Client Spotlight: Mr. Insurance Financial Services!

July 3, 2010 at 8:09 am (Uncategorized)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

As part of WebStarboutique’s Custom Packages and as a way to say thank you to our customers, we like to introduce them socially and via email campaigns and share why we think: Mr. Insurance Financial Services is a great business to support.

Lamar Porter, an insurance broker with over fifteen years of service is the owner of Mr. Insurance Financial Services. He helps his clients choose premium/high quality insurance plans for individuals, families and small businesses. On his website he offers, life insurance, health insurance, renters insurance, mortgage insurance, annuities, Pre-needs, and offers solutions for budgeting, savings, and investing.

Because of his professional business acumen and sincere attitude, he has been sought out and booked for educational seminars by community organizations, churches, anywhere were people want to understand why investing in a solid insurance plan is so vital. He’s even been a featured guest on Real Talk with Debra Rhodes on Chicago’s 106.3, 92.3 and 102.3 FM stations.

There is a reason why some people are taught without question at a young age the necessity of making life insurance a priority investment and why other people simply look at life insurance as “A salesman with a quota.” Unfortunately this attitude has caused many to lose any little wealth their family might have accumulated or EVEN COULD HAVE HAD if they knew how to make educated decisions around insurance plans.

Unfortunately there is a “Slick Talking Salesman” stigma attached to Insurance professionals – let’s face it, any agent can just sell you a life insurance policy.

However Mr. Insurance is an insurance agency whose mission is to combine the best possible options for their clients with the most cost-effective solutions. Lamar Porter’s goal is to make sure his clients feel knowledgeable and comfortable about their insurance coverage decisions. This is exactly how he has built strong and trusting relationships. In fact some clients have even passed his services down to their family members for a couple of generations!

Just to show you how personable he is, he invested in a “thank you” video as part of his website purchase – simply just to say thank you to his new friends on Facebook. How thoughtful is that!? Check out his video.

Why not add him as a friend?

Visit his blog for educational “economic and health” fitness tips.

Mr. Insurance Financial services is definitely someone to know for your life, health, and renters insurance needs! BOOKMARK LAMAR PORTER!

Spotlight Client brought to you by WebStarBoutique “Fabulous websites and winning marketing solutions”

Our Goal: Happy Clients, Friendly Websites with great Visibility!

Leave a Comment

SMO the New SEO

April 23, 2010 at 4:33 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION VERSUS SOCIAL MEDIA OPTIMIZATION

Although both techniques are universal and interchangeable in the interactive marketing world, it seems SEO strategies that once boosted your website rankings are failing while SMO’s real-time results are causing websites to gain even more visibility.

Most recently websites have been struggling with SEO – even big prestigious well known business sites. SEO technology and service provider Conductor released a research report (Natural Search Trends of the Fortune 500 companies). What were the results of this report? Not so good. More than half of the companies had no natural search visibility with their targeted keywords. This may sound similar to your dilemma if you have a website that’s not getting quality ranking or visibility.

So what’s the solution? It comes down to strategic content, how it’s shared and making sure it’s consistent and value-added. As a web developer/designer, I’ve noticed that the misconception is SEO is separate from a marketing strategy. A website without a well thought out SEO strategy is like a toothbrush without the toothpaste.

In addition, social media’s real-time nature has been grossly under-estimated by business owners as part of a web marketing strategy. A recent study from marketing firm OneUp-Web revealed some interesting information and the impact that social media has on search engine results. The study showed that based on the participants involved, 73 percent had never heard of real-time results, and only a quarter of the consumers cared for real-time results, compared to 47 percent of the “information foragers.” Couple that with the recent news that social media may have peaked and you have a perfect storm sure to upset the balance of promotions on the internet.

The SEO world is ever-changing – never let anyone convince you that it’s a one time deal, especially be weary of promises that claim to keep you number one in the serps. Just as you’d want a well thought out concept, format, content and graphical layout for your website, it’s just as important to have a comprehensive interactive marketing strategy to go with it.

WebStarBoutique offers an awesome web design package especially for entrepreneurs and start-up businesses. For $500 we will build you a custom 5 page website, with on site SEO, and SMO integration, logo design, and complimentary email campaign. (Restrictions do apply). Contact us for more information.

WebStarboutique.com
Creative Web Design and Winning Marketing Solutions
info@webstarboutique.com

Leave a Comment

The Power of Authority with your Online Business

March 1, 2010 at 1:42 pm (Uncategorized)

au.thor.i.ty noun: the power to influence or command thought, opinion or behavior 

Definitely, there’s lots of power in authority.  Authority builds trust, and respect. Authority can be used to promote to your potential clients. It can be used to help make other’s lives easier, it can aid in conveniency for the consumer, problem solving, etc. However authority, as we know can be abused also. Properly using authority can make your online marketing plan a big success. 

Let me share with you a study that took place at Yale University in 1963. Their psychology department did a experiment headed by Dr. Stanley Milgrim on the power of authority. However they called this study, “an experiment on memory” and the subjects were paid to participate in an hour-long study. Participants (who were called teachers) were met by two men. One man appeared to be a research scientist in a lab coat and the other a volunteer just like the participant. The participants were told they were measuring the effect of punishment on the memory an individual (the learner). The researcher would ask “the learner” a series of questions and if the learner got a question wrong, the researcher would request that “the teacher” (the paid volunteer) administer electric shocks for each wrong answer. The electric shocks were obviously bearable to the learner however with every following wrong answer the voltage increased all the way up to 450 volts at the research scientist request.  The volunteer was instructed to continue administering the shocks and not to stop regardless of the pain he was witnessing. 

Sounds like a scary experiment but here’s what was really happening: 

  • The electric shocks were not real
  • “The Learner”,  the person receiving the shocks, was an actor
  • The study had nothing to do with memory at all 

In fact, about two-thirds of the participants obeyed the researcher and administered electric shocks up to 450 volts regardless of “the learners” plead for mercy. The study showed that without the researchers encouragement to continue “the teachers” would have stopped giving punishment early on. 

There was a 2002 analysis of this original study that confirmed the findings. What lead to this kind of behavior?

Milgram concluded it’s our deep-seated sense of duty to authority. We are trained from childhood to respect and trust authority figures (such as scientists in lab coats), and the obedience that comes with it stays with us throughout our adult lives. Even when something doesn’t feel quite right. 

An interesting study that validates why it’s so important to establish yourself as an authority in your line of business and with your marketing efforts. Stay tuned and I’ll share with you some tips on how to use authority to grow your online business and cash in. 

The WebStar 

Gotta Hot Website? It’s all dressed up with nowhere to go? No SEO, no visitors? Not coming up in keyword searches? DON’T let those good looks go to waste! Let WebStarBoutique put the spotlight on your current website? OR JUST GET A BRAND NEW ONE! 

Our Goal: Happy Clients, Friendly Websites with great Visibility! 

WebStarBoutique.com

Leave a Comment

Why have a website when there are tons of social sites.

February 26, 2010 at 9:30 am (Uncategorized)
Tags: , , , , , ,

With all of the social media sites out their why do I need a website?

Here is why it Still Pays to Have a Site

Can you be successful without a site? I think so. However, having a site gives you a more stable foundation, and still creates more opportunities than if you didn’t have one. When you have a site, you have control. You don’t have to adhere to the policy guidelines of any third-party platform. If Facebook decides to shut its Pages down (as Yahoo did with GeoCities, for example), you still have your own site that they can’t touch. For that matter, having your own site certainly lends credibility to your brand.

Still, social networks continue to work on making data more freely able to flow among one another via a number of open standards like Activity Streams, AtomPub, OAuth, PubSubHubbub, Salmon and WebFinger. “The idea is that someday, any host on the web should be able to implement these open protocols and send messages back and forth in real time with users from any network, without any one company in the middle,” says Google software engineer DeWitt Clinton. “The web contains the social graph, the protocols are standard web protocols, the messages can contain whatever crazy stuff people think to put in them. Google Buzz will be just another node (a very good node, I hope) among many peers. Users of any two systems should be able to send updates back and forth, federate comments, share photos, send @replies, etc., without needing Google in the middle and without using a Google-specific protocol or format.”

Google itself, even has its own site dedicated to making user data for its various products exportable. That’s just Google, but the web in general appears to be moving more in this direction.

I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have a site, or even that you don’t need one, but I think it’s an interesting discussion. For now, I’m going to say having your own site is still in your best interest, but has a more social Internet with more portable data made a standalone site less critical? Is having a website going to be less important in the future? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the subject.

You can read this full article here

Leave a Comment

TEN DEADLY SINS THAT WILL WARD OFF ANY “COMPETENT” WEB DESIGNER

February 24, 2010 at 9:30 am (Uncategorized)
Tags: , , , , , ,

Ya’d hafta be a web designer to appreciate this. I’ve found this is pretty consistent with all Professional Designers.

________________________________________
10 Reasons to Politely Decline a Web Design Gig

When you’re in that first round of meetings with a potential web design or web development client, there are certain statements, revelations or bits of information that serve as huge red flags.

Here’s a list (submitted by a designer friend who shall remain anonymous) of the biggest all-time deal-breakers:

10. He can’t stop telling you about how horrid his last developer was.

9. He wants to make sure you can build his site so it will show up first on Google.

8. He’s already got a list together of 100 words for his meta tags.

7. There isn’t much money for this job but it could really lead to a lot more work down the road.

6. He wants to know if you are flexible about your deposit.

5. He explains that you will be responsible to his organization’s “website committee.”

4. He wants to know if you know how to “do Flash.”

3. He wants his start-up site to be “kinda like eBay.”

2. He could actually build the site himself but he just doesn’t have the time.

1. He’s looking for a new “webmaster.”

Got your own red flags? Post them in the comments.

By Michael Calore – original article here

Leave a Comment

Featured WebStar Client Elizabeth Gatorano

February 22, 2010 at 1:25 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: , , , ,

www.elizabethgatorano.com Home of Author Elizabeth Gatorano

“I love my website, great job Mel. I am already referring other people to you. Thanks!”
- Elizabeth Gatorono

To show our appreciation to our great clients, we feature their websites on our Blog. We are featuring the great work of author Elizabeth Gatorano and her lastest book “Waiting for the Sunrise.” available at Amazon and several other places listed on her site.


info tidbit – Between April and June 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days. Most of the dead were Tutsis – and most of those who perpetrated the violence were Hutus. Even for a country with such a turbulent history as Rwanda, the scale and speed of the slaughter left its people reeling.

Elizabeth Gatorano is a the author of Waiting for the Sunrise, a personal account of an interracial family’s struggle against pervasive racism in the U.S. and the horrors of the civil war that plagued Rwanda in 1994. Raised in the American Midwest, author Elizabeth Gatorano, who is White, had no idea of the trials she would face after marrying Phanuel, who is Black and an immigrant to the U.S. from Rwanda. Prejudice against their marriage followed them and their children wherever they went, often making them the focus of racist discrimination and threats of violence at home and at work. Throughout these ordeals, Liz and Phanuel responded to hostility with love and patience, their faith in each other and in God remaining unshakable, even in the darkest hours. Together, they overcame all obstacles in their path, and they continue to help those in need today.

About the Author
Elizabeth Gatorano is a lifelong advocate for children and troubled youth. She received her formal education at Ball State University where she graduated with honors and earned a B.S. degree in social work. After the war in Rwanda she became actively involved in promoting racial unity. In 1995 she became a member of the Baha’i Faith. She now lives in Palatine, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, with her husband and children.

Learn More about Elizabeth Gatorano and her work here:

Do you have a website?

Does Your Current Website attract the traffic?

Contact WebStar and we’ll either access your current website free – or for an unbeatable price, design you an outstanding one!

WebStarBoutique

Creative Web Design and Winning Marketing Solutions

Our Goal: Happy Clients, Friendly Websites & Great Visibility

Leave a Comment

No Virginia Adobe isn’t Blocking HTML 5.0

February 20, 2010 at 11:02 am (Uncategorized)
Tags: , , , , ,


Interesting Article from WebMonkey by Scott Gilbertson

Ian Hickson, head of one of the standards groups charged with creating HTML5, caused quite a stir over the weekend when he alleged that Adobe was trying to block HTML5.

Adobe quickly denied the charge, but not quickly enough for the open web evangelists to grab their pitchforks and take to blogs in anger. After all, it was a juicy turn of events — big company with a vested interest in its own tech (Flash, in this case) tries to block a competing technology on the free, open web. It all ended up sounding like some conspiratorial, back-room maneuvering worthy of an Oliver Stone film. Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment

To Flash or Not to Flash – This is the Flash Website Question!

January 8, 2010 at 6:23 am (Uncategorized)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Consider this before you invest in a Flash Website:

Flash websites are stunning eye candy this is true. They are impressive and can WOW an audience! But I often notice how the thrill wears off quickly with the owner of the website. Simply hearing that your website is awesome soon becomes dead especially when the owner doesn’t see any tangible return on investment. Your web designer certainly made some money, but flash a web site in of itself makes none. A great example of a flash fopa is what happened with MTV. MTV.com experimented with a flash based website and eventually threw it out for an HTML site. Read the rest of this entry »

1 Comment

If you want to know what’s good then you’ll want to know .mobi!

December 21, 2009 at 5:42 pm (Uncategorized)
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Considering utilizing new media as a part of your products/services marketing campaign?

Consider this:  There are way more mobile phone users  in the world than television viewers and PC users combined!  Millions are using mobile technology to connect to the internet.   Although people are drawn to the internet to communicate, conduct business etc., imagine how many more people are using their phones right now even as you are reading this article.  I see it all the time on Facebook,  Twitter and other social sites – how people are viewing and responding to internet correspondence with their mobile devices. Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment

Here is a Christmas Gift From Me to You!

December 17, 2009 at 12:08 am (Uncategorized)

Read the rest of this entry »

Leave a Comment

« Older entries

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.