We’ve had the privilege of working with many great clients over the years. Recently we’ve taken on clients that have come from the Blog world where others have sold them on a Blog being the foundation of their sites CMS. Popular Blogs such as WordPress offer many great features that could save a client thousands of dollars in custom programming costs. In most cases these Blogs are also free. Perfect, right? What more do you need?

The problem comes in when you need to customize the blog to further your businesses goals.
Sure you can re-theme a blog. This creates the first hurtle for the customer that thought they were getting something at a low cost. WordPress Themes (the look and visual design of the Blog) have to be created in parts and then reassembled and published using the proper formatting of the blog. Next, if you want more than a different “look” you’ll need find a plugin created by some other programmer, install it and then hope the generic nature of blog publishing meets your specific demand. From this point the costs and time taken to achieve the new goal/changes ramp up significantly as new code needs work in the framework of the parent blog.

At this point a mini blog can come to the rescue.

Mini blog? A mini blog is an application created without all the overhead of a larger blog such as WordPress.
A mini blog simply does the basic features of a full blown blog but offers greater customization and simpler deployment in it’s very nature.
A mini blog allow the following:

• You publish blog type posts from an admin area of your site.
• It allows and manages the uploading and resizing of images and the creation of slideshows as needed.
• Full editing capability by office staff
• Sequencing by way of a simple ranking system.

Simple and to the point. The benefits now mean a mini blog can be set into an existing design simply by adding a page. There is great flexibility for the customer. The simple nature of also encourages more use and in-turn higher changes of achieving marketing goals for the Customer.

While it’s not hard to administer a WordPress blog or create your own themes if you are a Designer and Programmer or spend the time to learn the intricacies of these blogging applications, a mini blog frees a customer to focus on their goals, not learning to work within a generic framework of a large scale blog.

We’ll post some examples and gather customer response in future updates…

It’s been around as a term for quite some time. Will 2010 be the year it becomes common place? Adobe has the Scene 7 project and we’ve been contracted to integrate this system into a web application we have created over the past year.

We also have an on going project (RTK – Retailer Tool Kit) that is similar to SaaS. It allows backend development and expansion for all Members since the the primary code is shared. Members get continued benefits at a lower price point while the development is more focused as it needs only be released to one location rather than many.

Microsoft is also moving to a similar means of software purchase. You can buy a program outright or sign up for Software Assurance which while you are subscribed you get upgrades as part of the Service.

It will be interesting if people find merit in leasing their software. And as many companies release different takes on the idea it will be interesting to see which take hold and which methods of deployment and marketing are cast aside.

2010 will be another exciting year in the internet business world.

Continued change

The web keeps changing. From static pages of years gone by to Content Management Systems and frameworks. Blogs and Social Networks to templating systems, the choices are many.

Templates

Many people are looking to Templates when it’s time to update their sites. The primary reason seems to be cost and while a web based storefront, even if custom designed, is far less cost than a brick and mortar, some budgets do not allow the owner a custom designed site.

The benefit of a templated site is that you get into a fully functional website without having to incur the costs associated with a custom design. Topically it makes good sense if you have a simple site and fit in to a template designed for similar businesses.

The downside of a templated site is that you have to fit into a predetermined set of features. Yes, if the company providing the template is a design firm, and created the template, they can change it to fit your needs as they grow or change over time. So with all aspects of running a sucessful online business or application, you need to take the time to fully outline your goals and expectations and then you can best choose a solution that will work best for your requirement.

Expectations

Understand that your site is really just like a brick and mortar showcase or storefront. First impressions are just as valid and the functionality of your site and how it compliments the users experience is the difference between a high end pleasurable event found at a quality retailer verses the frustration of a lesser quality establishment.

Outline the goals for your site. Take time to review your competition. Honestly evaluate your  budget as well as your current operating costs. What do you spend on marketing? Is your current marketing plan producing the desired sales?

While the adage “You get what you pay for” holds true, there is no reason why you can not invest your budget wisely and start to see a higher return on your internet marketing investments.

Custom Design

A custom design is clean slate ready to form into whatever goals you have for your site. Whether you want to wow your visitor with concise targeting of their needs or create an application to run your business in the manner you chose, a custom design allows provides unfettered freedom to achieve your goals.
Custom Designs are not always a high cost item. For instance, if you create an application that speeds the means to achieve goals in your business, that custom design will pay for it’s self and start returning a profit over time. It’s wise to think of your investment over the long run. There’s a good chance your competition is thinking in the same manner…