Today, I have been married to my wife, Nicole, for 21 years. Nicole and I have actually known each other for over 28 years thanks to the place we first met; Kentucky Fried Chicken in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
I was attending the University of Wisconsin at the time and had a part-time job as an assistant manager at the KFC location on Bobolink Dr. Nicole was still in high school and worked part-time as a cashier. She and her mother lived a short distance from the store.
Nicole was very shy and quiet and was easily the best employee in that store. She was diligent, detail oriented, and not afraid to work long hours. As a second-year surgery resident in 2014 she still works long hours but is not so shy!
Nicole and I worked several other jobs together before getting married including Hardee’s, security services, and an entrepreneurial business, University Painting.
I am sure neither of us could have envisioned the long and winding road we would have together. The entrepreneurial bug that I had in college has come full circle into the development of a full-time web consulting business. Nicole has always had an interest in medicine and is living her dream as a surgeon.
I recently did a Google Street view search of our KFC rendezvous and it seems we have outlasted the original place of our pairing.
I thank God for the best job I ever had since it was there that I met and married the woman of my dreams and the mother of our three children.
Happy anniversary Nicole I love you!
P.s. I still love those original recipe chicken wings! …just in moderation.
As an Internet and Social Media Marketing Strategist I often find myself explaining and defining various social media accounts to Internet newbies and off-the-grid gurus. Here is a quick run down on some of the top social media sites with a tongue-in-cheek description of how they might be perceived.
SEO Trends in 2014have made some important shifts since the previous year. Press releases as a way to increase high PR backlinks, have decreased in importance and Google has down ranked links from the major Internet PR sites (See Marketing Prof’s article…). However, the wider distribution of press releases from affiliated news sites is still creating good good linking results for business. In early 2014, Craigslist changed its platform and now disallows external hyperlinks to websites. As a result, the value of Craigslist for generating organic traffic and leads will definitely be negatively affected. (See Bigger Pocket’s Blog…)
In 2014, I believe the focus for SEO will be on quality, customer-focused, content that is leveraged through social sharing and relevant backlinks from high PR-ranked websites.
There will need to be tighter integration of websites to social media, press releases and mobile applications. Optimizing for search engines will be congruent with optimizing web content for target customer groups. If the content you are creating and distributing is highly useful and relevant for your target market, it will likely be favored by the search engines.
2014 SEO Trends
Reliance on original content will continue to expand
Internet advertising and SEO will be more closely coordinated
Targeted, top local directory listings will be important for page one Google results
Linkedin company pages will continue to increase in relevance and use
Craigslist will decrease in importance as a source of top level organic search results
Social media advertising will be as important as search engine advertising, but targeting and engaging the right audience will take research and testing.
Video content will continue to expand and will become key to business SEO rankings.
2014 SEO Recommendations
Use a business blog and publish customer-centric articles at least monthly; twice a month is optimal, weekly even better!
Use Internet advertising in coordination with onpage SEO optimization efforts for maximum leads. Google Adwords quality scores are dependent upon a good website landing page experience.
Use online press releases sparingly and focus on truly newsworthy content. PRweb.com, PR.com and PRNewswire remain worthy resources
Select the top five to ten local directories where people are finding, or likely to find, your type of business and fully develop and maintain those listings. Search your analytics to see which directories are currently being used by people to find your site.
Develop, expand and regularly update your business company page on Linkedin.
Test social media marketing possibilities to find which platform results in the best sources of traffic and engagement for your business.
Develop a video creation strategy and use YouTube to distribute the content. Embed videos on your website, social media channels, newsletters and other places to maximize distribution.
Designing a Facebook page for a company, cause, brand or local business should involve as much attention to detail as the corresponding professional website. Too often companies create a Facebook page with little forethought or advanced planning. What’s worse is that some businesses create it and then leave it alone. Aligning the company brand and business strategy with a professional Facebook presence will leverage this important medium for maximum effectiveness.
These best practices are well known to social media marketers who often charge hundreds and even thousands of dollars a month to professionally develop business Facebook pages. Small businesses are wise to learn what elements of social media they can develop themselves and where they can use additional assistance.
Choose a thumbnail image that best represents your logo and maximizes the allowable image dimension of 180 x180 pixles. It mus also be recognizable on wall posts when it gets reduced to 32 x32 pixels.
Be selective about the wall tabs you publish and/or allow to be shown. For example, if you don’t have any events, remove that tab. If you only have a few fans, move that tab to the end of the list.
Add your page URL to the “About” section of your page
Facebook pages that are setup as “company” pages will allow the ‘about’ section of the page description to appear on the front page of the site. As a result, it is a best practice to use this prime real estate as an opportunity to link back to your website. Put the URL at the beginning of the short description so that it will appear on the front page of your Facebook page.
Integrate other important social media into page tabs. YouTube, ConstantContact and other social media sites offer free apps that will integrate their content directly into your Facebook Page.
When posting photos of products or service related info, make sure the images are also available on your website. One good strategy is to post several sample pics on your Facebook page with a note in the photo description to view more or higher resolution images on your website.
Change the ‘About Us’ section of your page so that is shows your web address. This is the only place on your FB wall that you can provide visitors with a link to your website. For example: “Find out more at: http://www.TheInkBlog.net”
There are a plethora of social media services that provide custom apps that can drive traffic to your inventory of products and encourage visitors to ‘like’ your page. WildfireApps, Constant Contact, MyTab, PageModo and others will provide the technology you need to create social media campaigns, contests, sweepstakes, quizzes and more. Prices, features and usability vary widely between these services so research the ones that will best meet your needs and budget.
Create a Reveal Tab
One of the single most useful page apps is a reveal tab with mandatory ‘likes.’ Visit my blog article on how to setup a reveal tab using the “My Tab” app. A reveal tab with mandatory “likes” is a Facebook page that invites visitors to see additional content by requiring that they “like” the page. This strategy is being used by many organizations to give away coupons, offer free e-books, enter drawings and sweepstakes as well as numerous other uses.
Eric Toussaint was the first person who greeted me when I arrived at a new Business Networking International (BNI) group at the end of 2013. I heard about the worldwide BNI organization in a webinar and wanted to see it for myself. I scheduled a visit with one of the membership chair people and showed up not knowing at all what to expect. Eric greeted me with a firm handshake and a vibrant sense of energy that I would later understand is the natural charisma that has propelled his personal training business. Eric’s approach to his clientèle is the same approach he has to business. He is energetic, humorous, generous, razor-focused and results oriented. It has been a joy getting to know him at our weekly BNI meetings and I look forward to seeing his Jett Training business soar to new heights.
1. Career influences
As far as overall work ethic I would have to point Tammy Darvish from Darcars as my best influence, I just have never seen such a tireless work ethic, not to mention very well run business.
As to my peers that I look up in my industry I would have to mention Alan Stein from Stronger Team, Robert Taylor from Smarter Team Training. There contributions to the health and fitness industry are ineurable and there work ethics are second to none especially in the area of social media.
2. Biggest Career Success
One of biggest career success (ongoing) was winning “Best of Bethesda” award for personal training while simultaneously marketing that accomplishment through a strong social media push, coupled with a grass roots campaign to distribute as much JETT company literature to other local health care professionals.
3. Recent Lessons Learned
Always look to improve your business, never stand still. I am going through a whole round of improvements in my ability to increase the exposure of my personal training business as well my nutrition business.
4. What Inspires and Motivates
I think what inspires and motivate me is mainly the success of others, being able to feed off of the positive energy and happiness that they feel when their businesses’ are doing well. And of course my twin boys Lucas and Oliver. 🙂
5. Share a Leadership Story
My approach to leadership, is very simple. Lead by example and help as many people as I can. My best trainers are the ones that I have helped to grow, both professionally and personally. I truly believe if you apply a “givers” philosophy with those around you, you will always find success.
Another principle I like to apply to my business and my life is consistency and persistence. I just landed a client, after a two-year “courtship”. We spoke of training very little, but always made sure to stay in touch and I did my best to befriend her. I knew deep down she always had the intention to start training with me, so I did my best to stay in contact with her and offer advice and help wherever possible. My care and attention created a situation that when she was ready to start personal training, it was a foregone conclusion that it would be with me due to the personal relationship we had developed over the two year “courtship.” Our relationship was such that not only did she start training with me but she brought a friend to train with her and now I have two new clients. When the BNI “givers gain” philosophy is combined with consistency and persistence there are not limits.
6. Your Top Two
Study the industry and understand every aspect of it.
Make as many contacts you can with your industry peers and learn from them.
7. About Eric Toussaint
Eric Toussaint is the owner and founder of Jett Training in Bethesda, MD.
JETT Training custom tailors workouts for individuals based on their specific needs and goals. Jett provides the most comprehensive and intense training available to all populations, ranging from pre-teens to the geriatric, in a fun and professional manner. JETT Training specializes in athletes, rehabilitation, martial arts, sprint work, and cycling.
Author’s Note: This article has been updated to correspond with the new Facebook design layout and setup steps of business profile pages. [1/17/2014]
Changing a Facebook web address to a short memorable name that matches your business is an important step for professionalizing your social media presence. Having a custom URL such as www.facebook.com/ForCPR will allow you to easily direct visitors to your Facebook page. A custom Facebook URL will also increase your businesses visibility in search engines adding to your SEO efforts.
I recently had the opportunity to create a custom URL for a new CPR instructor website directory that provides free listings for CPR instructors and training organizations, ForCPR.com, and used the opportunity to create these step by step visual instructions.
In order for the vanity URL option to be activated in Facebook a page will first need to have 25 fans/friends who like the page.
Step 1: As a Facebook Page Admin, visit the home page of the page you wish to customize.
Step2: At the top of the page click the “Edit Page” button and then select “Edit Settings” from the drop down menu.
Step 3: On the next page click the “Page Info” tab at the top and then find the row named “Facebook Web Address.” The ability to edit the address will only happen once 25 fans have liked the page. Click on the link that says, “Enter a Facebook web address”
and then click the link that says “Create a web address for this page?”
Step 4: On the next page the instructions mention that you will not be able to edit or transfer the username you select once you set it so choose wisely! Choose a name and thpe it in the text field and click the “Check Availability” button. If the name you select is already taken a text message below the box will indicate it is not available
Step 5: Once you find an available Facebook web page name a pop up will appear and give you several warnings about the name you are about to select:
You can only change the username once after you set it.
You can’t transfer the ownership of a username to another party.
You can’t violate anyone elses trademark rights.
If you are acquiring a username to sell it in the future (squatting), you will lose it.
Usernames may be reclaimed for other unauthorized usages.
If you are sure of the name you are selecting click “Confirm.”
Step 6: Success! A new popup will appear letting you know the custom Facebook username has been set for the site.
Angela Martinez is one of those people you run into randomly on the web searching for low cost freelancers. Our random chance meeting in the summer of 2012 has grown into a professional business partnership.
I first encountered Angela through eLance.com when I needed help with regular inspirational posts for my criminalthinking.net facebook page. Angela was highly professional and very skilled so our partnership expanded beyond the CriminalThinking.net site to small business projects for logo development and beyond. I encouraged Angela to setup shop on a professional website and begin marketing her vast collection of graphics beyond the paid lead sites and her diligence has paid off ten-fold. I am happy to present Ms. Martinez in this Entrepreneur in Action article series since I believe her growing graphic design business will continue to propel her towards the full-time entrepreneurial path!
1. Career influences
Its hard to say who my career influences have been. There has only a person or two who has influenced my career. I find it important to listen to advice and take guidance from others who are knowledgeable and willing to share their experience with me. I really like the idea of being able to support others no matter where you are in your career path.
2. Biggest career success
Gaining over fifty-five clients over the past 8 months. Determination helps drive your business!
3. Recent lessons learned
Hard lessons should not be dwellt on. Don’t get discouraged when you hit a bump in the road. Everyone has to learn from mistakes sometimes. The best thing I have found to do is think positive and try to correct the issue.
4. What inspires and motivates
Nothing motivates me more, then seeing a client get excited by their design in the final stages. Also, listening to music while designing is when I feel most in tune with the design that I am working on.
5. Share a leadership story
In 1996 Mike Hollander established Kidstown Romania. The mission of Kidstown is to help abandoned children living in indigenously-operated Christian orphanages in developing countries so that they may be alleviated of their suffering, have hope for the future, and become productive adults who love the Lord and who will contribute positively to their society. As of 2011, Kidstown is helping to care for 625 children living in 26 orphanages in Romania, India, and Nepal.
This story reminds me that it may be hard to give to others but it is worth the drive. Hard work pays off, in all aspects of life.
6. Your Top Two
Stay open and Honest to each client you work with. It builds trust and their loyalty to you.
Stay motivated..no one but you can achieve your goals.
7. About Angela Martinez
Hi there! I’m a graphic designer from the state of Washington. I’ve been doing graphic design for the past 4 years. My goal is to meet the needs of every client I work with. Designing is a passion for me. I specialize in logos, banners, Facebook ads, brochures and much more.
Having worked on several full scale, business social media marketing projects, I often face the unhappy task of helping a company regain control of an orphaned Twitter or Facebook page, or two or three! Well meaning or unknowing staff persons often set up social media pages for a company not really understanding or appreciating exactly what they are doing.
Many orphaned pages were set up during the early days of Facebook and Twitter when people were experimenting with personal and business fan pages. Sadly, the experimental business page is often forgotten and due to the rapid attrition of an average email address (18 months according to Constant Contact) the business page often lays dormant, inaccurate, incomplete and inaccessible to the company that it claims to represent. The business Facebook or Twitter page is left haunting a company like an unresponsive doppelganger daring you to try and purge him from the Internet!
One of the first steps in any social media strategy is to discover how the company is currently represented on the internet. A quick Google search will give general results and also uncover customer comments on business rating sites, but searching specific social media sites is also necessary. The exact spelling of the name and close variants will help uncover the lifeless content of orphaned pages. In the case of Mooers Volvo, the Twitter page in question was named @mooersvolvo or http://www.twitter.com/mooersvolvo. There was no mistaking that this Twitter page belonged to the company!
The following timeline is a brief case study of a successful attempt to reclaim the business Twitter account for Mooers Volvo of Richmond. Virginia’s first and Central Virginia’s largest Volvo dealership. 🙂
6/5 Discovered inactive business Twitter account that was set up in 2008. There was only one post on the page over the two year span of its existence.
6/6 Tweeted a message to the account asking for the owner to contact me so that we could gain access to it for the business. Waited for a week with no response.
6/13 Immediately received an auto response confirming submission of the form and explaining their impersonation-related policies. (screenshot2)
6/17 Received an email from Twitter explaining that they removed the ‘reported profile’ from circulation due to violation of their Terms of Service. (screenshot3)
6/17 Asked Twitter if we could gain control over the @mooersvolvo name.
6/20 Twitter responded asking us if we want to replace an existing Twitter account name with this one or if we didn’t have one, they instructed us to create an account with a placeholder name, i.e. mooersvolvo123 (screenshot4)
6/22 Created new placeholder account using mooersvolvo123 and emailed Twitter that it was created.
6/27 Twitter moved new account to mooersvolvo
In summary, compared to the duplicate Facebook page elimination process, this experience was a dream! Here are the positives:
Twitter had a policy and simple form that was able to deal with the issue
An automated response provided a link to the related policy and informed us what we could expect to happen next
Followup emails from a Twitter staff person provided clear and concise information about each step in the process
The Twitter staff responded by email to direct questions about the account
The same contact person at Twitter followed the process through to resolution
Social media icons are abundant, but every time I design a new website I wind up needing to find a new set or a different size to add to the design. Over the past few years as a web designer I have accumulated a wealth of icons and a recent blog comment on the article, “How to create a professional email signature in Gmail,” motivated me to create a new post to share the wealth!
These icons were developed in PNG format so the edges are transparent and will blend nicely into any website background color. If you need an icon that you don’t see in this list, drop me a note so I can add it to this social media icon directory!
Select the icons you need and save them to your computer or digital device!
Social Media Icons Rounded-Square Design
16×16 social media icons
24×24 social media icons
32×32 social media icons
Social Media Icons Tear Drop Design
16×16 social media icons
24×24 social media icons
32×32 social media icons
Social Media Icons Square Design
16×16 social media icons
24×24 social media icons
32×32 social media icons
Social Media Icons Flag Design
16×16 social media icons
24×24 social media icons
32×32 social media icons
Social Media Icons Circle Design
16×16 social media icons
24×24 social media icons
32×32 social media icons
Social Media Icons Flat Design
16×16 social media icons
24×24 social media icons
32×32 social media icons
Was this list of icons useful? Share it with a friend! Copy and paste this short URL and send it to your friends:
I have had the unique pleasure of getting to know Jim during our tenure at Marquette University’s inaugural Executive MBA program. Our group was the first graduating class of the new program and our small class of 30 allowed for intense business discussions and long lasting relationships to be developed. Jim was probably our most vocal classmate and provided endless opportunities for laughter and camaraderie. I have learned about what it takes to make big calculated risks by watching Jim’s passionate pursuit of his Milwaukee brewery dream. I am proud to call him a friend and former classmate and excited to finally feature him as a passionate ‘Entrepreneur in Action.’
1. Career influences
My best friend Tom Erd influenced me in my entrepreneurial pursuits by giving me a book about investing in real estate. Tom was determined to be successful, as was I. I followed him in newspaper delivery, golf caddying and working at a friend’s Dad’s box company (luckily I passed on selling encyclopedias). I bought my first piece of real estate because of Tom and then we were partners in my fourth acquisition, a bar with five apartments. This and a few other life experiences are what led to my big purchase of the Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery. Tom and I are still best friends and run successful businesses with our wives playing integral roles in our companies.
My wife Karen has influenced me with her support, “As long as we can pay the bills!” She has been my sounding board and has saved me from many a dumb idea and has been adept at seeing when one of my cockamamie ideas has a shred of possibility. She also lets me be me – which is a little different – but always trying to help others.
2. Biggest career success
After graduating Marquette’s Executive MBA Program in 1997, I was inspired to go for my Passion! Mine was historic real estate. Specifically, the Pabst Corporate Offices. The catch: Pabst people required I purchase the entire Brewery for $11 million! I risked losing $50,000 if we failed. We moved forward on 9-11-2001. With two weeks until we fail, we raised the money and received the Pabst Corporate Office Building for our $50,000 downpayment. Follow YOUR Passion!
3. Recent lessons learned
Be patient with people and they will come around or you might see the wisdom in their thoughts and ideas.
4. What inspires and motivates
Making a difference. Saving history. Helping the less fortunate in ways that give them a fish when they are hungry but also helps to teach them how to fish so they can be independent and free.
5. Share a leadership story
So many of us are brought up to excel in school and sports, fine arts and such. In school, you are generally preparing for college. In college, it is typical to prepare you for work at a job. We are taught to be good, hard-working soldiers. But those that do not fit in or see another way, often become derelicts or entrepreneurs. Good entrepreneurs can become very successful. Bad ones can become very good workers (soldiers) or derelicts. I would encourage everyone to go for their dream and be a good entrepreneur. Be a Leader, not a Follower! Be Happy!
6. Your Top Two
I told my wife Karen I wanted to do “Dick Tracy-like” telephones, that look like wristwatches. They’re coming out now.
Put your family first and encourage your managers and all employees to put their family first, too.
Examples of doing this are allowing flexible schedules so parents can take care or be present for important things that happen at unusual times-like during work. Allow telecommuting whenever and wherever possible-trust your employees to give you an honest day’s work. The good ones will work harder and peer pressure will weed out offenders. Give rewards and recognition that can be taken home, even if it is a certificate that makes it onto the fridge. Have family-centered company events like picnics. Have kids decorate pumpkins and such for prizes, where every entry wins something.
7. About Jim Haertel
My name is James C. Haertel and go by Jim Haertel, Chief Steward of BrewCity Redevelopment Group, LLC d/b/a Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery.
I am a Milwaukee born and raised guy who loves his City! I met my wife Karen in high school and we have a married daughter who blessed us with two granddaughters. Our son is engaged to be married August 23, 2014 at our Banquet Hall. I have a UW-Milwaukee BS and a Marquette Executive MBA. I was a CPA, too.
Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery (Facebook) is currently four ideas (some would call these ‘profit centers’ or something like that) with a few more forthcoming:
The Retro Pabst Gift Shop – With a treasure trove of vintage and new retro beer EVERYTHING!
The Best Beer History Tour – A one-hour and 15 minute fun and entertaining “Tour” all about Pabst.
The Best Place Tavern – selling ten, local, fresh, delicious cold beers, retros like PBR and new micros, too.
Blue Ribbon Banquet Hall – a 17th century European Beer Hall used for weddings and milestone events.
We are planning Beer, Bed & Breakfast rooms, upstairs, with beer ON TAP in every room! We also want to give home brew demonstrations, to brew beer again and again at the Pabst and sell home brew kits. We are currently renovating an 1880 and 1892 piece of our Buildings as another Banquet Hall, formerly and again to be known as “The Great Room.” The 1892 piece includes Captain Pabst’s Office, replete with his roll-top desk. The space is ornate with 1880 original woodwork, seven, original stained glass pieces, the original 12 x 23 foot skylight and more. This is where my son Joshua will be marrying Lanae.
We give back by giving out over 20 certificates a month for 6 free tours that charities use as raffle items. We have donated Banquet Hall rentals. We give non-profits 50% off of our room rental fees. We give free use at times so worthy charities can raise funds and aspiring artists can display their art or perform – especially bands and DJs.
Today, I have been married to my wife, Nicole, for 21 years. Nicole and I have actually known each other for over 28 years thanks to the place we first met; Kentucky Fried Chicken in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
www.afterthisday.com
Designing a Facebook page for a company, cause, brand or local business should involve as much attention to detail as the corresponding professional website. Too often companies create a Facebook page with little forethought or advanced planning. What’s worse is that some businesses create it and then leave it alone. Aligning the company brand and business strategy with a professional Facebook presence will leverage this important medium for maximum effectiveness.
Having worked on several full scale, business social media marketing projects, I often face the unhappy task of helping a company regain control of an orphaned Twitter or Facebook page, or two or three! Well meaning or unknowing staff persons often set up social media pages for a company not really understanding or appreciating exactly what they are doing.
The Ink Blog 