2013: The Year in Review
Wow, 2013 is just days away from done. Hard to believe. For us, it's been as exciting and action-packed a year as you could imagine. We welcomed new friends to our team, launched some really great new sites, moved into new offices, and are getting ready to welcome a little one into the world (any day now)! Of course, we also shared some good content with you. Below are some of our favorite things that hit the web in 2013...
Why We’ve Started Offering Salesforce Consulting
CRM is one of the 3 components of the Lead Development Ecosystem, and Salesforce is the most widely adopted CRM by a longshot. The trouble is, most of the agencies and agency clients we work with haven't used Salesforce before, and those who have used it have typically underutilized it. We've come up with a solution in the form of a new consulting service.
Experiment Like an Expert
When was the last time you said “I don't know” in a meeting? Better yet, when was the last time you said it confidently, knowing that this admission was in no way in conflict with your expertise? Probably never...
There Are Only Three Good Reasons for Content
There are really only three good reasons to put content on your site. They are: SEO, Lead Development, and Sale. That's it. Content can be for any or all of these purposes, but if it isn't intentionally created and managed for any of them, it's wasted...
Parallax Websites, the Right(ish) Way
Building a parallax-based website to be SEO-friendly and reasonably fast requires some unique work-arounds. We'll take a look at some of them, and look at why, in most cases, they're probably not worth it.
Marketing Automation Takeaways from Dreamforce
There was a lot to take in at the 2013 Dreamforce conference. I took note of a few key themes that emerged regarding the use of marketing automation and email marketing.
How to See What a User Sees
A few weeks ago, I spoke at the HOW Interactive Design Conference in Chicago. As a member of the Advisory Board, I’ve helped to shape the programming of this conference for the last three years. We’ve learned a ton, and I saw many of those learnings applied in this year’s event. It was definitely the strongest one yet — a great location, a great crowd, and fantastic content. One of the talks I gave was on usability testing, which I’d like to share with you below. As you’ll see in the agenda, a big portion of it involved doing live usability testing from stage. At some point, I think HOW will release video of this. In the meantime, I’ll provide a few big takeaways from a couple of the tests we ran...
Parallax is the New Flash
Parallax design is the hot new trend, but it's not always a good idea to base your site around it. Parallax can have major implications for SEO, usability, and the conversion rate of your site. Worst of all, Parallax is the single easiest way to make your site look dated in the next 18 months.
Dreamforce: The State of Digital Marketing on Planet Earth
Salesforce's annual Dreamforce conference is the place to be for digital marketers. This month, Mark gives us a recap of what it's like to attend Dreamforce, and why you might want to consider going in 2014.
My Mixbook for 2013
2013 is dying, and so it's time to commemorate it again in the form of giftable pulp. That means another mixbook! This one makes number five in a row. Each one has been an experiment, and so there are a few new details in this one that I'm excited for you to discover. You can't buy this book, though. It's a gift, not a product. I've printed a limited number of copies and will be solemnly distributing it to the members of our secret cabal in the next few weeks. If you'd like to join us, contact me and we'll begin initiation rites. More details inside...