Here is how you can suck down an excel file from Google Shared Documents. What are Google Shared Documents? It's Google's free tool to let you share a Word or Excel document online with a contributor(s) of your choosing. You must have a gmail account to take advantage of this, but a gmail account is harmless. Go get one. If you make edits to it on your computer, and want to upload your edited version to replace the shared file online, you can go into File (same File as mentioned below) and "Upload new version..."
Let's get started.
Log into gmail.
Click on Documents at the very top left of the screen.
Click on the file you want to view.
On the next screen, to the far left, next to the tabs, there is a pull down menu called "File". Click on it, and you will be presented with options.
Select "Export". It will ask you what kind of file you want it in.
Select .xls (this is an Excel file).
The file will zoom onto your desktop.
Voila!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Profile HTML: Amazing Facebook Page Application that Displays Working Code
The Profile HTML Facebook Application is a gift from the coding heavens. If you need to get HTML code onto your Facebook Profile or Page (yes, Page as well!), the Profile HTML app can handle it in the way you'd expect!
Do a search for "Profile HTML" at Facebook, or click here for Profile HTML. The directions for how to make it work are really simple, in fact, I'm wracking my brain for what to tell you. Literally, Profile HTML is the equivalent of a point and shoot. Of course, you'd need code that already works...but I'm sure you have that.
Once the HTML box is enabled for your Profile or Page, get the code you would like to add. Copy the code and paste into the large text box that the Profile HTML application provides once you sign up for it. Click "Submit" below the box. Voila. Now go view your Profile or Page.
The application was designed to work in the narrow side column or in the wider main body. If your code is of primary importance, drag it to the top of your page. You can click on the heading part (usually the blue bar across the top of the box for the Profile HTML application) and drag it to where you'd like on your Profile or Page.
You can have more than one HTML box on your Profile or Page. If you have more than one Page at Facebook, you can sign up for each page and add a box of code.
TIP: To get an element off of your website, like a form, right click on your page and select "View Source" or the like. Find the code and highlight it to copy/paste it later into your Profile HTML app.
TIP: If you grab code off of your website to be placed into Profile HTML, and if that code contains images, make sure your web address is included in the code you are using at Profile HTML. Most times, the code for an image or an interior link will omit the http://www.yourwebsite.com. It will start with something like /images/yourimage.jpg. Just make sure that http://www.yourwebsite.com/ is included before images and previously interior links. I say "previously" because now that this code is in Facebook, you are creating an exterior link to your website ("exterior" meaning from another website).
I have also dabbled with the Extended Info application. It did not work as I expected, so did not put much time into it. It may be useful for some purposes, but right now, the Profile HTML application did exactly what I needed.
Do a search for "Profile HTML" at Facebook, or click here for Profile HTML. The directions for how to make it work are really simple, in fact, I'm wracking my brain for what to tell you. Literally, Profile HTML is the equivalent of a point and shoot. Of course, you'd need code that already works...but I'm sure you have that.
Once the HTML box is enabled for your Profile or Page, get the code you would like to add. Copy the code and paste into the large text box that the Profile HTML application provides once you sign up for it. Click "Submit" below the box. Voila. Now go view your Profile or Page.
The application was designed to work in the narrow side column or in the wider main body. If your code is of primary importance, drag it to the top of your page. You can click on the heading part (usually the blue bar across the top of the box for the Profile HTML application) and drag it to where you'd like on your Profile or Page.
You can have more than one HTML box on your Profile or Page. If you have more than one Page at Facebook, you can sign up for each page and add a box of code.
TIP: To get an element off of your website, like a form, right click on your page and select "View Source" or the like. Find the code and highlight it to copy/paste it later into your Profile HTML app.
TIP: If you grab code off of your website to be placed into Profile HTML, and if that code contains images, make sure your web address is included in the code you are using at Profile HTML. Most times, the code for an image or an interior link will omit the http://www.yourwebsite.com. It will start with something like /images/yourimage.jpg. Just make sure that http://www.yourwebsite.com/ is included before images and previously interior links. I say "previously" because now that this code is in Facebook, you are creating an exterior link to your website ("exterior" meaning from another website).
I have also dabbled with the Extended Info application. It did not work as I expected, so did not put much time into it. It may be useful for some purposes, but right now, the Profile HTML application did exactly what I needed.
Friday, April 25, 2008
Compare Vertical Response vs Constant Contact for Email Newsletters
Vertical Response is the winner if the two are compared. Using Vertical Response after using Constant Contact is like a fresh summer day. Vertical Response vs Constant Contact lets you breathe easy while doing formerly complicated emailing procedures.
To Compare: Vertical Response vs Constant Contact:
Designing a custom newsletter design
Hands down, VerticalResponse. They offer a super easy editing canvas, where you can access the code, easily create tables, and more. Last I checked, Constant Contact did not offer an editing canvas, so you needed to already have your HTML built in another content editor, and paste it into their HTML area. That, or you have to be a Super Coder and be able to visualize what your code looks like as you type it up, which is a series of letters strung together. Good luck.
Or, you can pay Vertical Response or Constant Contact to build your design. But, if you are a do-it-yourself coder, Vertical Response provides the easiest platform to work on.
Reports and Stats - tracking click throughs
Both Vertical Response and Constant Contact give you access to which links were clicked on. Vertical Response breaks it down so that you can see how many clicks happened on which images as well as text. In order to know which image is which, you'll have to be familiar with what the URL is. The report gives you the actual number of clicks, plus the overall percentage compared to the rest of the links in the email. The list of links is presented in a chronological link list. Could Vertical Response develop something more visual? Maybe they will! But right now they are busy unveiling surveys.
Newsletter Design Templates
I tend to stay away from stock Templates. Customizing templates at Constant Contact could get messy, and be possibly easy to break, or corrupt, requiring you to build it all over again. If you are using a Constant Contact template as is, with no altering, you'll be fine. Both email companies offer programming services to create a custom newsletter template for your brand, where you can submit a design to them and they will build it for a fee. If you have used Vertical Response templates, and tweaked them, please chime in below.
Opt-in Sign Up Forms
A cinch with Vertical Response to make a straightforward, not too ugly email opt-in form. However, I've custom designed my own sign up boxes. See the newsletter signup form at Katie James and at Mugi Pottery. However, the generic opt in form design is not to shabby. (Sorry Vertical Response...I need to put the link back into you on those pages!)
Because the Vertical Response code for the email sign up form is so easy to work with, I was able to copy and paste it into a Facebook Page! Here are the details: how to put an html box on your Facebook Page.
Surveys
Constant Contact has offered the ability to send surveys for a long time. Vertical Response has just released their own survey service. I have not tried it yet. Have you? If you have experience with the survey tool at either Vertical Response or Constant Contact, please chime in below in the comments.
Cost
Yes, Constant Contact beats Vertical Response for cost (maybe, unless you're a non-profit). Constant Contact offers a monthly service, where you can pay $15 for a list size of up to 500, for example. Monthly cost goes up from there. Hopefully Vertical Response will go this route (because more of my clients would go with them). Either way, I personally do pay the per email price with Vertical Response because sending a successful newsletter is that much easier and enlightening with Vertical Response. If you are a 501 (c) 3 non-profit, they have special pricing. And 501 (c) 3 non-profits can even get up to 10,000 free emails a month!
So what are you going to do now? Sign up to send campaigns with VerticalResponse. So easy.
To Compare: Vertical Response vs Constant Contact:
Designing a custom newsletter design
Hands down, VerticalResponse. They offer a super easy editing canvas, where you can access the code, easily create tables, and more. Last I checked, Constant Contact did not offer an editing canvas, so you needed to already have your HTML built in another content editor, and paste it into their HTML area. That, or you have to be a Super Coder and be able to visualize what your code looks like as you type it up, which is a series of letters strung together. Good luck.
Or, you can pay Vertical Response or Constant Contact to build your design. But, if you are a do-it-yourself coder, Vertical Response provides the easiest platform to work on.
Reports and Stats - tracking click throughs
Both Vertical Response and Constant Contact give you access to which links were clicked on. Vertical Response breaks it down so that you can see how many clicks happened on which images as well as text. In order to know which image is which, you'll have to be familiar with what the URL is. The report gives you the actual number of clicks, plus the overall percentage compared to the rest of the links in the email. The list of links is presented in a chronological link list. Could Vertical Response develop something more visual? Maybe they will! But right now they are busy unveiling surveys.
Newsletter Design Templates
I tend to stay away from stock Templates. Customizing templates at Constant Contact could get messy, and be possibly easy to break, or corrupt, requiring you to build it all over again. If you are using a Constant Contact template as is, with no altering, you'll be fine. Both email companies offer programming services to create a custom newsletter template for your brand, where you can submit a design to them and they will build it for a fee. If you have used Vertical Response templates, and tweaked them, please chime in below.
Opt-in Sign Up Forms
A cinch with Vertical Response to make a straightforward, not too ugly email opt-in form. However, I've custom designed my own sign up boxes. See the newsletter signup form at Katie James and at Mugi Pottery. However, the generic opt in form design is not to shabby. (Sorry Vertical Response...I need to put the link back into you on those pages!)
Because the Vertical Response code for the email sign up form is so easy to work with, I was able to copy and paste it into a Facebook Page! Here are the details: how to put an html box on your Facebook Page.
Surveys
Constant Contact has offered the ability to send surveys for a long time. Vertical Response has just released their own survey service. I have not tried it yet. Have you? If you have experience with the survey tool at either Vertical Response or Constant Contact, please chime in below in the comments.
Cost
Yes, Constant Contact beats Vertical Response for cost (maybe, unless you're a non-profit). Constant Contact offers a monthly service, where you can pay $15 for a list size of up to 500, for example. Monthly cost goes up from there. Hopefully Vertical Response will go this route (because more of my clients would go with them). Either way, I personally do pay the per email price with Vertical Response because sending a successful newsletter is that much easier and enlightening with Vertical Response. If you are a 501 (c) 3 non-profit, they have special pricing. And 501 (c) 3 non-profits can even get up to 10,000 free emails a month!
So what are you going to do now? Sign up to send campaigns with VerticalResponse. So easy.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
How to Make a Fan Page in Facebook
Fan Pages in Facebook are fun and easy to make. What is a Facebook page? The Fan Page is a page in Facebook that represents your business. Unlike a Group, developers who build applications have some of them available for your Page. This means that you can elect to have an RSS feed box to show your latest blog posts on your Page, or to show a big photo of your book (aka "Big Photo" application).
A Few Things You Can Do With a Facebook Page
Ready to make one? Ok. You'll need a little bit of time to be creative and you'll need a special logo.
To get some fans, you might want to share it with your friends. On the side of your page, after you publish it, you will see a "Share with friends" link. Click it, and then you will need to type in your friends. If this link is not here, look for a + sign that is just below this list. At this moment, Facebook does not have an option where you are presented with a list of your friends that you can select. That would be much easier, of course. For now, you have to type them in. Facebook will complete the name as you type.
That should be it! You are ready to make a Page in Facebook. Good luck!
PS: If you need help making a special logo for your Facebook page, it is a new service of Katie James Pixelated! Contact us for details.
PPS: I have written several more articles on enhancing your Facebook page, such as, how to make a page more interactive with your fans. Click here to see all Facebook related posts.
PPPS: If you want to fan my page, here it is: ;) http://www.facebook.com/pages/Katie-James/15996316102
A Few Things You Can Do With a Facebook Page
- People can "fan" your page. A mini version of your logo will show up on their profiles. You can't "friend" people with your page, but people can "fan" your page.
- Send "Updates" to your fans to tell them when you have a new product, special coupon codes, or anything else you think of.
- Add applications to make your page interactive and interesting to look at. Not all applications are available for pages yet. A developer for a specific application needs to make a version for a Page.
- And lots more.
Ready to make one? Ok. You'll need a little bit of time to be creative and you'll need a special logo.
- Click here, or if you are logged into Facebook, scroll to the very bottom of your screen.
- In the footer links, look for the link that says Advertising. Click it.
- You may be presented with two options. On the right, where it says "Facebook Pages," look a little beneath it and click "+ Create Facebook Page".
- It will now ask you demographic information. Fill this out, and type in the name of your Facebook Page. Choose wisely, because you can't change it.
- Proceed as prompted!
- Next steps will be adding different applications to the page to jazz it up a bit. For starters, I love Big Photo and Profile HTML.
- To activate your page, you will need to "Publish" it. There will be a link to prompt you to do this.
- In the future, to manage it, a link called "Ads and Pages" will always be on the left, as shown below. Follow these same directions to create one of those Facebook social ads. To manage, you will click this link to access both areas.
To get some fans, you might want to share it with your friends. On the side of your page, after you publish it, you will see a "Share with friends" link. Click it, and then you will need to type in your friends. If this link is not here, look for a + sign that is just below this list. At this moment, Facebook does not have an option where you are presented with a list of your friends that you can select. That would be much easier, of course. For now, you have to type them in. Facebook will complete the name as you type.
That should be it! You are ready to make a Page in Facebook. Good luck!
PS: If you need help making a special logo for your Facebook page, it is a new service of Katie James Pixelated! Contact us for details.
PPS: I have written several more articles on enhancing your Facebook page, such as, how to make a page more interactive with your fans. Click here to see all Facebook related posts.
PPPS: If you want to fan my page, here it is: ;) http://www.facebook.com/pages/Katie-James/15996316102
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
How to Make a Favicon - This Website Helps You Make the .ico File
Here is a great website to make a favicon: http://tools.dynamicdrive.com/favicon/
What is a favicon? It's the cute little graphic in the top of your browser bar that is usually pretty close to your logo design. Here's a picture to show you what a favicon looks like:
I've circled the favicons in red. The little blue and brown favicons that say "km" in script are little ones we created for www.kerrymonaghan.com, and they are my favorite ones at the moment. The orange favicon to the right is Blogger's. It's showing the page that that I am currently typing this post on. What is it good for? For brand awareness, of course! Favicons work in most browsers, including Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer. Other browsers are catching on.
Not only can the user quickly identify your website if they are using "tabbed browsing," which is when several websites are open in one browser window, but the favicon can also show up when the user bookmarks your page on their own computer, or in social bookmarking websites like Stumbleupon. Actually, those websites will most likely show a thumbnail of your web home page.
How to Make a Favicon
There are many ways to skin this cat, but here is how I do it:
1. In Illustrator, set your art board to be 16px x 16px. That's how big a favicon is. The size of your pinky nail.
2. Design your graphic, and always look at it from actual size, since other people won't be able to zoom in.
3. Save it as a .jpg. Sometimes, I send it to my programmer as an .svg file to make sure I've done everything right, and then he polishes it off.
4. Now you'll need to save it as a .ico file, and call it favicon.ico. Go to http://tools.dynamicdrive.com/favicon/ to help you with this, if your computer can't correctly create a .ico file.
You only need to call it favicon.ico, not pink-favicon.ico or something. The online tools that make the favicon work will only look for "favicon.ico".
5. Finally, you can upload it to your root directory, which means that you'll upload it to the file that is usually one past the www folder, if you have FTP access, which you can usually get by going through your host's website. I always prefer CuteFTP for my FTP access. If that just confused you, you could hire someone like my company, Katie James Pixelated, to quickly do this for you. If you have a blog, you might need to access your template code and insert it before the HEAD tag. Ideally, if your website is built for it, you should only need to upload this file into one place. If your website does not have include files, or is not dynamic, then you may need to include this file into each of your pages. But again, if that just confused you, it may be best to hire out.
If you have created a cute favicon, please share it with us by dropping a link to your website in the Comments below!
What is a favicon? It's the cute little graphic in the top of your browser bar that is usually pretty close to your logo design. Here's a picture to show you what a favicon looks like:
I've circled the favicons in red. The little blue and brown favicons that say "km" in script are little ones we created for www.kerrymonaghan.com, and they are my favorite ones at the moment. The orange favicon to the right is Blogger's. It's showing the page that that I am currently typing this post on. What is it good for? For brand awareness, of course! Favicons work in most browsers, including Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer. Other browsers are catching on.
Not only can the user quickly identify your website if they are using "tabbed browsing," which is when several websites are open in one browser window, but the favicon can also show up when the user bookmarks your page on their own computer, or in social bookmarking websites like Stumbleupon. Actually, those websites will most likely show a thumbnail of your web home page.
How to Make a Favicon
There are many ways to skin this cat, but here is how I do it:
1. In Illustrator, set your art board to be 16px x 16px. That's how big a favicon is. The size of your pinky nail.
2. Design your graphic, and always look at it from actual size, since other people won't be able to zoom in.
3. Save it as a .jpg. Sometimes, I send it to my programmer as an .svg file to make sure I've done everything right, and then he polishes it off.
4. Now you'll need to save it as a .ico file, and call it favicon.ico. Go to http://tools.dynamicdrive.com/favicon/ to help you with this, if your computer can't correctly create a .ico file.
You only need to call it favicon.ico, not pink-favicon.ico or something. The online tools that make the favicon work will only look for "favicon.ico".
5. Finally, you can upload it to your root directory, which means that you'll upload it to the file that is usually one past the www folder, if you have FTP access, which you can usually get by going through your host's website. I always prefer CuteFTP for my FTP access. If that just confused you, you could hire someone like my company, Katie James Pixelated, to quickly do this for you. If you have a blog, you might need to access your template code and insert it before the HEAD tag. Ideally, if your website is built for it, you should only need to upload this file into one place. If your website does not have include files, or is not dynamic, then you may need to include this file into each of your pages. But again, if that just confused you, it may be best to hire out.
If you have created a cute favicon, please share it with us by dropping a link to your website in the Comments below!
Friday, April 11, 2008
Blog Post and Page Titles are Super Important for Increasing Traffic
This tip is an easy one, and we've covered it before: Page Titles are Super Important. I just changed a few little words in one of my blog posts titles, and it moved from page 1 #6 in google to page 1 #2 in google in one week.
This is a great way to try and increase your traffic by little numbers at a time. If you pay attention to your stats, to your comments, to what your readers are saying, you will see how you can change particular blog post titles and double your traffic to that page. If you are getting 10 hits to a post page per month, you could get 20. If you did this to 10 posts, that's 100 extra very relevant hits per month. I measure this for big and little websites - from one that has tens of thousands of users a month, to my own little blog (FashionMista), which is what I'm about to share. On a larger website, you can change your targeted keyword on one page to a better one that you found by doing your keyword research (try Keyword Discovery) and pick up 4,000 per month, up from 1,000. BUT, you could also have the reverse effect, and change what isn't broke, and start to slide down. So always do your research.
Here's what happened for my little blog: I am getting laser hair removal done on my legs, and am blogging about it. The intent (and thus my target keyword) was to blog about "laser hair removal". Therefore, I had that term in all blog post titles, in links where possible, and in any pictures (alt attribute). What I did not intend was to become a voice for/against American Laser Center (ALC), which is where I'm getting it done. But, that is what has happened. My blog posts naturally optimized for "american laser center review". Why? Because some other review type websites linked to my main page, people commented with those words, and I said "american laser center" a lot.
The other day, I got a comment on my main laser landing page from a girl who said something like: "I know this post was done in 2005, but it still comes up number 1 for a search on american laser center reviews, so I'll post a comment to warn..." Unhappy ALC people seem to find my blog, and comment about it. Which is fine. But anyway, I hadn't been following my ratings for this term, and sure enough, I was #1 for "american laser center reviews". I was #6 for the singular version (review). But I wanted to be higher. :) What's an SEO girl to do? Change the post title.
My blog post title was: "Laser Hair Removal: I Got Lasered". I liked it because it seemed compelling, and suggests journal entries. But, after learning that I was #1 for "reviews", and #6 for "review", and wanting to rule in both terms, I changed the title to: Laser Hair Removal: My Experiences and Reviews at American Laser Center."
That's it. I also edited the laser article to make it more current, explain that I was still getting the treatments, and made sure to include the word "review" in more places.
The result? Doubled traffic in one week.
Pay attention. You are your own gold mine. :)
ps: Here is my article on a blog post title with pictures
pps: Rankings mentioned here are subject to change at any time...
Thursday, April 03, 2008
Vertical Response is My Favorite Email Marketing Newsletter Tool
It's true. I can't get enough of Vertical Response
. I read their blog and am even a member of their Facebook Group. Every time I go in to make a newsletter for a client, I think: "Sigh. Thank goodness for Vertical Response."
I've been through some pretty tough times with e-newsletter programs including custom built email tools and Constant Contact (ugh), and Vertical Response is just the cleanest, most helpful, easy to use environment I have used to date.
Here's why I like them:
Check them out for your email newsletter!
I've been through some pretty tough times with e-newsletter programs including custom built email tools and Constant Contact (ugh), and Vertical Response is just the cleanest, most helpful, easy to use environment I have used to date.
Here's why I like them:
- Newsletter Stats: Their stats for tracking how your newsletter did are amazing. Not only are they comprehensive, but they tell me what words worked, and what didn't. Like, did people respond to a graphic of "Donate online" or did they click the words that said "Give online today" (it was the latter). Now I can make better newsletters for the next time for all of my clients.
- Friendly Code Environment: I'm not a programmer...I'm a designer who can code into a website page to do nice-looking things. For clients who don't want to pay to have Vertical Response program a custom template that I've designed, I just set up the design, which I try to make as simple as possible with two columns, and make the edits. Tables, fonts, links, floating images, it's all fine.
- Easy Sign Up Box: Another simple and cheap solution to getting an email sign up form on your website. If you want it integrated onto a special page, like a Contact Us page, you might need to involve a programmer, but getting a basic box with your website colors is do-able for a normal person. You can pay a programmer and a designer (both available through me at Katie James Pixelated), but the quick and dirty is not that dirty.
- Blog: Do check out their blog for enewsletter tips. Here's a post about how to not write a subject line, for example.
Check them out for your email newsletter!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
