Life Is Local is a web design and marketing firm dedicated to helping local businesses make the most of their opportunities in today’s web-connected world. Life Is Local sites are designed as an extension of your marketing efforts, not a placeholder on the Internet.

GiftOver the past couple of weeks, I’ve been busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest.  Or, perhaps to be a bit more politically correct, busier than a new mother with triplets (although with the Octomom and all…).

I started Life Is Local, my web design and local marketing business in earnest about five months ago.  And when I started, I decided to use this blog as the focal point of all my sales and marketing efforts, with no advertising whatsoever and the only “marketing” is some search engine optimization (SEO) for the website (which is easy with WordPress).

Despite the lack of advertising and marketing, I’m working on six different web design projects right now, with a possibility of working on a very large project by partnering with another web firm. So where did all this business come from? 

NETWORKING!

[click to continue…]

Chris Brogan is one of my “go-to” guys for social media information, and he always delivers.  Here’s an interview he created as part of his
Kitchen Table Talks series:

In this video, Chris interviews Joe Sorge (spelling?), the owner of AJ Bombers, a restaurant in Milwaukee, WI.  Basically, Joe credits Twitter with building his business at AJ Bombers and two of his other restaurants.  He uses Twitter to promote and he encourages people to follow the AJ Bombers Twitter feed by making it noticeable on the menus and more.  There’s even Twitter graffiti scribbled on the walls of the restaurant!

Watch the video and look for ideas on how you can bring Twitter to your business.

Top 8 Ways to Use Social Media

Just found this great video via Alltop (Guy Kawasaki’s media aggregation site – check it out!) by Lewis Howes on the “Top 8 Ways to Use Social Media.”  Here’s the video:

For anyone (myself included) who is really trying to get a handle on this social media thing, and wants to really learn and engage those [...]

Click here to continue reading →

Marketing Lessons from Guitar Class

Over the past year, my son and I have been taking guitar lessons.  It’s been a great deal of fun, and at my age, it’s been a tough road.  My brain isn’t quite as nimble as my son’s (who is only 11), and I have a lot of things I have to un-learn before I [...]

Click here to continue reading →

SEO Basic for Local Business

I received an email from someone who is looking to update their website this past week, so I took at look at their existing site.  And what I saw really made me angry, especially from the perspective of search engine optimization.  Their existing website was a horrible example of what works for SEO today (especially [...]

Click here to continue reading →

Top Web Design Trends for Small Businesses

I came across an excellent post about the “Top Web Design Trends for Small Businesses in 2010” on the Small Business Trends website (strangely enough!).  In the post, Shashi Bellamkonda writes about what he believes will be the big trends for successful small businesses during 2010.  And, I feel like I’ve been ripped off!  But [...]

Click here to continue reading →

30-Day Social Media Makeover

I’ve just started Luckie & Company’s “30-Day Social Media Makeover” and so far, the content has been great.  This Social Media Makeover offers a daily tip designed to:

Clean up the clutter.
Get you feeling re-energized and productive.
Improve your search presence and bring continuity to your online identity.
Expand how you see social media, and maybe even try [...]

Click here to continue reading →

Top 6 Plugins for the Backend

It’s WordPress Wednesday, and it’s getting late, so I wanted to do a quick post about my Top 6 favorite plugins for the backend of my WordPress installation – the things that aren’t obvious but make a big difference in the reliability and effectiveness of your site.  So, instead of a big preamble, here they [...]

Click here to continue reading →