How did they do that?

That’s one of the first things I wanted to know when I started web designing and was thrilled to find out just how easy it is to do!

So I decided to share:

Step One:

Create your text…I used the “impact” and recommend you find a thick, bold font to get the best result for this effect.

Step Two:

Find an image that you want to use as a background behind your text.  I found this one for free at 123rf.com. Open in Photoshop, resize if necessary to fit the width and height of your text and then copy and paste into your text file.

Step Three:

Highlight both layers…the text and the image you just pasted into the file:

Now hold down the alt key (on PC) and click.  You layers panel should now look like this:

And that’s it…Add your effects, like drop shadow and stroke if you want and you have a very cool text effect!

I want to show you another cool and simple Photoshop effect I like to use for buttons or logos or whatever your creative imagination can find a use for:

Here are the steps I used to create this:

1. Start with an image or create one with background color you want and make the canvas size bigger so you have some room to work with…I hate the feeling of being closed in when I’m creating, so give it as much room as you want. You can crop it later.
2. Then add the following layer styles
1. Inner Glow (my settings are blend mode: Screen, Technique: Precise, Source: Edge, Choke: 0 Size: 4
2. Gradient Overlay I used a simple black and gray linear at 90 degrees
3. Stroke (mine is a black at 2, inside, normal & 100% opacity)
3. Create your type in white (I used Broadway font)
4. With your Type Layer selected (I have my JR in a separate layer and that is what I selected in this step) and your image background selected, make it a smart object
5. Rastersize that to convert the type to pixels.
6. Use the Rectangular Marquee Tool over the part you want to tint giving it some space like this:
   
7. Go to Image, Adjustments, Gradient Map
8. Select a gradient you want to use.  Important! Adjust the last color to white so that you don’t get this funky tinted “J” or lose the letter altogether. Here’s what I mean:
   
   Tip:  I find Photoshop gradients all over the web that you can pick up for free…just remember to be respectful of their terms of use.  A favorite of mine is Brusheezy.com (they add new stuff all the time), but you can find them everywhere along with Photoshop styles, actions, brushes, textures, etc.
9. Now use that same gradient for any text you want to highlight

And that’s it!  Very easy, very classy and very cool! The possibilities are endless!

More samples:

And here’s the link to the zip file to download the PSD

JRcontrastButton

Have fun!

Need a graphic artist or just some one to do a quick fix? It’s not too late…

Thanks to Denise Wakeman …..AKA The Blog Squad.

Just follow this link to find a list of resources that are willing and able to assist you in your project. DO NOT get caught with your pixels dangling!!

Connect with Denise on FB http://facebook.com/BlogSquad

Well I have found this really cool web site makeuseof.com that I’d like to share with you that offers (to date) 26 free tip sheets and cheat sheets for your computer environment.

Did you know that you can use Google’s search field as a calculator? I didn’t until I downloaded makeuseof.com’s Google Search Commands and Shortcuts. In this cheat sheet you will learn how to Restrict Search to Google Groups, Restrict Search, Specialized Information Queries, Alternative Query Types, Restrict Search to Sites where Query Words Appear, Basic Examples, and Calculator. All on one sheet – very cool and important information!

Have fun downloading!

26 Free Tip Sheets and Cheat Sheets for Your Computer Environment (Windows and Mac)

1. Dropbox Tips
2. YouTube Tips
3. Outlook Shortcuts
4. Skype Shortcuts
5. Opera Shortcuts
6. iPhone Cheat Sheet
7. Useful Gmail Shortcuts
8. Twitter Cheat Sheet
9. Photoshop CS5 Cheat Sheet
10. iTunes Cheat Sheet (Mac)
11. iTunes Cheat Sheet (Windows)
12. Windows CMD Commands
13. GIMP Shortcuts
14. 30 Codes for Chat Smileys
15. Facebook Shortcuts
16. VLC Player Shortcuts (BTW – I love this player! If you make video for your clients and they can’t play it have them download the FREE VLC Player and I bet you your video will play!)
17. Google Reader Shortcuts
18. Mozilla Thunderbird Cheat Sheet
19. Internet Explorer Shortcuts
20. Google Chrome Shortcuts
21. Firefox Shortcuts (Mac OSX)
22. Firefox Shortcuts (Windows)
23. Best Google Search Tips
24. Linux Commands Reference
25. Mac OSX Shortcuts
26. Windows Shortcuts

If you have any tips or shortcuts you’d like to share please leave a comment below.

And while you’re visiting here Sign up for my U Gotta Look At This blog posts at the top right – so you won’t miss any posts – and every time I post it will be delivered to your inbox (and when you sign up don’t forget to verify that you did – you’ll get an email to do that – just click on the link).

Oh I almost forgot, while you’re visiting makeuseof.com check out their Best of Apps – you’ll be glad you did.

I don’t know about you, but I consistently get images from clients they would like to put on their website that include the nasty yellow printed dates!  And sometimes it was taken 4-5 or more years ago.  Not a good way to market your business or product because chances are, it’s evolved in one way or another since then, at least we hope so.  With PS CS5.5 there is a really much simpler way to do this than using the clone stamp and the image is nearly perfect without needing any adjustments.

This is what I’m talking about:

So with about 10 minutes of your time, at most, let’s get rid of it!

Step 1:

I always make a duplicate layer of the image and lock and turn off the original image layer so that I do not mess with it.  You will want to zoom in on the area that you are going to work with.  Then grab the magic wand tool, hold down the shift key and start selecting all of the yellow (or whatever color your s may be) numbers.  Now it is important that you not grab any other area except exactly what you want to remove.

Step 2:

Now you want to expand your selection 1 pixel to be sure you don’t leave any shadows of yellow!  To do that go to the Select>Modify>Expand and select 1 pixel.  Remember that you do not want to grab too much more than what you need.

Step 3:

Once you have it selected and expanded, go to Edit>Fill to open the fill window.  Select Content-Aware from the dropdown and leave the rest of the settings to the default and click OK

Step 4:

You may need some touch up but it should be minimal.  And depending on how big your photo is, you can do one or two characters at a time which will minimize the need for touch-up at all. Just play around with it because it’s a great tool!  You might want to go to Adobe TV to see what else Content-Aware can do.  It’s really magical!  And then there’s Puppet Warp!  Can’t wait to tell you about it!

After:

Note:  I hear a rumor that the next version of Creative Design Suite Premium with Photoshop CS6 is coming out this spring sometime so hold off!

Until next time…make it a great day!

Find vectors, graphics, web elements, seamless backgrounds, buttons, icons, photos & more at 123RF.com. They are very reasonable…a lot less than most royalty-free stock photo sites…even free!   Search for “more” in the footer and then find free stock photos for hundreds of free graphic and more are added every day as others expire….be prepared to spend some time there! Here are some samples, but hurry they expire in 36 hours.

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Judy Rose – Graphic and PhotoShop Expert, Dreamweaver, SwishMax4, Flash, jquery, HTML and CSS extraordinaire since 2002! If you need help or assist please email us at info@kickstartwebsites.com or visit Judy’s site at http://josedesigns.com/

1. Who is your audience?
2. Do you want to entertain, inform, teach or solve a problem?
3. What do you want your audience to take away from your content?
4. What do you want to take away from the interaction with your audience?

When writing copy for your site or your blog post, I would ask you the same four questions.

1. Who is your audience?

The more you know about the audience for whom you are writing, the better idea you have for talking their language.  Convincing them to buy your product or service becomes much easier.  For example:  Let’s say you are selling a book about increasing a person’s metabolism.  You wouldn’t be targeting an audience of runners now would you?  Probably, you would have more success in targeting individuals whose jobs revolve around computer work and have no time to work out.

2. Do you want to entertain, inform or educate?

 If you want to entertain, then very inter-active web content inter-laced with keywords that trigger the reader to play along and have some fun works wonders by keeping them on your site.

If you goal is to inform, then your web copy perhaps, should contain research and reference to links that will take them to other articles you have written about this subject in earlier blog posts.

Educating your readers requires you to take them from point “A” to point “B”.  Provide them with a mini quiz or something that would offer an interaction for choosing, for example:  one product/service over another.

Give your post or web copy title a theme by identifying a problem that your target audience is having.  You then show by video, picture or words, how it can be solved by your product or service.

Many of us who write content use a format of identifying the pain, problem or predicament.  In other words, you diagnose the problem that your audience didn’t realize they had and help your readers recognize it.  Your next step is to let your audience know that you understand their problem and that you-your product or your service is the solution.

3. What do you want your audience to take away from your content?

What action do you want your target audience to do when they read your copy?  Do you want them to sign up for your informative newsletter/blog or e-book?  Do you want them to buy a product?  If you have your strategy down before you write, the hard part is done.  Now spin the sale.

4. What do you want to take away from the interaction with your audience?

Part of your strategy is to know what you want to take away from your message you target audience.  Just like in keeping track in your check book, writing down what you deposit and spend, you must also guide your goals for ROI, (return on investment).  For example, you’ve been writing copy for a year now.  Steer your readers to landing pages with dynamic sales copy that entices them to buy your product or service.  Set a goal as to how many you estimate will buy based on past experience.

Please share with us how you write your copy..what do you do to assist you in your writing?

We would love to hear from by you leaving a comment below and if you enjoyed this post please share and don’t forget to sign up for our blog posts to be delivered to your inbox!

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Connie Spruill – Content Management & Making the Customer Connection Expert, has over 30 years’ experience directing businesses in powerful ways of connecting with their customers. The last 10 years has been focused on transferring that concept to internet-based businesses.  Writing content for your websites becomes easy as Connie reveals keywords that sell, words that hypnotize and connect with your prospective customers. If you need help or assist please email us at info@kickstartwebsites.com or visit http://website-clarity.com 

The value of LinkedIn recommendations and testimonials cannot be underestimated or taken for granted. LinkedIn Recommendations are similar to testimonials of your good name, good product(s), or expertise. Recommendations enhance your credibility as an expert similar to how quality content, quality presentation of that content and frequency of content enhances your page rank and authority status for your website. Recommendations also raise your credibility.

Recommendations in LinkedIn are social proof. They tell a LinkedIn candidate that the person is qualified or recognized as a valued colleague that has or will add value to your business. As you interact with connections, you become more familiar with their areas of expertise and perhaps are able to use this knowledge in your business execution. Once you can recommend a connection, you proceed with some expectation that they will reciprocate. However, do not expect that all people that you recommend will in turn write a recommendation for you. As you proceed in building your connections, keep in mind that your connections are the source for your recommendation and focus on those contacts that have the potential for directly (or indirectly) enhance your business or expertise. After all, one of your goals in LinkedIn is becoming a recognized expert in your field. A good place to find contacts that will give you outstanding recommendations are your satisfied customers. Go through your customer base and connect with everyone who has purchased your products; multiple sales recipients are better.

The best way to ask for recommendations is not to ask, i.e., the best recommendations most often come from a good recommendation that you have written for someone. Recommendations are the next step of engagement after you connect with someone on LinkedIn. It is a quid pro quo of sorts, but don’t write a recommendation for someone just to get a reciprocal recommendation. Be sure that you can personally vouch for them. As such, be very clear about what you’re recommending. Don’t forget your keywords when you are writing recommendations!! Search engines love keywords!

As you evaluate your LinkedIn strategy, make sure you include a profile of your ideal connection and how you can get a recommendation from them. Make sure that your have clear goals and objectives. A good review for being successful using LinkedIn can be found in Wayne Breitbarth’s best seller, The Power Formula for LinkedIn Success or by viewing Joan Stewart’s [owner of The Publicity Hound] Webinar, Your LinkedIn Power Formula

We’d love to hear from you by sharing and leaving a comment to these questions:

• Do you use LinkedIn and how?
• Do you or have you ever given out LinkedIn recommendations?
• Have you ever given LinkedIn recommendations?

Be sure to sign up for our blog posts to be delivered to your inbox every day! Or click a like or share to let others know about this post – thanks!

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Christine Buffaloe - Social Media Expert and Online Business Manager. Christine received her training on-the-job when working as an Executive Assistant for 5 years. Tiring of the commute every day, she took that knowledge and experience and dedicated it to Serenity Virtual Assistant Services.  Christine has been a featured guest on webinars and in Entreprenuer.com. If you need help or assist please email us at info@kickstartwebsites.com or for more of her tips please visit Serenity Virtual Assistant Services

Almost all of the new video cameras have the auto focus feature.  This is great when on the go and you need to get the shot in a flash but what about when you are filming something such as a concert, dance recital or your child’s first play at school?

If you have ever seen someones video of one of these events then you will notice when on auto focus the picture will go in and out of focus over and over again. The way to make sure that the focus will stay locked on is to zoom in on the stage, let the auto focus do its thing and then lock the focus on manual. Most video cameras have this feature.

Take a few minutes and check your owners manual on how this works on your camera.

If you are in a seat and not moving toward or away from the stage the focus will stay perfect throughout the performance.

If there is an intermission and you turn your camera off then turn it back on again to film the second act then you will need to do the manual focusing process again.

You will be happy with the results and so will your audience. So, Keep it straight, keep it steady and keep it in focus.

Let us know what you would like to learn more about filming and videos by leaving a comment below and you can also leave a comment for “What’s your greatest challenge when filming or producing videos?” And be sure to sign up for our blog posts to be delivered to your inbox so you’ll always know when we post!

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John Koterba– Videographer, Video and Audio Editor -  has 30 years of video production experience. Specializing in the video production of live special events such as: Conferences and Seminars, Informercials, College Audition videos, Variety Shows, Concerts, Drama Plays, and has filmed in Europe sixty eight times. He has been called to film private audiences with Pope John Paul II in the Vatican thirteen times. A talented and extraordinaire videographer and editor, John produces high quality videos for Mr. Donald Trump’s events in Florida and Atlantic City! To speak to John about filming your next event or producing videos for your web site please please email us at info@kickstartwebsites.com or visit Lightning Videos today!

The WORST thing you can do is to constantly hound your clients. Yes, them not paying maybe affecting your ability to pay your bills. But pressuring them to pay you so you aren’t worried about paying your bills doesn’t create an incentive for them.

The truth is, your clients and customers WANT to pay you. So the trick is to figure out ways that they can do so that are win-win-win. My father owned a construction company. He arranged payment in barter whenever a client was short on cash. We got a wonderful school-quality playground set that way. My father even got paid nearly twice what a job was worth when someone gave him a boat in payment, which he then turned around and sold to generate the cash he needed for paying the bills. I once got a BMW Z3 in payment for work I’d done. Which worked out wonderfully, since I was in the market for a new car!

Instead of pressuring your clients to come up with a big lump sum, be willing to take weekly or monthly payments of even as little as $5 or $10, set up in an systematic way. When you do this, you free up both of you to work on building your businesses rather than scrambling to pay creditors.

Please leave a comment below if you would like to share your challenges or successes with getting clients to pay their bill – we’d love to hear from you!

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Paula Langguth Ryan is a mediation and marketing maven, specializing in financial issues for small businesses. She’s the creator of the Supersonic Prosperity Oriented Copywriting System http://www.paulalangguthryan.com/shop/supersonic-copywriting/ and provides strategic financial consulting services to small business owners. She’s also the author of Bounce Back From Bankruptcy: A Step-By-Step Guide to Getting Back on Your Financial Feet and the forthcoming Break the Debt Cycle – For Good! You can follow her on Twitter at copytamer and get free resources at www.paulalangguthryan.com. If you need help or assist please email us at info@kickstartwebsites.com.

Disorganized and Messy Desk

On July 15, 1993 Walter S. Mossberg, the author and creator of the weekly “Personal Technology” column in The Wall Street Journal, was quoted as saying: “The promise of the ‘paperless office,’ [and home] where documents are entirely created, distributed, read and stored on computers, has been about as reliable as the promise of a check in the mail.”

Now, over a decade later, that statement is as true as  it was then and possibly even worse!  Many still have the mind set that everything that is on their computer must also be printed out, never of course to be seen again!  You WILL have paperwork, in some form or another, until you die.  It’s a fact, a part of life that will not go away.  The truth is you will continue to have piles and junk cluttering your desk unless you take control of the situation and learn how to handle everything that lands on your desk.

Take a second and look at your desk, your countertop, dining room table, or what ever you call your desk or workspace.  How much of your desktop can you actually see
and use?  Do you even know what’s in those piles?  Does it look like something might be starting to “grow” from all the yester-years of lunches, snacks, and dinners you’ve had there?  Do you have so many gadgets and doodads, personal items and pictures scattered about on your desk? When was the last time you saw the whole top of your desk and it saw a can of polish?

Here are just three interesting statistics from two polls from Coopers & Lybrand and USA Weekend:

• The average desk worker has 36 hours worth of work on their desk and wastes up to 3 hours a week just “looking” for STUFF!
• 7.5% of all documents get lost and 3% get misfiled.
• Professionals spend 5 to 15% of their time reading information, but up to 50% looking for it!

Think about your desk for a minute and how your days play out:

• Estimate how many hours of work you have piled on your desk?
• Estimate how much time you waste each week looking for stuff on your desk?
• How many documents did you lose or misfile last year?
• Are you scheduling regular time to read?
• What do you do with the article, magazine, or memo you have read?
• After reading, if you keep, can you find it if needed?

Be honest with yourself here – to be successful – and I know you want to be successful – having a clean and organized desk and spaces will and CAN help you move forward faster!

Ten Tips to Cleaning Off Your Desk

1. SCHEDULE a date and time with yourself.  Write it on your calendar and keep this appointment, just as you would an important meeting with a client or a doctor.
2. TOOLS:
>>Set a timer for the length of time you have decided to work on this project.
>>Make signs (TEASER) or mark boxes with the following: Current Paperwork, Reference Paperwork, Historical Paperwork, Refer to someone else. another room, or take home, Supplies, Reading, and Data Entry (those business cards or scraps of paper that you need to put into your database, address book, or calendar).
>>Box of garbage bags.
>> Pad of Paper and Pen (to write down anything you think of doing or to make a to-do list for later.
3. CLEAR and EMPTY:
Take everything off your desk and out of your desk drawers.
4. SORT everything into new piles that you made signs for or the boxes you marked from number 2 above.
5. File or Toss: Click up a FREE copy of our “5 W’s of File or Toss” at mailto:jhall2-119009@autocontactor.com
6. Read or Toss: Click up a FREE copy of our “5 W’s of Read or Toss” at mailto: jhall2-49610@autocontactor.com
7. Polish your desk and get the dirt and grim out of your desk drawers.
8. After sorting ONLY put back on your desk what you use Daily, such as:
Pen, Pencil, Phone, Phone Pad, Desk Workbook, Tickler File, Computer, Calendar, and Lamp.
9. Do NOT put back on your desk items that are seldom used and NOT used daily, such as:
Gadgets/Toys, Glue, Scissors, Hole Puncher, Pencil Sharpener, Ruler, and In/Out Box (your Tickler File will replace this).
10. Drawers: Before you start putting things back into your desk drawers, think of how you would like to utilize them, and consider which hand is “habit” for you to open a drawer.
The hand that is “habit” should be the same side of your desk drawers that you store frequently used items, such as:
Supplies, Stationary, and Current Files.

Ten Tips for Maintaining a Clean Desk

1. When you stop working on a project put it away.
2. Put date or calendar related papers/files into your tickler file as soon as they land on your desk.
3. Sort through mail and toss out all junk mail as soon as it arrives.
4. Schedule regular reading time and put “to read” material in a reading folder.
5. Do NOT use scraps of paper or sticky pads.  Use your Desk Workbook to record all your notes, ideas, phone numbers, web site and email addresses, errands, and to-do’s.
6. Schedule regular desk maintenance.
7. Schedule filing time and store your to-file in the corresponding date of your tickler file.
8. Make a frequently called numbers sheet and store under your mouse pad or inside a drawer.
9. Create a Pending Folder to store papers or files in that you are “waiting” for more information, someone else to get back to you on, or something you have ordered.
10. Dust, polish, and wipe down your desk weekly.

Organized and Clean Desk

Please bookmark this tip and after you use these cleaning off your desk tips please come back here and leave a comment how this has helped you clean off your desk – I’d love to hear from you!

Or if you have some “cleaning off your desk” tips you’d like to share please leave a comment now!

Sign up for my blog posts at the top right – so you won’t miss that post – and every time I post it will be delivered to your inbox (and when you sign up don’t forget to verify that you did – you’ll get an email to do that – just click on the link).