Our three part series on email marketing and creating effective newsletters for your internet marketing campaigns draws to a close today with part 3.  So far we’ve talked about creating the newsletter design, layout, and content.

To wrap things up we will now discuss actually distributing the newsletter to all of those eager subscribers and tracking the results of all your planning and execution.  First, let’s point out a few things.

3 Keys to Distributing an Email Marketing Campaign

• Email Marketing Platform
• Campaign Delivery Setup
• Reporting & Analytics

Avast!  Thar be our series on Linkshape’s website design process we call The Art of Linkshaping.  We’re returning after a brief change in the winds allowed us to explore the difference between custom website design and pre-built website design.  Understanding the difference between these two types of website design is important, because our remaining two topics really only apply to custom website design.

Today, we discuss website design wireframes, which mark a transition from the Strategy phase in the Art of Linkshaping to the Design phase.  Not all website designers or website design companies prepare wireframes before moving into the actual build of a website.  One reason for this might be what we mentioned in the first paragraph: they might be using a pre-built website design – and that’s fine, as long as you’re not under the impression you’re getting a custom website design.

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Hello again, dear Linkshape fan!  Today we (sort of) interrupt your normally scheduled series on the Art of Linkshaping to discuss a important, but related website design topic.  That’s because I began this very article with every intention of talking about our next topic, wireframing and prototyping in custom website design.

Notice that I made a point to say “custom” website designs.  Before we can effectively talk about website design wireframing, we needed to talk about two very broad design classifications.  In writing this article about that topic, I realized that I was nearing the invisible limits I consider a good article length without actually having started to write on-topic yet.  And so I have rededicated this article to our new topic:

Custom and pre-built website designs

When it comes to the planning and executing the design of a website or Online Business, there are really two ways of going about it.  On one side, you have custom website designs and on the other, you have pre-built website designs.

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Hey there, Linkshape fan.  Today, we continue our series on the Art of Linkshaping – our website design and Internet marketing service processes.  The topic of the day is the project description and although I’d say all of the topics I listed in The Art of Linkshaping intro are important for both a website design company and a client alike, if I had to nominate one for “Most Important”, this would be it.

Project description – what is it?

Let’s say you’re choosing a website design and development company to assist you in building your new online business.  It goes without saying that you’re considering getting Linkshaped .  Perhaps you have a vision of what your online business should look like, what some of the pages should be, if you plan to offer an eCommerce experience, and if you’re really on the ball, you know what sort of marketing functions the online business will attempt to perform.

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Do you remember the last time you entered your favorite clothing outlet looking for a great deal?  And on the racks there are all of those really large tags?  And these items were the highest priced items in the store?  Of course not!  This was not what you came into the store for.  Though these items are nice, you were looking for stuff on sale.  Hence the reason that stores post sale items with large red sale tags.  They want to make sure that you can find the items you are interested in.

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For a while, I sat here just staring at a blank computer screen where I planned to write my very first blog post for the Linkshape web site.  I had a plan and I even had a name in mind for my topic:  “Shaping Up.”  (I just love making a play on words.)  But I’m just sitting here and I suddently realize I’ve run into the hardest part about blogging.  I knew that I wanted this first post to explain to you, dear reader, why our little Internet marketing start-up company was doing a blog in the first place.  So, I’ll just start writing.

You see, small businesses and especially start-up companies in particular have some unique marketing challenges to face early on.  We Linkshapers are no different.  Within our company’s S.W.O.T. analysis is the following weakness in big, bold type:

“Poor brand awareness”

This is both expected and understandable.  After all, we’re a small Internet marketing and web site design company entering into a highly competitive industry; one in which there’s already some big names who have spent years building their brands.  To overcome this weakness, we know we’ll need to play up our strengths, differentiate ourselves, and quickly build credibility with potential clients (like you).

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