eeep! productions blog

musings and bon mots from the basement office of the websmith

google is my best friend (sorry, dear husband)

Posted on | October 10, 2011 | No Comments

i heart google. i really, really do!I cannot count how many times google has saved my posterior from major drama and computer-related emotional trauma. As an entrepreneur, I am the talent, the salesperson, the A/R and A/P departments, the IT support, the marketing department and the customer service rep. (I bet you know the feeling!) So when my computer starts bugging out, so do I. Also, do I have a ton of time to take computer repair classes or drop my machine off at the shop? No!

So when I was writing instructions for a client and iPhoto started wigging out on me, I googled. I found a discussion forum on Apple.com that helped me figure out how to uninstall a plugin that was causing my iPhoto to hang up. And hooray! Worked like magic. Take a look at the archived discussion on the Apple forums — it’s a trick that may come in handy for you in the future.

Tips: If you have an error message, and you don’t know what it means, google the entire error message. If there’s no error message, type in exactly what’s wrong. You may need to revise your search a few times until you find the right solution. In my case, I googled “iphoto 09 hangs up on export to flickr” but “iphoto 09 hangs up on export” actually got me my answer.

 

Category: tips
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remembering…

Posted on | September 11, 2011 | No Comments

never forgetTen years ago today, I was there, living within an hour’s drive from the trade center and could see the smoke from my house. Today, I am working around my home, 2000 miles away, in quiet reflection, thinking of the families in my old NJ community who lost dear ones, and thanking God up and down for keeping my own dear ones safe that day. I marvel at the sheer coincidences of those who were saved that day against the backdrop of sadness from all of the loss. Our world will never be the same, but it can be better. And it’s up to each and every one of us to be grateful for this gift of life, and another day, to work towards making our world a better place.

Category: uncategorized
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I’ve come to watch your flowers growin’

Posted on | August 9, 2011 | No Comments

My friend shared this YouTube link on his Facebook page and it makes me happy to listen to this song, no matter what version. When I was a kid, this was one of the songs from the radio that I would sing incessantly, only I’d sing it “Feelin’ grooby!” and my mom thought that was simply adorable. I admit, I was adorable.

But I digress. It’s 4:30 pm on a Tuesday after I’ve been out of town for two weeks. It was a working vacation, during which I spent a lot of time with my good friend who had her first baby. I dragged along my laptop and worked from the hotel room in the evenings and the change of scenery was awesome for my state of mind. I’ve returned to my home office a bit re-energized and, dare I say it, feeling groovy. Apparently this trip was just what I needed because while I was away, I was able to start growing some tiny flowery ideas. Ideas that I hope will help make your life a little bit easier when it comes to your website and your business. Stay tuned to this blog and my newsletter over the coming weeks to see what’s growing.

Let’s face it, none of us really want to be in our offices, in our cubicles, back on the job after a long summer weekend or a trip — back to Life and the realities of our jobs, the economy and the state of the world. But let’s make the best of it with a little music and with a little bit of gentleness — towards ourselves and others.

Category: just for fun, musings, things we love

Fan letter to Todd Henry, via my blog

Posted on | June 21, 2011 | No Comments

I haven’t written a swoony fan letter to a celebrity since… I think since John Schneider played Bo Duke and my little pre-teen heart couldn’t stand not telling him just what it was thinking. Last week I wrote a very brief note to one of my grown-up heroes, Todd Henry. It was nothing like a real fan letter, but it felt weird to be emailing this person I don’t know, but who I really admire. I didn’t even tell him how much I enjoy his work and how his podcasts have opened up my life. I just let him know I pre-ordered his book Accidental Creative: How To Be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice.

Who is Todd Henry? He’s the CEO and founder of Accidental Creative, a site geared towards helping us creative folks (and really, aren’t we all creative?) keep that creativity flowing. Similar to what my artist friends refer to as “refilling the well”. How to keep that momentum going and get past blocks (better yet, keeping them from happening in the first place). He’s very good at taking a thought that we all realistically and logically understand, and probably already know, but he phrases it in such a way that you go “ooooohhhhhhhh, I get it now!”

And now I’m going to tell you why you should be reading, listening to and generally hanging onto every word this guy says. Actually, I’m going to let him do it. Watch this short video (and enjoy!):



The Accidental Creative: How To Be Brilliant at a Moment’s Notice from Accidental Creative on Vimeo.


Category: cool products, product recommendations, things we love

email marketing – for free!

Posted on | May 24, 2011 | No Comments

Frequent readers of my blog know that I love email marketing and I especially love using iContact for all of my clients’ newsletters and email blasts. Now I love iContact even more…

Introducing iContact Free Edition

My fellow entrepreneurs, you know that it’s hard to pay for everything you need when you’re starting and growing a business, but free software isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. Luckily, that’s not the case with iContact’s recently unveiled iContact Free Edition, which meets the needs of new business owners and complements iContact’s existing products and services for small and medium-sized businesses. With this new addition, iContact truly has email marketing for everyone.

Get iContact Free Edition

iContact Free Edition helps businesses get their marketing efforts off the ground. It includes features that benefit any small business — including my awesome artist friends:

  • 500 subscribers
  • 2,000 email sends per month
  • Support from expert email marketers via email and chat
  • Unlimited use of 24 designer email templates

iContact’s feature-rich application also includes the following free perks:

  • Easy tools for managing your subscribers and growing your lists
  • Industry-leading deliverability
  • Real-time tracking and reporting
  • Social media integration
  • Complimentary event marketing
  • Free surveys

Get iContact Free Edition Today! When you sign up, let me know (by commenting below) and I’ll throw in a half an hour of consulting to get you started or to answer your questions.
Category: cool products, email marketing

What’s the state of your business?

Posted on | January 25, 2011 | No Comments

As I write this, I’m listening to the president deliver his State of the Union address. It made me think a little bit more about the state of my own little corner of the world.

  • eeep! productions may not be the biggest web consulting company in the world, but eeep! productions cares more about your business as much as you do.
  • The artwork I do in the Sunshine Factory studio may not be breaking rules or starting trends, but it makes people smile and is from the heart.
  • My family is small and consists of two humans and two canines, but all of them know they are loved. My extended family and friends know this, too.
  • Everything I do, whether in business or in my personal life, is earnest and real.

President Obama closed with the phrase, “We do big things.” I agree. Our country is capable of great, big, huge, mind-blowing things.

What big things are you doing?

Mother Theresa of Calcutta said “We cannot all do great things, but we can do small things with great love.” I agree with this, too. We’re not all meant to be president of the United State or a celebrity doing big things, like George Clooney.

What small things are you doing with great love? Do those small things contribute to the state of your business?

I look forward to your comments!

Category: musings

thought for today…and every day

Posted on | January 1, 2011 | No Comments

The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you… we are in charge of our attitudes.

-Charles Swindoll

Category: tips

a note from the universe…

Posted on | November 13, 2010 | No Comments

…I just had to share this with you all. We work so hard!

Deliberate living is very cool, Tracey, but so is deliberate resting.
Chill,
The Universe

Category: tips

1Password for Windows is in Beta

Posted on | October 18, 2010 | No Comments

Remember my post “No, abc123 is NOT a strong enough password, granny!“? In it, I talked about using strong passwords and tools such as 1Password to help you store, secure and keep track of them all.

I cannot recommend 1Password more highly and am happy to say that Agile now has a Windows beta of 1Password. They are offering an early bird discount, as well, so go for it!

Category: cool products

a gem of a low-tech local marketing idea

Posted on | October 11, 2010 | No Comments

Photo credit: Alvimann from morguefile.com

The other day, I parked in the Office Max lot next to a white mini van. The owner of that mini van is a genius and inspired this blog post.

She had a magnetized sign for her business on the side of the vehicle, which is smart enough. But next to the sign was a handful of business cards, also mounted on magnets.

Sure, I’ve seen the business card magnets before. Why I never thought of putting my business cards on my car, I’ll never know. But I will be borrowing that person’s idea in the very near future, that’s for sure. I was so excited about seeing the car that I neglected to take a card!

Have you done this? If so, please share how it worked for you. When you do try it, please come back and share with us!

Category: business promotion and marketing, publicity
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