How to Take Headshot and Bio Photos for Websites and Marketing Communications

September 19, 2020/0 Comments/in Opinion, Tutorials, Web Design/by Matt Everley

Matt Everley - Graphic Designer in Hickory, NC As a web designer, I frequently receive headshot photos and other bio images to place on “about us” or “our team” web pages. More often than not, these are taken with someone’s mobile device, and the quality is, well… crappy. This is not due to the quality of the camera—because let’s face it, cell phone cameras these days are better than most older, traditional cameras. It’s the way the images are shot that makes the difference.

Professional photography is ALWAYS recommended, but it’s well understood that time, budget and other factors come into play which may prevent you from employing a professional photographer to take headshots. Here are just a few helpful tips for shooting these types of photos at home or your place of business.

5 Do-It-Yourself Headshot Photo Tips for Your Website

Headshot Photo Tip #1: Take Photos on Backgrounds Other than a Blank Wall

Blank wall backgrounds are good for passports and driver’s licenses, but do you want your headshot to look like a passport or driver’s license? Get creative with your background. Choose a background with some context for your industry. A factory setting is great for manufacturing. Outside is great for Landscaping. An office setting is great for, well you know, an office! If nothing else, choose a brick or stucco wall—something with a good bit of texture or color, and not just plain blah.

Headshot Photo Tip #2: Have the Subject Stand Away from the Background

I’ve seen it a thousand times. The person is glued to the wall behind them! Step away from the wall or whatever objects are behind you. This will create depth, some nice shadows, and show that you are welcoming.

Headshot Photo Tip #3: Step Close to the Subject

Even if you are wearing your favorite outfit of all time, don’t take a photo of your full body. You want the focus to be on your face and likeness. Showing up close and personal helps to communicate how approachable you would be in a face-to-face meeting.

Headshot Photo Tip #4: Use Natural Light—Don’t Use a Flash!

Want your photo to look like a crime scene? Then don’t use a flash! Take the picture outside or close to a window with natural light. Taking photos with the flash on will only look amateur.

Headshot Photo Tip #5: Don’t Crop from an Image with Other People

It may be your all-time favorite picture of yourself, but if you’re cropping yourself out of a picture with someone else you are not thinking professional. What happened to that other person? What did they do to deserve this? Why do you hate them so much that you had to crop them out? That’s where my mind goes when I see this on LinkedIn, Facebook or any other profiles or websites.

Exception: If you’re in your natural/work environment, and you crop your headshot from an “action” shot in your office or industry, this is totally acceptable. Even if you are not looking straight into the camera, this is a great way to display how or what you do!

Why Do I Need a Better Headshot Photo on My Website?

Your photo represents your company AND your brand. Low quality, unprofessional photos on your website and in other marketing pieces will communicate the same about your organization and the products and services you offer. Always choose professional photography services if your budget allows! But if not, follow these tips, because customers want to get to know YOU–and what better way to do this than with a great looking headshot!

Bonus Tip: What to Provide to Newspapers for Press Releases

bad newspaper registration Always provide a black and white (grayscale color mode) to newspapers. Have you ever seen how bad a picture in the newspaper looks when the registration is off? When the paper prints, it lays down 4 different separations for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black (CMYK). If these layers don’t line up, the picture looks TERRIBLE. To avoid this, submit a grayscale photo. (You may need Photoshop or another imaging program to do this properly—a gray image from Instagram or another platform is not in true “grayscale”.)

DIY Craft Beer Cap Pallet Map

August 27, 2016/0 Comments/in Tutorials/by Matt Everley

Tutorial: How to Craft a Unique Map from Pallet Wood and Beer Caps

Looking to design something creative with all those craft beer caps and scrap pieces of pallet wood you’ve been saving? How about a map of the good ole USA!

By now you may have figured out I’m a craft beer junkie. I have a growing collection of craft beer bottle caps I’ve been squirreling away for a few years now in order to use in various creative projects. For this project, I wanted to display the various craft breweries from around the United States in a unique way and in the same time create something I could hang in my house, eventually in that bar area I’m going to make some day!

My rules for this pallet project are simple. I can only place bottle caps from breweries from which I have tasted their beer. So as much as I’d love to add to the map with all those caps from you or your cousin’s husband’s brother’s step-dad’s neice’s fiancee’s craft beer bottle cap collection, I’m afraid I can only allow myself to place the ones I’ve tried for myself. And of course there are a few large commercial brewery caps on mine, and a couple of ciders too.

What you’ll need:

Pallet Wood
Sandpaper and/or Sander
Wood Screws
Pencil
Paint or Stain
Craft Beer Bottle Caps
3/4″ Dowel Rod or Old Broomstick
Miter Saw
Glue Gun with Glue Sticks
Poster Putty

Step 1: Prep and assemble your pallet wood

Grab a pallet from any nearby dumpster, factory or construction site (making sure you are not stealing!) and begin breaking it apart. This is a time-consuming process if you are trying to keep the wood intact. There are a few ways to do this using saws and other tools, but I did mine with a good ole pry bar and hammer. Give them a good sanding with some course sandpaper to smooth out the rough edges and splinters. Once you have your wood broken down into separate pieces, you can place them side by side in order to connect them with two or three support pieces using appropriate length wood screws for your wood. (I used 5/8″ screws, but your pallet wood may be thinner or thicker.)

Step 2: Draw and paint your map

If you have an overhead projector and a way to create a transparency for projecting, you can easily trace a map of the USA onto your assembled pallet wood. However, if you are like me and can’t track down a projector, you can use a pencil to sketch out the map by looking at another map or a picture on the internet. I borrowed the map from my daughter’s room to look at and emulate. You can tell my map is not extremely accurate, and also not to scale. But it makes for a unique spin and honestly it’s close enough!

Once you’ve sketched the outline of the map, you can paint in the lines using any color paint or stain you choose. I used black latex paint I had leftover from my office shelves. But you can use oil or acrylic paint; even stain.

Step 3: Add craft beer bottle caps

Once the paint or stain is dry, you can begin adding bottle caps. The best way I found to “glue” the beer caps to the map was to adhere them to circular pieces of wood. There was not a great way to glue the beer caps directly to the wood without a large surface area, and the wood gives the map more depth. I used my miter saw to cut an old broomstick into pieces that were roughly 3/8″ to 1/2″ thick. (I don’t think I have any exactly the same thickness, but this actually provides some randomness in the depth of the beer caps among others.

I first tried to use a glue gun directly on both the cap and the wood. But the coating on the bottom of the cap does NOT stick to the glue! So I used a thin layer of poster putty to adhere the cap to the piece of circular wood. You can see this in the inset images here, as well as how the pieces of dowel come out after sawing them into parts.

I then glued the caps to the painted map with the glue gun. I of course “mapped out” where I was going to place the caps before I applied the hot glue. I used Google and Google Maps to learn which city (and where that city resides in the state) in order to know where to put the caps. I guess you can use poster putty on the opposite side of the dowel piece as well to place the caps, but oh what fun to use the glue gun.

Step 4: Write a craft beer blog article and show off to all your friends and family!

Just kidding… you can simply hang or display your very own craft beer bottle cap map of the USA anywhere you’d like. The cool part about this project is that it’s always a work in progress. You can continue to add caps as you get them. And the fun part is that you get to constantly try new craft beers from around the country! (You’ll notice I have one lone cap down there from Hawaii. I didn’t take that into account when painting. And my parents recently went to Alaska and brought an unopened bottle back for me—with cap—so I need to figure out that one as well.)

I started this project with around 60 craft beer bottle caps. I now have over 100 and typically collect around 8-10 before adding another round. You can see my latest map below, and maybe by the time you are reading this I will have added more!

Have you created a DIY craft beer cap pallet map?

I’ve shown you mine, I’d love to see yours! Tell me in the comments below. I’m thinking about doing one of these for only the state of North Carolina too. I have several leftover bottle caps and I’m determined to find more. I feel I could get more accurate placement on a map created out of just one state. But then again, I have struggled to find craft beers with custom bottle caps due to the expense for small craft breweries as well as the abundance of canned beers. Hmm… what can I create from recycled craft beer cans?

Using WordPress for Your Small Business

December 1, 2014/3 Comments/in Tutorials, Web Design/by Matt Everley

This article is from a “how-to” seminar for small business owners and prospective business owners who have not used WordPress before. The goal of the seminar was to teach participants how to use and navigate WordPress—from understanding web hosting options, to choosing a theme, to inserting text and images, and even using WordPress as a blogging tool to communicate to an audience. So from this seminar comes the following comprehensive guide to getting started with WordPress for your small business.

Introduction to WordPress

First of all, what is WordPress?

WordPress is a free and open-source blogging tool and a content management system (CMS) which many small businesses use to create their own web sites. WordPress offers templates and plugins allowing users to create a professional looking web site for a minimal cost. (taken from the Small Business Center’s Workshop Sheet)

Why use WordPress?

If you’re looking to be able to place and edit your own content, you need a CMS (content management system) and WordPress is just about one of the best CMS’s out there. WordPress is wildly poplular, which means it has a great following, loyal users and tons of developers creating plugins and other supporting elements. Blogging is inherent with WordPress. Afterall, WordPress started as a blogging platform and blogs are one of the things WordPress does best. WordPress is easy to manage for new users. And did I mention it’s free?

What is the difference between WordPress.com and WordPress.org?

In a nutshell, WordPress.com is the commercial version of WordPress and a way to have your website hosted on their servers. Worpress.org is an open-source blogging/CMS platform you can install on your own server. If you are looking to simply tryout WordPress or you don’t need your own custom domain, then WordPress.com might be for you. But for the interest of most users (and the purposes of this seminar) I would recommend WordPress.org because it has more options and is much more scalable.

Here’s a great article I found comparing the two: WordPress.org vs WordPress.com: A Definitive Guide

WordPress Hosting

What is web hosting and why do you need it?

When you purchase web hosting you are basically renting space on a high-powered server somewhere in the world. A domain name is the actual name of your website (i.e. www.yourdomain.com). The domain name will point to your web hosting account. I like to think of the hosting as your house, and your domain as your house’s address. Sometimes the domain name is a separate charge, and sometimes it is rolled into your web hosting package.

Recommended hosting options

SiteGround.com – This is my new favorite hosting platform. Easy to use, great support and highly recommended!
BlueHost.com – comes with free domain name, plus “1-click” WordPress installation
Hostgator.com – good, cheap hosting and also offers easy WordPress installation

Word to the wise—you get what you pay for. I myself use MediaTemple.com. It costs a bit more but has a very good reputation in my particular industry and it allows me to host multiple websites.

Another Warning: GoDaddy. While GoDaddy.com is an inexpensive option, and has a WordPress hosting option where it is pre-installed, they do not include e-mail with their WordPress hosting package. You have to purchase this as an add-on or separate service, and in my experience this is a royal pain in the butt!

How do you install WordPress?

This all depends on your hosting service, but for the most part it is a series of questions like any other software installation. You will need to come up with a username and password. Write this down or make it easy to remember!

Here’s a great video showing how to install WordPress on Blue Host.

Navigating WordPress

The WordPress Dashboard

Once installed, the dashboard shows you a few things at a glance. The main thing you’ll need to notice are the links down the left-hand side for Posts, Pages and Settings.

Where do you start?

I like to start with the Settings > General. First you want to modify the Site Title and Tagline. Next, you’ll want to make sure your admin email is correct and you have the time zone and date/week settings the way you want them. Then you’ll want to go through the Writing, Reading and Permalink settings menus. For permalinks, I like to use the “Post Name” option. This allows your site to generate pages based on their titles and it makes them easy to read. This is also helpful for search engine optimization.

Here’s a great article I found on Top 10 Most Important Things to Do After Installing WordPress

How to create pages and posts (and what’s the difference?)

Creating pages and posts is as simple as clicking those links in the left-hand menu of the admin and then clicking “Add New”. But what’s the difference you might ask? Posts are content entries listed on your blog or in another area of your site. If you are going to be blogging, you will be creating a “post” for each blog article. Posts are typically organized by date, category or other criteria. Pages on the other hand, are more one-off content that aren’t necessarily meant to be categorized. Examples of Pages might be About Us, Service and Contact Us.

WordPress Themes

What is a WordPress theme?

Google’s Definition: “A WordPress theme is a set of files that determine the look and feel of your WordPress-powered website. Themes include information about the general layout of the site, and other content such as graphics, headers, logos and footers.”

The beauty of a theme is that if you modify it or even swap it for another theme, the core functionality of WordPress is still intact as well as your pages, posts and other items stored in your database. However, be careful when switching themes! If you have customized a theme with plugins and widgets, these add-ons may not play nice with the new theme or your site may appear out of whack.

Now, you may be thinking a theme is like a template. However, WordPress does not use these as interchangeable terms. A “theme” is the overall look and feel. A “template” is the look and feel for a specific page. For example, a theme may contain different templates for a home page, interior pages, and specialty pages like a photo gallery or portfolio.

How do you install a new theme?

For the most part, you can install a theme by clicking the Appearance link on the left and then clicking Themes. Once on the Themes page in the admin, you would click Add New. From there you can upload a theme you or someone else has created, or you can install one directly from WordPress.org. You can also install themes via the cPanel of your hosting account or manually via FTP, but those options are for the advanced user.

Theme Resources (free vs. premium)

There are TONS of themes out there for WordPress. A lot of them are free. A lot of them are premium (not free). So which to choose? It really depends on what you are trying to do. Of course the premium themes cost money (usually around $50 for a good one) but in my experience the premiums are better because more development time is put into them and they typically come with support. They are also continually updated for the latest versions of WordPress, so they tend to be more stable. Free themes on the other hand are usually one-off experiments from a developer who is happy to share his development, but not so quick to jump on the support ticket.

Here are a few places to find themes (other than clicking the “Add New” button in the Appearance > Themes area of the admin.)

WordPress.org Themes Directory
ThemeForest.net
ElegantThemes.com
WooThemes.com

WARNING: It is more difficult than you might initially think to find a theme that works for you. In my opinion, it’s always best to go custom, and have a professional develop a theme specifically for your needs. (That’s because I’m a professional!) I always tell my clients and prospects to look for themes with plug-and-play capabilities—everything you want, nothing you don’t. Because if you end up not needing a feature, what are you going to use to fill that slot? And vice versa, what if you want to add a feature your chosen theme doesn’t offer?

**Helpful Tip: When choosing a theme, try to stay away from choosing one based on your industry. For example, if your company is technology-based, browse the financial or creative themes. You don’t want to look like anyone else in your industry!**

Placing Content

Inserting text, photos and graphics

Placing text and images in WordPress is as easy as doing so in Microsoft Word. (Probably easier actually!) The WordPress admin has a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) atmosphere. Just move your cursor to the point in the content you wish to edit, and either start typing or click the “Add Media” button to select an image from your Media library. (If you don’t have any images in your Media library, there is an option to upload.)

I went over this in my seminar, but if you want to check out a tutorial, here’s a good article on inserting images from WordPress.org.

WordPress as your blogging tool

There are plenty of blogging platforms out there, but in my opinion none are as good as WordPress if you are looking to produce a total website. As stated before, WordPress started as a blogging platform and evolved into a great CMS. Blogging generates conversations, and WordPress’s commenting ability and organization is crazy good!

Menus, Widgets and other options

Menus and Widgets provide further functionality to WordPress. To create, edit and organize navigation menus, utilize the Menus link under Appearance in the admin. To place additional content and functionality in a sidebar, footer or other available content section, use a Widget.

Again, I went over this in my seminar, but the following are good how-to links:

Menus: http://codex.WordPress.org/Appearance_Menus_Screen

Widgets: http://codex.WordPress.org/WordPress_Widgets

There’s a Plugin for that!

What is a plugin and how do you view/search for new ones?

Google’s Definition: “WordPress plugins are bits of software that can be uploaded to extend and expand the functionality of your WordPress site. Note: One of the primary advantages of using the self-hosted version of WordPress from WordPress.org is the ability to upload and use plugins on your WordPress site.”

There are both free and premium plugins. Yes, the premiums cost money (sometimes flat fee, other times by subscription) but in my experience the premiums are better because more development time is put into them and they typically come with support.

How do you install a plugin?

I demonstrated this in my seminar, but here’s a good tutorial for installing WordPress plugins.

Remember, the more plugins you have installed, the more bogged-down your site can get. While there is no set number or limit, it’s better to have fewer than more. And if you are not using a plugin, be sure to deactivate it or delete it!

Recommended plugin options

Akismet – a comment spam filtering service

Contact Form 7 – an easy to use contact form that generates an email to your inbox

WordPress Backup to Dropbox – a great little backup plugin, free to use with Dropbox (also free, up to a certain amount of GB storage)

WordPress SEO by Yoast – helps you optimize your WordPress website for search engines

More WordPress Resources for Small Businesses

There are lots of great websites out there offering tips, how-to’s and further support. Here are a few I would recommend for starters…

FirstSiteGuide.com – Easy to follow step-by-step guides and tips to help you get online and be successful. Including video tutorials, niche guides and useful blog.

WordPress.tv – Lots of video tutorials and how-to’s

wpbeginner.com – Great resource for all things WordPress

WordPress Supports – A seemingly infinite site for support and question

I hope this helps everyone looking to use WordPress for their small business website. If you have any questions or thoughts, please feel free to list them in the comments below!

Helpful Tips and Links for Effective Email Marketing

April 10, 2013/2 Comments/in Tutorials/by Matt Everley

If you’ve found this link, you either attended my Effective Email Marketing workshop at the Small Business Center in Hickory, NC or the search engine gods have shined their face on one of my blog posts! Either way, I’m grateful you came. The following links are provided to help you build your email list or provide support for starting or maintaining an on-going email campaign.

Email Marketing Defined:

What is Email Marketing?

Recommended Email Marketing Service Providers and List Managers for Small Businesses:

Mail Chimp Resources & Tutorials:

A Step-by-Step Guide to getting started with email marketing from Startup Savant:

Email Marketing For Business: How To Get Started Today

Excellent Infographic from Emarketing Solutions:

11 Simple Tips On How to Send Email Marketing Campaigns

Ways to Build Your Email Marketing List:

Once You Are Up and Running:

So there you have it! Or some helpful links anyway. I find whenever I need a helpful hint or tip about email marketing (or any other subject for that matter), I simply head to Google and search. You’ll be amazed at what you find!

As always, please feel free to comment on this article or on the workshop itself. Thanks for visiting!

How to Create a Simple Facebook Feed on an HTML Website

January 5, 2012/15 Comments/in Tutorials, Web Design/by Matt Everley

Facebook Status/RSS Feed Tutorial

PLEASE NOTE! Several people have had difficulties getting this to work. As I state in my disclaimer below, I am not available to provide support on an individual basis, nor do I know why it worked for me and not for others. My guess is that Facebook has changed something… again (as usual). However, my example still works! So for those of you who are still interested in trying this, by all means give it a go! Others have gotten it to work, as seen in the last few comments. And apologies in advance if it doesn’t.

This tutorial will teach you how to place a Facebook Page’s wall status feed into an html web page using Feedburner. It’s very similar to how you would create an RSS feed for your blog. (This is not a tutorial on how to integrate a “Like Box” from Facebook, which in my opinion looks pretty clunky, and Facebook limits the amount of CSS customization since they host the CSS files themselves.) I’m not a programmer myself, but a basic knowledge of HTML and CSS is required to customize the look and feel of the feed, and an understanding of publishing html web pages is a must. The gist of this lesson is to get a Facebook Page wall’s status feed or simple RSS feed placed within a web page.

>> Click here for an example of the final. Read more