Check out our new Website Planning Guide, a PDF form that you can download, complete, and return digitally — no paper required! Neat, huh?

Oh yeah, and it’s also got some great tips for, you know, planning a website. From knowing your audience to knowing your competition to knowing what it is exactly that you want your site to do, the guide contains several questions that you need to ask yourself before you move forward on a web project.

So give it a try and let us know what you think — and feel free to share it with your friends and colleagues as well!

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Ever feel like meetings just disrupt your day and prevent you from getting real work done? Like all those 15-minute coffees and 30-minute lunches somehow fill your whole schedule? Chances are, you’re not alone – especially if you’re a “maker,” and not a manager.

As the pioneering web developer and commentator Paul Graham convincingly argues in this blog post, that’s because managers operate on different schedules than programmers, or “makers,” whose tasks tend to require long, uninterrupted periods of concentration and work.

Managers, on the other hand, tend to break up their day into smaller, hour-long chunks, always moving from one “speculative” meeting to the next. But these short, midday check-ups, Graham argues, often end up doing more harm to productivity than good.

Instead, he suggests, it’s in managers’ interest to accommodate makers’ schedules when possible, and to limit “speculative” meetings to set times of day or days of the week, leaving large swaths of uninterrupted production time throughout the week.

So next time your programmers show up to the meeting grumbling and late, have a little sympathy for them. Maybe you could even buy them a coffee – after 5:00, of course.

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Art & Copy is a film that shows you the real intelligence of advertising in our time. The documentary includes interviews of advertising legends that changed the world with creations like “Got Milk”, “Just do it” and “Think Different”. Most people simply state all advertising is bad, but the truth is there are too many bad ads out there. The great ones are rare and few; advertising can be so much more. Apparently the film might not be played in Canada, however we should be able to grab a copy when they release the DVD, hopefully soon! Until then check out the trailer above.

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I came across this good presentation on Social Media ROI by Oliver Blanchard.

I think a lot of companies jump on the Facebook/Twitter bandwagon in fear of losing touch with customers, expecting their Social Media efforts not to make any money. This presentation explains that you can expect a return from Social Media, and when/how you can expect it.

Enjoy and see if you see yourself in any of the characters…

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As you can probably tell, things are looking a little different around here. We’ve been working on this design for the past few months, and finally feel like we have something to be proud of.

You will notice the prominence of the blog. Blogs are a good way to get more search engine traffic. I’ve been preaching this for a while now, so I’m glad to be finally walking the walk. Here you will find my thoughts on the industry, social media, etc.

This site also reflects our expanding capabilities in design, and video. I think having quick flash videos can really help to personalize the experience of visiting a website – and make the first meeting a little more comfortable when the time comes. How do you think I did?

Anyways, hope this finds you all well, and we look forward to being in touch. Thanks for coming,

Tommy Humphreys, President

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Last week, a client asked me about LinkedIn. I’ll share with you what I shared with him.

LinkedIn is the most popular online network for business people. I find LinkedIn useful because it lets me see depth in relationships, and it keeps me up to date with the people I’ve met and worked with over the years.

Guy Kawasaki wrote the best article I’ve read on How to Use LinkedIn. Check it out, and if you decide to join, feel free to connect with me.

Tommy Humphreys

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Businesses function in a world of walls. Some walls are necessary, and some aren’t. The challenge is to break down those that aren’t. When email hit the scene in the 1990s, it tore down walls, but with the advent of mobile computing, email has become one of those walls. Smart businesses have already recognized this.

Many company policies demand employees use a company address through Outlook. The problem with this location-centric approach is that workers are tied to their desk. GMail tears down the walls that have built up over time, reflecting realities in today’s lean business environment. In fact, Google’s entire array of office tools are must-haves.

Employees are no longer nine to fivers, demanding flexibility, recession or no recession. They will take time off when they want to, but will make up the hours elsewhere. They’re connected on iPhones and have ditched immobile desktops. This new schedule means data has to be available across platforms and across time and space. Google Apps allows for real-time collaboration, creating efficient workers. Employees are begging you to free them, but will you listen?

The most high-profile user of Google Apps is Washington D.C. The District expects to see massive cost-savings by converting its of email, document and scheduling tools to Google. With all of the web giant’s servers geographically dispersed across the continent, datacentres can no longer be targeted for terrorist destruction. If a government can be this forward-thinking, why can’t you?

Cost savings, efficiency, and security: There is no good reason you shouldn’t be using Google Apps. In fact, I challenge my readers to leave a comment against full conversion to Google services for their business.

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Are your ears burning? They should be. That means someone is talking about you. But, that doesn’t mean they are saying only good things. The problem companies have is they don’t hear about bad news until it lands on the first page of a Google search. But, that won’t happen to you, right?

If you don’t know what is being said about your company online, you are putting it at risk. Ignoring reputation management is an unnecessary risk, but monitoring your reputation isn’t hard if you know how.

You’ve got to go beyond registering yournamesucks.com. Set up comprehensive Google Alerts and a Twitter Search. Automate the process with Google Reader and subscribe to your Alerts’ RSS feeds using the orange icon on the Alerts and Twitter search page.

Information travels at light speed, and bad news hits Twitter days before the mainstream press. While your competition will be on damage control because of a newspaper article, you’ll have staunched the bleeding at the source. You’ll be able to manage issues before they appear on anyone’s radar.

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