Michael Bower Digital
Strategic E-commerce
A Simple CRM
Jan 20th
BASE
It’s simple. You log in and drop in your deals. Then when you move them along the pipeline you change their status. I love it! I have used salesforce, Act, email programs, excel spreadsheets, zoho, you name it–too complicated.
Gotta try it.
http://bit.ly/rvMFHh
Picking a Tie Company’s Name
Aug 22nd
A brief history of bad company names (as told by me):
- Way back when: Companies didn’t have names because companies didn’t exist, but the names people gave themselves managed to be highly unimaginative. EXAMPLE: Joe Smith.
- After that: People named companies after themselves. EXAMPLE: J.C. Penny
- Later still: Companies found themselves with names that sounded high and mighty and businesy. EXAMPLE:
- Mid-20th Century: Companies tried out trendy names. EXAMPLE: “U-Tote’m” (the old name for 7-11)
- Late 20th: Companies used the number 2000 in them. EXAMPLE: “Windows 2000″ (ok, a brand name, I know)
- Finally: Companies started naming themselves after available domain names, (about the worst way to name a company). EXAMPLE: zaarly.com (wha??)
You get the picture. Company names are usually wrong. I run across a lot of names and specifically dislike most of them. It’s like, why can’t you come up with a name that actually stands for your product/service/brand promise/mission…
Anyhow, here’s a company name I like: TIECOON. They nailed it. And you thought picking out a tie was hard enough–how about a whole tie company’s name?? Their name is a pun, it’s short, it is very masculine. Plus their ties are actually awesome and arrive within a couple days of ordering.
So long story short: as soon as I found Tiecoon we begged them to let us help them with their PayPal problems and make their site faster on a lightning speed server and get all their data integrated and social media nailed down. Which they were willing to do.
So as you mull over names for your upcoming brand/venture/child, here are two things to help you:
- Read this excellent article about the different types of company names
- Purchase a tie at Tiecoon to practice your decision making
Featured in Google Enterprise Blog
May 16th
I was recently contacted by FreshBooks to see if I’d write up a little blurb that could be featured on the Google Enterprise Blog.
The question I was asked to write about was: “How Google Apps and FreshBooks help you run your business”. I was really excited to do so because I have been evangelistic about both technologies for years. Why? You can read the original version of what I sent to Freshbooks here:
On the back of my business card you will find a famous quote attributed to Einstein: “Make everything as simple as possible but not simpler.”
As the owner of a small digital consultancy, I have to know where my money is all the time…but I can’t be required to spend a lot of time tracking it. For years I have struggled with financial systems that fit one or the other of these criteria but never both. Happily, this all changed when I switched to Google Apps and FreshBooks.
When I started my business several years ago I decided my internal systems needed to exemplify the streamlined cloud-based model I sold to clients. It wasn’t long before I began using Google Apps for everything–proposals, time tracking, email, voice and other communications–everything. I even tried to keep my books with a number of sophisticated Google Spreadsheets. As time went on and things sped up, I knew I needed a better solution…that would still integrate with Google Apps. I tried every single application that integrated with Google Docs. At the end of the search it was obvious that FreshBooks was leaps and bounds beyond anything else.
Here’s the post again.
How to Mix Fonts (the Missing Manual)
Mar 23rd
I only read one email newsletter. Of course I receive more email newsletters than credit card offers by a slim margin. But there’s only one that I actually READ. It’s from a font company called MyFonts.
I love typography. It’s amazing to me how much branding, image, class and even emotion can be conveyed by fonts. It is my opinion that at the end of the day the thing that separates the men from the boys in design is a good understanding of type.
So attention all designers: Before you design anything else, I’d like to ask you to read an excellent little article called “Mixing Fonts” on Hoefler & Frere-Jones’ website.
You’ll see what I mean about emotion.
My Favorite Magento Website
Feb 23rd
http://www.originalwatermen.com
Maybe I should rephrase: this is my favorite Magento website that I have done 
I’ll have to think about which one is my actual favorite.
Original Watermen is just a great company in the first place–quality products, quality people, great branding…If you haven’t checked out their website, you should!
Here’s what Ken, the owner said:
We’ve been selling lifeguard clothing for over 18 years and have done too many catalogs and website revisions to count over the years. I am really excited about this year’s launch! We needed a website to reflect all of our new product and development ideas, we also needed a site to be interactive and yet eye catching to the general populous, yet it also had to have hard core e-commerce functionality. Mike had plenty of fresh ideas and was very creative in matching our brand, lifestyle and culture. We feel Mike nailed the development and creativity to a tee!
Now two months later, we have a website that everyone raves about! Mike’s work is not only great, he is a pleasure to work with. I recommend Mike to any company that is looking to standout from the crowd and has a desire to be on the cutting edge of creativity and website development.
jQuery as the Key to Non-Sterile Medical Software Websites
Feb 6th
When we started designing the ehrmandate.com, the last thing I wanted was to end up like all the other medical websites that look identically sterile.
So that means a flash site, right? Well…almost. I was thinking of doing something similar to http://drxlr.com, because it’s simple, has great navigation and is in a word well designed. Kind of like something in an art museum you just want to keep looking at even after your brain finally “gets” it.
But because we have to hit a medical audience, we decided to go with something more straightforward. Pattern: http://www.mwacareers.org, built in flash with some cool effects and video ideas.
This website also had to be ipad compatible (and this was before Apple opened up Flash for IOS devices).
Stephen our amazing UI developer used jQuery and javascript to create almost the same look and feel (granted, with slightly simpler animations). Here are some of the cooler things that had to be done:
- Algorithm to randomly (or nonrandomly if you specify a certain parameter) distribute objects over the css grid background
- There’s a shadow on top of all the page elements, so we had to program in the ability to click on elements and be passed to URLs
- AJAX tabs and form submission…eventually the whole thing will be AJAX, making page loads seamless
- Making a jQuery scrollbar that would work on iOS was tricky but ended perfectly
Judge the results for yourself:
Which Is More Awesome, Flash or jQuery?
Jan 3rd
“Flash is on its way out.” I’m getting tired of hearing it.
Saying that we don’t need Flash anymore because of technologies like HTML5, CSS3 and javascript is like saying that we don’t need a MacBook Pro because we have an iPad. Really, all we are saying is that it’s cooler because it’s newer.
Q: Why is Flash still awesome?
A: Flash is still WAY better for any sophisticated animation and video stuff. You couldn’t do these sites without flash.
Consider the following technical excerpt from a Cisco programming guide for one of their DMP devices (ActionScript is the Flash programming language):
Comparison of Javascript (JS) and ActionScript (AS) APIs Some JavaScript API’s do not have an equivalent ActionScript APIs as there are no equivalent features to match (browser related calls). The reverse is also true – some ActionScript API’s do not exist in the JavaScript API Flash related calls). For example, JS call tvMediaPlayer_browserClose(id) does not exist in the AS API as there is currently no Browser. AS call like setColorKey(red:Number, green:Number, blue:Number, range:Number) does not exist in JS API because this feature is not supported by the Browser. However most video functions have a 1:1 mapping. For example, AS call stopVideo() is equivalent to the JavaScript function tvMediaPlayer_stop() where both API’s stop video. In JavaScript the function tvMediaPlayer_play(url) is equivalent to the ActionScript function playVideoToCoordinates(url:String, loop:Boolean, fullscreen:Boolean, x:Number, y:Number, w:Number, h:Number) where both API’s play video to a location defined on the screen. Link to Action Script Media Player Full API :
Translation: JavaScript can do things that ActionScript cannot do, and vice versa. Just like MacBook Pros and iPads.
Q: Why is jQuery awesome?
A: Because it provides an alternative to simple Flash animation while not requiring a plugin.
BUT if you’re not doing sophisticated video development or animation, you may be able to get by with a javascript library like jQuery, prototype, mootools, or the like. I am a proponent of jQuery because it is easy to use and has the largest user base. Here’s a post where we discuss the use of jQuery replacing Flash on one of our favorite projects.
Technological Socialism
Oct 28th
Steve Jobs had some interesting things to say in a message during his
F4Q10 Results – Earnings call back on the 18th.
Of course the iPad has continued to sell phenomenally. I expected that.
What I found fascinating was Jobs’ treatment of Apple’s “integrated approach” and its benefits over and against what describes as the “fragmented approach” of competitors, especially Google and Android.
The open vs closed issue, Jobs tells us, is “just a smokescreen to try and hide the real issue”, which he says is “fragmented versus integrated.”
What is so “fragmented” about Android, we might ask? Jobs gives evidence: Android OEMs come up with proprietary interfaces. Multiple versions of Apps exist. Multiple App stores are coming up soon.
By contrast, jobs maintains that Apple is integrated, citing the easy to use iTunes App Store and the speed by which developers are paid.
Jobs builds to a climax:
We see tremendous value in having Apple rather than our users’ be the systems integrator…. When selling to users who want their devices to just work, we believe integrated will trump fragmented every time.
This took me aback the first and second times I read it. Yeah, I thought, all we care about is whether it just works…
So we are very committed to the integrated approach, no matter how many times Google tries to characterize it as closed. And we are confident that it will triumph over Google’s fragmented approach, no matter how many times Google tries to characterize it as open.
The end. So much for Google’s little Android ploy.
Not so fast Steve.
I actually care about more than whether my device “just works”. I care about things like cost, customization, speed…and especially freedom.
Steve, what you’re actually advocating is socialism…the idea that “we the monolithic good-hearted organization have your best interests in mind and will take care of you. Just let us be in charge of your access to the things you need and your troubles will be over.”
My Droid Incredible is not as “integrated” as Steve’s iPhone 4.
But I can tether to both of my computers and use 100GB of data per month.
Socialism would be great in an ideal world. But in the real world, I’ll stick with Freedom.
Here’s a transcript of the rest of the F4Q10 message.
The Boutique Business Model and More Wedding Photography
Oct 15th
For a long time I’ve been struggling to find a way to express to clients, friends, everyone I talk to about why investing in your brand is one of the most important ways to invest into your future as a company.
Now I’ve got it.
The last couple days I have been bantering back and forth with the wife of a friend of a friend of mine about how we might make her wedding photography brand stand out.
Marcella sent me this link to her website: http://www.cellabrationphotography.com. Great name, I thought as I pulled it up.
I looked at the site and in my reply to her asked several questions, among them
- what her unique value proposition was as a wedding photographer (a tough industry right now as we have discussed).
- whether she’d put any thought into how that value proposition could best be expressed
Marcella sent me her answer–
I want to be a boutique photographer….and it is best described here:
…and for “here”, she attached a copy of an e-book from Sarah Petty’s the Joy of Marketing website called The Boutique Experience–A Business Model, Not a Gift Shop which you can get for free here.
Read this e-book if it is the only business literature you read this year, no matter what kind of business you have.
Here’s the link again.
Can I Trust Apple? Should I Trust Apple?
Sep 1st
Developers and designers drooled when they heard that Adobe Flash Pro CS5 would be able to package applications for the iphone straight from Flash.
What a sore disappointment when Apple decided not only to exclude flash support from their mobile devices but disallow the use of third party development environments in making apps.
Apparently due to the imminent threat Google’s Android OS poses, Apple has chosen to relent. Yay Yay! Freedom for developers! No more worries about how you build your app impacting its reception by Apple! Right?
Honestly, I’m still a little afraid to trust them.
Don’t get me wrong. I have been using Apple products since I was eight years old. I love them. Apple Software is intuitive, beautiful and normally has just the right number of features.
But with what’s gone down in recent months, I am afraid to trust them and specifically afraid to develop for them. It’s not an issue of what their current posture on developer restrictions is at any given moment. The issue is that they have set up restrictions in the past and I have no reason to think they won’t in the future.
Referring back to their initial “Thoughts on Flash” statement, we see Jobs talking about how their software is open and Adobe’s (at least Flash) isn’t. Good points to some extent but my question is this: Are you going to deal with “closed” (exclusive plugin-requiring) software and content in an open or closed manner?
So will I stick with Apple? In a manner of speaking. As long as Apple happens lead the market in technology I will buy and develop for their products. But if a better alternative to Apple shows up, I’d switch.
I’m not sure what it will take for the company to earn my trust back. It’s certainly a start to take back the restrictions. Better would be if they kept their exclusive mindset just for their marketing.
