Lets pause today for a copyright, legal rights, and the internet conversation. We are creators of content, hosts of sites, and believers in free speech. So first off, we don’t normally take political sides, and neither bill is specific to one political party. The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) bills circulating Washington DC have us very concerned for several reasons.

You learn about sopa & pipa here.

or watch this:

Here are some key issues.

1. No Due Process. The US Government can choose to shut down funding, and even block the site URL from us search engines and DNS.

2. It doesn’t stop the issue of illegal content. IP addresses will still be accessible and so will the content.

3. It sets precedent. What other countries will follow in our paths if this went through? Can you imagine a world with a very disconnected internet? Countries like North Korea, Iran, and China already filter internet for a variety of reasons. They shut down free speech, conflicting views and organized political opposition. This is not what we want in the US.

Tell Congress if you agree with any of this.

http://sopatrack.com/

http://sopastrike.com/strike/

The internet use on a smart phone may be one of the fastet growing modes of communication and consumption we have ever experienced. The overall adoption rate is growing faster than radio, tv, and the internet experienced. In some countries the internet is really only available on mobile phones, like in sub sahara Africa for example.

Here at factor1, we have the strong opinion that there is no difference between mobile web and what you get on your computer. There is only one internet, just different ways to view it.

So all sites we build are mobile friendly at a minimum. And often we build more advanced sites that are responsive to the screen size and displays the content as best possible for the size of the device.

Some fun mobile facts to think about.

• 39% of people use mobile phones while using the bathroom
• 33% of people use mobile phones while watching television
• 87% of people use mobile phones while on the go
• 400% increase in mobile phone use over 2011

Based on the below InfoGraphic, What can you do to connect with people via their mobile devices?  What does your company do to reach people via smartphones?

Graphic via http://visual.ly/

You heard me. Your business does not need a phone app in the apple or android app stores. More than likely.

Last week, a client of ours was super excited to tell me all about this new web app they are “creating”. By creating I mean they paid some phone app company a set up fee (usually $250 – 500) and $50 a month for. When I asked what the app would do, they rattled off all the amazing features. Features like a home page, news, about us, contact, directions, and product info. So I asked to clarify, that this is indeed an “app”, Yes, they proclaimed! It will be free in the apple and android app stores.

Here is my giant issue. Please hear me very clearly here.

If your app is no more than basic content found on your site, its a waste of time, money and your efforts.

Yes apps are all the rage. All the cool kids are talking about apps. Trust me, no one is going to be browsing the app store, and think to themselves, “sweet! a company I have never heard of has an app about their company / service / product, and its free!”. No, no one will think that.

Save your money, time and app lust. I have a fix for you. Build a site that is mobile friendly. We have a few ways of doing this. One is responsive. Take our site for example. Resize your browser window smaller. Bam! It re-organizes itself to fit the screen size. Navigations get touch friendly, fonts remain clear and readable. Another alternative is a seperate mobile site with the core info, that we have an auto detect script set up on. Basically if the visitor screen size is less than 640px wide, send them to the mobile site. Give them an option back to the main full site. Yes, you can still use a QR barcode to direct people to your mobile site. They can call you, map your location, and learn more all from the mobile web, with no need for an app.

You may have a need for an app. If your idea is functional, helps a user, provides them a beneficial resource for planning, searching, researching, or tracking something. Great, go for it! Verizon has a great app to track my minutes used on my iPhone.  Starbucks has a store locator, with info on menus, amenities, and wifi. E-trade has an app to search, research and watch over your trades. Catch my drift here?

Make it useful, keep it relevant, and make it a benefit to your users (not just you). Or dont do it at all.

Like many of you, I followed the rumor mill around the iPhone 5 for months. Oh the high hopes, wishes and dreams. So many crazy ideas and cool concepts. When the iPhone 4s was announced some of us may have been let down. But I think there is a lot to be learned and a lot we can model our own products, services and marketing after.

A good thing made better.

Apple knows a thing or two on how to improve a product. Their desktops, laptops, iPods, and phones have all been improved so much over time. I think about the iPhone 4s, and I think wow, they took a great product, and made it so much better, without a drastic overhaul. The outer shell remains the same, familiar design with high quality materials, design and size. Better from the inside rather than out. That’s okay by me. I mean what good would a new design do if the insides don’t change.

Speed.

2x faster. Looking at my own tools, services and creations, when was the last time I made something 2x better, faster, or easier, without a design overhaul? It shows you took great care and consideration for your users  to make your message / medium and product 2x better without rocking the boat of a new form factor.

Optics.

Apple added new camera hardware and software. As we create or communicate, we too need to take new views into account. Has our audience changed? Community around us? Maybe the industry? How can we better change the perception and views of our own marketing or branding with some simple viewpoint changes? Maybe the logo remains the same, we just find a new way of telling the story. Maybe our website remains the same, but some updated copy, photos and fonts really would help a user connect on a deeper level.

Signal.

the iPhone has dual chips, better anteneas , and world phone capabilities. Again, in the same design. As we grow our sites, products and brands, how can we better make sure that we too reach the world with out message? Maybe if we are in an area of multiple languages, we set up some web site content to better reach a spanish speaking audience.

I’m excited for the iPhone 4s, I’m glad that a great man like Steve Jobs lived the life he did to push our technology, ways of thinking, and the industry forward. His inspiration will be missed. Let’s take the legacies he and other great minds have left us to challenge ourselves to improve our messages, products and services.

I hated homework that wasn’t anything more than busywork. Trust me… this isn’t that. In business you gotta keep growing or you die, there are no other viable options. Here are two great reads that are practical in application for your growth as a business on the web.

The Thank You Economy – Don’t roll your eyes because it’s primarily about social media. Seriously, take the time to read it. Better yet, download the audio book. Gary V. will excite you, give you practical steps, tell you how social media can pay off for your company and help you overcome your skepticism (or your boss’s). TIP: The 1st 3 chapters will be enough for you to work on for months!

31 Days to Finding Your Blogging Mojo – I just started this one last night on my iPhone Kindle app. but it’s already proving to be very practical and insightful. You don’t have to blog as a company, but if you do, this e-book will certainly be a great asset for just $5.

A tension exists between who you are, who you want to be and who you perceive you ought to be. No, this isn’t a psychology blog. This is about business and this is a real tension in business. It’s also a tension in marketing. A company run by under normal operating conditions goes through a checklist of sorts making sure that they:

_ list with yellow pages

_ pay for ads in local papers

_ get a website

_ design website with areas & content found on demonstrated on competitors websites

_ open a twitter account (although you don’t know what you will do with it)

_ pay for 3 months of google ads (this money goes into outer-web–space very fast)

_ open Facebook account

_ create Facebook page

_ harass friends and family and all of their friends on Facebook

Great businesses design who they are going to be. They know the ‘playbook’ for business as usual, but they decide intentionally to take their own paths. It doesn’t mean that they refuse to be on the web, but what it does mean is that they are purposefully creating their unique presence on the web. It also means that they are creating their unique business culture as well as striving for excellence in their planned and purposeful way.

So much of what we do on the web is often dictated by what we see other people doing, not by what really needs to be done.

“Twitter! Oh, my gosh, have you seen twitter?! We have to have a twitter account! Every corporation has a twitter account.” Or so goes the reactionary logic in the board room. So, like @UPS, you might be tempted to go out and create thirteen twitter accounts will no real concept about why you are creating them or to what end those twitter accounts will be positively effective in accomplishing your goals.

Celebrate the freedom you have as an organizational leader. You don’t have to be or need to be on every web platform. Your site does not have to be like everyone else’s in your industry. It can and should be unique. Tailored to your needs and goals. As simple or as complex as it really needs to be.

Here are two excellent, familiar examples at opposite ends of the spectrum.
SIMPLE |  COMPLEX

So, dive into your web strategy and celebrate the freedom you have to do what you need to do, not just copy what everyone else is doing.

What do you do?
It’s a typical and common question. At a dinner party you can boil it down quickly to a sentence can’t you? So why not on the web and with your marketing materials? The web is chatter, chatter, chatter, chatter and it is becoming quite exhausting trying to sift through it all.

Be straight forward.
Have a sense of style and humor.
Make it easy for a customer to find your pricing, your products and your professional qualifications.

Sure, there is so much more that you could say about you, your history, your family legacy, the superiority of your product, etc. etc. etc. … no one is taking the time. Give us the basics, try to make it easy and possibly even passingly interesting. That’s is all of the most critical information for your website.

Learn then try.
Learn then try.
Learn then try. try. try.
Enjoy the returns.
Try something new.
 

My sons, 9 and 11, took instruction this year at a very good skateboarding center. It was once a week for an hour. The coaches were old enough to have experience, young enough to be cool and sharp enough to be good with kids. (Who ever is doing the hiring has their pulse on the ideal type of candidates for staffing.) Each session consisted of 3-5 kids in their group and a coach. The group rotated through 4 different sections of the skate park working on specific skills in each rotation. The coach demonstrated, explained and then asked the kids to go for it. Sometime the coach employed the use safety matts for their protection, be inevitably, the kids had to fall, get up and try again. It’s the process of mastery. Especially important to the process is practice. If the kids only worked out 1x each week when they came to class, they wouldn’t progress very quickly at all. Always apparent is which kids were skating on their own at home or at the local parks in between training sessions.

Why the little story?
Because we are starting to get it backwards. With the internet, the growth process for business has somehow become:
Learn.
Learn.
Learn.
Try a bit.
Learn.
Learn.
Learn.
Only try when I am certain I won’t fail.
Take no risks.
Reap no great returns.
Ask where the learning has failed.

This new process for “mastery” will doom us to failure.
 

Do you remember when news was only in print and on the TV? Then came the internet. CNN.com would have all the latest news on demand, a simple click or two away. Things are changing faster than ever. This week I have been really thinking about blogs and RSS feed readers. For a few years I was really big into google reader, and I subscribed to 200 or so RSS feeds. Designers, Firms, Gallery sites, Businesses, Authors, etc. Anything I found useful or insightful consistently, I would subscribe.

In the last year or so, my RSS readership loyalty has dropped like a rock. I went from checking in to google reader a few times a day, to a few times a week, to now maybe 2 – 3 times per month, usually out of some odd self obligation. What’s interesting, is that the content hasn’t become less interesting, I’m just overwhelmed with information. The mediums have changed. Twitter and facebook feeds now dominate the landscape. I don’t think I’m alone either.

So what does this have to do with design, the web and small businesses or non profits? Everything. So as I was analyzing this over the week, I was thinking about the content. The content is still there, just the method changed. First I used to visit sites for updates, then RSS, now its twitter and facebook. Here is there interesting fact, with each change, the content headline, the call to action gets less visually stimulating.

Back when you manually checked a site for news, you had photos, graphics, buttons, etc. Then in RSS you still had some of that, but only what was IN the post. No pretty site frame, logo or nav bar. Now, you hve the headline and maybe a small intro in 140 characters or less. That’s a big change to entice your dedicated traffic to actually reading your content.

So what about my site? Well I am still a firm believer in a well designed, well planned and well constructed site that meets your needs and goals. But more importantly these days your content matters more than ever. The headline, the sub headline, the first few sentences all matter 10x more.

So as you have us make your awesome website, remember we can’t write killer content for you. We can work with a copywriter to help shape it, but ultimitly the source of info is you. Want people to read your stuff? Well, think about the headline, in 140 characters or less, and what the call to action is to get the user to read on. Your users attention span is smaller than ever.