If you don’t have a website, you don’t have a business. This is fast becoming the cardinal rule in entrepreneurship. It’s not just about physical location, location, location, but also about web location. Can you be found online?

And before you argue that you have Facebook and Twitter pages, here is the important truth you need to know: Nothing establishes a business like a good-looking, informative website. Now that you know how important a website is, the next step is to set up one. And while you may not be the one to “actually” build your site, you still need to be involved, especially since you want it to be effective in selling your products and/or services.

Here are simple five steps you need to build the perfect website for your small business.

1. Decide on the domain name. This is not just the bunch of letters you type on your browser when surfing the Web. It is advisable to choose a name that has a description of your business. For instance, if your photography business is named after you, then you would want to settle with “anthonyphoto.com” or something similar. Plus, make sure it isn’t complicated or too hard to spell. Make it easy to recall - and sticky!

2. Emphasize your brand. A brand is not a logo or a bunch of colors. Instead, it is the impression or the feeling that people associate with your business. Your logo and the other design elements that you choose are merely tools to convey your brand. If you want your target customers to associate your brand with masculinity and luxury, for instance, then the look of your website should convey this.


3. Make sure it clearly shows what you offer. Sure, you create custom cakes. But aside from that, you should give other details. When you clearly spell out what you sell, clients become one step closer to paying you. So instead of simply attracting them with what you can give, inform them of the details such as the pricing and how they can order. 


4. Show them who you are. Without trust, there is no relationship. And what you want to build with your clients is a relationship that will go beyond a single purchase. Believe it or not, some people buy products and services just based on who the owner is. If they see that you can be trusted, then they will not hesitate to give you their money. Dedicate an About page that can easily be accessed from your Home page. Oh, and make sure it has a nice looking photo of you.


5. Include a Testimonials and Feedback page. Happy customers will surely be more than happy to let you know of your product/service and how much they love it. So let them rave. Set up a page where clients can submit feedback, good or bad. The raves can then be posted in another page, Testimonials, where your site visitors can be further convinced to try out your goods. The bad comments, well, should be addressed. The important thing is that you get to hear what clients have to say about your business so you can improve on certain areas and be more inspired to push through.


Infinite Flame Digital Solutions is a one-stop shop digital solutions provider who develops and continues to launch successful websites. We build web platforms based on our clients' business model where front end design is a key component of the formula. We do this with website profitability and sustainability in mind.

To help you get started, we can also provide online brand marketing in social media to help you achieve a fast ROI. Do let us know if you want to get started, we'll give you a free quotation. Start by telling us what you need by clicking here.


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About Christine Bitoon:
Christine is a web content writer from Manila, Philippines. She has been writing articles, copies and other web-published texts on various topics that range from travels to corporate life. When not working, she blogs about life at everyday-sunday.com.

You’ve read many articles on the topic. But this one is different, because I’m sharing my experience and what worked for me. It’s not a walk in the clouds, but I can guarantee that it works! At least for me. But hey, maybe it will work for you too! 

Here are the steps I took that led me from being fat to being fit and confident.

  • Make a decision. And stick to it. Anthony Robbins said “It is your decisions, and not your conditions, that determine your destiny.” I truly believe this so once I decided that I didn’t want to be fat anymore, I committed to it like a new employee eager to work in his new company. I started doing the right things since day one.        
                                                      
  • Set goals. This helped me become more realistic. I simply did not want to lose weight. I wanted to go from 215 to 150 pounds and I wanted to be healthier for myself, my kids and my wife. I want to be with them as long as I can and I knew that it won’t happen if I stayed the way I was.

  • Eat right. Check out the different options available for you. The Paleo diet worked well for me. In eight weeks, I already lost 30 pounds, and today after 5 months since I started, I’ve already lost a total of 45 pounds. That’s still 20 pounds away from my target weight, but I feel good, I don’t have hypertension anymore, and I can say I’m definitely healthier. I’d say you do it, but I’m not an expert on diet and nutrition. Check out PaleoDiet-Robbwolf.com for more information. I’ve also stopped drinking softdrinks and other drinks that are high in sugar. Moreover, I don’t eat rice, sweets, pasta and bread anymore.

  • Go all natural. You don’t need to take dietary supplements, pills or do weight loss treatments to lose weight, as I said earlier, just eat right and you’ll never go wrong. I feel good knowing that I achieved this 100% natural.

  • Exercise. There are two types of exercise that I regularly do: long and steady paced exercise such as walking and jogging; and fast paced high intensity workouts such as burpees and bodyweight training. I did different workouts for three months on an everyday basis to have better results, eventually joining Crossfit MNL in Libis.

  • Motivate yourself. Whenever I look at myself in the mirror and see that I am already losing weight and whenever people tell me that I'm looking better, I feel more inspired to go on. Weigh yourself every week like I did so that the progress is significant, as opposed to stepping on the scale every single day.

  • Change your lifestyle. Exercise and diet are a big part of my life now, and will remain to be so my whole life. Once you get the hang of this new lifestyle, you will find it easy to stick to it for the rest of your life. It feels so good to be fit!

       Do you want to be healthy and fit?  
Start now and feel good about yourself!



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About Cameron Hernandez:
Cameron has the natural ability to lead people having led and co-founded the secret organization of superheroes called C.L.A.W.S. when he was still in grade 2.  To hide his true identity, he manufactured and sold friendship bracelets and lucky necklaces. His expertise in sales led to a career as a Senior CD Executive in a multi-national company. He's now an entrepreneur,   motivational speaker, husband of 1 wife and a dad of 2 lovely girls and a handsome little boy.


Boo!!! Halloween is around the corner so get

those candy treats and tricks ready before the kids
start knocking in your doorstep, or your boss asks for those Halloween invitations.

While you're at it, we're sharing a few useful graphic images that you can use for web pages and card invitations this Halloween.

Time to veer away from those aging templates that you have in Microsoft PowerPoint or Publisher clip art galleries. With some minor editing to add texts (or cropping) in PowerPoint or Photoshop, these images can really look good. If you're feeling a little more creative, try out some new online photo editing applications. My personal favorite is iPiccy Photo Editor. It's available for free in Google Chrome as an App that you can use as long as you're online. Check out the other edited version of the image that I edited above using this cool app.

This ain't no Photoshop! :)
So quit whining because you're not a Photoshop whiz! There are a lot of cool photo editing software now that you can use even if you're not a pro.

Here are some of the sample images that you can download and use for free (including the image above):

Images courtesy of Hubspot


Download these, plus some more images by clicking on the icon below:


Follow us on Twitter and like our page in Facebook to get alerts when we share more useful free graphics, templates and tips soon.
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About Chico Gimenez:
Chico's entrepreneurial spirit was incited by online trading in tech communities. His enthusiasm led to a career as a full-time marketer in the IT industry and as a digital services marketing player. Nowadays, Chico tirelessly works to come up with remarkable landing pages and social media content. Given some free time, he will dig deep to spend it with his wife, two fantabulous daughters - and a dog who's an expert in Public Relations.




Life surprises us all the time. We never know what can move us to action until life finally happens. Who would ever have thought that several lines from a Hollywood movie would spell a big difference in my life. Definitely NOT ME. Until I watched Battleship. Until I heard these exact lines spoken by Alex Hopper’s brother, Commander Stone Hopper, in the movie Battleship:

“As from now, as of right this second- there’s a new dynamic in play. And this dynamic is the following: from here on till I say otherwise, there will be no more debate, no more discussion, no more compromise. It’s me speaking, you listening. Me saying, you doing. Do you understand that? It’s time for a new course of action. A new direction. A game change! You’re joining me in the navy.”

Battleship - Movie Photo
Scene from the movie Battleship - Alex Hopper (Taylor Kitsch) with Admiral Shane (Liam Neeson) 

I am not Alex Hopper. My brother is no Navy Captain and I never hit on the admiral’s daughter. Yet it seemed that I was Alex Hopper!

I am Cameron Hernandez, a husband and father of 3, whose goal has always been to give my family the very best. I resigned from my job of four years at one of the country’s leading multi-national companies to concentrate on the business I wanted to get involved in—a digital solutions company. On top of that, I would also help out in my family’s garments business. Thinking that I no longer had an 8 – 5 job, and that I had total control of my time, I would also be able to devote more time for my family.

Come to think of it, I was Alex Hopper, too, as there were many things in me that I wanted to correct. I needed to change my life for the better.

The businesses which I thought would keep me busy didn’t really keep me busy enough. Doing mostly online marketing for my start-up digital solutions business and meeting clients 2-3 x a week, left me idle on other days, giving me the perfect opportunity to watch all my favorite TV series, from Game of Thrones to Suits to The Walking Dead, while pigging out on all the food I can get my hands on. I can munch on three bags of popcorn and drink 1 liter of coke in just a couple of hours. I can eat 4-7 cups of rice in one mealtime. In a span of a year, from an obese weight of 195, I ended up being 215 pounds!

Then life happened and Battleship led me to a game change.

Battleship was shown almost a year ago. Two months after I watched it, I was offered a managerial job in an I.T. company, hitting my 3-month target in just my first month on the job. I felt closer to my family and my start-up business is slowly picking up. And believe it or not, I have started winning my battle against the bulge, losing a whopping 30 pounds in barely 8 weeks. My XXL shirts and size 38 pants are now too big for me to wear. The dosage of my hypertension meds have been cut in half. And to say that I am proud of myself for all these accomplishments so far would be an understatement.

How did I do all these aside from being motivated by the movie Battleship? I’ll let you in on a secret.

Follow my next blogs.

"The success you achieve is directly related to the steps you conceive" . - Todd Duncan

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About Cameron Hernandez:
Cameron has the natural ability to lead people having led and co-founded the secret organization of superheroes called C.L.A.W.S. when he was still in grade 2.  To hide his true identity, he manufactured and sold friendship bracelets and lucky necklaces. His expertise in sales led to a career as a Senior CD Executive in a multi-national company. He's now an entrepreneur,   motivational speaker, husband of 1 wife and a dad of 2 lovely girls and a handsome little boy.
The Book Sharing Project has just turned a year old. So aside from the Gubat October Swellfest (Oct. 11-13, 2013) , we wanted to check out the Library and how the students are doing in Rizal Elementary School, Gubat, Sorsogon. It is a great time to kick-start another project!, #SeedsOfHope and our Great BICOL Experience!
Seeds of Hope. Trees for Tomorrow.
Seeds of Hope. Trees for Tomorrow.
Chef Arvin Quilloy brought fruit-bearing trees for the Munting Gubat in Rizal Elementary School.
Our favorite Chef, Arvin Quilloy brought several boxes of seedlings of fruit-bearing trees for the Seeds of Hope Project in Gubat, Sorsogon. We rode a bus from Cubao to Legaspi, transported and transferred the seedlings several times before we reached the school. We didn't realize there were so many transfers until we got to the school. But all the effort was worth it when we saw how excited the students were to join us plant trees.


The Principal, Mr. Aldrin Estipona toured us around the school to see the plants the kids are taking care of. There are tomatoes, peppers, sitao, ampalaya, lemongrass, malunggay, peanuts, and much more! We were very happy to see the plants and to learn that the produce are usually cooked for their feeding program and/or given away to students to take home to their families.

I haven't really been out to see public schools lately, but I'm sure if every school would be like this, no school kid would to go hungry. After the short tour, Meg and I got a chance to chat with Emm Balabat. we learned that she came from the same school, but was not lucky enough to see books in their library. Thus, she talked to their alumni association with the help of Sir Aldrin. The Book Sharing Project continued the efforts of the community. With the help of the bloggers, donors and volunteers, the old room was renovated, bookshelves were built, and they were to put a wonderful collection of books available for the kids to read. They now have a real Library!

Book Sharing Project Anniversary 
Happy Library for the Students of Rizal Elementary School in Gubat, Sorsogon. Sir Aldrin, Matt, Emm, Meg, Elvie & Arvin.

After helping unpack the books donated by Lia M. del Castillo of DiksyonaryoAtbp, we started our tree planting. The kids hurried to help Arvin transfer the seedlings from the Principal's office to the Garden. The boys all wanted to dig the holes and immediately plant whichever tree they were holding. It was somewhat a happy chaotic start, but we all had fun! We really loved that the kids were so eager to participate, and were actually so excited to plant trees! Here are some snapshots:



I hope other kids would be inspired by the students of Rizal Elementary School.
They all wanted to plant their own trees!

The boys were so eager to plant trees!
Elementary Students rush towards the area where the 
Kalamansi seedlings were assinged to be planted.


#SeedsOfHope is a success! Thanks to the teachers of Rizal Elementary School, the kids have been made aware of the benefits of gardening and tree planting. We are confident that the seedlings will grow and produce fruits that the kids would eventually enjoy. 

These Grade 6 Students of Rizal Elementary School are role models for the youth! 
These Grade 6 Students of Rizal Elementary School are role models for the youth!

 I'm looking forward to join more activities like this when I travel. Knowing that the community values the assistance given to them is rewarding enough. But seeing them striving to improve the quality of their lives, and enjoying the process is a bonus! I hope other kids would be inspired by the students of Rizal Elementary School. I also hope that my fellow travelers would also take initiative in helping the communities they visit. One can start by sharing your knowledge by tutoring, planting a tree, or maybe helping in a feeding program in a local elementary school. I just love the idea of visiting a place, and leaving something good behind. 

If you love to travel and would like to help, let me know so I can update you on my next Volunteer trips and activities. 

#SeedsOfHope 
Travelers Will Change The World #SeedsOfHope

Related Articles: Nomadic Experiences: Book Sharing Project in Gubat, Sorsogon 


#SeedsOfHope 
The author about to plant her 1st tree for #SeedsOfHope.
Photo by: Meg Abano
#SeedsOfHope 
My friend, Meg helping one of the students plant Mandarin for #SeedsOfHope.

#SeedsOfHope 
Arvin, Elvie, Meg and James harvesting chili peppers for dinner!
Photo by: Aldrin Estipona

Guest blogger Ael Manlulu originally posted this article in her blog page- bossael.com

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About Ael Manlulu:
Ael was able to rise above the ranks in a call center in just a short span of time. Thus, she was also known as Boss Ael. She loved her work and was able to share her knowledge; but she also longed for work-life balance that's typically not available to to those in the BPO Industry. She's now trying to rearrange her life while enjoying Photography, Adventure, and (non-spicy) Food. She's also into sports and Travelling with a Purpose.
Image courtesy of Hubspot

I still remember the day not so long ago when I had to walk more than 5 kilometers just to go to my friend’s house to borrow money from him. I didn’t have the money to pay for the 2 jeepney rides that I had to take that’s why the only thing that I could do was walk. I was in first year college and our mom, who was our breadwinner at that time, passed away and left us on our own. My siblings and I were having a hard time coping emotionally and financially. While walking, I was so miserable because of everything that was happening. I thought that walking for 5 kilometers back then was the worst thing that could ever happen, but it wasn't. To make things worse, it rained so hard and I was drenched in water. This didn't stop me though, I still kept on walking. 

I finally arrived at my friend’s house and he was shocked to see me drenched by the rain. Without finding any proper way of saying it, all I could say was “Can I borrow money from you?” After saying those words, I just bursted into tears.

That day, I decided that I will never experience that again. I will never have my future family experience that kind of thing, and I will work really hard so that I can give my future family not only the emotional support that they need but the financial support as well. I became hungry for learning. I read books, attended seminars and listened to audio books. I also worked while studying to earn money and to gain knowledge and experience. I became a Credit Card Sales Agent, Musician, Barista, Drum Teacher, Computer Teacher, Networker, Insurance Agent, Call Center Agent, Quality Assurance Specialist, a Customer Development Executive in a multi-national company and now a business owner and a motivational speaker.

I achieved all these because I wanted to change my life and I did it. I wanted to become successful. Even now, I want to improve myself and my life that’s why I’m always trying to learn new things.  

In this blog, I’ll share some important lessons that I’ve learned from books, videos, work and life experiences that I’ve used to improve my life.

This is my recipe for success! It constantly reminds me that I need to have the right ingredients and steps to follow that will eventually lead me to be successful. And I would certainly like to see it served at a buffet table.

As an entrepreneur, you need to find a motivation from within in order to succeed. It can never come from other people. After all, they're not paying you to make things harder for yourself when you have an option to just to get employed.

What is your recipe for success? Feel free to share your thoughts and ideas.

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About Cameron Hernandez:
Cameron has the natural ability to lead people having led and co-founded the secret organization of superheroes called C.L.A.W.S. when he was still in grade 2.  To hide his true identity, he manufactured and sold friendship bracelets and lucky necklaces. His expertise in sales led to a career as a Senior CD Executive in a multi-national company. He's now an entrepreneur,   motivational speaker, husband of 1 wife and a dad of 2 lovely girls and a handsome little boy.


Dan Haseltine of Jars of Clay collaborates with one of its original founders, Matt Bronleewe,  to form a new group who call themselves The Hawk in Paris.

This group reminds me of Depeche Mode, China Crisis, and of course JOC while it gives the 80's new wave sound a whole new definition.

Yet again, Dan's lyrical approach to songwriting will make you love this group even more. Hit on Play or download the free songs below (all cool remixes of their originals) and head on to Noisetrade to donate and support their group.





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About Chico Gimenez:
Chico's entrepreneurial spirit was incited by online trading in tech communities. His enthusiasm led to a career as a full-time marketer in the IT industry and as a digital services marketing player. Nowadays, Chico tirelessly works to come up with remarkable landing pages and social media content. Given some free time, he will dig deep to spend it with his wife, two fantabulous daughters - and a dog who's an expert in Public Relations.
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