Yoda's Blogby Yoda Cat
Resident yellow tabby and Web 2.0 extraordinaire with luscious green eyes, soft fur and a liking for the nip.
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Big Font is the New Black How to Get My Business on Google Maps River City Studio Announces Antibody Registry on Behalf of Community Blood Center of Greater KC You Can't Throw Away a Memory. Augmented Reality. Designing the Experience.archive
Mar 2010 Feb 2010 Jan 2010 Dec 2009 Nov 2009 Aug 2009 Jul 2009 May 2009 Apr 2009 Mar 2009 Jan 2009 Dec 2008 Nov 2008 Sep 2008 Aug 2008 Jul 2008 May 2008 Apr 2008 Mar 2008 Feb 2008March 05, 2010 - 9:47 AM
We recently ran across a great video by Jesse Thomas on regarding global Internet statistics for 2009.
It’s well-designed and very very interesting... 3 minutes, you should watch.
Pretty cool stats:
- 247 billion average number of emails per day
- 1.4 billion email users world wide
- 81% emails that are spam
- 234 million sites
- 126 million blogs
- 84% of social media sites with more women than men
- 4.25 million people following Ashton Kutcher on Twitter - Twitter's most followed user
- 37.4 TRILLION pages views on Facebook per year
- 30 billion photos uploaded to Facebook per year
Most interesting:
Launch dates of MAJOR social network sites:
- '95 Craigslist
- '98 Xanga
- '03 MySpace, Last.FM, LinkedIn
- '04 Facebook (elite Univ.)
- '05 YouTube
- '07 Tumblr, Ravelry
In 2010, we plan to add a few of our clients to this list. Stay tuned!
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February 26, 2010 - 9:05 AM
I've been saying it for weeks and weeks… BIG FONT IS THE NEW BLACK. It made the River City white board, which is full of funny quotes, Web site schemes and now important Web design trends.
On Monday, INSPIREDMAG featured guest blogger, Chris Thurman from Visual Swirl, a design blog focused on providing free resources, tutorials and articles on all things design. The blog discussed the latest trend in Web design: billboard homepages.
"Billboards placed along interstates display large, simple messages to attract the attention of drivers. With cars whizzing by, billboard designs must be eye catching and succinct to have any chance at persuading passersby to pull off for a burger or to visit a local attraction. Many web users are like drivers, flying through websites with their heads glancing left and right. A user passing by your site may only stop for 3-5 seconds before cruising right along. Using large, bold typography will ensure that users understand your message loud and clear."
As a designer, I am constantly looking for new inspiration and new things to tuck away into my design "bag of tricks.” I find myself increasingly excited about big, bold and in your face type. For a long time I've been adding color schemes, functionality, imagery and illustration. Now I get to add the most basic and possibly one of the most important aspects of a Web site to my treasure chest: typography.
While I'll admit that typography isn't my strongest attribute, this new trend in billboard design is exciting because it allows designers like me to experiment in small doses with headlines, tag lines and pithy, humorous quips that can attract attention in a clean and simple manner.
I'm looking forward to experimenting with this new trend, it's always fun when you add something to your "bag of tricks." Maybe I'll follow up with a few designs of my own later, but for now here are some great examples of what I'm talking about.
From River City Designer, Marie Shelton. Follow Marie @cRenaDesign
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How to Get My Business on Google Maps
February 25, 2010 - 2:58 PM
Why wouldn’t you optimize your listing for local searches? It’s easy & it’s free.
This is probably the hottest topic with all the clients I meet with and rightfully so. Google has recently given more prominence to local business listings on their search results page. In many cases the local business results have expanded from 3 listings to 10 listings. This reserves a large portion of real estate at the top of each Google search results page and gives your business a better chance to be found in the slew of search results.
With a few simple steps you can gain additional search traffic. i.e.: Traffic you didn’t have before. Here are some tips on getting started and getting more out of your listing in an hour or less.
To get started: Do a keyword search using words/phrases that are related to your business and geographic area.
For example:
- Photography in Kansas City
- Graphic Design in Kansas City
- Barbeque in Kansas City + Overland Park
You may find that your company already shows up in local search due to all the information available on the Web. If your business appears in the local business listings, you can enhance your listing with an owner verified listing, which provides more details about your business.
If your company does not show up within the local business listing results, it is even more important to create an owner verified listing to increase your chances of appearing in the Google local business listing.
Getting Started:
-Create a Google account
- Edit your business listing
- Provide more information & details than less
- Add images and/or video
- Add additional categories- pick from the drop down & create your own
- Have people review your service- Google will use these to improve search results
- Provide additional information about your business and services offered
- Remember to focus in a specific set of keywords to aid in ranking
-Verify your account (this authenticates you as the business owner)
-Add a coupon- Additional exposure, ability to track & measure success
If you have additional questions or want to learn more about SEO in Kansas City and how to get your company listed on Google Maps, contact River City’s David Hejduk David@Rivercitystudio.com or 816.474.3922.
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River City Studio Announces Antibody Registry on Behalf of Community Blood Center of Greater KC
February 23, 2010 - 1:33 PM
River City Studio today announced the first US Antibody Registry created on behalf of the Community Blood Center of Greater KC. The Registry is a central online HIPPA-compliant antibody record that follows patients despite changes in hospital, healthcare provider or insurance. The CBC accredits the registry with remarkable savings in time and money as well as lives over the initial year of use. We aim to partner with various blood banks and partnering hospitals to provide this resource and to prevent delayed transfusion reactions.
For the official announcement and press release:
View Online Demo:
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You Can't Throw Away a Memory. Augmented Reality. Designing the Experience.
February 19, 2010 - 4:09 PM
Several innovative companies are moving away from creating stagnant visuals, traditional works and tangible products. Instead, they are focusing on designing an experience with an emotional, psychological connection.
It’s all been done. You can throw away a postcard, a brochure, a flyer or an ad. You can't throw away a memory.
It's called augmented reality or integrated design. The future of design is no longer about relaying basic information, but is based on creating connections between the brand and the audience/consumer. Designing experiences about creating something that allows physical interaction, engages the audience and creates connections or memories with the brand. The intention is that consumer leaves with a connection/a memory instead of a tangible advertisement or the information dump of a Web site. Through augmented reality, the advertising happens to you.
Looking for an example? Check out Brandfreak's post on the Red Gold Billboard Threatening to Devour City of Columbus, Ohio with giant tomatoes.
BoingBoing discusses a Collectively Controlled Game in which select movie theaters in the United States replace ads viewed during movie previews with an interacive game played by the audience. Motion sensors allow the audience to control the paddle in a Human-Action Giant Breakout Game.
As the game progresses, live newsfeeds fall from the top of the screen and integrate into the game.
Check out some more examples:
* ITP Big Screams
* T2 Massacre
River City Designer, Marie Shelton. Follow Marie @cRenaDesign
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Why B2B Companies Should Pounce into the Social Media Arena
February 05, 2010 - 1:02 PM
There has been a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. The world of business is progressively moving online and getting more social. What does this mean for B2B companies, and is it in their best interest to look into social media?
Looking for an answer, Forester research group released a report in early 2009 with insight into The Social Technographics of Business Buyers. Forrester analysts report that the survey findings were surprising and drove them to the conclusion that B2B marketers lead in social media marketing.
Forrester research group surveyed more than “1200 buyers throughout America and Europe asking not just how people participate in social technologies, but whether they use them to make buying decisions.”
Here’s a quick overview of the findings and they mean for B2B companies according to Forrester’s Groundswell Blog (http://blogs.forrester.com/groundswell/2009/02/new-research-b2.html), the:
- A majority of B2B decision makers were going online to find information, but only 25-30 percent of marketers were using social media themselves.
- B2B business decision makers actively seek out peers online for advice online.
- B2B buyers exceed all previous benchmarks for social participation
- 91% of these B2B decision-makers are social media spectators, meaning they are reading blogs, watching user generated video, and participating in other social media. Note that 69% of them said they were using this technology for business purposes.
- Only 5% are non-participants (Inactives).
- 55% of these decision-makers were in social networks despite as mature businesspeople and not college students; you'd think they'd be participating a lot less.
- 43% are creating media (blogs, uploading videos or articles, etc.) and 58% are Critics, reacting to content they see in social formats. Again the numbers are very high compared to other groups we've surveyed, and again the level of participation for business purposes is also very high.
So, what does this mean for you?
- There has been a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content. The world of business is progressively moving online and getting more social.
- Buyers in the B2B area are one of the most social groups around, based on their activity on social media sites.
- B2B decision makers are going online to find information and they’re searching beyond your Web site
- There is always a consumer on the other end of B2B and he wants to feel engaged
- If you’re a B2B marketer and you’re not using social technologies in your marketing strategy, you’re ignoring a cost efficient method of engaging directly with your audience, which includes current and prospective customers
What’s the point?
Social media tools can keep you ahead of the curve with the rapid changes in communications and how those changes impact your industry.
Chris Brogan said it best on his site (http://www.chrisbrogan.com) allow me to paraphrase - Many B2B companies firms dedicate entire business development teams to the role of “being there” before the sale and dedicate standard CRM practices for “being there” during and after the sale. There is also typically dedicated sales team members who rely on one-on-one interaction to get customers to sign on the dotted line. Through social media, B2B companies have the ability to translate these same practices into an online environment and utilize their online efforts as another way to be there before, during and after the sale.
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NYT Confirms Rumors: Users to Pay for Access
January 20, 2010 - 3:35 PM
Although the news broke over the past weekend, this morning NYT officially confirmed it will start charging for access to its Web site in 2011. Per the short and sweet press release:
"The new approach, referred to as the metered model, will offer users free access to a set number of articles per month and then charge users once they exceed that number. This will enable NYTimes.com to create a second revenue stream and preserve its robust advertising business. It will also provide the necessary flexibility to keep an appropriate ratio between free and paid content and stay connected to a search-driven Web."
Over the past years, print publications have downsized, conducted layoffs, condenced beats, moved towards more online features and some have folded. It's well-known that print newspaper circulation is declining. In fact, the decline in print newspaper circulation began to accelerate in late 2003, and has only grown deeper accoring to the State of the Media (2009).
Poynter Online released the memo NYT execs sent to staff today, providing insight into the situation and how it is being handeled by the head haunchos at NYT.
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January 19, 2010 - 12:00 PM
The hide button on facebook is a wonderful thing. It presents Facebook lovers with a wonderful choice – the option to not see everything that everyone is talking about per status updates.
We all have friends on Facebook from whom we don’t want to receive constant updates– same thing goes for all of those darn applications. But, you don’t want to unfriend people, because that just makes you look bad.
So, we use the hide button. But, what happens when you accidently hide someone when you didn’t mean to, or you want to give someone another chance to impress you with their status updates?
You need to unhide…
- Click on Home
- Scroll to the bottom of the page
- Select Edit Options on the right side of the page
- Unhide people!
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December 29, 2009 - 4:20 PM
This December, Google made our dreams come true with the announcement of Google Annotations.
We’ve been wishing, and hoping, and thinking, and praying, and planning, and dreaming for this day to come, and while it’s not 100% live yet, Google assures us they are rolling it out to users as we speak. The initial roll out will be complete in mid-January of 2010.
What does this mean for you? If you track your site through Google Analytics -- and we think you should-- you may find yourself at a loss when trying to recall exactly which actions caused lulls or spikes in Web site traffic. The days of hassling your colleagues and digging through your e-mails for the answer is over… the answer is Google Annotations.
Through this new feature, users can write notes/details right on the analytical report, such as tracking marketing initiatives, reporting when servers went down, the launch of a new campaign or logging when you posted XYZ blog entry. Simply enter your notes once and they are available to share with everyone who has access to your account. Now, there is no excuse not to remember what happened on a specific day.
This means bigger and better things for your Web site. You’ll save time, money and you’ll have all of the information in one place! Now you’ll be able to focus on other things instead of researching and tracking down what happened a month, a quarter or a year ago.
Don’t have Google Analytics yet? Contact our resident Search Engine Marketing expert, David Hejduk: 816.872.3825 or david@rivercitystudio.com.
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December 22, 2009 - 11:23 AM
The studio human's are talking about the holiday's again, and I've been informed that it's just about Christmas time, which means: PEACE AND QUIET AT THE STUDIO!
The human's say they'll come back twice a day to give me my pills... come on guys, can't a cat get a Christmas break around here? I sure hope they get too busy or forget.
While the studio humans are gone for the holidays, I will enjoy a little quality time with Melia. Just kidding, we don't do that.
Here are our real holiday plans:
Christmas Eve Eve
Everyone leaves the office. I act sad and pathetic to make them think I will miss them. Melia crawls around whining, and I sleep in Becky's chair to avoid her shamless plea for attention.
8 am to 6pm: Sleep
6pm to 11pm: Roam office and mess with stuff
Christmas Eve
9 am: wake up when someone comes to feed me and give me my kitty pills
9:15 am: run away when someone trys to actually give me the pills
9:45 am: eat
9:45 -7 pm: sleep
7 pm: wake up when someone comes to give me my kitty pills
7:15 pm: run away!
7:30-12am: Plan my sneak attack on Santa and fall asleep in the process
Christmas Day
1am to 1:05am: Eat the cookies I left for Santa before Melia gets them
1:05-1:10: Pounce on Santa!
1:05am to 9am: Roll in the nip Santa left for me. maybe fall asleep in it
9am to 9:05am: Explore different places and positions to sleep in the office - Scotty's desk, Becky's chair, window sill... floor
9:05 to 9:06am: Pounce on Melia when she's not looking
9:06 to 9:07am: Get hit by Melia for no reason
9:07 to 11am: Look out the window, maybe fall asleep on the window sill
11am to 2pm: Meow at different objects to see if they are alive, maybe roll in some nip
2pm to 4pm: Feel the Christmas spirit
4pm to 12am: Sleep
This kind of peace and quiet only comes once a year! Enjoy yourselves this holiday season, and MEOWWWWY Christmas from the RCS cats.
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