Blue Sail Creative

Cloud Based Address Book – iOS 4

Blue Sail Creative — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 18:16:48 +0000

A missing feature of iOS 4 that would go a long way is cloud based Address Book that supports FaceTime. There are a bunch of immediate advantages beyond the basics. The most important reason would be to encourage FaceTime usage.

What is great about having a cloud based address book is the ability for iPhones to see what other friends of yours are FaceTime capable. This would mean that your iPhone would need to make constant connections with the cloud updating with its FaceTime capability. People are tempted by buttons, Apple knows that. This is why they put a FaceTime button right on the call dashboard.

What do you think?

Wisdom Everyday

Blue Sail Creative — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 20:22:01 +0000

Wisdom Everyday approached us with a goal to build them a website that built off of their popular Facebook Fan Page. They knew what they wanted to do on the website, but not how to best approach it. After discussing the project with the client and analyzing their business goals we decided to build them a set of wireframes to help organize our approach. The Wireframes built upon their idea of video and daily updates. The client found that once we had the wireframe designed it was simple for them to understand the project.

We wanted to design them something that had a very peaceful and calm look/feel. The goal was to make a website that was not too masculine nor too feminine but also transmitted the calm emotion.

For development we used a Wordpress CMS which allowed us to give the client full control of the content.

Island Park Deli

Blue Sail Creative — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 20:16:35 +0000

Island Park Deli was a new business that needed a brand identify for a delicatessen that they were opening up on Long Island. We were contracted to help identify the best type of logo that communicated quickly what the company did. We developed the logo to be high impact and classic at the same time.

Tuleste

Blue Sail Creative — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 20:09:57 +0000

Body Design is a well established Personal Training Studio in New York. They contacted us regarding the status of their online presence. At the time the company did not have an established website and no clear goals as to their online strategy. We held several meetings to strategize about the best way to move forward.

The client had a few objectives.

1 – Easy to Update
2 – Provide the visitor with everything they need regarding Body Design
3 – Have an easy way for them to get in touch

We started the project by building a set of wireframes which clearly demonstrated that we understood the objectives at hand and had a strategy to achieve these objectives. We began design and development and had the website live within a few weeks. The website was built within the Wordpress CMS in order to provide a strong foundation. We designed and developed a custom theme that incorporated the existing branding.

In addition to designing and developing the website we also provided our client with the analytical foundation they needed to grow the website successfully. The website has proven to be a success and has been an integral part of our clients marketing efforts.

MV Limo

Blue Sail Creative — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 19:57:17 +0000

The client had a few objectives.

1 – Easy to Update
2 – Provide the visitor with everything they need regarding Body Design
3 – Have an easy way for them to get in touch

M3 Technology

Blue Sail Creative — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 19:53:03 +0000

The client had a few objectives.

1 – Easy to Update
2 – Provide the visitor with everything they need regarding Body Design
3 – Have an easy way for them to get in touch

Body Design

Blue Sail Creative — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 17:43:56 +0000

The client had a few objectives.

1 – Easy to Update
2 – Provide the visitor with everything they need regarding Body Design
3 – Have an easy way for them to get in touch

Residue National Corp

Blue Sail Creative — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 18:24:35 +0000

Residue National Corp is the worlds largest supplier of residue foam for the carpet padding industry. We were contracted to redesign their website and provide a more effective lead generation model. Our team put together a website that captured the essence of the business while providing a lead generation form that made it dramatically easier to grow their business.

Residue National ranks #1 for the search term “scrap foam” and we wanted to take advantage of the site traffic. We built the website with the idea in mind that we wanted to layout the business model in a way that made sense. We also knew that without trust no one would contract Residue National for their work. Residue National has been in the scrap foam business for over 20 years and have built a very good reputation for themselves among peers in the industry. They are known for reliability, customer service and best prices. We knew that we had to explain this on their website as well. Our site architects laid out a website that includes an About Us and Our Process sections. The goal in building these pages was to establish the trust of the user. We put the material front and center in the About Us section in order to clearly demonstrate the quality of the material. The terms and FAQ are laid out in the Our Process section so by the time the client contacts Residue National they are ready to do business. The first few steps are essential in building the trust of the visitor. Once the trust is established we improved the lead generation forms so it is even easier to do business.

Competition vs Inspiration

Blue Sail Creative — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:27:14 +0000

Beatles Producer George Martin stated that “Without Pet Sounds, Sgt.Pepper wouldn’t have happened…Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds”.

We spent this afternoon listening to the amazing album Pet Sounds over and over again in the office. There is something about the type of music you play in the office that inspires creativity and excellence.

According to Wikipedia the Beatles and the Beach Boys had a bit of a rivalry in the 60’s that resulted in these great albums. Pet Sounds was a response to Revolver and Sgt.Peppers was a result to Pet Sounds.

Have you used this kind of inspiration to push your business forward? What inspires you and how can you compete with them on a level that pushes the whole industry ahead?

Have you had a great experience that has inspired you, if so what are you doing to push your industry forward?

Is Your Business on Yelp?

Blue Sail Creative — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:55:21 +0000

Earlier today I posted an article about what the Yelp! buyout may mean for your company if it becomes official. I got a lot of feedback from visitors saying that it was a great article but they weren’t on Yelp!

Let’s take some time to expose the advantages in registering your company. For those unfamiliar with the service, it is as they describe it “Word of Mouth Amplified”. Yelp is a service that allows people to review local establishments and share that information with the community. Quickly it is becoming the de-facto standard on how to find information.

Recent statistics point to 20 million people visiting Yelp in November of 2009 .That is a staggering number that I wouldn’t look past if I were you. As a business owner you probably have read some of the advantages to blogging, but here are some more advantages to owning a Yelp! account.

These customers of yours are already having conversations about your business and if they aren’t, its time they start to talk. Yelp! will allow you to jump into the conversation and communicate with your customers directly. This is a new era of modern communication and direct communication with customers in public can attract a large audience.

In addition to communication, it is important to announce special offers on Yelp. With its user base of 20 million, can you think of a better way to get the information out there?

Remember these visitors are human beings and they deserve to be treated well. Make a global change in your business and advertise your page in your restaurant. I don’t recommend soliciting them to your page, but why not include a Yelp business card with their bill asking them to login and share their experience with your community.

Have you used Yelp with your business and what kind of results have you noticed?