lauramba

Graphic Design and Logos

lauramba — Tue, 14 May 2013 22:02:48 +0000

Graphic Design

Graphic design is an essential part of every piece of marketing collateral and is undertaken to convey a specific message (or messages) to a target audience. I provide a variety of graphic designs for logos, packaging, branding, print and web. I use a combination of typography, visual arts and page layout techniques to produce a balanced, focused and symmetrical final result.

Logo

A logo should be a symbolic essence of what a company or product represents and should be memorable. At its core a log must be unique and communicate one or more messages. When people view your logo they should think of your products/services and the product/service category. The distinctive orange-and-yellow bullseye Tide® logo shows a laundry drain which reinforces the product and the product category. Conceptualizing an effective logo is very challenging. Graphic design should be consistent with existing design principles and standards including fitting with different colors and with different mediums. Whether it’s on a billboard, printed piece, or online it must maintain its integrity and original form.

Corporate Identity

Custom designed letterhead and envelopes are also a great way to establish your business and lend an air of professionalism and intention to your endeavor.

Business Cards

Business cards are an integral part of the first impression your business makes. Even in today's world of smart technologies, we still can benefit from attractive and functional business cards.

Graphic Design Fees

Prices are subject to change without notice.

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CMS Maintenance Packages for Private Practices

lauramba — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:53:26 +0000

CMS Maintenance Updates for WordPress

This month I implemented new and improved CMS maintenance update packages that better provide for the needs of my private practice clients. I tried to create standard packages that could be priced consistently from site to site. Most private practices fail to appreciate the risks they are taking by not keeping their site updated. A WordPress® brochure website built for a private practice will typically include:

WordPress®
10-15 open-source plugins
1-5 commercial plugins
1 open source theme
1 commercial theme

From June 2010 to May 2012 there were 22 WordPress® updates released. In addition to the monthly updates to WP, your plugins and theme will need updating. Each well-supported plugin will on average have 3-8 updates per year. Assume that your site has 10 plugins that each need to be updated 4 times per year. That is 40 updates for plugins and 12 for WP. Do you want to monitor the plugins and apply the updates every month?

My CMS Maintenance Updates Packages

Growth Package Details

Database optimization.
Scan for broken links and fix any that can be fixed and report any that cannot.
Update plugins (monthly) as new versions are released.
Update WordPress core (monthly) if required or recommended for security purposes.
Site Optimization for speed and security.
Clear spam comments (which can slow down your blog overall).

Please Learn more about my Full Maintenance and Update Packages which are a more comprehensive set of services. These prices are effective May 1, 2012 and are subject to change without notice.

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CMS Client Training for WordPress and Drupal

lauramba — Sat, 11 May 2013 18:06:33 +0000

CMS Client Training for WordPress®, Drupal®, and Joomla® Websites

Learn how to create content for your WordPress website with private CMS client training. One-on-one training is instructor-led interactive online with private and group session available. Learn how to create and edit content.

Virtual Interactive live Instructor-Led Training: Drupal®, WordPress®, Joomla®

Overview

You and the trainer/tutor are looking at the same screen using presentation software.
You talk with the instructor by phone, smart phone, or other communication device.
You can work in a sandbox site or your site.

Required Software

Download Google Chrome brower.
Download the extension and install in Chrome: Dead Simple Screen Sharing. Be sure to able the extension but not CONNECT before your session begins!
Skype: Will allow you to talk free of charge using your computer. Requires voice and audio capabilities

CMS Client Training Requirements

Make your decision as to who will be editors and who will be authors before you make your training appointment.
Allow at least 45 minutes for training appointments
Complimentary training for clients include two 45 minute sessions. Additional sessions are available for fee.
Please letter others know you are not to be disturbed. If you accept phone calls or take "breaks" during training, your training session will be discontinued and you will be charged the full amount for the training.

Training Session Instructions

Be online using your Chrome browser 5 minutes before your training appointment begins. Be sure to not CONNECT before your session begins!
Make sure you are logged into Skype and that your audio and voice capabilities are working properly
Navigate your browser to your website.
Your trainer will provide you with login information at the start of the training session.

Read Before You Start

10 Stupid Things People Do to Mess Up Their Websites

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Seattle WordCamp 2013 at University of Washington

lauramba — Thu, 09 May 2013 05:17:00 +0000

Seattle WordCamp 2013 - University of Washington June 8h

I am excited to attend this year's Seattle WordCamp 2013. I've been lucky enough to attend WordCamp in SF, but this is the first time in Seattle. This is also the first time I will be speaking at WordCamp. As a seasoned DrupalCamp speaker, I am excited to get more involved in the WordPress community. For the last few years I have been working more with WordPress than I have with Drupal. Since most of my clients are private practices, their needs are best meet with WordPress. WordPress tends to be easier to style, easier to develop, and easier for the client to use. Unless you are a complete novice in the industry, you also know WordPress is significantly more affordable. At Seattle WordCamp 2013 I will be speaking as part of a panel on "Building a Community with WordPress". This is due in part to my presentation at Drupal Camp LA titled "Huff, Puff, and Webonomics". In that presentation I discuss and describe the success of a two fabulously successful online properties, The Huffington Post and WeedMaps.com. As most people know the Huffington Post is a commentary outlet that was originated by Arianna Huffington in 2005. By 2011 the web publication sold for $315 million dollars. WeedMaps.com is a less known web publication, except by it's target market. WeedMaps.com is an informational website and community forum for people who are seeking information about cannabis dispensaries, physicians, and other related information. WeedMaps.com generates $1.5 million per month in listing fees and attracts 50,000 visitors per day. Until recently, WeedMaps was a publicly traded company. To learn more about these companies please attend my session. To learn more about Seattle WordCamp 2013 take a look at the wonderful demographics provided in the file below. Click on the file and you will be taken to the Camp website.
Source: WordCamp Seattle WordCamp Seattle

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My Website Services Store “The Little Shop That Could”

lauramba — Wed, 01 May 2013 07:18:35 +0000

Point-and-Click Website Services

I have been offering website services for small business for quite sometime. Last year when I was working on a project for a physician, I was asked to create an online store for beauty products. It was such fun, I decided I wanted to have a store for myself. Since my services are intangibles, it took me awhile to determine what I would sell in the shop. I thought about how-to marketing and business books, software, and other tangibles. That seemed silly because who wants to compete with Amazon. I thought about writing white papers and other business articles, but I really don't have the time. I put it out of my mind for six or seven months. One day when I was providing website services to a client and I was putting together a cost estimate, it occurred to me that if I made my services and prices more "transparent" it would be in the best interest of the client. In addition, it would make pricing my website services easier. In fact, it could make my services point-and-click easier. That is when it hit me that I could create a website services store where my clients could go to shop.

For the last few months I have been planning my shop. I call it the "Little Shop That Could". I wanted a clean design that was totally uncluttered and simple. The goal would be to make it easy for me to make some services available to clients. Naturally a full website is not a good product to have in a store but many supplemental services, extensions, and design components would be easy. In addition, certain marketing collateral could be sold in the store. I invite you to visit my shop and take a look at my offerings. Please visit lauramba.com/catalog or select the SHOP link from the main menu of this site.

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Best Online Storage Reviewed

lauramba — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 19:26:28 +0000

Review of Online Storage Providers

Online storage of computer files is becoming more important to companies, professional practices, and even individuals and families. I have been purchasing online storage for several years and am thrilled with all the storage solutions that are commonly known as cloud storage. This article provides a quick review of cloud storage providers. If you are seeking an exhaustive list, take a look at Wikipedia's comparison of online backup services.

Shop Before You Buy

A few years ago I purchased online storage from a low-cost provider. I was initially excited and began uploading files. Unfortunately uploading the files was so slow that believe it or not, I would actually be logged by the software because of "inactivity". You can imagine my frustration. That is when I began shopping around and when I did find a better solution, I had to painstakingly download the files from my old-slow provider and then upload to the new provider. This is a headache you should avoid. For that reason I suggest taking your time before you make a commitment. The factors that are important for cloud storage include:

speed
reliability
cost
security
ease-of-use and features

I recently researched various online storage service providers and rated a few on the factors listed below. The matrix presented below are just a few storage providers. The reviews are based on my experiences, the experiences of my , and the researched I conducted.

	speed	reliability	cost	security	ease-of-use/features
Just Cloud	5	5	5	5	5
Zip Cloud	5	5	5	5	5
My PC Backup	5	5	5	5	5
Sugar Sync	4	4	5	5	4.5
Mozy	4	4	3	4.5	4
Dropbox	5	5	3	5	4.5
Box	4	4.5	3.5	5	3.5

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Take Control of Your Site

lauramba — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 19:57:36 +0000

It is easy for small business owners to manage their own hosting and domain registration services if you keep it simple and avoid temptations. 1) Start Here with Hostgator hosting (since they will move your site FOR FREE). Do this before you initiate hosting or at the same time. 2) Follow this link to order a shared hosting plan with HostGator. If you have one domain order the "Hatchling Plan"; if you have more than one domain order the "Baby Plan". If you have a busy retail site, you may want to consider VPS hosting. 3) If you purchase from Hostgator, they will provide ".. free transfers for new accounts within 30 days of sign-up, and to newly upgraded accounts. For upgraded accounts it must be an inter-server upgrade to qualify. Please note that downgraded accounts do not qualify for free transfers. "

Other Hosts

If you choose another host, you will need to transfer your site files, create a new database and import the files, and update your domain dns settings to reflect the new settings. Ask the new host for help and instructions.

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Configure Email for Outlook

lauramba — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 23:59:09 +0000

Be sure to replace yourdomain.com with your actual domain name.

Your/Display name: anything you want
Email address: enter the full address (name@yourdomain.com)
Type of connection: POP3 or IMAP
Incoming mail server: mail.yourdomain.com
Outgoing mail server: mail.yourdomain.com
Outgoing mail server does require authentication.
Incoming mail port: 110 for POP3, 143 for IMAP
Outgoing mail port: 25 (If 25 does not work, try 26, as some ISPs block port 25)

Note: If you want a secure connection using SSL, please refer to the related article.

Username/Account name: must be the full email address (name@yourdomain.com).
Sometimes this setting won't work until you replace the @ with a + in the username.
Password: the email password. Do NOT use SPA (secure password authentication).

To see a step-by-step tutorial on how to configure Outlook 2003/2007:

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Managing your Email with cPanel

lauramba — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 17:41:25 +0000

Managing your email is a snap with cPanel and Webmail. Simply follow the simple steps below and you are on your way to having total control over your email.

Intended Audience: Clients with maintenance agreement for hosting
Objective: Demonstrate how to create, edit and delete email accounts
Critical Information: This does not show HOW to set-up your email accounts. Please refer to an earlier post for that information.

Step 1. Login to Webmail using your entire email address such as yourname@yourdomainname.com. To get to the login screen navigate your browser to http://yourdomainnamehere.com/webmail. Step 2. Start managing your email services. Use the icons along the bottom of the Webmail home page to

read and send email
change your password
forward your email
set autoresponders
configure email
set-up email box trapper
set-up email filtering

Step 3. Set-up to receive your email on your device and email clients such as Outlook, Blackberry, and iPhone. Since this information changes with each new release of the email software or device I have provided several links that have current and detailed information. Please note you must be logged into cPanel to watch the Video Tutorials referenced below.

Watch this video for more information

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Adding Value to Your Practice Increases Your Net Worth

lauramba — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 16:43:13 +0000

I was recently talking to local practitioner about ways to add value to the firm. During the course of the conversation I realized that he and I were talking about two different concepts. I was talking about adding value to his net worth and he was talking about the economic concept of value added activities. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to discuss the difference between the two and to provide a couple examples of how you can add value to your practice.

Adding Value to the Firm

The financial concept of adding value to the firm relates to maximizing the market value of the existing owners’ equity. Good financial decisions increase the market value of owners’ equity and poor financial decisions decrease owners’ equity. The easiest way to understand the concept of adding value is to consider the role of the financial manager of a corporation. The financial manager makes decisions on behalf of the stockholders. Stockholders ultimately only care about how the decisions affect their net worth. This means that a financial manager’s only true goal is to increase the value of the share of stock.

The Economic Concept of Value Added

Adding value to the firm is different than the economic concept of value added activities. Value added activities for economists are activities that increase the difference between the sale price and the cost of production. Value added is a marginal increase of value over the cost of production; it is a measure of the increase in value per unit. It would be easy to think that value added activities are the same as adding value to the firm. However, value added activities are more closely related to profit.

The Two Concepts Are Not the Same

Let’s take an easy example, growth stocks. Companies that are growing are often not profitable. This does not mean they are worthless. Remember when eBay chief executive Meg Whitman told reporters that the company did not expect the company to be profitable for years?

Add Value to Our Practices

As practitioners it is sometimes hard to consider what we can do to increase the value of our practice beyond increasing billable hours and decreasing our fixed costs. However, these actions may lead to higher profitability but do not necessarily add to our net worth. Investing in capital equipment and realty are examples of how we can increase our net worth. Finding ways to make your practice “work” without you can also add to your net worth. The property owner who invests in starting virtual offices can add to their net worth. Virtual offices are a bundle of rights and services. Virtual offices produce cash flow that is not dependent on billable hours. This cash flow stream can be sold, thus increasing owners’ equity.

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Forensic Expert Goes Online With New Website

lauramba — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 21:54:30 +0000

A number of years ago during a CMS training session, I met a clinical psychologist who had an almost inspired appreciation of the endless possibilities of Web 2.0 technology. In the first hour I knew that he was "ahead of the curve" in regards to his understanding of content management systems. It wasn't so much that he understood the code, it was more that he understood the implications the technology had for professionals in private practice. He was ready for a new website. Recently I began creating the first new website of what I believe will be many websites for this ambitious and entrepreneurial professional. Let’s take a peak at the plans for his beta site.

One of the areas of the site that excited this client the most was the “value added” functionality that is planned for his customer service area. Video and audio library, relevant news articles, and other helpful information.
Payment center so clients can make payments or professionals such as attorneys can retain his services.
Secure File Upload area and an SSL protected contact form for the convenience of his clients.

New Website

There are a variety of other functions and features that are planned for the new website. I will be sure to report more information as the project develops. For now, here is a site summary:

Powered by WordPress
Plugins include:
- Author Spotlight
- Get The Image
- Google XML Sitemaps
- Jetpack by WordPress.com
- PayPal Payment Terminal Wordpress
- Social Media Widget
- Visual Form Builder Pro
- WordPress SEO
- WP Maintenance Mode

We installed the Akita theme from Themeforest and will be providing a new logo. We have just begun work on the site but encourage you to visit the site at AskAPsych.com. Be sure to sign-up for his mailing list by leaving your name and email address in his contact form.

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How to get started with a Website

lauramba — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 21:11:43 +0000

This article was written to answer some simple questions about websites, domains, email, hosting, and other important internet services. If you've ever wondered how sites are hosted and by whom, and how domain names are created, then this article will be helpful.

Where to Start

You will want to begin by finding a domain name for your website. For example, LauraScroggins.com, or Kirombo.com or PracticeWorldPeace.com. There are a couple of sites I recommend to find a domain name. If you know the name you want, go to Yahoo's small business domain search site. If the domain you want is not available, you will be provided a dozen alternative domain names that are available. When you don't know what you want to name your domain, consider shopping the auctions at GoDaddy. I like to use the advanced search and I always shop from the bargain bin or purchase close-outs. They will cost you about $22 dollars but you will have to wait a week or two to make sure the sites are "cleared" for transfer.

Before Your Purchase Your Domain

Currently it is more difficult to find an available Twitter account than it is to find an available domain. Before you purchase a domain make sure you can get a Twitter username that corresponds to your domain name. You may think you don't want Twitter, but it is better to have one and not use it than it is to compete with a Twitter account that is drawing visitors to their tweets instead of your site.

Next Comes Hosting

Choosing a good host is easy. If you are a professional practice you should purchase business class hosting which typically starts at $60 per month. Please contact me and I will provide an estimate to host your domain and website(s). For other small businesses, shared hosting by a discount host provider is probably sufficient (unless you are going to be an ecommerce site). I personally can only recommend one host, Hostgator (see ad below). I advise you avoid GoDaddy and BlueHost. Be sure to select LAMP hosting (Linux, apache, MySQL and php). Do not select Windows hosting. Use this coupon code to $9 off your purchase price: laurascroggins

Ready for the Site

Now that you are ready for your website you need to decide the how, what, and why of Websites. Teaching you how to create a website is beyond the scope of this blog post. You may however call my office and ask for a free consultation and I can guide your further.

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How to Set-Up Email with cPanel

lauramba — Fri, 17 Aug 2012 04:37:46 +0000

I provide cPanel software for my clients to manage their server account. cPanel is server administration software that makes it easy to perform the necessary tasks to maintain your server. Many clients want to manage their email accounts and/or want the ability to create, edit, and delete accounts without our assistance.

Intended Audience: Clients with maintenance agreement for hosting
Objective: Demonstrate how to create, edit and delete email accounts
Critical Information: This does not show HOW to manage your email accounts. That will be presented in a subsequent post.

Step 1. Login to your cPanel account. Access cPanel by pointing your browser to: http://yourdomainnamehere.com/cpanel. Your user name and password will be provided in your Client User Manual. The login page should look like the image at the top of this blog post. Step 2. Navigate to the email section of cpanel. This is the portion in the large green box in the main body of the cPanel home page. Select "Email Accounts". Please avoid making changes to the sections that are blacked out in the image below. Step 3. Complete the information in the red boxes shown in the image below. Enter the first part of your email address in part "A" . Select your domain name in part "B" and your password in part "C". Your email accounts will be listed as they are created.

Video on How to Set-Up Email with cPanel

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Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for Private Practices

lauramba — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 02:36:40 +0000

Writing effective copy is a very challenging job that has been made more difficult with the need to make the information search engine optimized. Search engine optimized (SEO) copywriting requires clear goals and precise keywords. If these keywords are used appropriately and in a clear manner, you will improve your search engine rankings. If you improve your search engine rankings you will increase the likelihood that your website will be “found” on the internet. Search engine optimization for private practices is based on the quality of the copy and the effective use of keywords. Some of the most expensive services on the internet are SEO services. A monthly package of SEO services typically starts at $1000 and goes up from there. Most private practices are not in a position to make that long-term hefty investment, and in most situations it simply is unwarranted. If your target market is in your local community there are more important strategies that can be used to get noticed on the internet.

Simple Steps to Writing SEO Copy

Page Title: The page title should contain your keyword(s) and should be a recommended minimum length of 40 characters.
URL: Your keyword(s) should appear in the URL, which can be made automatic with properly configured CMS.
Meta Description: Your meta description should contain your target keywords and be right around 155 characters. A meta description provides a short summary of the page which displays direction under your title in search engine results.
First Paragraph: The keyword should appear in the first paragraph of the copy and be sure to use short sentences to improve readability
Post Length and Keyword Frequency: Be sure to have at least 300 words in each article and use the keyword(s) at least three times in the body.
Media: The images and media that you place in posts and pages should include alt tags that contain your keyword(s)

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WordCamp San Francisco 2012

lauramba — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 04:26:43 +0000

WordCamp San Francisco 2012 took place August 7 and I was able to attend the streaming edition of the Camp. I purchased a ticket when they first became available and unfortunately as it turns out, was unable to attend in person so this was the next best thing. Naturally the most exciting presentation was the "State of the Word" by Matt Mullenweg. He did a great job walking us through the latest features of the software. I particularly enjoyed when he discussed the results of a study about how WordPress is being used and by whom. He had a diagram of the types of clients (not developers) who use WordPress. The largest segment of clients for WordPress sites are small business and individuals. The second group was non-profit, government, and education. I encourage you to visit the link below to watch that presentation at WordPress.tv. One thing I will mention is that the study found that 66% of responded used WordPress as a CMS. That is no surprise to me. Here are some of the sites he made reference to in the presentation.

I highly recommend you watch State of the Word on WordPress.tv http://wordpress.tv/2012/08/06/matt-mullenweg-state-of-the-word-2012/ Here is his slideshare presentation

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Health and Beauty Web Development

lauramba — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 19:47:59 +0000

I have begun work on a health and beauty eCommerce web development for a Bakersfield-based producer who is replacing two outdated websites. The goal with this development is to create a very clean and yet visually stunning site that has loads of functionality. The shopping cart that will be used with the site is powered by Ecwid, which will allow us to integrate the same store into many websites.

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Celebrity Website

lauramba — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 03:06:09 +0000

One morning while getting ready for work I saw a comedian performing in a musical video on the NBC Today Show. The video featured Nadya Ginsburg in her hit video "Al Roker Face".The video was so funny that when I got to work I searched out the comedian and found her on Facebook. I added her as a friend and began following her work. When I noticed her website was experiencing problems, I offered to help.

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Forensic Accountant

lauramba — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 02:06:02 +0000

I recently completed a project with a business professional with an interesting practice. The New Jersey based CPA firm provides business valuation and forensic accounting services. In addition to a CMS website, I provided data mining, data entry, and video production. [custom_frame_center][/custom_frame_center]

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Marketing Services

lauramba — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 03:26:48 +0000

I sold my first marketing plan to a health club in Northern California in 1987. Since that time I've done business under a few different names including Avalon M I S and Tea Leaf Media. I recently decided to simplify things and will now provide consulting services as Laura Scroggins. Since most of my clients knew my name before they knew the name of my company, I am confident it will be an easy transition. I hope to assign all contracts by the end of the year. As you might expect it is going to be a lengthy process but I welcome the change.

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Kirombo Opening Soon

lauramba — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 06:47:25 +0000

I am so excited to announce that I will be opening an online market place that will operate on the web at Kirombo.net. The site will be a portable market place for buyers and sellers of health and beauty products. I use the word portable but really what I am talking about is the ability to place one shopping cart into many websites. The shopping cart is maintained by me including adding descriptions, prices, pictures, processing the orders, and more. I have early commitments from two suppliers to provide products and have expressed interest on the part of two independent consultants who wish to operate their own portable market. A couple of weeks ago I produced a teaser video and posted it on YouTube. I had over 63,000 hits within days.

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Kirombo Opening Soon

lauramba — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 00:53:37 +0000

We are excited to release this YouTube commercial in anticipation of the grand opening of the health and beauty marketing services offered by Kirombo. Kirombo is a producer's rep group that provides a variety of sales and marketing services. You can visit Kirombo online.

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Rum Ice Cream

lauramba — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 05:59:50 +0000

Avalon M I S support lots of different type of media and since I love comic strips you will see all episodes of Black Ducks comic strips. The comic strips are authored by an artist named Izakowsk (country unknown).

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June’s Marketing Impact

lauramba — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 05:34:46 +0000

June's numbers for market reach reflect our efforts this month, focusing on AvalonMIS, SLObake, and 504Planner. We realized that we had a typo in May's numbers; these numbers are correct. The total we now we are reaching is over 49,000 combined followers. Clients rely upon Avalon M I S for their social media marketing needs. We can plan and implement your Tweets and blog posts.

Twitter Username	Followers	Tweets	Following	Visit
AvalonMIS	22,978	405	465	Visit on Twitter
TeaLeafMedia	2,485	140	97	Visit on Twitter
PlanetSLO	2,271	216	39	Visit on Twitter
QuickLanding	1,717	1041	1,212	Visit on Twitter
SLObake	4,209	210	129	Visit on Twitter
AvalonREM	4,381	190	143	Visit on Twitter
504Planner	6863	126	9	Visit on Twitter
Lyme Reporter	6	144	9	Visit on Twitter
ConciergeMBA	10	15	131	Visit on Twitter
Kirombo	4,216	553	43	Visit on Twitter
PracticeWorld	8	58	60	Visit on Twitter
MedClubSupplies	13	57	9	Visit on Twitter
DrupalTrainer	7	61	35	Visit on Twitter
TOTALS	49,164	3216	2381
*As of May 4, 2012

LinkedIn Market Reach

statistics as of today.
- 1st Connections: 1,368
- 2 Degrees: 965,100
- 3 Degrees away: 14,726,500

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Digital Media

lauramba — Thu, 21 Jun 2012 02:14:15 +0000

The beat of the Central Coast is captured by the online galleries that are on display at TeaLeafMedia.com. The photographs are from dozens of community events from San Francisco to San Diego. The galleries "People, Places, and Things" are a reflection of life in California. Be sure to enable your speakers as one of the galleries includes sound. [small_button text="View the Work" title="View the Work" url="http://tealeafmedia.com" align="right" target="_blank"]

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LinkedIn Security Breach

lauramba — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 10:04:15 +0000

If you have an account with LinkedIn you should read this email. The social network giant has had a major security breach in their password database and a file with 6.5 million hashed passwords appeared in a forum based in Russia. The posted file does not include user names or any other data, however that may mean that the hacker simply did not post that part of the stolen information.

It is advised that you change your LinkedIn password
Read this blog post at LinkedIn on best practices for your password

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Simple Instructions WordPress

lauramba — Wed, 30 May 2012 23:02:52 +0000

The following reference material is provided for your convenience

Create a Post

Log in to your WordPress Administration Panel (Dashboard) and go to your Dashboard
Click the Posts tab.
Click the Add New Sub Tab
Start filling in the blanks.
As needed, select a category, add tags, and make other selections from the sections below the post. Each of these sections is explained below.
When you are ready, click Publish.

Reference this information at WordPress.org:

"Writing Posts" at WordPress.org

Reference this information from Avalon M I S:

View this videos: Add a (blog) Post

Create a New Page

Log in to your WordPress installation with sufficient admin privileges to create new articles.
Select the Administration Dashboard.
Hover over Pages Menu.
Add new Page.

Reference this information at WordPress.org:

1. Dashboard

2. Posts

3. Submenu

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Project Planning

lauramba — Thu, 17 May 2012 15:55:00 +0000

Project Planning

Client and developer work together to define the project and project deliverables. Includes these steps: Requirements analysis

client goals, target audience, detailed feature requests and as much relevant information as you can possibly gather.

Project charter

summary of agreed upon information
define navigation
gain access to servers and build folder structure

Determine required software and resources

cms
plugins
designs
stock media

Mock-Up Design

The design stage involves taking the information gathered in the planning stage and creating a visual representation of a design or selecting an existing design. Design Elements Planning

confirm design requirements
identify design solutions to meet requirements

Mockup Developed

colors, sidebars, headers, menus, footers
logo requirements
media plan

Design Testing

elements are put into place and tested
necessary changes are made

Development

Content Management System Installed and Configured

plugins installed and configured
theme installed and configured
pages built
relationships developed (categories, tags, keywords)
porfolios created

Fill with Content

content provided by the client or writer are added
media is uploaded

Testing and Verifying

review all content
inspect and test plugins, widgets, and extensions

Project Launch

The purpose of the launch phase is to prepare the website for publication. This requires reviewing and testing design elements, interactivity and features and, user experience. Polishing

identify parts of the website that could be improved in small ways

Transfer and testing on live server

site is moved from development server to the live Web server
website goes through the final diagnostics

Final cross-browser check

Firefox, Chrome, Safari, Opera, iPhone, BlackBerry

Hand off to client

provide documentation for the website
copy of database and files
copyright assignment for created and purchased collateral

Project close, final documentation

final payment is due

The post Project Planning appeared first on lauramba.

LinkedIn Report

lauramba — Tue, 15 May 2012 01:17:20 +0000

Starting in June, I will include the LinkedIn network statistics with the market reach report. Here are my statistics as of today.

1st Connections: 1,353
2nd Connections: 966,000
3rd Connections: 14,909,600

Total users Laura Scroggins can contact through an Introduction: 15,877,100. My connection are in 267 locations and in 115 industries.

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Think Marketing Internet Solutions

lauramba — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:10:44 +0000

Have you ever wondered about the M I S in our company name? Originally, the MIS part of the name came from the acronym "management information systems", which is the initial intent for the company. Given that we create custom databases, project managers, CRMs and more we thought MIS was a good match. As time went on, the company began to focus more on marketing and less on management. Now, we are moving from management information systems (MIS) to marketing and internet solutions (M I S). Hope you enjoy this little commercial. The actor is a college student in the U.K. who is majoring in music and sound.

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10 Great WordPress Designs

lauramba — Wed, 09 May 2012 19:35:36 +0000

We are currently working with visual, media, and performance artists which influenced this month's 10 great WordPress Designs post. All the themes featured here can be customized to fit your unique needs. These designs have been tested by the WordPress community and have been awarded the highest ratings.

Many themes have an audio component so be sure your speakers are on.

Creatic

The Creatic theme provides visitors with a fresh, bold, and yet subtle front page that immediately engages me in the featured art, not the design. Creatic includes 12 portfolio templates to showcase your work, customizable front page, 15 color combinations, and tons of short code. This design is equally good for the writer, performance artist, and visual artist.

Duotive

Great for visual and performance artists offers lots of gorgeous galleries and displays. The Duotive theme comes with a color picker so you can make your own color scheme,18 predefined color schemes, 9 predefined fonts, custom sidebars and widgets, and more. This is a well respected theme with a great deal of built-in power and flexibility.

Xebax

This dynamic and bold full-screen theme supports video, 4 homepage options, unlimited sidebars, and unlimited backgrounds. The Xebax theme comes in 5 color schemes that are simple enough to showcase the art. The minute your site visitor lands at your site they are engaged in your media.

Chocolate

This full screen WordPress theme is offered by the Themeforest elite author Dream-Theme. The soft colors and Masonry-style fluid layout creates a unique design. You can add background effects to your images to create a unique visual presentation.

Inprofile

Stunning is the first word that comes to mind when I view this theme. inProfile is perfect for performance artists that want to grab the attention of site visitors. This fully responsive theme includes custom mobile and tablet themes, is SEO optimized, and advanced audio/video support for prettyPhoto lightbox.

Photolux

This clean design is perfect for the corporate creative that has lots of exciting media to display. Photolux includes advanced fullscreen slideshow functionality and fullscreen background images. The theme comes with three base skin choices: Dark, Light and Transparent. The masonry layout of blog posts and the option to disable right click copying of your media makes this a perfect fit for artists with important portfolios.

Studio Zen

Created by one of my favorite designers, Studio Zen has a couple of different displays that I think are outstanding. The full-screen slideshow and the portfolio slider gallery are great for visual artists that don't want to showcase their work.

Simpolio

The Simpolio is an elegant, bold, and exceptionally clean design with background video support, Flickr photostream ackground slideshow, fullscreen background slideshow or single image, and fullscreen background with 7 amazing effects. Perfect for performance and visual artists, you will never run out of room for your creativity. This is absolutely fabulous theme.

Delight

This theme comes with an impressive fullscreen slideshow, single image as background option, fullscreen video as background, and even fullscreen Google map as background. The Delight Theme includes portfolio galleries with lightbox effect and editable colors.

Brilliant

The Brilliant theme is a fully responsive theme that takes advantage of the full screen with a dynamic image slider. The theme is offered by themeton who has sold over 1500 licenses through Themeforest.net. The Brilliant theme comes with integrated Facebook comments, media post formats, and easy-to-select color options.

The post 10 Great WordPress Designs appeared first on lauramba.

May’s Market Reach

lauramba — Thu, 03 May 2012 00:54:51 +0000

May's numbers are in and the market reach of Twitter followers has grown significantly. The gains were a result of a marketing program that was implemented in mid April. In addition, Gina and I tweet on a regular basis and now we are reaching over 25,000 combined followers.

Twitter Username	Followers	Tweets	Following	Visit
AvalonMIS	12,891	349	444	Visit on Twitter
TeaLeafMedia	2,621	93	97	Visit on Twitter
PlanetSLO	2,268	167	37	Visit on Twitter
QuickLanding	1,774	1008	1,218	Visit on Twitter
SLObake	15	162	126	Visit on Twitter
AvalonREM	5,533	150	140	Visit on Twitter
504Planner	351	81	8	Visit on Twitter
Lyme Reporter	4	97	9	Visit on Twitter
ConciergeMBA	8	89	9	Visit on Twitter
Kirombo	8	490	33	Visit on Twitter
PracticeWorld	8	15	60	Visit on Twitter
MedClubSupplies	13	10	8	Visit on Twitter
DrupalTrainer	6	7	35	Visit on Twitter
TOTALS	25,502	2712	2186
*As of May 4, 2012

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In the Community

lauramba — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:23:43 +0000

Last week we released a new edition of TeaLeafMedia.com. It contains three slide show galleries: People, Places, and Things. The photos in the exhibit were taken in a variety of cities and were typically taken outdoors at community events. The slide shows have musical accompaniments, so be sure your speakers are on. Thank you for visiting our gallery. If you are looking for a photo that was taken by Avalon M I S, please visit the "About" page at TeaLeafMedia.com, where you will find instructions on how to download your free photograph.

The post In the Community appeared first on lauramba.

April’s Marketing Reach

lauramba — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:08:42 +0000

Recently I began taking statistics on the impact that Avalon M I S has on the Tweetosphere. Currently we tweet using a dozen different user names and the latest number of followers are staggering! Our statistics on our marketing reach will be periodically reported at this site.

Twitter Username	Followers	Tweets	Following
AvalonMIS	4533	337	438
TeaLeafMedia	2620	89	96
PlanetSLO	2266	164	36
QuickLanding	1774	1006	1217
SLObake	14	159	118
AvalonREM	69	148	136
504Planner	349	79	7
Lyme Reporter	2	95	8
ConciergeMBA	6	87	8
Kirombo	6	487	32
PracticeWorld	7	12	51
MedClubSupplies	11	7	7
TOTALS	11,646	2663	2147
*As of April 30, 2012

Exit Strategy

lauramba — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 17:46:15 +0000

Terminating Your Hosting

On occasion Avalon M I S parts-way with existing clients. This guide is designed to help clients find a new host and Web Developer.

Recommended Public Web Hosts

There are thousands of Web hosts that provide services to the general public. Avalon M I S only recommends Hostgator.

Information About Hostgator

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Free Mobile Edition

lauramba — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 05:29:42 +0000

Order a Quick CMS Website by June 16th and receive a Free mobile edition of your site. The mobile edition will be created with a mobile theme that is designed to better display your site's information with mobile devices.

What's Included:

Home Page
Blog or News
List of Services
Contact Form
About Us

Order any CMS Website including any Quick CMS site between today and June 16th, 2012 and get your free mobile edition.

The post Free Mobile Edition appeared first on lauramba.

504Planner.com

lauramba — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 05:01:54 +0000

504Planner.com is a pre-configured and populated website that is designed for lenders who offer SBA 504 loans. Purchase the site as-is, redesign, and/or change all the content. The choice is yours. Includes 80 published articles about the 504 loan program, 80 image files, published 504 rates for more than two years, and embedded SBA YouTube videos. The site is equipped with custom forms that can be used to produce a business plan that meets the requirements of the 504 loan program.

Getting Settled In

lauramba — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 17:03:09 +0000

The announcement that the SBBTC was closing was discouraging at first, but when I began to consider the possibilities I immediately saw this as an opportunity to move Avalon MIS closer to some important constituents. Over the last several months I have been working with several organizations that are in Northern California. A move further north in California would give me more "face time" with these clients. That is how I came to the decision to seek a new address, this time close to the State Capital. I am pleased to announce the new address for Avalon MIS:

Avalon MIS
777 Campus Commons Rd Suite 200
Sacramento, CA 95825

Please update your records to reflect this information. Thank you for all your support and we hope the transition has not been too much of an inconvenience to clients.

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Celebrity Website

lauramba — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 07:53:49 +0000

Actress, writer, and comedian Nadya Ginsburg trusted Avalon M I S to transform her old WordPress website with a new celebrity site that is designed to showcase her talent. We first saw Ms. Ginsburg on the MSNBC Today Show where she was interviewed in response of her "Al Roker" music video. Ms. Ginsburg needed a way to display her many videos, sell tickets to performances, and provide background and biographical information.

The post Celebrity Website appeared first on lauramba.

Drupal Joomla or WordPress Comparison

lauramba — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:58:01 +0000

Which Content Management System is Right For Your Organization? Each week my office gets calls from prospects who are making a decision between content management systems and are seeking my input on which to choose, Drupal Joomla or WordPress. Avalon M I S works with all the popular open source CMS brands whereas some digital marketing companies only work with one brand. It has taken me a few years to develop a practical set of tools that could help organizations choose the best CMS for their needs. The key is to identify the organization's needs and then look at each CMS in terms of the attributes that fill those needs. For example, if a client is seeking an eCommerce solution we start by defining all the requirements of the store including product, price, placement, and promotion. Drupal, Joomla, and WordPress There are hundreds, if not thousands of CMS applications that are available to download. The three brands that consistently get rated in the top three, five, or ten are Drupal®, Joomla®, and WordPress®. Avalon M I S works with all three applications and over the years we've consulted with lots of organizations/businesses that came to the conclusion that the CMS choice they made was the wrong choice. In some cases it is easy to reverse that decision and sometimes the replacement costs are significant. How to Choose the Right CMS The best way to start the decision is to consider the economics of the decision. In the matrix below you are presented with four different start-up companies, Bee, Sea, Dee, and E. The companies all sell widgets at $10 per widget and company Bee sells the least and E sells the most. The companies paid $5 per widget (cost of goods sold) which means they walk away with a gross margin of $5 per widget. Marketing and Technology Investment The next step in the decision making is to consider your digital marketing budget which includes building, hosting, and maintaining the site. Placement and promotional budgets are also taken into consideration since they are critical to your success. As you can see below, the Total Marketing Technology Investment is varied between $10k-$197k. The total marketing technology investment is the single most important number in that matrix. This number alone can be the defining consideration in your decision. That is where we begin our discussion with the client. Which CMS is Right There are many factors that should be considered when making your CMS decision. If you would like to complete our questionnaire please call our office at 805-709-2174 or send a message. There is not a charge for this service.

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Candidate Website

lauramba — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:59:04 +0000

This week Avalon M I S began work on a WordPress website for Congressional candidate Kim Letke. Letke is running in Baltimore, Maryland on the Democratic ticket. Thank you Kim for selecting Avalon M I S as your digital marketing partner.

The post Candidate Website appeared first on lauramba.

On-Demand Social Media

lauramba — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 05:18:02 +0000

Avalon M I S launched a new website and new services at ConciergeMBA.com. The website and services are in response to prospects and clients who are looking for affordable, on-demand social media and business services. The site is powered by WordPress and was developed to make it easy for prospects and clients to order and request services.

VISIT CONCIERGEMBA.COM

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Social Media for Candidates

lauramba — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 06:28:54 +0000

Quick Social Media Tips for Political Candidates

As the political season heats up it is time for some quick tips for your social media campaign. Here are 10 things that every candidate needs to do.

10 things that every candidate needs to do

Read this article that is published at Massachusetts-election-2010.com. It is full of important information and well worth the read.
Either create a CMS website or use Campaign Partner
Open a MailChimp account. Create a list called "Your Name for Congress".
Create a Facebook Page using PageModo. Start by logging into your Facebook account and then go to PageModo and select your plan.
Be sure to have one or more Twitter accounts and be diligent in following your strategy
Open a Flickr account for your photos and a You Tube account for your videos.
Create a PayPal account to accept donations
Make sure you complete your profile on LinkedIn and ASK for recommendations. Also consider LinkedIn Resume which takes your profile info and creates a resume effortlessly.
Go to a professional photographer who uses a digital camera. You will never regret this decision (you probably do not need any prints, just a copy of the files)
Develop a social media strategy that is responsive and proactive, and not reactive

The post Social Media for Candidates appeared first on lauramba.

New Way to Publish

lauramba — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:00:26 +0000

Avalon M I S is now publishing an online newspaper through Paper.li. The name of the publication is @Avalon M I S Today and it is an online publication made possible by Paper.li. @Avalon M I S Today organizes Twitter posts into a virtual paper for easy reading. Creating a free newspaper is easy at Paper.li and you have control over the content and the publication schedule. For example, the publication @Avalon M I S Today contains Twitter content from the company Twitter account and that of our followers. We also include video and media streaming content.

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Team Avalon M I S

lauramba — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 13:42:26 +0000

Avalon M I S is giving client’s a peek at the project manager site that we created and use to manage our many projects. TeamAvalonMIS.com is home of many client and internal projects and is our latest Drupal powered project manager site.

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Stop Censorship in USA

lauramba — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:21:44 +0000

On Wednesday Jan. 18th thousands of sites will go dark to protest SOPA & PIPA, two US bills racing through Congress that threaten prosperity, online security, and freedom of expression. The White House opposes the bill and announced last Friday that the legislation "reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet". The Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA) has faced tremendous opposition and today's Black Out is an indication of the attitudes of the companies in the digital marketing industry. Avalon M I S opposes SOPA and will go black for eight hours January 18th. Please join us by learning more about SOPA.

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Edit Content

lauramba — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 07:17:12 +0000

Editing content in a WordPress site is a snap. This short instructional video will give you the basics.

Simply click the image and the video will start playing.
Be sure to enlarge the video for best viewing

Video contains music.

The post Edit Content appeared first on lauramba.

Quick Twitter Strategy

lauramba — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 18:22:31 +0000

Busy professionals typically don't have the time to budget daily blogging and tweeting. One quick and easy approach is to implement a retweet strategy. A simple retweet strategy will help you create content and connect with others without much work. Watch this 40 second video to learn how to retweet. Click on the image to view the video or click here. http://vimeo.com/34852196

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Relay for Life Paso Robles

lauramba — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 21:24:42 +0000

The sponsors for the Paso Robles Relay for Life came to Avalon MIS when they needed a simple solution for their upcoming Relay for Life fundraiser. The Relay for Life is a fundraising event to benefit the American Cancer Society. It was our pleasure to donate Web services to help this worthy cause.

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Design Types Step 1

lauramba — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 23:20:25 +0000

Read This

To develop your site, please start by giving us a GENERAL SENSE of the type of design you prefer. Of the ten designs presented below please select 1-2 that you like the best. That gives us a general sense of the type of designs that will fit your needs. Based on your answers, you will be presented with 20-40 designs from which to choose. You can use the form at the bottom of the page to indicate your selection.

Design and Layout Choices

You can click on the images to see a larger version. To indicate your preface provide the names of one or more layouts that most closely fit with your needs.

Fixed Width, Fixed Header, and Fixed Menu

Bold and Media-Centric

Narrow Body with Wide Top Menu

No Header Side Menu Only

Strong Design

Strong Design with Subtle Content Areas

Strong Icons or Design Elements to Navigate

See left images such as Target Marketing

Strong Design with Pretty Colors

Quiet Design

Quite Design Strong Frontpage

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Blue vCard

lauramba — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 07:10:16 +0000

vCard personal websites are growing in popularity. This vCard personal site was completed for this business professional and delivered within 36 hours of receiving the order. If you don't have yourname.com vCard site, then it is time you do. Take a look at this month's special.

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Add Blog Post

lauramba — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 03:21:53 +0000

http://vimeo.com/32812494 For clients who are new to WordPress, this quick video shows you how to create a blog post. I hope you find it informative. Simply click on this icon and the play the video.

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Warm Hearts

lauramba — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 03:21:56 +0000

Avalon MIS is about to launch our latest brochure site for our friends at Cold Noses Warm Hearts. Cold Noses Warm Hearts is a non-profit organization that provides grooming, boarding, and placement services for dogs in-need. This Website is a simple website that is integrated with Craigslist so that when the staff announces a pet for adoption, it is automatically posted to the website. The site is completed and is planned to launch the first week of December. Project Deliverables:

Dynamic Drupal Website

Website: ColdNoses.org

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Interactive Training

lauramba — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 19:38:32 +0000

Training Technology

Your training is conducted using the technology (Websites and services) listed below. They are Internet dependent which means you need to be at a computer that has Internet access. PRIOR TO YOUR SESSION please open tabs or browsers for each Website or service. Log in TO ALL and have them ready on your desktop.

TRAINING SITE: A Website that is identical or nearly identical to your purchased Website
PRESENTATION SOFTWARE: Allows us to share our desktops
*KRYHA MEMBERS: Kryha eLearning Website members will receive a tour of the eLearning Website

** It is important that you are online and logged in TO ALL technologies PRIOR TO YOUR SESSION.

Instructions for Training Participants: Using Your Training Site

Your session training site location (URL), user name, and password will be provided in an email sent by your trainer at least 24 hours in advance.
Please login to your training site at least 8 hours in advance to make sure you have access.
If you have difficulties please contact your project manager and/or Avalon MIS instructor.

Instructions for Training Participants: Using Mikogo

** To attend a meeting with the Mikogo software, no installation or registration is required.

To participate in a session follow the instructions sent to you in an email from your instructor
The instructions will include a link to your online session, your session ID, password and a phone number to call

- OR -

Go to Mikogo.com and click on the "Join/Participate" button at the top right side
You will be directed to a screen "Session Login" where you enter the session ID and your name.
Your session ID and your name will be provided in an email sent you by your trainer at least 24 hours in advance.

About Mikogo Presentation Software

Mikogo is a free Remote Desktop tool for your Online Meeting, Web Conferencing & Remote Support needs. Share your screen with 10 people live over the Web.

Watch Instructions

Visit Mikogo.com to Learn More

The post Interactive Training appeared first on lauramba.

Connecting Point

lauramba — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 07:44:01 +0000

I attended the Sacramento's 2011 Regional Connecting Point event at the Citrus Heights Community Center and it "rocked". The event was energetic, great workshops, panel discussions, and tons of small business resources and networking opportunities. The sponsors included the Sacramento Public Agency Consortium, also known as SacPAC, the City of Citrus Heights, and the Citrus Heights Regional Chamber of Commerce. Personally I found the event to be a good use of my time and was far superior to the Gov Link conference that was produced the same week. Thank you SacPAC! [flickr-gallery mode="photoset" photoset="72157628185862909"]

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Quick Landing Websites

lauramba — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 05:23:42 +0000

The Quick Landing Websites were released in December 2011 at Quicklanding.com. These Websites are offered to small business owners who are interested in attractive, functional, and affordable Websites that are delivered in a short-period of time. Avalon MIS has been a leader in Website training for nearly a decade and are now offering new and redesigned Websites for small business. Website: QuickLanding.com

The post Quick Landing Websites appeared first on lauramba.

eLearning Package

lauramba — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 01:04:44 +0000

Avalon MIS is working on a white label eLearning project to provide training and documentation to a Fortune 500 company. The services that we are providing are white label, which means we are working as a sub-contractor on this project. The prime contractor is developing a Drupal powered Website and Avalon MIS is providing the documentation, instructor-led virtual training, and a modest eLearning Website. Project Deliverables

Online Learning Environment
65 Page Website Handbook
2 3-hour Interactive Training Sessions

The post eLearning Package appeared first on lauramba.

On Site Drupal Training

lauramba — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 10:52:39 +0000

Lucky me, I got to spend time this summer working on a university campus near the beach. I was providing planning and training for the development of a campus department Website. Project Deliverables

Offsite Group Training
Onsite Planning
Onsite Training
Onsite Drupal Co-DevelopmentSet featured image

The post On Site Drupal Training appeared first on lauramba.

Drupal Camp LA Presentation

lauramba — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 16:01:26 +0000

Drupal Camp LA was held at UC Irvine in Early August. This year Laura Scroggins made two presentations including "Huff, Puff, and Webonomics". This presentation was based on Laura's blog post that can be read here >> "Huff, Puff, and Webonomics". The second presentation was called "She Codes Like a Girl" which targeted women programmers who are active in the Drupal community and over the age of 40. This very small group of important and skilled women were asked to develop a list of skills and traits that they believed have helped with their career and to identify potential barriers that younger women programmers may still encounter. It was an interesting session. http://www.slideshare.net/lauramba/huff-puff-and-webonomics-8789255

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Project Work Flow

lauramba — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 14:51:15 +0000

Web Development Approach

The post Project Work Flow appeared first on lauramba.

Photography Website

lauramba — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 03:24:47 +0000

This talented and successful artist turned to Avalon MIS when she was making important strategic and marketing changes.

The post Photography Website appeared first on lauramba.

eLearning Package

lauramba — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:13:21 +0000

eLearning projects bring a certain amount of excitement to Avalon MIS, especially when the environment is supplemented with learning materials and interactive training. The client on this project is a large Web developer and SEO strategist who was awarded a contract to develop 12 Websites for a State government agency. The CMS developments are powered by Drupal, so Avalon MIS was hired to provide training and training material (collateral). ** Sub-Prime Contract Project Deliverables

Online Learning Environment
25 Page Website Handbook
10 Instructional Screencasts
20 3-hour Interactive Training Sessions
2 Page Quick Reference Guide

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Small Biz Site

lauramba — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 21:46:42 +0000

Dandy Dogs in Goleta California wanted an attractive and affordable Website that would helps clients find and contact her. She did not need online booking or eCommerce but did want an attractive and inviting site. Project Deliverables:

Multiple page Website
Includes
Contact Form
Google Map
Stock Photos
Slideshow

Website: DandyDogs.Biz

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AvalonREM.com

lauramba — Sun, 08 May 2011 10:31:49 +0000

Avalon Real Estate Management is a California licensed real estate brokerage firm specializing in commercial real estate management and residential property management. All financial and real estate services discussed at this site are provided by Avalon Real Estate Management. Website: http://AvalonREM.com

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WordCamp SF 2010

lauramba — Mon, 02 May 2011 20:54:00 +0000

Just got back from my first WordCamp and was inspired by my experience. I've attended Joomla® Camps and Drupal® Camps, and this was my favorite for many reasons. First I want to discuss the similarities. The venue was definitely packed with people who were eager to learn. There were some great speakers and overall I learned tons of information. Now, how were they different? WordCamp had more swag, more diversity, catered lunch, and great music. I was lucky enough to meet Matt Mullenweg who is the founding developer of WordPress®. As you probably know Matt was named #16 of the 50 most important people on the web by PC World® in 2007. Typically, I've limited my endeavors to Drupal® and Joomla®. When WordPress® 3.0 is released, that will change. The popular blog software is becoming more of an enterprise CMS, and 3.0 promises to be a big step in that direction. [flickr-gallery mode="photoset" photoset="72157623984121270"]

The post WordCamp SF 2010 appeared first on lauramba.

Web 2.0 Expo

lauramba — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 19:10:48 +0000

Had a great time at the Web 2.0 Expo and was particularly impressed with a young man who pitched open{subnet}. I searched the Internet and found the company Kiwi Commons who's mission is to "To provide the best Internet safety resources for parents, educators and youth workers across North America. To encourage proactive strategies for youth and online safety through education, discussion and community building." If I had kids, I would definitely check out this company's offerings. [flickr-gallery mode="photoset" photoset="'72157626259192707"]

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Joomla Day West 2010

lauramba — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 19:30:33 +0000

Looking forward to the upcoming Joomla! Day West at Ebay in San Jose. Good news, Allen "Gunner" Gunn will be the MC again this year! Sponsored by ebay, Microsoft, and the busy team at Kontent Design. Speakers this year include Andrew Eddie, Louis Landry, Ron Severdia, Paul Orwig, Ryan Ozimek, and Aaron Newton.

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504 Planner

lauramba — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 10:36:20 +0000

Finding and accessing financial information and resources is challenging for most small business owners. This is particularly true when you are considering the purchase of commercial property. The 504 Planner™ Website is a tool for small business owners who are considering the purchase of commercial property for their business. In particular to business owners who are considering a 504 loan from the U.S. Small Business Administration. [custom_frame_center][/custom_frame_center] Website: 504Planner.com

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Resource Manager

lauramba — Thu, 06 May 2010 21:22:51 +0000

This simple resource site was designed for a resource officer who had very simple needs. She wanted to start collecting links to natural resource and environmental sites. Project Deliverables

1 Brochure Website with Blog

The post Resource Manager appeared first on lauramba.

Theme Viewer

lauramba — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 07:02:38 +0000

Ready to view designs for your website? Please click the one of the Theme Viewers below . If you view the 50-80 sites that I've presented and you still do not see what you are looking for, please contact me.

Open a Theme Viewer

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Joomla Website

lauramba — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 21:12:18 +0000

Avalon MIS created a Website for this export compliance officer located in Santa Barbara, California. The attorney wanted something clean that minimized design to maximize the readability of the content. Project Deliverables

1 Brochure Website with Blog
Social Media Ready

Websites: L D H Enterprises

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Website and Photos

lauramba — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 19:42:20 +0000

The best way to demonstrate the features and benefits of your services is to "show" people. This Central Coast chiropractor decided photographs of her adjusting a two month old baby would be an effective way to communicate the gentle nature of her treatments. The mother and daughter were on the adjusting table together with the infant comfortably and safely in her mother's arms. ** The photo shoot took two staff members about an hour to set-up at the Doctor's office. Project Deliverables

On-Location Photo Shoot (grip and photographer)
50 Digital Color Photos
Domain Research
CMS Website

Website: DocJanet.com [flickr-gallery mode="photoset" photoset="72157623388482251"]

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San Diego Drupal Camp

lauramba — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 04:28:46 +0000

San Diego Drupal Camp 2009 attracted some amazing talent including: Andrew Root, Mike Stewart, Christoph Weber, and Karl Scheirer just to name a few. The camp was held at Platt College San Diego, a graphics art school in east SD. The room were comfortable and as with most camps were full of knowledgeable teachers and eager students. The volunteers who worked on SAND Camp should be congratulated on created an event that focused on learning. The classrooms were small enough that participants could easily interact with the session leaders and others in the room. The dark rooms made it easy to see the screen and the ease of parking was a plus. Thanks to all who contributed to SAND Camp; job well done! Thank you.

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Website for Attorney

lauramba — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 21:25:44 +0000

This busy attorney wanted to have a simple site to help clients and prospects find him online, to communicate his services, provide a quick bio, and give the site user critical contact information.

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Joomla Day S.F. 2008

lauramba — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 21:28:07 +0000

Had a great time and learned tons at this year's Joomla Day West. It was held at Google in Mountain View, which is a huge perk!

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Drupal Camp LA 2008

lauramba — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 21:46:05 +0000

I am excited to announce that I've been invited to speak at Drupal Camp LA 2008. This is the second annual DrupalCampLA and last year's event was fantastic. If you are a Drupal developer, designer, or end user this event is for you. If you've never been to a DrupalCamp here are a couple of pointers:

Register early and remember to bring a friend.
Be prepared to meet people and don't be shy.
Volunteer if possible.
Wear comfortable clothes, bring a light-weight laptop, and don't forget your camera.

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Web 2.0 Expo 2008

lauramba — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 20:52:23 +0000

What can I say ... it was a little overwhelming, in a very good way.

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Linux Expo

lauramba — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 04:12:26 +0000

My first Linux Expo was informative and easy to navigate, much like a good database. I arrived in Los Angeles early Saturday to a full parking lot. That is usually a good indicator that an expo is going to be successful. As I entered the expo registration area I was directed by a perky greeter who pointed me to the self check-in area. Within three minutes I moved through check-in, got my printed badge, bag, shirt, and schedule and was on my way into the expo floor. My favorite conversation was with one of the gentlemen involved in Haiku, an open-source desktop operating system. The program is still in development and not for production sites but sounds fascinating. Good luck to Haiku. I enjoyed meeting the fine folks at Silicon Mechanics who had one of the nicest booths, best T-shirts, great literature, and a good sales presentation. Oh, and they seem to have good products at a good rate. Bravo fellows, very professional. I attended Seth Kenlon presentation on Video Codecs and the Free World and found it interesting and informative. Seth is a video editor who helped me better understand everything from the economics of Codec (Code/Decode) to the "how-to" aspects of preparing and encoding video.

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Berkeley Drupal

lauramba — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 21:21:13 +0000

Just attended my first meeting of the Berkeley Drupal Users Group at the UC Berkeley campus. Thanks to Tao Starbow for making me feel welcome. I became interested in this particular user group after presenting at BADCamp 07. BADCamp attracted such an interesting and diverse crowd that I had to see if it was reflective of the Berkeley Drupal Users Group and I am happy to report it was! The most important information that I learned from this meeting was that each installed module will impact the speed and efficiency of your Drupal site. For me this reinforced that developers need to keep each installation as close to the core program as possible.

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Drupal Camp LA 2007

lauramba — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 21:30:09 +0000

Wow ... thank you to AOL for such a great venue and Crystal ... you rock! Some of the interesting things I learned at Camp Today: 1) Still more men in technology but wow, these were an amazing group of guys. 2) Drupal seems to attract smart, fun loving, collaborative folks who are eager to share and help out. 3) There are more opportunities than there are developers. 4) Developing modules may be easier than I thought. I am eager for tomorrow but will miss some very cool dudes.

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Joomla! Day West 2007

lauramba — Tue, 29 May 2007 21:19:50 +0000

Recently held in San Francisco Joomla! Day West 2007 was a great way for about 100 people to acquire new information on Joomla 1.5 and a great way to hook-up with Joomla resources.

Here are some of my thoughts after the unconference:

Allen Gunn flawlessly moderated the unconference.
iJoomla is a private company that creates Joomla modules. iJoomla products look terrific. Merav Knafo, the founder has tremendous commitment to her products and customers.
Ron Severdia shared PlayShakespear.com. Wow, he is an awesome presenter.
The unconference gave us the opportunity to see some cool publications and tools:
We were introduced to Joomla 1.5 which sounds marvelous, CiviCRM ,a plugin for managing relationships, and Andy from Rockethemegave us the "skinny" on templates.

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Website and Media

lauramba — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 19:52:06 +0000

Dr. Norma Davis is a professional management consultant that specializes in turn-arounds, project management, and enterprise resource planing. Dr. Davis had a Website but it was outdated and did not have good "curb appeal". Additionally, since her last name was not unique, it was hard for prospects to find her on the Internet. Project Deliverables

2 Small Brochure Websites with Blogs
Production: 2 Video Podcasts
Distribution: 2 Video Podcasts

Websites: Connective Edge Resources and VinoVice

Watch the Videos

Click the YouTube icons below to watch the videos [left_col]

Enterprise Resource Planning

[/left_col] [right_col]

Project Management

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FinancialFuture.com

lauramba — Sun, 28 Nov 1999 10:34:17 +0000

Financialfuture.com went into publication in 1997 when the Internet was just emerging as an important source of information. Since that timefinancialfuture.com has gone through many changes including transitioning from an html site to a CMS powered site.

Website: FinancialFuture.com

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Brave New Web

lauramba — Tue, 20 Apr 1999 19:30:20 +0000

FinancialFuture.com was featured in a cover article in Financial Planning Magazine® in 1999. That article begins with:

“One of Laura Scroggins clients is a woman living in Japan. The two women have never met, nor have they spoken on the phone.”

Official Magazine of the International Association of Financial Planning
"A Brave New World“
Click Here to View Article

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Recovering Site

lauramba — Fri, 30 Nov 1990 21:30:26 +0000

Recovering a Drupal 6.x Website that is "down" is quite easy if you are prepared. Here are my helpful steps on how to prepare for recovery if your site goes down. Click the icon to watch the video.

You will need a password to view this video. Please contact Avalon M I S to request the password.

http://vimeo.com/23171204

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