Webmaster Jam Session, Dallas 2006
Granted, most Realtors and others related to the industry may have been bored silly at the Webmasters Jam
Session this weekend. That's OK, but upon reflecting upon the multiple tidbits I have learned, I would like to offer my "Kristal Kliff Notes" to you.The Jam Marque featured HUGE names in the Web design business, guys who wrote the book in their fields. We got up close and personal with the likes of
- Eric Meyer ~ Eric Meyer on CSS
- Nick Finck ~ Layout Standards & Techniques
- Andy Budd ~ CSS Mastery
Jared Spool ~ Designing for the Scent of Information Good sites are rich with content, content sucks users towards it.
Every link gives off a scent that users follow
On Flash sites, Hire a Mime to stand in front of the grocery store. Every person that comes along wanting to enter the grocery store, have the Mime perform for them, not letting them enter. How do you think that customer will feel?
Professional usability studies aren't that expensive. (?)
Nick Longo ~ CEO of CoffeeCup Software On Viral Marketing: People decide what is viral (not marketing departments) The CoffeeCup website removed all advertising from home page, they replaced it with testimonials from customers . Sales doubled. Know who you are, know who your users are.
John Moore ~ Starbucks Tribal Knowledge (this theme holds true for us too...)Q & A to the panel of experts...Starbucks Code of Marketing Authenticity (on branding)
- be genuine and sincere
- Accentuate the human nature of the business
- Always say who you are, never who you are not
- Stay connected to employees
- Be true to the company's core values and origins
- Deliver on all promises made
- respect peoples' intelligence
- Never forsake the company's heritage and personality for a short term gain.
Q = Is it possible to guarantee a top position on the Google (or other search engines)?
A = No.
Q = Are templates ok to use?
A = No matter what you do you can never hide the fact it's a template. Good design starts before development not after.
Social Networking is HOT! (really?)
GET YOUR FREE STUFF: The CoffeeCup Software people brought lots of Nick Longos Great Book called, "My Website is Better than Yours" Learn HTML & Web Design from the Inside Out. Since they didn't want to drag them back to the office, they let us have some extras. I thought of my friends at Active Rain. The top 3 people who write to me asking for a book will get one compliments of me (and Nick). Sucking up is preferred... :)
(this book is geared more toward 'entry level' folks than the other books listed above. It's a great Realtor resource book for building a site.)
if I get a book I'll happily share with Partner Paul, Tyler and everyone in our office who are addicted to AR.
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