Tribal Core :: Online Strategy, Web Marketing - Ojai, California

who is in your tribal core?

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 12:00:00 -0800

Around every business, every artist, every great idea sprouts a tribal core. Your tribal core is the loyal group of advocates that is developed by providing quality content and superior service. The members of the tribal core are engaged beyond most clients, customers or fans: they spread the word because they believe in you and what you are all about. Tribal Core makes the connection between technology and community - finding, building and nurturing your tribal core.

strategy: identify and build your tribal core

Mon, 22 Dec 2008 12:00:00 -0800

Identify your target audience, customers and clients. We help you focus on who you need to reach, and how to reach them. A well-executed campaign combining elements of search engine optimization, business blogging, inbound link program, affiliate program, targeted pay-per-click and offline advertising will result in exposure and traffic from the right crowd. Build your tribal core. Collect information in creative ways: newsletters, surveys, contests, white papers, free music. Communicate with these people, offering them content, products and service commensurate with their value to you and importance to the success of your enterprise.

community: nurturing your advocates

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 12:00:00 -0800

Nurture your advocates. Know all your best customers by name. Provide above-and-beyond incentives and surprises to the tribal core. A small business may invite the best clients down for a Friday afternoon barbeque or an evening of live jazz. A band may offer a full-length show available for free download to street team members. A retail site may offer added incentives to the best affiliates. The people that are well cultivated and treated with respect become the very foundation of your growing business.

technology: form follows function

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 12:00:00 -0800

On a macro level, technology is the great enabler of community, communication and commerce. Your fans, customers, clients and advocates are out there - technology enables you to find them, help them find you, and build an ongoing relationship. On a nuts-and-bolts level, the technology you select and deploy should always be selected with your goals in mind. Technology works best when its transparent, allowing a visitor to get what they need quickly and efficiently.

serving ventura county and santa barbara county

Sat, 20 Dec 2008 10:00:00 -0800

We understand the needs of businesses small, medium and large, operating in the greater Ventura and Santa Barbara areas. If you need Ventura web design or Santa Barbara web design, give us a call at 805-715-9694. We encourage you to shop around and consider all of your options, but in the end, we know our superior service and combined website design and marketing packages will be a perfect fit for many businesses looking to establish or expand their internet presence.

Hello, Anchorage!

Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:00:46 -0800

Dear members of the American Marketing Association and the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce: I am very pleased to have been invited to speak to your organizations. I will be presenting a luncheon and seminar to the AMA on September 13th, and a breakfast presentation to the Chamber on September 18th. My goal is to help you do business successfully online. In the broadest sense, we will look at how to get traffic to your website, and how to convert visitors into customers, clients and advocates. We will take a look at a lot of websites, learn how you can do search engine optimization, talk about incoming links, develop your content strategy, explore pay-per-click advertising and much more. If you are attending one of the meetings, and have a specific question you want addressed or want your site to be used as an example (I'll be gentle :) , please email me: tyler@tribalcore.com. I'm looking forward to meeting you! Regards, Tyler Suchman 805-715-9694

American Marketing Association - September 13th

“Beyond Dot Com - Seminar” Luncheon Presentation - 11:45pm - 1:00pm Is There Anybody Out There?" : luncheon presentation Topics include: 1) Contact Us: Capturing Emails, Contact Forms, 800 Numbers and Live Chat 2) Assumptions: Don't Assume Your Visitors Start On Your Home Page 3) Newsletters: Content, Layout, Frequency, Demographics and the Best Solution 4) Best Practices: What Process Is In Place, and How You Can Improve It Seminar Presentation - 1:00pm - 3:00pm "Beyond Dot Com" : seminar presentation Topics include: 1) Website Basics - How to Dissect a Website, How You Update Content, and Business Basics 2) Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - How to Do it Yourself Quick and Dirty, and How to Measure Results 3) Incoming Links - Strategy for Search Engines, Directories, Blog Networks and Your Online Neighborhood 4) Content Strategy - PR, Evergreen Articles, Business Blogging and Why It's Important 5) Pay-Per-Click - High-Level How-To on Google AdWords and Shopping Networks 6) Website Dissection - 3:00pm - 4:00pm (included in seminar) Please let us know if you would like Tyler to dissect “YOUR” website! Email your request to Debbie Rinckey at drinckey@mtaonline.net

Anchorage Chamber of Commerce - September 18th

Using the Internet to Make Your Business Boom September 18, 2007 Networking Breakfast – 7:30 a.m. Presentation – 8 a.m. The Anchorage Chamber of Commerce brings you the nationally renowned speaker Tyler Suchman, an internet strategist and web marketing expert. Suchman will demystify doing business online and provide implementable strategies for enhancing your internet presence. Whether you are launching your online business platform, looking for an edge on your competition or wanting to maximize your online appeal, Suchman will empower you with the knowledge to instantly impact your business. Founder of Tribal Core, Suchman provides internet strategy and web marketing services to businesses nationwide. His innovative, process-orientated approach to integrating the internet into every facet of business operations has awarded him features in numerous publications. Join us for a fast-paced, customized roadmap to doing business successfully online. Visit www.anchoragechamber.org or call (907) 272-2401 for reservations. RSVP deadline is September 13, 5 p.m.

Adding Video to your Entries

Tue, 29 May 2007 12:00:00 -0800

To add video to your site, it is highly recommended that you use one of the online video hosting services and then embed that video in your own entry. YouTube uses an embedded Flash player, which means they host the video, pay for the bandwidth and serve up the file which will appear "embedded" in your website. If you want to embed someone else's video in your entry, go to the YouTube page you want, and then look to the right of the video, and you'll see a box that is labeled Embed. In the Embed box is code that you can copy and paste into your blog post. If you want to embed your own video in your entry, you'll need to create an account at YouTube or another video hosting service, upload your video, and then use the Embed code as detailed above. blip.tv and some other sites have similar code for you. You can only embed video/animation if the hosting service provides that kind of embed code.

Managing Categories

Mon, 28 May 2007 08:00:00 -0800

Your content is grouped into categories. This makes it easier for your visitors, and also allows you to group entries onto pages or in sections. To modify categories, follow the directions.

From the Main Menu, under My Weblogs, click the Title of your website
In the left column, click Categories
To add a new top level category, click "Create new top level category"
To add a new sub-category, click "Create" next to the parent category, under which the new sub-category will reside

If your categories have been set up with numbers, i.e. 1 - Socks, 2 - Shoes, 3 - Pants, etc., then the category names being displayed on your site are actually the Category Description

to reorder categories, simply change the numbers, by clicking on a category, and changing the Label.
To add a new top level category, click "Create new top level category"
To add a new sub-category, click "Create" next to the parent category, under which the new sub-category will reside
click the new category to edit it, and treat the Description box as the display name

Changing settings for comments

Mon, 28 May 2007 08:00:00 -0800

If your website is set up as a blog, then you can accept comments for each of your entries. How those comments are processed is flexible. For instance, you might like comments to simply appear, or to be moderated by you, or you would prefer to receive email notification. Following are some instructions on changing settings.

From the Main Menu, under My Weblogs, click the Title of your website
In the left column, click Settings
In the middle section, click Feedback (you might need to click "Switch to Advanced Settings, if you don't see the Feedback tab)
In the first box, it is generally easiest to accept comments from anyone. Or you can require that people register an account. If you accept comments from anyone, you can still control what goes live on the website
Immediately publish comments from: this section controls levels of authentication. If you choose "Anyone", then conversation on your site is facilitated, but you will receive more spam on your site, which can be cleaned up and controlled to some degree.
Email notification should notify the author of the entry that received a comment.

Adding Images to Your Entry

Mon, 28 May 2007 06:00:00 -0800

There are two basic ways to display your .jpg or .gif image. The first way is to embed a relatively large image directly into the post ("embedded image"). The second way is to include a smaller "thumbnail" image, and when clicked it creates a pop-up window with the larger version of the image ("pop-up image"). If your image is big, like a photo from a digital camera, you'll need to resize it using your graphics editing program. Depending on the template for your website, the image that you create for your blog post should generally be no wider than 450 pixels at 72 dpi. This will work well for both embedded images and pop-up images.

Adding a larger embedded image to an entry

Mon, 28 May 2007 04:00:00 -0800

Create a new entry, or Edit an existing entry
Select Upload File from the menu on the left (its a popup window)
Select Browse, and choose an image from your hard drive
For Choose a Destination, always select and type: images
Select Upload
Select the "Show me the HTML" radio button
Leave "create a thumbnail" unchecked
Select Embedded Image
When it shows you the HTML code, remove align="left"
Select the HTML in the box, Copy it (Ctrl+C on a PC)
Don't close the window yet, in case you didn't copy it properly
Go back to the main window
Put your cursor in the post where you want your image.
Paste the HTML code (Ctrl+V on a PC)
Add/modify any advanced options, below
Save or Preview your post

advanced options

fill in your alt tag. Look in the HTML you pasted, you'll see a tag that says alt=" " . In between the quotes, put something descriptive about your image, such as alt="blue widget description" This is important for sight-impaired visitors, text-only browsers, some cell phones and others with limited access.
align the image. The default HTML code is currently set to align="left", which means that text will appear on the right of the image, and wrap around it. If your embedded image is 450 pixels or so, you could center it in the column, by changing the tag to align="center", or simply delete the align="" tag entirely.
change the border. The default HTML code is currently set to border="1" , which puts a thin 1-pixel black border around your image. Create a thicker border by putting a higher number, border="4" , or eliminate the border altogether, border="0"
If you place an embedded image, it could come before or after a paragraph of descriptive text. Remember that a search engine won't recognize the text on a graphic, so including some descriptive text will get better results on searches.

Adding a smaller pop-up image to an entry

Mon, 28 May 2007 02:00:00 -0800

Create a new entry, or Edit an existing entry
Select Upload File from the menu on the left (its a popup window)
Select Browse, and choose an image from your hard drive
For Choose a Destination, always select and type: images
Select Upload
Select the "Show me the HTML" radio button
Select the "create a thumbnail" checkbox
Keep "Constrain proportions" checked
Resize the Width only, Height will resize automatically. Recommended Width: 80 pixels for portrait (tall) images and 100 pixels for landscape (long) images
Select Popup Image
Select the HTML in the box, Copy it (Ctrl+C on a PC)
Don't close the window yet, in case you didn't copy it properly
Go back to the main window
Put your cursor in the post where you want your image. If you want text to wrap around your image, put your cursor just before the first word at the beginning of a paragraph. Use align="left" or align="right" (see advanced options below)
Paste the HTML code (Ctrl+V on a PC)
Add/modify any advanced options, below
Save or Preview your post

advanced options

note that the code you've pasted into your post includes a link surrounding a tag. All of the following advanced options modify just the middle code for the image itself, which will look like the following. Note also the beginning and ending < ... /> to denote where this tag begins and ends.
fill in your alt tag. Look in the HTML you pasted, you'll see a tag that says alt=" " . In between the quotes, put something descriptive about your image, such as alt="green widget description" This is important for blind visitors, text-only browsers, some cell phones and others with limited access.
align the image. The default HTML code may not include an align=" " tag, or it may be currently set to align="left", which means that text will appear on the right of the image, and wrap around it. You could place the image on the right side, and have the text on the left wrapping around the image, by changing the tag to align="right"
adjust the positioning. hspace="5" creates a buffer of five blank pixels on the left and right (horizontal) sides of the image. This is so text does not crowd right up to the image. vspace="5" creates a buffer of five blank pixels on the top and bottom (vertical) sides of the image. You can adjust the numbers to reposition your image relative to the text around it.
change the border. The default HTML code is currently set to border="1" , which puts a thin 1-pixel black border around your image. Create a thicker border by putting a higher number, border="3" , or eliminate the border altogether, border="0"

troubleshooting images

Sun, 27 May 2007 22:00:00 -0800

Issue: if you post a few thumbnails next to each other, they may stagger down like steps. This is not intuitive and hard to read, but it is an easy fix. When you have two or more pop-up images next to each other, as one set of tags ends, the other begins. The end of the first and beginning of the second are in yellow below.

href="http://www.ojaigarden.com/images/IMG_0960s1.shtml" onclick="window.open ('http://www.ojaigarden.com/images/IMG_0960s1.shtml', 'popup', 'width=449, height=337, scrollbars=no, resizable=no, toolbar=no, directories=no, location=no, menubar=no, status=no, left=0, top=0'); return false">

BUT, the way that HTML works is that if you have 1 or 7 or 1000 spaces between tags, that counts as one space. So a single space gets added between each sets of tags, and thus the formatting on the pictures displays poorly. So simply remove the extra spaces between the tags, and voila:

href="http://www.ojaigarden.com/images/IMG_0960s1.shtml" onclick="window.open ('http://www.ojaigarden.com/images/IMG_0960s1.shtml', 'popup', 'width=449, height=337, scrollbars=no, resizable=no, toolbar=no, directories=no, location=no, menubar=no, status=no, left=0, top=0'); return false">

Create a New Entry

Sun, 27 May 2007 20:00:00 -0800

Click Main Menu at the very top of the page in the middle
In the section in the middle of the Main Menu ("Your Site Name"), click "Create a new entry on this weblog"
Do your thing! Title: Title of the post Categories: choose one from the drop-down list Entry body: only the first one or two paragraphs Extended Entry: everything else in your post Use the buttons above the Entry Body and Extended Entry sections to select text and then bold, italicize, underline, create hyperlinks, email addresses and quoting passages.
The last button, for quoting passages, or blockquotes, will create text that is indented and highlighted (like this text!). Note that a blockquote will appear different depending on your template, so on your site it won't necessarily be in a dark red box like this text. Modify the style sheet to change your blockquote formatting.
Keywords: The Keywords field can hold whatever type of data you want to put in it; it is geared for holding metadata or keywords about your entry, and is not normally displayed publicly on the website.
Tags: use a few keywords or keyword phrases (2 or more words) to describe the contents of the entry. This will be very helpful for search engine optimization and for context on third-party social bookmarking sites such as Digg, Technorati and Del.icio.us. Read more about tags on the Category page of this manual.
When ready to Preview or Save, scroll to the bottom.
Post Status: Published means that it will go live immediately, even if the time listed in the Authored On box is in the future. Simply hitting Save will then push the post live. Depending on whether your website is set up as a blog or not, your entries may contain a visible date stamp, such as "posted on April 20, 2007".
If you go back an hour later, and edit an entry, saving it without changing the time listed in the Authored On box will result in it re-posting at the original post time (which is the generally the proper setting).
All the other options should be left as default, and have been set up and customized by Tribal Core based on your initial website needs.

Website Manual Introduction

Sun, 27 May 2007 19:33:38 -0800

Welcome to your website manual! Your site uses a content management system called Movable Type, that allows you to add, modify and delete entries, create pages, include images, moderate discussions and more. Use the navigation in the left column to find the resources and instructions you are looking for.