Blog | Rake Consulting – website design, maintenance and tools

New Timelines are here! Now what? I’ve got 20 spaces this time. Will you fill one of them?

March 31st, 2012

Corinna Rake

Now that Facebook has flipped the switch to the new Timeline for all fan/business pages, did you notice something on your page that you didn’t recognize? I’m not talking about the cover image (which if you were lucky enough to be one of my 15, looks fabulous now!) or even your profile picture.

Default Facebook Timeline welcome page 'button' image

What are those 3 or 4 ‘buttons’ under your cover image and what should you do with/about them?

If you had a ‘welcome’ page before the switch, chances are you have a button that looks something like this:

Isn’t that a nice, descriptive image? No? Would you like some help creating an image that aligns with your brand, looks great AND provides a CLEAR call-to-action for your visitors? Yes?

I can help.

For the month of April, I’m offering a special deal on up to 4 custom app buttons for just $117. And, if you were one of my 15 cover image customers, I’m going to make an even sweeter offer for you: only $97 for up to 4 button images.

If you still need a custom Timeline cover image to support and highlight your brand that you work so hard to build up, you can have one for $67*. If you want the package deal of cover image and up to 4 custom button images, it’s yours for $167*.

Ready to get started?

Simply leave me a message in the “Let’s Talk!” below (my face should have popped up by now, or click on the “Contact” tab in lower right corner).
Choose to leave your contact details, or set a discussion time where you can select your best 3 times for a brief video or phone chat (your choice).
Leave the link to your current FB page in the comments below or on my timeline …
with a note that you’re ready to add some new sparkle to your own Timeline!

*stock images are extra

Will you be one of my 20? Only until April 30th!

First come, first served and based on the popularity of my cover image offer, you’ll want to be quick!

Are you ready for March 30th? Will you be one of my 15?

March 13th, 2012

Corinna Rake

Rake Consulting on Facebook

If you’ve got a facebook business (or fan) page, are you ready for the switch to Timeline on March 30th?

What does that mean? Well, there are a lot of little things that will be affected, but the biggest change will be to the layout of the page and the ‘cover photo’ that will adorn the top of your page.

Do you want to be ready for the switch? I can help! With my services we will create your unique cover photo that meets all the requirements (lots of “do nots”) and look fabulous.

For a limited time in March, you can get a custom cover photo for just $47*! I can only accept 15 at this price, and only until March 27th. After that, the price will go up to $67*. Hurry, spaces are filling fast!

Ready to get started?

Simply click on my “Let’s chat” set discussion time below (my face should have popped up by now, or click on the “Contact” tab in lower right corner).
Select your best 3 times for a brief video or phone chat (your choice).
Leave the link to your current FB page in the comments below or on my timeline …
with a note that you’re interested in my help for just $47*!

*stock images are extra

Will you be one of my 15? Only until March 27th!

**UPDATE March 19 – only 8 spots left!

#BizMomsKnow Twitter chat – website traffic – Mar. 7, 2012

March 6th, 2012

Corinna Rake

Image via CrunchBase

What do Biz Moms Know about generating website traffic?

Join us on Wednesday, March 7th at 1pm AST/noon EST/11am CST/9am PST for our inaugural Twitter chat #BizMomsKnow to find out!

Some of the questions we’ll be presenting to get the conversation started will cover website statistics tools, keyword usage, social media promotion techniques and experiences with hiring out specialists for SEO and traffic-building campaigns.

Bring your favourite beverage, your thinking cap and listening ears (eyes in this case) and participate by including the chat hashtag #BizMomsKnow in your tweets. We’ll be watching for you! For your convenience, here’s a link to the tweet grid already set up with the hashtag and host names: http://tweetgrid.com

The Biz Moms Know Hashtag (bizmomsknow.com)
What do Biz Moms Know? (rakeconsulting.com)

What do Biz Moms Know?

March 6th, 2012

Corinna Rake

Quite a lot, it turns out!

One of the things I love best about being a women entrepreneur is the abundance of support from other women entrepreneurs.

Having recently delved into the world of Twitter, I’m amazed at how much FUN it can be meeting, connecting, sharing and supporting others. (you can follow me @RakeConsulting)

The best example of this is participating in something called a Twitter chat. It’s a simple way for like-minded Tweeters to gather and share information around a particular topic. Usually there are one or more hosts with prepared questions delivered throughout the chat time frame. Everyone is welcome to join in by searching on the chat’s HASHTAG (name with # symbol in front eg. #MomBizMondays) and including that hashtag in all their tweets for the chat. A great, free tool for this purpose is called TweetGrid (http://tweetgrid.com). Often the chat hosts will post a link to their grid or chat window to follow along.

In fact, I was having so much fun with the chats, that when a Twitter friend invited me to co-host a new chat with her, I was happy to jump in!

Introducing #BizMomsKnow

We’re a brand new Twitter chat for biz moms who want to share what they know to support other biz moms. If we all work together, who knows what we can accomplish! Our mantra – helping biz moms to know it all!

Our first chat takes place tomorrow, Wednesday March 7th at noon EST/11am CST/9am PST.

With the combined expertise of Sally Hanan (@inksnatcher), Becky Cortino (@BeckyCortino) and my self (Corinna @RakeConsulting) we’ll be your co-hosts offering up some engaging questions around the first topic – generating website traffic.

As mentioned, I’m fairly new to the whole Social Media scene, so I’ll be learning as much as possible from the rest of you! Please join us to either share your knowledge or learn from others.

For more information, visit our website or Facebook page (both designed by yours truly )

I look forward to connecting with, learning from, and supporting you.
Corinna

The Biz Moms Know Hashtag (bizmomsknow.com)
How tweet chats work (drewsmarketingminute.com)
Ready for a Tweet Chat? 5 Tips on How to Join the Conversation (community.constantcontact.com)

Why I love shoveling snow and how it helps my small business

January 31st, 2012

Corinna Rake

Lots of snow to shovel, good for my small business

Where I live in Montreal, Canada, we get a lot of snow during the winter months. And I’m not talking about 2-3 inches per week, more like 2-3 inches every other day!

Today we got a couple of inches of new snow and after my boys were in bed, I put on my comfortable and warm (but not too warm) clothes under my winter attire and grabbed the shovel on my way out the door.

My neighbours all have snow removal contracts. We’re definitely the odd ones out, but often they are the ones left with a snowy and icy mess on their driveways.

Our driveway is long enough to fit 3 mid-sized vehicles end-to-end, so using a 3 foot wide plastic shovel requires about 30-40min of solid effort – even more when there’s icy-tracks to deal with.

You’re probably wondering then why do I love it so much?! Sounds like tedious, mind-numbing (and limb-numbing on really cold days!) work that I could easily pay someone to do. And how on earth does this have anything to do with small business? (unless your’s is snow removal)

When I’m shoveling, there are at least 3 benefits that I like to think of as my ROI:

Clarity! My mind is clear and free from distractions (yeah, I mean you Tw-FB-In!) which means my creativity runs free, too. I thought out all the main points for this article in my 40min of shoveling tonight. Otherwise I probably would have spent 2 seconds staring at a blank post, then on to Google/FB/Twitter/LinkedIn for topic ideas and next thing I know an hour has passed and still no topic – but I’ll know a lot more about xyz that isn’t relevant to my readers…
ROI #1 – time saver
To-dos! Like many of you, I made some commitments to my health in the new year. One of which was to get at least 30 minutes of heart-pumping activity every day. Snow days means I’ve got a great excuse to cross that to-do off my list for the day.
ROI #2 – heart health boost
Rewarding! Have you ever experienced the satisfaction of a clear-to-the-pavement driveway as a result of your hard work? If there’s one thing I can brag about being better than my husband at, it’s snow shoveling. He may be stronger and faster, but what he clears in 5 minutes takes me another 15-20 to finish properly. Maybe it’s just the perfectionist in me but I strive to have the bare pavement result every time – to the envy of my contract-paying neighbours.
ROI #3 – confidence and satisfaction in a job well done

Did you happen to pick up on which ROI was also good for business? How about all three? Would you agree?
#1 – time saver – shoveling allowed me time and clarity to compose this article for my business weblog
#2 – heart health boost – our health should always be top priority, AND I have the satisfaction of crossing off one item on my already too long to-do list
#3 – confidence and satisfaction in a job well done – we all need to have things inside and outside our business that we can pat ourselves on the back for

If you also work from home, what other household chores and tasks do you enjoy doing for the ROIs listed above? Spill it in the comments below!

Oh, and I almost forgot – I have a nice, clean, safe and functional driveway in the middle of winter, in Montreal! Until the next snow dumping at least…

Had to share! Funniest Ever! – Diary of a Snow Shoveler (rainsoftottawa.wordpress.com)

You want to say what?

January 31st, 2012

Corinna Rake

You heard me – what is it you’re trying to say?

That’s the first thought that came to my mind when I sat down to write this post. Have you ever struggled with coming up with a blog ~~topic~~ entire reason for being? I have and tonight I finally decided to just started writing. Please excuse me if my thoughts are a bit jumbled.

What do you want to know about? Well, if you’re one of my clients (or not), chances are you want to know how to make the best use of your website. There are 3 things every website should accomplish – engage the reader, share useful information and have a clear action step.

My clients’ sites happen to be built using WordPress. So let’s start there.

I don’t want to bore you with the details that so many other blogs cover…

What DO I want to say then? [cue up Google search and enter "fun fact WordPress"]

Did you know that there are almost 11,000 plugins available for WordPress? Wow.

That search led me to this great infographic where I gleaned that useless tidbit. Nevermind talking about WordPress, everyone is talking about WordPress these days. Let’s talk about infographics – I love infographics because they make useful data fun. I’m like a kid in a candy store, eating up every last bit of the healthy granola bar disguised in a chocolate bar wrapper.

While I could list the many benefits of using infographics on your website (therefore how to make better use of your website) – I’ll let other bloggers take care of that for me (see related articles at end of this post)

Instead I will demonstrate the benefits, with my own infographic! “What’s it about?” you ask? Well, what better way to introduce myself to you than through a fun infographic. And now I’ve got my About page content all wrapped up, too.

Now, before you start pouring over the details of my life (wait, what? You’ve already looked!?), I want you to do one simple thing – take a look a the time, jot it down if you have a bad memory like me. Then click here or on the image to get a closer look and learn all the nitty-gritty details you want... I’ll wait.

When you’re done ~~stalking~~ learning about me, take a look at the time again. How much time has passed? Do you think you would have spent that much time reading about me if it was just written out? Not likely. Plus, you probably wouldn’t have bothered to get this far if it was all boring text.

Infographics provide greater reader engagement and interest. Observations indicate that infographics draw more readers, hold them longer, and they’re more likely to share what they’ve found.

Just like that, you’ve learned via demonstration three ways to improve your website:

By introducing yourself to your readers to help build the know, like and trust factor (hope to meet and learn about you, too!)
Sharing useful information (infographics really are cool!)
Encouraging and telling your reader how to take action (see below for your action step)

Want help creating your own story-graphic (do you like that? making up words over here) or help with other website issues? Please leave me a message in the box in the lower right corner and we can arrange our ‘comfortable website conversation’ to uncover your website wants and needs and how I can help you attain them.

I hope to meet you soon!

To your success in 2012,
Corinna

10 Traits of Amazingly Awesome Infographics (hubspot.com)
The Power of Infographics (shoutmeloud.com)
How to create a great infographic (thecontentlab.icrossing.com)

National Clear Your Desk Day – did you declutter?

January 9th, 2012

Corinna Rake

This is how my desk looked today. (shhhhh – don’t tell my husband his desk is on here too!) Notice my calendar sitting there?

I’m always amazed at how things start to fall into place after I have done a major (and sometimes minor) declutter. I’m waiting for some feedback on an application for a position that I’m really excited about and hope this decluttering will help! I’ll let you know if/when there is something to share.

UPDATE: Jan. 11 –

Here’s what my desk looked like when I started work this morning. There’s my old laptop! (under My Simple, Focused Small Business Marketing Calendar - have you ordered your copy yet? simplemarketingcalendar.com) And look, my Escalator Profits poster from Sandra Martini (on the wall, to left of curtain). The best part – it only took me about 5min to clear off all that clutter, and I found some important documents I needed!

How about you? Have you ever noticed positive things happen to you after you’ve finished a declutter or thorough cleaning? I’d love to hear about it.

UPDATE JAN 31, 2012 – I’ve got a really neat story to share – and it all began around the same time I decluttered my desk! Although I didn’t get that job I was hoping for (my experience didn’t line up), something else completely unexpected started to manifest. I’ll be able to share more soon – have you ever participated in a Twitter chat? I’ll have to write another post about that topic all on it’s own! I know before I experienced one, I wouldn’t have known what that meant either…

My inspiration for this post: Monday’s Mojo: Clean off your desk (http://www.shannoncherry.com)
Time for Some Year-End Decluttering? (buzzdemo.wordpress.com)

Simple Marketing Calendar.com is live!

January 4th, 2012

Corinna Rake

“The new phonebook’s here! The new phonebook’s here!” – Steve Martin, The Jerk (movie, 1979)

View the movie clip on YouTube - I love this scene where Mr. Martin’s character is SO excited when “the new phonebook’s here!” because his name is in it – I replay this scene in my head whenever I launch a new website, and today is no different!

SimpleMarketingCalendar.com has been a labour of love – I created a really useful tool, Your Simple, Focused Small Business Marketing Calendar for 2012, and wanted to share it with every service-based small business owner that wants to have a simple, focused plan for your online marketing efforts this year.

I’ll be using it for my small business, too! My recent clients have already received their printed copy in the mail.

Check out the website, SimpleMarketingCalendar.com and sign up for your free PDF version, or decide to make a small investment in your marketing this year and buy the printed package. All details are on the new website – check it out!

Please leave a comment below and share with your friends and collegues.

Planning makes living (and marketing) easy (rakeconsulting.com)
Is your Marketing Planning simple? (rakeconsulting.com)
Overwhelmed with your small business marketing planning for 2012? (rakeconsulting.com)

Overwhelmed with your small business marketing planning for 2012?

December 30th, 2011

Corinna Rake

As 2011 draws to a close, was your energy split between enjoying the holidays with your family and friends, and stressing about your service-based small business not being ready for the new year? Yeah, I felt it, too!

Have you been:

working extra long hours?
at a loss where to begin planning for next year?
starting multiple ‘plans’ with the hopes that you’ll be able to figure out how to complete just one?
writing down ideas whenever one pops in your head – on post-its, envelopes, your hand – how you’re going to make 2012 a stellar year?
signing up for every free teleseminar, telesummit and webinar (what IS the difference anyway?) In the hopes you’ll get that one golden nugget that’s going to propel you into 2012?
getting too many emails about how to make 2012 your best year, as a result of signing up for every free teleseminar, telesummit and webinar – only to feel more overwhelmed as you try to find your important messages, from your clients for example? Yeah, me too!

Imagine if you had one, simple, focused small business marketing plan to follow, allowing you to relax and enjoy your new year!

Imagine if you could download, for free, your very own Simple, Focused Small Business Marketing Calendar

all you have to do is ‘fill in the blanks’ and put into action
2 simple, focused marketing tasks each month.
1 task focuses on what you can do for your clientele
1 task focuses on your marketing
minimal time investment of about 1 – 2 hours per month
get all your marketing done!
No more stress.
No more procrastinating because it will be so simple, and laid out in front of you.
(that’s always been my biggest obstacle - without direction, I stall and don’t do anything!)

Now imagine even more – for a minimal investment in your business, you can have the added benefit of

your very own, printed version of the Simple, Focused Small Business Marketing Calendar to hold in your hands
with timely support of tips, suggestions and training delivered to your email inbox
and post-it notes you’ll need for brainstorming
to help you stay on track.
Not another great tool to sit and collect dust on your hard drive – put it into action with reminders and support
See results!
TIP: everything you’re asked to do for your clientele, you’ll receive the same treatment from me!
Any questions you have about the tasks at hand are answered by a real person, who also happens to be a service-based, small business owner.

I know what you’re going through because I’ve been there, too! Heck, we’re probably going through them at the same time! I’ll be working the plan in my own Simple, Focused Small Business Marketing Calendar, too!

Ready to make 2012 the best year your service-based business has had yet?!

Enter your name and email to the right to start with your free PDF version. You’ll be given the opportunity to upgrade to the printed package, if you’re interested.

For real! Let’s make it a stellar year together!

To your success in 2012, Corinna