I poured all my years of experience into this one, and I offer it to you at a very special price.  

Affordable Marketing That Really Works for You.  It's for your website, online marketing, and printed marketing materials

• Experience less stress and a sense of relief from increased clarity on how your website, online marketing, and printed marketing fit together;

• Easily shape your promotional activities with a clear vision of on-line and print marketing tools and strategies;

• Be more productive, save time and money on your website, online marketing, business cards, postcards and other marketing materials.

1. Why a web site, online marketing, and digital AND print marketing materials are necessary to successfully market yourself and your business.
2. What a Web site, online marketing, and marketing materials can, and cannot, do for you.
3. How you can get a great Web site, and update it often, without going broke.
4. When to "do it yourself," and when to invest in getting help.
5. Myth Busting: "If you build it they will come."
6. SEO - What's all the buzz about?
7. How to create cost-effective marketing materials.
8. How social networking sites fit Into your overall marketing plan.
   
   Take a peek inside and read Part 1 here.
   To open the PDF file you'll need Adobe Reader, get it free here.
   
   Buy Now for $29.95
   
   



"What is worthwhile? Sometimes I am swayed by money...what makes something worthwhile for me is the people I work with, the conditions I work under, and the audience I'm able to reach."

Artist Marian Bantjes on TED talks, wow!

Why you should listen to her:

(Besides the awesome marketing philosophy she puts forth...)

"Organic, logical, complex, beautiful: Marian Bantjes' illustrations draw on her deep relationship with letterforms (she was a typesetter for ten years). With flowing lines, filigree and generosity, she plays in the space between a and b and c. Her illustration work has appeared in Wired, Wallpaper, the Walrus and many other magazines and newspapers worldwide, and once took over Saks Fifth Avenue top to bottom.
 
She's also a blunt and funny writer on design and other matters, an advocate for self-reinvention, self-education (and formal education) and continuous self-appraisal. She works from her home on an island near Vancouver and sends legendary Valentine's Day cards."  ~TED bio for Marian

or cick here to view the video larger.

See more samples here.

Whether you need a quick jpg or gif for your website, or a short video to explain something visually, using "screen capture" software is a boon.

Sure, you can fire up Photoshop or other software to wrangle your images, and you can hook up your video camera and edit the footage into something short and sweet when you need something visual. But I like to use what works best and fastest, and so here's what I do:

For really fast jpgs and gif images I use Skitch. I use it a LOT. Think seconds, not minutes, to get an image. In fact, I use it to grab all the images I use in the blog. It's free and you can drag an image onto the little Skitch Screen, paste one you grabbed from your screen*, you can resize it by dragging the corner of the screen, and you can save your new image by typing in a name and dragging it onto your desktop or into a file folder.

Need a quick video of something you're doing on your computer? Faster and more effective than writing it all out in words, a short video works wonders. With Jing (also free but the Pro version is only $15/yr) you can record a video of onscreen action, even snap a picture of your screen, and share it instantly via web, IM, or email. If you have a webcam, you can even record yourself. Great for blog entries or a quick "hello" to your family and friends.

Want to do a quick video of your onscreen action but need to edit it?  Want to edit other types of video footage and incorporate images, Powerpoint slides and other goodies? I love (love) Camtasia. $99 and worth every penny. Easy to learn and use.

Of course, there are lots of other types of software to grab images and save time on videos. I'd love to hear about what YOU use and like. That a not-so-subtle hint to leave a comment here.  ;-D

*To quickly grab ANY image on your screen, click here if you're a Mac, and here if you're a PC.  And don't forget, just because an image is on the web doesn't mean you can use it (legally). I buy a lot of images at iStockphoto.com or I use images I'm legally permitted to use.

Still doing some tests, embedding a new video into the blog. Thanks for indulging me and following along. I test all this stuff here, at my own blog, then when I am good at it I use my skills to help my clients.

Here is a very nice video my husband Harry made for artist Deb Gengler-Copple. Watch the vid, and visit her at www.debgengler-copple.com. We did the website, natch.  :-D  YOU want a vid? Contact us, costs less than you might think!!

Copyright © 2010, Deb Gengler-Copple - Art By Nature. All rights reserved.

Do  you ever read something and have one of those "Ah ha!" moments?  I did when I read those words. I just about jumped out of my chair.  "That's IT, that's IT!!!" I said out loud.  And I knew that I just had to tell you about it.

I mean, I can go on for days about all the wonderful services we provide, but from a marketing perspecitve that doesn't help you really truly "get" what we're all about here at Sagara Development and most importantly,  how you benefit from that. Because if you don't see the benefits of working with us, why would you? And I certainly spend enough time saying to clients, "Swell, that's a nice FEATURES list you got there on your website but what's in it for your customer? How do THEY benefit?"  So...I'm taking my own advice and writing you about it.

Anyway, what Jonathan Ive said, that's really what we aim to do for you. That's how we create that "time and space" I talk about. I want your business to be sooooo smooth and refined that your clients and customers feel no resistance when they interact with you, your website, your marketing, your products and services. I want your clients and customers to feel so damn good when they visit your website, read your brochure, email you, whatever, that they can't hardly stand to be without you.

So, yeah, we do lots of websites and website updates. We manage shopping carts and databases. We create marketing materials, write e-newsletters and deploy them, and all kinds of groovy things that help your business run better and free up time for you to focus on what you really want. But all that is really FEATURES, lists of things we do and offer.  WHY we offer all that, and the reason we're here is that we really want to do is help you be so fricken successful that you jump for joy and experience the benefits I talk about on the website:

• Experience less stress, more time, and a huge sense of relief.
• Shape your life for your happiness and get what you most want.
• Be more energetic and productive.
• Be more profitable.
• Experience lots of JOY!

If you are already a client, how can we help you more and better so you're jumping for joy?  If you're not yet a client, how can we make it so that you are?

As always, all my best (and I mean it) to you and yours,

It’s true. Because when you pay attention to something, put energy into that something, talk/read/write about it, you move in that direction.

That lesson is taught to race car drivers because in the beginning they tend to focus on NOT hitting the wall. And guess what happens? They often hit the wall because they’re focused on the wall (even in a “don’t go there” sense). But if they ignore the wall and focus on making the turn guess what happens? They usually make the turn (sans wall).

It works for everything. I see examples of it all the time. Here’s a good one:  people starting a new business or trying to grow their business focusing on and even telling everyone that “I’m a starving startup.”  Artists do it a LOT. "I'm a starving artist." Guess what?  Poof!  You’re a starving artist. Say it long enough, focus on it long enough and you’ll get your wish. Seriously.

So stop it already! Choose instead to focus on something better. Not sure what to focus on? Start with the obvious and just STOP saying things like, “I’m a starving startup” and “I can’t afford to invest in myself and my business.”  Focus on where you want to end up, think about it, talk about it, visualize it. Get r-e-a-l-l-y familiar with it. Marinate in it. 

Don’t get too attached to HOW something happens. That doesn’t mean talk to the Universe and sit on your hands until it happens, because it won’t. You gotta put it into motion.  Set your end goals and dream your dreams, get started in that direction with a plan, mind your thoughts and course-correct as you go along. Try it, you’ll like it!



P.S. If you read this far, good for you! You deserve a treat that will help set you on your new, focused path:  If you have a “how to” question about your business admin, website or other marketing, email me at robin@sagaradevelopment.com to schedule a 15 minute consult for free. No cost, no muss, no fuss, and no strings attached.  Just a great little something to say “thanks for reading blog/newsletter” and to hopefully give you something really useful (and so you’ll continue to think kindly of us and, of course, use our services in the future). I’m just sayin…

Don’t wait, I only do a few per week (otherwise I wouldn’t get my work done, ya know.)

Yup, I do love free samples. Try before you buy and all that.

But lemme digress for a moment: I've written before about keeping your skills sharp, how very important it is. I've told you horror stories about how I've seen people waste days of time (and hundreds or thousands of dollars) while they tripped over themselves trying to get simple computer tasks done.

I also know from experience that however good you THINK your computer skills are, they're not. Sorry, but it's true. And it's costing you.

Beefing up your computer skills is not that hard any more. In fact, it's easy. I've mentione it before, I love, love, love Lynda.com. They're an online learning company, they have really great work-at-your-own-pace plain-English video lessons covering just about every kind of software on the planet. And now they are offering free samples.  A membership for 24 hours so you can sample their wares.*

Me, I've got a membership, have had one for years, because I need to stay at least two steps ahead of y`all to keep my reputation as a miracle worker.  ;-D

They have Adobe, Apple, Microsoft and a lot more!

• Stay current and keep your skills sharp
• Learn innovative and productive techniques
• Access over 740 online courses, 24/7
• Learn from experienced instructors
• Gain confidence and marketability
• Learn at your own pace: Stop, rewind, replay

Go get the free samples and update your skills, will ya already!

FTC Disclosure: If you know me at all you know that I will not recommend something unless I think it's absolutely stellar. All of the resources I recommend are my favorite things, Lynda.com is one of them and when you use the links here I may (eventually, don't hold your breath) earn a small commission on anything you end up buying from them.

Aletta de Wal teaches this in her classes and coaching, she taught me this years and years ago. It's a really simple thing and one of the MOST effective things you can do to increase the effectiveness of all your marketing efforts. Online, offline, EVERYTHING will work better if you do this one simple thing:

Put complete contact info on everything.

I know, I know. "I do," says you. You sure?  

You'd be surprised at how many people don't do this. REALLY.  Go back and look at your marketing stuff. Website, emails, postcards, print ads, business cards. All of it.

Do you give people complete contact info so they can find you easily?  Your name (or company name), phone, email, web address and if applicable the address of your business (or the address of the place you want them to go to for whatever it is you're promoting)??? 

You'd be surprised at how hard people make it for other people to buy something, get somewhere, or inquire. I get emails and postcards from fine artists inviting me to their new show and how it's in such-and-such a city. Great. No state, no address, just the name of the city. You gonna make me go Google it just to see if it's in my area and where the gallery is?  Sheeshh.

Other people say, "I only need to put my website address, they can find the ways to contact me there."  Oh really? What if they get the urge to contact you and are not near a computer? What if they prefer the phone over email? Do not make them work just to contact you. Give them a few ways, you'll be glad you did.

Oh, and don't forget:  What I do for a living is support YOU in becoming more successful. Need some great postcards, business cards, a website, ezines? I design em, I set em up, I send em, and even if you just need help managing what you already have, I'm here to help with that also so you can get back to doing what you do best. That's why I say "We create time and space for you to focus on your vision. Then we'll help you get there."

As always, all my best to you and yours,

And here's me making it even easier to contact me:  (310) 649-4434 or  robin@sagaradevelopment.com