We are sort of crazy about sticky notes at MB/I; there is something magical about those little squares of colored paper with their adhesive strip. Perhaps it’s that they give ideas a tangible quality, or that sticky notes are exceedingly mobile. Regardless, here are three ways we MB/I fish use sticky notes around the office.

Sticky Notes as Creative Tools

At times in our internal meetings, we clear a section of wall and throw a bunch of sticky note pads on the table along with a few sharpies. When a brainstorming opportunity arises - we write down as many ideas as possible, …

Including team biography pages on your website is a wonderful way to put a human face on your company and to provide potential clients, colleagues, and vendors with additional insight into who you are and how you roll.

However, a good bio page requires some degree of individual content gathered from every team member who is featured.  And while web designers can do a lot of things, we can’t just invent content (especially personalized content) out of thin air.

How then, should you go about gathering the information you need for team bio pages?

1. Know Your Roster

When you get started, make sure …

Time to freshen up your web site? I’ve just finished updating mine! I’m delighted with the new and improved Blue Ribbon Writing.Com but-whew!-getting it done was a challenge. Oh, MB/I did a sterling job on the design and production. My challenge was with the content. And I was the writer.

I write Web site content professionally but preparing my own was an eye-opening experience. Now that I’ve been my own customer, I offer you three pieces of advice as you work on your site:

Know Thyself. If you are planning to write your site content yourself, please sit in front of …

Blogging on my birthday! Here are some gifts from me to you:

Lifehacker

When I worked a corporate job, most of what I learned about technology was “over the shoulder” learning, watching other people. When I started my own business, solo in my own office, I had no tech experts to observe. Thank goodness for Lifehacker! From the Lifehacker blog, I’ve gotten life-changing advise on technology and productivity, and even non-tech but essential skills such as how to quickly peel hardboiled eggs and make a chocolate cake in a coffee mug.

Paymo

Free, web-based time …

Summer is here and we are seeing business people exploring the opportunities. Some want to re-structure their business to adapt to the current market; others want to start anew and follow their true passion. In today’s marketplace, any business endeavor involves the online world. Whether a website is needed just for informational purposes, or whether the website is the business itself, a website is needed, period.

But… not just a website… a good website. And, what makes a good website? Good planning. A website is a tricky thing to plan for.

• It needs to be flexible so it’s successful today and as …
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Ontology is a fancy word for thinking about the universe, sorting it into categories, and determining how those categories relate to each other.

It is especially important to people who are trying to develop “smart” search engines that can formulate answers instead of just presenting relevant web pages.  This is because different types of information should be handled and interpreted different ways (which is why Wolfram | Alpha will frequently ask you for clarification).

For an example, just try a Wolfram Search for “internet” (just remember to hit the back button in your web browser to return to us).

Wolfram …

You’ve been selected to be the project manager for your company’s website. It’s a big project, but a fun project… so be excited about it. You might not be aware of this, but you can have your web developer help you. Not only will the website turn out great due to collaboration, but you will be successful at yet one more project.

Based on over 13 years of experience, here are some tips on how to make this work.

1. Hire the right web developer.
There are many web development companies out there who can do the technical aspect of the job. But …

Coming up with content for a website can be the hardest part of the development process and most often the cause of schedule delays. Even if you are using a professional writer, there is a lot to think about and prepare. Here are some general guidelines to help you.

1. Gather all of the marketing materials you have (and like) where you can get content from.

2. Define your audience or audiences. You need to put yourself in the shoes of your site’s visitors. What information do they need and how might they look for it?

3. Work on your site’s structure or …

The term “site map” has multiple meanings when it comes to websites.

First, there is the site map we create when we start planning a website. This map is a visual representation of all of the pages on the site and of their organization. It typically looks like an organizational chart, with the home page at the top, the main site sections underneath, and the individual pages right under each section. Here’s a sample:

This map helps both clients and web developers to see the whole picture and to understand the hierarchy of …

In order to start the design process, your web developer will need to receive a few materials before getting started. I’m talking about actual files and internal documents… not the business discussion that should have already happened.

What do you need to prepare?

1. Your logo. If you already have a professionally designed logo, you will need to provide it as a vector-based file. This is typically an Adobe Illustrator file. A jpeg or gif won’t work because they have already been compressed and can’t be re-sized. They might also have a background color that conflicts with the new web design.

2. Your …