As a consultant, it is very rewarding to provide websites for other consultants. We are all in the business of finding out needs from our clients, empowering them, and becoming a “part of their team” for a project or long-term relationship. Additionally, many consultants wear multiple hats in their business from accounting to marketing and sales. This can be a bit overwhelming when you are trying to also stay up to speed on your industry.

One of the biggest issues with consultants is balancing out the time and money to market themselves. Word of mouth will always be the most effective, but today’s world of social media and Internet also demand that consultants market, even casually, and spend additional time updating their messages and brand online.

People today research you through search engines, connect with you on Linked-In and Facebook, tweet about your company on Twitter, and visit your website to get a sense of who you are and what you can offer…many times before picking up the phone or sending an Email. If your website, blog, and social media profiles are not being updated, then you don’t look current or as professional as you could be. You could potentially lose a sale.

It is not that uncommon anymore than a potential client has “liked my Facebook page” and connected with me on Linked-In before I even meet them. What if I was not online at all? How many meetings would I have lost?

MTECH recently created websites and blogs for a few business consultants. Please click on the images to see the live website:

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Here is the Powerpoint presentation:

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First, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Would I like to maintain it instead of having to pay for a webmaster to do it?

2. Am I getting enough leads from my site or is it just an online brochure?

3. What is my budget?

4. Do I have good search engine ranking? Could it improve?

5. How are most people finding my site now?

6. Am I doing (or planning on doing) social media? Is the site integrated with Social Media?

7. Is my site integrated with my Email marketing efforts?

8. Does my site visually and verbally match my unique value proposition (UVP)? Do I even know what my UVP is?

Here is another resource from Hubspot that can help explain even more:

10-step-checklist-website-redesign

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Schiavone site uses Flash for unique branding

So, for the past year, I have been designing new slideshows in WordPress. Thanks to the open source platform and millions of programmers around the world, there are quite a few slideshow plugins to select from. Here is an example of a mobile-friendly slideshow:

Mobile-friendly slideshow in WordPress

If you currently have Flash on your site and want it mobile friendly for iPads and iPhones here are a couple of suggestions:

1. Convert the site over to WordPress and install mobile-friendly slideshow plugins. This may cost you a bit since the site has to be redone, but it also will allow you to add photos and make changes yourself. Previously, you had to have Flash and therefore go back to your web developer to change your slideshow. Now, if you can crop photos to a specific size, you can change out the photos yourself. Pro: You will have the ability to not only change your slideshow photos at will, but also add pages and edit your content. Con: Upfront cost of conversion and learning curve.

2. Create a mobile version of your site – Mobile sites are not only formatted to fit the mobile screen, but they load faster and make it easier for mobile users to view your site. By directing iPad and iPhone users to your mobile site automatically, they don’t have an issue with Flash. Pro – not only do you solve the Flash issue, but you also have an easier way for mobile users to view your site, find directions, produce QR codes, and call you easily. Con – set up fees and monthly hosting fees apply.

MTECH Internet Marketing has been helping existing clients do one of the above suggestions. If you would like an estimate, please contact us at info@mtechbd.com or call us at 970-731-6325.

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To see how it works, just click on the following button for MTECH Internet Marketing:

How does the Follow Company button work?
Click on the Follow Company button and, as long as you are logged onto LinkedIn, you will automatically “follow” the company. If you are not logged on, a box will appear asking for your LinkedIn credentials. Just type those in and you will automatically begin to follow the company. Companies will engage with you from their Company Page on LinkedIn and through status updates. Status updates will appear on your LinkedIn homepage – so check back frequently to see what’s going on.

LinkedIn has over 2 million companies in its network – representing all industries, company sizes, and geographies. It is especially important for B-to-B companies in terms of networking and making professional contacts.

To put a follow button on your own company website, just CLICK HERE!

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One of MTECH clients, Rainbow Trout Ranch near Antonito Colorado, is always staying ahead of the curve and evaluating new marketing tools. They contacted MTECH in late 2011 to revamp their current website to integrate their blog into their website, take out Java slideshows and substitute them with iphone/ipad compatible slideshows, simplify the navigation, and also give them ability to make changes themselves to their various pages. We worked together and created their new site in WordPress:

In addition, they also wanted a mobile version of their website for quick and easy contact information, directions and the ability for visitors to book their vacation easily via their mobile phones. This mobile site also can be updated by them as well as provides text messaging and QR code capability for print advertising and flyers. MTECH also provides monthly web reports for them on their current traffic which includes ROI on their current marketing, SEO ranking, and tips for them on how to increase traffic and ultimately bookings.

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The Pagosa Springs Community Development Corporation (PSCDC) contacted MTECH Internet Marketing to help them establish a new website/ brand that focuses on promoting local business and relocation opportunities in Pagosa Springs Colorado. MTECH created a custom WordPress site that features several local business owners in slideshows.

The site is expected to expand in the future with more data and can be edited by PSCDC staff at will. Check it out at: http://pagosaspringscdc.org

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WordPress.com is a hosted solution and does not allow you to have access to the server, stylesheet, plugins or change the titles, descriptions, and page names. Without this access, you can’t do very much in terms of SEO or customization. WordPress.com is great for a small business owner who just wants a basic web presence and is just getting started. It is free hosting with WordPress.com and easy to set up.

Alternatively, WordPress.org is installed on a hosting account, so you need to purchase hosting, which averages $10/month.

On the first project, we thought we would simply export the existing WordPress information and then import it into WordPress.org.  This proved a bit more difficult than originally planned. Some of the content did not migrate nor did many of the photos. So, even though we were switching from a general WordPress theme, this proved to take hours instead of minutes.

The second project set up new hosting (through MTECH) and we started from scratch. We just needed to import a few posts, so that was fairly simple. Here is a screenshot of the original site:

Although it was a nice, clean site, the client wanted it to feel more like a website than a blog. He also wanted more control over the content and look/feel. By installing WordPress.org, we were able to access great form plugins, rotating text plugins and others to give his site more functionality.

We also were able to name pages and put in better search engine optimization with unique title, description and keywords on every page.

Here is a screenshot of the new site:

So, what should an owner do? It depends on your goals. If you want a simple blog or website and aren’t concerned with “getting found” on search engines or maintaining your brand, then start with WordPress.com. However, if you want more flexibility, search engine optimization and access to the thousands of plugins available, then you should start with WordPress.org.  For a cost of little more than $100/year (plus custom design fees if you want that feature), it is worth it.

If you need further assistance or are interested in having MTECH develop a quote for a custom WordPress CMS site, please contact us at 970-731-6325.

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Speaking at the Colorado Entrepreneurship Marketplace, MTECH Owner Marcy Mitchell helps the audience decide which type of website format to choose. In this short excerpt from her talk, she gives a few options from CMS sites, template sites, etc…

For more details on your web options, please contact Marcy Mitchell at 970-731-6325.

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Pagosa Springs preschool and child care provider, Seeds of Learning, approached MTECH to revise their existing site into an easier CMS tool. Although staff had been able to make text changes with Adobe Contribute, the software had gotten old and was limited to one computer. WordPress CMS system offered them the ability to add pages, update their menu bar, add slideshow galleries and make site-wide changes without software. Since the software lives in the “cloud”, anyone on staff can make changes on any computer that has Internet access.

In addition, the new site integrated their social media and Email marketing efforts and also added a blog. MTECH provided staff training and is now available on an “as needed” basis. Check out the new site at: http://growingseeds.org

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