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4 Ways to Boost Productivity Using Firefox

Firefox is pretty well established as the browser of choice for most of the web’s talent. Sure, some people still cling to Internet Explorer like the sinking ship that it is, but the vast majority of the online world has seen the light of open source and is very much embracing it. From the thousands of great extensions to the significantly more user and developer friendly platform, Firefox is the choice that most of us make.

Still, there are so many ways to improve Firefox that so many people ignore. From productivity hacks to ultra-useful plugins, there are hundreds of way to save time and get more work done using Firefox. I covered a lot of the most useful Firefox apps and plugins in The Ultimate Firefox Home Office, but there was one thing that got left out.

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Offline Design: Folders, Business Cards and Letterheads

If your online business is expanding, creating offline promotional materials can be a great way to spread the word. From marketing through existing clients to networking at trade shows and industry events, building leads for your online business doesn’t mean limiting yourself to the online world alone. Offline relationships count for a lot, and can often be the essential building blocks that help your business grow.

There are three fundamental design requirements for offline businesses: attractive folders, attention-drawing business cards, and letterheads and note paper that makes your business unforgettable. Want to learn how to market your business with all three? Read on.

Folders and Marketing Materials

Folders and materials should be relatively simple and clearly designed. If you’ve got a distinctive company logo, using it as your folder design is a great idea. If the folders are for office and company use, design them to be relatively distinct and purposeful, yet not so covered in company design that they’re effectively useless for any other purpose.

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What Does Your Business Website Need?

We’ve all seen ineffective and sometimes downright ugly business websites. From garage-run e-businesses to corporate websites that merely play a supporting presence to offline advertising, the internet is littered with pathetic examples of online understanding and misguided attempts at online commerce.

You’d think it’d be easy to send a hint to businesses that one-page WordPress websites (running Kubrick, of course) aren’t enough to highlight their qualities, but it’s often a losing cause. Many online businesses are run on assumptions – what could work rather than what does work – and are generally immune to suggestions built on metrics and data. Rather than investing in the data, thousands of online businesses put all their effort into an online presence that simply doesn’t have any measurable effects.

If you run an online business and want to improve your metrics and margins, read on to see how you can make your business website more effective. Remember, these tips, tactics and strategies aren’t limited to online businesses; offline businesses that are experimenting with online advertising and establishing a web presence will be able to put them to use in their planning and execution too.

What End Result Do You Want?

Designing a website purely for the sake of having one is a failed strategy. Unless you’re aiming to create real, measurable results, there’s no real point in having a website. If you move into the design and development process without a clear goal in mind you’ll likely end up with a website that both fails to convert and costs you valuable funding. So, whenever you aim to create a website (or make a change to an existing one) ensure that it’s a change that helps you move towards your goal.

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