I get the feeling that when I tell people our company provides “web design” services they are thinking we may only be creating several pages with some links, a contact form, etc. It’s true that a lot of companies only ask or are aware of the basic services it’s important to know we can provide many more solutions that take advantage of technologies hosted on the web. Some of these include;

• Business Blogging
• Product photography optimized for the web
• Podcasting (audio or video)
• Business blogging
• Community building/Social Networking Features
• File hosting
• Secured Sites
• Virtual office solutions
• Calendaring and Event Planning
• E-commerce
• E-mail filtering
• Backups
• Video and Audio Conferencing
• RSS enabled news feeds

A lot of these features can be incorporated into a companies web site under their own domain but what you may not know is we can also work with you to develop your companies presence on other sites optimized for things like video, social networking and virtual offices. We are knowledgeable about a lot of these solutions and can provide our clients with innovative ways to have an optimized web presence.  What other services or products can companies that are known for basic web design provide that are innovative and makes you more productive?

On the way to the home office after an appointment his morning I was listening to the great photography podcast, Tips from the Top Floor and the two people in it were talking about how they loved to teach other people. The host loved to teach photography and his guest for the day was a chef who also expressed his love for teaching other’s to cook. That got me to thinking that teaching is a way of backing up our information that we often don’t think about and I thought of other ways we can “do backups” other than copying computer files to another locations.

1.) Teaching - Pass along what you know to others who are passionate about learning
2.) Writing - I’ve discovered the act of writing not only preserves what I know but I have also discovered that when I start writing I also start recovering memories I thought I had lost. Amazing how that happens. A good example of this is my Camp Old Indian blog when I have worked at remembering  the times I spent working at a summer camp during the 1980’s
3.) Selling - What good is your product or service if it is not in other hands? A product or service that is not used risks being forgotten and dying away.
4.) “hard” copies - I used to make fun of office workers who would print off a copy of every file they created on the computer and while that can be overkill it is a good idea to have written records of things like activation codes , passwords and other account information. Stored away in a locked a secure place of course.
5.) Building relationships - No one is an island. Trusted friends and family can support and save your business in unique ways.
6.) Practice skills - Ever heard the old saying, “If you don’t use it you lose it?”
7.) Have a home office - It’s a quaint concept to leave work at the office but in the age of the Internet and cell phones it’s almost impossible to leave, at least physically or connected but if disaster or power failure were to strike you are out of pocket and maybe even out of business!
If you are a business owner, plan on keeping that home office for all kinds of backup reasons from computer files to office equipment. Not to mention current tax laws.

What other ways can you suggest to back up your life, work and business other than the obvious use of the term?

Earlier today I mentioned we run our business in Greenville, SC. One of the services we offer is web design and development but we are one of many companies of various sizes who offer this service in our market. You will find web design services being performed by small one person businesses to large advertising and marketing agencies with many locations and employees. Just as you will find many different sized companies offering this service you will also discover that they are many different niches of web design.

When the technology of web design first came about you did not see many companies or individual designers/developers focusing on particular niches but the industry has been maturing and it’s better for everyone when web designers specializes in certain niches if possible. Not only do they not have to try to be an expert at “everything” put it also creates a friendlier business climate where companies who provide the same “general service” can partner and refer clients to respected designers and developers who specialize in particular niches. If at all possible I’d rather be friends and “talk shop” with fellow designers and developers out there that feel any hostility.

What are some of the web design niches out there? Some companies focus on e-commerce sites, others on blogging, some companies are experts with Adobe Flash which is great for sites that need to showcase animations, photos or product demonstrations. Some companies will specialize in the programming languages the run the databases and displaying for the pages. Some companies will only work with a select demographic of clients or design for a particular industry or group. Also a new niche developing and one we are exploring is developing optimized web sites for small portable devices like the iPhone, Palm Devices and other Internet enabled devices. They are many more niches but who is work on the ones that match you and your business?

On of the greatest temptations of any company is to get excited and cater to anyone will to pay for your services but in reality it’s better for both the client and developer to be a good match for each other. What are the niches SpinningSilk Multimedia focuses on? We believe our all our clients should access to their web sites to make updates and even our current smaller projects are using a basic content management system that helps clients add content, their customers subscribe to updates. We are big advocates of open source software and thus make use of Linux servers, programming languages like php, Ruby, Python, MySQL. As far as content we have heavily specialized in our SEO optimized writing services and well as quality photography that showcase you, your business and product line. Finally we have had experience with the following industries home improvement, Christian ministries (In particular churches within our own denomination - Associate Reformed Presbyterians) - So yes, we would love to do more work with ARP Churches, agencies and presbyteries. Finally we have done work with independent consultants and coaches who work to help individuals and companies succeed in their business.

We operate our business out of the medium sized city of Greenville,SC. Greenville is and has been a center for various kinds of technology and manufacturing over the years, even since it was founded as a mill town many years ago and is now home to such large companies like Michelin North America, BMW Manufacturing of North America is headquartered not far from here between Greenville and Spartanburg. Greenville has and is located not to far quite a few major universities including Clemson, Furman, Erskine, USC Upstate, Greenville Tech, Bob Jones University, Wofford, Winthrop, etc. All that being said it is set apart in many aspects from the rest of South Carolina in terms of education, industry and quality of life.I was born in Greenville and decided to stay or rather move back here because I love the town. I love it not just because of what it is but because of it’s potential in terms of quality of life and potential business growth, not to mention I have a lot of family that lives in the general area. Greenville is located a fairly close driving distance from both the Blue Ridge Mountains of North and South Carolina as well as the beaches of South Carolina not to mention we are in between two of the most progressive growing large cities in the Southeast Atlanta, GA and Charlotte, NC.

Before I write just another travel brochure their is a reason I am mentioning Greenville and the Upstate of South Carolina. I recently got back from a planning meeting for the Upstate Entrepreneur’s Forum. We are fairly new group but we are committed to promoting entrepreneurship and innovation in the Upstate of South Carolina. Each month we hold a monthly meeting in which local entreprenuer’s come and share their story, present an educational topic that is focused on fostering innovative and entrepreneurial skills. Right before we closed the meeting we as a group of organizers were discussing “what was in it for us?” I left saying it was service (helping my community grow), security (securing a financial future through innovative business growth) and satisfaction (knowing that I have pursued my passion and helped other’s pursue their as well thus doing my part to create a happier community.)

Are you thinking about locating to the upstate of South Carolina and becoming an entrepreneur? How can the UEF help you? Also as a company who helps a lot of small businesses, how can SpinningSilk Multimedia help you get the word out and grow your business? Are you already a small business owner or entrepreneur in the upstate? How can the UEF and/or SpinningSilk Multimedia help you innovate in 2008?

I monitor the statistics for visits to this web site. I can tell what people are searching for, when they come here, what operating system they use and also what browser they use. One thing that really captured my attention is a majority of the site visitors are still using Internet Explorer 6.  It’s not just my site however. According to overall web trends on the Internet Explorer 7 page on Wikipedia about 40% of people using Internet Explorer are using version 6. I can understand why most people use Internet Explorer as that’s the default browser that comes with Windows which most people are using but Internet Explorer 7 has been out about a year now and Microsoft has pushed it out with Windows updates so two things concern me.  A lot of people are not running Windows Update and installing the latest security patches and they don’t have service pack 2 of Windows XP which Internet Explorer 7 requires.

Of course I would like our clients and their customers to only used the latest official releases of the most popular browsers (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and maybe Opera) I’m even more concerned that a lot of you are vulnerable to security threats and also are missing out on a better web experience.

Are you still running Internet Explorer 6 and anything before WindowsXP service Pack 2?  Leave a comment here and tell us why. do you have fears or concerns about upgrades?  How can we help? If you can’t upgrade to Internet Explorer 7 for various reasons have you considered the alternatives on Windows like Firefox and Opera?

For the record I’m currently using Firefox 2.0.0.11 followed by Safari on my Mac followed by Internet Explorer 7 in my WindowsXP Service Pack 2 virtual Machine.