Fix Up Your Place

You’re going to need to.  That’s because Google is adding another ground breaking product to it’s arsenal of creepy imaging technology.  Google is announcing Business Photos, a feature that will include interior photos of restaurants, bars, clubs, businesses etc with 360 degree views on a similar platform to Google Maps.  It’ll sure mean a lot to the people who do their “research” before going out.  Crazy stuff.

What is it?

One guy wears your company’s shirt for a day, and does everything in his social media power to unleash mass marketing on the world!  Bam.  That’s the layman’s understanding of iwearyourshirt.com.  It’s been around for some time now, and I was curious as to how it’s model had developed since the initial buzz around its inception.

Some Observations

- The site has a few more dedicated shirt wearers.  That’s more exposure for each company.

- Of course, the more employees, the more it costs to run everything – so expectedly, prices are no longer single digits for early January dates.  Bummer.

- The site layout has become slightly more complex, but still quite simple concept to page execution

- Overall, I’m skeptical that companies will continue to pay for increasing prices when its primarily buzz and traffic that the website produces.  Maybe I’m wrong and it’s actually a bargain, but there seem to be more empty slots than I recall last time I was on the site…

His name is Ramit Sethi, and yes, his blog is all about wealth.  But it’s not simply about money.  His clear-cut advice stems from his own knowledge of psychology and business – finding interesting ways to blend the two together.  But the beauty of his site is that it’s about a holistic life – NOT focused solely on money, but on living well.

So how do we get our minds off the green and start living free?  Check out his articles and book.  You can tell he’s got a sharp mind keen on helping people straighten up issues in their lives.  Simple wisdom for complex times.

Search Queries are no longer limited to Search Engines.  Instead, in a growing trend that sees social media blending with search engine results, Twitter is now growing at an extraordinary rate.  You can see the statistics here.  Although Google still holds a sizable lead, Twitter’s growth is quite notable and demonstrates the reasoning behind Google’s recent +1 implementation, as well as weighting social search results differently.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship are closely related terms.  In the same way that websites are constructed and designed (sometimes poorly), architecture revolves around the tweaking and development of ideas.  In architecture we have the blending of art, design, functionality, and beauty.

So why do so few architecture firms have well-functioning websites?  Here are a few suggestions to help Architecture firms looking to increase their web presence and use social media to their advantage:

1) Blog!  Use your unique voice to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise in your field!  Tell us why certain plans are good or bad.  Tell us your opinion on more famous projects.  Tell us about your dream designs.  Explain features you enjoy and why.  Promote yourself, your brand, your brain!  Create good content directed at a particular niche!

2) Contests!  Have some with the people that read your content.  They’re there because you provide something unique (hopefully).  Provide them with a chance to respond, a chance to demonstrate their knowledge, a reward of some sort for their loyalty!

3) HTML!  Avoid using flash sites.  Although they tend to look better, they don’t rank as well on Google.  If people can’t find you relatively quickly, forget it, they won’t bother searching much longer.  Make it easy for them!  Build links!