Author Archive
Recent News and Updates
Video as a sales tool
posted by Dan Baker @ October 21st, 2009
Avicom has been extremely busy developing innovative sales tools for our clients. One area that we are particularly proud of is our video and interactive group. To see samples of our work drop us an e-mail at Rich.Peterson@avicomdirect.com and we can set you up.
Bookmark this article!
Social Media • Trends
Getting Your Feet Wet With Social Media
posted by Dan Baker @ January 21st, 2009
A lot of people have heard about blogs, a lot more people are regular readers of blogs, but very few people (relatively speaking) are regular contributors to a blog. The promise of the social web - that we all have something important to say to our community - is going unfulfilled by many small and medium businesses.
Starting a blog to talk about your expertise is a great way to jump into the fray and show off your specialized knowledge. After all, no one knows your business or your product quite like you do. So how do you get started?
Enter Wordpress. We love Wordpress. When I started blogging, I looked into a few different systems. I started with “custom”, which proved waaay too daunting. I dabbled with Blogger (since purchased by the almighty Google), which proved inflexible. I researched pay-to-play services like Typepad, which proved too costly. Then I met Wordpress, and it was love at first site.
Wordpress, rated the number one blogging platform across the web, is easy to use, powerful, flexible, customizable, has an amazing community, and is extremely cost-effective. We believe so strongly in it’s power as a blogging platform that it’s the only system we use for all our clients. The more we use it, the more we love it.
Sound too good to be true? Do we really have a real, emotional attachment to software? Only one way to find out: if you’re looking to get your feet wet with social media, look no further than Wordpress. And yes, I did say “love at first site.” It’s a pun. And I am very ashamed.
Bookmark this article!
Usability • Web Design
5 Keys to a Bad User Interface
posted by Dan Baker @ August 25th, 2008
Remember when the Web was young? Everyone just jumping on there, throwing dancing babies and blinking text and mystery-meat navigation all over the place? In the bad old days, user interfaces were often designed as a postscript by whatever programmer was building the web site. These days however, beautiful User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) design is too important to be an afterthought. Your website is much more than an online brochure, but it should also be much less than a NASA control panel. Here are five things to avoid for your next redesign: more »
Bookmark this article!
Trends
Study Finds IM Users Are More Productive
posted by Dan Baker @ June 11th, 2008
My day is plagued with frequent interruptions. Someone knocking at my door, phoning, emailing or just jumping into my office shouting “YAHTZEE!”. I get calls from vendors (straight to voice mail), coworkers, clients and occasionally friends, so why would I add yet another intrusion into my already hectic day? According to recent findings published in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication it turns out Instant Messaging (IM) applications actually improve productivity.
The following four hypotheses were tested and confirmed:
- IM users will report lower levels of disruptive interruption than will non-users.
- IM users will have the same overall level of work communication as will non-users.
- IM users will engage in more frequent computer-mediated work communication than will non-users.
- IM users will engage in more frequent computer-mediated personal communication than will non-users.
Increased communication. That’s a good thing. Less disruptive interruptions? Also good. At Avicom we have instituted company Skype accounts for voice, IM and video. Since I work at our downtown and corporate offices, being a click away from my team is indispensable. And I can Skype into meetings for face-to-face conversation. Plus it’s kind of like The Jetsons (minus the jetpacks and robot maids).
What corporate communications tools do you use for IM? How do you better manage interruptions and work-related communications? If you’re not using an Instant Messaging application, maybe it’s time to take one for a test drive. Want to chat about it? Skype me at dan.baker.avicom
Bookmark this article!
Bookmarks