I have to tell you up front that I am no "techie" - I know little about the technical aspects of computers and website and code and such.  But I'm a layout/design/content kind of gal, and last year I was introduced to Weebly.com as a source of easy website creation.For the several websites I've been involved with, including, of course, this one, I'd used Squarespace, I'd seen WordPress, and I'd investigated freebies like Google and Yahoo pages.  But when I started experimenting with Weebly, I must say that virtually anyone can use this resource to create an interesting and effective website.

The several things I appreciate about Weebly:

• Lots of beautiful designs (templates) appropriate for many industries and fields.
• Very simple drag-and-drop page creation.
• Very customizable - You can adjust the fonts, colors and so forth, to suit your needs.
• No need to know anything techie unless you want to add Paypal buttons or other code content (and even then, it's super simple to do).
• It's FREE!!  Yes, you heard me, it's FREE!  There are a few limits to what you get in the free version vs. the paid version, but the paid version is cheap, so consider the options before you decide.
• Fabulous built-in keyword and SEO options (traffic to my website has increased dramatically since switching to Weebly).
  

The few things I do NOT appreciate:

• Very limited Help options, but I've had fabulous online service when I've asked a question.
• No preview option - you have to actually publish the site before you can see the final result.  But it's easy enough to go back in and edit.
• I'd like to see more customizable design options like picture placement
  

Whether you want a website for a business, an event, a blog, a family's activities, Weebly may be the way to go. Anyone with moderate computer skills can make an attractive and effective website.  And if you don't want to bother with it, I know a GREAT freelancer who can work with you: Holly@LightseedsOffice.com!

Hopefully you just read this title and said "Whah????? Has Holly lost it?"  If you didn't, I'm shocked! You can be the best writer, the most connected intuitive, the most accurate accountant, but if you can't proofread your work, you may not come across as the professional you are.

I have read online articles, websites, blogs, emails, and other forms of business communication written by authorities in their field, with important things to say, but their writings contain blatant errors.  Granted I've missed a few in my own proofreading (hey, we're all human), but I am adamant about editing and proofing.  Think about the two sentences below.  Which would lead you to contact the writer for more information?  Which presents the writer as a professional who knows what they're talking about? 

1. Everybody has to profread what their writing so the customer's know they are professional.
2. Everybody has to proofread what they're writing so the customers know they are professional.

Well, obviously (it is obvious, isn't it?) the answer is #2. Many of us have forgotten the basic grade school grammar, sentence structure and vocabulary we used to be good at.  Let's review!

• Their = possessive (I like their new car)
• They're = contraction (They're driving in their new car)
• Friends = plural
• Friend's = possessive (I like my friend's new car)
• The most unique = my pet peeve.  Look up the definition.  Unique = one of a kind.  Can you be the most one of a kind?  I don't think so!
• Hysterical = another pet peeve.  Hysterical means out of control, freaking out, upset.  Hilarious, on the other hand, means extremely funny.  A great comic can be hysterical if he/she gets upset about a bad show, but if it's a good show, it's hilarious.  Think of the comedy club....is it called Hystericals or Hilarities?
• I Like To Capitalize Everything = a title.  The first letter of each word capitalized is called Title Case for a reason - it's only used for titles (of companies, of books, of chapters, etc.).  Otherwise, only the first letter of the first word of a sentence is capitalized. Of course we have exceptions like God, Bible, names, etc. 
• This is a great example of a run on sentence with no punctuation you have no idea where the beginnings and endings are so it's really hard to read. This is a great example, of the overuse, of commas when, you don't really know, how to use them.  There is a happy medium between the two extremes.  Review some basic rules here.
  
• Spell check!!  Every word processing program, blog site, etc., has a spell check function.  USE IT!
  

Well, this is a good beginning of things to review when you're writing.  There are all sorts of online and in-print resources to help you practice and become more professional.  Of course, if you need a good editor/proofreader, I know a great freelance assistant for hire:  Holly@LightseedsOffice.com!

Microsoft Excel can be a fabulous tool, whether you're adept at computers or not.  Many folks think it's only for bookkeeping and accounting.  Not so!  Excel was designed to easily manipulate data, and that's exactly what I use it for.  Numbers, of course, are a form of data, but so are names and addresses, dates, product descriptions, and any other item you can think of that needs to be tracked and organized.

If you go to my page Free Forms, you'll find quite a few Excel spreadsheets I've designed over the years, and you'll see what I mean. Excel is the Swiss army knife of software programs!  You can calculate, sort, filter, track, and otherwise manipulate all sorts of data.  Try it for yourself:  open Excel and try typing in column A a list of family members' names, just for fun.  Drag your mouse pointer over all the names you've entered - you'll see the shading change and a box appear around them. Go to the top right of your toolbar - click on Sort and Filter, then on Sort A to Z.  See what happens?  You've just alphabetized your names - GO YOU!

Go to my free forms and open one.  Try the Contact Database for instance.  I've already set up the column headings (they'll always be named Columns A-ZZZ, but you can make column headers like I did).  Every entry you make will go down in rows 1-65,000 (and more if you need more!).  Play around with it by entering data in all the columns - real or made up.  Test the tools in the toolbar at the top to see what they do.  You can format (i.e. set up) any cell (the box that marks the intersection of a row and column) in any way you wish - text, %, $, phone number, and much more.

I use Excel for my contact database, for event tracking, invoicing, product sales, budget sheet, and more. You can use the free forms I designed, or in Excel, click on File/New and look at the wide variety of forms Microsoft offers you, also free.  All you have to do is enter your own data and see what you can do. All the templates you find will help organize your working life so you don't lose track of information.

Microsoft offers wonderful free tutorials on their website here.  Between all the free templates and the tutorials, you'll get a handle on how to use this all-purpose tool.  But remember, if you want customized training, get a group together and contact me at Holly@LightseedsOffice.com - I'm happy to give your group a class!

Since its launch in 2004, Facebook has taken over the world of social networking. Every time you post on your wall, you are marketing yourself, your likes and dislikes, and your activities to those you have marked as friends. Now that we can communicate instantly with enormous groups of people instantly, we need to be aware of the benefits of using Facebook as a marketing tool for our products and services.

If you are using Facebook as a true marketing too, which is the topic of this writing, then you want the publicity Facebook can generate.  All business / group / event pages are public, which means that anyone can view them at any time.  Internet searches for keywords contained in your pages will come up in search results, and friends can refer them to other friends without your knowledge.  But this is the whole point of marketing - getting the word out to the general public about your products and services. 

Because Facebook has become its own network, its own mini-internet, it has become as valuable a resource for information and services as the World Wide Web. If you're in the market for a anything from a mattress to a mover, a service or a celebrity, you can find it on Facebook.  Keep this in mind when developing your business profile.

The key to effective Facebook marketing is regular postings.  It won't do you much good to set up a business page but never post anything on it, as if you had placed an ad in a newspaper that nobody reads. Informative, related and timely postings on a business page will generate interest in you and your business.  The information contained on your business profile is also important:  it should be concise but explicit about what you offer, and should contain good quality photos.  The category in which you are listed (business, group, public figure, etc) and sub-categories are also important. 

If you have a blog, sign up for Networked Blogs, a free social media function which links a blog website with your Facebook account (or Twitter or other social media). Such cross-referencing will increase your visibility on the web and increase your exposure.

Once your public profile has been created, be sure to invite all your personal Facebook friends to visit and "like" your new page.  It's easy to switch from writing in your personal profile to your business one.  Simply click on the small arrow to the right of your "Home" page at the top of the menu, and click on "use Facebook as page." 

Through Lightseeds Office I'll be teaching a class soon on how to create business profiles. I plan to offer the class resources as an online tool as well.  Keep watch on www.LightseedsOffice.com or on Facebook for announcements.  As always, I know a great resource to help you develop your Facebook business presence - Holly@LightseedsOffice.com!

When I decided to go into business for myself, I knew that to create awareness of my skills and to get clients, I needed to have a website.  In general, the days of yellow pages and classified ads are antiquated - today most searches for businesses are done on line.  However when anyone decides to take the step toward self-employment, they may not have much start-up capital, and likewise not a great deal of technical expertise to do it themselves.  There are abundant resources now to make this important step easier.

There are many free website systems online, including the one this website is created with - Weebly.com.  Google, Yahoo, WordPress, and many others, like Weebly, provide a variety of designs and options to choose from. The amount of customization varies depending on whether you choose a free or paid version, and the domain name (the www.blahblah.com part) will vary. If you have a basic knowledge of software, for instance a familiarity with MS Word or Publisher, you can create attractive websites yourself.  You will need to determine a business name so you can choose a domain name - there are resources online to help you with this, like GoDaddy.com, www.domainsuperstar.com and more.

However the physical creation of a website is not enough:  what do you fill the site with?  What do you write about yourself, and HOW do you write it?  That's where a third party is important.  Here's how I work when I create a website for a business.

We write down all the keywords we can think of to describe a business.  Let's imagine a massage therapist startup: keywords might include relaxing, therapeutic, healing, expert, certified, licensed, compassion, professional ....and so forth.  We write down the vision for the business, the mission, the goal.  We write the steps we determine will lead to that goal.  We gather pictures, and testimonials from people who have experienced what the person does.  In other words, we get ALL our material together.  Not only do you want details about your business, but about you as well, giving an impression of your personality.

Consider the pages you'll need: a HOME page with the basic overview of what the business or topic is. Then an "about" or "bio" or some such, which is a short resume of your experience and why they should buy from you. A services / products / store page.  A testimonials page, and photos if appropriate.  Start writing a draft on each page using some of the keywords you determined.  After you get the basics written you can go in and flesh them out with more details.  Remember that the information should be clear, concise and to the point.

Most website systems online offer you a way to include keywords, categories and other Search Engine Optimization (SEO) options.  If you are doing a website yourself, you probably don't have SEO experience, but this is the aspect of a website that makes it visible on search engines like Google.  The better SEO information, the better traffic to your site.

The MOST IMPORTANT aspect of the website, in my opinion, is the professionalism.  If you have typos or grammatical errors, or if your content is not clear, then your work ethic and skills may not be as obvious as if the site were correctly written.  This is where the third party really comes in handy - have a second set of eyes look over everything before publishing to the web.  A clear, informative and professional website will convey the message you want the world to see.

Is all this intimidating?  I know a great resource to help you!  Holly@LightseedsOffice.com!

It's just as important and useful to organize your emails in the same way as your files (above).  Create new folders of the main topics of emails you need to keep (related to events, business, family, etc.).  Mine are very similar to my file folders - one for each client, for major projects, for personal business, etc.  You may want to either flag or file (depending on your email program) not only incoming but also sent mail, so that you have a way to track things that need follow-up.  Nothing is worse than realizing you've deleted important older emails because you forgot to save them. You also have quick reference for past discussions, deadlines, website log-ins, etc. 

And don't forget to periodically purge your deleted emails.  Your email provider may not automatically delete them for you, and you can quickly use up your storage allotment with useless emails.  I first delete old sent mail (that I did not flag for followup or importance), then I purge all deleted emails except the last week or so (just in case). Then I know that what I need is accessible, but what I don't is not wasting space.

If you get the general idea but want someone to teach you in person, I know a great resource you can call on: Holly@LightseedsOffice.com!

Do you know about "shortcut keys" on your PC?  Rather than moving your mouse up to the toolbars, you can use the keyboard for some quick and easy functions.  Look at your keyboard now....go ahead, I'll wait.....at the bottom left (usually) is a key labeled "CTRL" - that's your Control key.  It "controls" how other keys work to provide you with shortcuts. 

For instance, if you press CTRL and then the O key, you'll open a new file.  Always press CTRL first and then the letter key, then let go of both.
Likewise, CTRL + S lets you save a file. 
CTRL + P = print. 
CTRL + C = copy selected text. 
CTRL + V = paste selected text. 
CTRL + B = bold selected text. 
CTRL + U = underline selected text. 
CTRL + I = italicize selected text. 
CTRL + A = select ALL on the page. 
CTRL + Z = undo the last action
CTRL + X = delete selected text