C.O.D. Communications

Apparently, some in the Federal government think so. I suspect it’s mostly an issue of ignorance of what open source is. After all, as former Sun CEO Scott McNealy puts it in the article:

“If you think about it, proprietary software is the software equivalent of a planned economy led by a dictators, whereas open source is all about choice, the market economy and multiple competitive players.”

If you can save money by utilizing open source applications in your business, why wouldn’t you look into it?

Ian Lade is wedding DJ serving more upscale and dignified weddings in the DC Metro area. He is not the guy to call if you want a wild and crazy DJ that will overshadow the bride and groom. He wanted a web site that would immediately appeal to the bride or groom that is searching for that more classy approach to running the music at a wedding reception. The site features a Wordpress backend that makes updates and management easy, an integrated Calendar so prospective clients can check availability for their reception date, and random header images on all the pages expect the main index page. All the photography on the site was provided by photographers that work with Ian.

A few months ago a bunch of classic Monty Python material was made freely available on YouTube. Sales of Monty Python DVDs are up a staggering 23,000 % since then.

Monty Python is currently #2 on the Amazon DVD sales chart.

How can you use free content to advance your business goals?

Well before rescue crews or any media got to the scene of today’s plane crash into the Hudson river, eyewitnesses armed with an iPhone were uploading pictures of the event. Reports indicate that everybody on the plane is fine. That pilot deserves some kind of medal if he put a plane down in water with no fatalities to passengers or crew!

Have you considered social media as part of your marketing communications strategy for 2009? If not, what are you waiting for?

Every year we get the columns stating that *this* is the year that Linux takes over. It’s sort of like Charlie Brown and the Lucy with the football. Hope springs eternal.

I’m a huge supporter of open source, and if you business is interested in exploring how you can cut costs and improve productivity with open source software, shoot me an email. However, 2009 will no more be the year of Linux than 2008 was. Linux, or any operating system, is just a tool to help you do something else. That something else might be serving customers, selling widgets, or in my case, designing web sites.

Dark Horse, being volunteer run, depends quite a bit on its web site. It is the primary source of new members for the club. It also serves as a PR tool, highlighting the achievements of club fencers. The header banner is adapted from original artwork provided by a club member. I manage the content and updates for the Dark Horse site.

The Virginia Appaloosa Club had an old site that required somebody to hand edit the HTML anytime it needed an update. So it didn’t get updated often. We redid the site utilizing a publishing system that allows club volunteers to easily update the site through any web browser. We also sourced that awesome photo in the header and secured permission for the club to use it. Prior to the redesign, the club’s site was practically invisible in Google. Now they are #1.

When the girls in Junior Troop 613 bridged over to Cadettes, they wanted a new web site. The redesign features rotating header images and a Wordpress backend that makes it very easy for troop leadership to manage the site without my help. I rarely hear from them.

Original

September 2008 redesign

Horseshues is one of my personal sites, where I keep family, friends, and a surprising number of total strangers updated on my daughter’s equestrian activities. My daughter also sells personalized wedding horseshoes from the site. She is 12. She makes $50 a month from her web site. How much is your site making for you? If you aren’t doing at least as well as my 12 year old daughter you really, really should contact us! (Yes, I did include this specifically to make the point that my 12 year old makes more from her site than most “real” businesses!)

Girl Scout Troop 613 is my daughter’s troop. I built this for them as a communication tool to help keep far flung grandparents and other relatives up to date on what the kids are doing. It has a Movable Type back end, and the troop leadership manages all the content.