Posted by:
David Dittman
August 11, 2007
Issue #201
An Online Shopping Cart Review …
Welcome back to another issue of Working IT Out!
Last issue I explored sidebars and gave you some great dating tips in the process. Today, I’m going to leave my dating pitfalls at home while I talk about a company we have been using for our online shopping cart solution called 1ShoppingCart.com.
Now I have a real love-hate relationship with 1ShoppingCart so you’ll have to bear with my seemingly multiple personality disorder as I dissect 1ShoppingCart.
The first question I have to ask myself (Notice the multiple personality issue already cropping up, quiet me I’m trying to write this article) is why talk about 1ShoppingCart?
There are a lot of fish in the sea when it comes to shopping carts so why pick 1ShoppingCart?
Simple, this is the solution I have been using to solve several key pieces of direct response marketing as they relate to our shopping cart.
In this issue we’ll talk about:
- Is a jack of all trades solution acceptable?
- A good all-in-one solution for most business owners that want to sell products online …
- How there is more than one way to skin a cat but, you need to start somewhere to know your needs …
- And much, much more!
1ShoppingCart is a good start when trying to decide what your needs are going to be because they are a jack of all trades for the would-be business owner.
Posted by:
David Dittman
July 28, 2007
Issue #189
Welcome back to another issue of Working It Out!
Last issue I took a break from landing pages and went in-depth about WordPress and how to install and configure it. Now I’d like to jump back into landing page design and finish up where we left off …
… Two issues ago I discussed some essential basic elements to consider when laying out a landing page for the web. This week I’m going to expand on that concept and discuss some examples of effective sidebars and other graphics related techniques.
In this issue:
- How my poor dating habits can help you build a better sales page …
- Four examples of effective side bars …
- A list of things NOT to do when putting images on your site.
- And much, much more …
Sidebar Basics
When I sit down and design a sidebar I try to always remember that someone is reading this thing and my goal is to steer them in a particular direction.
In some cases I ask them to do something, a call-to-action, like signing up for my e-zine or buying my products.
In other cases I just want to give them an addition to the running copy providing more detail and giving some eye relief.
Let me explain what I mean by eye relief. When you have a large dense portion of copy, it’s important to make it as easy as possible for the reader. Now compelling copy is 95% of the struggle but the delivery of the copy is an important factor.
When a person is diving into your copy it’s important to give them the chance to come up for air as they go through the page …
It is difficult to read a continuous block of text and thus the need for eye relief surfaces. Eye relief, simply put, is a break in the copy to allow your eyes a quick rest.
You can accomplish this break many different ways including, shorter line lengths and paragraphs and also sidebars and images.
Now back to the steering process of your landing page …
Think of it as a relationship and this is the first date.
So here I am all excited about going out on the date.
This is the element of reading an interesting banner that compels me to click on it for more information.
Now I casually, confidently meander to the door … I knock politely, loud enough so she can hear me but, not too loud as to be domineering or overly eager … I’m playing it cool my friends …
All right my interest is piqued so I click on the banner.
And there she is, just as drop dead gorgeous as when I saw her earlier that day … Inwardly I’m nervous and a bit intimidated but I act fast … Quickly I smile and present the first of many witty banters this evening will see …
The Landing Page Headline jumps out at me and quickly catches my interest. I’m pleased to see that the banner did not misrepresent my hopes of what the page would be.
It’s time for to see if this relationship can go anywhere … And I press on through my inward struggles of our first encounter …
So I strike a witty conversation with my companion in where I discuss the State of the Union and how I was the real mastermind behind the Internet … It’s a bold move but my confidence grows with every sip of champagne …
This is the point where the copywriter shows their worth by giving me a convincing yet compelling argument while establishing themselves as someone I can trust, making me all the more interested in buying.
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Posted by:
David Dittman
July 14, 2007
Issue #177
Welcome to another edition of Working IT Out!
I hope you had a great week and are ready for a fairly ambitious weekend project. Our goal is to go from no website to new full blown, bells and whistle, web 2.0 fully functional website! (The web 2.0 reference is to make Newtson happy)
So if you’re ready to actually get a website up and running in no time flat, strap yourself in because I’m not stopping until we have this thing going.
In this article:
-
How to get a website up and running in as little as 15 minutes for less than $20 from scratch, with no HTML experience …
-
Some essential plugins that you will need for WordPress …
-
How to edit an existing WordPress theme to better suit you …
-
Some great resources for designing a WordPress theme from scratch …
-
And much, much more!
Now here is a checklist of what you’ll need and a ballpark estimate of the costs associated.
- A hosting account that has access to both a PHP server and a MySql server.
- A domain that uses this hosting account.
- A way to FTP files to your website.
Now if you have those three things you are ready to go. So go ahead and skip down to the subhead entitled “We’re Ready, let’s GO!”
If not, I’ve got a few quick recommendations for you that can get you up to speed and ready for the rest of the article in a relatively short period.
For the domain and hosting I would recommend GoDaddy.com. There are literally hundreds of different options out there and all of them will work for you but, I have had mostly success when dealing GoDaddy and it’s very inexpensive.
So head on over there or take some time to find a domain and hosting solution that will work for you. The only thing you will need is access to at least one MySQL database and a server that can process PHP.
In the case of GoDaddy, you can get the domain of your choice for around $8.95 and hosting for as little $3.99 a month with a minimum commitment of 2 months. So for $16.93 plus tax you can get all you need to complete this article and get a working site.
Now the last thing you’ll need is an FTP program to upload your files from your computer to your new site.
I would recommend downloading the free trial software of WS_FTP. Once again you have a lot of options but, I’ve had success with this program. Now, it’s only a trial edition so if you like it you’ll have to cough up the dough for the full blown edition.
We’re Ready let’s GO!
Now let’s head over to WordPress’s site and get the download going for their source code: http://wordpress.org/download/
In most cases, you’ll want to use the .zip file if you’re on Windows.
First you unzip the file to a folder that is easy to get to like “WordPress” on your desktop. You’ll need to upload this file later so take note of where you put it.
At this point we simply upload the entire unzipped contents of WordPress to your new site.
So it’s time to fire-up WS_FTP or an equivalent FTP program. It’s important to note that most hosting plans also have an option to use their built-in FTP program.
You will need three pieces of information before you can start the FTP process:
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Posted by:
David Dittman
June 30, 2007
Issue #165
I hope all you guys had a great week and are ready for another power packed installment of Working IT Out!
This issue is going to be nuts!
We’re diving head first into landing page design and how we can effectively use some simple guidelines to streamline our site.
In this issue:
- Hard earned secrets from Clayton himself …
- Why most landing pages don’t get the conversions they deserve …
- Some simple guidelines you can use to start making your landing pages better …
- And much, much more!
This week I’m going to give you the fly on the wall perspective of what Clayton and I talk about when discussing landing page layout.
One great thing about working with a copywriting legend is that you get little tidbits of information at every turn and often when you least expect it.
John and I sometimes shake our heads in amazement after Clayton comes down from a hard day at work and in no time flat, takes the problems that we had and reduces them to rubble with a seemingly easy solution.
Although easy is a relative word; what’s easy to him would’ve taken John and I all day, if ever to come up with.
My plan this week is to take a couple of the gems that I’ve learned about laying out a landing page for the Web.
One key concept that has really sunk in with me was that I had to always take into account the reader’s experience as they’re going through the webpage.
The Reader’s Experience is KEY
Taking into account the fact that readability is our biggest key, let’s identify a few different tactics that need to be practiced when you design your landing page.
Let’s start our project the best way I know how. Let’s come up with a readability plan.
Truly the key to all projects and designing a landing page isn’t any different, it’s that you have to have a plan. It’s OK to abandon the plan midstream or change it altogether but, having a good starting direction is the key because as we have all found out the hardest thing in most projects is starting it.
For me I usually go about this one of two ways.
- Use print sample of what I want to turn into a webpage.
- Find a webpage that I want to emulate.
Either way the goal here is not to steal somebody else’s design but, to give you a clear plan of attack and maybe push your mind into new directions along the way.
I usually find myself laying out a webpage that was originally a print version. So I’m going to go through the process I use when doing so.
The first thing we need to do is come up with the general layout of the webpage. As we think about our layout we have to go through the direct mail piece and find which parts we can and can’t use. We also have to come up with a list of what parts need to be redesigned.
For example, many direct-mail packages have entire pages devoted to testimonials. When you break up the running copy by spanning the testimonials across the whole page, you present the problem of breaking the natural flow of a reader and it’s usually more of a distraction and makes the transition back into the copy difficult.
An easy solution is to take the testimonials and use them in a sidebar.
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Posted by:
David Dittman
June 16, 2007
Issue #153
Welcome back to another installment of Working IT Out!
Once again we’re here attempting to make sense of the technologies out there and see if we can use them.
In this issue:
- What is a CMS?
- Which CMS should I use?
- Some Features of WordPress …
- Some Features of Joomla …
- And the battle royal, steel cage death match between Joomla and WordPress!
I’d like to geek out a bit this week and talk about two great CMS systems that you’ve probably heard of: Joomla and WordPress.
I want start by saying that I like both of these systems. Which one you use is entirely up to you and the goals of your website. Both are very effective.
I know I promised a steel cage death match but in reality I’m going to do my very best to be objective and just compare these great systems and not attempt to declare a winner in this battle royal between two CMSs.
Before we get specific and geeky, let’s start with a quick, down and dirty explanation of a CMS site. CMS stands for Content Management System. A CMS is typically used by the author or web designer to create, modify and arrange the content of their web site, typically with an easier, less code intensive user interface.
Features vary, but most have web-based publishing, search capabilities and allow for a variety of different orders and locations for your content, such as 1, 2 or 3 column layouts.
The question of which CMS to use does not start and stop with Joomla and WordPress. There are many, many different types of CMS out there and just when you think you’ve heard of them all, a new one is born.
When I was planning my first CMS site I asked myself a big question. What do I want to do with this site?
Well, I wasn’t too sure but, I knew I wanted something big and full of bells and whistles. I wanted something I didn’t have to build from the ground up. And I could afford to just have something I could plug data into.
Enter Open Source software to save the day …
So I narrowed the field a bit but I still had so many options it was hard to decide.
What I needed was a way to narrow the search even more.
Now, I knew that I wanted features but, I also wanted easy and easy means that I needed a place that has dynamite support.
Unfortunately, very rarely do dynamite support and free go hand-in-hand.
Then, (cue the superman music) Open Source came to the rescue once again!
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