Why Mat Short for your web?

Mat Short has been working with web since 1999 in the days when you could still upload a website from MS Word!

My experience has moved on over the last few years after my first website designed for what was then our 12-strong chain of bookshops. I’d had a site designed by a ‘professional’ designer which cost around £1,500 (that’s quite alot now – it was even more back in the twentieth century!) and to say I was left unimpressed would be an uber-understatement (is that a word?) Anyway, I decided that it couldn’t be that different to designing graphic/print so I had a go.

After learning some basic coding skills by looking at sites I did like, looking at their code and working out how it did what it did, I got hold of a piece of software called Dreamweaver and I really started to get into web design. During this time, a couple of business owner friends asked if I’d design sites for them – and on it’s gone from there.

After a couple of years of working with Joomla CMS I’ve finally succumbed to WordPress as I prefer it’s intuitive ‘back-end’ for the end user and I think it just looks prettier! WordPress also focuses on content which, let’s face it is the most important stuff…

So what do I bring to the table?

Not only do I have a proven track record of designing web, I run a very busy retail business as part of a four-strong management team  so I understand the needs and challenges of a business owner who wants a website. Just contact me and as soon as we talk, you’ll know you can trust me to help you get the best from your website and marketing…

Heading Out Hair Salon

Just completed the training session with the owner of this modern hair salon, so that she can update the site herself. This website uses the ‘non-profit’ theme from those great people at Organic Themes. I’ve tweaked it to suit the Heading Out brand which already exists, primarily using a strong colour and existing logo.

We’ve paid particular attention to the people in the business and also the quality of the products – with a view to replicating the feel of salon on the website.

The site uses strong code and clean lines.

Stray’s Coffee – done!

I’ve finally merged the Stray’s websites into one site.

Using the ‘News’ theme by Organic Themes, I’ve tweaked it and put together one site for the whole Stray’s business. (Ok, I still haven’t started on the books website – that’s next). It’s all part of the expansion of Stray’s and the forthcoming Franchise/Pilot store in early 2012…

The result is all the same great content, in one place. Have a look at http://www.strayscoffee.co.uk/

Stray’s Website

After the initial move from Joomla to WordPress (a blessing, by the way) we’re now looking to integrate the 4 mini-sites into one WordPress site for the whole brand.

It will comprise of sections to cover the jazz, books, coffee and tapas offerings within the business but for marketing purposes, it will all be hosted at the strayscoffee domain to allow for the planned expansion in 2012 for franchising the Stray’s Coffee brand. The plan is to bring all the elements to one place so that visitors get a feel for the ‘whole’ business, rather than each ‘part’ of the business.

We’re currently running the site using the ‘News’ theme from those wonderful people at Organic Themes. The art has been tweaking the graphics and fonts etc to make the ‘news’ theme a little less newsy and a little more friendly. As I write this post, we have moved the coffee and jazz content into the site and will be working on tapas next. The bookshop content has to be migrated over from the original Joomla format and this will be the last part of the project.

We’ve tried to keep the ‘look’ of the site simple and clean but with lots of ‘snippets’ of content, to reflect the quirky, home-made feel of the Stray’s business. BUt also, to repflect the slightly more corporate feel that we’ll need to start the franchise project in the new year…

Premium WordPress themes…

‘Live’ Examples

• HEALTH & BEAUTY THEME – this is ‘page-driven’ rather than having lots of posts and is a little more static than some of the WordPress themes. Ideal theme for someone who might only have the time or inclination to update their site on a monthly or less frequent basis.
• BOLD THEME – this is a robust and clean looking WordPress, set up to re-brand an existing site. It’s clear, bold and is designed to have high impact. It is driven by posts which have ‘tags’ and is search a engine friendly website.
• STRUCTURE THEME – This slick theme is post-driven and is updated daily. It includes a MailChimp plugin to add visitors to an external mailing list mailing campaign which goes out weekly.
• NEWS THEME – This theme is post-driven and is updated daily. It has posts from three websites merged into this ‘big’ theme, keeping everything in one place.
• PORTFOLIO THEME – Ideal for anyone who wants to show off a portfolio in a clean yet visual way, the Portfolio Theme is just that! Quick and easy to update but able to engage visitors immediately at a visual level

WordPress is just fantastic!

It’s intuitive functionlity means that in no time you’ll be posting articles on your website and adding media, files and pictures. So where do I come in?

You can host your own wordpress site and take advantage of the thousands of free themes yourself. Or Mat Short can set it up for you using one of our Premium WordPress themes and your site will look and feel that bit more professional. The themes are designed by either Organic Themes or Elegant themes and as such are fully browser compatible, use clean code and are regularly updated (they’re developers so we get them to do all the ‘techy stuff’!)

The website you are currently reading is run in the BOLD THEME by Elegant Themes but there are several dozen that I’m currently working with so the choices are pretty limitless.

So what now?

To plan how to get your shiny new WordPress up & running, contact me and let’s stand out from the crowd…

or to see a little more about what you get from one of our WordPress packages, go to the WordPress hosting section…

Viking challenge – done!

Ron de Raad arrived at 8am and we took a steady ride up to the start at Redmile School. We registered and were given an 8.30 start which is always fun – everyone starting together in one seething mass!

The route has changed a bit since last time I did it – and while it wasn’t quite as interesting as usual, the new route, to allow the old one to recover, was a nice ride overall.

Ron rode back a mile at Branston to check I hadn’t had a crash – meanwhile I’m belting off to see if I can catch him up – both of us riding opposite directions and not meeting up again until the finish.

Home-made cakes and goodies topped us up for our ride back to Bottesford – a great ride – thanks to all who organised it – and no broken bike this year! And fortunately for me, I’m booked in for a day at Eden Hall Day Spa tomorrow so my legs can have a rest.

Cheers to Ron too – you’re a star, and far too fit!

Work on the ‘why’ and the ‘how’ will come

Why the kids pictures on the website? I hear you ask…

Focus on the 'why', not the 'how'. Talk about it often and make it happen...

My daughter is currently just 6 years old. And she has mentioned on several occasions that she’d like to work with animals when she gets older. So we got talking about things and she also said she wanted to have a business card, just like daddy.

We talked more and I explained that she needed to think about all the things she thought ought to be on the card. We came up with pictures of animals and agreed to have a go at drawing some of the animals she wanted to work with.

Just like a child, she did exactly as I suggested and her excitement continues to develop. We have since worked on a business card – OK, I know she’s only 6, but the seeds are being planted when they’re most likely to germinate.

At no time did she come up with reasons why she couldn’t become a vet. I’ve already mentioned that there will be lots of hours of learning, working and difficulty in the process. Her response was ‘I know daddy, but I want to help animals be happy’. Because her ‘why’ is bigger than her ‘how’ I think we may have to get saving big-time for those university fees!

My point? be like child – focus on what you want, not what you’ve got to do…

Dreams are fun to chase – work is, well work. Make every day an opportunity to chase down your dreams (goals, target, ambitions, mission or whatever phrase works for you) in the pursuit of winning and you’ll find the hard stuff becomes part of the process of winning…

What are you selling?

More often than not, when asked what you sell, do you talk about the product or the benefit?

It’s a fairly obvious route to go down when discussing sales, but common sense is not that common so I’m going to go through it anyway.

People don’t buy products – they buy benefits. In the words of Dale Carnegie – “imagine everyone you meet has a sign across their forehead saying What’s In It For Me?”

People buy for one of 5 primary motivating factors:

• TIME (Save or get back)
• MONEY (Save or Make)
• HEALTH (Improve)
• SECURITY (Make them feel safe)
• STATUS (Look better than the neighbours!)

When you look to pitch your offer, think in terms of what they need – not what you need. If you give them what they want, you’ll get what you want. If your customer buys to save time, talk to them in terms of how they’ll save time and maybe, what they’ll be able to do in that time.
People don’t buy washing powder because it cleans at 30 degrees. They want a better life and that’s what they buy – it occurs at less than 30 degrees and that’s the factual stuff – always talk about benefits and back them up with facts.