Last December Constant Contact offered a free Web site match to new customers of their business partners (that's me!). Since I'd been begging them for years to provide an incentive to do business with their partners, I was eager to capitalize on the offer. I was delighted that three clients signed up.

What You Get

The offer is back until the end of March. If you sign up, you'll get a free template design coordinated to your Web site. I thought this just meant the colors would match, but it turns out to be much more than that. Based on what you want to accomplish, the designers at Constant Contact will select a template, drop in your graphics and (here's the cool part), actually include a navigation bar that connects to all the pages of your Web site.

Here's an example. Dawn Martin uses her background as an art teacher to facilitate creativity in others. Through workshops and other educational experiences, she helps teachers and administrators find innovative ways to advance art education. 

Her February e-postcard Sandbox encouraged readers to experiment with clashing colors and unconventional attire. Citing such innovative experiments as Picasso's introduction of African art into his paintings and Christo and Jeanne-Claude's project The Gates in Central Park in 2005, Dawn supports her point with images and suggestions.

Though her list is still small, her newsletter is getting an impressive opens rate--nearly 50%. "I'm happy with the results for now," Dawn comments. "I realize that the success of an email marketing campaign depends on repetition."

What I Add

"Susanna helped me develop the interface between self and cyber-world. She provided constructive feedback on my content and was an experienced guide to Constant Contact and it's impressive free support services," Dawn comments.

Whether you're an artist or an accountant or anything in between, regular email communications with your following will further your cause. This is an excellent time to take the plunge since the service provided free usually costs $99. Be in touch now to talk about your specific needs.

Doesn't that sound pathetic? Unprofessional? Not at all businesslike? And yet, in the brave new world of Facebook, the adolescent request "Like me" is the keystone of a successful presence. So I'll go with. Please like my new Facebook business page.

Besides the insights you'll get into telling your business story online, you'll also be entered in a drawing for a complimentary hour consult on a topic of your choice. And how useful might that be? When Daniel Lieberman won a recent free consult, we were both amused since he's a consultant, too.

Here's how it turned out. "Susanna's perspective and experience were extremely helpful," Daniel comments. "Several of her tips and suggestions will save me time and improve the effectiveness of my campaign. It's great to brainstorm with a professional who brings insight and creativity to everything she works on."

Just Do It

I put off setting up the business Facebook page. People warned me it was complicated and some decisions were irreversible. But Facebook has been working on being friendlier, and initially it wasn't as bad as expected.

You need four things before you begin:

• Your business name,  
• Your profile picture (likely a logo),  
• A short description of your business  
• A few photos.

I was able to set up something that's still a work in progress, but it's good enough for starters. Then the problems began. I tried to invite my Facebook friends from my personal account to friend my business page. The system ground for hours and in the end, no invites were sent.

Changes

If you haven't set up your business fan page, this is a good time to bite the bullet. Some months back, Facebook introduced a new look and invited users to try it out. Tomorrow they are going to cut all accounts over to the new view. My guess is a lot of people will be surprised. If you're one of them, I recommend checking out Christine Pilch and Daniel Lieberman. They both have their fingers tightly on the Facebook pulse.

For more tips on setting up a business fan page, watch my posts on Facebook. Now that I have a page, I need to provide value on a regular basis. That's the real challenge.

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