Paula L. Johnson

Get over your fear of heights on Facebook

2011-10-31T07:00:00.000-07:00

Whether you have a personal Profile or a company Page, your identifying Facebook photo does not have to be square.

Your sidebar photo (or illustration) must be 180 pixels wide, but it can be up to 540 pixels tall. Make sure a portion of the image will work as a square avatar—that's what people will see when you post updates or comment on your friend's posts.

I often create art for Facebook Pages, Twitter profiles, and other social media sites when I design or update client websites.

To see how these images look in use, just click each client's name.

Dressed Up!, L.A.'s only eveningwear superstore
The dress in this layout can change with the store's inventory. You can change your sidebar photo as often as you'd like.

Huntington Medical Foundation
The landmark Colorado Bridge photo has been used on this medical group's website and ads.

Terri Steuben/Calm Healer
When you have a fun photo, use it prominently.

Doug Brignole
This simple layout reflects this client's main areas of expertise.

The Joke Gym
For some people, Facebook is the first exposure to your product or company. Presenting all the key information in the sidebar graphic is a fan-friendly approach.

Twick or Tweet promotion for Pasadena clothing store

2011-10-29T07:00:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween!

If you're a fashionista in the Pasadena area, head to Elisa B. to participate in their Twick or Tweet promotion.

Just give the store a shout-out on Twitter or Facebook and get a discount. Print the coupon for complete details.

Elisa B. is a great store and fun client. I'm looking forward to our holiday promotions.

I (heart) deadlines

2011-10-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

November is National Novel Writing Month, a wild and wonderful event that asks participants to crank out a 50,000-word first draft of a novel in just 30 days.

I've yet to hit that magic number in Novembers past, but even the attempt is a lot of fun. One of my strategies for this year is having Thanksgiving on Halloween so I can write straight through Turkey Day, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, Sleep-deprived Sunday (my term) and possibly Cyber Monday.

Here comes the (mother of) the bride…

2011-10-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

After Five is the eveningwear store that makes my client roster international.

Of course, Canada's fashion forecast is nearly identical to that of the United States: Prom Season, Wedding Season, Holiday Season and Resort Season. The latest ad promotes mother-of-the-bride gowns in a wedding magazine.

I also handle marketing for Dressed Up! L.A.'s only eveningwear superstore, but there's no conflict of interest. The store owners are cousins.

Buzzword of the Day

2011-10-26T08:20:00.000-07:00

If you've ever had a staycation when you should have been in Paris, experienced a Targasm while shopping, or had to work under a nanomanager, you're already living in a buzzword world.

Expand your vocabulary by subscribing to Buzzword of the Day.

Fun with Google!

2011-08-07T21:06:00.001-07:00

Happy Cinco de Mayo

2011-05-05T17:03:00.000-07:00

Flyers–the ubiquitious marketing tool! Print 'em, email 'em or post them online. I did this one for Zapata Vive, a Mexican restaurant in Arcadia.

Facebook ads: Short text and one itty-bitty photo

2011-04-18T22:40:00.000-07:00

My client, Dressed Up!, asked for a Facebook ad to wrap up prom season. My first Facebook ad! I specified the gender, age range, geographical location, and interests of the high school students who would see the ad. That was the fun part.

The challenge was writing a short headline and text, and finding a photo that looked nice at a very small size.

On Facebook, the ad will link to the client's store site, which features prom dresses for the rest of the month.

Retro diner gets a tasty new website

2011-03-24T14:13:00.000-07:00

This retro diner needed a complete website makeover—expanded text, new photos, and new graphics. I created the new site in Wordpress so the client can make minor text changes himself. The site has a lot of content, but everything is easy to find. It's colorful, friendly and fun.

She wrote the book on competitive intelligence

2011-03-20T09:00:00.000-07:00

My client, Seena Sharp, is the research wizard behind Sharp Market Intelligence.

After decades of advising clients and speaking at conferences around the world, Seena spent months writing "Competitive Intelligence Advantage: How to Minimize Risk, Avoid Surprises, and Grow Your Business in a Changing World."

Since hitting bookstores more than a year ago, the book has earned 50+ five-star reviews on Amazon and is in use in classrooms in the U.S. and around the world.

Shorten the address for your Facebook Profile or Page

2011-02-03T07:00:00.000-08:00

Image via Wikipedia

When I heard the same question from several clients or friends, that's my cue to blog about the topic. This post is about how to shorten the address of your Facebook Profile or Page. A shorter URL (web address) makes it easier to share the link on a business card or in an email signature.

YOUR PERSONAL PROFILE After you log into Facebook, click "Profile" and look at the address in the browser. If you have not yet selected a username, the address looks like this:

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=XXXXXXXXX
(The X's are standing in for your account number.)

This URL is long and impossible to remember. To shorten it, click Account > Account Settings > Username, and then choose any available username. Choose carefully, because you are allowed to change your Profile username only once.

Your new URL will look something like this:
http://www.facebook.com/your.name

YOUR BUSINESS PAGE Facebook Pages are for brands, companies, organizations, causes, entertainers, and personalities (think Oprah). When you first set up a Page, the URL is often very long, like:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rose-City-Sisters-flash-fiction/102999716426124

However, once your Page has 25 fans, you can shorten the address, like this:
http://www.facebook.com/rosecitysisters

If you are the administrator your Page, go to this page to choose a username. (You'll need to log into Facebook.)

Proofread your Page username carefully before you commit. Facebook does not allow any username changes on Pages.

Get more info about usernames for Profiles or usernames for Pages.

Telling jokes for great cause on January 21

2011-01-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

Need a laugh?

I'll be performing at a comedy show to benefit the San Gabriel Valley Foothills chapter of Rebuilding Together on Friday, January 21, 2011 at Zapata V restaurant in Arcadia.

Rebuilding Together is a nonprofit organization with more than 200 affiliates across the country that provides free rehabilitation and repairs to the homes of low-income Americans.

In 2000 (when Rebuilding Together was known as Christmas in April) I was part of a 30+ person team of volunteers that rehabbed a cute little house in Altadena. It was challenging, loud, messy work—and one of the best weekends of my life.

For advance tickets, email Yvonne Rosas Petty or call her at 626/233-0239. Here's larger version of the flyer.

Five minute fiction

2010-12-31T07:00:00.000-08:00

Warning! This is a shameless plug for one of my extracurricular activities.

The Rose City Sisters is a flash fiction blog that presents a 1,000 word stories. To date, more than two dozen writers from the U.S., Canada and India have submitted stories.

If you're having one of those days when lunch means "sandwich at desk while waiting for an important call," treat yourself to a side order of fiction.

Vacation alert!

2010-12-23T20:50:00.001-08:00

A movie masterpiece in under three minutes

2010-12-10T07:00:00.000-08:00

It's Friday! Take a moment and enjoy a wonderful, wordless movie.

Advertising eye candy!

2010-12-01T15:15:00.000-08:00

This little video shows how to use the structural elements of buses and shopping bags in creative and fun ways.

Award-winning author tells her story with a one-page website

2010-11-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

I designed Michele Zack's one-page website a few years ago. Since then, she's been too busy writing books to write about herself. What a lovely problem for an author!

Recently, she asked me to update the page with photos of her last two books and links to the radio and print coverage of her most recent book, a history of Sierra Madre, California.

Her site proves you don't need a lot of pages to tell a story.

It's all about the dress…

2010-11-03T18:03:00.000-07:00

While high school students are all about texting, tweeting and Facebook, they still read their school newspaper. Here are two of a series of inserts I created for Dressed Up!, L.A.'s only eveningwear superstore.

Congratulations Elisa B.!

2010-10-14T09:18:00.000-07:00

Elisa B. staffers strike a pose for a special ad in The Pasadena Weekly.

In a flutter about Twitter

2010-10-13T08:30:00.000-07:00

I started posting on Twitter in late 2008 at the request of a client who wanted me to evaluate it for his business.

While I was a bit late to the Twitter party, I'm now hooked on microblogging. Now when other clients quiz me about Twitter, I point them to:

• TwiTip.com, a site devoted to all things Twitter.

• Twitter lists and the Twitter news channel on Mashable.com (which is a great resource for information on all social media technology).

• "An Introduction to Twitter Hashtags" by Rebecca Leaman.

• "Top Twitter Posts of 2008" by Dev Basu.

• "6 Reasons Why I Was Wrong About Twitter" by Mark McGuiness.

• "50 Ideas for Using Twitter for Business" by Chris Brogan.

• "Twitter 101, Beginner's Tips: Do you Tweet?" by Del Daix

• "Twitter: Building Businesses Tweet by Tweet" by Jeremy Quittner

I'll add additional articles and resources to this post as I find them. If you have links to share, please do so in your comment.

This website is in the pink

2010-10-12T15:00:00.000-07:00

Freelance writer Carrie St. Michel wrote her own web content, and then turned everything over to me with two simple directives:

1. Use pink.
2. Make it fun.

Check and check! Carrie's is the sixth site I've designed for a writer. Earlier projects include sites for:
Lorraine Ali
Idelle Davidson
Beverly Diehl
Margaret Finnegan
Karen E. Klein

Book publicity, sort of

2010-09-24T08:25:00.000-07:00

I've been working on website and blog design for several authors, so this video was particularly funny.

A great ad starts with a great photo

2010-09-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

Dressed Up!, L.A.'s only eveningwear superstore, has been one of my favorite clients for more than a decade. We've done radio spots, direct mail, and countless print ads. This full page ad is one of my favorites.

It started with a great photograph from the eveningwear supplier. I used a digital eyedropper to sample the greenish-brown color from the artwork to use as a background for the text. The bare-bones copy lists typical eveningwear occasions and the store's big discounts. The published ad was 7 3/4" x 10".

Watch it, buster!

2010-08-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

Want to know about changes to the websites of your competitors, suppliers, favorite news outlets, or, heck, the Jonas Brothers? WatchThatPage can help.

Once you register, it'll keep an eye on all the sites you specify, consolidate any changes, and provide you with an update in an email message or on a special webpage.

Another handy site is Trackle, which tracks everything from websites to air fares to local events to stock prices. You can even track mentions of your own name online. (Although Google Alerts does that as well.)

David Pogue on pointlessly complex technology

2010-07-10T17:10:00.000-07:00

I've never been to the TED conference, but I enjoy their famously brief presentations captured for posterity on video. This talk by New York Times tech columnist David Pogue is funny and true.

Personalizing your Twitter page

2010-07-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

One of the first things I did after joining Twitter was create a custom background to make my Twitter page match my website and blog.

I've since designed simple Twitter backgrounds for a few clients and have been looking for an excuse to create more complex graphics.

As soon as a I finish reading "Make your Twitter page stand out (in a good way!) with these four simple tips" from CreativePro.com, I'll get to work.

LinkedIn now offers company profiles

2010-06-20T20:00:00.000-07:00

LinkedIn has been adding lots of bells and whistles, and the "company profile" feature is a keeper. Now organizations can have profiles on the site which means potential exposure to 36 million members around the world.

LinkedIn's blog explains company profiles (with a video). But Mashable.com's Kristen Nicole cuts to the chase with her article "LinkedIn Company Profiles. Gee, That Makes Sense."

Let your LinkedIn profile send visitors to your website or blog

2010-06-05T17:58:00.000-07:00

If you're one of LinkedIn's 40 million members, make sure you're getting the most from your profile. LinkedIn lets you list up to three URLs in your profile and you do not have to use the default labels.

Under "Profile," click "Edit My Profile," and then scroll down to "Websites." You can then add or edit the URLs. Their labels are:

My website
My company
My blog
My RSS feed
My portfolio

However, the final choice (Other) is the one you want. When you choose "Other," you can enter a better description, like:

Culinary camp for kids
Strategic planning videos
Elder care legal services
Discount eveningwear
Award-winning architect

Limit your new label to approximately 30 characters so it won't get cut off on your profile page. You can link to your website, blog, YouTube channel, Facebook Page, or any web address beginning with http.

This is an easy way to encourage click-through on the links on your LinkedIn profile. Put your profile URL in the in the comments and let's see your new labels.

Hearing voices

2010-06-01T07:00:00.000-07:00

Writing radio spots is hard work—and lots of fun. Once the right words are on paper, what makes or breaks the spot are the voice actors.

In the course of writing more than 40 radio spots, I've had the pleasure of working with voice actors Bever-leigh Banfield, Stew Herrera, and Shelly Somerset (who also served as production engineer on many of my favorite spots).

While I'm sure to use all these performers again, I think voiceover artists are like shoes—you can never have too many.

Right now, one of several voices on my "to hire" list is Amy Snively.

TRUE CONFESSION: I'm recycling some of my favorite blog posts to give readers a second chance to see 'em. By changing the date, I can bring an older post back to the front page. Sneaky, huh?

How to create an email signature

2010-05-07T09:17:00.000-07:00

I started a flash fiction blog in 2009 and, in addition to publishing short-short stories, I post marketing tips for writers. Last month I posted a tutorial on email signatures and realized it was good advice for anyone in business. I've edited my original post and offer it here:

An email signature is a free, simple way to look professional, communicate your brand, and make life easier for the recipients of your email messages. By my tally, that's win-win-win.

If you're ready to start signing off in style, here are the steps to get you started.

1. Decide what to include.
Typically, a signature contains your name, plus a few of these items:

• Name
• Title
• Company
• Address 
• Telephone number(s) 
• Web address 
• Blog address 
• Social media links (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace)
Hunt down the full addresses for any websites as you'll need the URL, starting with http, to create links.

2. Format your content.
Let's say you've decided on this:

Jane Smith
Technical writer
Office: 000/000-0000
Cell: 000/000-0000
Website: http://www.paulaljohnson.com
Blog: http://paulaljohnson.blogspot.com

I'm using my own URLs, but you get the idea.

Most email programs will let you change the font, the weight and the color. However, don't choose an exotic font because if the recipient does have that font on their computer, your signature will default to something like the decidedly unsexy Courier.

So…you jazz it up a bit and decide on this:

JANE SMITH :: Technical writer
OFFICE 000/000-0000
CELL 000/000-0000
SITE http://www.paulaljohnson.com
BLOG http://paulaljohnson.blogspot.com

3. Learn how signatures work in your specific email program.
If you enter "email signatures" in your email program's HELP window, you should find what you need to set up your signature.

To get you going, here are instructions for the most common programs:

• Email signatures in Outlook

• Email signatures in Apple Mail

• Email signatures in Entourage

• Email signatures in Thunderbird

Don't despair if the instructions don't match what's on your screen exactly. Software gets updated all the time, so some items may be reordered or on another menu. Poke around—you'll figure it out.

If you don't have an email program and check your mail from a web browser, you can still have an email signature. Just look for a menu item called "tools" or "settings" or "preferences."

4. Fine tune your signature and test it.

When you paste your signature into the signature window, add a few hard returns above it so there is always space between the last line of your message and the start of your signature.

If your program doesn't turn your URLs into clickable links, you can do that manually (in most programs).

Finally, type a few lines in a test message and send it to yourself. Adjust the signature as needed, then start using it.

For more ~~bossy advice~~ helpful suggestions for marketing yourself, read part one, part two, and part three of "Upping your online presence" on my flash fiction blog.

A fresh look at business card design

2010-02-17T09:54:00.000-08:00

David Newman makes some great points in his wacky and wonderful "Business Card Kung Fu" video.

Gearing up for a great new year

2009-12-24T00:54:00.000-08:00

Some headlines just write themselves

2009-11-24T11:45:00.000-08:00

Elisa B., one of Old Pasadena's most successful retailers, is beloved by customers for great merchandise—and quirky promotions.

Not to brag (oops, too late), I've cooked up many of the store's most memorable marketing moments.

So when client Elisa Bruly told me she wanted something special for Old Pasadena's Holiday Open House, I suggested letting Elisa B. customers sit on Santa's knee for a holiday snapshot.

Only…our Santa needed washboard abs and serious biceps. She started auditions immediately.

To see hunky Santa, visit Elisa B. at One Colorado between 6 and 9 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 28.

Cool savings. Warm wishes. Hot Santa. Some headlines just write themselves.

Old school advertisers get the boot...

2009-10-14T14:29:00.000-07:00

This is required viewing for anyone who thinks social media one of those crazy fads. (Like, y'know, the music of the Beatles.)

My (strictly professional) crush on David Allen

2009-05-08T07:00:00.000-07:00

I'm a big fan of the book "Getting Things Done" by David Allen. Over the years I had developed an effective system for managing my many projects, but his approach helped my kick my system up a notch.

Imagine my glee when I discovered these online treats:

• A GTD podcast

• David Allen's Twitter page

• Free articles on GTD

• The company blog

• A GTD staffer's blog

• Several GTD groups on LinkedIn

If I didn't already have a (strictly professional) crush on Mr. Allen, his approach to marketing would seal the deal.

Bookmarking developers' blogs

2009-04-07T16:26:00.000-07:00

One easy way to stay current about social media sites and popular online services is to read developers' blogs. The most breaking news is always on top so you can skim quickly and move on—to what other bloggers and technology critics are saying.

Here, in semi-random order, are the "company blogs" I monitor:

The Official Google Blog

The Facebook Blog

The LinkedIn Blog

The Twitter Blog

The Blogger Buzz

The WordPress Blog

The Official Everything TypePad Blog

The Delicious Blog

The YouTube Blog

The Flickr Blog

The Technorati Blog

Spin the bottle

2009-04-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

RedKid.com is friendly little site that offers all sorts of diversions, including 50 different "sign generators" that let you add your own text to parade banners, iPod playlists, frosted cakes, road signs, movie marquees and more. Go ahead, try it.

Does this have anything to do with marketing communications? No, but…it's Casual Friday!

You deserve a cookie

2009-03-26T12:04:00.000-07:00

Lots of websites use cookies to identify site visitors.

I'm just not that fancy.

Being green at the office

2009-03-23T07:00:00.000-07:00

Let's face it, you can't toss a polyethylene terephthalate soda bottle into your recycling bin without hitting one of those Prius-driving solar-energy enthusiasts who are all too ready to chide you for not printing your company brochure with soy ink on paper containing a high double-digit percentage of unbleached post-consumer waste.

(FYI, I would really like to know how those nuts keep getting into my back yard.)

When it comes to working (or living) green, every little bit helps. Here's some inspiration:

Mythic low VOC paint for adding color to your walls without the smell.

Call2Recycle for disposing of rechargeable batteries and cell phones.

The Green Office for environmentally responsible office products .

The Sierra Club's tips for working green.

Mother Nature Network's three simple steps to a greener office.

Flippies

2009-03-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

Flippies custom flip books turn a childhood novelty into an engaging marketing tool.

I'm just waiting for the right client to come along and insist that I design the pagees for one of these swell little books.