The Internet has come a long way since the days of chirping modems and painfully slow download speeds. The modern web is a multimedia marvel filled with audio, video, and interactive content. One of the most exciting trends is the explosive growth of online video. Billions of videos are watched everyday, and the technology to make high quality video content is accessible to anyone.

Since not everyone has the talent of Spielberg, or the budget of Pixar, here are some tips I’ve picked up while doing video projects for ArcStone:

1) Keep It Short & Sweet

Even if your video is well made and compelling viewers can only handle so much at a time. The sweet spot seams to be two minutes or less. Audience attention starts to wain after one minute, and sharply decrease after two. Keep the pacing quick and your script concise to help viewers make it to the end, and have enough attention left to visit your other videos or website.

YouTube has some great tools for measuring your videos effectiveness and audience attention.

2) Make It Your Own

Adding your company’s unique style and branding to your videos will help viewers make a connection between your video content and overall web presence. Also, take advantage of the customizing options many video sharing sites have. YouTube, for instance, offers a custom channel page that can help you brand and promote your videos.

With some tweaking you can make your YouTube page look much like your website.

3) Say Hello & Goodbye

Including intro and exit screens help frame up the video, and will benefit your marketing efforts if you include your logo, website address, phone numbers and other information. Having consistent intro screens will also create continuity between your videos.

4) Capture Every Detail

Now that HD (high definition) video technology has come down in price it’s worth filming, editing, and saving all your content in HD format. Many of the most popular video sharing sites are also making HD their preferred format. HD or not, upload the highest quality version of your video to sites like YouTube, as they will handle scaling down the quality for users with slower connections.

If you can produce videos in HD, viewers will enjoy more lifelike images and crisp, easily readable text.

5) Do Your Homework & Planning

Before embarking on your first video production check and see what else is out there. It should be easy to find a wealth of videos pertaining to your industry. Notice what you like and dislike about them, which ones keep your attention, and how well the audience has responded.

Usually the most costly aspect of producing video content is the actual shooting itself. You can minimize this cost, and end up with a better product, if you do the proper planning. Make sure the talent is well prepared, the location ready, and the shoot well thought out.

6) Have Some Fun

Online video is a great way to show your company’s personality, culture, and unique way of doing business. The most successful videos not only communicate key marketing messages, they also have a little fun doing it.

If you would like more information about how ArcStone can help you produce high quality web video check out our video production services page. To see some of our work visit ArcStone’s YouTube Channel.

VitalWear, makers of the VitalWrap thermal compression medical
device, are number 138 on Inc Magazine’s list of the top 500 fastest growing companies in America. With tens of millions of American’s suffering from chronic pain, it’s no surprise to see VitalWear’s sales explode over the last year.

VitalWear’s Unique Approach
The revolutionary VitalWrap system provides both compression and heat to provide natural relief of chronic pain, quicken injury recovery, provide relief to arthritis sufferers and soothe other medical ailments.

The VitalWrap system is much more than a simple cooling or heat therapy wrap. It combines extended periods of heating and cooling with compression. The system is very simple to use, extremely durable, and is specifically designed to fit different body areas.

Support For Growth
ArcStone has been able to help VitalWear grow by providing web design services and the powerful Wonderfile document management system that powers VitalWear’s downloads area. Recently, ArcStone designed VitalWear’s store using the popular open-source, e-commerce platform, Magento, so that customers can order products online.

See the Inc. profile on VitalWear here and visit VitalWear.com for more information on their innovative pain management solutions.

It’s a familiar situation for most nine-to-fivers: you have a huge file, multiple people need it, none of which are in the same location, the companies shared server is impossible to navigate and large email attachments get blocked by the firewall.

Welcome To The Big File Dilemma
In today’s world of data-overload, it’s easy to accumulate a collection of impossibly large files. Databases, video, image and audio files can be hundreds of megabytes. Working with large files locally poses no challenge as hard drives have gotten larger and cheaper. The issues of file size rears it’s ugly head once those files need to leave your computer.

A Connected Solution For A Connected World
Traditionally, large files were shuttled from worker to worked VIA removable media. While this is convenient for short trips and temporary storage, shipping media across the world becomes expensive, and the storage media itself is prone to failures. Most people have suffered through the tragedy of a cracked CD or unreadable thumb drive.

If only there was a way to easily, securely, and cheaply share large files over the Internet (foreshadowing).

Wonderfile To The Rescue
With Wonderfile sharing large files is a snap. Wonderfile’s advanced uploader allows you to select several files of any type and size, set permissions, and see the uploaded progress for each file.

The best part about Wonderfile is you can start using it for free with no credit card or contract needed. Sign up today and see how easy it is to share large files with Wonderfile.

My Local Movers, an on-line directory of preferred local movers, came to ArcStone for a design refresh. What they left with was a striking, professional new design, quality content, and a complete SEO strategy that puts their new site to work garnering more customers.

A Professional Design To Match
My Local Movers specializes in partnering with pre-screened professional movers that operate in a handful of local markets. ArcStone created a design that mirrored the professionalism of their movers, and made distinct local market pages with high quality photos and market specific resources.

Designed For Humans Searches & Search Engines
A critical aspect of the redesign was making the site easier for people AND search engines to navigate. Having a market specific home page, and quote request pages for each local mover market, helps My Local Movers market to specific regions and allows users to quickly navigate to the information pertaining to their move.

For instance, Houston area users can visit /houston/moving-quote to get multiple moving quotes from Houston local movers.

Real Results
At ArcStone we don’t just strive to produce top quality work, we like to see it working for our clients. After the new My Local Movers site launched we carefully studied traffic statistics and leveraged Google analytics to help gauge the redesign’s success. In a few weeks it became clear that our strategy was paying off.

Visit www.mylocalmovers.com to see our work and get multiple moving quotes for your local market. MyLocalMovers.com initially launched in eight markets – Minneapolis/St. Paul; Chicago; Houston; Dallas; Fort Worth; Austin, TX; Milwaukee and Kenosha/Racine, WI. Visit ArcStone’s products & services page to see our capabilities or check out our SEO services page for more information about search engine marketing.

For Over Ten Years ArcStone Has Helped Organizations Find Value In Their Digital Assets
After several months in development, and a lot of customer feedback, we are pleased to announce the launch of Wonderfile 2.0.

For those of you unacquainted, Wonderfile is ArcStone’s solution to one of the biggest problems facing modern businesses today; how do we leverage the vast amounts of information distributed among our organizations thousands of digital files?

Wonderfile Is The Swiss Army Knife Of File Management
For over ten years ArcStone has helped organizations large and small find value in their digital assets. Wonderfile is the culmination of all that work, a system designed to effortlessly manage the mountain of unstructured data every business and individual has.

Wonderfile Adapts To YOU, Not The Other Way Around
The hallmark of our system, and what makes it different from anything else, is that Wonderfile adapts to YOU, not the other way around. The reason other file tagging systems don’t work well is they force you to adopt their organizational model.

Wonderfile Is Your Own Personal Digital File Library
In Wonderfile you make the model, you’re personal way of thinking is the engine that drives Wonderfile. The net effect of Wonderfile’s flexibility is a powerful, personalized search engine, effortless sharing of any size and type of file, and a solid base from which to build customized file tagging solutions.

Amazing Things Your Files Can Do In Wonderfile

• Send A Very Large File To Someone With Password Protection
• Collaborate With Colleagues On The Same File And Track Revisions
• Be Automatically Notified When Someone Adds A File To Your Project
• Access Your Most Important Files From Anywhere
• Create A Powerful File Store For Your Companies Intranet
• Group, Search, Organize, Archive And Share Files In An Unlimited Number Of Ways

Start Using Wonderfile
You can start using Wonderfile in minutes for free. There is never any contract or setup fee. Just go to Wonderfile’s sign up page to get started.

Once you start using Wonderfile you’ll never struggle to find, share, or backup files again. It’s just that simple.

When companies want to beef up their brand identity they go to a design firm or ad agency for an image overhaul. When design firms want to breathe life into their images they go to ArcStone.

Target came to Sussner Design Co for help redefining their new commercial interiors division. Sussner created, among other things, a compelling new web site design that would serve as the basis for an interactive Flash experience.

Few Web Development Shops Possess Both the production skills & Design Sensibilities
Faced with a tight budget and even tighter time-line, Sussner invited ArcStone to provide Flash production work that would live up to the high standards Susssner’s clients expect. And Sussner Design Co. is well aware, not all Flash work is created equal. Few web development shops posses both the production skills and design sensibilities to work side by side with design firms developing Flash sites.

Beyond Looks
Truly effective Flash sites that wow visitors and create lasting brand impressions do more than just look good. Load times, image quality, typography, and navigation elements all factor into the overall user experience.

This is where ArcStone’s Flash production expertise comes into play. Each image used is optimized for Flash delivery and pre-loaded behind the scenes to insure smooth transitions.

We also leverage Flash’s excellent XML support and AS3 coding language to make much of the site dynamically loaded, making maintenance easy for the client and extremely cost effective.

ArcStone Has Developed A Keen Sense Of How To Blend Flash With HTML, PHP, ColdFusion
To Flash Or Not To Flash
Another key part of Flash production work is deciding which elements should be Flash based and which are better of presented another way.

After years of building Flash sites ArcStone has developed a keen sense of how to blend Flash with HTML, PHP, ColdFusion, and other tools, delivering a seamless user experience and the highest bang for our customers buck.

In Target’s case ArcStone found creative ways to integrate existing content, saving time, money, and preserving some of Target’s initial investment. The product search engine, for example, feels like a native part of the site even though it comes from a third party system.

Beauty & Brains
Although most sites could be built without the use of Flash there are many reasons designers and developers choose to leverage Flash’s unique capabilities. Flash is often the best choice for:

• Showcasing High-Quality Imagery
• Creating a Unique User Experience
• Melding Multiple Types of Media (Text, Images, Video, Audio)
• Telling a Compelling and Memorable Narrative

The marriage of great design and smart Flash coding make the new Target Commercial Interiors site an effective branding tool and a useful source of information for visitors.

Check out the new Target Commercial Interiors Site, learn more about Sussner Design and read our other Technology Translated Flash Blog Posts.

To learn more about how Flash can make your products look their best, leave a lasting impression on visitors, and differentiate you from your competitors, check out ArcStone’s web site.

Like store-brand cough syrup, VoIP (Voice Over IP) has left a bad taste in many peoples mouths. Expense, reliability, and complications have plagued many small business VoIP adoption. Although not often viewed as a complete VoIP system, the scrappy software based solution known as Skype can be an excellent free alternative for testing the VoIP waters, or even adopting as your business’s De facto VoIP solution.

You Can Call Your Clients From A Beach In The Bahamas and No One Is The Wiser

Voice Over What?
Simply put, VoIP is a way to make phone calls over your computer, mobile phone, or specialized desk phone’s Internet connection. With VoIP you don’t incur any costs from the phone company on a per minute basis or for long distance. Generally, if you make a lot of long distance calls a VoIP provider’s monthly fees will be less than what you would usually pay the phone company.

The biggest VoIP advantage is the ability to bring your phone, and number, anywhere you go. You can call your clients from a beach in the Bahamas and no one is the wiser.

Skip The VoIP Headaches With Skype
Because Skype is a software based solution there is no need to buy an expensive specialized phone to get started. Simply download Skype for your computer or supported hand-held device. Skype also works on hundreds of cell phone, including the iPhone (I use Fring), and is now coming pre-installed on many Nokia handsets.

Once installed signing up for an account and making calls is a snap. Calling from one Skype user to another (Skype-to-Skype) is always free, and has the added benefits of accessing all the other Skype features that go beyond simple voice communication. Calling from Skype to a normal phone requires a paid plan. Paid plans fall under a pay-as-you-go model or unlimited service. Unlimited US calling is less than three dollars a month.

Skype For You, Your Business, and More
Skype also offers free tools to help manage your companies Skype implementation. There are also a multitude of partners offering additional services, and a constantly expanding set of business centric tools that leverage the Skype communication network.

A few of the great things you can do with Skype beyond just making calls:

• IM (instant message), conference call, and send files
• Hold a web conference, share your screen, and collaborate on documents
• Video chat, screen cast, and send faxes
• Run a call center, run your help desk, and dial from SalesForce.com

Flattening The Communication Landscape

With Skype There Is No Large Upfront Investment And No Need To Dump Existing Infrastructure

Although the web 2.0 revolution (coupled with the explosive use of smart phones) has opened up many new avenues of communications, Skype stands out for many reasons. Skype has a multi-dimension / multi-media / multi-device approach to communication, and melds old-world networks with the latest cutting-edge trends. With Skype there is no large upfront investment, no need to dump existing infrastructure, and virtually limitless potential for creative applications of the Skype protocol.

If you have used Skype in the past let me know what your experience was like in the comments of this post.

Happy Skypeing!

Although everyone is on the green bandwagon now, ArcStone is no Johnny-come-lately. We have been striving to lessen our environmental footprint for years, and encouraging customers to do the same.

With Wonderfile we help clients convert paper processes to electronic ones. Clients benefit from increased productivity, safer backups, effortless file sharing, and when a virtual document gets deleted it doesn’t end up in a landfill.

E-Brochure lets customers dump paper mailings for a superior electronic equivalent. Not only does electronic mail save paper (and trees), it does things paper can’t, like tell you how many people actually read your message and followed up on it.

We work with a lot of professional associations, many of which used to offer printed member directories. With AMO members can search the directory on-line and on demand. No more waiting for next years updated version, printing thousands of copies, and shipping them across the country.

To learn more about ArcStone’s role in the green revolution see our other green blog posts and visit ArcStone.com for more information.

(This message was made from 100% post-consumer HTML)

A new trend sweeping COMP-SCI classes and server rooms everywhere is coloring your hair to match one’s desktop wallpaper. Web development companies are suddenly becoming a much more colorful place as the trend progresses.

Some believe the proliferation of colorful wallpaper art from sites like InterfaceLIFT has contributed significantly to the trend. However, in the case of nerds with plain black or brown wallpaper, the trend results in less exciting outcomes.

By the turn of the twenty first century, it became essential that businesses have a website. Websites had faded from an optional marketing extra to an essential business tool, a company’s address in the virtual landscape.

Websites had faded from an optional marketing extra to an essential business tool

Now that websites are commonplace, a new, more specialized evolution of the website is becoming a business prerequisite: Blogs.

Once only pursued by prolific writers and angst-ridden teenagers, blogs have become a valuable marketing device, making them many companies front line weapon in the battle for customers.

Keep reading for my guide on how to turn your companies collective knowledge into a blog, and a blog into profits.

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