Our philosophy with web development here is based on pushing valuable content. Giving to your customers/viewers/audience/etc. what they want/need upfront will inevitably bring them back for more. This idea is what we tell our clients to adopt. Content is king and search engine optimization without giving consideration to your viewers will not bring the good results you intend the exercise for. Basically just polishing crap over

David M. Scott explains pretty well here in his blog post.

Filed under: Content Marketing, Search Marketing
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I forget some times how incredibly direct, stark and all the same time, beautiful black and white photographs can be. Looking at these pictures here does stir up some strong emotion.

Filed under: Art, Design, Photography
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Image via Wikipedia

Once again Singapore is associated with infamy in a most peculiar way. I opened the papers this morning to see a very curious report titled “Patent breach by ‘virtually all websites’? Pay up, firm demands” by Chua Hian Hou. A Singapore firm has threatened to sue websites that use pictures or graphics to link to another page, and it claims that it owns the patent for such a ‘technology’ used by millions of sites around the world.

They have even taken on the likes of Microsoft of Google; the reports adds that such a battle could potentially upend the entire Internet as we know. Incredible. Firms and individuals have been receiving invoices since last week. Managing director of VueStar, Paul Smith, said if sites want to continue the usage of images in their sites they will have to be prepared to pay VueStar between “$200″ and “millions” in licensing fees annually. This move has prompted some anxiousness and unhappiness in online communities.

I am sure there is more to this than meets the eye. What do you think?

Update (27 May): ZDnet posts an article here. Cnet Blog report here.

Filed under: General
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We’ve just updated our blog to 2.5.1. Why did we take so long? Well, we were waiting for our host to release the update patch into the application installation platform. Upgrading was nearly without hitches actually. I’m pretty happy with the outcome. Though there are some idiosyncrasies I have to work around, like for example the search widget is found in another file in a different location.

Anyway, the blog has been inactive for the last few weeks due to increased levels of work activity and we’re still looking for the right people to join our company. So far we’ve found a couple of hopefuls.

In the meantime, be prepared for more updates to come.

Filed under: General
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Image via WikipediaA quick link to a noteworthy article which basically and very quickly explains what viral marketing has become and what the future of viral marketing should look to become (and be called). David Meerman Scott, author of one of my favorite books, coins a new term for viral marketing by the way, “World Wide Rave”.

Have a read here and join the party!

Filed under: Marketing, Online Marketing
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When it comes to CSS cross-browser compatibility, it is necessary and yet not the simplest thing to do. Even more so when you need to do things that require a bit more accuracy.

Web designers are often tasked with creating data-driven websites that are required to display information in a structured manner. This article here from alistapart.com gives a good explanation of how to go about it. Read as a guide. Useful to have it in your bookmarks should anyone require charts on their site.

For more quality links, one should have this in their bookmarks as well.

Filed under: CSS, Design, General
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What we share here on this blog isn’t new; it has so far been a repository of thoughts and ideas written by other people from way across the world. Now, I’m pondering about the importance of localizing all the lovely tips and applying it for businesses here in Singapore. (more…)

Filed under: General, Marketing
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There are many SMEs out there that are slow to pick up on the almost unlimited advertising and branding potential of blogging. Truth to tell, there are a million and one reasons not to blog, and knowing human nature, all it takes is one reason to convince us it’s too difficult.

However, if you want to build up your business brand and image fast, there are really no other ways that are as cheap or effective as blog marketing.

If the true power of blogs were recognised by SMEs nowadays, the issue will shift from “should I blog or not” to “I can’t afford NOT to blog!”

You can read all about it in this well-written article here.

Filed under: Blog Marketing, General, Marketing
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Something I didn’t think would ever happen is scheduled to occur for a 2-week period. What can all online advertisers alike make of this? It does look like Yahoo is taking a dig at Microsoft’s takeover bid. What a way to say ‘No’ to Microsoft.

If this is more than just a test, like what Yahoo claims, the two Internet giants will more than command a lion’s share in online advertising dollars.

Filed under: General
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Social media marketing? Social network marketing? Seemingly similar terms but very different in meaning.

Should we bother with the technicalities of those words? Yes, we should. I agree with what David Scott mentioned in that short post.

Point aside, words like those should not be used as buzzwords alone to make you sound intelligent, but go ahead and try to explain to your prospective client the meaning behind them and what’s in it for them. Besides, we should really level with folks who, to begin with, have absolutely no clue what those terms mean for them. As explained in another book (which I have read twice over and highly recommend), making it simple will go a long way in establishing a rapport with your client; I reckon it is more important to make your idea stick than to sound smart.

Filed under: Marketing, Social Media Marketing
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