Cloud computing is one of the fastest-rising technologies on the Web today. There are a number of large businesses and corporations who have already adopted the “cloud” to replace their existing computing platforms – and small businesses aren’t far behind. What is cloud computing and what can it do for you? Simply put, cloud computing is a set of computing resources delivered online. It’s also an emerging model for delivering information technology services, one that offers scalable and virtual resources. (Geek speak alert! Don’t worry; we’ll break it down for you.) The term “cloud” is used as a metaphor for the Internet, which basically serves as a hosting environment for applications like E-mail, productivity, file backup and storage, and more. Previously, all the data and applications of a user were stored and hosted by a hard drive on a computer or a set of servers at the IT department; with cloud computing, there isn’t going to be any need for – Read the full article
Are you ready for 2011? As the Internet transforms, so should you. The rate at which technology evolves only means that, no matter how far along you’ve come with your Internet marketing program, there will always be something new to explore. There’ll always be something new to add to the mix. It is in this light that Lakeshore Branding takes a look at a number of online marketing trends expected to take off next year. We present this hoping that you’ll turn these expectations into opportunities – and the opportunities into tools to drive your business. HTML5: As the next major revision of the HTML standard, HTML5 is expected to emerge next year – and beyond – as that which will change the chemistry of the World Wide Web. Under development for much of the last few years, HTML5 will nonetheless continue to usher in the next generation of web development and programming. It will be supported by more browsers, – Read the full article
There’s a high-potential marketing platform that’s slowly and surely attracting corporations, small business owners, advertisers, and marketers alike. Observers say that this is a big one – an avenue through which one can reach a good portion of billions of consumers. It’s called SMS. You know: text messaging. No, you’re not reading an article from our 1998 archives. This is 2010 all right, but you know what? In the age of tablet computers, flashy apps, smartphones, and social media, SMS marketing has indeed become one of the most viable and important platforms for businesses today. Here are some numbers: An estimated 3.5 billion text messages are sent and received every day. 57 percent of all cell phone subscribers use SMS on a regular basis. According to the New York Times, 97 percent of text messages are opened, and 83 percent of these are opened in less than an hour. Despite the explosive growth of smartphones and mobile technologies like the – Read the full article
Financial and environmental pressures are mounting up on today’s businesses, regardless of size. That probably explains why we’re all moving toward a paperless economy, where nothing that isn’t necessary is printed. (Hey, ink is quite expensive, too!) Not only is this movement a friendly way to reduce our impact on the environment; it’s also a way of streamlining business processes and maximizing the efficiency of our resources. In keeping up with these trends, we here at Lakeshore Branding have been reviewing products, tools, and technologies that are designed to enhance our productivity – online and beyond. In this post we’ll check out DocuSign, which takes paperless technology to another level. DocuSign is an electronic signature service that enables you to send, receive, sign, and manage all kinds of documents electronically – contacts, sales agreements, letters, invoices, financial records, etc. – so that you waste no time or paper getting things done. According to the company’s official website, DocuSign caters mainly – Read the full article
At this day and age it’s not unusual to be using multiple computers at once – one desktop at home, another at the office, a laptop, a tablet computer, even a mobile phone. But it can be quite tiresome to have to back up or synchronize all your folders and files from these computers – regardless of whether you’re using a USB disk, an external hard drive, or a stack of blank CDs. Sure, E-mailing the files to yourself might be a pretty cool idea (since everything is stored online), but when you’ve done it more times than you can take, and when attaching files takes more time than you actually have, it’s a definite sign that you should be looking for a better solution. Enter Dropbox – a service for automatically syncing, storing, and sharing files online. Launched in late 2008 for Windows, Linux, and Mac, Dropbox makes it simple and easy to access your documents from anywhere, from – Read the full article
Before the Internet, businesses used to include their listings in local business directories. Remember the Yellow Pages or the Blue Book? You might think they’re old-fashioned now, but actually this process of finding local businesses simply evolved into online local business listings. Search engines are showing local business results that specify industry specialties with a geographic focus, which are getting more and more precise every single day. And you know what? Local search is poised to become even bigger, thanks to the continued growth of online maps, mobile browsing, local search engines, city guides, online review sites, and geo-location services (like Facebook Check-Ins, Foursquare, Google Places, etc.). Local Search and Local SEO All these make local search or local business SEO a must for your business. Whether you like it or not, you have to get listed. Lakeshore Branding is ready to help. Our team optimizes your local search information and listings, so that when customers conduct a local search, – Read the full article
