Yesterday I attended the business before hours at the Greenville Commerce Club as a Chamber of Commerce networking event. Their was a significant number of companies represented that you would say are our competitors. Some of the companies in their introductions stated they were specifically “web design” companies, another company said they offered “total marketing solutions” but their solutions included web design, audio visual production which we also provide. In addition they also were quite a few photographers in the room sharing the specialities.

To a point their is almost a fear of our message getting lost in the sea of competitors but I was thankful we had a unique message that stood out. I was thankful that we were given as an example in another companies presentation when our RSS services like blogging and podcasting were mentioned. Yes, being in the same room with competitors can often be nerve racking but if you play it right you can gain from such an event. It was interesting the hear that each company representative gave a unique slant on their business and even playfully played off their competitors.

Among the companies who focused on web or new media in their introduction one focused on custom design, another mentioned search engine optimization and content management and we used our motto, Harmonious New Media to explain how our web services are the center of a hub of services that include podcasting, photography, blogs, business cards, logos, etc. and how we integrate those into a consistent branding strategy.

The photographers present also gave unique slants on their services. One mentioned how did not do wedding but specialized in arial photography while another made the point that he did provide wedding photography services and yet another made a big point to say his company had a full service studio.

What did I learn this event and hearing from competitors in the upstate South Carolina market? I learned that our motto and visual imagery of what we do stuck in the minds of others present based on networking conversations after the breakfast. I learned that we need to mention the marketing services we provide so companies can effective market themselves and achieve greater success. I learned that I need explain the distinctives of our web services like our user friendly content management system and commitment to compelling content which improves search engine results.

I had the chance share my own photography niches but since Heather spoke for our company I remained seated. Next time we will agree that both of us will speak but will give unique presentations on what we do either to break up our one company presentation so it is not as long or the showcase the different marketing services we provide for our clients.

The important thing above all is to listen so you can understand your competition but most importantly yourself. How are you using your listening skills in networking events where you are faced both by competitors as well as potential customers?

I remember when I was growing up seeing a popular commercial for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. The commercial would usually consist of two people walking along the sides of a tall building and bumping into each other. One people would be eating peanut butter out of a jar and the other one would have a candy bar in his or her hand. Upon collision peanut butter and chocolate would combine and inspire the great taste of chocolate and peanut butter and thus, abet in a mythological way, the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup candy was born.

It’ has often been said the innovation most often occurs in course of collisions. Maybe not the kind where two people or vehicles literally collide but rather when we encounter new people at events, try out new products or discover that a current “solution” we are trying out does not quite meet our needs and we try to figure out a way to better match the job we need to do. Other times some things just happen like the “invention” of the potato chip or vulcanized rubber. The point is to get out there, meet new people, try new things and no matter how old you get always think like a child in aspect of playing with new things and never settling for “good enough.”

In our business we need to keep “playing” with new technologies. We can do web development the way it was done 10, 5 or even a year ago. In the past year or two social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc. have taken a huge jump in popularity and even in those realms people are finding ways to innovate those things fit their needs. Podcasting, what we like to call “your own radio station” from both the user and producer end has just become mainstream in the past couple of years as well. We are working to position our company as the premiere podcasting source in Greenville,SC both in terms of helping clients get their message out as well as producing our own content.

How active are you and your business in local networking groups or connecting with others on a regular basis? If you are in your own world you may be perfectly content with how you feel about things and see not need to change but listening to others in person, via blog comments or participating in online forums is one way to keep you and your company sharp and on the innovative edge. What interesting collisions are you encouraging in order to think creatively and give new life to your business and personal ventures?

It might not be completely obvious but SpinningSilk Multimedia is a division of a larger company, SpinningSilk, LLC. We devote the greatest amount of time to SpinningSilk Multimedia, the division this web site is based on but we do provide products and services which have a connection to our multimedia services but we chose not to advertise those on this site. We have been working on setting up SpinningSilk I.T. (I.T. as in Information Technology) as a place I we will blog about various networking, security, storage and the technical issues behind internet communication technologies like e-mail.

We also are partnering with companies like MXLogic, ITC Deltacom and are looking for other vendors who provide services we can resell and offer to our clients. While we currently won’t be offering onsite service such as computer repair, setting up or trouble shooting networks, etc. We will work to recommend partners we believe can provide you with the best service based on our research.

We will seek to provide non-biased platform information based on your needs. We will discuss our products from Apple, Microsoft, various PC vendors, networking providers can benefit you or your company based on your unique situations.

When people talk about computers and what they prefer, they will stand firm by the platform they use be it Windows, Mac or Linux. Interestingly enough all three also have web server software that host web sites, e-mail and other Internet applications. All three also have browsers and other programs that enable you to access the web via their respective platforms. Finally, you can find web development software available on all three platforms and this is where a lot of problems can occur.

For years Microsoft made a very popular, yet flawed product called, Frontpage. I admit when it first came out and was available I was attracted to it and its ability to manage a large number of pages as well as making it possible to design a web site in a visual format. However some of the biggest disadvantages of that program were that most people would use pre-installed themes making it easy to spot a Frontpage-designed web site quickly. Also, the code it created was become extremely bloated and hard to edit from a programmer perspective. Apple however has a current product, iWeb which sadly suffers from the same issues. While iWeb creates web sites that look way more beautiful than anything I ever saw designed by Frontpage, you can still spot from a mile off that the site was created from a basic template and has features unique to the product. In addition, the code it creates is way more complicated than it needs to be.

If these programs are so bloated and the results are so apparently uncreative from the perspective of the one who created the site then why are they sold? For one, both Apple and Microsoft sell those products as an added feature to increase sales and yes, they can be quite easy to get something up that is “quick-and-dirty”. That’s not always bad in some cases, but when it come to creating web sites for clients that communicate to a wide global audience we adhere to web standards, not Microsoft or Apple standards. Standards that can be created and produced in such a way that they work exceedingly well for the Mac, Windows or Linux desktop user. Another web standards issue to consider is the need to consider the different connection speeds of various web site viewers. Yes, a lot more people have high speed connections but many out there are still on dial-up.

For example, we design web sites for churches and agencies of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, a denomination that has many churches in rural areas without access to high speed connections. As a result, keeping our code clean and images optimized to load quickly are considerations to which we are committed. The current ARP agencies we have developed web sites for are World Witness and Outreach North America . We have also developed and currently maintain the sites for Unity ARP Church, Travelers ARP Church**, The Bridge ARP and Huntersville ARP. We hope to design and develop more web sites and podcasts for churches and other ministries within the ARP*. If you’re an ARP Church or ministry contact us and learn how we can create web projects that adhere to web standards so you have have the greatest outreach in your community be it a large metropolitan area or a very rural area with limited internet resources.

*This is not a site we have done but of course we would love any future opportunity to help with it’s development.
**Our home church - site is done “pro-bono” as one means of giving

As time progresses we will look at what we do to make our business and how we market ourselves better based on customer demand and feedback as well as trends in the marketplace. We have changed some broad categories into more focused niches. We are also making the fact that we are about providing marketing services for our clients and are committed to consistent branding more obvious. We used the word, “share” to describe the final part of our 4-step work flow and now we have replaced it with the word, market or marketing. Our new motto of “Harmonious New Media” also reflects this.

We are making our photography service more prominent and instead of covering the broad category of “portable media” with are going to focus on Podcasting as a service. We will continue to explore other areas for future products and services but those will be feature and discussed in a “labs” section to be announced at a later date. You will probably see those innovative explorations at our portal site, SpinningSilk.com . One new service we are offering is an enterprise level/server based e-mail service via MXLogic. You can find what we are offering at our SpinningSilk.com Marketplace.