Your Website Reflects Your Business
A great article that we found here at JOI Media. The reasoning behind the points are very valid and serve to educate many people who believe that a website should be created to just fill space online. Great article by Tia Scott.
Some left shoes are in isle 5, while the right shoes are in isle 3. Shoe hills are in random places. You can barely walk through the store without stumbling over a shoe.
No employees are in sight. As you are desperate for help, you finally make it past the heaping hill of shoes to the back of the store and find a button that says “Page for Help”. You press the button and out comes a card that says “please leave your mailing address, we’ll send you a letter”.
Frustrated, you leave the store, and finally realize there is a Footlocker across the street.
We all know how first impressions can make or break a potential customer’s decision to buy. With more and more people discovering the internet, most businesses do not realize that their company website is the customer’s first impression.
A Reflection of How You Do Business
Your website should be a reflection of your business. Would you allow your customers to walk through a maze to get your contact information? Do you want to answer your customer’s questions or leave them guessing? Do you want them to find your product information? Your website will reflect these answers back to your customer.
What Web Design Isn’t
Web Design is not:
o All the Bells and Whistles
o A Tease
o A Get Rich Quick Scheme
All The Bells and Whistles
Would you buy a luxury car that got you ten miles and then died? Then why would you want your website to be the best but unfunctional? Sometimes we forget that having the best of the best of something means to sacrifice something else.
For instance, have you ever seen a website made entirely in Macromedia Flash? ( Click here for more info about flash ) There is nothing wrong with a nicely animated website, however, this will shut out potential customers who do not have, nor wish to install the flash player plug-in.
This restricts certain users who have certain plugins installed on their computers, and you don’t want to ever shut out potential customers. If you wish to do that, make sure you have a good purpose and make sure you clearly state on your website what those requirements are.
A Tease
It’s better to have too much information than too little. Don’t expect a potential customer to want to wade through pages to contact you for more information.
If you sell pink shoe laces and neglect to put that information on your website, your potential customer may end up going somewhere else to look for pink show laces. It’s too easy to just ‘go somewhere else’, or ‘do another search engine query’.
A Get Rich Quick Scheme
Why Nancy, only fools rush in.
A common misconception I have seen is that business owners believe their website will attract millions of visitors within the first week of creating their website. Without the funds, research and dedicated time, this is simply not true.
The instant you upload your website, it is lost in the millions and billions of virtual pages across the internet. You have to market your website just like you market your business; tell people.
You will not get the keyword you want from search engines, you will not receive millions of visitors, and you will not sell all your products within the first week.
However, if you take the time to do your research, study internet marketing, spread your website via word of mouth, and design careful search engine placement; you CAN get the keyword you want, you CAN receive millions of visitors and you CAN sell all your products.
What Web Design Is
Web Design is:
o A Sales Tool
o A Cost Efficient Expansion of Your Business
o A Community Service
A Sales Tool
You can think of your website as a brochure. We have an attractive image on the front that says “open me, you know you want to”. Inside we have product information, company information, contact information, and reasons why the potential customer should choose you.
With happy thoughts, the potential customer now turns into the buying customer because your website reflected the everlasting impression of what your business is.
A Cost Efficient Expansion of Your Business
Imagine being able to keep your store open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Imagine being able to sell products and services in your sleep. Imagine being able to sell to anyone, anywhere, to whatever region you want. Sounds nice doesn’t it?
This is what your website should be providing for you. Hiring a web designer, paying monthly web hosting space, and purchasing a yearly domain name costs a fraction of what it does if you were to open several locations around the world.
This tell the customer “We provide options for you.”. Imagine how grateful someone in a wheelchair would be if they didn’t have to have someone drive them to your business to shop around, or what if they were bedridden and couldn’t leave their homes at all?
A Community Service
What better way to say “I love you” than to bring people together. This is another way you can use your website to reflect your business. A community focused business website brings your customers together who have similar interest and who feel warm and fuzzy inside for finding a group of people just like them.
For instance, ecademy.com is a perfect example of a community focused website. It’s exciting to wake up, check your email and get a personal message from a fellow networker. You can start more focused interest clubs, you can write articles. You feel apart of something.
What A Web Developer Isn’t
o A Miracle Worker
o A One Service Provider
o A Lazy Bum
A Miracle Worker
Beware of web designers who make promises they cannot keep. A web developer’s failure to live up to his/her promises will more than likely hurt your website, which in return can hurt your business image.
Let’s take a search engine such as Google.com as an example. Google.com plays by their own rules that web developers cannot control, only abide by. A web developers promise to get you in #1 spot for the keyword “shoe” is almost impossible. There are some people who will result to measures that are against Google.com policy, to make you think you’ve reached that #1 spot. Keyword spamming, url spoofing, keyword hiding, to name a few. Resulting to these measures will make your site look unprofessional and get you banned from Google.com.
A One Service Provider
You shouldn’t have to shop in ten different locations to create your website. This will lead to ten different levels of quality. For example, if you have to hire a graphic designer for the graphical layout, then a programmer for the shopping cart, and a writer for the content; if each professional isn’t on the same thinking page about your company, it will be evident.
A Lazy Bum
A good Web Design Professional isn’t willing to cut corners if it means sacrificing the quality of your online presence. This includes, but not limited to: search engine preparing, content management and research, information placement, programming and more. If your web developer slacks on any of these issues, your website will show it.
What A Web Developer Is
o A Solutions Provider
o A Consultant
o A Fast Learner
A Solutions Provider
You deserve a web developer in tune to your business needs and who understands how your website effects the image you are trying to create. The Developer should be able to provide many, if not all the resources available to complete your website from start to finish, or know the correct people who can.
A Consultant
You should feel confident asking your web developer questions and confident that you’ll receive answers.
A Fast Learner
More than likely, your web developer will be alien to your industry of business. He/She should know how to research information related to your business and how to implement it into your website.
The Science of Information Placement
And last, but certainly not least is the science of information placement. This is simply knowing what information you want your customers to see and in what order.
For example, the first place a user focuses on the majority of the time when they first visit a website, is whatever is in the middle of the screen. This will be where you want to put your most important information, or sales niche. This isn’t where you want to put your lengthy sales agreements and contract information.
Conclusion
The first impression you want to give your potential customer is that you are qualified to deliver what they need and how they need it, better than your competition. The more time they spend on your website trying to come up with those reasons, the more that potential customer is slipping away. We want to close that sale as soon as possible.
Your website reflects your business in the way it is ran, the products it provides, and how it treats its customers. Make sure that first impression is the correct one!
Tia Scott is CEO of Client Centers, LLC, an internet and graphic service business based in Florida since 2000. She also runs and maintains http://www.nerdbyte.com
Tia Scott
CEO
Client Centers, LLC
How Obama Raised 87% of his Funds through Social Networking
A great article written on how Barack Obama used Social Networking to raise more funds than any other President in the history of the United States. Enjoy.
Businesses looking to make inroads online could learn a great deal from the social networking employed by the Barack Obama campaign for President of the United States. Ever since he took on Hilary Clinton and won in a stunning upset once thought impossible by political pundits, Obama and his team (including 24-year-old Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes) have used social networking and online marketing techniques to mobilize their forces, get donations and spread the word about the candidate and his message.
In January, Obama set a record for donations in one month by raising a total of $32 million dollars, $28 million of which was raised online. From these $28 million in online contributions, 90% were under $100, with over 250,000 contributors (source). In February, Obama didn’t attend one single fundraiser and still managed to raise $55 million online.
How did the Obama team do it? Here are several key elements to the social networking aspect of the campaign.
The website. Obama’s official website (www.barackobama.com) has a strong social networking element. The site is filled with ways for supporters to share information and learn about speeches and gatherings in their area. After spending just a few minutes on the website, it is easy to see that it was created by professionals who understand the importance of interactivity and a strong user interface. With every piece of content comes the opportunity to make a donation.
The tools. The Obama website gives users a lot of options for customization. The site provides tools for supporters to hold their own meetings and fundraisers – setting the guidelines to help run the events, but allowing each individual to determine how much money they wish to ask for and the style of the event.
The email campaigns. At organized Obama events, supporters are only asked for an email address, not a donation. Those who sign up to be on the official Obama for President mailing list receive smart, highly coordinated emails several times a week. These emails are geo-targeted on many occasions to alert the individual about upcoming events in their area. The emails also have a personal feel, sporting a relaxed style of writing and are often penned by the candidate, his chiefs of staff or even his wife Michele.
Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. No politician has run for office during the heyday of the major social networking sites, but Obama really has no fear when it comes to using these entities to further his cause. Check into Facebook and you will find the official Obama group and thousands of like-minded groups. Get over to Twitter and you can follow every move the candidate makes as he crisscrosses the country. Even MySpace is filled with efforts to spread the word among voters who are likely taking part in their first election. The campaign understands the limited resources of young Americans, and asks for only small donations on these sites.
The access. Unlike his competitor John McCain, Barack Obama has been an active part of his online campaigns. He writes his own emails and creates exclusive videos just for his online supporters. The result is an immediacy and personal nature to his campaign that few candidates will ever match.
Whether or not Obama wins the presidency in November, he and his outstanding online marketing team have changed the way politicians reach out to the American public and generate funds for their campaign. By knowing the ins and outs of the most current, most popular forms of online marketing, he has set an example not only for future candidates, but businesses that want to target customers with pinpoint accuracy and build their brand online via email, website and social marketing techniques.
by Ryan Peddycord on October 15, 2008
Non Profit Website Design: Examples and Best Practices
A great article that we came across and thought we would share with you. As a company that works with many non-profit organizations, it is important to know what to have on a organzational website to maximize the exposure. Many thanks to Cameron Chapman for her insight. Enjoy
- By Cameron Chapman
- May 14th, 2009
Non profit websites share many of the same best practices as any website. They need to be user friendly, easily navigable, and use appropriate fonts, colors, and other design elements. But often a non profit website needs to offer more than your typical corporate site.
A non profit’s website needs to make it easy to find out more about their cause, to donate money, and to become more involved. It needs to make it easy for media contacts to find the information they need and the contact information of key personnel. And it needs to do all this in a way that’s inviting to the organization’s targeted donors and/or volunteers.
Below are a list of best practices for designing non profit websites followed by some examples of non profit websites that are getting things right.
By the way, what was the last time you visited our sister site Noupe? Subscribe to Noupe’s feed for more inspirational and design-related articles.
1. Make Your Site Donor-Friendly
Donations are a necessary thing for every non profit organization out there. Your website can be a great place to solicit donations, especially from new donors. It can also make it easier for recurring donors to make additional donations. In either case, you want it to be a simple and straight-forward process for people to give you money.
There are a few things to keep in mind when creating a donor-friendly site. First, make sure your donation page is prominently linked from your home page. Whether you do this with a special banner or button or simply make it prominent in your regular navigation, donors have to see where to donate before they can do so.
Second, make the actual donation process as painless as possible. Don’t require visitors to set up an account to donate. The donation process shouldn’t be any more complicated than any other online transaction. Other than information required to process their credit card or e-check, don’t require any other information. And use a single-page donation form if possible, with just one confirmation page. There’s less chance that there will be browser or connectivity issues if there’s only a single page to deal with.
2. Make Your Site Media-Friendly
Getting media attention can have a huge impact on a non profit organization. Whether the media attention brings in more donations directly or simply raises the profile of the organization, getting attention from journalists, bloggers, and anyone else with an audience is important.
Make it easy for journalists to find information about your organization. Include profiles of your board of directors, founder(s), and other key personnel. Make sure you include contact information (email and phone) for each of these key people. Have a downloadable media kit that includes everything your print media kit does.
Offer downloadable images from your site so journalists and bloggers don’t have to contact your and wait for a response. And include press-ready quotes, both from members and directors as well as outsiders. Make it clear that journalists and other organizations may use these items in news coverage without contacting the organization for prior permission.
3. Make Your Site Volunteer-Friendly
Make it easy for visitors to your site to find information on how they can get involved. There are plenty of people out there who might not have the money to make a donation but are still passionate about what your organization is doing.
Whether you provide detailed information about volunteering directly, steps people can take on their own, or just contact information for your volunteer organizer, make sure you don’t overlook this crucial bit of information.
Providing multiple means of contact makes it easier for volunteers to get in touch, so include an email address, phone number, and a web contact form if you can.
4. Make Sure Your Organization’s Purpose is Immediately Apparent
How many times have you gone to a website and not had a clue what the site was about? This happens all too often. Designers and clients often take for granted what visitors to their site will already know about their organization.
But considering how much information is pushed in bite-size pieces on sites like Twitter and Facebook, there’s no telling how much or how little visitors will know. With some organizations it’s easy enough to figure out what the organization is about just by its name, but for others it’s not so easy.
Putting an abbreviated mission statement right on the home page is one way to solve this. Another way is to put a prominent link somewhere on the home page that takes visitors to an about page that offers concise, plain-language (not “marketing-ese”) information about what the organization does.
5. Make Sure Your Content Takes Center Stage
Design on any site should be transparent, and especially so on non profit sites. That’s not to say your site can’t have an interesting design, just that the design should revolve around your content and your mission, not the other way around. Take into account the types of information you’ll be providing on the site and the formats that will be used.
Consider up front how much multi-media elements will be used, and whether they’ll be used on every page or just in special gallery sections. If you plan to post videos and photos on multiple pages, you’ll need to make sure your column widths other elements are complimentary to the kinds of media you want to use.
Make sure your columns are wide enough to accommodate YouTube videos, for example. If they’re not, any time you embed a video (or similar element), your site design will look haphazard (and some of your site content might end up covered up).
6. Make Sure Your Website is Consistent with Your Other Promotional Materials
Your logo should use the same logo and colors as your other promotional materials. Maintaining a consistent brand throughout your organization greatly increases your chances of being recognized in passing. Your website doesn’t have to (and probably shouldn’t) match your print promotional materials exactly, but echoing the look and feel of those materials increases brand identity.
Make sure the content is consistent, too. Proofread and copyedit your website content just as you do your print materials. While it’s easier to change content on a website, it still gives a negative impression if your site is riddled with errors and inaccuracies.
7. Know Your Site’s Purpose Up Front
The leaders of your organization (or whoever is in charge of the organization’s website) should make a list of what the goals for the site are before starting the design process. Is the site primarily to allow existing members to stay updated? Is it to solicit donations? Is it to get new volunteers or members? Is it to raise awareness in general?
Whatever your purpose is, knowing it and communicating it to your designer going into the design process will save headaches and delays down the road. Make sure everyone is on board with the same vision, too, so you don’t have to make unnecessary changes down the road, which saves both time and money.
8. Include a News Section or Blog
Including a blog or news section has a couple of big advantages for non profit sites. First, it gives people a reason to come back to your site. If you offer news about your organization and your cause, people who are interested in either will come back on a regular basis (or subscribe via RSS). This keeps your site visible and makes it more likely they’ll become more involved in the future (or stay involved if they are already).
Second, blogs and news sites are often quoted by other blogs and news sites. This increases the exposure for your site and will likely bring you more traffic.
Third, constantly-updated content increases your search engine visibility. This makes it easier for people actively looking for information related to your organization to find your site.
20 Examples Of Great Non Profit Sites
Greenpeace USA
The Greenpeace website does a lot of things right. Links for donating or becoming a volunteer are featured prominently in their side navigation. Their media center page is also displayed prominently. The site features integrated mutli-media content in the form of both slideshows and videos, as well as both blogs and a news section.
Kiva
The Kiva website has a very simple and straightforward design. Right at the top of the page they explain exactly what Kiva does, and they make it very easy for visitors to lend money. They also have a featured entrepreneur on their home page, further encouraging others to join. They also feature an “About” link prominently in the header, which then links to tons of additional information, including a press center.
New York City Coalition Against Hunger
The New York City Coalition Against Hunger offers up an excellent website. Links to volunteer and donate are featured right on the home page. In the top navigation they include prominent links to both their “Media” section and an “About” section. Recent updates from the NYCCAH Hunger Blog are also included right on the home page.
ASPCA
The ASPCA website makes it immediately apparent through images and small text areas on their home page what the organization is all about. Donation links are featured both in the main content area of the home page and in the top navigation. Links to the “Pressroom” and “About” sections are also included in the top nav. Links to additional resources are also featured prominently.
One
This is one of my favorite non profit sites. A multi-media slideshow is featured prominently on the home page, showcasing featured content. Links for more information, the issues the organization is interested in, and links to join or take action are all featured prominently in the top navigation and elsewhere on the home page. The site also includes a blog (featured on the home page).
The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research
The Michael J. Fox Foundation website offers a great home page that includes tons of great information without looking cluttered. Links for living with Parkinson’s, about the foundation, research programs, and how to help are included prominently in the middle of the page. A donation link is also included in the top navigation. And news both about Parkinson’s and the Foundation are also featured prominently on the home page.
Save the Children
The Save the Children website is an excellent example of getting a lot of information into a small space while keeping everything de-cluttered and user-friendly. Links to donate or sponsor a child are included in the top navigation as well as below the slideshow on the home page. There are also links to more information and for other ways to become involved featured prominently. Information on the site is presented in a concise and user-friendly manner, providing plenty of information in easy-to-read chunks.
Oxfam America
The Oxfam America website uses color to make their donation button stand out on the home page. While the majority of the site is designed in shades of green and tan but the donation link is orange. It stands out without being garish. News is prominently featured on the home page, along with plenty of information about what Oxfam does.
Natural Resources Defense Council
The NRDC website also makes use of color to distinguish between different sections of their site. The “Donate” and “Take Action” links are denoted in orange. “Blogs” are in green and everything else, including their “About” and “Policy” page links are in blue. Multi-media content is featured prominently on the home page, as is recent news.
Amnesty International
The Amnesty International site makes great use of color, including a bright yellow header and accents mixed with shades of gray and black. A slideshow on the home page shows current news and research. Links to join, donate, or take other action are featured prominently in the sidebar and a link to media information is included in the header. The home page also includes plenty of current news and resources below the main content up top.
The Nature Conservancy
The slideshow on the home page of The Nature Conservancy’s site is one of the best I’ve seen, offering up information about various programs and initiatives they support. The site also includes other multi-media content from the home page. Links to donate, become a member, volunteer and other ways to help the organization are highlighted in yellow in the sidebar, making them easy to find while still fitting with the understated overall site design.
Witness
Witness takes a slightly different approach to their site, as monetary donations are not their primary focus. They use their site to effectively solicit video contributions showing human rights violations from countries around the world. Links to news, their media archive, and ways to get involved (including training) are included prominently in the top navigation.
Product (Red)
The Product (Red) site features products that support the organization prominently in a slideshow on their home page. They also include links on other ways to get involved, their blog, and learning resources in the sidebar. The overall site design is simple, which is primarily achieved by the limited color palette (red, gray, and white).
Susan G. Komen for the Cure
This site makes great use of space in their header for highlighting important links, including ones to pages for women recently diagnosed with breast cancer, how to make a difference, and a page to share your own breast cancer story. The donation link is featured in the header, making use of a bright pink button where the rest of the header is gray. This is another site that features a slideshow prominently on the home page.
Take The Walk
The Take The Walk site makes great use of bold graphics and a slideshow on the home page to immediately capture visitor attention. A graphic showcasing how many miles have already been walked and how many left until they reach their goal is the main highlight of the home page. Below the graphic are the different ways people can contribute and the different causes for which they’re raising money.
Change.org
Change.org is a different kind of non profit site. Their aim is to raise awareness and get individuals to take action on a variety of different causes. Because of this, their “Causes” section is the most prominent feature on their site. Causes are featured in the main content of the home page as well as in the top navigation. Other prominent features are tools to help individuals get started with their own causes.
charity: water
The charity: water site is a great example of how simple but bold design can make a huge impact. The donate button is red, while the rest of the site employs black and dark gray navigation. Three images linked to different resources on the site make up the bulk of the home page, creating a huge impact without being complicated or fussy. Links for the media, getting involved, and other resources are easily found in the top nav.
The Breadline Africa Worldwide Blogger Bake Off
The Breadline Africa Worldwide Blogger Bake Off site is one of the more Web 2.0-ish non profit sites I’ve seen. It’s easy to find information about the project right on the home page, including brief explanations of every aspect of the event. Links to join the bake off, donate, and to other resources are also featured prominently, as is a counter to show how much money has been raised so far.
Blog Action Day
The Blog Action Day site changes each year based on the cause being blogged about (as well as changing for updates before and after the actual event). In its current incarnation, it’s providing a recap of 2008’s Blog Action Day focusing on poverty. Statistics are prominently featured on the home page (including a chart showcasing the percentage of all blog posts that day focusing on the cause), as is a link to more information about what Blog Action Day actually is. The home page also includes a place to sign up for updates on the next event, press information, and information on how to donate.
Ducks Unlimited
The Ducks Unlimited site focuses on providing useful and relevant content more than anything else. The sidebar is filled with links on how to get involved, their photo gallery, newsletter, FAQs, and about information. A “Join” button is featured prominently in the header but doesn’t detract from the overall design of the site. The top navigation is filled with more links to resources provided by the organization.
Further Resources
Here are additional links that might be of use when designing your portfolio site.
- How Do I Create a Web Site for My Organization?
A good overview of website design and development for non profits. - (Some) Best Practices for Nonprofit Web Site Design
Another basic rundown of best practices in non profit web design. - Web Design Best Practices Checklist
A very thorough list of best practices in general website design. - Web Design and Development: Top 20 Best Practices
Another thorough list of best practices. - Backgrounds In Web Design: Examples And Best Practices
A rundown of best practices in designing website backgrounds. - Pagination Gallery: Examples and Good Practices
A rundown on how to organize the pages of your site.
- Homepage
- Twitter Page
Balancing Traditional Marketing vs Internet Marketing
Some business owners have occasionally asked me “How should I balance my efforts between Traditional Marketing and Internet Marketing?
I typically ask them “What’s your answer to that question?” Most try to give me percentages of this or that type of marketing that they are trying.
My answer to the question is: “Why would you want to balance them at all? Is that wise?”
In 2005 a Harris Interactive Poll and a survey by the Public Relations Society of America asked a total of 10,000 people (5,000 Consumers,2,500 Fortune 1000 business people, 2,500 Congressional staffers) this question: Is Traditional Marketing Still Valid? 80% said “Yes” “It still works because people still view them.”
Let me be clear that I’m defining Traditional Marketing as Print Mediums of all types, Newspapers, Magazines, Billboards, as well as TV & Radio spots and all various types of mailers, flyer’s, Door Hangers, etc. It has been suggested that Traditional Marketing does have some advantages such as:
1. Best way to spread your message locally?
2. Best way to spread your message within a small targeted group?
3. Works Best For Local Retail Offers!!!
4. One Time Local Events/Sales!!
5. Uses a Physical Reminder (Card/Flyer,etc)
6. Reaches Prospects Not Web Connected
To me the most important advantage is #6. Why? Since 2005 Traditional Marketing has declined! To see why, look at these statistics:
- 72% 0f the American population owns or has access to computers connected to the Internet (Jan 2009)
- 28% of the world population has Internet access, but increasing by 10% per year [Jan 2008]
- Internet is the preferred medium to receive/find product info at work/employers [office products catalogs]and second preferred at home to a majority of Americans…..Since 2007
- Americans spend 14 hours per week watching TV- Jan 2009 {Nielsen Ratings}
- Americans spend 14 hours per week online (Google Stats) Jan 2009
- 11 research firms predicted that online ad spending will grow by 12-19% in 2009
- According to a AMA Flash Poll- May 2009- 72% of marketers : “their online marketing budgets will rise or remain the same during the recession”
Online or Internet Marketing has 3 Vital Advantages:
1. It’s less costly- a large CPA firm did a cost analysis that showed the typical 1,000 piece traditional marketing campaign cost its clients a $1,450 capital outlay plus the use of from 128 to 184 man hours to produce; an email campaign had no capital outlay and used only 32 man hours to produce. So, $1,450 + up to 184 man-hours vs. $0 + 32 man-hours- seems like a no brainer to me!
2. Better Proof Of Reach - How do you know if someone actually received and read your flyer or mailer or ad in any publication. You have to take it with some blind faith unless you’re running some type of coupon required special. But even then you can only count those who brought the coupon to you, not how many actually viewed the coupon or your ad. Internet marketing provides powerful web analytics, traffic tracking programs, real time conversion statistics and you can make real time changes to your campaign to improve it immediately. You’ll know who came to your website and what they viewed, how long and the list goes on.
3. Conversion Rate – Traditional Marketing- General Audience Target; If you’re looking for potential new customers a 1-2% prospect response is typical; a 5-7% current customer response rate is the norm. But with Internet Marketing your prospect/customer comes to you, customers know what they want and are more likely to be ready to buy!
The typical conversion rate is higher, as much as 20%.
Another item to consider are the current generations of buyers.
- The Millennials/Gen-Y’s (born 1980- 2000) are 75 million strong!
- The Gen-Xer’s (born 1964-1979) have about 51 million members
- The Baby Boomers generation (born 1946-1964) are 112 million potential buyers
Please note: Gen Y & X: are only reached consistently through electronic/Internet media marketing. Why? They do not respond to print media as a whole. They are always connected to computers, blackberry’s, TV’s and using the texting world on their cell phones. [Now you know why the Boston Globe and the NY Times are up for sale and a Seattle newspaper stopped printing & now only produces an internet version of it's paper]
- Plus the Boomers are retiring and their buying power dropping
So to sum this all up, I see there are 6 reasons why Internet Marketing is more effective:
Internet Marketing is More Measurable
A-Brand Awareness is easier to develop & measure based upon website visits/conversions,etc.
B-You’ll see what you’re paying for- $ vs. result
C-Traditional Marketing requires lots of trust, did your audience really get it and respond? How do you know?
D-Your ROI is easily determined using real facts and details
Internet Marketers Make Strategic Decisions Based on (Real Time)Facts
A-You can get detailed analytics in Real Time.
B-You’ll know how people found your website
C-You’ll know what they do once they are on your site?
D-You’ll know what people respond to?
E-You’ll know what led to your conversations/sales!
F-You can make changes anytime to increase effectiveness!
Internet Marketing Is Better at Reaching Your Target Audience
A-Traditional Marketing can only target based upon a TV station’s, Radio station’s or Magazine’s assumed demographics.
B-Internet Marketing can target small audience groups such as by Zip Code, State, Age, Gender,etc.
C- You’ll know your targeted advertising spend!
Internet Marketing is a Constant Source
A-Traditional marketing has a finite shelf life (30 second commercials play & go, print ads get thrown away,etc.)
B-Internet Marketing has a permanent online presence and a good SEO/Web hosting company can provide that for you. Finding the right SEO however is critical to your websites visibility!
C-Prospects/customers can view your information anytime!
D-Search Engines will bring new customers to you who are looking for your product or service. But again effective SEO techniques are a must!
E-Searchers are more predisposed to buy when they find you.
Internet Marketing Provides Better Word-of-Mouth
A-Word of Mouth we all know provides the most likely conversions
B-Social Media Marketing (FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc) can provide evangelists of your company or product and can speak virally throughout the world wide web!
C-Word of mouth advertising is a more trusted source of leads than Traditional Ads
Internet Marketing = More Conversions
A-Campaign details can be studied
B- You’ll know what’s working & what’s not quickly
C- You have less guessing so you can emphasize what’s working and eliminate what’s not working and always be improving your campaign!
D- You can test new ideas immediately and get instant feedback!
So as you can see the bottom line about Internet Marketing is it’s:
1-More Efficient & Effective
2- More Flexible (adjust on the fly)
3- Much Less Expensive
4-Providing Real Time Analytics
5- Giving You Return On Investment Details Immediately
About the Author
Walt Morey
Core Business Solutions
727-647-8242
Accredited Associate of the Institute for Independent Business
Walt Morey’s Blog
Transferring Your Existing Website to a New Hosting Provider
Transferring Your Existing Website to a New Hosting Provider
You’ve already got a website, but your current hosting provider can no longer meet your needs, provide adequate service, costs too much, or is going out of business. You need to move your website to a new host. How do you do this? This situation arises all the time, but many people don’t know where to begin. This guide is designed to help you understand what is involved in a hosting transfer so that you can transition from one host to another as smoothly as possible.
Step 1: Determine What You Have
Before you move anything, you need to know what you’ve got to transfer so that you can determine your requirements of the new hosting provider. Ask yourself these questions and find out the answers. You may need to ask your website designer or your current hosting provider for some of this information.
- Do you have all of the information you need to manage your domain names? If you don’t know what this is, read our guide to Understanding Your Domain Name.
- Can you get a complete backup copy of your website?
- What kind of server are you currently hosting on? Windows, Linux/Unix, something else?
- Is your site running any kind of dynamic code, scripts, or software, such as ASP, PHP, CGI, Java, etc.? What kind? Most shopping carts and data processing applications fall under this description.
- Does your site have a database? What kind? MySQL, SQL, PostgreSQL, Access, Oracle, something else?
- How many e-mail addresses do you have? Do you have a list of usernames and passwords? Are there any e-mail aliases or forwarded addresses set up?
- Are any parts of your site password protected or secured? How is this set up?
- Are there any elements of your site, such as the shopping cart, that are not under your domain name and cannot be taken with you? Some hosting providers offer a shopping cart which can only be used by their customers.
- How much storage space does your website take up?
- How much bandwidth does your website use up every month?
- Do you have any special requirements, such as the ability to receive delivery receipts for your e-mail?
If you can gather all of this information then you are in good shape. As with anything, preparation and good record keeping is the key to success.
Step 2: Find a Host That Can Meet Your Needs
Now that you know what you have, it’s time to look for somebody who can handle it. Check out different hosting companies, look at their packages to see what they offer, and contact them and ask what they can do to assist you in moving your website. A good host should not just be able to support your website on their servers, they should be able to help you move it as well.
If the new host you are looking at runs a different setup or a different type of server than your old host, find out how that will affect you. Some of your settings such as e-mail servers may change, you might have a different type of website control panel, you might gain some new options that you didn’t have before and you might lose some that you did.
Step 3: Set Up the New Camp Before You Break the Old One
Before you cancel your services with your old host, you need to make sure that everything is set up and running to your satisfaction on the new host. This is necessary to avoid having a broken website and interruption of your e-mail service once the hosting is transferred. The ideal is to leave your old host active up until the activation of the new host’s DNS, and to have a fully configured and operational website waiting for it when the domain is repointed. This will provide the smoothest possible transition from one host to another.
Most hosts provide a way for you to access your site prior to changing the DNS on your domain name. You should be able to access your control panel, upload your files, and perform all the operations necessary to recreate your website and e-mail accounts on the new host’s server. Tutorials should be provided on how to use all of the tools and features that the host provides you to perform these tasks, so be sure and read them. If you are still unsure how to proceed with anything, request assistance from the host’s support department.
Step 4: Notify Your Customers
If you have customers who regularly visit your site for purchases or information, you need to notify them that you are making administrative changes to the site and that it may be temporarily unavailable. While downtime may be what you’re trying to avoid, it’s better to be safe than sorry, and it shows your customers that you care. You may notify customers by email or by posting a notice on your website where it will be seen by those who need to know. Be sure to include a target date for your move in the notice.
Step 5: Move Your Domain Names
At this point you should have all of your files transferred, your e-mail accounts set up, shopping cart installed, etc. on the new host’s server. However, officially you are still being hosted by your old provider. Now it’s time to use that domain management information you found in Step 1. First you need to find out the names of your new host’s DNS. There should be a minimum of two, and they should look something like this:
NS1.CHILIPEPPERWEB.NET
NS2.CHILIPEPPERWEB.NET
You will need to enter this information in the DNS section of your domain manager for each domain that you wish to repoint to the new host. If you are parking multiple domains on the same site, make sure that the new host’s DNS is programmed to handle all of the parked domains and not just the one you are setting up the primary hosting account with.
The process of changing DNS does not occur instantaneously. Most DNS servers update their records at 12 or 24 hour intervals, although sometimes it may take as long as 48 hours. When you change your domain’s DNS, a notice is also issued to routers all across the internet that your domain is now using different DNS so that they can update their DNS tables accordingly to point your domain in the right direction when a request is issued for it in their sphere of influence. This notice does not spread evenly or instantaneously, which means that while Houston might recognize the move almost as soon as it happens, Berlin might not be able to see your new IP address for another 24 hours. This process generally completes itself within 48-72 hours.
Step 6: Test Your Site and Cancel Your Old Provider’s Services
Once you have repointed your domains and given the DNS system a couple of days to propagate the changes, you should be checking out all of the functions of your website once it is live on the new server to make sure that everything is operating as expected. Once you are satisfied that you no longer need to retrieve any information from the old host, then it is safe to cancel your services with them.
© Copyright 2005-2008 by Stacy Clifford
Stacy Clifford is the founder of ChiliPepperWeb.net and has been assisting customers in understanding how their web services work since 2001.
Why Have a Website?
The World-Wide Web Offers Many Reasons, Here Are 20 Good Ones
Originally Authored by Net 101
1. To Establish A Presence
Approximately 27 million people worldwide have access to the World Wide Web (WWW) and it is estimated that by the end of 1997 36 million will have Web access. No matter what your business is, you can’t ignore 27 million people. To be a part of that community and show that you are interested in serving them, you need to be on the WWW for them. You know your competitors will.
2. To Network
A lot of what passes for business is simply nothing more than making connections with other people. Every smart business person knows, it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Passing out your business card is part of every good meeting and every business person can tell more than one story how a chance meeting turned into the big deal. Well, what if you could pass out your business card to thousands, maybe millions of potential clients and partners, saying this is what I do and if you are ever in need of my services, this is how you can reach me. You can, 24 hours a day, inexpensively and simply, on the WWW.
3. To Make Business Information Available
What is basic business information? Think of a Yellow Pages ad. What are your hours? What do you do? How can someone contact you? What methods of payment do you take? Where are you located at? Now think of a Yellow Pages ad where you have instant communication. What is today’s special? Today’s interest rate? Next week’s parking lot sale information? If you could keep your customer informed of every reason why they should do business with you, don’t you think you could do more business? You can on the WWW.
4. To Serve Your Customers
Making business information available is one of the most important ways to serve your customers. But if you look at serving the customer, you’ll find even more ways to use WWW technology. How about making forms available to pre-qualify for loans, or have your staff do a search for that classic jazz record your customer is looking for, without tying up your staff on the phone to take down the information? Allow your customer to punch in sizes and check it against a database that tells him what color of jacket is available in your store? All this can be done, and more, on the WWW.
5. To Heighten Public Interest
You won’t get Newsweek magazine to write up your local store opening, but you might get them to write up your Web Page address if it is something new and interesting. Even if Newsweek would write about your local store opening, you wouldn’t benefit from someone in a distant city reading about it, unless of course, they were coming to your town sometime soon. With Web page information, anybody anywhere who can access the Web and hears about you is a potential visitor to your Web site and a potential customer for your information there.
6. To Release Time Sensitive Materials
What if your materials need to be released no earlier than midnight? The quarterly earnings statement, the grand prize winner, the press kit for the much anticipated film, the merger news? Well, you sent out the materials to the press with the ‘Do not release before such and such time” statement and hope for the best. Now the information can be made available at midnight or any time you specify, with all related materials such as photographs, bios, etc. released at exactly the same time. Imagine the anticipation of “All materials will be made available on our Web site at 12:01 AM”. The scoop goes to those that wait for the information to be posted, not the one who releases your information early.
7. To Sell Things
Many people think that this is the number 1 thing to do with the World Wide Web, but we made it number seven to make it clear that we think you should consider selling things on the Internet and the World Wide Web after you have done all the things above and maybe even after doing quite a few more things from this list. Why? Well, the answer is complex but the best way to put it is, do you consider the telephone the best place to sell things? Probably not. You probably consider the telephone a tool that allows you to communicate with your customer, which in turn helps you sell things. Well, that’s how we think you should consider the WWW. The technology is different, of course, but before people decide to become customers, they want to know about you, what you do and what you can do for them. Which you can do easily and inexpensively on the WWW. When you are ready to sell, make sure you have the information people need to help them decide available on your web site, without paying so much that you won’t make a profit until the next century. That’s smart business.
8. To make pictures, sound and film files available
What if your widget is great, but people would really love it if they could see it in action? The album is great but with no airplay, nobody knows that it sounds great? A picture is worth a thousand words, but you don’t have the space for a thousand words? The WWW allows you to add sound, pictures and short movie files to your company’s info if that will serve your potential customers. No brochure will do that.
9. To reach a highly desirable demographic market
The demographic of the WWW user is probably the highest mass-market demographic available. Usually college-educated or being college educated, making a high salary or soon to make a high salary, it’s no wonder that Wired magazine, the magazine of choice to the Internet community, has no problem getting Lexus and other high-end marketer’s advertising. Even with the addition of the commercial on-line community, the demographic will remain high for many years to come.
10. To Answer Frequently Asked questions
Whoever answers the phones in your organization can tell you, their time is usually spent answering the same questions over and over again. These are the questions customers and potential customers want to know the answer to before they deal with you. Post them on a WWW page and you will have removed another barrier to doing business with you and free up some time for that harried phone operator.
11. To Stay In Contact With Salespeople
Your employees on the road may need up-to-the-minute information that will help them make the sale or pull together the deal. If you know what that information is, you can keep it posted in complete privacy on the WWW. A quick local phone call can keep your staff supplied with the most detailed information, without long distance phone bills and tying up the staff at the home office.
12. To Open International Markets
You may not be able to make sense of the mail, phone and regulation systems in all your potential international markets, but with a Web page, you can open up a dialogue with international markets as easily as with the company across the street. As a matter-of-fact, before you go onto the Web, you should decide how you want to handle the international business that will come your way, because your postings are certain to bring international opportunities your way, whether it is part of your plan or not. Another added benefit; if your company has offices overseas, they can access the home offices information for the price of a local phone call. Plus, you can find out how many international customers can access you that could never reach you before at a reasonable cost.
13. To Create a 24 Hour Service
If you’ve ever remembered too late or too early to call the opposite coast, you know the hassle. We’re not all on the same schedule. Business is worldwide but your office hours aren’t. Trying to reach Asia or Europe is even more frustrating. But Web pages serve the client, customer and partner 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No overtime either. It can customize information to match needs and collect important information that will put you ahead of the competition, even before they get into the office.
14. To Make Changing Information Available Quickly
Sometimes, information changes before it gets off the press. Now you have a pile of expensive, worthless paper. Electronic publishing changes with your needs. No paper, no ink, no printer’s bill. You can even attach your web page to a database which customizes the page’s output to a specific need or customer, and you can change as many times in a day as you need. No printed piece can match that flexibility.
15. To Allow Feedback From Customers
You pass out the brochure, the catalog, the booklet. But it doesn’t work. No sales, no calls, no leads. What went wrong? Wrong color, wrong price, wrong market? Keep testing, the marketing books say, and you’ll eventually find out went wrong. That’s great for the big boys with deep pockets, but who is paying the bills? You are and you don’t have the time nor the money to wait for the answer. With a Web page, you can ask for feedback and get it instantaneously with no extra cost. An instant e-mail response can be built into Web pages and can get the answer while its fresh in your customers mind, without the cost and lack of response of business reply mail.
16. To Test Market New Services and Products
Tied into the reason above, we all know the cost of rolling out a new product. Advertising, advertising, advertising, PR and advertising. Expensive, expensive, expensive. Once you have been on the Web and know what to expect from those who are seeing your page, they are the least expensive market for you to reach. They will also let you know what they think of your product faster, easier and much less expensively than any other market you may reach. For the cost of a page or two of Web programming, you can have a crystal ball into where to position your product or service in the marketplace. Amazing.
17. To Reach The Media
Every kind of business needs the exposure that the media can bring, as we touched on in reason #5 “To Heighten Public Interest”, but what if your business is reaching the media, as a newswire, a publicist or a public policy group. The media is the most wired profession today, since their main product is information and they can get it more quickly, cheaply and easily on-line. On-line press kits are becoming more and more common, since they work with the digital environment of more and more pressrooms. Digital images can be put in place without the stripping and shooting of the old pressrooms and digital text can be edited and output on tight deadlines. All the these can be made available on a Web page.
18. To Reach The Education and Youth Market
If your market is education, consider that most universities already offer Internet access to their students and most K-12’s will be on the Internet within the next few years. Books, athletic shoes, study courses, youth fashion and anything else that would want to reach these overlapping markets needs to be on the Web. Even with the coming of the commercial on-line services and their somewhat older populations there will be nothing but growth in the percentage of the under 25 market that will be on-line.
19. To Reach The Specialized Market
Selling a very specialized product? You may think that the Internet is not a good place to be. Well, think again. The Internet isn’t just computer science students anymore. With the 27 million and growing users of the WWW, even the most narrowly defined interest group will be represented in large numbers. Since the Web has several very good search programs, your interest group will be able to find you, or your competitors.
20. To Serve Your Local Market
We’ve talked about the power to serve the world with a Web page. How about your neighborhood? If you are located in San Francisco Bay Area, the Raleigh NC area, Boston or New York, there is probably enough local customers with Web access to make it worth your while to consider Web marketing. A local Palo Alto, CA restaurant even takes lunch orders through the Internet! But no matter where you are, if the big client has Web access, you should be there too. You can make the Web a part of your sales team no matter where your market is.
Social Networking is Important in Today’s Age
In the past, social networking could be seen in people described as machers or schmoozers. Schmoozers, often seen as the social butterfly, engaged in making lots of informal relationships, while machers formed relationships on a formal basis. A schmoozer would have a large network in which to make connections, however some of the relationships may not be very strong. A macher would have a limited network to connect with, but the relationships would be very solid. A macher could count on his close knit group for a favor, but he would be limited in his scope of people. A schmoozer would have at his disposal, a vast array of people to choose from and easily broadens his horizons.
Today social networking, like many aspects of our lives, is primarily online. Many sites provide us a way to communicate and share information. In today’s technological age, we can all be schmoozers. Social network sites, like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, are connecting millions of people together providing them a way to connect with their intimate friends and also a way to connect with larger communities. Other sites like, LinkedIn, are connecting businesses for professional networking. Organic marketing allows one to attract people to your business who are interested in what you have to offer without having to pay for the traffic. Like organic foods, organic marketing is good for a company to grow and unlike organic food, it cost you nothing. Social networking and organic marketing go hand in hand.
Social networking is important in today’s age for many reasons. In the business world, it is beneficial to have the right connections to ensure success. Businesses can connect with customers, potential customers, potential partners and people who can provide feedback of the service or product provided. With the internet as an avenue, the possibility of going global is feasible. Your ability to connect with people increases tenfold. The use of social networking keeps your business out of obscurity and places it in the public eye.
Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, focuses on social epidemics. The book explains how word of mouth and connectors create the changes we see in fashion, crime trends or product popularity. The “tipping point” is the heightened point when the idea, trend, or phenomenon becomes mainstream and a part of everyday life. Social networking helps take the tipping point to the next level by decreasing the time frame for the idea to spread and allowing the reach to hit monumental levels at a faster rate. It is seen when something has gone viral.
Organic marketing and social networking are essential for today’s businesses. It creates a presence for your business away from its physical location. It promotes your public image. It connects you to other businesses and expands your contact base. It comes at no cost to the business and attracts prospective consumers and clients. The main attraction for many businesses when joining social network sites, aside from the cost, is the ability to reach niche audiences and have the ability to communicate to them in the way they find most effective.
Posted on: January 2, 2010 at 8:40 pm by Hassan Bawab
Blippy opens new social networking frontier, broadcasting your purchases
By Michael Oliveira (CP) – 18 hours ago
TORONTO — Welcome to the new frontier of social networking, which asks for your credit card number, banking information and any online shopping passwords you’ve accumulated.
It’s called Blippy and, after a much-hyped beta-testing period, the website went live to the world Thursday, offering to broadcast all your purchases for everyone to see.
Call it conspicuous consumption for the social media age.
After users submit their credit card or debit card number, Blippy automatically posts transaction data, which can also be cross-posted to Twitter.
Each post lists the business where a purchase was made and how much was spent. More detail can be shared in a comment area.
One of the trail-blazing Canadians on Blippy posted a $9.02 purchase from HomeSense and then elaborated that the item was a wine decanter. The $2.25 he spent at Laura Secord was for a chocolate apple, $16.94 at Toys Toys Toys was for a teddy bear, and he spent $20.62 at a Korean restaurant on New Year’s Day.
Despite the eyebrow-raising concept, thousands of users have signed up, the website says, and Twitter CEO Evan Williams is reportedly among the investors who have bought into the idea. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based site’s owners insist their high-tech encryption will protect data from being stolen or reused.
“In theory I would suggest people wouldn’t be comfortable with it … but the weird part about it is (Blippy) had an enormous interest in their beta and I’m not sure how to read that,” said Mark Evans, a Toronto-based social media strategist.
“The only way to explain it is that we’re living in this kind of share everything, everything-is-public age, and people are just riding on the bandwagon.
“Internet users on the leading or bleeding edge are … always out for something new, they’re never satisfied with what they got. They’re always expecting something better and shinier around the corner, and I think Blippy falls in that category.”
Evans said Blippy may be another example of how social media is exposing a major generation gap in how privacy is defined.
“Maybe I’m old school, maybe these services aren’t aimed at my demographic, maybe I just don’t buy into the fact that my private life is public,” he said.
“One argument is that privacy is dead, and that may be overly dramatic … but I think we’re living at a time when having a very public life is becoming kind of the norm for many, many, many people, especially young people who have never really had private lives. … They don’t know a world without Facebook.”
Eighteen-year-old Internet entrepreneur Brian Wong personifies the privacy-is-dead argument. He didn’t flinch at entering his data into Blippy on Thursday and was already a user of a similar Vancouver-based website Justbought.it.
“I’m a huge online guy, my entire life is online,” said Wong, who created the Twitter spinoff Followformation.com and was recently hired to work for Digg.com in San Francisco.
“I feel secure (using Blippy) because if something really gets screwed up with my credit cards (the issuers) have been really good about telling me it’s been compromised. And I’m not the type of guy that likes to lock down all my information,” he added.
“I’m that generation that just doesn’t care about my privacy. My life is super online and I really don’t feel (nervous) to put my credit card information into Blippy.”
Wong said he thinks Blippy could still use some tweaks but he envisions it evolving into a useful mobile app that would give users information about the prices of products in their area.
“Say someone just bought something in the area and I think that’s a really good deal – bam, I’m going to go buy that now,” he said.
“The thing about making purchases social is it also allows recommendations that allow further purchases to be made, and that’s valuable for me. If I buy something, someone may come along and say, ‘Hey check this out too because this is also good.’ ”
If Blippy really makes sense for anyone it’s for marketers and advertisers who will gain access to detailed consumer data, Evans said. Blippy’s terms of use acknowledge that purchasing data may be used to display targeted ads on people’s accounts, and all their purchasing details could also be made available to third parties.
“For marketers and retailers it’s fantastic because it gives them even more intelligence so they can target consumers, Evans said.
Copyright © 2010 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Top 5 Content Management Systems
1. Drupal
Drupal is easily the most functional open source CMS available today. It allows for the editing of content directly on the page, and is easily extended through the use of modules. Themes can be developed easily with CSS and though it has a few issues, it is the least frustrating CMS of any available. Drupal
2. Wordpress
Wordpress began as a simple blogging system but has grown into one of the most powerful CMS’s on the Internet. The administration interface which has become so easy to use for millions of bloggers translates over to extended versions of Wordpress.
As developers have realized its potential to act as a user friendly CMS, many plugins and extensions have been produced. With the release of BuddyPress for Wordpress MU, it matches most other open source systems available in functionality and far surpasses them in user friendliness. Wordpress
3. Radiant CMS
A simple CMS powered by Ruby on Rails. It’s simplistic design and method of content management makes editing content easy. The focus of this CMS is to offer minimum functionality for small development teams, which allows those who know how to write Ruby on Rails to easily customize their own systems. Radiant CMS
4. Magento
An especially effective e-commerce content management system. Offers features above and beyond normal e-commerce systems such as virtue-cart. A must have for online stores. Magento
5. Silverstripe
A simplistic CMS, with a growing community. Easy to customize and change. Shows potential to match other systems such as Drupal, but not quite there yet. Great user interface. Silverstripe
Avoid Joomla
Joomla is evil. That’s all there is too it. The only way to get the functionality you would ever really need beyond basic content management is to pay large sums of money for commercial modules. The community is huge in the worst possible way. There are a million modules for one problem and it is near impossible to find the right one.
The interface is deplorable. None of the methods of content management make any sense, and it is obviously not meant to be user friendly considering the top dollar training offered for the system. If there were ever a CMS to avoid, this would be it.
That’s the end of the list. If you know to avoid Joomla! you’ll know how to avoid anything else that might hinder your experience creating and managing a website. Whew! There! Joomla!
Summary
Always remember to research a CMS before investing time in it. Never forget that the main purpose of a CMS is to make creating and editing content simple and easy. Never sacrifice the user experience for functionality. Remember these things and it will drastically improve your experience with Content Management Systems.
Written exclusively for WDD by Jason Mosley. The article reflects his opinion only and doesn’t necessarily reflect WDD’s position on the subject.
Happy New Year
2009…what a year. Our team expanded 3 times from last December to what it is today and we had the pleasure of working with a variety of clients, ranging from mid-sized corporations like Vaughan Investigations all the way to massive organizations like the Manning Centre. This year has been one of evolution, in more ways than one. Expanding our services from primarily web based to becoming a communications design firm has been a great transition.
Not only have we grown as a company, our JOI to the World campaign has been on the expansion route as well. Last year, we managed to fill 350 gift filled shoeboxes and this year with a goal of 1000 boxes, we came close and hit the 900 mark, a success in our eyes.
With the New Year right around the corner, we here at JOI Media cannot wait to see what is in store. We are excited at the thought of challenges that will present themselves and thrive in situations where adapting to various circumstances are part of the environment.
Thank you to all of our clients as well as everyone who helped us not only grow our company, but also make our charity campaign a success this year.
Happy New Year from all of us at JOI Media!