The Excellanz Blog

Web 2.0

Recently I was invited to do an Executive Read for the St. Paul Pioneer Press newspaper. On March 8th, the following article was printed in Business Section:

Robyn Flach
Vice President of Design & Development
Excellanz Graphic and Web Design
Rosemount, MN

“Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide” by Amy Shuen

When you hear the term Web 2.0 do you have a clear idea of what it means and the role you are probably already playing in it? The term was first coined by Tim O’Reilly in 2004/2005 to describe the shift away from the web as a collection of static websites to a new age where the web is used as a platform where users will gather and interact, collectively contributing and building on each others ideas and knowledge. In the book “Web 2.0:  A Strategy Guide”, author Amy Shuen  takes us thru a series of  case studies using companies we are familiar with and illustrates the strategies behind their success in the Web 2.0 arena.

Beginning with Flickr, the popular photo sharing site, we are shown how  users create value  for  both Flickr and themselves by contributing and interacting  with other users. This is contrasted against another more complex, but successful model for Netflix. Next we are shown how Google’s  strategies  have harnessed positive network effects and gone on to redefine the way many of us use the web each day.

Shuen illuminates the importance and value of social networks such as Facebook, LinkedIn and others, showing how these values are measured.  Increasingly, people get their first impressions from online, rather than offline meetings.  Business networking has gone from face to face relationships to online relationships with people we may never meet, but are equally as important to our networks.  Social influence can make even the smallest event go viral and grow exponentially.

The book continues with Amazon, IBM,  Apple and more showing how collaboration with others,  and combining old with new ideas for interaction and globalization is shaping the way business is being done.  Each chapter closes with a clear recap of lessons learned, as well as a thought provoking set of both strategic and tactical questions to apply to your own situation. An extensive list of supporting material and suggestions for further reading is also included.

Companies and startups of all sizes wanting to re-assess their strategies for competing in a connected, web savvy era, will find this an invaluable starting place for strategy. 

Author Amy Shuen is an internationally recognized authority on Silicon Valley business models and innovation economics.

Posted in Media Review, Uncategorized | No Comments »

New sites!

Summer is well underway and the  Minneapolis Aquatennial is upon us, with fun events planned to help our city celebrate it’s 150 birthday!

At Excellanz, we’ve been busier than ever helping our clients create a unique and professional presence on the internet. A few of our recently published sites include:

          

                 

Music Studios of Jan Erickson Serving the greater Twin Cities area, the Music Studios of Jan Erickson offer private, quality music instruction, where students learn in a personalized, caring environment.

         

Santanni Custom Homes, Inc  Santanni Custom Homes is  ”The Ultimate in Fine Home Building”.  A family run business dedicated to constructing high quality custom homes and quality, custom remodeling.  

         

Met Medical CPM  Met Medical CPM is the headquarters for fulfilling all CPM requirements including sales, rental, repair, parts sourcing, delivery. The Met Mecial CPM site has been active for some time, but have now implemented their e-commerce module for the convenience of their clients!

Several more sites are being developed, and we are very excited to see them progress. One site we will be focusing on in the months to come, is our own site here at Excellanz. We’ll be updating our look and bringing more information, resources, and portfolio offerings for your viewing. 

Posted in Excellanz News, Internet, Minnesota | 1 Comment »

Do you Twitter?

For the past few months I’ve been observing and sometimes participating in various Social Networking sites in order to learn how they work, to see how these sites can potentially benefit business, and to build relationships. One of my favorite sites has been Twitter. It’s a rather informal micro-blogging platform - meaning you are limited to 140 characters in each post you create and publish. Other users can comment and reply to your posts, and you to theirs. There are hundreds of thousands of users, from every profession and walk of life, and you decide who you want to follow. When you follow someone, you see every post they publish, and can see their replies to other ‘Tweeters’ (in turn, learning who they follow). The ‘tweets’, or micro-blog posts, cover an incredibly diverse topic range, from weather, to what someone had for breakfast, to inquiries about the best restaurants, to a wide variety of business related items. The exchange happening back and forth between Twitter users builds relationships and trust over time.

One of the perks of Twitter, is that you can create/publish/read posts in a number of ways. You can use the web while logged in to the site itself, you can use any number of applications created for easier Twitter use, you can use GoogleTalk, (Google’s Instant Messenger program), or you can remotely use your telephone’s texting capabilities. Because of this, news travels at amazing speeds. When the earthquake in China hit, news of the details came thru Twitter much quicker than it did thru the local/national news. Links to photos, disaster relief efforts, and details of the damage showed up within minutes.  In another incident, there was a fire in Madison, WI in a fraternity house, that I knew about before my son did, who attends college there and only lives a few blocks from where the fire was.

For business exposure this site is incredible. The majority of users have their profiles set up with links to their/their companies website. Your followers will view your profile, and check out your website to learn about you and what you do. Every time you post a ‘Tweet’ announcing and linking to new content on your site or on your company blog, announce new projects you are working on/have completed, new clients you are welcoming, etc., your followers are very likely to view the content on your website.  I have given audience to sites and content that I would never have known existed out there, because I learned of it via someone I have followed on Twitter. I’ve also gotten calls about potential work from people who have viewed my site and are following me.

Posted in Internet, Social Media | No Comments »

The art of being prepared

Late last night I returned from a long weekend vacation in  Sedona, Arizona. I had never been there before, but knowing it was hot, at least in contrast to Minnesota, the plan was to spend a great deal of time outside soaking up the sun and hiking with 3 other women.

On Saturday we hiked about 8 miles amongst the beautiful redrock formations, wandering in and out  the cactus and scrubby brush. It was hot, dusty, and very sunny. Sunscreen, sunglasses, light clothing, and extra water was required to be comfortable. We were very prepared, as this was exactly the vision we had in our heads when packing gear for the trip.

On Sunday, however, we hiked in a new area for about 4 or 5 hours. This time it was in a canyon, and the terrain was more difficult with some climbing involved. The path crossed a creek in about 2 dozen places.  The only way to get across was by teetering on wobbly fallen logs, or by hopping from rock to slippery rock. My traveling companions were prepared with sturdy shoes and jackets, and one even had a walking stick. I, however, was not. I had gotten a little smug, and wanting my shoes to match my clothing, thought ‘Hey, it’s Arizona, I walk in sandals all the time at home, it’ll be fine’. Not so.  My sandals had little traction, and my feet slipped into the VERY cold creek several times while crossing.  That made for uncomfortable and muddy feet trudging through the soft dirt on the other side. I was not prepared. I was more concerned about my appearance than the function of my shoes. Thankfully, I had at least brought a sweatshirt that I could put on when the temperature in the canyon began dropping.

The same holds true in web design. You need to be prepared and know what the goal for your site is before you begin. Proper planning up front can prevent you from getting your proverbial feet cold and wet later on.

Here are some things to think about and consider before beginning:

• Who is your target audience, and are you looking for it to change and expand over time? 
• What types of information are your presenting, and how should it  be organized for clear, logical navigation?
• How would you like your users to interact with your site?
• Do you have  good quality images to use on the site, or the capabilties to obtain them? If not, are you willing to pay a professional to take them?
• Who will write the content copy for your site?
• What is your definition of success for the site. What do you consider a conversion? 
• Are you willing to devote the time to continue to bring updated, fresh content to your site as needed?

Each business or group will have unique goals, and it it is important to work them through before beginning. Spending time defining your site goals will make for a better site every time. The best looking site will be useless if you are catering to an audience that it isn’t appropriate for, or if your users cannot easily find their way around inside it.

Posted in Excellanz News, Internet, Vacation | No Comments »

Social Media exposure

Posted by Robyn Flach

Today is “Paraprofessional Appreciation Day”

About a week ago I hosted a small gathering of woman for a presentation on Social Media and Social Networking. These women were from varying backgrounds and occupations, but had two things in common:

1. They all have children, ranging in ages from grade school to college age and beyond.
2. They all had very little exposure to the Social Networking & Media sites that their children are using or have access to. 

Most of these women also did not know that these sites are used regularly in the business world for a variety of reasons; their perception of these sites was largely based on the negative media attention that sites like MySpace have received on national news. My goal in this presentation was to simply give them exposure to these sites, showing them, hands-on, the ones I have set up for myself, and educating them on the categories they fall into and how each are used. There are literally hundreds of these sites out there and it seems there are more springing up in beta everyday. Here are just a few we talked about:

High profile social sites:

• Facebook
• MySpace

These sites, similar to Windows Live Spaces and Hi5, are sites where essentially you create an account, invite others to join as well, or connect by invitation with those already having membership. These sites have privacy settings and the ability to message back and forth with other members. You can put as much or as little personal information up as you wish, and can also post photos, videos, blogs. These sites also have ‘groups’ you can join where you can participate in forum type discussions, or just soak up the information that is offered. These groups range from silly and fun, to highly professional continuing education resources. These sites are highly customizable, and can be tailored to fit the users needs.

Professional Sites:

• LinkedIn
• Spock
• Ecademy

These sites are more like professional resume type sites, where you connect with others thru a process of invitations and introductions with those you already know and would recommend you. 

Calling Card type sites:

• Xing
• Naymz

These sites are list an expanded version of a business card for each member, and act as a directory of who’s who in each industry. 

Resource Sharing:

• Stumble Upon
• Digg
• Del.icio.us

Both Digg and Stumble Upon are sites where registered users submit articles, sites, blogs, podcasts, videos etc. to the Digg or Stumble site, and other registered users have the ability to vote on it and agree with it’s value, or not. The more positive feedback the submission gets, the more visibility the submission gets. The del.icio.us site is a virtual bookmark site, where you save something to your del.icio.us account, giving it ‘tags’ to better organize it, and it is then accessible to you from any other computer that has internet access. You can join the ‘community’ to see the kinds of things fellow users in your network deem important enough to bookmark. 

We also touched on security and privacy for each of the above sites mentioned, but I’ll save that for another post.

Posted in Internet | No Comments »

Springtime

Posted by Robyn

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