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Tag Archives: naomi dunford
This post had to be moved up, since the sale is ending roughly 24 hours from now — so if you’re tempted, buy before the price goes up!
You all know I’m a big fan of Naomi Dunford. Marketing School and SEO School have been game changers for me, and they come at less than the cost of a pair of jeans at the Gap. Naomi just released a series of new audio goodies, so I ponied up for How to Conquer Marketing and Make a Living With Your Art. It’s $29 for a limited time, and then the price hits $49.
Get it while it’s $29 to enjoy Naomi’s sweet nothings whispered in your ear (or laptop) a little more.
(Photos above from the ‘images you can’t pay me to take’ collection: if you’re my college roomie and I adore you, I will shoot your sister’s wedding even though it makes me break out in hives.)
Naomi will help you find more eyeballs for viewing your art, help you find the marketing techniques that suit your personality, encourage you to move beyond apologizing for taking people’s money, introduce a revolutionary donation-based concept for the brave and entertaining among you, and tell you why most artists’ marketing sucks. (And how to fix it, of course!)
If you listen to what Naomi has to say — and I mean listen-so-hard-you-take-notes listen, I bet you’ll have an a-ha moment. Yup, I’m putting that Oprah cliche right out there and saying you’ll probably have one. I did. I paused the audio halfway through to rewrite some blog copy that’s been a pain to get just right. Naomi made the lightbulb moment happen, and now it’s perfect.
How to Conquer Marketing and Make a Living With Your Art will give you a shot of confidence and marketing know-how. (It costs as much as an entree in Vegas, so even if you’ve just gotten back from WPPI — the audio lasts longer than Wolfgang Puck’s gnocchi platter.)
Curious about my reviews of Naomi’s other products? Learn about Marketing School here. Get the goods on SEO School here.
It was the day Apple announced the iPad. First, I laughed at the name. And then I realized that if Apple keeps refusing to work with Adobe Flash, it has to go. This means yet another website build, yet another chunk of change being yielded to a team of pros, and yet another iteration of my brand.
Of course, you can argue that Flash is still relevant, but HTML is simpler. I’m all about simpler. So I set about creating a framework to display my images that could convey my brand without overwhelming the work. The questions I asked myself, that I challenge you to ask about your website…
Is the website easy to navigate? Are all the buttons easily located?
The buttons on the new website are visible at all times, remain stationary through page changes, and have boring names. Those boring button names like ‘FAQ’ and ‘Info’ and ‘Contact’ mean that website visitors will know what each one does. ‘Blow it up!’ and ’411′ and ‘Buzz me!’ are cute, but not necessarily effective.
Does the website look the same on every computer?
The website will never look exactly the same for every viewer, but the elimination of image and website scaling (common in Flash templates) makes uniform user experience a distinct possibility.
Is all the website text relevant?
No fluff, just enough of your features and benefits being highlighted to distinguish your brand from others. Potential clients know just enough to know if they want to know more. (Need brushing up on features and benefits? Marketing School is for you.)
Who needs a splash page?
I know the major industry web template providers have splash pages, but I don’t get the point. Stuffing keywords on an HTML page because the rest of the Flash website is invisible to Google just isn’t a sound SEO strategy.
Have you hired a professional?
This is the most expensive website I’ve ever purchased, but it looks the least flashy. Fabulous coding with search engine optimization hints provided by Naomi Dunford’s SEO School are hidden from view while my images take center stage.
Want your own HTML website?
Take a look at the super-sleep Kimtown HTML sites, or consider modifying your WordPress blog to be a blog-site using the Prophoto 3 theme. Save $10 with code BNDCMP717 — if it doesn’t work immediately, just email customer support at Prophoto.
What about the website?
Oh yah. View the new, super-simple site for Essential Imagery.
Many of the questions you all submitted to me for marketing week here on the Brand Camp blog are answered in Naomi Dunford’s Marketing School, so I’ve moved this review up in the week’s schedule. Reading Marketing School (a PDF, weighing in at 82 pages) rocked my (Ittybiz) world. It made me make a plan. It made me reassess my marketing efforts, particularly my business copy and the way I present myself to potential clients.
Why buy Marketing School?
- You already know the goodness that is Naomi Dunford, who brought us SEO School. If you enjoy this blog and are down with the combination of funny + learning, you will enjoy reading Marketing School. (Can’t tell you how many business books I don’t read because I’m bored out of my mind in the first few chapters.)
- You will understand basic marketing concepts once and for all. Like features and benefits. Unique selling propositions. Sales cycles. SWOT analysis guidelines. In fact, when making my latest promotion, Pets for Haiti, I actually made a list of features and benefits, then whittled them down to what’s easiest to understand for the most people. That’s a pretty powerful change in behavior as a result of reading this book.
- You will be able to put good marketing practices into effect for your business. By knowing exactly who you’re aiming to hit with your marketing materials and web copy, you’ll find a remarkable boost in the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. More effective marketing = less time spent marketing.
- You will be forced to take a good look at your business and to assess what’s working and what isn’t. January is pretty much the ideal month for analysis, planning, and growth. This book fits right in.
- It’s only $49. Which is way cheaper than that marketing workshop, DVD, or seminar you’ve had your eye on.
Go forth.
And tune in tomorrow for my secrets to marketing locally.
The problem with Search Engine Optimization is… it’s search engine optimization. It is technical. It is boring. It is distinctly factual. You’re on the front page of Google search engine results or you’re not. Your page rank is 9 or it’s not. You appear to those looking for your business or you don’t. ::yawns::
After deciding to learn more about this decidedly left-brained activity, I picked up a copy of Search Engine Optimization for Dummies. Because, well…I’m not a dummy, but it seemed like the simplest choice. I read three whole chapters before falling asleep on the couch. (If you’re looking for a sleep aid, I recommend it!)
I tried downloading free guides for photographers from various sources, but they taught me how to do basic things like create a Google Analytics account. And then how to access the reports. (Click the ‘view reports’ button, in case you were wondering.)
Grumpy, frustrated, and having wasted dollars, I heard of an effective SEO workshop to attend. Holy coconut milk, Batman!
And then I heard the pricetag. Way, waaaaaaay less than great.
Finally…finally, finally, finally!!! I found SEO School. If you made me write a book about SEO, it would be like this. I would encourage you to read the book pants-less because hey, why be your own boss if you have to wear pants like a corporate cog? I’d make time for you to grab a gin and tonic because hey, this is pretty boring stuff. I would unleash just enough wordplay and creative cursing to trick you into reading an ENTIRE book about SEO. Best of all, I WOULD MAKE SEO MAKE SENSE. Naomi Dunford, master of the home business, already wrote the book I would have written if I knew anything about SEO. Just buy hers.
You will get SEO. You will have a list of tasks to complete on the route to getting your website seen by all the right bots and trolls and Google monkeys. You may even have dreams about search engine optimization, at which point I recommend taking a little break from all that Googling you’ve been doing. (Not that such a thing happened to me. ::ahem::)
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