How to Share Your Photos Through Creative Commons

Adding photos to your blog posts is a great way of making them more eye-catching. However, the cost of royalty-free imagery starts to add up, and you also don't want to end up being sued because you used photos without permission.

That's why I use photos from Flickr with the Creative Commons license. As long as I give attribution to the appropriate photos, I'm in the clear.

Which got me thinking: why don't I offer up my photos to other bloggers in the hopes that they'll give me attribution and link back to my Flickr page, increasing my online visibility? I wasn't sure how to go about it, but it turns out it's pretty simple, as this video, How to Share Your Photos Through Creative Commons will show you.

You can share your photos through Creative Commons on Flickr here.

Photo courtesy of therichbrooks.

Rich Brooks
Maine Web Design

Maine Business Resources Online

Recently I pitched a story to 207, the evening news program up here in Maine, on Web-based resources for entrepreneurs.

Due to the economic downturn, many people are thinking about (or forced into) striking it out on their own. This can be a scary thing, especially if you've been working in a cubicle most of your life, or even in a corner office.

However, there are a lot of online resources out there. I reached out to some fellow entrepreneurs and got a huge amount of online resources...more than would be useful for a five minute segment. To that end, I've created a list below of all the sites that had been submitted. In no particular order:

• Maine.gov: Starting a Business: Information and specifics about what you need to start a business in Maine.
• SCORE Maine: SCORE, the Service Corps of Retired Executives, offers free counseling and workshops to businesses. Chapters exist throughout the country,and this site lists all the chapters in Maine.
• Score Maine (Portland chapter): If you're living in the Greater Portland area, this is the chapter for you. Bonus Points: I occasionally speak there. Double Bonus Points: flyte designed it. :)
• Maine Center for Enterprise Development: Business incubator providing low cost services to start ups. They are also running a "Top Gun" applied entrepreneurship program.
• Maine Technology Institute: Offers early stage capital and commercialization assistance for R&D of innovative, technology-based projects.
• Maine & Company: Help on growing or moving your business to Maine.
• Maine Angels: Providing investments to promising, early-stage companies.
• Maine Small Business Development Centers: Help on starting a business, and many online courses entrepreneurs can take.
• Realize! Maine: Focused on encouraging young entrepreneurs to stay in Maine and grow their business here.
• Maine Development Foundation: Dedicated to sustainable, long-term economic growth for Maine. Offers programs on leadership, building downtowns and more.
• TechMaine: Focused on technology companies in Maine, including startups. Have an Entrepreneur Handbook.
• MEBSR: Not a startup resource per se, but helping Maine entrepreneurs build (and grow) sustainable businesses.
• flyte new media: The place small businesses turn to for Web sites and Internet marketing such as search engine visibility, email marketing, blogging, and social media. Oops, may have gotten a little self-serving there. ;)

In addition, there are a number of LinkedIn Groups that are Maine-centric. Some of my personal favorites:

• Maine Entrepreneurs: Discussions around entrepreneurship, small business and startups.
• Living and Working in the State of Maine: Slightly broader topics for anyone who works, lives or even plays here.
• MaineBiz: Maine Business topics sponsored by MaineBiz.
• Maine Marketing Association: Marketing-focused conversations.
• Maine Tweetup: Primarily announcements about Maine-based Tweetups.
• TechMaine: The group for TechMaine.

Do you have any other Web-based resources for Maine startups and entrepreneurs? Let us know!   

Energy Services Group: Billing, Transactions & More for Energy Companies

Last week flyte launched a new Web site for Energy Services Group, the retail energy industry's leading provider of transaction management (EDI), billing, and CIS, and wholesale energy services.

Which just goes to show you, we can build effective Web sites even when I have to ask the client to explain what they do every time we meet. Luckily, the folks over at ESG are extremely patient since they're used to working with everyone from the largest retail energy suppliers to entrepreneurs looking to break into the energy business.

ESG offers transaction management services, cash billing services, wholesale energy services and more. Besides having great, experience people working there, they also have unbeatable technology.

Flyte designed and built this site on WordPress, an easy-to-use content management system (CMS) that allows ESG to update their site, add new pages, upload images, embed video and more. Since WordPress was originally a blogging platform, adding an Energy Services Blog to ESG's Web marketing mix was simple. Flyte further helped increase ESG's online presence with search engine optimization including a keyword analysis and link building activities.

If you're interested in breaking into retail energy, or you're already in but want to build your business, be sure to check out Energy Services Group. If you'd like to build your own presence online, or increase your online visibility, be sure to check out flyte new media.

The Ultimate Google Analytics Video Guide

In the Holistic Web Marketing model, there are four components to a successful, effective Web marketing campaign:

• Attraction: how to drive qualified traffic to your site
• Retention: how to keep the lines of communication open after people have left your site
• Conversion: how to get people to move down the sales funnel at your site
• Measurement: tracking all of the above for continual improvement

It's that last piece--measurement--that's the focus of The Ultimate Google Analytics Video Guide that we just published at Squidoo.

This is a collection of the how-to videos we created for small businesses so you could put Google Analytics to use, along with some other important resources that will help you measure your growth and success online.

If you'd like more help understanding your Google Analytics, or installing a copy of the free software on your own Web site, just let us know.

Rich Brooks
Google Analytics for Small Business

Southern Maine Community College Launches New Joomla Web Site

Flyte recently redesigned and rebuilt a Web site for SMCC: Southern Maine Community College.

Located on the edge of Casco Bay, SMCC is an excellent choice for high-quality, affordable education in Maine. It offers both career and technical programs as well as an associates degree in liberal studies.

In addition to information and resources for students (past, present and future) and faculty, visitors to the site can learn about the Business & Community partnerships and opportunities that the college offers.

Flyte built the site on Joomla, a powerful open-source content management system (CMS) so that the college could manage the site inhouse. Different departments can update and maintain their own sections of the site without having access to other departments. (You know, in case the math chair wants to prank the English chair for TP'ing his house.)

If you're looking for a stellar, affordable education in southern Maine, be sure to visit Southern Maine Community College. If you're looking for an attractive, professional Web site that you can maintain yourself, contact flyte new media.

Rich Brooks
Maine Joomla Web Design