Archive for: website design

January 2012 in Review

Can you believe we’re already one-twelfth of the way through 2012?

For me, the year started off quietly, then picked up very quickly about midway through the month.

As planned, I’ve been devoting more time to finding great content and sharing it on Twitter. I’ve discovered the Buffer app which allows me to spread my posts throughout the day rather than flooding my followers with a bunch of updates in a row or tweeting in scattered pockets of time. I’m also posting at least five times a week on the Organized Assistant Facebook page, with a variety of discussion questions and links (others’ as well as my own).

I took two sites I’d already created in WordPress and gave them each a polished new design – check them out!

Golden Horseshoe Virtual Assistants Group – WordPress site by Organized Assistant

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Golden Horseshoe Virtual Assistants Group – WordPress site by Organized Assistant

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Kathy Stinson – WordPress site by Organized Assistant

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Kathy Stinson – WordPress site by Organized Assistant

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And to see some of my latest website projects for professional organizers, take a look at Three Kinds of WordPress Websites.

As a guest blogger for Promotion Career Solutions, I tapped into my former roles as an employment counsellor and a professional organizer, writing about Paper-based Tools for Organizing Your Job Search. I was also quoted in Cool Gadgets Every Business Should Have, thanks to an idea I got from GHVA member Jacquie Manore last year.

How are you making out in terms of the goals or resolutions you set for yourself at the beginning of the year?

I Couldn’t Help Myself…

Ever since I realized my compulsion for free information, I’ve been pretty good about controlling myself. I’ve unsubscribed from loads of mailing lists and haven’t signed up for any more newsletters or free teleclasses. I’ve also resisted the urge to download any free stuff, with the exception of Lynette Chandler’s 12 Buzz Topics You Should Blog About Right Now.

Then VA Teresa Power Twittered that she was “Reading The Art & Science of CSS. Free from http://twitaway.aws.sitepoint.com.” I already own a great reference book, CSS: The Missing Manual, but I use CSS extensively in my websites and blogs and there’s no way I could resist a free 227 page e-book! And all I had to do was follow SitePoint(Please note that this offer ends in six days.)

I suppose that we’ll see more people distributing their free content this way as the idea catches on, so infomaniacs like me will have to be extra vigilant, or we’ll find ourselves following hundreds of people on Twitter and faced with tons of free reports and e-books to be read!

Introducing Devil Brownies

I’m very excited to announce the latest addition to my website portfolio:

Devil Brownies, LLC, was launched in 2007 by Clare and Maureen, a mother-daughter team from Toms River, NJ. It’s been hard to work on the site with my mouth watering the whole time, just reading about their “handmade brownies… filled with a deliciously evil blend of rich chocolate chips and chewy caramel and sprinkled with powdered sugar” and seeing the photos! They offer shipping across the United States and I’m hoping they’ll find a way to ship to Canada as well. Otherwise, I just may have to pay them a visit!

If you’re looking for a great gift idea for your American clients, friends or family, you must check out Devil Brownies!

Introducing Mind over Clutter

A couple of years ago, I contacted the Halton-Peel Chapter of Professional Organizers in Canada for some assistance with a large organizing project that had come my way. One of the members who stepped forward to help was Julie Stobbe, who had recently started her organizing business. I was impressed with Julie’s work and her compassion for the client, who was going through a difficult personal situation. This year, with her business well underway, Julie was ready for a website, and I was thrilled when she asked me to design it and help her develop the content. Today I am excited to share the finished product with you:

It was a real pleasure working with Julie, as well as collaborating with Elva Bill of Viridian Design Group, who created the Mind over Clutter logo.

Introducing Organized Homes

I’ve recently completed work on a new website for Professional Organizer Judi Suraci. Judi came to me for help because her original website, which was created for her by a student, wasn’t coming up on the search engines, even searching on the name of her business. I explained that because her website was designed using Flash, although it was attractive, it was not search engine friendly.

I then proceeded to redesign her site with the same basic look as her old one, but using technology that is more compatible with search engines and that will be easier to update as needed. At the same time, Judi developed some exciting new content, including a Moving Guide and Checklist, and a case study in pictures of one of her organizing projects. Here is the finished product:

Of course, when I say ”finished” I use the term loosely, because a website is nearly always a work in progress, and Judi has many plans in the works for future additions.