We crashed (okay, attended) another MN Search event on local search SEO. Listed below are a handful of helpful tips and best practices for your business.

Last Wednesday, a few members of the Risdall online marketing team attended Mn Search’s event, Local Search: It’s Not Where You’re From, It’s Where You’re At. The room was packed as three presenters shared their take on local search and SEO.

Remember searching for businesses this way? Not anymore!

Five interesting takeaways from the night:

• Follow the location verification steps very closely and use bulk listings if your company has 10+ locations. This will save you tons of time!
• Online reviews and personal recommendations are extremely important. Try adding a feedback page to your site to encourage customers to leave positive reviews.
• Build a diverse portfolio of reviews. Don’t rely on one single site.
• Make sure your NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) is consistent. Bad stuff can happen if it’s not.
• Always monitor and manage your local listings and reviews.

Daniel Hollerung, a search marketing manager at Spyder Trap, was the first speaker to present. He outlined the verification process for claiming all of your locations and gave some helpful tips on how to save time when managing multiple locations. If your business has 10+ different addresses, use a bulk listing tool to easily export data. He also mentioned a few other tools such as Yext that can help make managing many locations easier.

Next, Matt Gregory, SEO coordinator at FindLaw, discussed the importance of reviews. So, how do you get customers to leave reviews, let alone positive ones? Ask customers questions that speak to the interaction and not necessarily the situation that brought them in to your store/office.

Gregory recommends adding a feedback page to your website where people can rate your service. If consumers chose “excellent,” they are redirected to a page with options to leave a Google+ or Yelp review. He cautioned: do NOT ignore poor ratings. Contact the customer personally and ask how you can fix the situation.

Also, Gregory highly encourages registering your business on GetListed.org. It’s a citation source tool that will make getting reviews much easier. Additionally, do not direct all users to leave reviews on one site. You want to build a diverse collection of reviews around the web.

Scott Dodge, SEO specialist at Three Deep Marketing, wrapped up the event talking about the importance of consistency among your NAP (Name, Address, Phone number). If Google or Bing finds data that doesn’t match up, the search engines get confused, and you don’t want that. First and foremost, check for consistency among the big 3 data collection giants, InfoGroup, Localeze, and Acxiom.

• Step 1: Use the Factual tool to find any wrong business listings
• Step 2: Use WhiteSpark to locate incorrect citations
• Step 3: Use Screaming Frog to group and search through data

So, in conclusion… Local search is crucial to any business model; make sure you’re doing it right. Follow the verification steps for the various local listing sites closely and take advantage of bulk listing tools to upload multiple locations. You also need positive reviews spread across many local listing sites, so try not to rely on one website along. And DO NOT ignore poor reviews. Handling them is a great opportunity to show off your customer service skills. And last but not least, make sure your NAP is consistent across the board. Even little differences can confuse search engines.

By Danielle Norgren, Online Marketing Specialist

Credit: Mn Search

Photo Credits: David Mihm | Yext

A brief guide on how to use Instagram to promote your brand and bring more traffic to your website.

Instagram is a social media platform, which began as a mobile app, that has grown an extremely large following in a short amount of time. Whether your business hopped on the bandwagon early or chose to sit back and watch, Instagram has a number of features that can help drive traffic to your site and promote your brand.

A recent web presentation by SEO moz discussed Instagram basics, as well as covering more in depth methods to drive more brand engagement. Despite many misconceptions, even if you don’t manage a large brand with an extremely visual product offering, Instagram can still work for you.

How to develop an Instagram content strategy: tips to getting starting started with what and when to post.

1. Use your images to tell a story, but makes sure it matches the general theme of your main website.
2. Pick a general category for you photos that show a clear purpose/intent. The category could be humor, sentimental, company culture, artsy, etc.
3. Rule of thumb: Do not post more than once every three hours.
4. Don’t always post to every social profile you have. Instagram allows you to synchronize other social profiles, such as Facebook and Twitter, but you don’t need to post every picture to every profile… it will annoy your followers.
5. Start a photo series. This could be something like #ThrowbackThursdays or a weekly theme you start on your own.

Now that you have developed a content strategy, here are additional items to keep in mind when building your Instagram following:

• Use branded hashtags with your company name or products, such as #Risdall or #RisdallPR. Include these in your bio, too – but make sure they aren’t too long and are creative enough to be remembered.
• Manage key metrics using Statigram.
• Use the geolocation feature when posting pictures. This will let users find your locations easier.
• Engage your followers with contests, giveaways, prizes, etc – engage with your followers more than simply uploading pictures.

In addition, Instagram can be a useful means in driving traffic back to your main website. First, make sure you add your URL in your bio. You can also add a shortened version when you leave comments on other users’ pictures.

Next, use your profile as a mobile store-front window by posting photos of your products. Or even better, get your customers to post pictures of your products/services/locations. How do you get customers to do that? Just ask your consumers. A great way to encourage engagement is by running a contest or sponsoring a giveaway.

Now you need to measure the results.

a)      Used tagged URLs and track them in Google Analytics

b)      Track engagement with Statigram – very user friendly and easy to understand

c)      Nitrogram is another program that offers Instagram metrics

Statigram dashboard

So, after all that information, what are the main takeaways?

1)      Develop a content strategy: Have your photos tell a story that all relate to a general category. And don’t post too often on too many profiles!

2)      Use branded hashtags.

3)      Create a mobile storefront and ask your customers to upload photos of them interacting with your brand.

4)      Track all your hard work and effort.

By Danielle Norgren, Online Marketing Specialist

Credit: SEO Mozinar

I was lucky enough to attend the SMX West conference in San Jose, CA last month and  hear from search industry professionals such as: Danny Sullivan – Editor of Search Engine Land, Matt Cutts - Google, Duane Forrester – Bing, and many more. I attended three days worth of sessions, spanning topics from content & social media strategies to link building, Google’s new Knowledge Graph and what’s in the future for SEO.

Here are my main takeaways in no particular order:

Content is KING

Straight from the mouths of Google & Bing’s search police, Matt Cutts & Duane Forrester, content is the most important item on your website. If you want your site to do well, you need to be blogging regularly and have all around great site content.

Here are a few tips to get you started with creating exceptional content:

1. To write great web content, you must think like your target audience. What are they visiting your site for? What information is the most helpful?
2. Stumped on blog topics? Take a walk around the office and talk to co-workers from different teams. They will have ideas. They will have great ideas.
3. Don’t write content just to fill pages. I see too many websites that create numerous pages lacking in content just because they think their site needs them. Stop it! A webpage should only be created if it is meaningful, useful and you have great content to fill it with.

Mobile is Taking Over

If your business’ website is not optimized for mobile, you are basically handing over potential customers to your mobile optimized competitors.  According to a study by Google & Neilsen, 55% of conversions (store visit, phone call or purchase) happen within one hour of a mobile search. On top of that, 3 out of 4 mobile searches trigger a follow-up action (phone call, store visit, purchase, request for more information). Businesses today NEED to be building websites with mobile in mind. According to Matt Cutts and Duane Forrester, responsive design is the preferred mobile design.

Get Links by Being Awesome

Like at any other moment in the history of SEO, LINK BUILDING AS WE KNOW IT IS DEAD! Not really, but don’t be out buying hundreds of links with keyword heavy anchor text like you were in 2009. Forget anchor text all together, as it is a sign to the search engines that you are manipulating links. If you come across a website advertising “One miiiiilion SEO links for $5!!!,” run! Actually, delete the Internet, hit the gym and then re-think your link building strategy.

As I mentioned earlier, content is king. Your link building strategy should be focused on being so awesome that people want to share your awesomeness in hopes that some of it will rub off on them. Create great content that people will want to link to. Become a part of online communities, answer questions in forums and be all around awesome.

Do Not Fear the Knowledge Graph

You may not have heard of the Knowledge Graph yet, but you surely have seen it.

From Wikipedia:

“The Knowledge Graph is a knowledge base used by Google to enhance its search engine‘s search results with semantic-search information gathered from a wide variety of sources. Knowledge Graph display was added to Google’s search engine in 2012, starting in the United States, having been announced on May 16, 2012. It provides structured and detailed information about the topic in addition to a list of links to other sites. The goal is that users would be able to use this information to resolve their query without having to navigate to other sites and assemble the information themselves.

According to Google, this information is derived from many sources, including the CIA World Factbook, Freebase and Wikipedia.”

A common reaction to the Knowledge Graph is the worry that it will take traffic away from the organic results in the SERPs. In reality, data shows that it does not effect organic CTRs. Knowledge Graph is an opportunity for you savvy marketers to attract click-through traffic in new ways. It has always been a best practice to tag photos, videos and other media and now it is even more so. Properly marked up images could make their way in to the Knowledge Graph and attract more traffic to your site!

Other tactics that will benefit your business when it comes to the Knowledge Graph are to manage your Google Places, Google+ and Wikipedia pages.

SMX West was an incredible experience. Weeks later and I am still processing everything I learned in those three days. To sum it all up: make great content, be great to your community and be great to Google.

Today I had the honor of participating on a panel of local search marketing experts at JMU612 (a local digital marketing education and networking group) where a capacity crowd filled the Urban Bean on the outskirts of Uptown Minneapolis.  The other panelists were independent consultant David Erickson and Lela Phommasouvanh of FWRD.

Tracy Henry, David Erickson, and Lela Phommasouvanh

Photo Credit: Kay Roseland

The general theme of the discussion centered on search marketing, both SEO and sponsored.  Lela and David both contributed excellent tips on practicing effective SEO.  My summary focused on creating both a usable and a search engine friendly website.  I stressed that an effective website for usability and search will have three key elements: content, performance, and a focused design.

Content

“Content is King” is a common meme within the SEO industry.  The phrase also applies within other marketing disciplines, but is especially true for organic search optimization.  Search engines are attempting to deliver content to users searching for it.  They cannot display your website as a search result if there is no content to index.  Even more important than giving the search engines something to display, good content demonstrates that a company has industry expertise, is a thought leader, and has the solution to their users’ problems.

Performance

In this context, performance refers to the responsive speed of a website and to the usability of its various features.  In this modern, mobile, fast-paced environment, slow load times are incredibly detrimental to user experience.  Nobody wants to wait 14 seconds for a three image carousel to finish loading.  Consequently, many disgruntled users bounce from slow websites to look for sites that are more user-friendly.  The major search engines have incorporated load times into their search algorithms, so it’s wise to avoid sacrificing performance for extravagant design.

Focused Design

The home pages for Google, GoDaddy, Apple, and YouTube are good examples of simple, functional design.  For most companies, using the home page as a directory for all the other sections of the site is an outdated concept.  The home page should invite users to explore the rest of the site with clear guidance on where they will find the solution to their query.  This issue is also directly related to performance, as a simple design will often load significantly faster.  Also, with consideration to Google’s preview tool, an elegant design may even help improve click-through rate.

You can learn more about JMU612 through their official Twitter account here

You can follow me on Twitter at @Tracy_A_Henry

By Tracy Henry, Online Marketing Manager, Risdall Online Marketing Group

Here is a review from the online marketing team of the main takeaways from the MnSearch event Search Snippets #5: Remarkable Retargeting.

MN Search is a non-profit association that aims to address the growing demands of the Minnesota search marketing industry. They also recently hit 100 members, which is a huge accomplishment since they launch in September 2011. Learn more about them at mnsearch.org.

On Wednesday March 27^th the organization held an informational and networking event that focused on retargeting – everything from the basics to advanced tactics.  Three local thought leaders gave presentations on retargeting from their perspectives.

Photo Credit: FRWD

Tony Tellijohn, MnSearch Technology Director, started the discussion with “The Basics.” Tony focused his presentation around what retargeting is and simple pros and cons. He also compared the remarketing ads to search marketing.

Pros of Retargeting:

• You’re targeting visitors who already showed interest in your brand
• Lower CPM and higher CTR than traditional banner campaigns

Cons of Retargeting:

• It can get creepy!
• Difficult to track/justify results

In addition, he gave his take on the ways people most often screw up retargeting campaigns, which included not excluding people, and running ads too often for too long. Tony also touched on the six basic types of retargeting: search, site, SEM/SEO, email, contextual, and engagement. Here is a great graphic that breaks down those types even further into seven total.

Photo Credit: Chango

Secondly Ashley Nicklay, the Associate Digital Advertising Manager at Rasmussen College, gave her take on retargeting via Facebook and how she utilizes it within her job. Thus far Facebook is the only social media platform to offer this type of audience targeting. Here are a few of Ashley’s best practices.

1. The image is the most important aspect of the ad. Make sure you use eye catching colors, cut the clutter, and if possible use the same image from the main website/landing page.
2. Test and retest your headline, image, and body copy in order to find what combinations work best together. She recommended testing at least 4 variations.
3. Be relevant! Create seasonal ads that relate to a major holiday or event, but make sure it still relates to your brand/product/service.

Finally, Craig Boyte closed the evening with a higher level take on retargeting. Boyte is the Associate Media Director at FRWD. Craig touched on the more technical side of retargeting, such as the technology needed to implement such a program and how the “cookie” process works. Another interesting part I liked was his overview of the different ways to retarget your audiences: sequential, search, social, and dynamic. Of all four types, dynamic ads perform the best.

Photo Credit: Craig Boyte

Basically there are 2 ways to set up retargeting campaigns: Outside networks or DSP/DMP. His presentation also focused on the differences between those two methods, and the benefits of each. Here are his main points:

DSPs/DMPs

• Self service models that are usually trickier to implement
• Better ROI, since you avoid vendor’s mark up
• Allow for complete control of your data
• Much more time consuming and requires active management

Networks/Vendors

• Automated, which makes them easier to implement
• Less control of your data (which means they can sell it)
• Takes much less set-up and management time
• No learning curve and can utilize advanced tactics quicker

 Photo Credit: Nick Noble

Overall Retargeting Insights:

1.  Retargeting is a great way to market to users who already visited your site and showed interest in your brand, but failed to convert. This method shows better CTR than banner ads.
2. Don’t get creepy! The time and frequency of these ads is crucial, so do not over show your ads too soon after a prospect leaves your site.
3. The image is the most important part of a retargeting ad, especially on Facebook. Utilize eye catching colors and pictures, but makes sure you don’t clutter the photo.
4. Keep testing different combinations of ads. Try out a few different headlines and images to see which ones work best together and receive the highest conversions.
5. Take advantage of seasonal events or holidays and tie them in with your ads. However, make sure your ad is still relevant and has a clear call to action.
6. Networks, or third party sites, will completely manage your remarketing campaigns, but that leaves you with less control and you data vulnerable. DSPs, or self service models, allow you to manually create and change campaigns, but take much more time and vigilance.

By Danielle Norgren, Online Marketing Specialist, Risdall Online Marketing Group

Credits: FRWD | MnSearch Retargeting Summary

With more than 100 million users and a growing influence on search, Google+ has emerged as a key factor in any online marketing strategy.  Challenging Facebook for the domination of the social media space, Google looks to lead the industry in “social search.”  To many this comes as no surprise, because to put it simply – it’s Google.  Only five months after launch, Google+ (g+) had 500 million registered users, of which 235 million were active on a monthly basis (in Dec. of 2011).  According to recent reports, this year Google+ passed Twitter and is now the second largest social platform behind Facebook with 343 million active users.  If you’re not a user on Google+, click here to learn more about why you should be.

What Google created with g+ is unlike any other social network. Google describes g+ as a “social layer” consisting of an overarching “layer,” encompassing many of its online properties, like Gmail, YouTube, etc.  These “social layers” differentiates Google+ from conventional social media websites, which are generally accessed through a single site. Click here to learn more about the history of Google+.

It’s closer to search than you think.

Google+ and SEO   

Google+’s greatest benefits to search engine optimization come from Google+ Authorship, Google+ Local Pages, and the data g+ provides Google.  This information allows Google to alter individual users search results based on their interests, interactions, search history and more.  Google+ Local and social influences both have a significant effect on search engine results and ranks.  Your search history and location have become increasingly important to search rankings.

Social influences are affecting search engine results as well, by including things like the quality and quantity of social shares, social connects, 1+, circles, videos and other user data insights, which allow for personalized search results.  Google uses broad usage data from many users to change individual results in an effort to provide better results for users.  If you don’t already, think of Google like Tron, “fighting for the user.”  Google does this because search results are often muddled and good content can be hard to spot.  In facing these challenges, Google also devised a new type of page rank/authority using Google Authorship, Author Rank. Click here to read more about Google Authorship.

So, why should you be on Google+?

Well to start, this social network is run by the most widely used search engine in the world, Google, and is only beginning to influence search.  Secondly, Google+ is currently challenging Facebook for the largest number of active users, surpassing LinkedIn and Twitter.  Thirdly, many believe that Google+ is the preferred social media website for Gen Z and will only continue to grow in popularity. “Facebook is so last year.” Fourthly, if you are not on Google+ your falling behind.  Finally, there are many more reason to be on Google+, one more being that it is free. So, why wouldn’t you be? Click here to join Google+. Already on Google+? Click here to connect with us!

By Nick Noble

Google Authorship and SEO

Google began supporting the authorship mark-up over a year ago, because they value high-quality, original and well-written content. Their goal is to “help people find content from great authors in our search results.” To do this, they needed to establish a system of trust between Google and authors to verify all published content.  Google’s solution is to let authors link their articles and websites to their Google+ profiles.

PageRank (PR) + Authorship Rank (AR) = BETTER RESULTS

Authorship is one of Google’s newest ways of evaluating content’s value. You have probably already noticed Google Authorship within SERPs while doing a search on Google, which are indicated by showing an author’s picture in the results, as well as byline of their information.  Authorship helps Google validate what is considered ‘good’ content and alters rankings within SERPs. 

And if these guys are talking about it, it’s important…

“The identity of individual agents responsible for content can be used to influence search ratings.

Assuming that a given agent has a high reputational score, representing an established reputation for authoring valuable content, then additional content authored and signed by that agent will be promoted relative to unsigned content or content from less reputable agents in search results.” –Google

Agent? Agent is Google’s terminology for an author. The excerpt above from Google states that verified content by an author will be graded and it is that grade which influences the rank of content in search results. Therefore, Google+ Authorship and Authorship Rank does affect rankings with SERPs and SEO. However, Google+ Authorship is not the only type of metadata markup that affects SERPs and SEO. To learn more about Agent Rank and how it differs from Authorship Rank, visit www.blindfiveyearold.com/author-rank.

Five Ways Google Authorship Influences SEO

1. Increases CTR, improving SERP rankings
2. Author Rank: result based on interactions with Authors and your network
3. Searches for content by author
4. Social Influences on search results
5. Promotes your other authored posts

How to Add Google+ Authorship Tag:

To get started using Google authorship, you’ll need a Google+ profile and a recognizable headshot for your profile photo.  Once you have verified your email address and completed your Google+ profile, you can begin to utilize the Google authorship markup on your content by associating it with your g+ profile using either of the following methods:

1. Create a Google+ profile
2. Fill out profile information. *Remember – upload a high quality headshot
3. Verify your profile
4. Add link to the publication in “contributor to“ section of your Google+ profile
5. Add link to Google+ profile on the articles landing page.
   • Two options:

1. Link your content to your Google+ profile using a verified email address.
   • Check that you have an email address (for example, nick@risdall.com) on the same domain as your content (risdall.com).
   • Add a clear byline identifying you as the author to each article or post you publish on that domain (for example, “By Nick Noble” or “Author: Nick Noble”).
   • Visit the Authorship page and submit your email address to Google.
2. Link your content to your Google+ profile.
   • Create a link to your Google+ profile from your webpage, like this.
   • Add a reciprocal link back from your profile to the article(s) landing page(s).

6. The last step - Test using the Google rich snippet tool

Example of an Authored posted:

By Nick Noble

Click here for more from Google on Google+ Authorship or watch the video below:

Google+ Local is a powerful tool for businesses targeting local customers because it combines customer reviews and local search. According to Google, 20 percent of all Google searches and 40 percent of Google mobile searches have local intent. Combine this with the fact that 97 percent of consumers search online for local businesses, it’s easy to see why it’s essential for small businesses to have high local search visibility. A user’s location also creates a bias in several  searches that may not have been intended to be local searches. This is due to the user’s usage history that gives Google hints about your location.  Looking at your search history (and Google Maps data), Google provides personalized search results tied to your location, or even to locations where you have been previously looking.  Auto-suggest will also use the same biases as the search results. Using Google+ Local Pages, there are two ways you can increase your local search visibility.

Two Way Google+ Increase Local Search Visibility:

1. Google’s universal search:  When Google knows a search has local intent; it will include Google+ Local pages in the search engine results. These results typically appear at or near the top of the first search results page, making this a great opportunity for local businesses to achieve high visibility amongst many competing pages.
2. Local search within Google+ itself: The Google+ Local search provides consumers with an alternative to the universal search for finding local businesses. One of the major benefits of the Google+ Local search is that your Google+ Local page will only compete with other Google+ Local pages for visibility, rather than other websites or sponsored search results.

In order to maximize your business’s local listing, you should make your Google+ Local page as informative and appealing as possible. This means adding thorough information about your business, including photos and videos, and encouraging reviews from customers.  Google wants to provide searchers with the most relevant and useful results possible. The more complete your Google+ Local page is, the better it will perform against competing Google+ Local pages.

Use reviews to get the clicks that turn into customers:

Positive reviews on your Google+ Local Page can help turn your local search visibility into new business. Positive reviews are highly influential motivators for converting visits into customers.  Oftentimes, potential customers will never make it past their visits to reviews on your Google+ Local page before deciding whether to do business with you. When a potential customer performs a search on either the Google universal search or Google+ Local search, one of the first things they will see next to your listing is your Zagat score. A good score will increase clicks on your listing. Likewise, a bad score can prevent a potential customer from clicking on your listing altogether.  Reviews are scored on a 30-point Zagat scale, which is derived by averaging individual user ratings, based on a 3-point scale and multiplying by 10.  Your customers can rate your business without having to actually write a review. Take advantage of Google+ reviews by asking your customers to leave reviews on your Google+ Local page.

By Nick Noble

• Target audience and potential customers are already on there. Google+ provides companies with the opportunity to engage with target markets – when and where they want you to engage with them.
• Less users = less competition. Google+ currently is an area of opportunity for many companies who competitors are likely not utilizing the network.
• Google+ allows for more direct and personal relationships.  Facebook and Twitter are cluttered with miscellaneous info. Google Plus is dominated by quality content that consumers like and appreciate.
• Unique functionality of hangouts (live video chats). Not only can you talk with your potential students via text but now you can hold video talk sessions with them. What better way to see what they love about you and think you could improve upon?
• Potential big impact on search engine page results. Google+ business pages stand out from Facebook pages because they have Google SEO benefits. This is Google using their leverage. From Search Engine Land: “[Google+ pages] will be indexed, ‘followable’ and individual updates or posts can be +1′d — much or all of which will be fed back into search results and rankings.” Your company blog/homepage can be tied into Google+ results and will likely improve its rankings within search results.

On November 7, 2011, Google+ opened its doors to companies, allowing them to build business pages and encouraging them to increase their following. So, why should your business be on Google+? To start, this social network is run by the most widely used search engine in the world, Google, and is a gateway for your business. If that’s not enough, Google+ communities allows a business to be extremely focused in targeting and managing current and prospective clientele, allowing brands to engage in other communities, thereby increasing its reach (if moderator permits). Google+ communities are formed around specific topics, allowing users to create or join a community that is relevant to any topic, service or product. Connecting to a Google+ community with a topic related to your business allows companies to connect and interact directly with target markets.  Sharing your expertise and joining in the conversation by answering questions gives individuals the chance to become thought leaders in specific industries. By publishing articles, videos and hosting hangouts, you can greatly increase your company’s awareness. Click here to learn more about the benefits of  Google+.

By Nick Noble

I know how it is. You start out caressing every syllable as you craft each sentence or stanza or bullet point. But after a while you just don’t pay as much attention. Pretty soon, writing starts to feel like a chore. The thrill is gone.

It’s time to get your groove back. First of all, step away from the business books. I know you’re still trying to finish The Challenger Sale, but trust me, you don’t have to. Try any or all of these ways to fall in love with language all over again:

• Pick up some fiction and remind yourself what it’s like to read words that were never meant to fit on a PowerPoint slide. The novel I hope to read soon is Nicholas Christopher’s Tiger Rag. But any fiction will help you get your mojo back. Go to a bookstore and pick up a mystery. Agatha Christie is still in print for a bunch of reasons, including the simple fact that she could craft a story like nobody’s business. If mystery isn’t your thing, download a romance. 50 shades of whatever? Sure. Then read some Jane Austen from the library and compare and contrast just for your own amusement.
• Do you prefer non-fiction? The biography Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff is as engaging as good fiction, and it will inspire you to lead more than any motivational tome.
• Read your kids a book that will actually keep you awake with its humor and wit, like the Chet Gecko series by Bruce Hale. The first one is called The Chameleon Wore Chartreuse.
• Read some poetry. Intimidated by poetry? Try some Ogden Nash or Dorothy Parker for a verse and a chuckle.
• And there’s always Shakespeare. It all goes back to him. Try just one sonnet. Break it down line by line, like you would some mysterious directive from corporate headquarters, or your mother. Unlike those, the sonnet will enrich your mind and heart for days.

By the way, if you recite Shakespeare to your sweetheart, you are guaranteed a very happy Valentine’s Day.

- Tina Karelson, President, Risdall Creative