We usually get asked what we suggest when it comes to ad or marketing campaigns for products. Our response is almost exactly the same every time as seen below.

1) Depends on the product.
2) A strong web based information collection portal supported by direct marketing materials directing users to said site is always a sure thing.
3) If the product is not sale able on the web then that is still a great place for product info, consider it a billboard that you can control and have great viewer interaction.

Bethlehem and I have been getting a ton of questions about what we have been doing lately.

Let us start with, kids are the most time consuming blessings one could ever hope to have.

Next, simply put, we have quadrupled our users across 5 sites with Facebook Application testing. What does that equate to in real viewers?
5 x 1000 x 52 = 260,000 new user accounts in 1 year if only a thousand new users join a site per week,
while there have been reports of the Likeness app. gaining just under 7,000 users an HOUR.

Where does that start to bring in money?

There is a new virus/worm that is causing havoc on over 9 million PC's world wide, with most of the troubled computers have European, Aisian and Middle Eastern owners. “Downadup,” “Kido,” and “Conficker” have earned serious attention in the security departments for theft of network passwords from the computer systems of large companies, educational and public institutions. Most of the issues come from a lack of updates in older computers because this security issue comes from an exploit of Windows, of which Microsoft issued a "fix" back in October of 2008.

Google announced yesterday that they would be asking Engineers here in Austin to move to other engineering offices in Mountain View or to other Google Labs. Austin engineers were not the only ones asked to move, web engineers in Trondheim, Norway and Lulea, Sweden were also asked to move or find other work more or less.

The elders of the church are stepping down and retiring to their homes, one heavily guarded outside Redmond Washington and one in a quite Palo Alto California neighborhood.

As if you have not figured out by now, but video sites were the big bang in 2008.

Hulu was launched in Beta in late 2007 and has gained recognition and momentum ever since. Fox and NBC have joined forces to use Hulu to distribute their programming plus the programming of several other networks like Comedy Central, PBS, USA Network, Bravo, Fuel TV, FX, SPEED Channel, Sci Fi, Style, Sundance, E!, G4, Versus, Noggin TV, Nick Jr., PBS KIDS Sprout, Disney Channel and Oxygen.

I am going on my 6th year as a web developer and I took time at the end of 2008 to reflect on where I have come from and plan on going with web development.
Around February of 2003, a friend and I started www.doscrackers.com using Front Page and maintained the "if you will build it, they will come" mentality.

In verbal communication there is an 8 second rule that applies to first impressions. One must make a good impression upon first introduction within 8 seconds in order to be remembered with a positive feeling felt by the new acquaintance. This rule is often true with presentations, websites, resumes, and ads. A website is really all of the above, or at least can be all of the above and the rule still applies. Within 8 seconds of a viewer laying eyes on the page, their attention has to be directed to the sale, information, or image that the site is built for.

I have been building web sites now for over 5 years and have never spent a dime on pay per click type ads. In the early days we could not afford it, so I learned how to build web sites that have interesting content, good navigation and proper structure. There was a potential client who asked us recently if we have any examples of our REACH. My reply was, well not really, outside our statistics service that is.

The difference between Search Engine Optimizers or Optimization and standard web designers these days is growing greater by the widget. A web designer is going to conceptualize a project and make it visually appealing to look at, and navigate through, with out much, if any concern with content and how it is read by Search Engines.