Posted by Tony Meister on Fri, Aug 27, 2010
There is a tool that has been out since 2009 that lets you create 3D movies for free. It seems to still be gaining popularity so we thought we might share it with you. The tool is called Xtranormal. It is very easy to use and provides a nice outlet for anyone who has a hint of creativity and ability to write scripts.
"Xtranormal’s mission is to bring movie-making to the people. Everyone watches movies and we believe everyone can make movies. Movie-making, short and long, online and on-screen, private and public, will be the most important communications process of the 21st century."
Here is how we used to the tool to poke fun at an employee regarding his social media presence. Fortunately, he has thick skin and welcomes the jesting with open arms.
Posted by Tony Meister on Fri, Aug 27, 2010
Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak at George Watts which is easily one of downtown Milwaukee's finest establishments.
The presentation was on New Media and as I talked I was reminded of my conversation with Brian Halligan when he was in Milwaukee this last May at the Ungeeked Conference.
As new media and social media evolve it seems to always go back to what really gets results. Brian talks about how the traditional marketing method is "fundamentally wrong" and how inbound marketing is the new trend. He also touches on Hubspot's Website Grader, Person Grader and discusses his book "Inbound Marketing."
Posted by Martin Wessel on Wed, Aug 18, 2010
As a Web Development Company, we speak to many customers and prospects and everyone has different ideas of what they want for they're site. We've come up with some basic guidelines to help us explain to non-Webheads what they can do with their site:
1. Identify the Message
You may be a multinational corporation or a local donut shop, but you've got something to say on your site. Try to get it down to a single sentence and then build your site around that.
2. Support the Message
Think about your message. Now, ask yourself if the content you're adding to the site supports that message. If you've got a landscaping business, for example, don't add information about trucks unless the truck you use gives you a competitive advantage.
3. Use Pictures
The Web is a visual medium and people will absorb the message in a picture faster than they'll read it. It doesn't matter if you use stock photography or snapshots, as long as the pictures convey part of your overall message. One note of caution about those snapshots, however. You don't want your site to look like a scrapbook, so use them carefully and use the best images you have.
4. Keep it Simple
So you've got a message, content, and pictures and now it's time to show off your hard work. Now it's time to think about how this is going to look. Web 2.0 is a buzzword we've heard many times, and like most buzzwords it means different things to different people. Generally, however, you're going to want a clean, well organized design that puts the emphasis on your content, not the design of the site.
5. Make it Easy
It won't matter if you've got everything else right, but if visitors can't find what they want you may was well not have bothered. Remember tip 1? Are there a few pages that really, really, really supports that message? Hint: it's not your contact page. If not, you'll want to make at least one, if yes than you'll want very obvious links to those pages. Don't ignore you're contact information, however. At the least you should have your main phone number and email address on every page.
Some Other Thoughts
It (almost) goes without saying that you should check all your spelling and grammar. You'll also want to be careful of just how much you're saying on your site. You'll want to answer a visitors first questions but you want them to contact you for more information. Don't give them so much information that they rule you out without ever talking to you.
There you have it, some basic ideas of how to design your web site. We'll be taking a look at how to use color and where to put things in upcoming posts.
Posted by Tony Meister on Mon, Aug 02, 2010
If the Navy’s of the world have sailors using the latest wireless technology, why not Small Medium Sized businesses? Just a few years ago it wasn’t as easy to establish a fast enterprise level wireless network if you were a small business. However, wireless now offers a more sophisticated option for SMBs. Now the IEEE’s ratification of the 802.11n standard last Fall solidifies it even more.
Prior to the 802.11n ratification there existed a Draft 2.0 product. However, now SMBs don’t have to be concerned about a Wi-Fi certified Draft 2.0 product when they can know that ratification has provided ease-of-mind. The fact that there is backward compatibility and finality to the long awaited standard opens the door.
Now that small business wireless network users have right of entry to speeds over 100 Mbps, wireless education LANs like the Milwaukee Career College’s 802.11n wireless networking in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin are taking advantage of the new technology. We’ve noticed that demand for wireless networking in Milwaukee, specifically for the latest technology, has risen. In fact, the analyst firm ABI Research reports that 11n-based WLAN access point shipments were up almost 44 percent in 2009 over the previous year.
The 11n improvement to data throughput equates to approximately 5 times that of 802.11g. In addition, it offers expanded signal coverage with more constant RF signal coverage. This is attributed to 11n’s use of multiple input/multiple output (MIMO). In addition WLANs are no longer “convenience networks” but common place conduits for connectivity for conference rooms, mobile applications, VoIP apps, and other mission critical connections.
One of the leaders in forging the way for wireless technology is a company called Aerohive Networks. Aerohive has earned recognition for what they call cooperative control architecture and was recently mentioned in this summer’s list of CRN Magazine’s 2010’s Emerging Vendors.
For a FREE Wireless Networking Assessment phone NetSolutions today at 888-711-0077 or fill out our Contact Us form.
Understand more about 802.11n and Wireless 2.0 by downloading Aerohive’s Whitepaper.
Posted by Tony Meister on Wed, Jul 28, 2010
The first question for any company looking to define, or even redefine itself is -- Who are we? Defining your company’s brand starts with defining who you are, why you’re unique, and what you do differently from others. What is the secret sauce that nobody else has? Do you have a special story, unique history, or rally cry that needs to be expressed?
As we do with any customer, we approached our website with a series of questions surrounding Who, What, Where, How, Why, & When. Although not initially intended, this eventually made it into our navigation and design.
At the 2010 May national unGeeked conference held in Milwaukee, NetSolutions spoke on “Web Design For A Connected World.” We covered the strategies for website redesign which are to attract, measure, and convert prospects to customers.
Not unlike a flower that attracts a bee, drawing customers to your offerings via the Web means effectively conveying your products or services in a way that jumps out. The flower’s color, style, and ability to stand out from other plants provide an alluring landing pad for the pollen famished friend. What holds your prospect long enough to land at what they’re looking for? Is what they’re looking for effectively expressed?
At NetSolutions we realized we’re not just a technology company but creative innovators who know how to solve technical problems. Your Brand is what people expect of you and the purpose of your website is getting the right people to see who you are and then to engage in what you do. Since our secret sauce is having the right solutions for our customers based on genuine creativity, we needed to explain that. So we used the brain as an example. The best way to chase away the myth that a technology company can’t be creative was to creatively explore how each side of the brain works at NetSolutions.
Next, we realized our site needed to have calls to action that could be measured. When considering a site redesign it is imperative to measure what is happening. This post isn’t about analytics, but suffices to say the analytics and tracking of navigation, content, and conversion points are essential when redesigning. We carefully planned our navigation structure to not only leverage SEO, but to ensure accurate reporting on all pages and calls to action in order to see what works. Measurement is critical.
Finally, converting prospects means designing a site that is easy to navigate and easy to win over prospects. When we created our site we did 3 things to facilitate conversion:
1) We created content on our landing pages that matched the corresponding call-to-action statement.
2) We limited required fields to ease entry on our forms.
3) We established a CMS structure of flexible sections of the site to make it easy to trial different templates and designs within our calls to action.
There is much more to talk about when redesigning a site. However, sticking to the 3 main points of attracting, measuring, and converting will get you on your way as it did for us.
Posted by Dan D'Amore on Tue, Jul 06, 2010
In 1998 there were 2.6 million phone booths. Are there any left in Milwaukee?
Over the course of the last decade, mobile devices have become the most ubiquitous consumer electronic devices ever invented. Even in the poorest of nations, mobile phones have evolved from being a luxury to an indispensible necessity. The trend is (from revenue) going from voice to mobile data services. (Email, pictures, video, VoIP, and social networking interactions.)
The landscape is changing every year. The mobile apps are expected to increase from 7 billion in 2009 to 50 billion by 2012. While Apple’s high profile but tiny market share is impressive its iTunes is what makes analysts drool. Over 150 million billing relationships! Android will easily out sell the iPhone by years end if not already. Working for an engineering based company my “brand A phone” is challenged weekly by my colleague’s new feature on his “brand M phone.”
Should you care? Well…it’s cool if you are 15 years old and your downloading music. But I see the availability of our entire corporate knowledgebase and information available at the touch of a button that makes me giddy. However, this is just the beginning. There is a huge battle going on for the consumers and business mind alike. Google, MasterCard, Microsoft, Amazon and others are amassing tons of information on you and I. Facebook has become one of the most important players gathering more information around the world than anyone else. We use Facebook data on a regular basic at our company when client ask us to get them higher ranking in a Google search.
Where are we going? I see mobile apps dominating the vertical markets. mHealth, mRetail, mCommerce, mEducation, mEnergy. I may never buy another laptop. I believe each of these verticals will drive million of dollars into vendors like Aerohive that provide intelligent wireless access for schools, hospitals businesses, etc.
So because my wife cringes when I say “honey I bought a new phone.” …Maybe I should just tell her I’m going to put a phone on my Christmas list every year.
Posted by Tony Meister on Fri, Jun 18, 2010
Often I experience someone or something that makes me realize I need an attitude adjustment. Especially when I encounter someone like John Bramblitt. John is an artist like no other artist -- he cannot see. He is the epitome of courage and determination despite limitations. Even though he lost his vision due to epilepsy he decided he "needed" to paint. He figured out how to do it and now creates master pieces.
Check out his "documentary" and be inspired. Even if you're not an artist, you'll appreciate this man's efforts to be creative despite his limitations.
What I noticed about his story is that he has passion. Passion is the trigger that ignites the fuel for success. As he began learning how to navigate the canvas and create based on touch and feel, his ability to cognitively remember space and objects became better. His passion in this one area enhanced other aspects of his life. I remember hearing one musician provide his most important advice to a young up and coming professional -- "Stay inspired." It is people like John who remind us of this daily.
Posted by Martin Wessel on Thu, May 27, 2010
We've looked at why a content managment system is a great choice for Web Development. But that opens the question of which content management system. After all, there are hundreds available ranging from small open source projects to monolithic commercial offerings such as Microsoft’s SharePoint. When looking at these systems a number of factors must be considered:
- Support
- Cost
- Ease of implementation
- Portability
Of these, the support for a product is key. In this case, support means not just calling customer service for help but how widespread the product is in the industry. Some measures for how popular a content management system include how many sites use the system, how many hosting companies offer the system, how many third party developers create add-ins, and how active any support forums are. When applied, these criteria quickly thin out the available options.
Once all these factors are considered, a few content management systems stand out. Of these, the Open Source content management system Joomla is a clear choice. The support is very good, with several options for paid support and a user base of almost 200,000 that actively provide peer support. It is an option available on many hosting companies and it’s underlying technologies are available on nearly every host in the world. It also enjoys an active third party development community, with almost 3000 extensions available ranging from eCommerce to social networking to podcasting. All this functionality can be added after the site is created and provides a good way to increase the functionality of a web site. Better yet, as Open Source Joomla is freely available and should an issue develop with the system a core group of programmers quickly respond and address the issue.
It seems clear that developing a Web site with a content management system has some significant advantages not just during development but over the life of the web set. As a leading content management system, Joomla has some clear advantages over others alternatives and is the content management system of choice.
Posted by Martin Wessel on Thu, May 27, 2010
There are advantages and disadvantages to every method of Web development, which generally show themselves in either the development or maintenance phases.
The development phase will be discussed later, since that represents only a small fraction of the total life of a site. Maintenance, of course, involves the day to day operations. Perhaps the primary question is: Will there be any changes made to the site after it is launched? The answer should be yes, of course. A completely static Web site is like a newspaper publishing the same stories over and over again. After a while, no one is going to read it. Even search engines will drop the ranking on a page if they don’t see any changes being made.
Since there will almost certainly be changes, that means that some type of content management is needed. This might be completely manual copying and pasting, template updates such as Adobe Contribute, or full database driven systems. A full manual system works if the user is comfortable editing HTML code and is even workable in a small site if a page needs to be added. But for a large site maintenance and changes can be very difficult. Template based systems can be very user friendly, but are not widely seen or supported. Database driven systems can vary in implementation, but are generally user friendly and allow even non-programmers to make changes to the site without worrying about HTML. Better yet, well supported systems allow advanced features that would require significant programming in a traditional site.
So for maintaining a site, a content management system seems a clear choice. But what about the development? After all, this is where the most obvious costs are involved. The greatest difference is in the early stages of the project, when the look and feel of the site is being developed. Both a traditional and content management site require some amount of time to create the basic files that will create how the site looks. But a content management system requires some extra code to allow it to use these files to display the content. In fact, the files for a content management system can be significantly more complex that those for a traditional site. The benefit, however, is that this extra complexity builds in a great deal of automation that just isn’t available to traditional sites. Another benefit to a content management system is inherent this separation of look and content. While a traditional site requires the files that create the display of the site to be finished before any content can be added, a content management system allows content to be added to the database while the files that control the display of the content are still being developed.
So while the look and feel of a traditional site is easier to create, the serial nature of the development means that it actually takes longer to create such a site compared to the parallel development allowed by a content management system. Combined with ease of maintenance and future proofing, a content management system is hard to beat.
Posted by Dan D'Amore on Thu, May 27, 2010
If I had a choice of missing my wife’s anniversary or be at ground zero in Hiroshima on 1945, I would say… sushi would make a great last supper.
Being in sales for over 20 years makes me realize a dip in your quarterly numbers feels about as painful.
At the end of the quarter, at the end of the year, it’s all about performance. Sometimes CEO’s think sales people are like insurance; a necessary evil.
When we perform well, we ring the bell; get a handshake, a certificate and a trophy. So meeting performance metrics is everything…right? Sales Managers would say a resounding, “that’s correct.”
However, from the client’s perspective, would it resonate the same?
Sure, they say they want “a solution,” a “positive ROI”, a “competitive advantage”, oh yes, and they want the “lowest price.” The truth: Clients want you to make them look good and make their life easier.
If you’re a good salesperson, you can sell anything to anyone once. But it will be your character that determines whether or not you’ll ever be able to sell that person anything else. Your character will form a relationship with clients – a relationship that that individual client feels that he would like to pursue.
How do you go about forming such a relationship? By remembering the one true secret “You will be judged by what you do, not what you say.”
The client is someone we build our business around.
To the extent that they are no longer clients. They are members of the family.
Building your business around members of the family, instead of the standard transactional view of serving customers, requires that you make the following transitions in your viewpoint and your actions:
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Performance
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Character
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Meet Customer Expectations
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vs
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Exceed Their Expectations
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Satisfy Customers
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vs
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Thrill Them
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Give Customers Everything They Expect
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vs
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Surprise Them with Gestures of Thoughtfulness
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Give Clients Access to Products/Services
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vs
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Wrap Them in a Cocoon of Care
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Be Satisfied if Clients Like Your Product/Service/Company
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vs
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Make Certain They Fall in Love with Your Product/Service/Company
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Close a Sale
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vs
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Offer Clients a Lifetime of
Unique Experiences and
Values
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Be Willing to Take Customers’ Next Orders
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Commit to Them
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Having said all that, I just learned I missed the birthday of one of our best clients so I’m looking to blame our CRM software, but I’m off to buy a Happy Belated Birthday cake.