Squish Blogs!

There are many cliché reasons I could give you that will imply why you should at least consider having a mobile website developed for your company, but if you aren't already aware, I've listed a couple resources: http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/top-20-reasons-why-all-retailers-should-have-mobile-sites/ http://searchengineland.com/top-10-reasons-your-website-should-go-mobile-32566 If you accept the reasons are there for why "a" company should have a mobile website, then you might wonder how do you know if it's right for "your" company? It would be an easy argument against creating a mobile website if you simply looked at your analytics and noticed that only a small percentage of your web hits come from mobile devices. But unlike The Field of Dreams, just because you build it, doesn't mean anyone will come. To understand if your company will benefit from a mobile website, you must do your market research, advertise, and create a method to understand how to measure success or failure, the same way you would for unveiling a new product or service. To give your customers a reason to use their mobile devices to view your site, try creating an actual campaign that will target your mobile audience. This will create more focused information to measure. Here are a couple of examples. If you are a restaurant, try mobile coupons, advertise them on your website and in your establishment. This will let your customers know they can use their mobile devices to interact with your brand. If you are a hotel try an mobile survey about your services, and maybe attach a coupon for their next stay. There are myriad methods you could use to do your market research. There are very simple way to try to create metrics and better understand if your company should use a mobile website and I encourage you to do your R&D before diving into have a mobile website simply because it seems to be a trend.

Thanks to Nicki Laycoax and Justin Harter, Squish had the pleasure of getting involved in the community over the MLK weekend. Justin Harter, founder of Refresh Indy, put together a project to give several non profit organizations in Indy a new website. It was a bit out of the blue for me, as Nicki didnt tell me before the Monday before the project we would be spending 48 hours locked in a IUPUI building to build websites with other developers. From the moment we got there, I knew it was going to be a good time. Each team had be separated based on our various talents. By the end of the project everyone was tired but we all came together and it became one of my favorite web projects in the last couple of years. Justin brought us together to "Refresh" websites, who knew after 48 hours of development in an intense development environment, I would be the one to come out feeling "Refreshed"!

My Twitter friend Jason, a.k.a. @hazmatmedic, asked me what Foursquare was after seeing me check in at Squish Designs, and unlocking the Local and Bender badges. My response to him is one that I thought would make a great blog post for all those wondering what it is.

Jason,

Foursquare is an up and coming social media platform. In fact, it has been predicted to be the next Twitter. It’s along the lines of the other sites that you check in to let your friends know where you are at, but it adds a bit of a game/competition to the mix along with some added fun promotion for the places you check in at. For example, last night when I stopped for dinner at Whiskey River Bar & Grill, my friends in Indy may not have ever heard of the place, so now it’s a new spot for someone to try. Also, if when I check in somewhere, one of my friends is at that location as well, we can meet up. The competition comes in when you earn the badges or even become the mayor of the check in point. I will probably be the only one to become the mayor of Squish, but each time someone sees me check in at Squish Designs, it’s another time that they have heard our name.

Some see it as a waste of time, others see it as stupid because they don’t know why anyone would want to tell everyone where they are, but I think it’s fun, and it’s a great way to publicize your favorite spots.

If you have an iPhone it makes it a ton easier to check in. I’m sure that the Blackberry has an app too, but I don’t have one, so I’m not sure…

Have you been using Foursquare? What do you think of it so far?

Just like your car needs it's oil changed, your internet browser needs some of the same t.l.c.

One complaint that we hear is that when a company needs to make a change to their website, they have to submit the change to their web designer or technology company, and wait for them to find the time to make the changes. Wouldn't life be easier if you could just do it on your own?

This is a question that many people ask. Isn't social networking for singles looking to date? How in the world can spending time talking to people online help my business is another question that is asked quite often.

It's December 31, 2008. What an wonderfully interesting and productive year 2008 has been.

There are many, many Wordpress users out there. Today I was approached by Theresia Whitfield of Fletcher Communications on  Smaller Indiana. She had an existing Wordpress blog that she wanted to change the name and URL of. I've got very little experience with Wordpress, but I do maintain a couple of WP blogs, so I decided I'd give it a whirl. With the help of the wonderful Google, I was able to find enough information to get it done for her.

Like many busy people, I love the convenience of having the internet on my SmartPhone. I use the Opera browser to access the internet from my AT&T Moto Q9. Other things that I use my phone for are texting, Instant Messaging, staying up to date on my Twitter account via ceTwit, GPS, and searching for businesses and shopping near me.