by Tina Walker | Aug 15, 2014 | Blog, Blogging, Wordpress Maintenance
It seems like a day does not go by where I have not read a headline that involves a website being hacked. The ones that make the headlines are big hacking situations. I had to change my own debit cards after shopping at Target not too long ago. Some other memorable hacks include Citibank, NASA, and Sony, which included the PlayStation3.
However, often hackers simply hack for the fun of it, and they hack anything and everything, including small to medium websites. In my 17 years as a web developer, I have had five clients report damage to their websites from hackers, and I want to provide you the same tips I have provided them to keep their sites safe.
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by Amber Miller | Jul 31, 2014 | Infusionsoft, Infusionsoft training
Did you know that when setting up a campaign, the icons under the “Goals” section all do the EXACT same goals. It is simply a visual preference to match your particular sequence.
So if you are creating an optin form, visually you may want to choose the icon for “sign up for newsletter” or “request information” but all of the icons (yes, even “download a file”) will offer you the same goal actions.
Cool huh?
by Amber Miller | Jul 26, 2014 | Entrepreneur, Featured, Marketing
“Amber is a rockstar. Not only does she have years of experience as a VA and knows more than many others in our industry, she also has something that can’t be taught – dedication. Once Amber commits to something she is in 100% and will do whatever it takes to deliver. I highly recommend Amber and her team for the brilliance and knowledge.”
– Tina Forsyth
www.onlinebusinessmanager.com
by Amber Miller | Jun 30, 2014 | Marketing
10 years ago today, I decided to stop being afraid and take a leap of faith…
Afraid of what others thought of my business ideas.
Afraid of what others might say if I “quit my cushy corporate job”.
Afraid of could I really be my own boss?
Afraid of – well, being afraid of my dreams.
For years, I wanted to start my own business where I could take my passion for technology and love for systems and bring them to those who also shared my dream to be their own boss.
I quit my corporate job 4 times in 2 years. Yes, 4 times! Each time I was asked to stay, for more pay, for more time off, for more, well whatever. And each time my head said yes, but heart said no. I tried working part-time the first year of my business, until I realized yet again, I was being “afraid” to completely step into it and I was NEVER going to find my purpose if I didn’t “go for it”. (more…)
by Tina Walker | Jun 19, 2014 | Featured, Training, Wordpress Maintenance
I’m not going to pretend like maintaining your WordPress website is fun, it’s just like any other chore, it’s work and can often be the last thing you want to do. But, it really is extremely important because if you don’t ; it’s possible you will come up with something like the image in this article.
The potential that your website could be hacked is only one of the potential risks of not maintaining your WordPress site. Here is a small list of items that maintenance assists with:
- Slow Website: WordPress websites run off a platform called PHP. In order for WordPress to run, the server that it is hosted on also must run PHP. As new versions of PHP come out, eventually older versions are phased out.Server’s upgrade to the newest version and remove older versions. If you don’t keep up on your maintenance – your PHP version may not run on your server anymore. This could cause considerable down time while updates are performed and in some cases I have found that the clients theme no longer is maintained and it takes considerable time to get the site back up and looking great again.
- Hijacked Website: It is sad, but there are people, even companies out there that search for sites that they can find a security breach in, through a plug-in not updated or through a theme that someone found an open door in. They hide scripts within the file structure that they have made access into. You don’t see the script by looking at the website, but behind the scenes they are sending emails out using your IP address. Eventually you’re hosting company or google see’s massive traffic. Your email addresses can be blacklisted, your site can be marked as a warning by google not to visit the site, and you can lose a lot of visitors while the issue is worked out and the scripts are found. Typically this is at minimal at 72 hour downtime, sometimes more.
- Broken Website Functionality: Your host makes a server upgrade, you notice that your contact form has been a little slow, or actually maybe more than a little slow. You go review your contact form only to see an error after submitting! You go back to your host or your web developer and find out that because of the server upgrade, your contact form hasn’t worked for two weeks. How many clients could you potentially lose in two weeks?
- Data Loss: WordPress websites run off of a database. I have reviewed many hosting plans, many offer backups, but in the small print, it tells you that you are the responsible party for your data. They cannot and will not guarantee that a backup is in existence and sometimes that back-up might be weeks or months old. Think about the work that has been done on your website in the last 30 days. How many man hours would it take to reproduce the work if the only backup available was 30 days old? Even worse, what if the backup didn’t exist?
These are just a few of the items that website maintained can prevent! Your maintenance list can be divided out into Daily, Weekly and Monthly Checklists to make it easier. Smart to Finish also offers maintenance programs for you, just let us know if you would like to be added to our maintenance calendar.
In my next article we will discuss the daily, weekly, and monthly checklist along with important preparation steps. If your site has not had maintenance performed, please consider it now. The benefits could save you hours of headaches and once your site is updated to the latest versions, maintenance could take as little as 10 minutes per week.
by Amber Miller | May 21, 2014 | Blog, Featured, Infusionsoft training
It is time again for…
Infusionsoft 101 and 201! Each year, Amber teams up with Definitive Automation and Tina Forsyth to bring to you the best, most comprehensive Infusionsoft Training!
This training covers everything from setup, using the campaign builder and sending broadcasts. Register Now!
by Amber Miller | Feb 18, 2013 | Blog, Infusionsoft, Marketing
Today I am happy to share with you a guest post from someone you definitely need to know…and WATCH! She knows her stuff (plus we share a love for automation and Infusionsoft!) Take it away Michelle…
We know that Infusionsoft makes marketing easy. From segmenting your list to automating nurture sequences, you have a streamlined way to interact with your market and build relationships with prospects.
But the success of every marketing campaign begins with its content. In order to convert, your campaigns must strike a chord within your target market and invoke a desire to act—and quickly.
Develop a marketing campaign that pays off—these campaign tips hit the mark every time:
Research Your Target Audience
The target market for your products or services is the target audience for your marketing campaign. To sell to this group of people, you need to know them inside and out by understanding their hopes, desires, fears, and needs. Audience research should include…
- Surveys, which you can give through emails, on social media, or as part of your sales process. Be sure to up the odds that clients will complete your surveys!
- Direct questions, which you can ask in person (at events or places your audience frequents), on social media, on blogs, or through email. Spend time making sure your questions are clear and will elicit useful answers.
- Conversations. In person, through social media, or otherwise, take time to interact with your audience. Listen what they have to say. Get off topic. You’ll discover valuable information you may never have thought to look for.
Develop Your Message
Once you understand the very soul of your target audience, you need to develop a marketing message that speaks to its hopes, desires, fears, and needs—or some combination of these. This process may take a little time, but nailing your message is worth the effort—your audience will respond when you hit the right nerves.
Once you decide what you want to say about your products or services and how you want to say it, it’s time to get the message out there. Depending on how you can best reach your target audience, you may want to consider…
- Pitching story ideas (related to your offerings) to various publications that your target audience reads.
- Buying ad space (online, on the radio, in the newspaper—wherever your research points you).
- Designing emails and newsletters that get the word out.
- Setting up a booth at an event where members of your target audience will be present.
- Spreading the word through affiliate marketing.
The right message in the right place will connect with members of your target audience—getting to this point, though, will take some time!
Master the Art of Timing
You don’t want to launch your perfect wrapping paper campaign the day after Christmas. Timing, of course, plays a major role in whether or not your message and location are appropriate.
The good news is that if you’ve done your target audience research well, you should be in touch with seasonal fluctuations on your target audience’s wants and needs. And in the 24-hour marketing world of the Internet, you can even tap into the subtle ways time of day might impacts them!
Put It All Together
Hitting these three notes just right takes more time and energy than substituting some guesswork. But if your goal is a bigger return on your marketing dollars, precision is the way to go.
For more valuable marketing advice, check out Michelle Salater’s no-cost content marketing training series.
About Michelle: Michelle Salater is the CEO of Sūmèr, a full-service copywriting firm and an award-winning writer and content expert featured in Entrepreneur Magazine, MyBusiness Magazine, M.O. Online, and Entreprenista, among others. She also connects with a worldwide audience and shares her expert advice via her radio show, Business Confessional Talk Radio.
by Amber Miller | May 19, 2012 | Blog, Infusionsoft, Infusionsoft training
It’s that time of year again! I have partnered again with Tina Forsyth as we introduce 2 Newly Updated Infusionsoft Trainings for 2012 starting Monday May 21st! Are you joining us?
You see, here’s the deal… It’s no longer just about “shopping carts and sending ezines”… it’s about having an automated system that will build your business with minimal effort. The thing is – you need to know how to use it!
Infusionsoft is an amazing “all in one” tool that has more features than any other system that I have worked with or supported – making it a powerful business building system BUT also making it harder to learn.
I truly love this program and have seen what it can do for my clients. This training is setup to guide you and give you the confidence to get going and either using your Infusionsoft account or giving you the training you need to support clients who are using Infusionsoft.
Topics covered include:
- What Infusionsoft settings are necessary when starting out with Infusinosoft or transitioning someone over to Infusionsoft.
- Learn the difference between email templates and follow up sequences, and when to use each one.
- When to use infusionsoft order forms and when to use Infusionsoft shopping cart
- How to setup your Infusionsoft system to automatically allow affiliates to register for your program.
- How to use the new Social Media features in Infusionsoft (very cool!)
- and much more!
Will I see you in class?
Learn more and register here:
http://www.automateyourgrowth.com/infusionsoft/
I hope to be able to save you some time in this learning curve that comes from using Infusionsoft!
by Amber Miller | Nov 19, 2011 | Blog, Infusionsoft
I LOVE infusionsofts automation links. I love what they can do for the client – the prospect – and the webmanager! Many don’t know the power these links have and think that these links are only good for tracking clicks. Here is an example of how I like to use the links. There are several reasons – but here is just one of my favs…
So you send an email to your list about an upcoming teleclass or webinar or even a livestream broadcast you are leading. This is free to your community of subscribers. Typically, users would send an email to their list with a link to a registration page. This sometimes is needed – as this page can provide more details, etc (and if you are also promoting outside your list to affiliates, facebook, etc, you would need this page still.)
But – why not take another approach to this. Put these details in your email – and then use the automation link to “automatically register” them. Why make your subscriber who has already signed up to be in your community – sign up for something again? With the automation links in infusionsoft, you can simply instruct them to “click here to automatically register”. The actions behind this link is to then tag them and add them to the follow up sequence for this particular event.
One less action step needed for the prospect 🙂
by Amber Miller | Jul 8, 2011 | Blog, Infusionsoft, Training
I get asked this question a lot! What is the difference and when do I use each one. Here is my SHORT answer from a lesson in the April Infusionsoft training class I taught with Tina Forsyth:
There are actually several differences between order forms and using the shopping cart links in Infusionsoft. I mostly prefer to use the order form. Mostly because I like how I can connect a thank you page to my order form without any additional steps. If you want to have a unique thank you page using shopping cart links, you have to first create a customized “theme” that redirects to that particular thank you page which in my opinion can take more time.
As an Infusionsoft VA, my first step in deciding which way to go is actually deciding a few things up front as order forms are limited in a few ways:
1. Will we want to offer paypal as a checkout option?
Yes? Then use the shopping cart. You cannot use paypal as a checkout option using an order form.
2. Will we want to offer any coupon codes or discount codes?
Yes? Then use the shopping cart. You cannot use coupon codes using an order form.
3. Are we wanting to offer more than 2 pay plan options (full pay, 2 payments, 5 payments?)
Yes? Then use the shopping cart. You can only provide two payment plan options using an order form. This might be a pay in full or 2 payments. If you wanted to offer more than that, use the cart.
4. Do we want to give customers the option to continue shopping?
Yes? Then use the shopping cart. The order form is that…an order form to checkout and purchase.
And there you have it – my short answer of the main differences 🙂 Hope this helps!
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