Uncover the missing formula in your web design and marketing | exceler8 the web

We’re moving LocalNa8ion.com back home to our mother ship at exceler8.com in the next 48 hours.

• You’ll be able to view all of our LocalNa8ion.com content at exceler8.com.
• We plan on continuing and expanding our local Internet marketing services and web design business – just under our original exceler8 shingle.
• exceler8.com will feature our consolidated content from LocalNa8ion.com and Exceler8ion.com
• We’re getting back to routine publishing. We need one voice to do that with as busy as we are. Not three.
• Expect to see a range of written and video content ranging from reviews, commentary, and how-to guides.
• We’ll cover the digital experience. It’s like what we’ve published on all our sites in the past, but more. And it’s what you think it is. What ever that is.

Like our sister blog exceler8ion.com that we started in 2005, LocalNa8ion.com has had a good run since 2006 as a specialty website for our company exceler8.

As local internet marketing and web design continue to grow in leaps and bounds, so goes our business. Our own  growth at exceler8 requires us to focus all our energy on serving our clients in that expansion and in building a smarter business.

We continue to connect with a cross section of business types, from local small business owners and startups who get their customers from around town, to companies who serve world markets, and bloggers and content marketers who know only one niche but aren’t the slightest bit confined by physical borders.

We like working with all types of people. It keeps us sharp and allows us to spot trends. We experiment every day. We’re still making it up as we go along. We can’t sit still for anything. Variety provides us…with air.

People are evolving, business is evolving. Yesterday I worked on website design, WordPress business websites, search engine optimization, copywriting, conversion rate optimization,  Google AdWords campaigns, and custom business dashboards. I interacted with my favorite contractors in the U.S. Tunisia, Bulgaria and India on skype, email and Podio. That, believe it or not, it a pretty normal day at our company.

This post is too long and there’s no time for editing. It’s the real world, the same one that you live in. Do your best, find your inspiration, make your mark. We hope to see your around exceler8.com soon – and all the places you actually hang out.

See you soon.

Julian Seery Gude
Founder and Editor LocalNa8ion.com
May 3, 2012

All our original content on exceler8ion.com is moving to exceler8.com (don’t bother going there now, nothing to see yet).

You’ll still be able to read any exceler8ion post by selecting it as a category on the new site (once exceler8.com is setup in a couple of days).

Thanks for the learning, the sharing and the great memories!

First Overall Post
Shannon Seery Gude December 16, 2005
Title “Google Base, Optimized Job Postings and the Candidate Experience”

Julian Seery Gude’s First Post: December 16, 2005
Title: “The MySpace Generation | BusinessWeek.com”

Total Posts: 274
Grins: Too many to count
Awesome website headers that we still like years later: too many to list (a couple are shown here for old times sake).

All our best
Julian and Shannon
May 3, 2012

and no, we didn’t make the “pulling the plug” image below for the occasion, it’s an original header image and just seemed like it was made for a signing off post.  :-)

Two great ideas from a blogging master on how you can write compelling blog posts that generate traffic

Two great tips to generate popular blog posts straight from the lips of a blogging master.

Like you I run a small business. We share several things in common.

• no extra time
• almost all our actions must be tied directly back to revenue goals
• we’re probably the ones responsible for writing our own blog posts and posting social media updates

Here are two great ideas from Chris Brogan that I heard on CopyBlogger’s podcast called Internet Marketing for Smart People:

Chris Brogan’s Blogging Tips

• Write blog posts where your customer is the hero
• Write blog posts around the FAQ’s of your topic (sourced from your topic area e.g. Organic Farming)

Write posts where customer is the hero
When your customer uses your product or service to solve their problem in some way they become your product heroes. These stories are often compelling, especially to your audience who is likely to have a similar need or problem. Chris used an example in the podcast where a vacuum business could write about how one customer gets twice the life from their vacuum filter.

Write blog posts around the topics you’d find in a community or topics FAQ page
Chris was bumming around the bargain e-book section of Amazon.com where he was looking for markeing and writing gems when he found one. Seek out the frequently asked question page (FAQ) for sites that exist within your topic area. If you are a painting contractor pour over decorating sites or home improvement sites to study their FAQ pages. Now build blog posts that address these questions with your own voice and solution. GREAT idea.

The entire CopyBlogger episode is worth listening to. Robert Bruce and Chris Brogran cover six different topics (I featured D from the list below):

1. How to write 2,000–4,000 words a day
2. The critical importance of brevity in the digital age
3. Why every online writer should read (and study) The Shipping News
4. Two ways to find endless content ideas
5. Why it took Chris 8 years to gain his first 100 subscribers
6. Brogan’s best advice on how to create a valuable content platform

Good luck in your blog writing.

~julian
ed, LocalNa8ion.com
President and Creative Director exceler8.com