The latest technology capturing the public’s eye is “Augmented Reality” (AR), coming soon to a device near you. In essence, it overlays digital information onto a web-connected display. A fun example of this technology is Georgia Tech’s zombie shooter “ARhrrr” in which a mobile device’s camera is pointed at a printed map. Using the special markers on the map and software downloaded to the mobile device, a fully functional video game is overlaid in 3-D on top of the map, in which the object is to shoot zombies.

All well and good, but the savvy marketer will recognize the the opportunity to converge digital information with physical presence. How about projecting “For Sale” information to iPhone users pointing their camera towards a house in a new development? Or allowing mobile users at a conference to point their camera at a name tag and see the wearer’s LinkedIn page?

We are only at the beginning of the process of converging Internet Marketing with the physical world. As more mobile devices support the required software, we could be looking at the start of a golden age in Internet Marketing. At RTP Designs, we are always looking to create unique and compelling experiences that excite people. What AR application would you like to see?

Posted by Paul under Internet Marketing & Internet News & Mobile Marketing & Web Development | No Comments »

This guest post was written by Glen Allsopp, the author of PluginID.

About a year ago, I feared I would struggle to build an audience for my new personal development website.  My fear was solely based on the fact that I had just turned 19.  I simply assumed most people would question my age, and thus, my advice.  After all, I haven’t lived as long as many of you who are reading this right now.

I did, however, manage to break my own limiting beliefs by sharing quality information and using my fresh personal experiences to my advantage.  Just last week a friend from the speakers club I go to came up to me and said, “I love your website, but how do you do it?  Where do you get all of your insight from?  I’m 40 and I haven’t even come to some of these realizations yet.”

At the time, I had to give a quick answer and it probably wasn’t the best advice.  However, now that I’ve had more time to think about it, there are certain principles I follow that have allowed me to generate loads of new ideas and insights in a relatively short timeframe.  I’ve come to realize that ideas don’t tend to just ‘come’ to me, but instead there are clear-cut actions I take to produce them.

For a little boost of creativity and insight, follow these 5 steps.

Think Before You Sleep

Although you may not be aware of it it, even when you’re sleeping your brain continues to process and evaluate your ideas and thoughts.  Throughout history, famous figures like Napoleon have stated that they focus on their problems just before they sleep, and tend to have an answer when they wake up.

As soon as I read about this, I instantly remembered how many times I had solved an issue of mine just minutes after waking up.  The stresses of our daily routine can sometimes get in the way of our creativity, but if we focus on our thoughts, ideas, and insights minutes before bedtime, our subconscious mind will ponder it all while we rest.

Don’t Let Your Beliefs Limit You

I thoroughly believe that at times we stall on executing excellent ideas and solutions simply because we think they are too obvious or too easy.  We think about it too much and convince ourselves that it’s silly or not worth it.  At other times we doubt the fact that we are even capable of coming up with good ideas nobody else has thought of yet.

If you let your beliefs limit you, like I almost did by telling myself that I was too young, then these beliefs will always hold you back.  Realize that you are a unique person with the ability to create and conjure ideas that no human has had before you.

Read Relevant Books

Truth be told, I’ve never been a big reader… at least not until the last year or so.  In the last 12 months I’ve probably read more books than I did during the previous 18 years of my life.  So it’s no coincidence that I’m now coming up with more practical insights than I had in the past.

It’s been said that you can become very knowledgeable about something just by reading 3 quality books on the subject.  Of course, it also helps if you concentrate on reading books that pertain to subjects you have an interest in.  If you enjoy personal development, then two books I highly recommend are Psycho-Cybernetics by Maxwell Maltz and The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.

Remember, humans have been around for thousands of years.  There’s lots of excellent information out there to digest.

Take and Review Notes

I think this is the most important habit of all.  Think of a book or great article that you read in the last year.  My guess is that you can remember some of the key points, but you’ve probably also completely forgotten numerous pages of useful information.  Whenever I read a quality book, I either take notes at the time or go back through it and highlight my favorite points.  I then review these points regularly until I have them ingrained in my mind.

This doesn’t apply to reading only.  You’ll probably find that some of your best ideas come when you are doing something completely unrelated to the idea itself.  In such cases, it’s wise to carry a small notebook or smart phone around with you so you can record your ideas on the go.

My Google Docs account is literally flooded with high quality notes from a number of my favorite authors and my own personal experiences.  I tend to look through these notes when I need inspiration or just to refresh my memory.

Maintain an Open Mind to New Information

If you adopt the position that you know everything about a subject then you’ll obviously never come up with any new insights about it.  Additionally, if you are too shortsighted to see that some of your current beliefs may be mistaken, then you are completely inhibiting your peronal growth potential.

Instead, be open-minded and realize that there will always be more for you to learn.  Of course, you don’t have to accept every new piece of information that comes your way, but at least evaluate it properly before discarding it.

Conclusion

I believe everyone, regardless of age or background, can come up with new ideas and excellent insights.  You just need to know how to harness them.

Glen Allsopp writes for a blog called PluginID on the subject of personal development.  He also teaches people how they can be who they want to be through personality development.

Posted by Paul under Business Management & Internet Marketing | No Comments »

When educating new or current clients on the benefits of social media I often hear “I don’t get Twitter” or “How can Twitter help our business?” After spending some time on the subject, I get most of the point across, but there are still some suspicions present.A case study or real world example always helps, so I am going to share an experience I had with a company that has begun to utilize Twitter to reach out to their customers.

I use @Task, a web based project management tool to keep track of client accounts. While viewing a webinar a couple weeks ago, I logged into my @Task account to check on a few things (yes, I multitask). My Gant Chart screen was acting a little flaky so I sent out a Tweet to see if any of my followers were having the same issue:

I did not get much of a response from my followers, which I expected. What I didn’t expect was to have an @Task representative call me within 3 minutes!

Unfortunately, I was not answering my phone due to my webinar participation but I still appreciated the prompt follow up and concern nevertheless.

The issue ended up being my browser’s fault, not @Task’s.

I even received a follow up Tweet from their Twitter account administrator making sure the problem had been rectified:

That was the icing on the cake. The whole experience made me feel like a valued customer, even though the firm I work for is small compared to many of their clients.

There you have it: real world proof that Twitter is good for your brand and your customers.

Posted by Paul under Internet Marketing & Internet News | No Comments »

As the paradigm of advertising and reader engagement has shifted to the internet, we have seen the fall of many well known print properties such as Vibe and the Seattle Post Intelligencer.  Today, the iconic Readers Digest has announced plans to file for bankruptcy. According to the Wall Street Journal, the publication has “reached an agreement with its lenders on a restructuring plan that it will likely complete under a prepackaged bankruptcy filing in order to reduce its debt.”

The agreement will keep the widely circulated publication alive for now, but the fact that a change in order for them to stay profitable remains.  Unlike other struggling print media, Readers Digest has not truly implemented a more digitally focused approach.

Events like this continue to show the impact online activity has on print media. What does it mean for your business? Consider allocating more of your ad spend to the Internet before your competitors catch on, because when they do, those ad spots will become more costly.

Contact us to learn how we can taking your advertising to the Internet.

Posted by Paul under Internet Marketing & Internet News | No Comments »

An article published by the New York Times 1 shares design techniques that can make or break a website’s success. The article states that Ford recently designed a car which rocketed to the number two spot in European overall sales; it also is their best-selling car for that market for 2009. The design team attributed their success to a psychological profiling technique that leaves focus groups in the dust: customer personification. Before designing the car, the designers created a profile of the target for their new vehicle; in this case, a target individual they named Antonella. This profile captured her likes, dislikes, hobbies, daily activities and attempted to capture her essence. They even went so far as to create a “Day in the Life Of” video and screen-tested several models before selecting one that matched the profile. All before one cup-holder was designed. Why the fuss? According to Ford America’s executive director of design, “Personalizing gives context to the information we have. Sometimes the target demographics are difficult to relate to by, say, a 35-year-old male designer.”

What lessons in web development can be learned from this case study? To answer that, how many times have you conducted a mock web design session with a client, trying to convey the value of a particular color pallette, only to be told “The CEO really likes blue, so we’ll go with blue.” (Cue reader laughter) So, we’ve all been there. The web design session has failed at its outset because the target audience has been misidentified as the client. Time for another example: the web design sessions went smoothly and web development went smoothly using the latest Web 2.0 techniques guaranteed to bring in a young audience, but visitors aren’t converting into customers. Expensive focus groups are brought in and finally the results come back: 25 year-olds have no interest in purchasing the site’s primary product of long-term nursing care insurance. Once again, the target audience has been misidentified, this time relative to the product.

Next time, before sketching the site layout or designing the customer flow, remember to take time with the client to identify the site’s target audience, and get as much detail as possible about that person. When the client finishes giving you the information, press for more. The lesson: spending time upfront can prevent many times more expenditures down the road.

1 PHIL PATTON, Before Creating the Car, Ford Designs the Driver
New York Times, 16 July 2009, sec. Automobiles

Posted by Paul under Business Management & Design | No Comments »