Is focusing on what needs to happen this week... Now where do I want to go for lunch today?

Great advice if you are considering social media for business...http://ping.fm/3Y8VP

It's a great day to be in the office.

The changing face of online marketing.

Keeping up with the latest online marketing trends is enough to give you a brain ache. Seriously, if online marketing is not your core business, who has enough hours in the day to keep up with the constant changes and shifts in thinking when it comes to online marketing? No one. In my humble opinion, those who seek to understand the nuances of every new Internet "flavor" are missing the forest for the trees. A better goal for a business marketer is to seek to understand the big picture of how online marketing differs from traditional marketing and how they can embrace that to enhance their overall integrated plan.  

Here is a great article that speaks directly to that point. www.socialdesire.com/2008/08/15/how-many-businesses-really-'get'-the-social-web/

Fresh content has never been easier

Remember the days where you had to dedicate several hours of your workweek toward updating news, features, announcements, etc on your company web site in effort to keep it fresh and dynamic? I do. In fact a portion of our business was dedicated to helping clients do just that. Let me tell you,  extracting fresh content from clients for the web was right behind calling clients with past due invoices on my "fun" list. The same clients who could talk passionately for hours about their latest product or service become the proverbial deer in headlights when asked what is new at the company that I can add to the web site. 

The good news is that with the proliferation of blogging, RSS feeds, superior content management systems and other forms of dynamic content, the job is of keeping web sites fresh is getting easier and easier. Once I can get a client comfortable with the idea of a blog, the freeflow of fantastic relevant and marketable ideas is incredible to watch. With some guidance we then flow this information into various places on web and Wow! instant updates! It's very gratifying to watch clients realize the power of constant open communication with their target markets.

Charlotte Web Design Helps Clients Identify New Online Marketing Opportunities

With marketing budgets tight, many of our clients are replacing a portion of traditional print and direct mail efforts with enhancements to their online presence. This means that many company web sites are receiving overdue facelifts and there is a surge of interest in SEO, email blasts, blogging, and social media, all topics that largely fell to the bottom of the marketing agenda in 2008 planning sessions. 

I have to admit to being a bit giddy over the prospect of helping clients realize how they can use the web more effectively. The Internet is now fully in Web 2.0 phase and offers countless opportunities for customer interaction, collaboration and communication at a relatively low cost. But before we pass out Facebook pages all around, upload our catalogs to Flickr or start tweeting with vigor, it's important to take a deep breath and create a strategy based on a thorough understanding of the potential impact (positive or negative) that each of these "new" media may have on reaching our respective target audiences. We've got to start with a few tough questions like: Is the communication an appropriate reflection of the brand? Because this will be an ongoing communication with current and potential customers, who will be assigned to speak on behalf of the company in a very timely manner? Are you equipped and ready for the kind of commitment it takes to be consistently responsive?

At Charlotte Web Design (aka Mindstorm), we help our clients identify the best fit for their respective businesses when it comes to online marketing and then devise a plan that allows them to wade into this pool of new opportunity at their own comfort levels. 

Charlotte web design completes an online re-branding site

Charlotte web design group, Mindstorm Communications Group, Inc. has competed and launch a new site for Sagebrush Steakhouse. The site has a new a brand image plus some great new features. The features include a dynamic location finder plus a new e-commerce capabilities for purchasing gift cards online.

Charlotte web design wins another web site redesign.

Charlotte Web Design group, Mindstorm Communications Group, Inc., has been chosen to design a new site for Dunn & Abee. Dunn & Abee is a distributor of commercial and industrial roofing equimpent, supplies and services. Mindstorm will also get the opportunity to launch and search engine optimization plan plus redesign their print catalog in 2009.