One of our goals is to share resources that you’ll find helpful in growing your website/blog. Here are some of this week’s posts worth reading.

The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time :: This one is geared toward a more traditional workplace setting, but the ideas can easily be carried over into operating your own online business.

 9 Persuasion Lessons from a 4-Year-Old :: This little guy has the art of asking down!

How to Stop Wasting Your Time :: Anyone else a multi-tasker?

How to Get Started Selling Advertising on Your Blog :: Even if you’ve been selling ads, he has some interesting tips here that should still be helpful.

WordPress is Being Attacked: 3 Precautions You Can Take :: Amy has some fantastic tips here. If you’re not sure if updating WordPress is safe or not, we can help. Just ask.

Have you ever written a blog post that was so-so?
Blah?
Meh?
Nothing great?

You figure it’s just ONE post, so it will be okay to let it slide through this once.

I’m sure we can all raise our hand and confess to this one.

But what if that’s the first post that someone reads on your blog?

I’ve talked with a lot of bloggers who are noticing a trend. The bulk of their visitors come in via a single post rather than the home page. (Thank you, Google.)

One post.

What if it’s THAT post? The one that you decided was so-so but published anyways?

That could be the only post ever seen by that visitor.

I’m definitely guilty of this one. I’m making it my goal to make each post so good that someone coming in on a single post is willing to click around and read a bit. Want to join me?

photo credit

I just received this question from a client:

Our organization has an Events page hosted on another fundraising site. The link on our menu sends people there, but it doesn’t open in a new window. Can we make it open in a new window?

If you’ve ever used your menu to link to another site, you’ve probably dealt with the frustration of people leaving your site when they click. Wouldn’t it be so much better if your site could stay open in the background? Then people wouldn’t have to try to find you again when they were done with the other window/tab.

Today we’ll solve that problem with just  few clicks.

• First, log into your site.
• Click on the Menu screen (as if you were creating or editing a menu under Appearance > Menu).

• Under Show Advanced Menu Properties, put a check in the box that says Link Target.

• Close that menu by clicking the Screen Options tab again.
• Scroll down to a menu item that you want to open in a new tab/window.
• Open it by clicking the arrow on the right side of the menu item.

• You should see a little checkbox that will let you Open the link in a new window/tab.

• Place a check in that box.
• Repeat this for any other menu items you want to open in new tabs/windows.
• Save your menu.

Your menu item will now open in a new window, leaving your site open in the background.

Does anyone else out there collect domain names just in case? {raises hand} If you’re a .com collector, here’s your chance to pick up a new one.

Now through 1/31/13, you can get a .com for $2.95. If you have a new site idea brewing, this is a great way to inexpensively get the .com in your name. If your idea takes flight, you’re ready! If you change your mind, you’re only out $2.95. Not a bad deal for peace of mind.

Click here to get your $2.95 .com.

If you also need hosting for your new .com domain, we recommend both HostGator (for smaller or new sites) and LiquidWeb (for larger sites). We’ve had excellent customer service from both companies.

On December 17, 2012, Facebook (in true Facebook style) updated their policy for cover images for pages. The change that most directly impacts website/blog owners is the limit on text in Timeline cover images. According to these new guidelines, no more than 20% of your Timeline cover image can be text.

The New Guidelines (taken from the Facebook Pages Terms):

All covers are public. This means that anyone who visits your Page will be able to see your cover. Covers can’t be deceptive, misleading, or infringe on anyone else’s copyright. You may not encourage people to upload your cover to their personal timelines.

Covers may not include:

1. images with more than 20% text;
2. price or purchase information, such as “40% off” or “Download it on socialmusic.com”;
3. contact information such as a website address, email, mailing address, or information that should go in your Page’s “About” section;
4. references to Facebook features or actions, such as “Like” or “Share” or an arrow pointing from the cover photo to any of these features; or
5. calls to action, such as “Get it now” or “Tell your friends.”

Facebook claims to be doing this to keep user interactions with brands positive. They believe that too much text isn’t authentic or personal.

So how do you figure out whether or not your cover makes the cut?

You have to do a little math.

Facebook covers are 850 pixels x 315 pixels. That means that a cover image is 267,750 square pixels. (Anyone else having flashbacks to fifth grade math class?) Take 20% of that number (53,550 square pixels) and that’s how much text you can have on your cover image.

To put your cover image to the test, you’ll need to measure each area of text on your cover. Add up all the areas, and see if you fall at or below the 53,550 square pixel mark.

Here’s how we measured the text on one cover image:

All of that text added up to 54,775 square pixels, just a bit too much for the new guidelines.

Here’s another cover image that does meet the new guidelines:

The text takes up 25,543 square pixels, so it’s well under the 53,550 square pixel limit.

Need help measuring the text on your cover image? Contact us if you’d like some help.

20% Text Rule for Sponsored Stories in the News Feed

If you take advantage of Facebook’s sponsored stories in the News Feed, this 20% rule applies to all images that you use there too. This rule went into effect today (January 15, 2013). So be sure to check the amount of text you use in your ads.

What do you think? Is too much text uninviting and impersonal? Have you updated your cover image to meet the new guidelines?

Instead I added a reminder to the category description.

Here’s how:

• In your WordPress Dashboard, go to Posts > Categories.
• Find the category you want to use.
• Hover over the name of the category. Choose the Edit option that appears.

• When the Edit Category screen appears, find the Archive Intro Text box.

• Enter your intro text there. You can use html code.
• Scroll down, and click the blue Update button.

When you visit your category page, you should see your intro at the top.

Can you think of any other uses for archive intro text?

Have you ever wanted to send a video or other large file to a friend, VA, or another blogger? Most email programs have file size limits and definitely aren’t large-file-friendly.

Enter Dropbox.

Dropbox is a file sharing website that’s totally free. You just click here, sign up, and download the Dropbox software. You end up with a Dropbox folder on your computer. You can add other folders inside it and share those with anyone.

You can set up one folder of videos to share with your parents. You can set up another folder of documents to share with a co-worker. Each folder can be shared with whoever you want.

After folders are shared, you can add files at any time. When you do, those files stay in your Dropbox folder AND go into your friend’s folder. If you delete a file or move it out of the folder, it gets moved from your friend’s folder too.

One of my favorite Dropbox features is being able to access files away from home. I can log onto the Dropbox website and see everything I have stored in my local Dropbox folder. I can even send someone a direct link to a file straight from the website.

As a bonus, if you share Dropbox with a friend who’s new to it, you get extra free space in your Dropbox folder. Then your friend can refer her friends and get her own free space. (The links in this post are ours, so we’ll get free space if you sign up. Thanks!)

Kelly and I share a Dropbox folder for blogger media kits. She works with bloggers to gather stats and reader demographics. Then she compiles everything into a document for me. She adds the document and whatever images we need to a Dropbox folder. I grab the files, create the media kit, and put the final kit back in the Dropbox folder. We can collaborate without emailing files back and forth.

Amy and I shared a Dropbox folder when we designed her Facebook cover image last year. She dropped some pictures into the Dropbox folder. Jason grabbed them and used them to create her cover. (Isn’t it pretty!?)

Jason and I share a Dropbox folder for client work. When he creates a logo or a header, he puts it in the Dropbox. I can access it when it’s time to upload it to a website.

You can find out more about Dropbox here.

Do you use Dropbox? How has it helped you? Share your tips in the comments.

Welcome to the New Season Design blog area. We’re excited to open up an opportunity to answer questions and share ideas with you. We’ll be posting about blogging, great books, widgets, backups, and more.

Have a question or an idea for a post? Leave it in the comments below, or use our contact form to submit it. We’re looking forward to getting to know you!