I’ve gotten this question a bunch lately. So much that I thought I’d record my most recent Monday Mentoring session on it.

The question: How do I know it’s time to redesign my website?

There’s many, many answers to this question. Yet, I’m going to share with you five of the biggies. And as you listen to this short audio clip (~8 minutes) see if your website has any of these symptoms.

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There are a number of questions I get asked often by my clients about developing and growing their business using their websites.

But I’d say one question is asked more than any other – “how do I get (more) traffic to my website?”

Since I seem to seldom lack for ideas, I thought I’d start writing them down. Next thing I knew I had a list of nearly 100 ways to drive traffic to your website. Since all of these are things I’ve done at one time or another I knew they worked.

But I didn’t stop there. I started brainstorming even more ways to drive traffic. Then I had a few close colleagues take a look at my list and they added a few. Now the list is over 180 viable methods for driving traffic to your website.

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Want to learn how to write with confidence?

Well my friend and fellow blogger, Joanna Young, is back! Where’d she go? Well, first she moved her blog from TypePad to WordPress – a move that I fully support and applaud her for. Then, she took a week off from writing to move into her new home. Can you imagine….not blogging for a whole week? I recently did it a couple of times and it wasn’t that bad – though I did miss writing.

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We all want to talk about success in our small business, don’t we? How we overcame this obstacle to come out the other end successful. Or how we fought for our vision to create the business we want. The media is filled with stories of how ‘one man (or woman) beat the odds and became success.’

Yet what we seldom hear about are the business lessons that led to that success. Lessons that weren’t born from knowing exactly what to do and succeeding. But business lessons that were forged out of trying something and having it not go the way you want. Business lessons that come out of failure.

Failure provides an immense opportunity. Sure, success provides opportunity as well. But I’ll venture to guess that if you consider the most valuable lessons you’ve learned in your business, they come from things that didn’t work. Or at least didn’t work the way you expected.

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Is your business creating a community that people want to be a part of?

Among the mass of things that you need to consider in running a small business on the web, this question is seldom asked. We spend our time with target audience, branding and marketing strategies. We focus on the design of our website and spend hours editing the copy we put on it. Yet how often do we consider the whether our product or service is something that people really want?

Yet in today’s online marketplace, what is it the people want?

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What does it take to have a successful blog for your business?

Denise Wakeman of Blog Squad fame asked that question of Chris Garrett. The conversation that grew created a bed of blogging tips. Watching the interview (5 1/2 minutes) Chris makes it pretty clear that a successful blog, like a successful business, is built on planning, focus, clarity and knowing your audience.

Whenever a client or prospective client ever asks me about marketing, I always begin my answer by finding out what they’re clear (and unclear) about in their business. I’ve learned the hard way of the years that you can only market, hence you can only sell, that which you’re clear about. And the greatest clarity I’ve found has come through understanding what problems my prospective clients face.

From the interview…

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First off, I love Christine Kane – the person and the musician. Though, truthfully, they really seem to be one and the same.

Anyhow, I find Christine’s music full of witty lyrics (free song download) and tons of emotion – like she’s singing from her soul. I’ve only seen her play live twice – once on a rocking boat. And each time at least one of her songs has brought tears to my eyes (no kidding). Spending time with her it’s obvious she’s found an inner peace and a grounded depth that gushes through her personality.

Yeah, I could go on. But let’s leave it at – she’s quite a lovely person and an excellent singer/songwriter. If she’s playing near you, it’s worth a evening to see her play.

Beyond Christine’s music, however, you’ll find a savvy and knowledgeable a niche marketer. She’s learned over the years that she can serve an audience’s needs while maintaining a music career. And like any niche marketer, she’s had to learn how to position herself correctly to reach a market who’s interested in her. In other words, she makes is more possible for people who like her type of music to find her.

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SOBCon08 – Biz School for Bloggers… A report, part 2

Amazing that it took a whole blog post to cover the first day of SOBCon08, but it did. Friday was great. The boat ride stellar. And the conversation even better.

Seeing Lorelle first thing Saturday morning started the day off right. Got a chance to speak with Easton Ellsworth a bit, catching up on family and the like. Truth is I talk to Easton almost weekly. I did get to have breakfast with David Dalka and Phil Gerbyshak. We mostly talked shop – not blogging shop, but business shop – niche marketing and expert positioning. In other words, what problems do you solve for whom.

Business School was the theme of SOBCon08. The idea was born from watching lots of bloggers getting traffic and tons of comments, but making no money. This year’s SOBCon was going to bring business people and bloggers together so that business owners could learn about communities and using social media while bloggers could learn solid business practices.

Anita Bruzzese of 45Things kicked off the morning. She gave a great talk about managing your online reputation. Her advice: Remember “whatever you write has your name on it and you must be willing to stand behind it.” Her talk sparked a great conversation afterward that I was really getting in to. If only more time.

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Are you coming to SOBCon08?

I’ve been set on coming ever since I left Chicago last May. The event in 2007 was great. Lots of great people. Lots of great information. And, of course, lots of of great conversation. But what would I expect from an event that was partially the brainchild of Liz Strauss, Miss Conversation herself (now, that’s my opinion and she would probably deny it even though it’s the truth)?

That’s why I was so excited last fall when Liz and Terry Starbucker started planning for SOBCon08. This year’s theme – Biz School for Blogging. Notice the title closely. It’s not blogging for businesses. Rather, it’s business school for blogging. In other words, bringing sound business principles into the blogosphere.

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Yeah, it’s possible. You really can break the internet. Want to find out how, just watch this simple 30 second clip below and you, too, and break the internet.

Go ahead, try it. See what happens.

Pretty funny, huh?

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