles referencing it, in case you’re interested. (And thanks to cj Madigan for alerting me over the weekend. This definitely isn’t breaking news, so if you haven’t upgraded yet, it should be a priority.)

Heading to Boulder for some high-style fun

I’ll be traveling on Wednesday and Friday, so it’ll be quiet here this week. However, traveling always inspires lots of profound tweeting, so we can keep in touch there. If you happen to be in Boulder, don’t forget to let me know so that we can hang out at the clothing swap. I’ll be in Nashville when I get back from Boulder, so…Nashville friends? We should hang, too.

See you guys back here next Monday! In the meantime, upgrade and be happy.

Now, let’s work on this for a moment.

First, you need to figure out if your site is down for everyone or if it’s just you. Enter your site’s address into downforeveryoneorjustme.com, and you’ll get the answer lickety-split.

If it’s just you…

Have you been working on your site in the last 15 minutes?
Yeah? Lucky you. You have one of those sensitive hosting companies that bans you from your own site for refreshing it too many times. (I have one of these companies, too. The thrill!)

It’s actually a nice feature so that spam-bots can’t crash your site by continually refreshing it and/or leaving comments or submitting forms. It’s protective, really. But also annoying.

You can try asking your hosting people if they can add your computer’s IP address to a “do not block” list. Your IP address is simply a number that is assigned to your computer and your computer only. It’s like a web address for your computer (click that link up there to find yours). My people wouldn’t (or couldn’t) unblock mine. But I can’t see why it would be a huge deal.

OR you can wait 15 minutes to get back on your site. That seems to be the going timeframe for being blocked.

OR (if you don’t mind the annoying, sometimes disgusting ads), you can access your site through an internet proxy. These sites are designed to keep your IP address private while you’re browsing, so they’re useful for getting into a site that is blocking your IP address. The ads are questionable, but sometimes you’ve just gotta get to your site.

Oh. You haven’t been working on your site?

It’s probably:

1. Your connection at home. Re-start your modem. Re-start your wireless router. Try getting to your site on another computer if you have one.
2. Your internet service company. Call ‘em up and tell them what you told me. Your site is down, it’s down only for you, and your modem and wireless router are not the problem. Enjoy the (not) calming elevator music while you wait.

If it’s down for everyone…

Now you can start thinking bad thoughts about your hosting company. (!@#$!@#$!) But first, let’s take a minute to assess the situation.

First, try logging in to your hosting control panel. Sometimes your host will leave messages for you about your site’s status if they know about an issue.

Next, if you use WordPress, log in to your administration area. Go to your plug-ins section. Do you have 15 or more plug-ins activated? De-activate whichever ones you are not using. Your host is probably going to blame your plug-ins and/or the inefficiency of your database.

Finally, call your host and ask them what’s going on with your site. You are now armed with enough information so they can actually give good service. Usually, hosting providers aren’t the enemy. It’s just hard to communicate with them if you don’t know what the heck they’re talking about.

(And side note? You do NOT have unlimited bandwidth or unlimited server space. No matter how hosting companies advertise it, there are limits. And believe me, you’ll know when you’ve hit them.)