Aug 31, 2010 by Paula Pollock
We’ve all been to websites that offend our senses. It might be the copy, the color, too much flashing or that “something” you just can’t put your mouse on that sends you packing. In working with businesses in all industries and sizes the one common denominator is they all have a website. Unfortunately, not all of them are good and some are flat out annoying. Here are a few easy thought processes you can work through to help provide your visitors with a positive visit to your online office.
Be Clear About It’s Goal
I’m stupefied by the number of clients that …
Aug 24, 2010 by Marissa Berger
Well, we finally made it to Facebook. Just like any other small business, we struggled with the decision of whether or not to have a presence in Facebook. It’s free to start; it’s simple to use… but the reality is that it’s an investment of internal resources—mostly time. But given the staggering statistics of how much Facebook is used, we decided to give it a shot. Here’s how we did it.
1. We decided on content
We took this as an opportunity to have a balance of work-related posts and fun/personal ones with the goal of showing the world who we are …
Aug 13, 2010 by Aaron Rubman
Recently Scott Stiefvater and I were discussing the principles behind the CMS driven model of website design that MB/I favors. In that conversation he mentioned the three levels of content and presentation (the core application, the modules, and the interface and display). This reminded me of the six elements of design presented in Scott McCloud’s visual textbook Understanding Comics.
From inception to presentation these layers are: the idea, the form, the idiom, the structure, the craft, and the surface. This week I’d like to look at the two …
Mar 15, 2010 by Aaron Rubman
Let’s face it, even if the economy is currently pulling out of the worst recession in 70 years, money remains tight and the independent entrepreneur needs to consider ways to reduce costs while retaining their brand image and placement.
So, what can a company do on a $2500 budget?
Invest in a custom blog
For $2500 you could have a fully functional and branded blog with custom features.
What does this price buy you?
- A persistent platform you can use again and again, whenever you have an announcement or other content.
- Custom blogs can build up traffic for your own domain, giving it ready-made …
Feb 10, 2010 by Lindsay Gower
At a marketing workshop I attended recently, the subject of web sites naturally came up. One attendee was feeling the pressure to create a web site for his insurance business. Although he knew he “ought” to have one, he was obviously reluctant (indeed, suspicious) about the need, the cost and the benefit.
His reasons for not getting a site boiled down to:
Web sites cost too much (and the quality of the work is “all the same anyway”).
He gets his business by word of mouth.
Today, I’m going to examine reason #1. I’ll address reason #2 next week. So let’s …
Jan 20, 2010 by Aaron Rubman
Until Apple’s release of the iPhone and accompanying App Store, Japan was more or less the undisputed leader in mobile technology and innovation. Roughly 90% of the population owns some form of mobile phone. Their mobile networks are faster and cover a greater portion of the country.
What’s more interesting, 8 years ago the breakdown of revenue from Japan’s mobile internet looked remarkably similar to the current breakdown of revenues for the rest of the world. These are just a small number of the many observations to appear in Morgan Stanley’s 424-page Mobile Internet Report.
Japan’s market anticipated the popularity of recreational …
Dec 9, 2009 by Aaron Rubman
Websites are tools, and the tools that endure are the tools that serve a purpose. Shovels are good at making holes, cars are good at moving people from one place to another. If you want people to use your website, it must serve a purpose. However, it is not sufficient for the site to serve a purpose for you, it must serve a purpose for whomever you want to use it.
What Purpose Should Your Website Serve?
And Whom Does it Serve?
There are any number of purposes a website might serve, but let’s take a look at some of the more common …
Nov 24, 2009 by Aaron Rubman
Redesigning a website is like building a new one:
Start with a purpose.
If you know you need a change, but can’t put the reason into words, try answering these questions:
“What do I want my new website to do that the old one couldn’t?”
“What do I want my new website to do better than my old website?”
Maybe you want your new site to reflect a new identity, perhaps you want to start selling products online, or you want to start an online community, or improve online customer communication, or reduce the turn around time between when you decide …
Nov 5, 2009 by Aaron Rubman
Last month marked the 20th Anniversary of the Loma Prieta earthquake. Awareness of this landmark date was a part of my inspiration to write my blog entry on using vacations and sick leave as a small business stress test.
At that time I suggested that business owners make contingency plans and run drills for all variety of business obstacles, including the possibility of bridge closures. Last week the Labor Day repairs of the Bay Bridge failed and we were faced with the longest closure of that thoroughfare since the Loma Prieta quake.
For five days …
Oct 26, 2009 by Aaron Rubman
Excuse me. I couldn’t help noticing that strange and interesting plant.
Unfortunately, we do not all work at Mushnik’s Skid Row Florists.
Putting a strange and interesting plant in your window (or on your website) will not drive web traffic all on its own.
If nobody passes your window, then no one can see what’s there, nor can they tell their friends and acquaintances.
What you need is an integrated strategy that both uses your website as an asset and uses your other assets to draw attention to your website. Here are some things to consider before working on your strategy:
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