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Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Creating Branded HTML Emails in Outlook

Hello.

We’ve been creating many HTML email newsletters recently, but today we received a question about just sending out branded emails. You know, emails with your logo and stuff.

In Microsoft Outlook, it’s easy.

Outlook Stationary

To brand your own email though will require you to create a HTML file. You can do this in any HTML editor like Dreamweaver. Then import it into Outlook.

Don’t forget to test your email, making sure it looks good in all the popular email programs like Gmail, Yahoo, etc.

Mike Swartz says, “Check it out”.

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 9:28 am

Comments: 2 Comments | Filed under: Computer, HTML


Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Remember What The Internet Was Like?

I saw this video on TechCrunch and had to post it here. It was too good to pass up.

24: The Unaired 1994 Pilot
Jack Bauer saves the world with AOL 3.0.


Source: Collegehumor.com

I hope everyone has a great turkey day. Gobble, gobble.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 11:36 am

Comments: 1 Comment | Filed under: Web General


Monday, November 19, 2007
How NOT to Title Your Email Newsletter Subject Line

They tricked me. I don’t want to be treated this way from my email newsletters.

I just received an email from Vertical Response with the Subject: Is there such a thing as too much business?

“Yes, if it’s the wrong kind of business.”

I was going to submit my comments above but no where in the email was the answer OR the question.

Vertical Response Email Newsletter: Poor subject line

At least match the Subject line to a Headline or Story or I’m not going to read the email.

I didn’t. It’s been deleted.

If you’re not going to deliver, don’t bother.

Please. When you write your Subject line deliver on your promise. Don’t trick your users or try to give them something that’s not. They won’t read it.

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 7:06 pm

Comments: 2 Comments | Filed under: Web Design, Web Marketing, Writing For The Web


Wednesday, November 14, 2007
It Happens Website Launches

It Happens LogoHello again.

As promised, we are announcing another website launch, designed and developed by MJS Web Solutions and Gunderson Design.

The Town of Danville’s Transportation department has a program called Street Smarts for educating kids on traffic safety. Gunderson Design and MJS Web Solutions were brought in to develop the It Happens website exclusively for high school students.

To get high school students to learn more about traffic safety, we partnered with Planet Jam/Stickyfish on designing a rewards program where students could watch traffic videos, submit their own stories and earn points by doing so. With these points, students can purchase prizes such as iPods, Nintendos and Playstations.

The local media has received the story too.

Mike Swartz says, “Check it out“.

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 10:36 am

Comments: None | Filed under: Web Design, News


Monday, November 12, 2007
Two New Websites Launched by MJS Web Solutions

Matsco LogoRed Condor LogoHello.

We’ve been very busy around here the last couple of weeks and that’s lead to a limited amount of postings.

What could be taking up so much of our time around here, you ask?

Well, it’s preparing and launching 3 separate websites in a week.

  1. Our most impressive work to date (I’m so modest), and just launched last week, is Matsco.com, a dental, veterinary, and optometric practice financing firm. We’ve been working on this site for quite awhile and you can see why it took the time it did.
  2. We also launched Red Condor, an email and spam filtering firm.
  3. We’ll tell you about this one tomorrow. It hasn’t officially launched.

Both sites were created exclusively using CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) and built for maximum search engine exposure.

Mike Swartz says, “Check ‘em out”.

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 2:30 pm

Comments: None | Filed under: Web Design, News


Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Setting Up An Ergonomic Office

Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard 4000I just bought the new Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. (NOTE: I purchased the MS Wireless 6000 keyboard and mouse first but returned it because the keys didn’t type when I wanted them to).

Now that my wrists are feeling better, I figured I’d begin to setup a complete ergonomic office.

I figured I’d start next with a new mouse. Check out this ergonomic mouse. It conforms to the natural angle of your arm. I’m considering making a purchase. Place your hand in the vertical position. It immediately feels better doesn’t it?

Mike Swartz says, “Check it out”.

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 9:54 pm

Comments: 1 Comment | Filed under: Computer


Monday, October 1, 2007
Introduction to Blogging Class - Thank You

Hello.

I just got back from doing a seminar on blogging and wanted to thank everyone for coming out. We learned a lot. I also wanted to thank Allison Bliss, a local marketing coach, here in Alameda. Allison invited me to speak with her on Blogging for Business this evening at our local library.

The turnout was great and I think everyone learned something. If you missed it…

  1. Get started blogging with Blogger
  2. Promote your blog with Technorati
  3. Make money blogging with Adsense and Commission Junction
  4. And learn how others are making money blogging.

Also see my other posts on blogging. And read from the man who invented the blog.

It was good to see familiar faces and meet new ones.

Mike Swartz says, “Thank you”.

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 10:09 pm

Comments: None | Filed under: Blogging


Thursday, September 27, 2007
Spammers Are Idiots (or Are We)

Would you open this email?

Spam Email Subject Message

Some may….I wouldn’t.

Why? Because it’s from PayPaI, not Paypal with an L.

It still boggles my mind that spammers try these ridiculous stunts. I guess it still works after all these years.

This email by the way never reached my Inbox because I view all my messages on the server and I do not use the Preview Pane.

Spam Prevention

Though spammers are continuing to use slightly different techniques to get their ‘messages’ through, these tips still ring true today.

Mike Swartz says, “Check it out”.

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 3:48 pm

Comments: 1 Comment | Filed under: Web General, Computer


Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Internet Yellow Page Usage Continues to Rise

Yellow Pages
Hello.

Anyone reading this blog knows that I talk a lot about optimizing your website for your local customers.

Well, another headline speaks the facts once again that more people are using the internet to find local businesses.

I quote:

“The number of searches conducted on Internet Yellow Page (IYP) sites increased by 27 percent in 2006 over the previous year.”

I am currently working with a client right now that has been having trouble getting his website listed higher in Google’s local search results. This is very important because his whole business relies on local customers. The main problem is that his website is not “showing up in Google’s Local One Box.

To solve this problem, I can’t just go to Google and tell them to place his website first. I must look into many different scenarios into why his website is not listed higher.

  1. First I need to check his listing on Google Local. Are there any errors in the listing? Is there information missing?
  2. Second, I need to study the local competition and find out why they’re getting preferential treatment?

There are a number of factors that go into how Google displays local businesses, so it’s up to us, the search engine optimizers, to try each fix individually and not expect a one fits all solution…because there isn’t one.

“They” say SEO (search engine optimization) is an art not a science and I would have to agree with “them” completely. There are a few things everyone can do, but it’s always a work in progress after that.

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 11:26 am

Comments: None | Filed under: SEO, Web Marketing


Thursday, September 6, 2007
Interspire Software Releasing StoreSuite

Interspire StoreSuiteHello. I hope you had a great Labor Day holiday.

I work with a lot of web application companies and I wanted to say there is one company in particular that I am proud to work with: Interspire. Have you heard of them? They’re a web application firm that specializes in creating web software in PHP.

I recently purchased two products by them and am very satisfied with the results.

  1. Fastfind: Is a simple to setup search engine program for any website. It indexes everything, even dynamic related content. The most impressive piece is that the program crawls your site like Google - indexing one page to the next.
  2. ArticleLive: Is a website out of the box. But not just any website. A website that is dynamic that includes articles, blogs and news items. I integrated the article feature on a client’s website. The most impressive piece is the customization. I was able to integrate it seamlessly into my client’s current look & feel.

Not only do they provide great web software solutions, but their technical support is by far the best I’ve experienced. Every question I have raised (and they’re has been plenty of them) they were able to answer and assist with the coding.

Interspire StoreSuite

Well, if that’s not enough, Interspire is set to release - later this year - a shopping cart software program called StoreSuite. I have no doubt that StoreSuite will be a well designed and fully customizable program for any business that wants to setup an eCommerce solution.

I’m sure to purchase a copy.

Mike Swartz says, “Check it out”.

Posted by: Michael Swartz at 4:10 pm

Comments: None | Filed under: Web Design


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