Call it “The American Way”.  Call it “Following Your Bliss”.  No matter what term you use, the notion is the same: in a troubled economy, American workers have a knack for taking layoffs as an opportunity for a new day.  As an advertising and marketing firm, we’re privileged to see some of these fresh ideas in their infancy. We get to be a part of their brand development, from the meaning of a logo color to stepping into the shoes of a target audience. We get to hear the stories of lifelong dreams coming alive with a new-found hope for tomorrow (because there is always tomorrow).

Recently we all stopped and reflected in the challenges of the past 2 years and those that are waiting for us in 2010.  We could hardly ignore the fact that, as a small business, it was not so long ago that we were in similar shoes as today’s recessionary entrepreneurs. We all agreed that we wanted to do more to help foster other small businesses. While we’re still working on some details (subscribe to this blog  for updates!), we’re very excited about being a part of growth in 2010!

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Rearview’s own Alex Danaila and Laura Butler will be at the Cumming-Forsyth’s annual Business Expo this afternoon. The event provides businesses in the north metro Atlanta area a unique opportunity to network with other entrepreneurs and small businesses.  Stop by our table to learn more about our wide range of marketing, design, and development services, including our new Small Business Package which is specifically designed and priced for the fledgling business on a budget. Hope to see you there!

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Mosaica Education approached Rearview with no elementary task. They needed a website that essentially “had it all’; from a main corporate site, to unlimited sub-sites complete with their own identities, to a multi-user system that could be monitored and flexible enough for individual schools to fulfill their own needs while allowing corporate staff ultimate oversight of each element.  Rearview accomplished this task by utilizing a multi-site publishing system and developing custom applications to meet Mosaica’s goals. The end result is not just one new website, but an entire collection of sites which grows every day. View the Mosaica Education site or one of their many school sites.

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Mt. Zion Baptist Church, located in Canton, asked Rearview to develop a new website that would allow it’s congregation to communicate and interact in new ways. Building on the expansive Wordpress Publishing Platform, Rearview developed custom solutions to Mt. Zion’s challenges, including an event calendar system which allows members to sign up for a user account, register, and track chosen events at the church.  While the blog system allows church leaders to keep members informed and expand day-to-day outreach efforts, the sermon podcasts also prove a beneficial addition for those looking to review Sunday lessons and even listen from home.

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Earlier this year, I started using Google Alerts to stay on top of the latest internet buzz on a number of different subjects. Basically, I told Google what keywords I was interested in and it started emailing me Alerts whenever it indexed a new page on that subject. I kind of like to think of it as ‘passive searching’ which gives me only the newest content.

I’ve since told a number of clients about the benefits of Google Alerts when it comes to keeping tabs of their brand. Having a Google Alert for your company name gives you the ability to monitor where you show up on the internet and what people are saying about you. In this age of social media, consumers are carrying on conversations online that would have previously been held in the local coffee shop or at the PTA meeting. They chat on message boards about their experience buying a new car, or post a blog about products that they love – or hate. Now you have the advantage of witnessing those “conversations” first hand.

Signing up for Google Alerts is ridiculously easy. Just go to www.google.com/alerts, add your search term, choose what type of internet media you want to monitor (I prefer a “comprehensive” alert, which includes everything), select how often you want to receive alerts (the “once a day” and “once a week” options are digest versions), and then add your email address. That’s it!

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It occurred to me this past weekend just how many online communities I’m a member of. I pretty much belong to a forum, a group, a mail list, or some form of “community” for every interest I have. Some are professional communities, some are for hobbies, others are political or even geographical, but they all have a common thread – they are resources in my everyday life.

Regardless of your reasons for belonging to an online community, I have a few quick tips to share that will help you be a good online community citizen – a “Netizen”.

1. Introduce Yourself – Most communities have a standard place or format for new members to say “Hi” and introduce themselves. Many established community members will welcome new members and answer any community-specific questions they may have. Take advantage of this opportunity to not only tell about yourself and why you joined the community, but also list some of your other interests and your profession. You might be surprised at how many members you have other things in common with, and adding your profession can lead to business opportunities where you least expected it!
2. Be Polite – Good manners are just as important online as they are in real life. Always keep “Netiquette” in mind. Make sure your Caps Lock key is not on when you type (it’s considered “YELLING”). Of course, no name calling. If a fellow Netizen is being disrespectful or breaking community-specific rules, report them to a moderator or administrator, don’t try to intervene yourself.
3. Don’t be afraid to ask – I said earlier that my online communities are resources in my everyday life, and it’s true! Whether I’m identifying a plant in my garden, or trying to master a difficult MySQL query, I turn to the right community and ask for help. More often than not, someone will know how to help and if they don’t, they’ll at least be able to point me in a good direction. The other great thing is that in publicly-accessible communities your questions will be indexed by search engines. That means that not only did you get your question answered, but anyone searching for the same thing has a chance at finding the solution as well.

If you don’t already know the benefits of online communities, I encourage you to join one or two and see what you think. Keep in mind that much like the real world, all communities are different and it may take testing the waters in a few to see how you fit in. Communities are everywhere – Google Groups, Yahoo Groups, forums and message boards. Ask your friends, your neighbors, your colleagues, your kids. Or do a search for your subject + community, such as “garden community”. I think you’ll be surprised at how many choices there are!

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The tech industry is all a-buzz today with the release of Cuil (pronounced “cool”), a new search engine developed by a team of former Google engineers. Cuil promises to be more expansive than Google and return better results to searchers, but only time will tell if searchers jump off the Google train and take up Cuil.

My personal first impressions:

Cuil returns results in a “magazine” style, with a headline, 8-10 lines of copy, the site link, and sometimes an accompanying image. You can choose a 2 column or 3 column layout, but there’s no option for single column. Personally, I think a single column view would help heavy Google users (yours’ truly included) make the switch to Cuil. There’s something suddenly disconcerting about being faced with the question “Do I scan left to right, or top to bottom”? Maybe I’m being picky, but we’re talking first impressions. I’m also left-handed and scan magazines from the back cover to the front, which may attribute to my level of discomfort with this layout.

I searched a few different terms, one of which is a personal favorite – “buy handmade pottery”. I waited quite some time for my search results to be returned to me. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and say it’s still early in their game and the kinks are getting worked out. As far as the validity of the results, page one looked pretty spot-on. Page 2, however, had 8 (out of 9) listings from the same website – few of which actually had anything to do with pottery, and all of which directed me to an error page on that site. I would tell you about page 3 results, but I got tired of waiting for them.

So, if we’re judging based on first impressions, I would say Cuil is not ready to take on Google, but should be revisited in a few months to see if any improvements have been made. But don’t just take my word for it, feel free to check it out yourself.

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I recently discovered The Startup Review over at Mashable.com, which reviews a new startup website every week day. While we all know that only a handful of startups will still be alive and kicking a few years down the road, it’s fun to see those that are just out of the gate and maybe even argue their longevity and/or validity with friends and colleagues.

A sampling of some reviewed startup sites:

Web of Fate – “Web of Fate is a semantic analysis engine that extracts meaning from historical, present and future events and draws connections among them.”

E.Factor – “The fastest growing social network for entrepreneurs and investors that offers health insurance to its members.”

All Green Wedding – “Wedding registry service for environmentally conscious brides; register gifts from a variety of green merchants as well as cash gifts.”

To browse reviews or even submit your own startup, go to http://mashable.com/startup-review-sponsored-sun-startup-essentials/

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A few months ago I was contacted by an editor at schmap.com. Seems they were putting together something called a “schmap” of the Jacksonville, FL area and wanted to use a photo of St. Augustine I had posted to Flickr after my vacation there last July. Instantly intrigued, I headed over to schmap.com to check things out.

More than just another map website, Schmap.com started as a travel guide. Kind of like those big, colorful, fold-up tourist maps, but online and with a lot more locations and photographs (and without the $1.00 ice cream cone coupons). After watching their growth for the past few months, it’s clear that their integration of user-created Schmaps is really what makes the site interesting. Not just limited to travel, users can create Schmaps for weddings, sporting events, property rentals… the possibilities are endless.

While the content is unique and useful, I think Schmap.com still has a way to go before really hitting the “big time”. The list of primary locations is limited, although you can extend your Schmap well beyond city limits. The interface is a little tricky in places due to heavy reliance on rollovers (careful how you move your mouse if you’re reading the side panel). However, the newest integrations for iPhone and iPod Touch are a step in the right direction for the mobile traveler looking to take their Schmaps along in their pockets.

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There was a time when adding “hidden” text (keywords and phrases) to websites was all the rage, and nearly every web developer was utilizing some form of it in an attempt to increase page rankings. It was certainly not “by design” according to search engines, it was merely a loop hole in the infancy of search algorithms that site developers took advantage of – and not always in an honest way.

The very business of a search engine itself is to return the most relevant searches to users. The more on-target the search engine, the more likely the user is to come back the next time they need to search. The misuse and abuse of hidden text meant that searches were often returning manipulated or, at the very least, diluted results to users. Search engines quickly stepped up their game and built their algorithms to ignore hidden text, rendering it useless. Today, it’s become regarded as spam, and it’s abuse can even lead to removal from search results on Google. Unfortunately, not everyone has kept up to date on search engine development, so while some will say hidden text is a viable option, you can now tell them it’s nothing more than a myth.

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Sending bold, image-laden emails may seem like a real eye-catcher in your prospect’s inbox, but did you know that some of your email subscribers might not ever see the images you include in marketing emails? Online services like Yahoo! mail and even some email clients like Mozilla Thunderbird have default settings that do not automatically show embedded images in email, leaving it up to the user to take an extra step and allow the images to be displayed. So how do you entice them to want to see your images, and how do you get your message across if they never do?

Most services like Constant Contact and Benchmark Email allow you to enter what is referred to as an “alt” tag for each image, which is text that will be displayed in lieu of the image. This may also be referred to as “image description”, so check your email marketing service for specifics. Make sure your alt tag includes any text that is embedded in the image so prospects can still read your message. If your image is for design purposes (borders, logo, product), give a general description of the image, or use the alt tag as an opportunity to create urgency or elaborate on your primary message. Also, send test emails to a variety of users, or even set up your own “testing accounts” with a few of the common free email services so you can see for yourself how your emails are ultimately displayed.

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Everyone is looking for ways to reduce their impact on the environment, and since the average American spends over 1/3 of their day at work, it makes sense for us to find ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle in the office.

Most of our clients send us occasional faxes, but few know that their faxes never actually get printed on paper at all! Utilizing the Fax to Email service from CBeyond Communications, every incoming fax transition is relayed to Rearview staff through a system-wide email. Personally, I like that I can retrieve any fax document from my laptop (or even my PDA in a real crunch), 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, without having to be in the office. I file away faxes with my other emails, and back up important faxed documents with a click of my mouse. Not only is Fax to Email a great way to save paper, but it’s a great way to stay organized and save your sanity!

There are many fax to email services, both from telecommunications and web-based services. As a CBeyond partner, we can even assist you in setting up a data and communications plan customized for your business.

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In my opinion, one of the best things about the internet is the instant exchange of useful (and sometimes, not so useful) information. I like to know how to do things, even if it’s just so I can say “I know how to…”. It gives me something to talk about at parties and occasionally I actually solve a minor crises with a bit of internet-gained knowledge.

So, it came as no surprise to me that other people like to know how to do things too, and have even started sharing their how-to videos on a great new website called WonderHowTo.com. Wonder how to make stir fried broccolini? It’s there. How about calming a crying baby in fifteen seconds or less? Yep. You can even learn how to make Firefox spell check all of your form fields for you. It works, I used it for writing this post!

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It seems that digital photography has come full circle. As a consumer of all things digital, I like that I can take a picture and shoot it off to whoever is interested in a matter of minutes. I browse other people’s photos on sites like Flickr and can easily get lost for hours in the endless sea of viewfinders from across the globe. However, no matter how many pixels fill up my screen, nothing can take the place of a good photo book. You know the kind – the ones with the sleek, glossy pages and little blurbs inserted to help you follow along. There’s something about turning those pages and discovering a story captured by the photographer’s eye.

Thanks to digital photography and the ingenuity of digital printers and web developers, sites like lulu.com and blurb.com give everyone the chance to be the author of their own photo book. More than just a photo album, you can add a story and elements of design and have it printed in soft cover or hardcover and delivered right to your doorstep.

The possibilities are endless, but here are a few ideas for authoring your own photo book:

Marketing

• Real Estate – Every community has a story! Gather your community photos and create a book about how your community came to be. Show progress on the amenities and green spaces, the first completed house, the first homeowners. Show the behind the scenes, the builders and agents, the staff that makes things happen. Display your photo book in your sales office or clubhouse so prospects and residents can follow the story.
• Hotels and Inns – Gone are the days of the dusty guest books! Ask your guests to send photos and comments by email and have a quarterly or annual photo book made. Books can be room-specific and displayed in individual guest rooms. Or books can be general and displayed in the lobby or at the concierge desk.
• Corporate - Tell the story of your company and its growth over the years and display your book in the lobby or in your boardroom. Celebrate your accomplishments and share with vendors, clients, and staff.

Personal

• Chronicle a year in photos. Take a photo daily or weekly and publish a year of your life. Not only does it make a great gift, but you will have a beautiful story to pass down as well.
• Never finished that scrapbook? Now it’s easy to put everything together and have it quality printed. Any theme will look great on your coffee table or as a gift.
• Share your travels. Some photo book sites allow others to buy copies of your book. Share your experiences with other travelers and don’t forget to include those great little places that the big guidebooks don’t tell you about!

Need design help for your photo book? Let us know!

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