In meetings and conversations where web design is the focus, someone almost always drops the word “interactivity.” This word used to convey undeniable power, and the mere utterance of “interactivity” or one of its variations meant something.

“Our website needs to be more interactive,” they say.

And we would jump on the bandwagon. “Interactive, you say? Of course! An interactive website is much better than those static presences that sit in the corners of the Internet, gathering dust.”

Unfortunately, though, the word “interactivity” is in danger of succumbing to cliché-status. Think “crowd sourcing” or “social media expert” or, and I shudder to type these words, “thought leadership.” These are frivolous terms put together to form even worse phrases, and like any fad, they achieved a status of stratospheric importance, elevating anyone who used them to pseudo-intellectual stardom.

Keep Reading

“Making a difference in people’s lives – and seeing it with your own eyes – is perhaps the most satisfying thing you’ll ever do. If you want to fully enjoy life – give.” -Michael R. Bloomberg

It was recently reported that Bill Gates and Warren Buffett convinced countless other billionaires and multimillionaires to bestow half or more of their wealth over their lifetime and after they die to various charities and causes important to them. As I read through the personal letters of these donors on The Giving Pledge website, it reminded me how important it is to have a giving mindset, even if you’re not incredibly wealthy or a millionaire or even a “thousandaire.” Everyone has the ability to give and most especially small business owners and entrepreneurs.

Keep Reading

As any true early adopter I jumped on the Foursquare and Gowalla bandwagon last year and have used both services, Foursquare more so than Gowalla. I know there are other location-based services out there but these are the two I’ve tried. I’ll save the Foursquare vs. Gowalla debate for another time, but for the purposes of this article I will consider them the same: location-based social networks.

Keep Reading

On behalf of Cavendo we are pleased to announce today that we have closed our Series A round of funding for $42 million from the newly announced YPermutator fund. Modeled off the highly successful YCombinator seed fund, YPermutator bills itself as an “old kind of venture firm” designed to turn startup funding on its head. Instead of funding unproven and often comical startup ideas, the new fund injects typically ten-times capital necessary in a firm to give it the longest runway possible. “Our strategy is to give our portfolio companies enough money so they can live off the interest and maybe one day build a viable product,” stated YPermutator Founder Michael Woods.

Keep Reading

Social media is all the rage these days. Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, the list goes on. People want to know who you are, what you look like, what you’re doing and where you’re going. It’s an information craze that would drive IBM’s Deep Blue chess-playing computer insane.

Organizations are adapting to the ever-changing landscape of social media, though with a cautious and unassertive approach. Unfortunately, playing it safe when it comes to social media will only have you chasing prospects and customers instead of the other way around.

Below are some lightening quick ways you can shift toward a more social media focused homepage for your web site. These aren’t revolutionary changes, but they should help you to stay ahead of the pack at least until you can develop a more coherent social media strategy. The three critical areas to focus on are interaction, information and portability.

Keep Reading

Can you believe we’re already at the end of 2009? We’re wrapping up the decade that brought us from the height of the dot-com boom of the late 90s and 2000, through one of the darkest hours in the history of the United States, a grueling recession fueled by the real estate market and now some signs of recovery. Oh, and don’t forget the game changers of the 2000s such as Facebook, YouTube, MySpace (which came and went), and more recently Twitter. Google went mainstream and was propelled to one of the largest companies in the world, in line with Wal-Mart.

This has been one formidable decade of ups and downs, but we have survived, grown, and learned a lot in the process. Can you believe that we started Cavendo in 2000? We’ll be celebrating 10 years in business next March. Our business has largely followed the trends of the past decade with the exception that the later half was incredibly strong for us. We’re ending the year and decade with more momentum than we’ve ever had amidst record growth and profits. The next year will be our most exciting by far as we continue to grow and expand portions of our business such as MyMediaRoom, which has grown from a pet project to a powerful communications platform.

The last few weeks of the year are always my favorite time of the year. It’s a time to reflect on the past and set a course for the next year. You’re surrounded by family and friends and celebrating another year of progress. As we wind down 2009 and the amazing decade that was the 2000s we will be cementing plans for the upcoming year, and hopefully the next decade, to continue growing and improving as Cavendo and making our impact.

We have so many things planned that we will be rolling out and sharing with you over time. One of those plans starts right here with our blog. We have had a strong show of support but we feel we can do even better. Therefore after the New Year we are going to be launching a bigger, better, and massively improved blog. I wouldn’t even call it a blog since it’s going to be so much more. All I can say for now is we want to be a formidable resource to our clients, partners, vendors, and colleagues and that is what we intend to build. Stay tuned.

What are your thoughts on 2009? The past decade? What do you foresee in 2010?

This past Thursday tweeps from all corners of Prince William County converged on Old Town Manassas at the La Chapelle Restaurant. Donning exclusive tweet-up nametags, the crowd ranged from news reporters to tech geeks. After drinks, connecting and having some great conversations, the first official Prince William County tweet-up was a success.

Special thanks to Abe Erickson (@AbeErickson) with Ugly Chair Productions for the amazing highlights video. Check it out:

Keep Reading

After much debate here at Cavendo we decided this would be the easiest way to organize a simple list of local Twitter users. We finally settled on a simple post here on our blog and everyone can leave a comment with their information.

If you live, work, or play in these areas we want to know who you are:

• Manassas/Manassas Park
• Bristow/Gainesville/Haymarket
• Woodbridge/Dale City/Triangle
• Prince William County (if we missed you above) and surrounding areas

This is a simple public list for everyone’s benefit.

How could this help? Network with local Twitter users. Organize local tweet-ups. Meet cool people.

It’s simple. Just list your name, your Twitter username, and a short bio about yourself. I’ll get it started:

I’m Jonathan Arehart, President & CEO of Cavendo. I’m on twitter as @jarehart. I produce things on the Internet.

Keep Reading

I was inspired by a post Seth Godin made this morning about being boring. And taking from his theme, your web site probably sucks, too.

Your web site sucks because it’s boring. It doesn’t do anything. It’s nothing more than an online version of your boring brochure.

Would you really expect someone to convert into a sale on your boring web site? Think about it. Imagine you’re a prospect. Now look at your web site. Why would you buy anything from your company?

The problem is, there are no easy solutions. You can’t just flip a switch and be un-boring. It takes a massive amount of effort and dedication to produce an exciting, conversion-crazy web presence.

But, the first step is to realize that your web site probably sucks. What are you going to do about it?

The toughest thing small businesses run into when building a presence on the web is getting traffic. The web site is up there, but no one’s going to it.

One surefire way to get immediate action on a web site is PPC advertising. The downfall, obviously, is that the cost per action associated with that advertising can be overwhelming. Another problem is that most small businesses just don’t get PPC.

The best investment of time comes from building organic traffic. Organic traffic is visits generated from the regular listings within a search engine. You pay nothing for it and it gives you a huge boost in credibility. That’s one thing PPC can’t buy — credibility.

The first step in building organic traffic is to add valuable, keyword-rich content to your web site. This can be in the form of blog posts, articles, tips, guides, tutorials, and so forth. The second step is to keep growing that content. The third step is to evaluate and analyze whether or not you’re making any headway in search engines.

Start today and keep doing it. It takes many small actions to generate big results.