oneRhino Web Development - Blog

Add Chat To Your Website

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 17:05:00 -0400

I was looking for an easy way to add chat to oneRhino.com. It's a good way to connect with folks who want to ask you a question anonymously.

My requirements were...

a chat widget that easily integrates into the website
no popups redirecting to a third party website
no login required for the visitor
a simple, clean widget interface
on the admin side - it should work with my current chat client, Pidgin. In other words, I won't need any new applications installed and running for it work.
the widget should display my status as "online" while online.
works with linux (this example happens to work with Windows too).

Happily I may have found a fix :). It's called meebome, a widget from meebo. I just set this up, so we'll see if it stands the test of time. I won't go into every detail about the setup, but here is a general basic step-by-step...

1. Sign up with meebome.com

2. Paste the meebo widget into your website

Once signed up, meebo will display the code for your "widget".

Copy this code and paste it into your website. If you are wondering "how do I do that?", well it depends on how your website is setup, and well that's beyond the scope of this article :-).

An example of what the widget looks like embedded in a website...

How will you know when someone starts a chat with you? Well you could log into meebo and keep the meebo page open all day, every day. Ugh! Or you could integrate meebo into your current chat client (better!). We'll use Pidgin for this example. Like other advanced chat clients such as Digsby, it handles msn, yahoo, google talk and more.

3. Install Meebo plugin for Pidgin

Assuming you already have Pidgin installed, download the Meebo plugin for Pidgin here - http://jrpomeroy.com/pidgin/ (scroll to the bottom for download links). Place the downloaded file in "C:\Program Files\Pidgin\plugins" for Windows or "/usr/lib/purple-2" for 32 bit Ubuntu.

4. Activate Meebo Plugin for Pidgin

Open Pidgin or restart if it was already open. Then go to "tools -> plugins" and activate the Meebo plugin.

5. Configure your Meebo account in Pidgin

In Pidgin select "accounts -> manage accounts". Click the "add" button and add your new Meebo credentials and save:

That's it! Whenever you have Pidgin on someone visiting your website can IM you through the Meebo widget on your website. Instant feedback for clients.

Of course there are other approaches. Chatroll has a widget similar to meebo's, and I've heard good things about Digsby as a chat client.

Bullet points from Social Media Talk

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:51:00 -0400

Using Social Media for Small Business

You are all experts in your field: social media allows you to show your expertise to your client base.
The internet has allowed businesses to connect directly with customers without having to pay someone to be the intermediary (print, radio, tv, etc)
This makes marketing more frequent, w/o the pressure on ROI for spending hard earned dollars
Also allows for messages to be more informative, without a specific call to action or promotion
Social media is the ultimate “opt-in” marketing: Your fans and followers already love you, and want to know more about you. There are the ones spreading the gospel of your business.
Blogs are critical for social media use!

A few Social Media rules:

listen and learn the medium before you jump in a big way
no hard sell advertising messages: no one wants to be spammed on their social network. Think “would I say this to someone this message at a cocktail party?”
keep it informal, no press releases. Scoop type info about your business is great- “you heard it here first” means that you are valuing their friendship with new info.
Keep up the flow: an abandoned blog, FB page, or Twitter acct is *worse* than not having an account at all... so MAKE the time to do it. Put it on your calendar for the same time each week, and always do it.
Number of followers isn't as important as quality... auto follow not necessary or userful, random fans don't care....
Keep the flow of information connected between media... promote each site on the others... to sync with fans in whatever method they prefer.

And now some examples.....

Facebook

Businesses want to set up Pages (not groups or profiles)
if you hit 100+ fans, you can create a custom URL,which makes it easy to refer people to your FB page.
Could be good enough to be your whole website for some businesses.
The Twitter → FB update apps *don't work* with pages (they will update your profile instead) – you need to manually update both for now...
Setting up sync between your website and FB can be done with RSS
You may need a programmer to set up RSS for your site, and can only be done on certain types of pages
Get the Facebook app Social RSS to integrate

Examples:
- For oneRhino, we used RSS to automatically show blog entries from onerhino.com onto our Facebook Page. It then shows up on fan's Walls, and became our #2 source of traffic on our main site
- For Fat Rabbit, we are using RSS to feed design gallery entries automatically onto the FR page
- There are only so many hours in a day, so these integrations save time for busy owners to keep social media fresh.
- Install the Static FBML app to create stylish web pages within FB. Nice example here
- Have non-fans default to a landing page built with Static FBML that sells you and your business. Why you are good at what you do, and what benefit there is for becoming a fan.
- Do this by going into your Page's Admin->Wall Settings->Default page for non-fans

Geared specifically towards business users
Does away with chat, photos, etc
Use a picture of yourself though, not a logo or icon = real person
Put your “resume” on the site, so people know a rough idea of your career and accomplishments
Ideal for B2B situations, lead generation, etc.
Again, connections are judged on quality, not quantity
Use connections for introductions to people you want to meet
Be helpful:
- “Answers” section allows you to share your expertise
- Join relevant groups – it extends your reach and you will learn a lot
- Add a blog app to get your blog entries added automatically (again!)
- When adding a connection, send 'em a little note that says “met you at X the other day, good to connect on Linkedin!”

Twitter

No one knows what Twitter will be in 3-5 years, is changing rapidly
Use Tweetdeck or other app to manage your twitter, fb, and industry searches in one spot
Follow people that have something to say about your locality or industry
Example: RetailRelay.com, an online grocery service in Charlottesville
- Use Twitter for quick announcements, news, postings of information, thoughts on food
- Twitter is RR's #3 source of revenue (not traffic, revenue)
- Hits clients in small, bite sized pieces of information
Use links to your site (blog!) whenever possible (use TinyURL or similar)
Again be helpful! RT good information, answer q's if necessary
Another fun example: Capellino's Cup Cakes, on the downtown mall... posts cupcake flavor of the day

The Web is a Web

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:50:00 -0400

Marketing is changing. We all know that. Traditional marketing for business has included cold calling, mailings, walk-in sales reps, Yellow Pages, TV, print & radio advertising. These methods continue to be used to this day, of course, but they are disruptive by nature. A potential client is interrupted from their task at hand, and delivered a message. The marketer has to overcome the negative feelings of disturbing a busy prospect to deliver a sales message. Basically, there is already a strike against you before you even begin.

And online marketing started out no better: pop up ads, pop unders, spam emailings, and riotous ads crammed onto a website, pushing information into the furthest reaches of the page. Of course only having a little bit of content on each page makes the page views go up, which creates more ad inventory. But reading a paragraph, and waiting for the new page to load, and again and again, makes for a big chore.

Even worse, clients and customers go into a defensive mode around these disruptive marketing methods. Caller ID, spam filters, TiVo and the trash can all take the punch out of your presentation. This drives down your ROI, while simultaneously irritating potential customers. Great, huh?

Well, there is a better way. I propose using the web as a web. Use the 'Net as a net. Cast out far and wide with bits of bait - good, relevant information - and draw the fish in. Make them interested in what you do and how. Keep them engaged and then they will come to your website. Use your website to build on this goodwill - you already have some by then (rather than an irritated prospect) - and move the sales cycle forward to a contact page, a request for more information or an online purchase.

Your website is one part of that, put just one part. Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and Local Business Centers all contribute to the web as a web. So do suppliers, employees, blogs and review sites. Search engine optimization plays a role as well. There is a lot going on with your business online right now - smart business people need to interact with those conversations to attract prospects to your website, where they will be converted into lifelong customers. It's all part of a interactive series of connections. There is no "end" to it, you are never "done." A conversation about your business is a good thing - it shows interest in what you offer. Social media allows you create value before a customer buys from you, lowering resistance and building goodwill. All good things.

My Friend Roy

Thu, 21 May 2009 15:51:00 -0400

Roy Rogers saved many a innocent soul from villians, robbers and bad guys of the wild west. That was really nice of him. You could always count on him to show up at the right time and save the day. Roy saves the day.

I come from experience with a long line of businesses, some Internet based, some in the "real" world. And I have to tell you, Roy saves the day there too. Not Roy, but ROI. Return on Investment. I'm sometimes flabbergasted on the attitude, prevalent in the online world, that spending capital is a "sunk" cost. "I need to spend $20,000 on a web app, so I can show off our new web designer's skills." "We need to get a video up." "Our competition has a new website, so we do to."

Not a good reason. If this were a truck or piece of heavy equipment, or a consultant, you can be sure that the math would be done such that those dollars spent would come back more than once.

Why does this not apply to web apps? Well, it does. Everytime. In the olden days (after Roy Rogers, like in 1999-2000), the steps for ROI were this:

Step 1. Bright online idea
Step 2. ????
Step 3. Profit

Lots of companies got stuck on Step 2. Some skipped to step 3 and made millions. But there wasn't much business value there, and it didn't last.

Call us old fashioned, but I say demand to make your money back on your web projects. Preferably sooner rather than later. Have function and marketing trump design. Study product positioning on an ecommerce site. Make landing pages. Maximize social media exposure and have it tightly integrated with your website.

Don't listen to the designers, they don't know ROI. Don't listen to the coders, they don't know ROI. You know ROI. Demand the money back in a year or less. Work with professionals that understand the whole project, 360 degrees.

oneRhino Launches LodgingLead microsite!

Sun, 10 May 2009 13:57:00 -0400

oneRhino Web Development today launched a new microsite for LodgingLead, a web application designed to manage hotel room inventory for Convention and Visitors' Bureaus (CVB's), Destination Marketing Organizations (DMO's) and Meeting Organizers. The microsite is found at www.LodgingLead.com.

In development for 18 months, LodgingLead is a full featured, web based tool to help CVB's attract meetings and conventions. LodgingLead allows attendees to register individuals or groups on a pre-loaded website, in one block of rooms or across many different hotels. This saves meeting managers time and improves accuracy.

CVB's like LodgingLead because it adds an excellent value added service to both types of clients: member hotels and meeting managers. Hotels can easily upload blocks of rooms at special rates by date or type, manage room inventory, and receive detailed customer registration information, including valid credit card data.

Hotels value LodgingLead because clients can complete the entire registration process online, but without any processing fees. Further, registration data is delivered to the hotel in a report that can be entered directly into the hotel's system.

"LodgingLead is a win-win-win situation for all 3 stakeholders," says Craig Griffin, a partner at oneRhino Web Development. "Attendees, hotels and CVB's all gain efficiency and time savings from one application. LodgingLead pays for itself."

LodgingLead is economical, starting at $3995 per event, is fully hosted, and preloaded with hotel inventory and dates. The CVB then manages the flow of registrations to the member hotels.

In today's economy, LodgingLead helps all parties do more business, efficiently.

eBay thinks I'm in love with Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Sun, 03 May 2009 14:56:00 -0400

I recently saw the movie Vicky Cristina Barcelona. A great film about 2 Americans discovering the artistic and enjoyable Catalan culture. A few days later I decided to buy it on eBay, did some searches, found a copy from a reputable seller, and received it a few days later. All is well.

I hadn't been on eBay in a couple of weeks, but yesterday I logged in to sell some old stuff we've had lying around the house, and had a good laugh at the eBay front page:

Apparently, eBay remembered that I was looking for this movie, but forgot that I bought it. I'm wondering if their billing system forgot to charge the seller fees as well. Unlikely. And even if I hadn't bought the movie, why spend 30% of the eBay home page on one product? It makes me feel like I have an unhealthy obsession about the movie, not just an interest.

The point is that as a retailer, eBay has not provided me with any value, interest, or engagement. Exactly the opposite: I am off put by the incompetence and pushiness. My guess is that eBay has spent untold millions on the recommendation engine, and in at least in this case, not only did not advance the cause, but damaged customer relations.

Not to pick on eBay all day, Amazon and Netflix have similar useless recommendations for me, based on a search or purchase I made years ago or when I rented a movie I did not like. I am sure they are doing their best to cross reference massive databases of products with massive databases of user behavior. But don't rely on technology *at the expense* of your customer. It's the e-commerce equivalent of the offshore customer service center. It works for everyone but the actual users.

When coming up with content for your business website, make sure a bit of the human side comes through. Have some humor, good sense, and jargon free information. The Internet is an unpersonable medium, so copywriters have to give a little extra humanity to make the content resonate with the reader. Clarity trumps all.

A potential client is in all likelihood going to check out your website first. This is a critical time to introduce your human assets in addition to your products and services. Depending on your adaptation of the buying cycle, clients are going to interact with your company at different points and different ways. Humans almost always play a part in that, so break down those barriers early.

Blogs are great of course, for adopting a less formal tone. Facebook and Twitter are also great casual communication tools, giving a multi-dimensional face to your business.

Of course if you are a divorce attorney, jokes are not going to be appropriate on your website. Humanity has to match the mood of your website, and hence demonstrating empathy for clients, from pictures or text, can show that you are real people behind the site, delivering caring attention to a difficult problem.

The goal is to begin building the client relationship *before* they buy, so that bonds are already stronger than a typical "off the web" lead. Friendly tones and humanity in copy will achieve that.

Custom Web Applications for Business Efficiency

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 20:12:00 -0400

Every business has that procedure that seems to just take way too much effort. That collection of information, that coordination of events, that display of inventory. These are the things that custom web applications solve. The unique challenges of business - your business - mean that you either have to live with it or come up with a better way. We are big fans of a better way! Businesses come to use with problems locating documents, sharing information, keeping their inventory current, and a myriad of other issues. But there is no "off the shelf" package that fits the specific needs of these operations. Every one is different. Off the shelf apps make you buy a bunch of stuff you don't need, and probably won't have everything you do need. Talk to us about a solution for your business - efficiency is the mantra, and your ROI will be putting a smile on your face.

Email Marketing is one of your biggest bangs for the buck

Wed, 18 Mar 2009 21:19:00 -0400

When building websites for clients, we always encourage customers to get an email list going on the site. Sometimes there are looks of incredulity, because who doesn't already get way too much email? Can't someone just come to the site and get what they need? Doesn't email from businesses get viewed as spam? All valid points, but there is a number of compelling reasons to include an email marketing campaign in your company's budget.

Yes, everyone gets too much email. But an email list from your website is entirely from people who want to hear from you. Why wouldn't you want to send them information about what you do?
Email is better these days. How? The most effective emails look like your website - with rich graphics and images. This reinforces your brand and enhances response rate
Email is cheap! The cost of setting up an email campaign is very low, so unlike print or mail, your response rates need not be as high.
Regular communication to your customers keeps your company in the front of awareness 5. Email is fast! Have a message that needs to get out on time? Sending bulk mail is always a crap shoot - maybe it will get there in time, maybe not. Email is there in seconds! Perfect timing, everytime!

If you want to add email marketing to your company's arsenal, contact us. We can work out a strategy for the entire process, from setting up email collection on your website, to creating email templates, and getting them into your client's inbox without getting tagged as spam. You'll be glad you did!

The Web is Grease for your Business

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 20:46:00 -0500

I like to think of a business as a [b]machine[/b], namely an automobile. The car itself is your employees, enabling every function in business. You also need fuel (inventory or services), and a driver (no not you - the customer!). As a business leader, you are the road the car is driving on - with a destination in mind, and outcome that benefits both the customer and you. Like a car, a business needs elements in the right proportions to succeed. Without any fuel (inventory), you have no way of going forward. Too much fuel and you've flooded the engine- you still won't go. The same thing with no driver, no road, or a car that is poorly maintained. Using the Internet in business, whether to promote your business, sell a product or service, or improve your employees efficiencies, is just like the grease in a car. It is everywhere, and makes every bit of the process work more smoothly, with less energy. In these difficult economic times, you need to look at your business as a leader, and identify areas where costs can be cut, while at the same time efficiencies can be gained. IT infrastructure and overhead is a perfect area to look at. We can help you with Google Apps, so that your organization can do more with less. Another area that pays for itself is getting your inventory online. If you are a retailer, there is no better way to expand your market and improve your inventory turns than by getting an ecommerce store up and running. Use the inventory you already own, just turn it more. We at oneRhino believe that your investment with us should pay for itself, and fast. Many clients see their investment on website redevelopment or ecommerce paid for in a year or less, through increased leads, bottom line sales, and labor savings.

Opened a Second Office in Brazil

Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:26:11 -0400