We have embarked on a new year and all of us here at Visible.net are looking forward to another ground-breaking year in 2009. After having ended 2008 with snowfall, flooding, rain storms and plenty of cold weather, it will be important for us to make up for lost time before winter comes to an end.

With a new year always comes new opportunities to change, exceed and excel towards past, current and future goals. We all have the opportunity to accomplish great things this year, so lets continue to work hard towards our goals this new year.

Quote of the month:

Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals and values are in balance.

Brian Tracy

New Years Party Date Is Set, Mark Your Calendar

As we mentioned a few days ago, our company Christmas Party, previously scheduled for December 19th, had to be canceled due to bad snow and ice storms. The new date has been set for Saturday, January 24th, 2009, so please mark your calendars and save this date.

The Argosy Cruise will be setting sail promptly at 7:30 p.m. from their Seattle dock. Attendees will need to arrive at the docks between 6:30 and 7:00 p.m. for boarding. Each and every employee here at Visible.net is invited, and urged to attend the New Year event. Attendees are also welcome to bring along a single guest to accompany them on the Cruise Ship.

If you have any questions, please contact Phyllis, Vicki or Glenn so you can attend. We expect the event to be the best one yet, so be prepared for an evening filled with fun, laughter, excitement and awards. We also have more information posted here, including directions and part details.

Visible.net Company Notes

Here’s what happened around the company in December 2008. We appreciate all our employees’ hard work and dedication last month and last year.

Top Service Consultant December 2008:

Danielle Grant

Top Service Team December 2008:

Team Led By Casey Frasier

Service Consultant MVP December 2008:

Daniel Symington

Top Service Team Manager November 2008:

Matt Salerno

New Employees:

Visible.net hired 3 new employees during the month of November.

Employee Birthdays:

Visible.net is celebrating birthdays for 11 employees this month.

Employee Anniversaries:

Visible.net is celebrating employee anniversaries for 2 people this month.

That wraps up the first edition of Visible.net Reflections 2009. We hope all our employees and team members had a wonderful year and that you are all looking as forward to 2009 as we are. We are very much looking forward to more Visible.net announcements, news, birthdays, anniversaries and fun in our next newsletter issue. If you enjoed this edition, be sure to check out other issues of Visible.net Reflections on our blog.

This month we are celebrating the the last month and holidays of the 2008 year. On Christmas Day, Dec. 25th (Thursday), our offices will be closed. We are also closed the following day, Dec. 26th (Friday). In January, Visible.net offices will be closed on New Years Day, Jan 1st. We encourage everyone at Visible.net to take this time to spend with family and friends. Visible.net management and administration hopes that all our valued employees have a wonderful December and a happy holiday season.

In addition, we hope each and every one of you had a good year in 2008 and wish you all a very good year in 2009, we are looking forward to many new announcements, the addition of new products and services and an overall better year than the one before. We also wish to thank everyone involved in the company this past year, no matter the position you hold.

Quote of the month:

The beauty of life is, while we cannot undo what is done, we can see it, understand it, learn from it and change. So, that every new moment is spent not in regret, guilt, fear or anger, but in wisdom, understanding and love.

Jennifer Edwards

Visible.net Company Notes

Here’s what happened around the company in November 2008. We appreciate each persons hard work and dedication last month.

Top Service Consultant November 2008:

Richard Diaz-Gonzales

Top Service Team November 2008:

Team Led By Mike Walker

Service Consultant MVP November 2008:

Parros Parks

Top Service Team Manager November 2008:

Eric Schrandt

New Employees:

Visible.net hired 5 new employees during the month of November.

Employee Birthdays:

Visible.net is celebrating birthdays for 6 employees this month.

Employee Anniversaries:

Visible.net is celebrating employee anniversaries for 3 people this month.

That pretty much wraps up the December issue of the Visible.net Reflections newsletter. It’s been an exciting month, and year for that matter, full of anticipation, fun, high energy, learning and a lot more. We are very much looking forward to more Visible.net announcements, news, birthdays, anniversaries and fun in 2009. If you liked this newsletter, be sure to check out next months issue of Visible.net Reflections on our blog.

U.S. Local Business Association’s Award Plaque Honors the Achievement

The 2008 USLBA Award Program focused on quality, not quantity.

WASHINGTON D.C. (Press Release) November 24, 2008 — Visible.net has been selected for the 2008 Best of Kirkland Award in the Local Business category by the U.S. Local Business Association (USLBA).

The USLBA “Best of Local Business” Award Program recognizes outstanding local businesses throughout the country. Each year, the USLBA identifies companies that they believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and community.

The entire Visible.net staff feels both proud and honored to be recognized by the USLBA, and to be receiving their prestigious yearly award for local business excellence. We have experienced tremendous growth this year and look forward to another great year in 2009.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2008 USLBA Award Program focused on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the USLBA and data provided by third parties.

About U.S. Local Business Association (USLBA)

U.S. Local Business Association (USLBA) is a Washington D.C. based organization funded by local businesses operating in towns, large and small, across America. The purpose of USLBA is to promote local business through public relations, marketing and advertising.

The USLBA was established to recognize the best of local businesses in their community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations, chambers of commerce and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to be an advocate for small and medium size businesses and business entrepreneurs across America.

Source: U.S. Local Business Association

On November 12, 2008, the Washington Attorney General filed an action against Visible.net. The essence of the Washington Attorney General’s allegations is that Visible.net’s methods and products do not work in the way they are represented.

We feel the Washington Attorney General’s allegations are misinformed at best. The same methods Visible.net uses and the products it has developed are based upon the practices recommended by Google in their Webmaster Guidelines. With all due respect to the Washington Attorney General, we believe that Google, and other search engines, understand search engine optimization and website marketing far better than the Washington Attorney General.

In fact, we feel so confident that our products and methods work that we offered to have a neutral industry expert selected by the Washington Attorney General make an independent determination of whether the allegations against Visible.net are correct after being given unfettered access to Visible.net’s business, records and software. We are disappointed that the Washington Attorney General has thus far ignored this offer and instead has filed an action based on speculation and innuendo, some of which has come from Visible.net’s competitors. In deciding to litigate rather than take us up on our offer, the Washington Attorney General is disregarding the scores of satisfied customers who have taken it upon themselves to write and send us emails complementing Visible.net on its outstanding customer service and products.

Although the Washington Attorney General has expressed no interest in hearing from our happy and satisfied customers, or in having an independent expert analysis of our products and methods, Visible.net is willing to share the positive feedback it has received from its customers with any media outlet that requests it.

We feel confident that we will prevail in this action and look forward to the opportunity to prove to the Court that our methods and products are just as good as we say they are.

Warmest regards,

Gilbert Walker, President

It’s already November and the Holiday season is upon us. This month we celebrate Thanksgiving Day on Thursday November 27th. Our offices will be closed all day. Although many of us will be with our families on scheduled holiday time, we will be open on Friday November 28th. Everyone who is not already approved for the Friday after Thanksgiving is expected to work. We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and enjoys having the day to be with friends and family.

Quote of the month:

When faced with a challenge, look for a way, not a way out.

David L. Weatherford

Last Christmas Party Reminder Before The Event

Over the past several months we have been posting updates and reminders about our annual Christmas party to be held on Lake Washington’s Argosy Cruise Line. If you haven’t already made arrangements with Phyllis in HR to be present with or without your guest, please do so this week at your earliest convenience. We want to ensure we have plenty of amenities to accommodate all our employees and their guests.

Again, the event is scheduled for Friday, December 19th. The cruise boat will be departing from Carillon Point in Kirkland at 6:00 p.m. and returning back to the Point at 10:00 p.m. Attendees and their guests are urged to wear dress attire appropriate for the event.

This year’s Christmas cruise is expected to be full of fun, laughter, excitement, prizes, awards and more! We hope everyone is able to attend and look forward to celebrating this monumental year with fellow Visible.net employees and their guests.

Food Donations Reminder

Have you noticed the Food Bank boxes located in each building on campus? Last month we mentioned that we would be accepting Food Donations for Hopelink. Our goal is to collect one ton of non-perishable food items. So far, we have received a good amount, however we still need more to reach our goal. Please consider bring at least one item to donate. It is the holiday season afterall and the donations go to a great cause.

Monthly Suggestion Box Winner

The winner of the Suggestion of the Month award for October is Diane Teske. Her suggestion was to send update status emails/updates to ALL of our clients upon billing and payment of their monthly fees. Updates can include things like payment status, reason for charge, detailed info about the charge and more. Good job on the suggestion Diane, don’t spend the $100 prize for the best suggestion all in one place!

As a reminder, we accept employee feedback and suggestions each month and award a cash prize of $100 to the winner.

Visible.net Company Notes

Here’s what happened around the company in October 2008. We appreciate everyone’s hard work and dedication last month.

Top Service Consultant October 2008:

Scott Edwards

Top Service Team October 2008:

Team Led By Mike Walker

Service Consultant MVP October 2008:

Matt Salerno

Top Service Team Manager October 2008:

Team Led By Eric Schrandt

New Employees:

Visible.net hired 5 new employees during the month of October.

Employee Birthdays:

Visible.net is celebrating birthdays for 4 employees this month.

Employee Anniversaries:

Visible.net is celebrating employee anniversaries for 4 people this month.

That wraps up the November addition of the Visible.net Reflections newsletter. It’s been an exciting month full of anticipation, fun, high energy, learning and more. We are very much looking forward to more Visible.net announcements, news, birthdays, anniversaries and fun in December. If you liked this newsletter, be sure to check out next months issue of Visible.net Reflections on the Visible Blog.

Based on feedback provided by several employees last month we are now including an inspirational quote in each new installment of our Reflections Newsletters. We hope that the quotes we select will inspire each of us and open eyes around the company each month as we continue to embark on our corporate mission and goals.

So, without further ado, here’s the inspiration quote for October…

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift; that’s why we call it the present.

Eleanor Roosevelt

Spotlight Media Bundles Are HOT This Fall!

It was only last month that we announced the launch of our latest and greatest lineup of website services, the new Visible.net video bundles and media ads. We have already built and begun marketing several video commercials for various clients who utilize our services, however we are looking to increase the current numbers ten fold.

Right now is the time to get hip to online video, and there is no better deal out there for the type of work that goes into creating, producing and distributing our online video advertisements. Keep in mind that we are only offering this special discount for a limited time and the discount pricing will only be available for a short time longer before we begin adding additional features and bundles into the mix.

We urge everyone to explore these new services and become familiar with the features, details and pricing requirements. If you have any questions, or if you are in need of some training, please email doug@visible.net. Once we receive enough questions, we plan on putting together an outline with all the answers for others who may be having the same difficulty understanding the concept, ideas, or details of our media bundles.

Contributing Food Donations For Cause

On October 20th all day, there will be several decorated boxes located in each building throughout the campus for food donations. Our goals is to collect ONE TON of non-perishable food items. The donations we receive will be donated to “Hopelink,” a local charity that serves the needs of homeless and low income families, children, seniors, and people with disabilities. We urge anyone who is able to contribute to this worthy cause to please do so.

Christmas Party Reminder

Please mark your calendar for Friday, December 19th from 6 to 10 p.m. We will be going out on an Argosy Cruise of Lake Washington. We look forward to seeing all of you there, it will be a fun filled evening full of awards and recognition for some of the top employees and contributors of 2008.

Monthly Suggestion Box Winner

This months $100.00 prize for the best suggestion went to Susan Strom. Her idea was for Visible.net to provide employee flu shots this fall, and we plan to do just that. On October 14th we are scheduled to have a registered nurse come to our office in order to provide flu shots to any employees who choose to take advantage of the opportunity. So far we have over 30 people signed up, so if you haven’t already be sure to get on the list.

We welcome your suggestions too! Please place them in the suggestion box in the main sales office. The monthly winner will receive $100.00 cash for the best suggestion. We do this every month, so keep on giving us your feedback and who knows, you may win the prize money!

Visible.net Company Notes

Here’s what happened around the company in September 2008. Thanks for all your hard work and dedication last month.

Top Service Consultant September 2008:

Marco Jackson

Top Service Team September 2008:

Team Led By Mike Walker

Service Consultant MVP September 2008:

Cristina Jaeger

Top Service Team Manager September 2008:

Team Led By Anthony Baxter

New Employees:

Visible.net hired 9 new employees during the month of September.

Employee Birthdays:

Visible.net is celebrating birthdays for 5 employees this month.

Employee Anniversaries:

Visible.net is celebrating employee anniversaries for 7 people this month.

That wraps up the October addition of Visible.net Reflections newsletter. It’s been an exciting month filled with client success, company success and more. We are very much looking forward to more Visible.net announcements, news, birthdays, anniversaries and fun next month. If you liked this announcement, be sure to check out next months issue of Visible.net Reflections on the Visible Blog.

Back in February we posted several lists of Visible.net profiles across the web including company sites, discussion forums, blog communities, social media networks and other various website statistic and listing resources. Today we would like to mention a few more Visible.net corporate profiles, this time concentrating solely on video, photo and general media listings.

Online video and media is becoming more and more popular, especially for merchant sellers and ecommerce entrepreneurs who wish to stand out from their competitors by utilizing the power of viral video and media sharing to drive traffic or buyers to a given web store or niche product line. Visible.net is embracing video and media technology and hopes to expand on the current media services we offer. It’s important for us to keep up on current trends. Online video is no different and certainly doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime in the near future. Below we’ve listed a few of the places online that offer the best video or media sharing experiences.

Follow the links below to see Visible.net video and media profiles across the web…

Visible.net Video/Media Profiles

• YouTube
• MySpace
• Yahoo Video
• Jumpcut
• MetaCafe
• AOL Uncut
• Google Video
• Facebook
• Blip.tv
• ClipShack
• Crackle
• Dailymotion
• Eyespot
• Flukiest
• Imeem
• LiveVideo
• Motionbox
• Mpora
• Netlog
• Photobucket
• ShareNow
• ShowMeHowTo
• Spymac
• Streetfire.net
• Sumo.tv
• Viddler
• Vodpod
• Zeec.net

We recommend that anyone who is interested in learning more about viral video and social media marketing to explore, and consider joining, the excellent video, photo and media resources we’ve listed above. The internet is constantly shaping the way we sell or market our products and without taking an active roll in this industry, and the industries surrounding, or knowing someone who does, it can be difficult to keep up on the latest news, trends, resources, tools and anything else that may affect the way business is conducted online.

Visible.net is on the look out for creative ideas and story topics to include in our monthly newletters. We don’t want them to become boring to read or follow and you may be able to help. If you are currently a Visible.net employee, and have suggestions or article topics ideas, we want to hear from you. We are constantly looking for content to include in future newsletters, so please let us know and we will absolutely consider your input ideas for future issues.

Visible.net Spotlight Media Bundles

Visible.net has officially launched the new video and media production services division. We are now offering custom video ads and online commercials to our clients on select account or service types. The new video service is part of the Spotlight Media Bundle currently located near the bottom of our website services page.

Visible.net believes this is one of our most powerful services currently being offered because of several reasons. First, having a video about a particular site or product line lends instant credibility to nearly any website business, people trust the things they hear and see within online video and you can embed videos on nearly any type of website, page, blog or social network.

Second, the manner in which we distribute client videos allows for inclusion in many of the most popular video sharing sites or search sites. Many of these sites are listed in a past Visiblog post, Video, Photo and Media Profiles. Be sure to become familiar with the sites listed, that way customers can see some examples of our work and where the videos are included. The videos we distribute include tags and related keywords which help to get them ranked on traditional and media search engines.

Finally, our video bundles are powerful marketing tools which, if used properly, can attract many new customers, leads or sales for our clients. Nearly any client we serve can benefit from a video about their store or products and the best part is, we produce the video and distribute it for them, leaving plenty of time for our clients to run their day to day business responsibilities.

Christmas Party Reminder

Please mark your calendar for Friday, December 19th from 6 to 10 p.m. We will be going out on an Argosy Cruise of Lake Washington. Look forward to seeing all of you there, it will be a fun filled evening full of awards and recognition for some of the top employees of the year.

Visible.net Company Notes

Here’s what happened around the company in August 2008. Thanks for all your hard work and dedication last month.

Top Service Consultant August 2008:

Vinson Walker

Top Service Team August 2008:

Team Led By Mike Walker

Service Consultant MVP August 2008:

Vinson Walker

Top Service Manager August 2008:

Anthony Baxter

New Employees:

Visible.net hired 5 new employees during the month of August.

Employee Birthdays:

Visible.net is celebrating birthdays for 7 employees this month.

Employee Anniversaries:

Visible.net is celebrating employee anniversaries for 9 people this month.

That wraps up this months addition of Visible.net Reflections. It’s been an exciting month filled with client success, company success and more. We are very much looking forward to more Visible.net announcements, news, birthdays, anniversaries and fun in October. Thanks to both our clients and employees, and anyone else who helps to continually contribute to our worthy causes. Without you, we wouldn’t be where we are today and we know that. Check out next months issue of Visible.net Reflections on Visible.

Get Satisfaction is a people powered customer service website where individuals and consumers can get the most of the products or services they use in their day to day lives, and where companies and corporations are able to connect with their customers regarding important questions, feedback or ideas, customer issues and even general topic discussion.

This is the second company-customer program in as many months that Visible.net has joined. We also recently got involved with MeasuredUp’s Customer Service Pledge. Visible.net looks forward to participating in as many more service related programs as we can and hope our customers appreciate the time, effort and clear steps we have been, and continue taking in order to work hard towards our goal of being among the best customer service companies in the business.

Get Satisfaction is a direct connection between people and companies that fosters problem-solving, promotes sharing, and builds up relationships. Thousands of companies use this neutral space to support customers, exchange ideas, and get feedback about their products and services.

We here at Visible.net sincerely hope that it’s clear to our clients just how much we care about their ecommerce and/or marketing plan, but most importantly we hope that these steps help to clearly illustrate just how much we care about their overall website and business’ success on the Internet.

Visible.net is a forward thinking company that takes an active role in all client relationships and/or dealings. We only want to be the best service provider we can and know that this simply isn’t possible without the support of all parties involved, including BOTH our clients and company representatives. We know that it’s very difficult to have a perfect customer service track record, but that certainly shouldn’t be a reason not to aim for perfection. Visible.net aims high in all that we do and we feel that it shouldn’t be any different with the service aspects our company provides.

As always, we hope that by joining programs like the Get Satisfaction Pact that we will be more accessible and better equipped to handle and resolve disputes, learn about our clients’ likes or dislikes, understand our clients’ wants or needs and to develop, maintain or improve our customer service and brand reputation.

Get Satisfaction Company-Customer Pact

The Challenge:

We, customers and companies alike, need to trust the people with whom we do business. Customers expect honest, straightforward interactions where their voices are heard. Companies work to inspire brand loyalty and deliver satisfaction while trying to understand their customer better. It is evident that we all have a crucial stake-and responsibility-in transforming the adversarial tone that too often dominates the customer experience.

A Call For Shared Responsibility:

Along with open, authentic communication comes the mutual responsibility to make it work. As each of us is both a customer and employee, we share in the rewards and challenges of candor. By adopting these five practical measures, we can together realize the fundamental shift in our business relationships:

Companies:

• Be human, use a respectful, conversational voice, avoid scripts and never use corporate doublespeak.
• Encourage employees to use their real names and use a personal touch.
• Anticipate that problems will occur, and set clear, public expectations in advance for how you will address (and redress) issues.
• Cultivate a public dialog with customers so they feel they are being heard and to demonstrate your accountability.
• Demonstrate your good intentions by speaking plainly, earnestly, and candidly with customer about problems that arise.

Customers:

• Be understanding. Show the respect and kindness to company reps that you’d like shown to you.
• Use your real identity and foster your long-term reputation with the company.
• Recognize that problems will occur, and give companies the information and time required to completely address issues.
• Share issues directly, or through a forum where the company has an opportunity to respond, so it can work with you to solve problems.
• Give companies the benefit of the doubt, and be open to to what they have to say.

Our Pact:

By working together in these ways, people build long-term relationships that lead to trust, strong communities, and sustainable businesses. We, as companies and customers, support this call for change.

Send Us Your Feedback Or Suggestions

Visible.net is so committed to Customer Service that we want to hear from you if your issue has not been addressed. We encourage you to submit customer service reviews to our company or page on GetSatisfaction.com.

If you happen to have questions or comments about our participation in the Get Satisfaction Company-Customer Pact, be sure to contact us. In addition, we hope to hear from you if you are, or ever do experience any issues with the service(s) you receive from Visible.net company or staff. We accept and encourage online form submissions on our feedback and support pages.

Seattle 2.0 is popular blog resource by Marcelo Calbucci (founder of Sampa) dedicated to bringing together information and news related to Seattle area startups, their founders, investors, board members and more. Seattle20.com features a collection of blogs posts, startup company lists, VC company lists, legal help, career opportunities and many more helpful links.

In addition, Seattle 2.0 regularly publishes an updated list of top Seattle area Web 2.0, startups and technology companies called the Startup Index.

Since the end of 2005 I’ve been thinking of how Seattle-area startups and technology companies, their founders, management team and investors lack resources to find out about each other. Who is hiring? Who is releasing new products? What are the new Startups of the month? Who is closing the doors? Who wants to partner or do a biz-dev deal?

Visible.net Makes The Startup Index

Visible.net is pleased to announce that we been included in the July edition and list of Seattle startups! Out of an overall total of 311 companies, Visible.net is ranked 118th on the list. Our company was 4th overall in the Software/Service category.

Other new additions to the July list include I Has a Hotdog, Pundit Kitchen, Localism, Digital Railroad, GoSleepGo.com, Entertonement, YOUbeQB, GoTime, TuneyFish, Social Compass, Crowdify, Kantrak, Silverlight Nuggets and eTalkup.

Some of our favorites that remain on the list include Zillow, Wetpaint, Redfin, SEOmoz, Sampa, Konnects, 43 Places and EVRI.

We feel honored to have been included in the latest edition of Startup Index. It’s been a fun, fast journey for most all of us here at Visible.net up to this point and we are extremely excited about the direction our company is headed. We wish to thank our dedicated, hard-working staff members and most importantly our clients, without whom we wouldn’t be where we are today. We look forward to seeing where we fit in on the Startup index after a few months and the long awaited launch of our newest version ecommerce software.