I ran into a friend at a downtown bar the other night and he began complimenting me on my newly redesigned website. He went down the list of attributes that he admired, nice, clean design, I like the sign-up forms, all the services you offer, logo design, web design, marketing services… Then he hesitated a little, looked at me a little disapprovingly and with a serious tone meaning that he was a little ashamed of me he half-asked…" but, SEO? Come on," he said.

SEO is one of those topics that's a little like the moon landing, there's plenty of evidence to show that it is for real but there are still those people out there with a blend of skepticism, blindness to the facts and disillusionment by businesses who have made unkept promises.  

I LOVE what I do (web design and web development), but it has been a very circuitous route getting here.  I even started a blog about my journey toward discovering and doing the work that I would love to do. There's an ad talking about how the right bed is so important because you spend 1/3 of your life in bed. But you're asleep! Think about how important it is to spend the 1/3 of your waking life in a career that fits you. Think about how miserable you are when it doesn't fit. I remember the day I heard about counselors who help people transition from careers that they hate into careers that they love. What a great profession, I thought.

Now, as a St Louis web designer and web developer I find that more and more I am taking on the role of creating people's new professional identities.

The Key to Business Social Media Is Enjoying It, So Hire A Pro To Set It Up

I often find myself working with established businesses (read: older entrepreneurs - and by older I mean anyone whose baby photos were not posted on the world wide web at the time of his or her birth), but who are interested in having a professional presence in the social media realm.

They may have dabbled in social media, but let's face it, they have businesses to run, families to feed and bills to pay and being involved in social media can feel very… frivolous. But that is mainly because it feels fun and that can be frustrating when you are trying to run and promote a business.

The world tells business owners that they should be out there, but the learning curve is intimidating plus, the anticipation of almost anything social, makes a lot of people feel on the spot and a little nervous. That's why they serve cocktails at social events. Now I'm not saying that to participate in social media you necessarily need to mix a pitcher of mojitos, although come to think of it…

What I am saying is that social media (like many things in life) works best when you let go and have fun with it. You have to kind of get swept away in it - like a little kid at play. The problems for business owners are several.

 A Business Website Organizer Helps You Begin Building Your Website.

Need to build a new website or give your old website a facelift, but don't know where to start? Use the following list. This will save you the frustration of trying to put things together at the last minute, it will make your web designer's job easier (which should save you money), and it will ensure that you and your web designer have enough good information to put together a comprehensive vision of your business. It's better to start with a lot and edit id down, but if you don't have many of the items below don't fret, it's okay to begin from scratch too.