28 June

What I Learned from Dr Seuss about Marketing

What I Learned from Dr Seuss about Marketing

This (lithograph of a) painting by Dr Seuss hangs on the wall in my office, right above my computer. The colors and shapes and composition are wonderful, to say nothing of the fun characters, but there’s more to it than that. For me,  it sums up marketing, particularly online marketing. The Influencer At first glance, […]

26 June

Content Marketing: Getting it right

The amazing Tara Hunt just posted this great piece about the importance of quality in Content Marketing, particularly on Facebook and YouTube, and how to measure whether it’s really working. She backs it up with quantified data and shows you how to know when you’re getting it right. Or horribly wrong.

11 April

Codagogy: an insider review of the CSS Basics class

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Codagogy: an insider review of the CSS Basics class

I just finished my first online course in CSS coding with Codagogy! As you can tell, I’m pretty excited about it. But first, an embarrassing disclaimer I’ve been working in CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) for many years, but like most web designers, I was self-taught through a collection of books and short online tutorials devoted […]

9 April

What’s really stopping you from learning to code?

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What’s really stopping you from learning to code?

I hear many women say they’d like to learn to code, but very few who actually take a class. I’ve been wondering why. The main barrier seems to be at the dipping-a-toe-in-the-water stage. Today’s cult worship of technology has produced a tendency to idolize and prioritize developers over marketers, operations managers, etc. The sooner the […]

25 March

Best Online Classes for Women Learning to Code

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Best Online Classes for Women Learning to Code

Having spent many hours researching and trying out various online coding classes, here are my personal recommendations for women interested in learning to code. These classes are aimed at those wanting to learn programming languages used in web design, web development and apps (mobile apps and web apps). I’m assuming you are somewhere on the […]

24 January

Video conferencing comparison: Skype vs Google Hangout vs GoToMeeting.com vs AdobeConnect

Video conferencing comparison: Skype vs Google Hangout vs GoToMeeting.com vs AdobeConnect

So you’ve tried Skype video and you love it. Me too. It’s phenomenal for one-to-one video chats. You get to “see” friends who live on the other side of the planet anytime you want. For FREE… Fine, but now you want to add another person (or five). Suddenly it gets complicated. Can my WiFi handle it? Will my webcam have a meltdown?

Fret not, sugarplum, this is your lucky day. I’ve tested out 3 of the best so you don’t have too. (See? You just got a whole lot happier.)

14 August

How to Brand your Multi-faceted Talents

How to Brand your Multi-faceted Talents

We are all capable of wearing more than one hat, but people tend to get confused when you tell them you do more than one thing. Especially if they seem totally unrelated. So how do you brand your myriad facets in a coherent manner?

Simple. It’s called Umbrella Branding.

Umbrella Branding: Think of it as broadcasting from the same station (you) using multiple channels (your services). To avoid confusion, each channel has a look and feel of its own, and the station also has its own overarching signature.

19 March

Online Invoicing & Accounting: Freshbooks vs. Harvest vs. Billings vs. FreeAgent vs. Kashoo vs. Xero vs. Wave vs. LessAccounting

Online Invoicing & Accounting: Freshbooks vs. Harvest vs. Billings vs. FreeAgent vs. Kashoo vs. Xero vs. Wave vs. LessAccounting

Ah, the magic of the internet. Finally, we can integrate our front-end (invoicing) with our back-end (accounting) and do it all from any computer anywhere in the world via a web-based interface. If you’re running a small business that is service based (i.e. Freelancer,  Consultant, Web Designer, Developer, etc), the sooner you start using these […]

25 February

Advice on the Best Ecommerce Solutions and Shopping Carts

So you want to add ecommerce… well, young Jedi, here’s how it breaks down, in order of complexity and pricing. Scenario 1: Single item (small quantity, one-size-fits-all, one price) You want to sell a single T-shirt design. Or a single painting. Or a subscription to a single newsletter. PayPal is the answer to your prayers. […]

11 February

Need printed business cards or postcards? Moo is for you.

I’m often asked to recommend a printer for clients. For large items (reports, manuals, packaging) I recommend a local printer with experience doing high-end stuff for local museums and arts organizations. But when it comes to small items like business cards, postcards or thank you cards, I do not hesitate to recommend the online service, […]