Monthly Archives: July 2015

how to easily organize your customer projects

How to Easily Organize your Client Projects

Are you juggling multiple clients each day? Do you feel overwhelmed by all the emails you have to go through to find something important for a specific project? Do you want to store all your folders, files, pdfs, images, to-do lists, project status updates and more all in one place without having to spend any money for online storage?

This blog post is going to explain how I use Google Drive to easily organize projects and coordinate with clients online. And it’s free for the first 15 GBs!

Before Google Drive I used email for communicating with clients, a notebook and post it notes for writing down to-do lists, desktop folders for storing files, PDFS, images and Dropbox to send and receive large files. Since I started using Google Drive for projects, I completely streamlined my project management process and work much more efficiently on projects. I just use one tool to manage all aspects of all of my projects. It is also so much easier to store all projects within Google Drive because if I ever need to go back to a completed project I can just go to my completed folders area rather than sifting through tons of emails.

Why I love using Google Drive for Project Management

  • Saves time: Rather than sifting through thousands of emails, I just go to the specific project folder and store all pertinent information in a Google Doc.
  • File formats: There are several different file formats you can create and upload. You can create a word document, spreadsheet, slides, forms and even drawings. Google Drive files also convert to several handy file formats such as MS Word Documents and PDFS
  • Access files anywhere: Every file in Google Drive becomes visible on all of your other devices (laptop, desktop, mobile phone, tablet) automatically. All you need is a Google Account and go to your Google Drive area.
  • Share with anyone easily: Files that are uploaded are automatically kept private. You can give users access to any file or an entire folder by just clicking the share button and entering in their email address.
  • Google Docs are editable: all the documents and spreadsheets you upload are completely editable with anyone you share it with! Each commenter can comment in a different color for added differentiation among users.

Informative and Quick Videos explaining Google Drive

This video explains what Google Drive is all about in under 2 minutes.

How to start using Google Drive

If you are already signed into your google.com account then go to google.com/drive
If you don’t have a google.com account then I highly recommend that you sign up for a Google Account here. It only takes a few minutes. Once you have signed up then go to google.com/drive.

Once you are in the Drive you can create new folders for each project. Just click the big red New Button and click “Folder”

manage your clients online free

Once you have created folders then drag and drop folders files, images, pdfs or anything else into your folders from your desktop. You can also manually upload files by clicking the new button again and selecting File upload. But it’s so much easier to just drag the files or folders from your desktop directly into Google Drive.

manage your customers online

Creating living documents: You can also create new “living” documents and spreadsheets right in Google Drive. A living document is a dynamic online word document that is editable by multiple people. These can be shared, commented on and edited by you and your client. Just click on the red New button and open a new Google Doc. Be sure to rename it so you know what is in it. I like to create these for To-Do lists or status update forms so my clients can login to their google drive and check the document to see what I’m working on or any information I may need from them. Instead of emailing me they can just write everything into the document so we are always on the same page.

One of the many things I love about Google Docs is that they are completely editable so you and your client can make comments next to certain items rather than going back and forth via email.  This increase productivity and reduces annoyingness.

Sharing your folders and files: Once you have uploaded everything to your folder you can share it with others (You can also share completely empty folders and allow anyone else to upload files and images.) Just click the little Share icon to share the folder with other users. There is also an area to write in a note to let the user know what is in the folder/file.

online project management tool

View and manage all your client files in one place online!

Google drive is great because it helps me view and manage all of my project and client files in one place. It allows me to add live documents to show clients what I’m working on and any questions I would like them to fill out.

You could easily incorporate Google Drive into your business – whether you do most of your work off or online!  If you are a website designer or graphic artist I find that Google Drive is especially useful. Your Drive can be a place for your client to upload their content and images as well as any other useful information for you.

You can upload contracts, mockups and revision requests for your clients. So rather than having your client email you several times to make changes to a logo or website, they can write down all their notes in a Google Doc and you can address their comments in that same document.

This is also a great way to keep your customers up-to-date on what is going on with their project rather than having them email or call you every day to request a status update – they can just check back into one of your designated Google Docs to see what you are working on.

Once you are completely done with a client store it away in a COMPLETED folder so that it is not in the way of your current client folders. And if you ever need to reference a certain file from a previous project you can go to that projects’ specific folder rather than searching through thousands of emails.

Google Drive for Personal Use

You don’t have to only use Google Drive for business. It is great for personal use as well! If you need to list or track anything just create a Google Doc and start typing. Let’s say you want to create a grocery list. You could create a Google Doc with a list of groceries on your laptop and then see that same list on your phone when you are in the supermarket. You could do the same thing with to-do lists, rosters, weekly/monthly budgets (if you have one), books you want to read, places you want to go, etc.

Right now, I am in the middle of purchasing a new apartment and am brainstorming what type of furniture I would like to purchase for it. In addition to using Pinterest I created a Google Drive Folder and uploaded images of furniture and room spaces that I like. I also created a Google Doc so that I can write in any ideas I have or stores I want to look at to purchase furniture. I like Google Drive better than Pinterest for this because it gives me the added bonus of keeping a live document of things I want and need to do before I move in.

Overall, I have found that Google Drive has made my personal and business life easier. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

best sharing plugins for wordpress

Best Free WordPress Plugins for Your Blog

We exclusively make business websites and blogs for WordPress. So over the years we have tested hundreds if not thousands (there are over 20,000 plugins) of WordPress plugins.

Social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest are here to stay. So it’s a no-brainer to make your website content super easy to share across these platforms. These plugins are especially useful if you are a blogger and want to share more of your content on social media.

By installing and using the plugins below it will make your content more engaging and very simple for users to share your content across many popular social media platforms.

So without further ado, we have compiled a list of the best WordPress plugins that you need to download on your self-hosted WordPress website right now. And these plugins are completely free to use!

Top 5 WordPress Plugins for More Discoverable and Shareable Content

Simple Share Buttons Adder
This plugin makes it super easy to add custom social media sharing icons to each of your pages and blog posts. Once you have installed this plugin you can customize the social media plugins to match your website color scheme or use some of their pre-made social media icon sets.

Once the Simple Share Buttons Adder plugin is installed and activated, go to Settings –> Share Buttons on your WordPress administration panel. Then go to “Styling” and under Image Set select Custom. Save the changes and then visit this website to make custom social media icons. Once you make your custom icons, download them to your WordPress Media library and add the File URL of each social media icon to the designated area. Save the changes and you now have custom social media sharing icons on every single one of your blog posts! (Make sure to select the proper settings so the icons appear on each of your posts.)

Disqus Comment System
Let’s be real. The default WordPress commenting system is pretty ugly. This commenting plugin makes it so easy to replace the default WordPress comments area with a beautiful new interface. Just install it, create an account, update the settings and you are good to go!

All In One SEO Pack
The All in One SEO Pack is currently the second most popular WordPress plugin with an astounding 17 million downloads.  This plugin is very important to have installed on your WordPress website because it will help you manage your websites’ search engine optimization (SEO).

Once installed, the plugin automatically adds fields at the end of each post so that you can better optimize each individual page and post. By putting some work into the SEO of your website, you will significantly increase your blog traffic.

This plugin also has a bunch of other cool features including a dynamic sitemap. Having a sitemap is important because it will allow Google to more easily find and index all the pages of your website. The plugin also allows you to manage social media sharing by allowing you to select the default sharing image your website selects when sharing a post or page on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+ and other social media channels.

Click To Tweet
Want an easy way for your website visitors to share your content on Twitter? This plugin allows you to easily create tweetables within the body of your blog posts and pages so that whenever someone clicks on the link it will automatically be added to a users Twitter status box. This will let your website visitors more easily tweet about your business or blog.

Frizzly
This plugin makes it easy for your readers to share images on Facebook, tweet posts that are associated with an image and pin images to Pinterest. By installing this plugin, a Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest button will appear over images when a user hovers over it. BONUS: The image a user shares from your blog will have a direct link back to your blog post which also helps your sites SEO (higher Google rankings yay!).

NOTEWORTHY MENTIONS:

TinyMCE Advanced
Ever wish the visual editor in WordPress offered more options? Tiny MCE Advanced will add more features to the WordPress toolbar such as tables, emoticons and custom font families to name a few. This will allow you to more easily add some variation to your blog post copy without needing to know any HTML. This plugin basically will help your content look prettier so if you are looking to jazz up your copy then this is the plugin for you.

There you have it! These are the top free WordPress plugins that we recommend and use on many of the business websites and blogs that we have built over the years. Social media is here to stay so if you would like to get more traffic to your website then make sure your content is easily shareable with your users!

Top 5 Business Website Design Components that Convert Visitors into Customers

Here are the top 5 non-negotationable things that need to be on your business website. By implementing these 5 things onto your website it will help convert website visitors into customers.

1. Responsive Website Design

A responsive website design will adjust to the screen size of various devices (desktop, laptop, mobile phone, tablet, etc.). This is especially import since Google’s algorithm update which may penalize your website for not being mobile-friendly. Mobile internet browsing has officially overtaken desktop browsing which makes it a necessity to have a responsive design implemented on your business website. If your website isn’t

2. Phone Number and Email on every Page

It is extremely important to display your phone number, email and link to your contact form in a clear and prominent area on each page of your website. This will undoubtedly result in more website visitors to contact your business. It also establishes trustworthiness to your users.

3. User Friendly Navigation

Keep your menu bar clear and uncluttered. A website that is easy to navigate allows website users more time to explore more information about your products and services.

4. Consistent Branding

Website design that has a consistent look and feel when it comes to your logo, fonts, images and color palette will create credibility to your website visitors. Showcasing a strong brand identity is becoming increasingly important for businesses to take advantage of as consumers are willing to pay more for a product if the brand delivers a positive branding experience.

5. Nice Website Images

Including nice website images is very important to engage website users. It is best to use original photos from your business however as a last resort you can find a lot of high quality images on stock photo websites as placeholders.

WordPress Blog Design for NYC Fashion Blogger

This was a fun website design project to work on for NYC Fashion Blogger Bree from the Tall Society. She blogs about what it’s like being a 6’4″ woman in New York City while sharing her favorite fashion finds with her followers. This blog was built on WordPress which is a great CMS platform for bloggers. WordPress allows Bree to login to the administration panel of her website from anywhere and update the image slider, add new blog posts as well as edit any text or images. The website acts as her main hub for sharing “All Things Tall” and connects all her social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Youtube) in just one place.

Features on this WordPress blog include:

  • Responsive Image Slider: The homepage has a responsive image slider that resizes based on which device you are viewing the website from. It showcases high quality images from select blog posts.
  • Mobile Friendly Design: The responsive framework of this custom built website resizes based on which device you are viewing it from. From mobile phones to tablets to laptops, this website will display beautifully on all devices. On the mobile view the menu resizes and  becomes just a button to reflect the smaller screen size.
  • Sidebar Advertisements: Google AdSense was integrated into the website to monetize it and generate revenue. We placed 3 responsive ads into the sidebar for the user to click on.
  • Social Media: Social media integration allows users to easily share any of the blog posts via Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. There is also another area of the sidebar that allows users to navigate to Bree’s other social media pages.
  • Instagram Feed: There is an Instagram feed at the bottom of the website which gets dynamically updated whenever Bree adds a new picture to her Instagram page. This is a great moving piece of the website because it keeps the website more interactive and very current.
  • Video integration: Youtube videos were integrated into the sidebar for quick access and several different blog posts.
  • SignUp Pop Up: When arriving on the site there is a pop up that appears that prompts users to subscribe to The Tall Society Newsletter.
  • Newsletter SignUp: Users are able to enter their email address into the signup box on the sidebar to stay up to date with new posts and news from The Tall Society blog.

Check out the homepage design below or visit www.TheTallSociety.com to see more of this awesome new blog!
Custom WordPress Blog Design for NYC Fashion Blogger