What is Tell-a-Friend?

Tell-a-Friend is a Social Twist Service that is considered the #1 word of mouth marketing widget that you can use on your websites and/or blogs. It is a single, customizable button that provides all the channels to connect your web pages to your visitors through email, IM (instant messenger), blogs and social networks such as Facebook.

What would be the benefit of using the Tell-a-Friend service? It lets your visitors add your web pages to social networking sites and blogs. Think of it as a way to allow your website visitors to bookmark your website while providing you with an inbound link. And inbound links improve search engine optimization for your website so it benefits you and your visitors.

Other added benefits of the Tell-a-Friend widget is that it is the only free button that has multiple sharing channels in addition to its multilingual support, anti-spam features, built-in privacy measures and it's small footprint so it won't slow down your websites page load times. You can also keep track of 'shares' - how many people have actually used the widget on your website - through the Tell-A-Friend website.

Contact Red Lace Design today for implementation of the Tell-a-Friend widget on your website.

Snap Assistant Website Launch

Red Lace Design has launched a new website and blog for Snap Assistant, a Portland based business providing Virtual Assistance, in a snap. Snap Assistant provides its clients with Virtual Assistants that assist clients from their own office on a contractual basis providing administrative, human resources, communication, creative and technical services. You can visit their website at http://www.snapassistant.com/ and you can become a follower of their blog by visiting http://snapassistant.blogspot.com/ and selecting 'Join This Site' using Google Friend Connect.

Client: Snap Assistant, Portland Oregon USA
Project: Website Design, Blog Design, Logo Design

Put your business on Facebook

Facebook is a social networking site that allows users to stay in touch with their friends, family, co-workers and even customers. Facebook was founded on February 4, 2004 and today millions of people use Facebook everyday and are able to upload an unlimited number of photos, share links, share videos and learn more about the people they meet through their 'wall' and it is absolutely free.

So who uses Facebook? Individuals, public figures, celebrities, musicians, bands, artists, communities, businesses, pretty much anyone you can think of. You can create a personal account and/or a business account.

Business pages are distinct presences that are seperate from user profiles and are optimized for a business organizations needs to communicate, distribute information, engage their fans and capture new customers through their fans recommendations. Business pages have the ability to give you access to free advertising to millions of people just by creating an account and if you want more visability, you can create an ad on Facebook to further showcase your business. With a Facebook business page, you are also creating an opportunity to help your business with search engine optimization by creating incoming links to your business website from your Facebook page using the 'share links' feature. A great feature that will appeal to some businesses, is the 'photo gallery' section of your Facebook page. For instance, if you have a portfolio, a photography business, a landscape or architecture business, a restaurant, perhaps you want to share a series of images to your potential customers. You can upload an entire photo gallery (up to 200 images per gallery) to display your work and/or business, plus you can include captions and links to each image.

Pros of Facebook:

• It's free...
• Free advertising to millions
• Unlimited photo uploads, great for portfolios
• Helps with SEO (search engine optimization)
• You can join 'networks' to connect with your community
• Capture new customers

Cons of Facebook:

• No easy web address to verbally tell someone about
• No ability to customize your Facebook page (colors, background, etc.).
• Searching for someone by their business name can be a challenge

Overall, the pros of Facebook outweigh the cons and I would recommend it to any business as an opportunity to further advertise your products and services for free while connecting with your local community.

Red Lace Design offers Facebook set-up for businesses which includes account set-up, icon creation, Facebook badge creation (for use on your business website to link to your Facebook page), profile and privacy set-up, adding your business information, joining networks and adding links to your homepage, all for the low introductory rate of $100. We also offer photo gallery creation, discussion board creations and sending out friend requests for an additional fee. Visit us at Red Lace Design to learn more and get started on your Facebook business page today.

Red Lace Design is on Facebook and part of the Portland Oregon network.

Little Garden Grow Blog Launch

Red Lace Design has launched a new blog for Little Garden Grow, a place for home gardeners to learn how to properly grow and harvest their vegetables, flowers and herbs. Little Garden Grow's blog provides users with growing tips, harvesting information, how to grow from seed, plant placement and perennial maintenance. You can become a follower of Little Garden Grow by visiting their blog http://littlegardengrow.blogspot.com/ and selecting 'Follow' using the Google Friend Connect.

Client: Little Garden Grow, Beaverton Oregon USA
Project: Blog Design, Logo Design, Photography

When to use Twitter

Many people have chosen to use Twitter as a social networking site, to stay in touch with their friends or family and see what they are doing. Twitter is a way for friends, family and businesses to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, short statements that answer the one question, What are you doing? But are there other uses for Twitter? Perhaps.

Twitter allows users to answer the question, 'What are you doing?' at any time, all the time and can be sent via mobile texting, instant message or by the web. The one rule is, answers must be under 140 characters in length. Friends can decide how they want to receive their friends posts aka 'Tweets'. Updates can be sent directly to their mobile phone or email inbox and they can receive a lot of updates or a little. You can also set scheduling which allows you to turn off Twitter updates at any point that you don't want to be interrupted such as dinnertime, work hours or school hours.

Twitter can be a great tool for businesses and co-workers to stay connected, especially if you have employees that travel frequently. For instance, if you have a Twitter account that the entire office can use and access, your receptionist could remind employees of upcoming appointments or meetings. An employee that is running late could let everyone know what time they are expecting to arrive. Looking for that sales report? Ask for a project status update. However, if you use Twitter for business, it is imporant to inform employees it is not for personal use, keep it strictly business to reduce unnecessary, interruptive updates.

Twitter can also be a fun way to keep in touch with friends and family. The best way for me to describe the personal uses of Twitter is an online diary that you actually want others to read and even reply to. You can give your friends an easy way to stay in touch with you and know what you are up to. Perhaps you are on your way to a party, let friends know where you are going. Maybe you are on the mountain and you just ran into a Pro snowboarder. Stuck on a math problem, ask for help.

You can learn more about Twitter and sign up for an account here. Red Lace Design can customize your Twitter page to match your website for instant brand recognition, email us for more information and to get started. Twitter customization only costs $50.