The Roundpeg crew enjoyed a team building trip to the Super Bowl festivities last Friday. Have you had a chance to check out the fun?

Although it’s easy to get distracted this week we continue to publish at least one blog post daily. If you’ve been visiting Super Bowl Village on a daily basis you may have missed out. Now’s your chance to catch up.

Saturday - Faces of Roundpeg: New Characters – Jenna and Peter
We are a bit more polished, more professional and more grown up thanks to our newest cast members.

Sunday – What’s In a Theme?
Peter explains (to Romeo?) the basics behind WordPress themes.

Monday - Knowing When to Walk Away: Dealing with Anger Online
Always good to think before you respond whether in person or online.

Tuesday – Sometimes What’s Old is New Again
Sharing the love for WordPress plug in Tweet Old Post.

MTFW: Unfunded with Nick Carter
Listen to our talk with Nick Carter about his experiences growing his firm, AddressTwo as an “unfunded” venture.

Wednesday – Your New Truck is a Website
The inspiration for a client’s rebranding came from their original truck sign.

Thursday – Use FAQs as Blog Post Starters
FAQs and answers to questions make great content for blog posts.

Friday – Why Playing Hooky Can Help Your Business

Reflecting on our Adventure in the SuperBowl Village, Allison talks about why these types of outing are good for your business

At Roundpeg, we love to play hooky. It’s not that we don’t love our jobs or aren’t passionate about marketing and web design and all that other good stuff. But sometimes, you have to take a step back from your work and take a day for other things. That’s why last Friday we cancelled work. Oh, sure, a few of us did a couple of hours of work in the morning or a smidgen in the afternoon, but most of our day was focused purely on having fun and enjoying the crazy carnival atmosphere that is the Super Bowl in Indianapolis. We even got paid for our time.

It’s a pretty radical thing to do, for an employer to pay their employees for not working. But we’ve found that taking time away from work as a team can be just as valuable as anything we do from 9-5 in our office. First, it refreshes us. Because all of us are creatives of one stripe of another, it can be critical to avoid burnout by becoming inspired by the work of others. That’s why the TURF art exhibit presented by the Indianapolis Downtown Artists and Dealers Association was such a godsend. It’s like a giant playground for grownups (okay, some kids too) where you can interact with art, view it from all different angles, crawl around on the ground and manipulate lights with your body. It’s important to step away from our own art sometimes and to look at what others are doing, how their viewpoints and perspectives differ radically from ours, and to see how we can incorporate that inspiration into our work in fresh, new ways.

The other important thing that our hooky day did was to help us form a stronger team. In our office, there are very few projects that we complete solo. Sure, I might do most of the work on a social media account, Peter shepherds website projects from start to finish and Jenna rules the roost with logos, but there are very few projects any of us complete alone. Whether we’re coordinating work together or just turning to the others for advice and moral support, we’re a team. So when we can get a chance to bond about things other than difficult customers or tricky WordPress themes, it adds a different dimension to our office relationships. It helps us learn to trust each other, and to view each other as whole people instead of just coworkers.

And finally, it’s fun. Fun is a critical part of our culture–an aspect of business that experts are agreeing is becoming more and more important. Culture is the motivation, cohesion, connection, spirit and focus that drive all great businesses. It’s about what makes you go to work besides money and why you deliver the best service day after day. And a little fun never hurt anyone.

Just take a look at some of the fun we had:

Stumped for blog content? Think about the questions your customers ask you again and again. These FAQs are a great source of blog content. Typically, companies create a page of FAQs. While this is helpful, you are missing out on the SEO benefit of this content.

According to Michael Gray putting one question on a page or post works much better. He says:

Unless your questions and answers are very short, ideally you want to create a single page optimized for each question, this gives you the ability to create narrowly focused posts around specific keyword phrases that will rank better and drive more traffic.

Some of these posts may be very short or not as popular as other.  That is fine you can create a summary post like we did for Randall Beans, with links to each question.  Another strategy is to create a custom search. This will work if you are using a custom menu which allows you to link the search to the navigation bar.

How to get started? The next time you find yourself answering a question in an email, stop. Is this something other people will find valuable? If so, you have the makings of a blog post.

Dr. Greg of Leo’s Pet Care used this strategy recently. We were talking about treatment alternatives for our office kitty, Maybee. He researched and wrote a post about her condition. I read the article before I went to see him, so I was more prepared for the conversation. And the next time he is asked about this issue, Dr. Greg can simply send the link.

Do you have FAQs?  Do you have the answers written down? If so, you have great content for your next few blog posts.

Roundpeg, an Indianapolis social media firm, helps our clients construct blog calendars, brainstorm content to keep their readers coming back.

It used to be that you were known by your vehicle. Service contractors and industrial companies like Lauck Manufacturing use trucks and vans to transport materials and workmen. The truck holds your logo, your phone number and your reputation. However, today’s market demands something more.

Consumers use the Internet like a phonebook. A common search to find Indianapolis area mechanics might be “mechanic Indianapolis”. People are only looking at the first three or four results from that search to find the mechanic they’re going to call. Signage on fleet vehicles is still a valuable asset, but your business needs a website to keep the calls coming.

Roundpeg worked with Lauck Manufacturing to develop their American Eagle Goals brand and we knew they were ready to make the leap. There were two things we kept in mind during the development process. First, Lauck’s market is primarily business-to-business. Impressive animations and video clips would do nothing for this audience. Strong images would still be key, but the layout and copy are optimized for people looking to get down to business. Our other touchstone for the project was the heritage of the hand-lettered sign on their original truck. To digitize this logo for their new website, we made a point of carefully recreating the unique character of the old sign. A rich color pallette of brown, khaki and maroon gives it new life on the web.

You can’t interact with a truck in a parking lot. At www.lauckmfg.com clients take-in the company’s story, browse a portfolio of projects and can even upload their own documents to easily request quotes. And the phone number is still right there, ready to be dialed.

In the startup community, funding is all the craze. But what if you could build a business from scratch? What if you didn’t sell equity in the early stages? Could the business grow? Have businesses been built like this? It can, and they have. There exists a rare breed of entrepreneur, one who has what it takes to create a self-funded company—bootstrapped—and build it into a blue chip company.

Join us for today’s episode of More than a Few Words as we talk to Nick Carter about his experiences growing his firm AddressTwo as an “unfunded” venture.

Do you have any comments or questions? Call in during the show at (805) 285 -9865 or drop us a comment on Twitter.  Direct the comment to @roundpeg or use the hashtag #MTFW so we are sure to see your remarks.

The call will be live from 10:30 – 11:00 today, Wednesday,  February 1. You will be able to listen to the program from our station on BlogTalkRadio.com.

About our Guest:

Nick Carter is the creator and president of AddressTwo, a software company that provides small businesses with tools and processes to manage their sales and marketing. Staring his first business at the age of 16, Nick is truly an entrepreneur at heart. As a true farm boy, Nick has a rich heritage in entrepreneurship and a firm understanding of hard work.

Nick is the author of “Unfunded,” which teaches entrepreneurs to start a business without seeking venture capital. He has recruited, trained, and managed large sales teams, ran a sought-after creative agency, and is now leading his once-small startup on a nation-wide expansion.

We write one or two posts a day for our blog. Some of them attract lots of traffic comments and interaction, others come and go, mostly unnoticed. Why? Sometimes a title is particularly catchy, other times it is the topic itself that generates a response.

But many times, our content is lost in the overwhelming sea of information. There are too many posts by too many interesting writers, too much noise on social channels or we didn’t work hard enough that day to break through.

It is frustrating, because some of my favorite posts are overlooked. That is why I really like Tweet Old Post , a WordPress Plugin. This tool  randomly picks your older post based and shares them on Twitter. Here is what I really like about the tool:

Features:

You can specify the interval. I have it set so the interval between posts is at least 8 hours, but may be as much as 10. So we typically share 2 – 3 old posts each day. Since the time is random, I hit a wide range of followers with the content.

Post Age:

You can specify the age of the post. Since I use this to re-engage people with older content, I have it set for posts older then 90 days.  This takes visitors deeper into our website. Often, they leave comments which refreshes the page for search engines. I also set the time limit for no posts older then two years, because much of that content is no longer relevant.

Categories:

Certain posts about events and time-sensitive comments  can be omitted, so the reader doesn’t feel like they have wasted their time following the link.

We have used this plug in for about six months and have been really pleased with the results. We have seen many of our old posts get a second chance to shine, with comments and retweets. I would strongly recommend installing this WordPress plugin on any blog with more than one year’s worth of content.

Fact: The Internet is filled with jerks. The anonymity and the faceless nature of the Internet seems to unleash something deep inside people. They’ll spew venom and hate about everything from the most trivial (your favorite TV show, for example) to the most important (politics and religion) to the most personal (you, your business, your profession). They’ll post things that are flagrantly untrue, hurtful or just foul and full of profanity and lies. And just as it’s easy for them to pound out a scathing attack on something you hold dear, it’s incredibly tempting to sit down and immediately pound out a devestating counter attack.

Don’t. Stop. Wait.

Why? Because if you let that flaming response fly, you might wind up looking just like the owner of Boner’s Barbeque, who posted a profanity-laced tirade against a customer who left a negative Yelp! review, complete with a photo of the customer in question. The company instantly became an Internet laughing stock, the poster child for how not to deal with customer service issues on social media. But the problem goes far beyond customer service: it goes to the heart of how we see people and interact with them in the digital world. Because we can’t hear their voice or look into their eyes, we suddenly give ourselves license to say and do things we would never, ever do in the physical world. So the next time you’re faced with a blog post or social media comment that makes your blood boil for any reason, follow these simple steps:

1. Remember, it’s just the Internet. I know this runs counter-intuitive to a digital marketing company that makes its living selling people on the importance of the Internet, but at the end of the day, one negative comment isn’t going to sink you. What might, however, is your response. Remember: it’s better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.

2. Weigh the pros and cons of responding. If someone has written a negative review or comment about your business, you need to respond quickly and helpfully, without anger. However, the whole issue gets a lot more complicated when you just read a blog post that pisses you off something fierce and you just HAVE to show the other person how wrong they are.

Before you hit “reply,” stop and think about what leaving that comment will really accomplish. Is it going to reflect well on you? Is there actually any chance that it might persuade someone to change their view? Is it going to help you get new business? If the answer is “no” to all of these questions, ask yourself what you’d really be accomplishing by responding, besides making yourself feel better.

3. Give it a positive spin. If you must respond to a negative blog post, be better than your opposition. That is, don’t respond with a relentlessly negative attack from which no one walks away unscathed. Instead, look at the post for lessons, and respond to them in a positive way.

Recently, an Indianapolis business owner came to me for advice on dealing with a blog post about his industry that made him furious. I encouraged him to take what made him mad about that post and turn it into an educational, positive post for his clients. Transform someone else’s hatred into something useful, and you’ve truly won the day.

Remember: Breathe. Stay cool. Recognize that arguing on the Internet rarely ends well, and you’ll keep your online reputation on course.

When we start a new website project at Roundpeg, we spend a lot of time talking about themes. So what’s a theme? Not so fast Romeo, let’s get a handle on WordPress first. Roundpeg’s websites depend on this software to run. Like the engine in a car, it’s the unseen power-house under the hood. When you’re writing a blog post, that’s the WordPress engine working and when you’re checking your website’s traffic statistics, that’s data recorded by WordPress. Website owners change and update their site with the power of this engine.

A theme is the top-level surface that your customers interact with. It manages the way all of your information is displayed and how it looks to visitors. At the very least, a theme is like a sparkling coat of paint that makes the website yours. Premium and professionally built themes like the ones we use often come with their own add-ons that make designing new looks a lot of fun.

After the project kick-off meeting, we select two or three themes from our favorite designers. We add sample images and the client’s logo and then we send them off for feedback. Simple, right? Just shop around until the right one appears. Yeah, simple like picking out new curtains or finding the car with the feature pack and paint job that feels just right.

Picking the right theme is a crucial step in the web development process. Switching themes half-way in can mean a significant delay and significant hair-pulling on both the client and developer’s end.

Here are a few of the things we think about before we show clients a mock-up:

1. Will the theme serve the client well? – A beautifully designed theme is worthless if it doesn’t have the layout and structure to suit the needs identified in our kick-off meeting. This is the heart-breaker. I don’t know how many times we’ve had to leave a good theme behind because its layout didn’t meet for the client’s needs.

2. Is it well-made? – The segments of code that define it must fit together cleanly like the gears of a watch. Ugly code is a deal breaker, no matter how nice it looks on the outside.

3. How can we refine it? – This is where things get interesting. As web developers, it’s our job to collect and piece together everything to make great websites. If a theme is walled up and resists modifications, it’s going to be nixed from our short list. I’m always looking for themes with lots of customization opportunities.

All of this thinking and planning sounds like a drag, but it’s not. We recognize and embrace the challenge of creating something new. Themes help us fulfill the vision our clients have for their website and business.

Another week where if we waited an hour here in Indianapolis, the weather changed. We’ve had ice, snow and on the rare side for January, thunderstorms.

Our blogs this week seem to have followed the pattern of one of our favorite interview questions…so weather you favor words, pictures or numbers, we’ve covered it in at least one of our blogs during the past week. If you’ve missed one or several, here’s a quick recap:

Saturday – Faces of Roundpeg: The Boy Band
Lorraine’s ode to Taylor & Jay and the way things used to be.

Sunday – Make Pictures Part of Your Web Design Strategy
Pictures are cropping up more often on blog posts, this article explains why.

Monday – Taking Stock of Your Image
In the “old” days, designers cringed at the thought of using stock photos, Jenna explains how to modify those photos to have a bigger impact and save money.

Tuesday - I Don’t Like Football, But I Love the Super Bowl
Most of us don’t realize all that hosting a Super Bowl brings to a local community as part of the Super 46, Lorraine explains what makes the Super Bowl special for the hosting city.

Marketing in Handcuffs with Muhammad Yasin:  More than a Few Words
For this week’s podcast we’ll be joined by Muhammad Yasin, social media strategist for HCCMIS, a travel health insurance company. The topic is learning how you can make regulations work in your favor.

Wednesday - Indianapolis Social Media: Way More than 46
Allison shares her thoughts on how the Super 46 could have been handled more effectively. What are your thoughts?

Thursday - It’s In the Numbers: 4 Strategies for Blog Success
Lorraine explains why paying attention to numbers in blog posts makes a difference.

Friday – You Can’t Save Everyone
This is the marketing version of you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.

If you noticed that the weekly summary was published late this week, that is because the Roundpeg crew took the day off to head downtown to experience the pre Superbowl activities.  If you are in Indy, be sure to check it out before it is gone.

One of my all-time favorite TV shows is MASH. I loved all the characters of the quirky, somewhat political comedy. In the eleven years the show was on the air, many of the cast came and went. The writers and the director made a deliberate decision not to simply shove another actor into the same role. When a cast member left, they used it as an opportunity to take the show in a new direction.

The same is true of Roundpeg. In our ten years in business, team members have come and gone. The hardest thing to learn was that I couldn’t cast a new member in the same role. Each new person redefined the job around their skills and talents. While the essence of Roundpeg has remained the same, the company has evolved as a result of their influence.

These days, we have some new characters in our cast. Jenna Giles sits at the Art Director’s desk. While she has the same art degree as her predecessor Taylor, she definitely has her own style. In between designing logos and graphics for clients, she has been organizing our servers and files, shopping for pet fashions and teaching the cats stupid pet tricks.  Jenna  is passionate about her designs and comfortable explaining her concepts to clients, which has allowed me to spend more time looking for new projects.

We knew we had to hire Peter Wolfgram when Maybee drank his water and crawled into his lap during the interview.  Most afternoons you can still find her sitting there. As our production artist, Peter brings a calm center to the chaos that is Roundpeg.  He rolls his eyes ever so slightly when we suggest something he thinks is a dumb idea, you have to be paying attention to catch it. And when he is not designing, he  finds the most obscure and interesting links to share on Twitter. If you don’t follow him @pwolfgram, you should.

Some things haven’t changed. Roundpeg is still a quirky, productive place, filled with laughter, animals, and dining adventures.  It is however, a bit more polished, more professional and more grown up thanks to our newest cast members.   And with this new cast, I expect to run for quite a few more seasons.