When storks Auto approached me about building an online store, they were already doing over $2k a month in Ebay sales. With all those sales come hefty fees from Ebay and PayPal. Storks Auto wanted to sell their products through their own online store and use Ebay as a means of driving traffic.

The first step of the project was to build the online store. Based on the needs of Storks and type of products that they sell, the Magento e-commerce platform was the perfect choice. BMull Consulting designers worked with Storks to decide on a design that would fit the style of the company and products.

Once the store was built, the next step was to create a document library that Storks could manage on their own. Storks Auto provides documents to customers that help them install plows and pumps on their trucks. Instead of sending them to manufacturer websites, Storks is building their own library of PDF’s reaping the inbound links which will help with search engine optimization. It keeps users on their site.

The store was launched in Dec of 2009. Storks is already using the PDF library and is loading new products into the store every day. BMull Consulting is available to help with new products and support.

- Custom Magento Store
- WordPress Based Document Library
- E-Commerce Web Hosting
- Ongoing Support

View website at http://www.storksauto.com

GRYP has grown tremendously in the past couple of years and it shows in both attendance and the effort members are putting forth to grow the organization. This particular event showcased the various committees that make up the Greater Reading Young Professionals. Each committee had an area where they explained what the committee does and how members can help.

Interested in attending a GRYP event? A complete schedule of events can be found on their website.

Epiphany needed a basic website that would explain their services as well as provide testimonials and complete information on partners. Budget was a major concern but the group wanted to make sure the website looked professional.

BMull Consulting helped Epiphany by creating a basic website that runs off WordPress, a popular blogging and website creation software. The website uses a template created by BMull Consulting which allows Epiphany to have a professional looking website that is easy to update and easy to manage.

The new website looks great and the final cost was well within their budget. 

- Website Strategy Consulting
- WordPress Installation
- WordPress Theme Design
- Website Hosting & Domain Management

BMull Consulting first consulted with Workplace Safety Trainers to determine a website map of necessary pages. The company had a rough idea of how the website should be laid out and provided ideas to BMull Consulting as a starting point. BMull Consulting designers took things a step further by redesigning the company logo and showing it one of our design comps. Workplace Safety Trainers management loved the new design and decided to use it as the primary company logo.

Now that the design was approved it was time to start building the website. Workplace Safety wanted to have the website developed using a content management system. This would allow for easier updates and overall website management. Based on the page count and complexity of the website, Joomla was the best content management system for the project.

Another major concern for Workplace Safety was search optimization. BMull Consulting developers optimized the website during the development process saving Workplace Safety Trainers time and money.

The new website has forms so that visitors can ask questions about products and services. BMull Consulting also integrated a low cost e-commerce solution that allows Workplace Safety Trainers to book training sessions right through the website.”

- Planning & Consulting
- Custom Website Design
- Joomla Content Management System
- Integrated Shopping Cart
- Basic Search Optimization
- Logo & Business Card Design

http://www.workplacesafetytrainers.com

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Call to actions are important because it prompts the user to do something. Take a look at your website. Does you home page direct the user? Do your product pages encourage someone to order or contact you for more information? Having the right call to actions can often make the difference between someone viewing your page and someone contacting you to do business.

Proper website design planning includes call to actions and where they will be placed within the website. It’s encouraged to place call to actions above the fold. You don’t want your call to actions buried at the bottom of the page. Another word of advice is to concentrate on one primary call to action per page.

There is no need to go over board. Moving images or blinking text is not the way to encourage viewers to move forward. Pop-up boxes are another tactic to avoid.

Use call to actions throughout your website and make sure the message is clear and consistent. Be sure to include a call to action at the end of your blogs or articles. It’s yet another chance to encourage a viewer to become a lead.

Mini contact forms are a great way to compliment a call to action. Small contact forms (shown here) are a great way for web viewers to ask questions about their specific needs.

Not sure if you website has the right call to actions? Contact metoday for a free consultation. I would be glad to take a look at your website to see how it could be improved. Feel free to email me at bryan@bmullconsulting.com or call me at 800-918-4828. That’s my call to action!

Goggle Works administration is looking for opinions on the top 5 ideas in the list of 50. Which ideas do you feel would work best for promoting and raising awareness of the Goggle Works? Feel free to post ideas in the comments box or email them to bryan@bmullconsulting.com.

50 Ways to Help the Goggle Works - Alan Shirk, Shirk Communications

1. Art Happy Hour. Perhaps with wine-tasting, dance music.

2. Install caboose on section of railroad tracks behind glass studio. Paint it bright colors (ala glassworks). Reading Technical society, which has a new museum in Hamburg, would probably help since it is great visibility for them and our railroad heritage. Plus-take a Ride on the Reading.

3. Paint This Neighborhood. Have summer camp kids, Lauer’s Park students, Olivets, YMCA, Boy Scouts, Girls Scouts, etc. join in helping neighbors to spruce up the GoggleWorks neighborhood.

4. Join with Community School of Music and the Arts-our major tenant-to offer dance classes at the GoggleWorks-ballroom, C&W, oldies, etc.

5. Create a Wall of Contributors and/or Wall of Members somewhere in the building. People could autograph it, put up and sign their own handprint. Or we could do a photo montage of portraits.

6. Put lights between the two buildings (Thorn street). Put lights in the crosswalk windows.

7. Replace the temporary sign on the roof with neon. Perhaps a co-op deal with a local sign company. Perhaps the sign company could start a neon school at the GoggleWorks.

8. Pre-1960 cartoon festival. Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, etc. We all need to laugh.

9. Finally place permanent signs at the elevators on the first floors. “Through this door, please explore, our second, third, fourth and fifth floors.”

10. Pa. Dutch Art Tour staring at the GoggleWorks-visitors would pay to see memories of Updike, Stevens, Bertoia, John Phillip Sousa, Michael Constantine, other sites and attractions, museum, Hopewell, Pagoda.

11. Consider joining all the other arts councils in Pennsylvania for cross-promotion, good will and other advantages. Why not host a PA arts council or state councils meeting?

12. Create annual 2 or 3-day Arts Expo at the GoggleWorks featuring arts suppliers, unique/unusual arts, aspiring musicians, celebrities and events also designed to encourage the public to attend.

13. Start a Berks and/or regional weekend workshop for art teachers. This could also offer art teachers a chance to show parents what their children are being taught and how we can help our children learn.

14. College Arts Career Fair-Berks and regional institutions.

15. Sponsor an Art Attack program similar to what David Guest ran at the Berks County Arts Council’s Gallery 20 in West Reading. Let him do it.

16. Do some coop exhibits with other local galleries, etc. Perhaps a single exhibit could include works at the GoggleWorks, Freedman, the Museum, etc. That way people would be encouraged to go to different places and allow us to greatly expand the scope of our exhibits. That might allow us to bring in bigger pieces.

17. Bring in experts in their fields with a connection to art, graphics, etc. For example, how do they detect counterfeit money, how easy is it to copy an undetectable version of a Van Gogh, what does it take to restore paintings, etc. Sort of like “How Do They Do It?” on TV.

18. Start a local academic talk series bringing in expert professors from our own local colleges whose skills and talents may go largely unrecognized. Perhaps panel discussions. This could be a lunch, or a Saturday morning, or a Sunday afternoon series.

19. Set up a special campaign to collect money to fix the elevator in the western corner. Instead of asking for general contributions at the front desk, perhaps we could target the elevator. Create a large wooden animal (in our woodshop), the GoggleWorks Gator with a large plastic stomach where children and parents could drop in money. I think giving kids the opportunity to think they are contributing directly would be good. Or make it some less expensive and more reachable item.

20. Prominently display our wish list where people can see it as they enter or leave. Spread the word among tenants, etc. about special things we need.

21. Blockbuster events. How about a Tony Curtis art exhibit with a Tony Curtis film festival? The goal of course to break even or make money. Why not shoot for the moon.

22. Show free cartoons, Westerns, serials etc. for on Saturday mornings. I think we could ask for donations.

23. Hold a conference for art/movie critics (newspapers, TV, radio). Pack it with good content, charge accordingly. One thing this will do, of course, is exposing the GoggleWorks to the media. Perhaps we could bring in people the caliber of Robert Osborne from TCM.

24. Create a small non-paid arts advisory board-educator, working artist, art institution, volunteer.

25. Encourage art teachers to spend some of their sabbaticals volunteering or working here.

26. Offer periodic lectures by locals or out-of-towners about famous Berks people in the arts and entertainment.

27. Try to land a major high-end film symposium.

28. Obtain a liquor license.

29. Establish a Friday or Saturday night World Café, perhaps tie in with WXPN.

30. See if we could partner with WFMZ, which is right across the street, to create an additional TV show, perhaps a half-hour and hosted by Gene Burkhart. This would expand our reach into the Lehigh Valley. WFMZ has been good to our community and us.

31. If it becomes available, consider broadcasting BCTV annual fund raiser from the GoggleWorks.

32. Possible Events-coin/currency shows, antique shows, collectibles events, stamp shows, comics, etc. provided our rental rates are competitive and we don’t compete with Expo Center.

33. PBS appraisal show here or imitation thereof. Bring in a high-caliber appraise like Noel Barrett. Perhaps we could use our WHYY connection.

34. Start a Berks art Hall of Fame.

35. Greatly expand our list of media for news releases. (Only about 50 as of 2/11/09)

36. Contact all NEA high school art teachers in Pennsylvania. A list like this is available, roughly half of names have e-mails. So it would cost next to nothing. Encourage them to visit, offer free 6-month membership.

37. Conference on the state of funding of the arts-local, state and national. Bring in someone like Jane Alexander?

38. Boy Scouts have art, graphic arts and music merit badges. The Girl Scouts and Brownies have several art and music. We could help them win them. A GoggleWorks chapter?

39. Let’s make our annual September gala more public. Have music on all 5 floors, bring in food vendors and let them take full responsibility, have working artists, other party activities/games, Reading police (in a positive way), etc. etc. Sort of like Holly Go-Lightly’s party in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. We could charge admission, do silent auctions, etc.

40. Produce an ongoing “An Art Moment” in cooperation with WEEU. This could talk about specific GoggleWorks, events, other important county art events, art in general. I’m sure we could do a trade off.

41. Arts sleepovers for kids. Or rent out space for art sleepovers-birthday parties, graduations, sweet 16, etc. Overnight Art Camp.

42. Set up an arts incubator fund with local businesses. Use contributions to buy supplies for schools, etc. This would not have to be expensive things, but basic items-even pencils and papers.

43. Add a countywide arts calendar to the GoggleWorks website. This has been a frustrating problem for so many years. The goal would be to give everyone a central place where they could find out what events might be taking place on a day they want to schedule one. Somewhat similar to Visit PA but much simpler. Say-Sunday, November 16. Reading Symphony Concert. Call 610-trumpet. Have it so that people could list their own events pending approval.

44. Build an art library-donated books-for art students K-12. Work with the Berks Libraries.

45. Convert the front part of the large room on the second floor to a “reading area” with comfortable furniture (donated) warm lighting. Could also rent this out for small, intimate meetings, other special events. Name it after a major contributor, famous Berks arts person, etc.

46. Have energy conservation with teeth.

47. Communicate much more strongly the need for everyone who works or visits the GoggleWorks to do everything they can as individuals to reduce costs. Offer a free class/free gift shop item to the best cost-saving idea of the month.

48. Think alternative energy. (A Paoli, PA consultant has promised to put together a basic proposal on the feasibility of solar power for the GoggleWorks. I will deliver that to all board members as soon as I receive it. Tim Lash has been extremely helpful with this.)

49. Create an annual wacky event that could involve students from the Berks colleges, other art organizations, the public etc. Something like a bed race with the beds decorated in the style of major artists-Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Warhol, etc. Could limit this to the parking lot or our neighborhood.

50. A suggestion box. People can sign or remain anonymous. Those visitors with the best suggestion (month?) who have signed their name can be given an award.

Step one for internet marketing is to get your business listed in the local directories of search engines. Most major search engines have business directories that are similar to white pages in a phone book. As more people use search engines to find new product and services, local business listings become increasingly important because they provide a direct means of connecting your business to local buyers.

So how do you get your business listed? You first need to identify the top players in online search. Most SEO professionals (including myself) focus on the top three search engines which are Google, Yahoo, and Bing (formerly MSN Live Search). Each of these search engines has local business listings and a means of submitting a new listing.

To make it easy, I have provided direct links for setting up local business listings for Google, Yahoo, and Bing. All you have to do is follow the links and fill out the forms. Each search engine has a method of verifying your business information. Some will send you a postcard in the mail with a confirmation number. Others will have you verify through email or other means.

Google – If you have a Google account, you can sign up for a local listing using your existing a log in and password. Google will send a postcard to verify your address.
https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?continue=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Flocal%2Fadd%2Fanalytics%3Fstoreid%3D7941842%26hl%3Den-US%26gl%3DUS&service=lbc&hl=en-US&gl=US

Yahoo – Yahoo has upgraded (paid) business listings but you can still sign up for a free listing.
http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/local/lbl.php

MSN Live Search (now Bing) – Formerly MSN Live Search, Bing is the newest of the search engines. Bing will send a letter confirming your address.
https://ssl.bing.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx

Two other popular online directories are Switchboard.com and Yelp. Switchboard.com was one of the first online phone books and Yelp allows people to write reviews of your business.

Switchboard.com – Online phone book that has been around for a number of years.
http://advertising.superpages.com/spportal/landingpages.do?splash=50&campaignId=swbd_addedit&SRC=switchboard&tsrc=SWBD

Yelp – People can write reviews on businesses.
https://www.yelp.com/login?return_url=%2Fwriteareview%2Fnewbiz%3Fsearch_loc%3DPhiladelphia%2C%2520PA

This video provides a great explanation of business listings along with tips on improving your pages and visibility.

If you have questions or concerns about setting up your local business listings, feel free to contact meat (800) 918-4828 or by email at bryan@bmullconsulting.com.

Small videos can show your customers (or potential customers) how to do something. For example, I am working with an online shelving retailer to create a “how to hang a shelf” video series explaining the basics of properly hanging a shelf in various applications. These videos will help educate customers and draw new customers looking for help hanging a shelf. In the past this could have been accomplished using photos and text, but why not show a video? If a picture is worth a thousand words, imagine the value of a video clip.

Another great use of online video is to show production capabilities. BMull Consulting is working with a steel company to produce several short videos showing their in-house production capabilities. These videos will be used on their website. Online capability videos have been around for years, but it’s yet another way that businesses are using video to enhance their online presence.

Video business cards are an increasingly popular form of online video marketing. These videos are 15-30 seconds in length and have a short dialogue featuring a spokesperson from the company. Video business cards are typically shot using a green screen to allow video editors to remove the background. The end result is an “interactive” business card. Here is a example video business card for BMull Consulting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vR4hhqE1lBs

If used properly, you can get a lot of mileage out of one video business card. One short video could be used on:

• Facebook & MySpace pages
• Embedded video on your website pages
• YouTube, Flickr, or Vimeo
• Email signatures – include a link to your video business card
• TV commercials

A great idea would be for the Reading Berks Chamber to create an online directory of video business cards for Reading Chamber members. Members could view videos of other members to get a feel for their company. Sure enough, I heard something similar is in the works.

Production costs for video business cards start at $695 with many features and upgrades available. Contact Bryan Mull today for more information or to schedule your video business card shoot at our studio in downtown Reading, PA.

By email at bryan@bmullconsulting.com or by phone at (800) 918-4828.

The previous Xcellerated Speed Training website had limited information on the company. A major concern for the new website was to make sure there were enough links and pages to properly describe what the company does. BMull Consulting worked with Xcellerated Speed Training to map out pages and the build the website in a manner that would allow for future page additions.

Xcellerated Speed recently created a new promotion video that owners wanted to show on the website. BMull Consulting converted the video to YouTube format and embedded the video on the home page, making it one of the first items a viewer sees when visiting the Xcellerated Speed Training website.

Trainers for Xcellerated Speed wanted to be able to update the website with news, game updates, and more. They also wanted a calendar to show upcoming events. BMull Consulting added a blog to the website which places sample posts on the home page. A 30-day style calendar was put in place with the ability for Xcellerated Speed to add dates and events.

They new website has been a huge success with clients and colleagues commenting on how they like the new design. Company owners like the ability to update the website content independently, eliminating the need to hire a web developer to make basic website updates.

Plans for the future include a paid membership section with work-out videos, nutritional guides, and more.

• Customized WordPress Theme
• Content Management System
• Integrated Blog & Monthly Calendar
• YouTube Video
• Flash Graphics

View the website at www.xspeedtraining.com

“BMull consulting has provided me with a comprehensive, professional website while maintaining a strict time line and cost-effective pricing. I get compliments all the time about the site and how well it was designed and the layout of the site. I would highly recommend BMull Consulting for anyone who is looking for a professional, experienced website designer with knowledge of the latest website design.”- Tony Sabanos, Xcellerated Speed Training

T-Bone and Al Jax Ween Poster

Tony and Allen are an extremely talented graphic design/illustration duo that has assisted me with numerous projects over the years. They currently own a video production studio located in Reading, PA where they write and produce their own sketch comedy show.

Congratulations Tony and Allen! See more examples of T-Bone and Aljaxx poster designs.