The Role Of Flash & Animation In Websites

by Jeremy Bise on March 10, 2010

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Every now and then we get the request for Flash or animation on a client’s website.

What Is Flash?

Flash is a technology developed originally by Macromedia, which was acquired by Adobe, so now it’s Adobe Flash. It allows Flash designers (which we are not) to create animations, interactivity, video, and really rich user interfaces in a reasonably simple toolkit.

What Flash Is Good For

  • Video/audio streaming. Flash is (for now) the standard in delivering streaming video online. YouTube uses it, Vimeo uses it, Viddler uses it, we use it. It allows video and audio content creators to deliver their content to the masses without compatibility issues because nearly everyone has the Flash plugin installed.
  • Demonstrating concepts. Complex concepts may be better demonstrated by animation and audio. Lots of demo or training materials will use Flash to deliver a richer, more interactive learning experience.
  • Complex online user interfaces. Web applications which deal with large volumes of data requiring interactivity to manipulate and view that data may use Flash to accomplish this due to the vast user interface library which is available. Although most of this complex user interfaces are now moving toward out of Flash and into Javascript, which has been greatly pioneered by Google.

So what about everything else?

Most uses outside the areas listed above can really detract from a website’s effectiveness.  For instance, animations looping in different places on your site, even if it’s subtle, will draw the eye. If those animations aren’t drawing the eye to a call to action (such as Buy Now or Get A Quote), the animations will take away from your site’s real  message. Furthermore, using Flash all over the place for calls to action is really annoying. You’ve seen these sites. I don’t want every Buy Now button on the page to be blinking at me. If I see something like this, I’m heading to Amazon where I know the user experience won’t be obnoxious.

What do you think?

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If we ran a restaurant…

by Jeremy Bise on March 9, 2010

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If we ran a restaurant, there are a few things we would be doing for sure…

  • We’d use Twitter and Google Alerts to monitor what people are saying about our brand
  • We’d also be using Twitter to monitor for hungry people in the area
  • We would run social media contests to peak interest and encourage customer participation
  • We would use photos and video on these social networks to make folks hungry, especially on Facebook
  • We would have a blog and e-mail newsletter to publicize events, news, and specials
  • We’d be keeping tabs on Foursquare to see who is checking in — and offer a Mayor discount
  • We would make sure that our website and all our social media links are on the menu (and carryout menu)
  • We would make sure we’re listed on popular reviews sites like Yelp! (and we’d monitor them to try to resolve any issues)

What would you do if you ran a restaurant?

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Do you know what your policies say?

by Jeremy Bise on February 26, 2010

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I just took a look at our terms of service (after years) and realized that this is shameful. There are penalties in there that we’ve never charged and likely never will charge that I forgot about years ago. There are timelines which don’t apply anymore and never will again. Then again, some stuff just doesn’t even make sense anymore. It made me wonder how many other policies are out there which are completely out of date.

When is the last time you visited (and actually read) your terms and policies? Do your shipping and returns policies still make sense? Do your terms of service contain stuff you didn’t even know were there anymore? Are there policies you need to have, but don’t? What about a privacy statement? Perhaps the bigger question is — why do we not give these things more attention since they’re our protection and our customers’ protection?

I know my reasoning — it’s BORING! But hey, this is business and we need to get with it! Revisit your terms and policies today.

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Want a free book? Tell us what you think a Linchpin means!

by Jeremy Bise on February 10, 2010

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A couple months ago, Seth Godin offered a copy of his new book Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? (affiliate link) to the first how-many-ever folks donated to his favorite charity, The Accumen Fund. We donated and I received my pre-release copy several weeks ago. Yesterday I received ANOTHER copy in the mail with a note explaining that Seth appreciated the donation, so he sent a second copy to give to someone I care about. You know what? I care about you guys! So here’s an opportunity for someone to receive a free copy of Linchpin.

Here’s what I want in return…

I’ve not yet started reading the book.  I don’t really know what a linchpin is, nor do I know Seth’s take on what it means to be indispensable to your boss, colleagues, and customers.

Share in the comments what you think it means to be indispensable in business and one lucky commenter will be shipped my extra copy!

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Google Buzz First Impression – Less Noise (For Now)

by Jeremy Bise on February 10, 2010

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Less noise is a good thing most days. First of all, Google Buzz is Google’s first second (see comments) foray into the social media phenomenon.  Actually, I’ve grown to hate the words “social media” — why not call it what it is — digital marketing. But that’s a topic for another day.

Google Buzz lives inside Gmail, Google’s popular webmail service. On one hand, its an entirely new social network. You’re able to follow folks’ updates and you can be followed with options for public (viewable by everyone) and private (viewable only by those you select) updates. There are no character limits and you can embed photos and links right in the update, which will be popular to many. Commenting is built right in, and since this is Google, so is a powerful search feature.

On the other hand, Buzz is a social media aggregation, pulling in content from other services such as Twitter, Picasa (Google’s photo service), Flickr, Blogger, Google Reader, and YouTube. If anyone you follow connects and posts to any of these services, those updates will be pulled into Buzz as well. I’ve already connected my Twitter and YouTube account. For now, however, Facebook is not available. Buzz also has mobile and Google maps features I’ve net yet begun to play with.

For more on the features (and there are many more than I’ve listed), I’ve included a link to a great article by Mashable at the end of this post.

Less Noise

So here’s what I mean by less noise…

On Twitter, I follow a little over 200 folks, most of which are strangers. On Facebook, I have nearly 500 friends, most of which I do know, but its a mix of business, college, high school, and other accquaintances. Sure, you can create lists on both of those services to filter the noise from what you’re wanting to pay attention to. Buzz automatically pulls contacts from those you’ve e-mailed (with Gmail) and chatted with (via Google Talk). For folks like me who use Gmail for business, this means that these contacts are my business contacts–and I want to pay attention to them. They’re my vendors, partners, and customers. At least for now, Google Buzz is an excellent place to escape the noise and pay attention to those I care about in business. There’s still Facebook and Twitter for family, friends, and others.

I see the service evolving into a new breed of social network — one which we’ll all want to pay attention to and participate on.

So what do you think about Google Buzz? What will it become?

Mashable on Google Buzz

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How Social Media Gives You Leverage

by Jeremy Bise on February 1, 2010

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Let’s talk about leverage, which can be defined as a strategic advantage. You want a strategic advantage, right?

Imagine you’re a restaurant owner and you receive a poor review by a local newspaper. In a previous life, you might just have to suck it up.  You didn’t have the reach or ability to immediately get your loyal customers to work supporting you. Today is different. Today, if someone reviews you poorly, with social media you can decide to fire back immediately.

That’s just what Macado’s did when they received a poor review from a food critic at The Roanoke Times. Macado’s asked its 7,400+ Facebook fans to overwhelm the critic’s inbox since their menu overwhelmed him so much. They took it a step further and offered a $10 gift certificate to a random person who shared their e-mail to the critic on Facebook. The request has over 50 comments on Facebook indicating their opposition to the critic’s review and their support of their favorite sandwich.

How is that for leverage?  Macado’s was able to mobilize its fans immediately. Shouldn’t you have that kind of leverage too?

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Welcome The Cannon Kit

by Jeremy Bise on January 26, 2010

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Please join us in welcoming online the latest member of the ThoseGeeks family, The Cannon Kit. The Cannon Kit is the product of Rutledge Machine Shop in Blountville, Tennessee, enabling serious woodworkers to build their very own replica civil war cannon.

Visit Cannon Kit >>

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Welcome Home Offsets

by Jeremy Bise on January 20, 2010

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We’re pleased to announce the launch of a new e-commerce site, Home Offsets. The site helps individuals identify, reduce, and offset their carbon footprint. Home Offsets is the baby of Michael Biggs of Bristol, Virginia.

Visit Home Offsets >>

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Car Dealership Commercials

by Jeremy Bise on January 20, 2010

I have an observation to communicate about car commercials. Here is what I know:

  • Dealers scream and yell at me
  • They flash and animate their [supposedly] low prices at me
  • They point their fingers and wave their arms at me
  • They tell me that if I don’t get down there right away, I’m making a mistake

All of this to grab my attention. But how much attention do I really pay? I completely tune the television out once I hear these commercials begin. You can tell within a split second when one begins. I’d be willing to bet money that nearly each and everyone of you have the same reaction. After a commercial has passed, you couldn’t tell me who the dealer was or what their special was–because you tuned it out too.

Not long ago I saw a great exception to these commercials. [click to continue…]

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House Rules

by Jeremy Bise on January 6, 2010

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When we enter a new place in the real world, we’re very observant. We look at what others are doing so we can behave according to the norm. We look for and try to determine the “rules.” Online communities have their own rules too. [click to continue…]

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