It's the time of year when we make resolutions are made. I'm not much of a resolution-maker myself, but I'm going to suggest that small business owners make one. Namely, it's a suggestion that you resolve to fix up your web site and pay attention to things you might have ignored for too long. I know you're busy and your time is valuable, so chances are good that you've missed a few minor issues that are making your web site look old and outdated.

Think about this way: Your car needs a tune-up every 15,000 miles or so to keep it running at its best. Your teeth need a checkup at least once or twice a year. Well, a regular checkup will also keep your web site running in peak condition.

1. Review your company information

If you have a staff listing or directory, is it up-to-date with correct names, titles, and other contact information? If you have a "Contact Us" or "About Us" page or something similar that discusses company history, make sure it's updated, especially references such as "We've been in business for eight years."

2. Review your contact information

Are the phone and fax numbers, mailing and email addresses listed on your site all current? You're obviously losing customers if the phone number has changed.

3. Review your email routing

If you list support@yourdomain.com as the main contact address on your site, is it being routed to the correct person? If your shopping cart sends order information to sales@yourdomain.com, is that going where it needs to go? Make sure your email routing reflects any organizational changes you've had.

4. Review and test your contact forms

If you have contact forms on your site, review them to make sure they work, they're easy to use, and to see if they need to be updated. You might want to start asking people how they found your site or something else that your contact form doesn't ask now. Also, be sure to try to "break" the form. Submit it without the required information and see how understandable the resulting error message is.

5. Review your automated outgoing messages

Do you send an automated confirmation message or receipt after someone orders a product or uses your contact form? If so, review that outgoing automated message to make sure it says what you want it to say, and that it has the right contact information.

6. Update your copyright and/or privacy policy statements

If you have a copyright notice on your site, make sure it's not outdated. If you have a privacy policy, review it to make sure it accurately describes your current policy toward handling your customers' personal information.

7. Test all outgoing links on your web site

Outdated or broken links make your site look stale. It's also a source of frustration for your customers who click on links that don't work. Check all links on your site to make they're accurate and up-to-date. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) offers an online link checker that makes this easy to do.

8. Review the hidden sections of your web site

If you have any password-protected areas, do the passwords need to be changed? If you had staff changes during the year, this might be a good idea. It might be a good idea even if you didn't!

9. Review your domain record

Make sure your domain registrar has current contact information for you. If they don't, you might miss renewal notices and other important announcements about your domain. You might also want to read How to Protect Your Domain, which has some additional things to look for on your domain record.

10. Do an overall review of your web site

This is something you should really be thinking about on a regular basis, but web sites often get ignored in the daily grind of running a small business. Ask yourself: How fresh is the content on my site? Do any pages need to be updated? How does my site look? Is it time for a more professional or modern design? Does my site offer the kind of features or tools that let my customers get what they want when they visit?

Some of these suggestions will only take minutes to complete, while others will be more time-consuming. But no matter how busy you are, checking your web site at least once a year is a resolution worth making ... and keeping.

We've explored usability before, but today, I found a tool that makes website usability testing a snap!

A new app, most appropriately called Five Second Test allows website designers to upload a screen shot of a page, invite participants to view the page for exactly 5 seconds, then type in what they remember from the page.

Take the 5 Second Usability Test now.

Web Usability in a Nutshell

Web usability is an approach to make web sites easy to use for an end-user, without requiring her to have any specialized training. The user should be able to intuitively relate the actions he needs to perform on the web page such as click a link or press of a button.

Isn't Web Usability Only for Large Websites?

For many small businesses, the 5-10 page brochure-style website works just fine, but that doesn't mean you can ignore usability. It's the foundation of treating your customers and prospects well when they visit your website.

With tools like the Five Second Test and a host of articles and resources, there's every reason it's time to polish up your website, get some feedback and make a change for the better.

Here are some web usability resources to get you started.

Web Usability Resources

To learn all more about usability here some additional resources:

• Jakob Nielsen's Alert Box column
• Usability 101
• Top ten mistakes of Web design
• Usable Web is a collection of 786 links and accompanying information about human factors, user interface issues, and usable design specific

Usability Podcasts

• The User Experience Podcast
• Usability Tools Podcast
• DesignCritique

Help Our Development Team

Do a good deed and help our development team improve our design by taking the five second usability test.

Take the 5 Second Usability Test now

Have a Resource You'd Like to Add?

If you're into usability and know of another resource, please add it by leaving a comment below.

David

Sitemaps have been around since the advent of the Web and used primarily as a way to list all the pages on a particular website.

Nowadays, sitemaps have other purposes such as organizing web content by topic, showing the search engines which pages you have created and developing a linking structure that emphasizes specific areas of your website over others.

But just how do you make a sitemap? And, how do you get that sitemap into Google, Yahoo! and MSN? That's today's topic and for the webmasters and entrepreneurs out there, I think this article will be quite refreshing.

TWO FLAVORS OF SITEMAPS

Just as we build web pages with both people and search engines in mind, we should have a similar mind set when building our sitemaps. In short, it's a best practice to create one for people, and another for the search engines.

HTML SITEMAP

First, let's focus on your visitors who will be existing customers, prospective customers, vendors, partners and employees.

Your sitemap provides links to all the most important pages on your website and is organized in a logical manner that makes viewing the sitemap a pleasurable experience.

As a best practice, consider the following when creating your HTML sitemap:

- The file name should be sitemap.html
- Organize your pages by topic or category
- Group all your Registration items together such as links to Sign Up pages, Upgrade pages, Feature & Benefit Comparison charts, Order Forms (PDF) and Purchase pages.
- Group all your Help pages together including your FAQs, Create a Support Ticket, Report a Bug and Feature Requests forms
- Group all your Company pages together such as your About Us page, Contact Us page, Legal and Privacy statements
- Limit the number of categories to 10
- Limit the total number of links of your sitemap to 100
- Include an area for blogs, podcasts and videos
- Link to RSS and XML feeds
- Link to your XML sitemap too

XML SITEMAP

Sitemaps are an easy way for webmasters to inform search engines about pages on their sites that are available for crawling.

In its simplest form, a Sitemap is an XML file that lists URLs for a site along with additional metadata about each URL (when it was last updated, how often it usually changes, and how important it is, relative to other URLs in the site) so that search engines can crawl the site more intelligently.

Sitemaps.org has established the protocol for how to create an XML sitemap that is compliant with Google, Yahoo! and MSN.

Here are some short cuts for creating your own XML sitemap.

Google's Sitemap Generator Program

The Google Sitemap Generator is a Python script that creates a Sitemap for your site using the Sitemap Protocol. This script can create Sitemaps from URL lists, web server directories, or from access logs.

ONLINE SITEMAP GENERATORS

These online sitemap generators create your sitemap free and and produce both plain text and xml versions of your site.

Sitemapspal
PortalApp Generator
Peterz.de (German)
Autositemap
Tarrant.it Sitemap Generator
XML-Sitemaps Generator
Hockeygods Online Sitemap Generator
Nuah Online Generator
Pingoat Sitemap Creator
Node Map Sitemap XML Creation Service
Neuroticweb.com Sitemap Generator
AudiMyPc.com Sitemap Generator
Web-design-pros.ca Sitemap.xml.gz Generator (Java Webstart Application)
Free Sitemap Generator
phpSitemapsNG
ScriptSocket Sitemap Generator
Google Sitemaps XML Validator
Google Sitemaps Information Center
AutoMapIt
Safe Area

SUBMITTING YOUR SITEMAP TO SEARCH ENGINES

Once you've created your sitemap, submit it to Google Webmaster Central, Yahoo Site Explorer and MSN's Live Search Webmaster Center.

HIGHLIGHTS

Remember to create two sitemaps; one for your visitors and the other for the search engines. Keep the HTML version simple and organize the information as succinctly as possible. For the XML version use a sitemap generator to streamline the work then submit it to Google, Yahoo! and MSN so they get updates as soon as you refresh your website with new content.

MORE TIPS?

If you have a tip of your own, add it below by leaving a comment.

If there's one thing I've learned in business it's that the world doesn't wait for anyone.

In this business, while some are slow to change and adopt new technologies and services, others have fully embraced new paradigms such as software as a service, a category that Voices.com would fall into.

The promise of software as a service (SaaS) companies is that they'll be available anytime, anywhere, something that I believe we've delivered on.

In the future, the voice over industry will continue to benefit from embracing this new paradigm with the integration of new services, technologies and web applications designed to improve business performance.

SERVICES

Software as a service will be embraced by not only the community of voice over talents at Voices.com, but also extend to voice coaches, talent agents and radio and television stations, streamlining their business operations making sourcing voice talent, script writers and audio producers easier than ever.

New services will be introduced to enable easier communication, project management, file delivery and payments.

Third-party applications and other partners looking to tap into this thriving area of the Internet will develop new products that tie-in directly to the activities at Voices.com.

MARKETING

As the industry continues to transition from the traditional model, to the online model, creating a strong, positive brand is of utmost importance. "Branding" includes the entire customer experience from how a first-time visitors first impressions through to the perceived value and an organizations ability to deliver on a promise.

Measuring performance will come to the forefront of all parties that participate in the voice over industry. Knowing what to measure and how to measure it are the responsibilities of each business person.

Key performance indicators such number of visitors to a website, or number of new business contacts are vital to evaluating marketing initiatives.

A cost/benefit analysis, in the form of listing the pros and cons often reveal the effectiveness of pursuing particular internet marketing activities, and an exercise that should be repeated when a new opportunity presents itself.

HELP & TRAINING

Graduates from broadcasting schools and new media programs offered by local colleges will be looking for ways to transfer their newly found skills and passion into a career.

To help support this emerging group of individuals, podcasts such as Voice Over Experts will be the first stop for those looking to get educated about voice-overs. Blogs offer fresh ideas and build community as well as point to other online training and offline workshops.

TECHNOLOGY

Advancements in software and online applications has allowed for small and mid-sized business to compete with their larger counterparts. In today's environment, freelance voice talent offer the same quality of product as those recordings produced in multi-million dollar facilities.

Applications such as SourceConnect will become the preferred means of connecting ProTools studios, ultimately replacing ISDN.

MP3, WAV and AIF will prevail as the three standard file formats and more project will require full-quality, uncompressed 24-bit WAV or AIF files for high-definition audio/video projects.

MOBILE

As mobile phones reach true 3G status in North America, online services will introduce mobile alerts, complimenting email alerts for everything from job postings, payments and feedback on completed project.

MAPS

While relationships start online, some people will perform work on-site in the clients recording studio, or connect with clients for in-person meetings.

Location-based tools will help make connections between clients and talent looking to form new business relationships over a cup of coffee.

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

Over the past four years, we've listened to your feedback and applied hundreds of suggestions, recommendations and new ideas. Part of our commitment to continuous improvement, will be a new area of Voices.com dedicated to the development and conversation surrounding new ideas.

To help shape the future of Voices.com, share your opinion today.

How to get involved

Take a moment to complete the Website Usability Survey.

The word "usability" refers to methods for improving ease-of-use during the design process. That's precisely what we aim to do with each quarterly service update.

As we push forward to our most recent set of feature updates, aptly called Spring '08, we're once again reaching out to you for your feedback, recommendations and feature requests.

This time, we've put together a brief survey to help us improve Voices.com and there's no opinion more valuable than yours!

Jakob Nielsen defines usability as "a quality attribute that assesses how easy user interfaces are to use".

Usability is defined by five quality components:

Learnability: How easy is it for users to accomplish basic tasks the first time they encounter the design?
Efficiency: Once users have learned the design, how quickly can they perform tasks?
Memorability: When users return to the design after a period of not using it, how easily can they reestablish proficiency?
Errors: How many errors do users make, how severe are these errors, and how easily can they recover from the errors?
Satisfaction: How pleasant is it to use the design?

Why Usability is Important

On the Web, usability is a necessary condition for survival. If a website is difficult to use, people leave. If the homepage fails to clearly state what a company offers and what users can do on the site, people leave. If users get lost on a website, they leave. If a website's information is hard to read or doesn't answer users' key questions, they leave.

There are plenty of other websites available, we understand this. Having you leave is the first line of defense should you encounter a difficulty.

Identifying Usability Issues Early

To identify a design's most important usability problems, putting together a small group of users has worked well for us in the past. Beta testing is a good way to identify usability issues early.

As you know, we're well past beta in terms of software development. Voices.com has been online for several years and generally received positive feedback on the design. However, it's a good practice to revisit the basics of usability.

Now, it's time to reach out to the entire community to ensure that you aren't running into issues. If you are, let us know.

How Changes Are Made at Voices.com

You may have noticed that from time to time, a link changes here, or a graphic there. This approach is known as "iterative design", and generally accepted as the best way to increase the quality of user experience.

Understand that we value your feedback, so please take a moment to complete the survey. Our team will work hard to apply your suggestions.

Thanks in advance!

News: There was a relatively short outage on Amazon’s S3 storage service a short while ago. Voices.com uses Amazon to host audio demos, but not auditions or files uploaded for SurePay escrow transactions.

Amazon continues to have issues, for more information see the Amazon forum.

In short, there’s little we can do about this outage, however we are monitoring forums, discussion groups and news outlets to inform you once all our servers get back online.

As one person put it, "this is the equivalent of an unexpected snowstorm, it’s completely outside our control."

Some recommended actions for those suffering problems seeing cards or widgets:

a) trying control-shift-reload on the broken page
b) right-clicking on a broken widget, going to “This frame..” and clicking “reload this frame” (firefox only)
c) clearing your cache.

Any or all of these actions may help, but if Amazon’s service is still down at the time of reload, it will remain broken.

We'll keep you updated as the day progresses.

UPDATE

Good news! The Amazon S3 Outage was short lived. From all accounts, this issue has been resolved, and I'm pleased to report that all Voices.com audio files are back online.

Thanks for your understanding.

The India research lab of Google Inc., the company that runs the world’s most popular search engine, is developing a voice-based search feature that allow callers to ask for information on neighborhood restaurants, services and local entertainment.

“For nearly 35% of the population who may never have access to a computer, this (telephone) may be the only way for accessing information,” Prasad Ram, head of Google’s research and development in India, stated at the Computer Society of India conference last week.

Recently, Google launched GOOG-411, a voice-activated service that let's you find nearby businesses by saying where you are and what you're looking for. You can access GOOG-411 from any phone (mobile or land line), in any location, at any time. For free.

The Mint reports that "Previous attempts at building local voice response systems by firms such as HP Labs India, the Bangalore-based research unit of Hewlett-Packard Co., have had limited success. HP Labs tested a voice response system it developed for Indian Railways that allowed callers in cities such as Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata to ask for train arrival and departure timings."

The challenge for Google is that a regular web search produces thousands of matching results, and while most users only scan the first page ( the top 10 results ), an appropriate solution is found easily and quickly.

Voice-based search differs significantly as information relayed back to the user will have to be presented in a more consumable format, such as just page titles being read back to the caller, or perhaps a voting system whereby after a result was selected, the user would be prompted to hit #1 for a "thumbs up" or #2 for "thumbs down".

A voting system would give power to the caller to identify is the results and let Google refine the most popular voice-based search queries.

Can you see performing searches by calling Google?

How would you like the results presented to you?

Add your comments below...

Who is the voice of GOOG-411? Place a free call to Dial (1-800) GOOG-411, make your guess, then find out here.

GOOG 411 Video

How Does GOOG 411 Work?

You don't need a computer, an Internet connection, or even the keypad on your phone or mobile device. GOOG-411 is voice-activated, so you can access it from any phone (mobile or land line), in any location, at any time. For free.

Dial (1-800) GOOG-411. Say where. Say what you're looking for. GOOG-411 will connect you with the business you choose.

So, Who Does The Voice Over for GOOG 411?

When Google is searching, you'll hear a distinctive sound, produced by a human. "We call it the 'biddy-biddy-boop' sound," said Bill Byrne, whose official title at Google (GOOG) is senior voice expert and voice talent for the GOOG 411 service.

Learn more about G00G-411.

Hold on to your hat OpenSocial Developers. Despite all the buzz surrounding OpenSocial, access to the Orkut Sandbox ( your soon-to-be testing ground ) is limited to a handful of developers. But, there's no need to sit idle. Put your name on the waiting list, and then plan your killer OpenSocial app.

Google OpenSocial Review

As you likely have heard, Google has launched OpenSocial that provides a common set of APIs ( Definition: The common code shared among platforms and developers of mini-applications ) for social applications across multiple websites.

Orkut Sandbox

Like you, we're ready to roll, however at this point, our name is on a list of developers who will soon be gaining access to the Orkut Sandbox and all aspects of the OpenSocial APIs. If you are thinking of building an app in the near term, I'd recommend signing up to play in the Orkut Sandbox.

To keep busy this weekend, I found myself reading blogs, watching videos, reviewing spec sheets and API documentation. When the door is open, I'm ready.

Power User Tips for OpenSocial Developers

1. Bookmark the OpenSocial Website
You'll find yourself going back here quite a bit, so you might as well bookmark it now.

2. Catch up on the News
Take 15-30 minutes to read through the news and stories to understand exactly what OpenSocial is. TechCrunch initially broke the story, John Battelle published an early version of the press release and the New York Times give more background.

3. Watch a Video: Google Campfire One

4. Watch Another Video: Canter on OpenSocial and the Starfish
Robert Scoble interviews Mark Canter on the business, technology and politics of OpenSocial.

5. Write Down Your Ideas
Steven Covey says, start with the end in mind, so jot down your ideas and they'll help direct where you're heading. Create a simple plan that defines the W5s and 1H of your application.

• Who will use your application?
• What will it do?
• Where will people find your application?
• When will it be ready?
• Why will it benefit the use?
• How will it be different, more useful, more engaging than other applications?

6. Build a Team
If you're working with a few other developers, bring them up to speed. Let them know your ideas and get them excited. If you need to present your ideas for executive approval, direct them to Jeremiah Owyang's post entitled " Explaining OpenSocial to your Executives" which defines all the jargon and emphasized the business potential of a successful OpenSocial application. Finally, should you be working along, you can skip this step.

7. Review the OpenSocial API Documentation
Time to get your hands dirty. There's not avoiding this one, so better now than when 100,000 other developers have beaten you to the punch. Take your time on the JavaScript API and the OpenSocial Data APIs.

8. Browse over the OpenSocial FAQs
Just in case you missed something, these FAQs cover it all.

9. How To Build Your First OpenSocial Application
Ready to start coding? This article contains code snippets and Read this article gives examples of code snippets and explanations of basic requests using OpenSocial.

10. Get To Know the Best Practices for Design
As Google says, "once you learn the API, this article will help you design an OpenSocial application that will thrive." Check out these 9 tips for designing engaging applications.

11. How To Read and Write Shared Social Data
Learn the basics of storing data using OpenSocial.

12. Build a Mock-Up
Start on paper if you wish, or use your favorite image editor to sketch out a basic design concept.

13. Get Feedback
Show your friends what you've created. Explain to them who will use the app and how it will benefit them. Ask for suggestions to the design, logic and overall usability. Even the people who have little knowledge of social networking, Web 2.0 and the likes will have valuable insight.

Good luck!

Google, on it's quest to organize the world's information, is preparing one of the largest endeavors the Internet has ever seen. It's called Google OpenSocial, and it's their answer to Facebook, the social networking utility.

The is indeed exciting times for the web entrepreneur. While we're focused on delivering a great experience for the community of users at Voices.com, we're always looking for ways to invite more people to get involved, mainly in attracting, educating and facilitating the hiring of professional voice over talent from outside our normal circles of influence.

For this reason, I'm announcing that in the coming months, we'll be pursuing creating a suite of applications for Google OpenSocial.

Already, several other web services have had the opportunity to develop applications. Selected partners include:

- hi5: Ramu Yalamanchi, Founder and CEO
- LinkedIn: Adam Nash, Director of Product
- Ning: Marc Andreesen, Co-founder
- iLike: Ali Partovi, CEO
- Slide: Max Levchin, founder and CEO

Here at Voices.com, our wheels are already turning with several ideas we're confident will be a success, however I'd love to hear from you.

What type of audio-related applications would you like to see built by Voices.com for Google OpenSocial?

Add your comments, ideas and suggestion below.

The Zune, is Microsoft's entry into the portable digital media market. Today's news is that the Zune now supports 1-click podcast subscriptions which makes adding new podcasts easier for Zune owners and also broadens the audience for podcast publishers.

Like the Apple iPod, Microsoft's Zune is a 30 GB digital media player that lets you share sample tracks and pictures from your computer.

To its credit, the Zune does have some very cool features, such as Zune-to-Zune wi-fi connections and a radio AM/FM tuner. If you have a Zune, be sure to explore the Zune Marketplace to add to your multimedia experience.

For those of you who are podcast producers, you can add the new Zune chicklet to your website by selecting from one of these nice icons.

Do you have a Zune? Have you tried the new 1-click podcast subscription yet?

If so, share you experience by leaving a comment below.

With the academic year underway, I'm beginning to see evidence that fall is upon us. Besides the leaves changing color and the back to school sales, months of development is wrapping up and we're ready to show you what we've been working on.

Introducing "Fall '07", the quarterly upgrade to the systems and services available to you at Voices.com.

Search Engine

In this round of exciting new features and design updates, we've placed a strong emphasis on creating an outstanding search experience.

This starts with making it more obvious that anyone ( registered and non-registered users ) can visit Voices.com, type in a keyword and listen to professional voice over talents who match their search query.

How do we do this?

Simple. First, we are updating the look and feel of the "header", the top portion of every page of the website that contains the Voices.com logo, navigation tabs and help links. Yes, there is a search box there now, however many people simply don't see it there. After a few dozen calls from clients asking how they can search for voice talent profiles, we recognized that we needed to change how we presented the search engine. For that reason, the Voices.com search engine is now colored in lime green located prominently at the top of every page.

New Voices.com header for when people are logged out.

New Voices.com header for when people are logged in.

Notice how we've provided options to search:

- All Voices.com
- Male Voices
- Female Voices

There's also a link to the Advanced search page where power users can refine their search query by narrowing the location, category of work, and more.

Search Results

The search results have also received a face-lift. We've extended the area for the voice description, meaning the results display more words so the people searching can learn more about the voice talent they are about to click through to. You'll also see a jumbo-sized Flash audio player. Playing audio from the search results has never been easier. Finally, we'll be adding in category icons, demo titles and your voice-over demo tags to provide even more info for searchers to understand what they'll be hearing before they click the play button.

Voices.com New Search Results

These updates will go live the weekend of September 29, 2007.

Now, it's your turn. What would make the search experience better for you?

Add your comments below to let us know.

If you'd like to test out the new search engine, also leave a comment below and I'll send you a login username and password to our development environment.

David

Today, I'm going to reveal four Facebook applications we've got in development, give a brief description of each one, suggest some uses, and state why we think each is a Facebook killer app.

Before we started building, we defined two criteria that separate the good Facebook apps from the rest. First, the app doesn't take up a lot of space and second, it’s easy to use and share.

So with those in mind, we came up with four Facebook applications that would tie-in with our primary business model, creating professional digital audio.

Voices.com's Facebook Player

Let's jump to it.

Facebook Audio Wall

Description: Audio messages posted on your friend’s wall
Uses: Any Friend-to-Friend type messages
Ideas: Birthday greetings, Thank you messages, Congratulations messages, Come to my party, Come to my event
Recording Method: Call in to a phone number with your cell phone
Audio Limit: 60 seconds
Why it’s a killer app? Works with Facebook mobile m.facebook.com

Facebook Micro Podcasting

Description: Personal messages left for your friends on your Facebook profile
Uses: Any one-to-many type messages
Ideas: I’m having a party, want to come?, I’m going on vacation, It’s a boy!, I’m moving,
Recording Method: Call in to a phone number with your cell phone
Audio Limit: 60 seconds
Why it’s a killer app? “Words represent your intellect. The sound, gesture and movement represent your feelings.” Patricia Fripp

Facebook Podcasting

Description: Group messages left for a group and posted to a Facebook group
Uses: Any one-to-many type messages, targeted for a specific group
Ideas: Posting a recording from a lecture, seminar or other live event
Recording Method: Upload an MP3 file
Audio Limit: 1 hour
Why it’s a killer app? We need an alternative to the iTunes Podcast Directory.

Facebook Audio Ads

Description: Commercials uploaded to the Facebook marketplace when you post a new item.
Uses: Engaging Facebook marketplace visitors with audio to teach, inform and sell using the human voice.
Ideas: Concert promotions, messages from the vendor, sales messages to help sell a product.
Recording Method: Upload an MP3 file
Audio Limit: 5 MB
Why it’s a killer app? The audio ad can be sent to friends, with a link back to the original item, as displayed in the marketplace. Additionally, the audio could be downloaded to a cellphone, iPod or iPhone.

Would you use any of these Facebook applications? Add you comments below and say which ideas you like and which ones still need more work.

Best,

David

Google continues to innovate by simplifying the design of their many web properties. A few weeks back they updated Google Analytics and today, I'm seeing changes to Google News. Google now allows you to view news results by selecting 'Standard Version', 'Text Version' and 'Image Version'.

As with most Internet entrepreneurs, I have a morning routine where I scan several websites to see if and who is writing about us, either through online news outlets or on their blogs. This routine helps me to understand how people are perceiving our brand and also makes me aware of any feedback that needs addressing.

Today, I noticed something different. Google provided three new option for users to read the news. There's 'Standard Version', 'Text Version' and 'Image Version'. Let's take a look at each one.

Google News Standard Version

You'll likely be familiar with the Standard Version as it's the classic Google look, with blended results including text and images.

Google News Text Version

Ideal for handheld devices and now, the iPhone, Text Version displays the news results as only text with hyperlinks. Visually, I could scan the page more quickly and not be distracted with images. For research, Text Version is superior.

Google News Image Version

For a different user experience, try Google News Image Version. Images embedded in the press release are cropped to the standard 100 x 100 pixels with the source of the press release listed below the image, much like a caption.

Even more impressive is the use of AJAX technology to "scroll and read" the headline and summary from the press release associated with the image. There is a purposeful delay after hovering over an image before revealing the headline in the sidebar, which felt good.

Where's the Google News Video Version?

With these new developments, it's not hard to imagine a Video Version of Google news, with 2-5 minute clips of leading news outlets such as CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, FOX News and others. Perhaps they could use the editing skills of the masses at YouTube or allow major news outlets direct access to Google News Video Version.

If you have seen the new Google News versions, add you comments below and say what you liked or disliked about the developments.

Best,

David

Today, Apple announced that it has indeed developed a revolutionary mobile phone, that is operated all with the touch of a finger. That's right, no buttons and no stylus -- it's a true touch-screen.

The much hyped iPhone was introduced by CEO Steve Jobs himself at Mac World 2007, the annual gathering of Mac enthusiasts in San Francisco, California.

According to Apple:

iPhone combines three products — a revolutionary mobile phone, a widescreen iPod with touch controls, and a breakthrough Internet communications device with desktop-class email, web browsing, maps, and searching — into one small and lightweight handheld device. iPhone also introduces an entirely new user interface based on a large multi-touch display and pioneering new software, letting you control everything with just your fingers. So it ushers in an era of software power and sophistication never before seen in a mobile device, completely redefining what you can do on a mobile phone.

A video of the keynote presentation is also available online.

In Steve's speech, he mentioned that Apple had been working on the iPhone for the past 2 1/2 years, which goes to show that innovation at the R&D (research and development) level will eventually reveal great products that stand head-and-shoulders above all others in comparison.

If the past success of the omnipresent iPod is any indication of future success, the Apple iPhone is sure to be a hit.

The principles of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) and Information Architecture (AI) guide industrial designers, software designers as well as web developers. But just what does it all mean, and how can you apply proven practices into your web application design?

It all boils down to the "user experience", that is, the type of experience your web application delivers to those people who use it.

The questions you'll want to ask yourself before designing your web application, and during all stages of the development are:

* Is this useful?
* Is this use-able?
* Is this fun?

With those key questions in mind, our decision on whether or not to include a feature is much easier.

If you've already launched your web application, there's always room for improvement, so let's explore a few concepts that will enhance the user experience and make your customers wanting to return again and again.

As we discuss earlier, your web application should solve a real problem. That problem presents the opportunity for an entrepreneur to offer a solution.

The difference between winning solutions comes down to execution. Execution is how the solution is delivered.

In order to execute well, you'll need to limit your feature list and focus on the core problem that you are solving. These basic features work together to create the core of your web application.

The key to a great user experience is a seamless workflow from one activity to the next.

This notion of a seamless workflow involves the outward aesthetics like the graphical user interface and the functional aesthetics that is how a person clicks from one activity to the next.

By removing any bumps in your design and anticipating what a user would want to see or do next will greatly improve the overall experience.

Great design works well in its context, works well in its culture and does good to the world by promoting human dignity and justice.

Which designs do you consider a great experience?

Leave your comments below.

David

To continue the discussion on entrepreneurship, we'll explore the topic of "intellectual property" and the various forms it takes on. Learn all about patents and why you should apply for a patent for your business.

Forms of Intellectual Property

Patent - Protects how something works; things, workings and methods
Industrial Design ( Design Patent ) - Protects how something looks
Trademark - Protects how something is known in commerce
Copyright - Protects how something is creatively expressed. Literally means the right to copy

Features of a Patent

- Converts an intangible idea into property
- Can be bought, sold or used as collateral
- National jurisdiction
- Time limited monopoly of 20 years from the filing date
- Monopoly excludes others from practicing within that territory

How to Read a Patent
Here is a brief outline of the parts of a patent
- Title, abstract: high level overview
- Background: set out problems in the art and the state of the art
- Summary of Invention: parallels the main claims
- Detailed descriptions and drawings
- Claims - The claims define explicitly the scope of the patent being held
- Ownership - Assignee or applicant field lists corporate owner. If none present, then inventor is owned

The Reasons Why to Get a Patent
Protect invention from others
- Early state, protection from “friends” ( e.g. industrial partners, collaborators, suppliers, customers)
- Later stage, protection from “competitors”
- Attracting funding
credibility and security for financiers
- Marketing cachet (“patent pending”)
on products and promotional material
- Building value in the company
especially as patent family grows around key technologies
Source of licensing revenue
particularly for research companies and institutions

What are your first steps?
- Idea collection
- Many ideas are patentable, however not all ideas are worthwhile
- Need to communicate in standardized way
- Need to decide which to pursue
- Careful forethought

What makes an idea patentable?
In Canada, must be an “...art, process, machine, manufacture or composition of matter...”
Thinking of a “better way”
Must be new, useful and non-obvious
- New: features not disclosed in a single document ( anywhere, anytime )
- Non-obvious: features not disclosure in a combination of documents
- Changes of size, substitute of materials, automation of a known process are typically not patentable

Certain categories of non-patentable subject matter
- computer programs
- algorithms or calculations
- methods of doing business
- algorithms or calculations

Software patents
“software” not patentable per se
Instead: method of doing something using a computer
Focus usually on end-user: care when drafting
Internet methods: international jurisdiction
- Where is software hosted?
- Where is the end user located?
- Where is transaction completed?

Ultimately when deciding whether or not you should file a patent, first ask yourself, "what are the business goals and is it worth pursuing"?

For more information on patents, visit:
www.uspto.gov
ep.espacenet.com
www.cipo.gc.ca

On that note, we'll leave it for today, and pick-up the rest of the discussion tomorrow.

Ever wondered how other developers create their web apps? I've scanned in sketches from the initial development of Voices.com

Seeing as I haven't discovered anywhere else on the web that actually reveals the designers' initial layouts and how their ideas evolved, I though these sketches might be of interest to new developers getting started.

Like with most good ideas, they start with a brainstorm. Stephanie, my partner, and I wrote some notes on a paper napkin. The napkin turned into an entire book where we wrote down all the features and functions that we thought would be important for our future customers.

Web 2.0 App Brainstorm on a Napkin

Next, I organized those thoughts into groups. I tried to limit the groups to around 5 or 6. To avoid feature creep, some of the features were put on the back burner or eliminated completely. The group headings turned into the tab titles. The result was 5 tabs across the top navigation bar, and an "Account & Settings" link, as well as a "Logout" link, located in the top right hand corner.

Features and Functions of our Web App

Before jumping into sketching multiple screens, I split one page into four areas, then photocopied the page about 20 times. This saved me from re-drawing the header and logo multiple times per page. Plus, I felt that each activity on the site should require no more than 4 steps.

Blank Design and Sketch Sheet

The core of our web application surrounded the personal websites of each member. Your website URL would be http://yourname.voices.com . I mapped out a basic page and the fields to be included in the Profile.

Since we would be hosting MP3 files, specifically voice-over demos, we needed a separate area to manage the uploading, downloading, editing and ordering of multimedia files. We call this the 'Studio'.

Uploading, downloading, editing and recording of multimedia files in the Studio

Finally, I put myself in the shoes of a client who was visiting the website to hire a professional to record a podcast commercial. He needed to search for an 'authentic' voice, without getting bogged down in advanced search fields.

Searching by keyword for voice talents at Voices.com

The search results page included the name of the voice talent, description, location, and MP3 demo that would be played using a Flash player. Once the client clicks on the voice talent's name, they can view their website. From there the client can send the talent an email. After the email has been sent, the client lands on a 'thank you' page which provides them with the option to either search again or access different parts of the service.

And here's the live layout of search results and the My Account area.

Polished search result at Voices.com

My Account at Voices.com

Do you follow a similar process? Leave a comment below.

Best,

David

Technorati Tags: web 2.0, Web Applications, Web-Apps, web design, Development, screenshots

So, you have an idea for the next killer Web 2.0 app. That's great, but where do you go from here? Learn how we attack product development and how you can follow a simple and fool-proof system.

The idea for Voices.com emerged 5 years ago when we were a recording studio operating in downtown London. Although work was keeping us busy, we wanted more. We wanted to serve many more customers, reaching out to a global audience. At the same time, we recognized that there are many other recording studios, production houses and freelance voice over talents that could make use of a single destination to promote their services directly to clients in need of voice-overs.

The vision: An online marketplace where anyone with a professional studio, vocal training and experience could create a profile, upload sample MP3 recordings of their voice and audition for voice-over jobs. In turn, the clients could use our search engine to find voice talents by keyword or post jobs requesting that voice talents reply with an cost estimate for the projects.

OK, that's our story, but how did we actually go about taking the idea from the concept stage to an operating business? Here's the answer, in the form of a plan that you can use to start your own Web 2.0 company.

1.The Opportunity
To start you'll need to do some initial planning. Jot down the problem that you are going to solve. This will help you stay focused on your solution.

2. The Solution
Now, brainstorm all the ways you can solve the specific problem or obstacle. There may be more than one solution, and certain solutions may be easier to build than others. Write them all down and elaborate on the steps involved, including first time visitors discovering your company, trying out your web application, and making a purchase.

3. Your Customers
Picture the customers you are going to serve. Even go as far as creating a character sketch. This will help you understand your customers and why they will use your web application. Think of this as your market research. For example, Sally is the creative director at a national advertising agency. She's busy, works on 5 projects at any given time and appreciates quality when she finds it. Her activities are governed by simplicity and likes when things "just work".

4. Understand The Revenue Model
Too many companies start without a clear picture of how they'll make money. Boot-strapping is OK, and is even recommended. With limited financial resources, you'll be forced to make good decisions. Once revenues start coming in the door, you will have developed a sense of discipline in your business spending habits that will ensure future profitability. Common models include; advertising supported, subscription based, pay-per-use and by donation. We'll discuss each of these models in more detail in a future post.

5. Create the User Experience
Before 37Signals came out with their eBook "Getting Real" which I would recommend to any web developer, we had been applying many of the same strategies such as starting with the UI ( User Interface ) and then developing the code to make everything "work". Personally, I'm not a programmer, but I'd like to believe I have an eye for design and can think logically, so creating the UI first was easy to do. With Voices.com, I mapped out the header, the tabs and gave the tabs names. Each tab name represented a different part of the web service. Within each section you could have more options. For example, our "Account & Settings" section includes sub-sections on "Preferences", "Account Details", "Statistics" and "Upgrade Account". By knowing the customer, understanding the specific problem we were going to solve for them, then seeing a sketch on paper, our idea came to life faster than you can say Web 2.0.

6. Develop a Working Model
Create HTML versions of your screens. From there, you can program the back-end to execute the dynamic functions like submitting online forms, uploading files and displaying information pulled from your database.

7. Test, test, test
Once you launch, there's no turning back and first impressions mean everything. With that in mind, you'll want to test your web application on every machine, operating system, browser and Internet connection possible.

8. Provide Outstanding Customer Service & Support
Prepare for a number of questions before you launch. By developing a FAQ ( frequently asked questions ) page you can eliminate answering the same questions over and over. Plus, FAQs can be used to help explain how everything works.

9. Launch Your Web 2.0 Application
Write a press release ( or hire a PR firm ) to craft an announcement introducing your new Web 2.0 application. Email everyone you know to come check it out and ask them the pass along the message to their colleagues. On the day of your official launch, you may be in public beta mode, so people will understand if everything isn't working correctly. The key though, is to answer peoples' questions and listen to their feedback. With many visitors using the application for the first time, they will have a fresh perspective and will think of things you haven't yet considered.

10. Enjoy The Journey
Find something you're passionate about and dedicate your time and resources to making it the best in the industry. The evidence of your hard work will be present in your attention to detail, the visual representation and general user experience. After you've launched, you'll be reflect back on the good times when you were doing the initial development, so enjoy it while it lasts.

This was the story of how we built Voices.com, but it can also be how you build your Web 2.0 application.

Post a comment about your development method.

All the best,

David

Technorati Tags: web 2.0, Web Applications, Web-Apps, web design, Design

In today's "Special Announcement", Apple once again showed it's expertise to create buzz and delivered an outstanding series of products including new versions of the iPod Video, iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle, as well as iTunes. And the most significant of these? I believe it's iTunes 7.

As a Mac fanatic, I wanted to highlight today's release of iTunes 7.

A few weeks back, the news was out that Apple had scheduled a "Special Announcement" for September 12th. Seeing as they had recently launched a new line of iMac computers with duo-core processors, the rumor-mill let it be known that we should be expecting some updates to the infamous iPods.

Today, I logged into various Apple related website to discover that iTunes has been updated. iTunes 7 is now available as a free download for both Mac and PC.

Apple iTunes 7

Probably the most significant feature was the addition of movies, feature films and games that are now available for purchase in the iTunes Store.

With a few free moments this evening, I downloaded the update for iTunes. The download was quick, however Apple took the opportunity to update Quicktime too. In case you didn't notice, you can't download iTunes separately from Quicktime anymore. Nonetheless, the system rebooted and iTunes kicked into gear.

At first glance, the interface is familiar, yet proves to be noticeably easier. The organization of the menu of the left-hand side is more logical, breaking up the "Library" into Music, Movies, TV Shows, Podcasts, Audiobooks and Radio.

Below the the Library, you'll find the Store. Those familiar with the previous version will recall that Apple branded the store as the "iTunes Music Store". Well, it's dropped the "Music" and is now simply "iTunes Store". And, rightly so. iTunes has exceeded nearly everyone's expectations and is the organizing application for multimedia for newbies and hipsters alike. The iTunes Store sells much more than just music. It just makes sense to refine the name.

I also liked how my purchased music was all organized together, and could easily be found below the link to the iTunes Store.

One of the nicest features was the Downloads screen that lets me see which podcasts are updating. After the download completes, the podcasts area adds to the number of to-be-listened-to shows. From the screenshot, it looks like I've got some catching up to do, listening to 454 podcast episodes to be exact.

Apple managed to add some value by offering to Get Album Artwork for those CDs I ripped from my own collection and match them against the iTunes database. This was a nice touch in helping all iTunes users round out their music collection.

My only beef is that being a resident of Canada, I'm unable to access all of the great new content, such as TV Shows and Movies. Not to worry. I believe Apple will remedy the fact that most of the video content is currently unavailable, sooner rather than later.

Overall, I'd give the update a 9/10. Apple continues to innovate, refine and expand one of most useful applications for creative professionals. Nicely done, Apple.

Best,

David

Technorati Tags: itunes, apple, mac , Mac

I've read blog posts by other entrepreneurs and industry critics raising a question. Does the world need another blog? I'd like to refine that question. Does the world need another web 2.0 blog? My short answer is "yes", and here's why.

The Biz, is a different kind of blog. This isn't a commentary on the happenings of the web, nor will I include product reviews or endorse other services.

So what will The Biz be about?

In short, my vision for The Biz will be a blog written by an entrepreneur for entrepreneurs. We'll discuss the various aspects involved with building a web 2.0 company.

In the Business Management category, I'll address business issues relating to strategy, business models and day-to-day operations, while at the same time keeping everything in perspective. Even when it seems as though the sky is falling, I often say, "Listen, it's not as bad as it seems", and it usually never is.

Development is an area that's close to my heart, as it pertains to the development of the web-service itself. Some people may call this product development, but I've learned to approach the development from the notion that we are building a service, and hopefully one that our customers can't live without.

With a product in place, we'll focus our attention on Sales & Marketing, and the most common approaches to generating revenue from web-services, as well as exploring a few unconventional practices too.

Once customers start signing up for your new web-service, you'll need to allocate some time and resources to managing those customers, as well as fielding Service & Support issues. This includes how to create FAQ's, how to address technical support issues, how best to receive feedback, and then what to do about the numerous suggestions that are bound to start rolling in.

After getting your company off the ground, you'll need to consider the prospects of either hiring qualified professionals to round out your team, or seek out partners to help your business grow. All of these posts will fall under the area of Human Resources.

Just like any business plan, this blog will cover the basics on Finance, an often skipped over section that at first glance may not seem interesting, but rest assured, I'll do my best to make creating, analyzing and presenting financial data as enjoyable as possible.

To round out the blog, the over-arching theme is Web 2.0. What is Web 2.0? Well, that will be the discussion of tomorrow's post.

If you have specific questions, post your comments below.

All the best,

David

Technorati Tags: web20, web 2.0, web_2.0, ceo, blog