[Photo credit: Happy Birthday Candles on Angel Foods Cake by Rob J Brooks, on Flickr]

Do enough people know about your website? It can and should be your most powerful marketing tool, delivering a steady stream of new visitors and pushing your message to a wider audience.

Increase your cyber-reach without over-burdening yourself by performing one small task a day throughout March with our Task-a-Day Website Promotion Checklist.

This freebie is part of our year-long birthday celebration. We’re celebrating our 10th year by giving out presents to YOU. This one is coming at you from now until March 31. Hurry, though, because after the 31st, it will be gone. Make sure to check in for our April birthday surprise.

[This little gem is the e-mail newsletter our subscribers just received. Want a slice of this for yourself? Sign up now.]

Things Just Got Cheaper

We really don’t have to make our Websites 1-2-3 any cheaper, but we are anyway! Now you can have a fully functional, super-powered website with your colors and pictures for just $1599. Check it out.

Need more? Supersize it for $1999 and get sign-up forms and e-newsletters.

Want to go all out? Pick from our library of add-ons, including calendars, blogs – the sky’s the limit.

Of course, we do fully custom websites, too – just let us know if you have something specific in mind and we’ll bring it to life.

Signed,
Your Internet Pals at Talance

This is a guest post from one of our favorite clients: Jenny Aisenberg, Knowledge Development Manager at JESNA and JESNA PDC, an organization that provides Jewish educational coordinating, planning and development. We asked Jenny what blogs she turns to regularly for help running her job at a Jewish education non-profit.

In my role as Knowledge Development Manager at JESNA, one of my key responsibilities is to keep my finger on the pulse of the Jewish world in social media. If there’s a resource on the web for Jewish educational and lay leaders, I wanna know about it—and share it with you! Every week, I update our Sosland Online Resource Center with the newest in blogs, tools, websites and more for the benefit of Jewish communities near and far. These top five picks are just the tip of the iceberg! I hope you’ll enjoy exploring them, and email me your ideas for other resources we should know about at jaisenberg@jesna.org.

1. Innovation in Jewish Education Blog

This is the blog of the Office of High School Programs at Brandeis University, drawing on BIMA and Genesis, their two summer programs for high school students, as living laboratories. I love seeing the thoughts and reflections of a whole panoply of educators who work with teens here, on topics ranging from “Self-perception and Participant Investment in the Intentional Community” to “Jewish Education and Family Priorities.” Plus, who wouldn’t love these tags?

2. The Alban Roundtable

A self-proclaimed “virtual meeting place for congregational leaders,” the Alban Roundtable blog is the social media hub of The Alban Institute, founded in 1974 as a major resource for American congregations facing the challenges of a changing society. As a leader in my own congregation in Park Slope, Brooklyn (I’m the chair of the 20’s/30’s social group and a former Hebrew School teacher) I have a deep appreciation for this kind of resource, where I can learn from others who face similar challenges, yet aren’t part of my daily grind.

3. Jew Point 0: The Darim Online Blog

Darim Online is the home of “Internet Strategies for Jewish Organizations and their Communities,” and their blog, run by our good friend Caren Levine, first launched in August 2008 as a place for Darim staff to share useful nuggets that arise from both their work and personal lives. This is a particularly succulent knowledge-sharing resource for anyone looking for guidance in the use of technology and social media in Jewish settings.

4. Jewcy

Most progressive young Jews under 30 know about this emergent online media outlet/blog/social network/brand by now, but it’s too, well, juicy to leave off my list! First launched in 2006, Jewcy is a forum for discussion of politics, culture, sex, religion and lifestyle in the Jewish world today. It has been called “the social media hub of the Jewish hipster movement” by The New York Times. Gee, and I thought I had a lock on that title…

5. Storahtelling Blog

This one is near and dear to my heart, and a wonderful resource for Jewish educators and community leaders interested in bringing new vibrancy to Jewish ritual and synagogue life. Storahtelling fuses storytelling, Torah, contemporary performance art and traditional ritual, both here in Manhattan and at synagogues around the globe. On their blog, you’ll find everything from the weekly drash, Storah-style, to tales from the road as they visit and perform at synagogues near and far. If you’re up for a trip to Boston, check out their summer educators’ training, StorahLAB.

Organizations are so passive when it comes to their websites, but you want to be just the opposite. When you want something, ask for it. Otherwise you’ll never get it. Opt for active urgent language. Rather than, “Our Newsletter,” change your text to “Get our newsletter now.”

Minor change, major results.

Here are some sample calls to action you can put on your website now. Each should be a link or a button – something that will let your visitors complete the action.

1. Donate now!
2. Sign up for our newsletter
3. Take a tour
4. Sign up for free
5. Be a volunteer
6. Read the buzz
7. Register immediately
8. Try it
9. Give us feedback
10. Support us
11. Help us today

Everybody’s strapped for cash these days, but budgets vary widely. Some non-profits are run out of a basement and have a budget of exactly zero, and others are housed in city high-rises and have budgets in the millions. They all need websites.

Any given day at Talance, someone from either camp may call with a new web communications project. Before we know how we can best help whoever is on the other end of the phone, we need to know how much money they have to put into the project. Some people simply can’t afford the kind of work they want done.

Many people are hesitant to reveal how much they can pay for a project, but be prepared to at least have a ballpark prepared during the first phone call. Buying a website isn’t like buying a car – hiding the amount you have doesn’t help with negotiation. Web developers need to know if your budget matches the work you want done. We tell our potential clients what they can or can’t expect – even when that means the work you need does is less than you expected.

We’re really there to help you figure out what you need, and if we don’t know how much you can afford, we don’t know how to start helping you.

What we’re reading this week:

10 Examples of E-newsletter Footers and Headers with Social Links
While working on a redesign of his newsletter, Ben, a blogger for e-newsletter service MailChimp, collected standards and best practices. Here’s what he found.

How To Split Up the US
A very cool visualization that represents how relationships develop across geographical boundaries in 210 million public Facebook profiles. It helps understand how your social network forms and travels.

Measuring Type
“A selection of the most commonly used typefaces were compared for how economical they are with the amount of ink which they use at the same point size. Large scale renditions of the typefaces were drawn out with ballpoint pens, allowing the remaining ink levels to display the ink efficiency of each typeface.”

Articles on Nonprofit Marketing and Communications
Long list of helpful articles on how non-profiters can market. Via kylacromer on Twitter.

[Photo credit: unicorn by Totally Severe, on Flickr]

Conventional wisdom counts with building websites. Some techniques are proven and really will make your life easier and bring more traffic to your site. But there’s plenty of misinformation out there too. Watch out for these easy-to-fall-for myths.

1. Building a website is easy.

There’s “easy,” and then there’s “easy.” True, there are tools that can make managing a website easier, but that doesn’t mean going through the process of creating a site is a walk in the park. Successful sites contain heavy forethought and attention to detail, which never comes without hard work. Technical prowess aside, be prepared to sweat a little when it comes to planning and maintenance.

2. Fancier websites are better.

Everybody likes glitz, but it’s not always better. A four-page brochure can be infinitely better than a wham-bam Flash affair with movies and sophisticated animations. Before you put a bell or whistle on your site, make sure it has a good reason to be there.

3. Accessibility doesn’t matter.

It matters if you’re a potential member, volunteer or donor and can’t see the website. It matters if you’re looking at a website on your cell phone. It matters if you’re a web crawler from a search engine looking to catalog the site.

4. You can cut corners by copying the text and format of successful websites.

Plagiarism aside, you won’t gain anything by creating a copy of someone else’s site. You might find inspiration from some of their features, but successful sites should be built from the ground up. Otherwise, they won’t be unique enough to meet your goals.

5. Mission statements should be front and center.

I get the idea behind mission statements, but most of them are loaded with double-talk and jargon that mean nothing to the average website visitor. Include a link to your mission statement, if you must, but devote your website to the most important thing your visitors should be seeing.

6. The key to SEO is submitting to search engines.

You won’t see much of a bump in search engine rankings if you limit your SEO (search engine optimization) to this single move. SEO is a multi-step process that never really ends.

7. You never need to check your website in different browsers.

It’s easy to get stuck in a rut when it comes to web browsing, but IE, Firefox, Chrome and Safari (and the other guys too) go through changes over time, and so does your website. It’s a good idea to periodically see how your site works (or doesn’t work) in browsers besides the one you’re used to.

8. Design is design.

The person who designed your business cards might be a web designer too, but probably not. Designers specialize in print or web, because each craft applies different principles. Designers want work, though, so some over-promise and deliver websites that don’t make sense.

9. Usability isn’t necessary.

If no one knows how to use your website, they won’t use it. ‘Nuff said.

10. I need a webmaster to update the site.

Webmasters are nice to have, because they can handle updates and field questions. But if you assign responsibility wisely and have a website that’s easy to update, a webmaster isn’t necessary.

[This little gem is the e-mail newsletter our subscribers just received. Want a slice of this for yourself? Sign up now.]

Digging for Website Gold

Too many people think the best content they have to offer on their websites are event listings. Sure, those are helpful, but you almost certainly have something better you’re already producing that you can use to make your website a better resource. Here are some ideas to help you dig up hidden content:

Newsletter. It may be printed, or an e-newsletter you’re sending out via a third-party service, but chances are someone has written articles that can be used somewhere on your website.

Sermons. Congregations we work with are always producing some kind of spiritual thoughts worth sharing, including sermons and prayers.

Employee reports. Most companies have regular staff meetings where employees give status reports, and many of these reports center around special events and campaigns.

E-mail. Everybody writes e-mails, and some of the stuff you send out must be applicable to the people who visit your website. Look through your sent messages for treasures.

Training. Many organizations have manuals stacked on office bookshelves that contain useful information. Translate that online, and it can be more accessible to the people who need to see it.

Think creatively about where you look for content, and your website will be a richer place.

This is a guest post from some of our favorite clients: Lauren Dean, Manager of Communications & Public Awareness, and Allison Smith, Highland Street Ambassador of Mentoring, at Mass Mentoring Partnership. We asked Lauren what blogs she turns to regularly for help running her job at a major non-profit.

Top 5 Blogs

1. Nonprofit Tech 2.0
Bookmark this on your favorites right now. Every non-profit interested in using social media or actively using it should be reading this blog that is dedicated to “helping nonprofit organizations utilize the Internet as a tool for social change.” Its creator, Heather Mansfield, is the owner of DIOSNA|Communications and has over 15 years of non-profit fundraising and online community organizing experience. She brings it all to her blog, introducing new social media tools beyond the normal Facebook and Twitter, and thinks outside the box with fresh ideas to spice up your non-profit’s Web presence.

2. Beth’s Blog
I really enjoy good and informative graphs, therefore I read Beth’s Blog: How Nonprofits Can Use Social Media. Beth Kanter is a tour de force when it comes to social media, having written on the subject extensively, and it is no wonder why she was named one of Business Week’s “Voices of Innovation for Social Media.” After being introduced to her blog early on last year, it has been a mainstay on my top visited Web sites.

3. Something for the Ladies
Every day needs to have a good soundtrack. On the days when I am bored with my Ipod I turn to “Something For the Ladies” for music. It is a great showcase of music that I wouldn’t necessarily hear if not for this blog. And since I am a lady, it is seemingly appropriate.

4. Mashable
These people are Web gurus! Really. The site neatly packages Web 2.0 and social media news for your consumption – a quick rundown of today’s posts on the home page include business deals, free offers, job postings, trends, and commentary. Whew! Best of all, this well-rounded collection of posts is aimed at every social media audience imaginable, whether you’re an early adopter or enthusiast; business person or non-profit worker; marketer or engineer.

5. Kath Eats Real Food
OK, so this is not work-related. But this food blog mesmerizes me! Kath lost 31 pounds through transforming her eating habits and adapting more exercise, and her blog is dedicated to her daily consumption and activities…and she takes some pretty good pictures of her food. I like it because she is such a varied, healthy eater and the blog gives me new ideas of foods I should try. While she might eat healthier than most people, she also eats rather normally – the girl likes her snacks! She’s on her way to becoming a registered dietitian because of her new-found appreciation for healthfulness, as well as a desire to help others.

Based in Boston, Mass Mentoring Partnership is the only statewide organization solely dedicated to strategically expanding quality youth mentoring in Massachusetts. As the umbrella organization for more than 165 mentoring programs across the state, we provide them with training, technical assistance, networking, advocacy, recruitment support and resources. Read more on the Mass Mentoring blog.

[Photo credit: 10 by Phae, on Flickr]

It’s the second month of our 10th year anniversary bash, and we’ve just kicked off a new deal. From now until February 28, get 10% off anything.

Yup, anything.

This one only lasts for a month. Click here and start saving. Hurry!