Featured Client: VisitorTips.com, Virtual Travel Brochures

If you do any traveling or frequent places where there are tourists, you have probably come across one of those displays containing brochures and local travel information guides. These displays are usually in car rental places and motels/hotels, but what if you wanted to find out about local attractions before you even arrive in a city? Of course you could do research on the internet, but we’d like to introduce you to VisitorTips.com, one of our clients whose website contains virtual brochures from cities across the U.S. and Canada.

Mobile Apps and the Future of Web Design

Push Notification on iPhone

Web design has come a long way since the late 90’s when flashy graphics and simple HTML were the order of the day. If you wanted to “surf the net”, you usually had to do it on a regular computer, so all web developers (or what we used to call “webmasters” back in the day) had to think about was coding for one device. You could get away with big, shiny arrows and images. Your text could stretch on for days on end on a single page.

Well, those days are long gone...

Web design now has catapulted into a whole new dimension that encompasses smart phones, netbooks, iPads, hand tablets, and the list goes on and on. We can now browse the web on our TVs and even vehicle monitors. When it comes to designing your website, you have to keep in mind the various devices and different browsers people are using to view your site. Can you design it in a way that makes it easy for the user to access all the information on your site? Does your site load quickly? These are just some of the things you have to consider.

Changing How We Do Business in 2012

In the following video, Jay Baer of Convince & Convert gives a short presentation about why people provide the power of now...



In this day and age of social media, you can longer hide behind a fancy company logo or nicely produced TV ads touting how your company is “#1 in Customer Satisfaction” because in a matter of seconds someone can do an internet search to find out if that really is true.

Using Pinterest For Business and SEO

A new social site has been gaining popularity over the past several months: Pinterest. If you like looking at images and you find inspiration in pictures as opposed to reading status updates and articles, then this site if for you. If you’re not familiar with Pinterest, Rob Lammle of Mashable shares a beginner’s guide to this hot new social network.

Using Pinterest For Business

From a business and SEO standpoint, there are quite a few opportunities for businesses to market their brand using Pinterest, but just like any social network, it must be done tactfully and organically. Spamming the site with just pictures of your company’s products is not going to get you followers. However, sharing quality images and participating in the community by “liking” other images that you genuinely find of interest is a good start to making connections with others who may be attracted by what you have to offer. Just like Twitter, people can follow you, so it’s a great way to build a “list” of potential customers.

Social Media: How Do I Keep Up?

The social media realm is constantly changing. As fast as you can blink an eye, there’s a “new way” to market your business. One of the challenges that businesses face when implementing a social media strategy is figuring out which social media channels to participate in. Should you set up a Facebook page, Twitter page, or start a blog? How do you keep up with all the the different social media platforms? Should you wait for the next big thing to save your business?

As Pam Moore pointed out, social media is NOT about the next big thing. Waiting around for this magic formula to catapult your business will only leave you paralyzed. On the other side of the coin, trying to keep up with every single social media channel can be time-consuming and take away from what matters most: Taking care of your customers.

How Social Media Can Hurt Your Business and What To Do About It

There's a saying that "Ignorance is Bliss", but when it comes to social media, ignorance can be detrimental to your business. There are still many business owners and executives out there who don’t understand that social media can impact their business in a negative way, especially if customers have a less than desirable experience with that company. According to this survey, twice as many people tell others about bad service than good.

In this day and age of fast communication, a person who has a bad service experience can easily go on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn and tell all of their fans and followers about it. Forget about writing a letter to the CEO to complain. People can now write up a detailed blog post and share that experience with the world. That message can spread like wild fire such as the case when United Airlines broke a customer’s guitar and the customer decided to post a YouTube video to let people know. That video now has over 11 million page views and has turned into a great case study of how social media can make an impact on how people perceive a company.

5 Critical Mistakes Companies Make When Using Social Media

Social media is an important part of a company’s marketing strategy. Through social media you can develop deeper relationships with customers and make connections with people all around the world.  If your company is still not participating in social media such blogging, Facebook, or Twitter, then you’re missing out on so many opportunities to attract new customers and interact with your current customers.

Although there are many companies using social media nowadays, many of them are making these five costly mistakes: