TV crosses over to the web

The marketing or web department at CBS knows what they are doing. On the television show “How I Met Your Mother” they seamlessly work websites into the shows plot that are actual sites and adds some interaction and content.

During a recent episode Lilly and Marshall needed extra money to pay for some improvements on their new apartment. So Marshall creates a website to sell his wife’s clothes. They mention the address on the show lillyandmarshallselltheirstuff.com and again after the show. Rather then just having it be another promotional site for the show they are actually doing some good. The website sells items from the show for a fundraiser for the LA Children’s hospital which I thought was very cool.

Also in a previous episode about Robin and her embarrassing past as a teen pop star in Canada, they showed her second music video. When I was watching it I was wondering if they would have a link to it on youtube or another website. At the end of the episode it said go to myspace.com/robinsparkles to see the rest of the video. I thought that was a brilliant way to showcase the video, and create more content and information about the fictional 80’s pop star.

This is a great example of how some subtle cross promotion mixed well into the plot of the show can help extend the following of the show beyond the television and to the internet.

Crazy Fast Logos

Here is a video that features over 5000 Web 2.0 logos in less then 6 minutes. It is quite impressive and crazy to see.

Little things add up

Today I was going through client websites and updating some basic seo information such as robot text and fixing canonicalization issues on my own time and I got to thinking.

Over the years I found myself always going back through my clients sites and making small minor improvements. Even if we were not paid to do regular maintenance on the sites and just did random updates when the client requested I would often go in free of charge and make minor improvements. Many times they are only things that probably I would notice. But those things over time help keep the site fresh and little improvements add up. The changes would be small graphical improvements, adding favicon logos, iphone bookmark logos, google analytics or improvements with cleaner code.

Clients would greatly appreciate this attention to detail which has enabled us to slowly grow our base of close clients. Often times a small improvement or doing that little extra thing is all it takes to set you apart.

Mobile Tools

So it has been awhile since my last blog post. Lots has been going on with both work and personal things. With that said here is an update with some really cool Web 2.0 sites. I am going to start to post these cool sites on a regular basis so check back for those.

These three sites are perfect for iphone / ipod users or anyone who travels lots and would like to make better use of their time.

http://www.dixero.com
It is a service that is prefect for people on the go or like listening to podcasts. Now you can stay up to date on your favorite blog sites while you travel. It is a service that allows you to listen to rss feeds via a computer, ipod etc. It is currently in beta version right now.

http://spanishpod.com
This service allows you to learn spanish via your ipod or iphone. There is a free 7 day trial with access to the paid lessons and after that you must pay to continue.

http://www.wirenode.com
This service allows you to design and build mobile websites with relative ease. It also has it’s own version of analytics available.

Design Can Change

In the latest issue of Print Magazine it calls on Graphic Designers to do their part to be more environmentally friendly and how as designers we can help get the message out to people. It mentions a website - Design Can Change - in which designers can pledge to do their part. The site has ideas on how designers can help the cause. Go check it out and read up on how you can help.

New Layout

We have a new layout up at Digital Skratch. It uses the same color scheme and content and similar design elements as the previous layout. Though this one is more web 2.0 looking and not really “framed in” I’m pleased with how it came out and looks cleaner and more user friendly. We also went with a similar design to our sister company Thats My Ad. To have some type of co-branding between the two.

Google is still fast

Back in March we made a post called “Google is getting fast” which I talked about how fast pages are changing positions. I decided to check it again to see if it was still the case.

Last week I searched for “clean web design” and Digital Skratch came up in posistion #54. After deciding to optimize for that term I checked the results every few days. At first we dropped to position 72, and then regained to spots 54 and 53. I checked it today and found our site listed at the bottom of page 1 in the #10 spot!

Again this is proof that proper SEO and ongoing website maintenance should be at the top of your list if your website or online marketing is important to your business.

Simple Is Good

I recently answered a post on Linkedin on simplicity in design and if simple has gotten “too simple“. I think simplicity is good. Why would you want to complicate matters and cause confusion when it could be simple.

In the world of design I think the web 2.0 phenomenon has brought simple design to the forefront where we see it every day. Simplicity is great for usability, as the design gets out of the way of the content so the user can focus on the job at hand.

With that said there is a fine line with good simple design and design that doesn’t put much on the page. One must find a balance between simplicity, getting the message across and not looking too barren. I have seen many 2.0 style sites with hardly anything on the page and they look so amateur. Then I have seen other sites with relatively the same amount of “stuff” on the page and they look amazing. It takes a professional designer who can add those subtle things to achieve clean web design.

I think simplicity goes beyond design and should be a way to live life -Less is more.

Stay Synced On Your Mac

If you have a Mac and want to keep your calendar organized and synced up with co-workers and friends it’s simple with iCal, Spanning Sync and Google.

First use iCal as your main scheduling program. Create different calendars for your needs - Work, Business etc. and select the colors of our choice to represent each calendar.

Next log in to your Google account, click on “Calendars“. On the left side of the page you will see a monthly calendar and beneath that you will see what current calendars you have. Click on “Add” > “Create New Calendar“. Name your calendar the same name as one of your iCal names (for example - Personal). You will see other settings such as time-zone and sharing options. Click “Create Calendar“. The new calendar you just created will show up on the left side of the page, to make things easy to manage click the down arrow and change the color to the same as your iCal.

Now you will need a piece of software called Spanning Sync to “sync” between iCal and Google. Spanning Sync costs $25 for 1 year or $65 for a life time copy. Once the program is installed the icon will appear in the Menu Bar. Simply click on it and select “Open Spanning Sync Preferences” (you can also access this via system preferences).

1 - Enter your Google username and password.

4 - Press “Sync Now” and your schedule is now on your iCal and on Google!

If you wish to share your calender you can do it one of two ways through Google or through iCal.

Google - If the people you want to share it with use Google Calendar click on “Settings” > “Calendars” and then select “Share this calendar“. You will then enter the persons Google mail, select which settings you want them to see and then click “Add Person” then “Save”

iCal - If the people you want to share your calendar with use iCal all they have to do is subscribe to your calendar. In Google Calendar click on “Settings” > “Calendar” and then click the name of the calendar you want to share.

Scroll to the bottom of the page where it says “Private Address“. Click on “ICAL” and a pop up will display a link, copy this link and give it to those who wish to subscribe to your calendar. To subscribe in iCal click on “Calendar” > “Subscribe” and paste in the link. Edit the name and color and any other settings.

Now you can add an entry to you iCal, and Spanning Sync will automatically sync it with Google Calendar so you can access it anytime or share it with friends and co-workers. Also download the Google Notifier for your Menu Bar to stay up with current emails and events.

That’s My Ad

We did a complete re-design for That’s My Ad a web marketing company that specializes in Pay Per Click, Search Engine Optimization and Web Analytics. The site features a rich Web 2.0 look to it, with a super clean and simple interface.