Blog | Rake Consulting – website design, maintenance and tools

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

Planning makes living (and marketing) easy

December 13th, 2011

Corinna Rake

Do you struggle with the “what’s for lunch?” question daily? How about “what can I do for my business today?”

We follow a very simple ‘plan’ for my son’s lunches. He prefers to have particular sandwiches on different days, which we have written out on the school schedule calendar – Mondays are turkey & cheese, Tuesdays are egg, etc.

As I was putting his lunch together last night, I realized how thankful I was for this plan. I had worked late (home office syndrome anyone?), but I still had to make sure his lunch was ready for the next day – even though I was exhausted and just wanted to crawl into bed.

Because I knew exactly what I needed to make, based on the plan, I didn’t have to think about it. It only took me moments to collect the ingredients and put it together, even in my state of pure exhaustion…

Imagine having a small business marketing plan that simple to follow! A simple, focused plan to follow takes the guesswork out of it and can be implemented practically ‘in your sleep’ – like I was when putting my son’s lunch together. I just hope I got the day right!

How can you make simple, focused plans to help with your service-based, small business marketing? If you’d like suggestions and support with your marketing planning in 2012, sign up to get your own copy of a new, free tool I’m about to launch – it’s Your Simple, Focused Small Business Marketing Calendar for 2012. Just in time for the new year!

With 2, simple, focused tasks each month, along with timely tips and support in your inbox, you’ll have your year’s marketing planned out in as little as 1-2 hours per month! I’m so excited for this tool because I created it with service-based small business owners like you in mind. I know your time and resources are limited, because I’m a small business owner, too!

Will you join me on this journey to increased visibility and opportunity, while consciously building up your clientele – all with just 1-2 hours investment on 2 simple, focused tasks per month?! I know you can do it! Sign up now to receive your free gift!

Sneak peak at my new website – coming in 2012!

December 5th, 2011

Corinna Rake

Rake Consulting will be starting a new ‘branch’ to the business. While still a one-woman show, I’m expanding my service offerings to be more in line with where the industry is heading. Of course the new branch needs a new website! Designing the look of a website has always been the most challenging part for me. Once the look is good, then the rest of the behind-the-scenes customization and coding is what I love to do, and do well. So I couldn’t resist when I discovered a beautiful, pre-designed WordPress template, one that’s perfect for my new endeavour! I’ve bought it, and I’m going to use it. Why reinvent the wheel?

And thanks to quality WordPress template membership sites, a door has just been opened to a whole new way of creating fabulous websites for you! When the bulk of the design can be provided by a pre-designed template, 1000′s of which are now at your disposal through my membership, you’ll get a faster turnaround, at a lower price. Customization is my strength, both in the imagery and in the functionality. (I have modified this illustration – see right – to better reflect what I look like – although I’m considering commissioning someone to make a more accurate resemblance… know anyone?)

If you want a new look for your website, why not take a browse through the templates found here: DreamTemplate.com or ThemeLayouts.com. If something piques your interest, comment below or contact me and we can chat about it! You could have a new website in the new year, too! For less than you’d expect for a quality, custom (because it will be custom to you by the time we’re through) website.

If you want to learn more about the new biz – follow this blog, or one of the Social Media options to your right, for updates!

I’m so excited to share it with you soon!

Branding – let the conversation begin…

October 18th, 2011

Corinna Rake

As a solo-preneur, all aspects of my business move when I move. Most recently, our family moved from Nova Scotia, Canada, to Quebec, Canada. Although we are still in my country of birth, each province has different rules around business registration. Turns out since the first language of Quebec is French, all businesses registered here must have a French name. This poses an issue for me for two reasons: 1) I don’t speak French, although I do understand enough to get by, I definitely can not conduct business in French, and 2) if I wanted to revert to using my name for business, legally (only since moving to Quebec) I am no longer Corinna Rake, but Corinna Wiik (my birth name – on all my legal documentation).

I have been thinking about re-branding Rake Consulting to something that is a bit more catchy, as well as informative to what I actually do. Something like “Corinna Rake’s Web Design” or ?? Of course the other problem with using my name, besides the above issue of ‘Rake’ not actually being MY name anymore, is that ‘Corinna’ is difficult to spell and pronounce correctly! Two big no-no’s in the branding world. Switching to my maiden name of “Wiik” is even worse, both names would be notoriously misspelled and mispronounced! (Wiik is Finnish, pronounced “week” – which, with the advent of the Nintendo “Wii”, may not be as hard to explain as it was when I was a child!)

What’s a business-owner to do? Perhaps a brand survey or contest of some kind is in order? I would be interested to hear your thoughts. Click here to leave your comments. Thanks!

New Portfolio plugin added

September 27th, 2011

Corinna Rake

The next step in updating this website is getting the portfolio of past work on here. Today I found a great plugin to do just that, called WEBphysiology. The first portfolio example is now online – check it out here and let me know what you think in the comments below. Also, that page is using a free service called ShrinkTheWeb to capture the image of each website, saving some time, and mostly hassle, of capturing them myself. Now is such a great time to be a website developer – there are so many services and options out there to make our lives easier, so we can focus on creating the best websites for you, our clients.

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

Will you join me on this journey to increased visibility and opportunity, while consciously building up your clientele – all with just 1-2 hours investment on 2 simple, focused tasks per month?! I know you can do it! Sign up now to receive your free gift!

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