There are a lot of questions flying around right now about what to build for mobile: For which devices (iPhone, iPad, Android, WindowsPhone)? Whether to build a native App or Mobile web App? Do you create a mobile friendly site for smartphones so people can navigate your site easily or do you just make your website mobile friendly and keep everything within 960 pixels? Do you create a responsive design using media queries that reacts to each device uniquely? Or what about custom tailoring an experience for each platform (web + smartphone + tablet)?
A raging debate regarding mobile apps and native apps has been consuming the tech industry recently. You’re probably wondering, “What is the difference between a mobile app and a native app?”
And, unless you’re a techie, you’re not alone in asking this question. To add to the confusion, a variety of terms are used that can mean exactly the same thing: app, web app, native app, mobile app, hybrid app, adaptive design, reactive design, and responsive design.
If you weren’t overwhelmed before, you probably are now. Before we go any farther, let’s take a few minutes to answer the first question and clear up some of the confusion…click below to read more.
Lead Engineer Mat Steiner announced a new tool yesterday in a Google+ blog. Matt explains that if you opt-in, Google+ will prompt your friends and acquaintances to tag your face when they see you in a photo.
“Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.”
My wife an I celebrated our 10th anniversary on Nov 30. I’ve been secretly looking forward to this because I’ve been wanting to go to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse – a place where we would not normally go with 3 little ones tagging along. Anyway, with a babysitter in the equation we were prepped and ready for a night out.
What I found what a great example of an effective combination of digital marketing and customer service.
Jivaldi has survived for 12 years through thick and thin and what we bring to our clients boils down to 1 basic principle, which is:
Getting people to do things that we want them to.
Building online experiences based around Calls to Action is what we do as a Digital Agency. And the more people we get to buy a product, fill out a form, donate or take some kind of action (ie. Facebook like) is what determines whether we continue to get business from a client. We’ve been pretty effective at doing this and it all boils down to some pretty basic principles.
There are 3 pieces to this post that interest me. First, the founder of Hypothes.is (Dan Whaley) is an aquaintance of mine from my early days in the Silicon Valley at GetThere. Second, Kickstarter appears to work. And third, Hypothes.is sounds like a very interesting idea and is gaining steam.
I recently ran across a company called Grandin Road. They are a direct marketing company that sells home decor and home care products. Apart from having a cool halloween magazine that my kids have been glued to since it arrived in the mail, I wanted to see what they were doing on their website. I assumed, like so many other business that I wouldn’t find much.
I was dead wrong. (muuaahhaaahaa)
While I did find interface issues and things that could be improved it became clear to me that they really know what they are doing in that they know how to effectively blend their offline and online efforts. Read more to find out why Grandin Road is very good at marketing.
