Archive for April, 2009
Apr
29
Or so says the Reynolds School of Journalism. And we wholeheartedly agree. Coming on the heels of the Salt Lake City Wordcamp, we were pleased to be a part of another informative and inspiring gathering of the best and brightest Wordpress designers and developers. If you missed it, well, there will most likely be another one soon. Until then, enjoy some of our CEO’s Flickr photos of the event, and read the School’s report in full below.
Reno-Tahoe Wordcamp a Big Success
April 27,2009
Matt Mullenweg, founding developer of WordPress and UNR student Colin Loretz, the driving force behind Reno-Tahoe Wordcamp. Photo by David LaPlante.
As Matt Mullenweg described how he came to develop the popular software WordPress, some of the 70-plus attendees in Saturday’s Reno-Tahoe Wordcamp twittered Matt’s geocities page, scrolled through his photo blog and checked out his demo sites on Automattic.
Mullenweg, who wrote the original code for WordPress and is still intimately connected with upgrading and expanding the capabilities of the original idea, previewed upcoming products that allow for multiple users and more social networking.
“We create things and we have no idea how people will use them,” he said. “It’s amazing to hear what people are doing with these tools.”
Saturday’s Wordcamp, sponsored by Twelve Horses and the Reynolds School of Journalism, featured a day-long series of speakers on using WordPress, developing a personal brand and understanding social media.
In his keynote address, Mullenweg described the history of WordPress and how much the process of open-source software development influenced his interest and direction.
In another popular session, David LaPlante, CEO of TwelveHorses, described an epiphany his company had as they watched site useage over the past few years. “People care about people,” he said. “Trust is the first thing we need to do business together. It comes with connecting with you as an individual.”
LaPlante emphasized his view that information is getting more personal, transparent and authentic. He noticed that on the sites they build, “about us” pages that feature personal insights about the individuals in the company attract a lot more page views.
RSJ alumna Annie Flanzraich asked LaPlante how to navigate the online emphasis on personal and transparent disclosure among journalists or bosses who don’t understand – or agree with — this kind of personal divulgence.
“The water is moving that way quickly,” LaPlante said. He described a disequilibrium in the marketplace as we move from one set of expectations to another. He pointed out the fastest growing demographic on Facebook is women over 55. “The stronger your brand, the more you will connect with some and disconnect with others,” LaPlante said.
RSJ Professor Bob Felten organized the school sponsorship of the event and helped host a welcome breakfast for attendees. “It was an amazing day,” Felten said. “We want RSJ to be at the center of this conversation in the community, and Saturday was a great demonstration of why that’s important.”
Couldn’t make it? Many Wordcamp videos have been posted on WordPress.tv. Copies of the presentations from Saturday’s Wordcamp will be available online in the next few days. Check out http://renowordcamp.wordpress.com for updates.
Posted in Reno-Tahoe, Web & SEO
Apr
28
There is no shortage of community run, open source CMS options out there that serve a host of different companies willing and able to work in their prospective environments. There is also an abundance of companies who prefer to work with a proprietary system, developed and controlled by a single company.
Which is better?
That can be a daunting question. Do I go with an open source company like Drupal, Mambo, or Joomla!, or a proprietary system like Twelve Horses? Unfortunately, the answer isn’t cut and dry. It requires a significant amount of research, evaluation and judgment that shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Content Management System
Step 1 – Be realistic
Don’t kid yourself, there is no silver bullet. Every option has pros and cons, but the goal is to find the solution that will provide you the most value and the least headache. Here is a comparison of the two:
Open Source:
Pros: Upfront costs are minimal. Many vendors are able to work in the major platforms, and if they aren’t, the learning curve is low. Updates and modules are typically free, abundant, and help is available all over the web.
Cons: Customization is more limited. Modifications and custom integrations are susceptible to upgrade issues that typically are not supported. Because open source is community driven, it is a one-size-fits-all approach that can create bloated features. Free add-ons can be buggy and present possible security threats. Potential downtimes can also present high risks for businesses.
Proprietary:
Pros: Business driven not community driven. Streamlined skill sets allowing for faster development times, and customization options are more flexible. Typically niche driven keeping features lean and inline with your industry. One company means greater support and accountability. In many cases, especially for medium to enterprise-level businesses, total cost of ownership is less in the long run.
Cons: There is a higher initial investment, licensing fees, and you are tied to one company for customizations and updates. Switching vendors can be difficult and expensive.
Step 2 – Define your needs
As with any integration of new technology, defining your end goals will help drive the tactics and products to support it. Ask your team the following:
- How large will the site be?
- Is it one site or multiple sites?
- How many users will be accessing the system?
- Will you be integrating your website with any other online marketing applications or vendors?
- Who will maintain the site?
- Do you have internal resources, or will you need outside support?
- Do you require database and code level control?
- What other supporting products and services does the CMS vendor provide?
These types of questions are critical in determining the best solution.
Step 3 – Research
Look at what is core to your company’s online success and find vendors that support the mission. If an open source option fits, look at the community and ensure that the development path is inline with your company. If a proprietary system is deemed the best path, make sure the company has a solid history of continual CMS development. Also, remember to look at total cost of ownership. Your time equals money, so the less time spent managing vendors is more time you can spend growing the business.
Step 4 – Act
Choose a solution and stick with it, but at the same time be aware of what your exit strategy would be and how much it might cost.
At the end of the day, you’ll find that a proprietary CMS is a targeted solution that offers less risk, more accountability, and greater scalability where an open source system offers greater internal flexibility and an abundance of add-ons that are generally free at face value. The real question is whether you want to concentrate on the execution of the medium or on your business? The choice is up to you.
Posted in Atlanta, Finance & Banking, Las Vegas, Member Orgs, Reno-Tahoe, Salt Lake City, Service Industry, Travel & Tourism, Web & SEO
Apr
28
The development of the Web today includes powerful applications that mimic desktop software. Google Docs has tried to provide the functionality of Microsoft Office. Picnik is attempting to target Photoshop users. And even our own Content Management System, WebGen, uses some of the basics that made Dreamweaver so popular a few years ago. Perhaps the majority of us may soon only need an Internet connection rather than a computer when Web sites mature into full online applications.
In the meantime, we will experience the migration of software evolving into websites, and Twelve Horses is expanding its boundaries with these new technologies. Recently, we created a new event planner that integrates the functionality of software but utilizes the power of the Web.
Dynamic Meeting Planner
Our client, Dynamic Competence, needed a way to transform a paper-based meeting system into a dynamic communication tool that facilitates conversations for meeting topics. To be successful, the client needed to manage and monitor meeting plan revisions, improve group communication, and use a medium that would help save time and effort for meeting planners.
In this project we developed features that we have not yet seen: the website works more like a software application than a traditional HTML site. Below I’ve highlighted some of the functionality we developed.
Features for Success
1. Drag-And-Drop Interface
 A planner has the ability to categorize their contacts into different groups before sending out the meeting invite. To help increase speed and usability, the interface allows the planner to drag-and-drop their contacts into the available groups before sending. This saves the planner time and effort when creating the invitee list to be a part of the meeting process. |
2. Double-Click Editing
 Instead of making edits via a regular textbox and hitting save, a meeting planner simply goes to the topic they need to edit, double-clicks on it, and this opens up the section to be edited. This dynamic interface also allows editors to add and disable topics with one-click, saving time and effort. |
3. User Feedback System
 The success of the system relies on the interaction of the client’s users. If, for any reason, a user has an issue with a website or wants to comment, a Feedback button is provided on every page. To provide more insight into the feedback, the user’s comments, current page, and date submitted are all tracked by the System Admin Inbox (see below). This valuable feedback data also provides insight on how to improve the application for future use. |
4. System Admin Inbox
 The system administrators wanted to be sure all the feedback was being read and responded to appropriately. With multiple feedback messages, this could be a daunting task to make sure everyone is receiving a response. To complicate matters, there could be multiple System Admins in the system. To resolve this, the feedback items are displayed in an email inbox format (read or unread), and the message tracks which System Admin first read the response. |
5. Versioning
 Each iteration of the meeting process is saved as a separate webpage to the website. With this, a meeting planner can see how the meeting agenda transformed from the first draft to the final version of the agenda. This tracks all comments and changes, keeping the meeting processes organized and easily retrieved for historical purposes. |
Using web-based applications provides many advantages: updates and new features are rolled out across to users in real time; data is stored on the server and is accessible from anywhere that has Internet access; and custom solutions are tailored to a client’s needs, which isn’t as easily done with software.
Soon we may solely rely on the Web for our daily workflow. Until that happens, we will continue to push the boundaries of Web technology to help meet clients’ needs and increase the usability of applications.
Posted in Atlanta, Blog, Company News, Current Affairs, Finance & Banking, Las Vegas, Marketing, Marketing Tools, Member Orgs, SEO, Salt Lake City, Service Industry, Social, Travel & Tourism, Utah, Video, Web & SEO, Web Design
Apr
27
At a recent TED conference, best-selling author of Eat, Pray, Love, Elizabeth Gilbert stated, “we have completely internalized and accepted collectively this notion that creativity and suffering are somehow inherently linked.” She goes on to further frame “the utter, maddening, capriciousness of the creative process” by suggesting that we pull from something greater than ourselves. Maybe Gilbert was thinking of the late Carl Jung who once said, “Art is a kind of innate drive that seizes a human being and makes him its instrument.”?
When it comes to email marketing, designing for your objectives can be a little maddening. If you do pull from something greater than yourself, and then translate that perfect vision to strategy and paper, you may find that your creative team is not realizing it. So, back and forth you go until there is no time left. A deadline is a deadline. But there is no doubt that the battle for the inbox – and your customer’s attention – requires engaging, actionable designs. What can you do to minimize your suffering and help aid that creative process along?
Know Your Audience
Through personalization, you no doubt consider who you’re addressing with every send. But who really is your audience, and what are they expecting from you? If you have a sizeable database with varying preferences, this is where you can not only practice segmentation, but also employ different designs and messages for each segment. What a great way to make your audience feel like you are personally interested in their needs and goals. Not to mention leveraging different designs for newsletters, promotions, events, and important notifications, as many businesses do.
Get Your Rendering Right
There is nothing worse than a well-designed email that just doesn’t render right. Ask yourself whether your recipients are primarily businesses or consumers? This will determine if the majority is using say, Microsoft Outlook vs. Gmail or Hotmail, or perhaps even receiving their emails on a mobile device – keep in mind that 30% of B-to-B recipients are receiving emails on their mobile devices. Regardless, it is impossible to get an email design, or the content offer itself, to render perfectly in all email clients, so you want to shoot for the top 2 or 3 and then make sure you test – test – test before you launch.
Avoid Graphical Overload
Remember less can be more. It’s especially important not to overuse graphics in an email to the point that images constitute the entire message. It is that much easier to delete an email message if nothing at all captures the consumer’s attention before they have opted to download images. Ask yourself, what are recipients going to see above the fold? Does it stand out? Does it speak to their needs? Call upon Maslow’s hierarchy of needs if you need some help with this.
Content is King
Great designs fall flat without good content. No amount of slick design skilz are going to carry your customer over the line if the message doesn’t add value to the recipient’s life. Subject lines, headlines, offers and calls to action are all crucial to a successful campaign. With one quick glance of these elements a recipient will understand what the value is immediately upon viewing the email. Easier said than done, but if you solidify the messaging first, establishing a strong supporting design can be made much easier.
The Beauty is in the Data
Don’t be afraid to test a few different designs early on in the game. Many email marketers get their template and design down to a point where everyone internally is pleased with the outcome. But no one has any idea what the customer really thinks! Each time a client has pursued A/B testing, it was completely obvious which email design performed the best. Also, don’t be afraid to test offers and subject lines. As you achieve greater relevance it will have a direct result on your clickthrough rates. Yes, you may have to invest more time in creating additional versions at the outset, but the payoff will be greater conversions with the final send.
Break the Rules
The email marketing industry loves to apply various rules and best practices by which we should guide our “online lives”. While it’s great to have a foundation to work from, don’t let best practices become a burden either. At the end of the day, your job is to move the needle more than you did the last time, so don’t be afraid to experiment with the experiential and maybe even defy conventional wisdom.
Considering these factors during the early stages of an email marketing campaign will lessen the suffering and assist you in finding the drive to make email a more effective instrument.
Posted in Atlanta, Blog, Email, Finance & Banking, Las Vegas, Marketing Tools, Member Orgs, Reno-Tahoe, Salt Lake City, Service Industry, Travel & Tourism
