Remember how excited you were back in the early 90s when you sent your first email?  And then how sophisticated you felt when it was a daily thing with friends and family?  Fast forward to today.  Your inbox is so full of junk that you actually catalog it.  You have special folders for all the junk to be filtered to, and you still see it constantly.  There is no avoiding it.  Email is no longer fun.  Email annoys you.  You've even gone so far to completely avoid email until someone actually tells you face to face that they emailed you.

Now think about social networking and how you got that same buzz when you first created your Facebook account a few years ago.  It was fun at first to see how much weight people from high school had gained and how bald they are now.  You were able to reconnect with some lost friends while still ignoring the ones you always did before.  Your news feed was filled with relevant news about cats and breakfasts.  Ah...Facebook was just right... but that all has changed.

You probably have already realized that all hope for Twitter has been lost to the demons of social marketing.  Every formerly relevant hashtag promotes some product you're not interested in, so you (and I) have stopped using it.  Facebook is now flooded with spammers also, but something can be done.  More on that later.  For example, I get a lot of fake friend requests.  Usually it's from a young "girl" with no info, nothing on "her" wall, and only 1 photo.  After you become friends with them, the social virus takes hold.  You will get viagra offers.  Often.  These kinds of spammers are easy enough to spot and avoid, though.  I received this one today from Helene Heber.  "She" went from 6 friends to 107 friends over the course of a few hours.  Suckers.

The other spammer is a legitimate person who friend-pads and preaches about social marketing.  His/her days are spent social networking ABOUT social marketing.  You know who I'm talking about.  People who have nearly 4000 Facebook friends, 5 real-life friends, and want you to become a fan of EVERYTHING.  The most disturbing trend is that companies are PAYING these people to become a fan of their product and then push it on their so-called "friends".  Advertising is fine.  Pay Facebook for it and let them run it on the right-side column where advertising should go.  Don't let spammers put it in my f'n news feed.  When I see companies there, I can no longer in good conscious buy from them... just like I don't buy my pharmaceuticals from a junk email.

We can't do anything about it though, right?  Wrong.  We can.  At least on Facebook... (again, Twitter died a horrible death).  You could always unfriend any of these spammers immediately and return your news feed to sanity.  But Facebook itself could do something about the problem, because unlike email spam, Facebook spam can be fixed if they are so willing.  Here's how.  If someone suggests I become a fan of something too often, I should be able to report them as a spammer... Or, if they suggest I become a fan of some dog grooming service in New York City, and I live in Indianapolis, I should be able to report them as a spammer.  As more people report, their "spammer score" will increase, and they will slowly disappear from otherwise relevant news feeds around the world.  Maybe there could be a slider bar in my Facebook settings to adjust how much spam I want to see (none, please).  The nice thing about the "social" aspect of social networking is that the group can weigh in and figure things out on their own. 

The whole concept of social marketing is bogus.  If you're going to pay to advertise, please do it responsibly and without tricks.  Don't pay someone to spam for you.  You're only hurting your brand.

FarmVille was the biggest of all emerging web technologies in 2009 partly due to the fact that the rise of FarmVille is the death of Twitter.  It is also the reason that I haven't updated my blog in 15 months.  There literally were no other emerging web technologies.  Don't question me on this.  I'm an expert and its the name of my blog.

Why exactly is FarmVille better for business than Twitter?  I'll sum it up for you... Anyone can have a twitter account and update their status easily while investing very little time or attention.  But is that really the message you want to send to your customers - that you will be investing little time or attention into THEIR NEEDS?  How dumb of you! 

FarmVille, on the other hand, requires lots of time and resources to be successful.  It mirrors real life business.  If a potential customer notices that you have a well maintained farm, they will be more likely to become your FarmVille neighbor.  Mirroring that, they will become a valuable customer in real life and probably give you lots and lots of money.  You can even send your existing customers gifts through FarmVille - something they can actually use - rather than spamming them left and right with yet another worthless retweeted self-promoting Twitter update that is more than likely putting you on their ignore list.  Besides, nothing says warm lead like finding a lost cow. 

There is an article on CNN today asking if twitter has peaked.  FTA:  "They show the site peaked with about 21.2 million visitors in July 2009 and dipped to 19.9 million in December. By contrast, during the same period Facebook grew from about 250 million users to more than 350 million."  Don't forget that Farmville by itself is now bigger than Twitter anyway.

Don't believe that Twitter is dying?  How many real friends do you have on Twitter?  As in friends who aren't self-promoting or retweeting someone else's self-promotion in the hope that that self-promotion retweet will garner them more retweeting self-promoting followers who will do nothing more than fill your feed with retweeted self-promotion?  My guess is 4.  You would only have 4 friends.  And you went to high school with them 10 years ago.  And you really don't care what their cat is up to.

My advice?  Stop tweeting.  Completely.  Don't be lazy.  Don't be crazy.  Drop the bird and buy a herd (of sheep on FarmVille).  BTW, I'm still investigating ways of integrating FarmVille into our very own Marketpath CMS... I'll keep you updated on how that goes.

One of the first things you notice about a website is the color palette. The colors of your site can determine the 'mood' of your site. This is one of the most dominating elements of a website's first impression. The first step in designing a good website is choosing complimentary colors (i.e., colors that get along). We've all seen color swatches at the hardware store offering a small collections of colors that 'go well together.' This is important for setting the mood or theme of a room. Your website is no different. 

The following websites are GREAT resources for finding colors that blend well together:

1. www.colorcombos.com
2. www.colorblender.com
3. www.colorschemer.com
4. www.colourlovers.com

Color is used to evoke emotion. Consider the following examples. Which site is soothing and gives you a sense of warmth and which is loud and gives you a headache?

Well balanced color is essential to consistency and flow in a website. This was the reason we created "strict colors" within Marketpath CMS. With strict colors enabled, website content managers need not worry about matching colors on their own. We add your website's unique palette of colors to the editor so keeping your content consistent is a snap!

Take a look at this URL from newegg.com - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822140118.  Do you have any idea what the product is before you click on it?  Unless you're really good at memorizing item numbers, probably not.  Not only is this URL not attractive to humans, search engines like Google place an emphasis on the URL when looking for keywords.  Walmart is guilty of the same problem.  http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=10290815 is a link to buy dog food, but how would anyone know? 

Based on the URL rewriting work I did for blogging, I'm now applying it to our new e-commerce module - Marketpath StoreFront.  Like blogging, StoreFront will be an add-on for Marketpath CMS.  Our version of the same Walmart page would look like http://www.walmart.com/pets/dogs/dogfood/purina-beneful-healthy-radiance.  Much better.  This will no doubt be a future trend in online stores as it helps redefine SEO for e-commerce.

8/4/2008 - Marketpath will be sponsoring blogINDIANA 2008.  Local bloggers from across Indiana will gather at the IUPUI Campus Center on August 16-17th, 2008, for Blog Indiana 2008, a 2-day blogging and social media conference that aims to promote education, innovation and collaboration among Indiana’s fast-growing blogging community.

Blog Indiana 2008 is a 2-day conference for both experienced and new bloggers alike. Sessions will include topics such as blogging for beginners, using blogs in your business, monetizing your blog, political blogging and more advanced topics. In the past, most blogging and technology-related conferences have either been too expensive or too far out-of-state. Blog Indiana 2008 seeks to bring a low-cost, high-value conference to Hoosier bloggers.

Blogging regularly is a great way to increase search engine visibility and engage website visitors.  Blogging should be easy and yield positive results.  This is why we built a blogging component right into our content management system, Markeptath CMS.

Sign up for the conference now to better leverage blogging and improve you website ROI. 

I got up early on Saturday to stand in line for the Jesus Phone iPhone 3G at the Apple store, and as I'm waiting for the doors to open, I had plenty of time to think.  Of course first and foremost on my mind was calculating how much of my life is spent standing in some type of line.  Everyday I stand in line at lunch.  Sometimes on Fridays and Saturdays I wait for over 30 minutes for a table to open up at St. Elmos Arby's.  I got stuck in traffic this morning for another 20+ minutes because some people dont know how to drive. 

All of this time adds up.  Where is my instant gratification?  Jimmy Johns comes close, but I'm still in a 2 minute line waiting for my delicious Gargantuan.

Thankfully, with Marketpath CMS, there is no waiting.  You don't need someone else to publish the website content you need out NOW.  Click, Edit, Publish. BOOM! Instant Gratification.  Your new changes are live to the world.

7/23/2008 - Marketpath has finished updating their website with a fresh look and clean feel.  The site is now live at http://www.marketpath.com. 

What stands in the way of you updating your website more frequently?  (Lack of) technology, that's what!  Machines should be doing the busy work, not you.  You should be able to freely express your ideas and opinions using tools that make the job easy.  So what are you going to do about it?

Content management used to be in the hands of only the programmers (and the bosses who tell them what to do), but given the right tools for the job, anyone can contribute relevant content to their company's website.  With Marketpath CMS, you can update your site as fast as you can think type.

Skills can vary wildly between human beings.  Some can be bad at both spelling and haircuts yet be great at growing a killer moustache and wearing a bandana.  Some are outstanding at writing code and somehow bad at bowhunting.  Should a lack of programming skills keep you from being able to update your company's website?  No!  You should put the power back in your hands and make things easy with Marketpath CMS. 

Having said that...  Just because anyone can manage content doesn't mean you should let everyone and their brothers have control of your content.  You still need to make sure your content management is in competent hands.  Maybe we'll talk about that problem, and Marketpath's solution to it, next time. 

BTW, yes... the Cardinals are my favorite team, and I realize he is wearing a Cardinals shirt.  Some of us redbird fans can actually spell... Its just a coincidence, I ashure you.

4/24/2008 - Harding Poorman Group, an Indianapolis printing company that specializes in offset printing, printing on plastics, wide-format printing, one-to-one marketing, cd/dvd duplication and mailing/fulfilment services, has chosen Marketpath for website design, search engine optimization and web content management for its seven websites.

The new Harding Poorman Group websites will be completed and live in early June.

4/11/2008 - Marketpath CMS was nominated for Techpoint's Mira Innovation of the Year Award. 

The Innovation of the Year Award is given to the individual, organization, education department, or company that has created an innovative and novel proprietary technology. This product or service must demonstrate potential superiority and sustained viability in an industry, market, or field. This new technology-based product/service must meet a demonstrable, sizable market need and have a commercial application with an identified customer base. This product/service will be an innovative solution that offers a new approach to a product or service.

4/8/2008 - Young Professionals of Central Indiana has chosen Marketpath CMS as their choice for getting the most out of their website.

YPCI's new website is intended to be a tool for both members and YPCI to continue to develop lasting connections in the Central Indiana business community. 
 
Paid members of YPCI will have access to additional features that are not available to non-members, including the ability to edit your profile (including a picture and contact information if you so desire) and to track both upcoming and past YPCI events.  Paid members will also have access to a member directory that includes information about the other members of YPCI (only that which members opt to have shown). 
 
The website also has greater functionality for the Board of YPCI and will allow them to better plan and execute events, as well as collecting information regarding those members who would like to become even more involved in YPCI planning and leadership.
 
For more information on YPCI, check out http://www.ypci.net/.

1/29/2008 - The Indiana University Natatorium launched its new online swim program and summer day camp registration application.  Marketpath provided the application and database programming while the Natatorium used their existing website and a new website for sport camps and summer day camps. 

The IU Natatorium used their own website designers who worked with Marketpath to seamlessly integrate the existing and new designs with the new application.

View Swim Programs and Camps

11/1/2007 - SYSCO Food Services of Indianapolis, LLC (http://www.syscoindy.com) launched a new website designed by Marketpath.  The website provides a new marketing channel to regional clients and prospects and offers a central location for finding event information, market news, employment and great recipes.

SYSCO is using Marketpath CMS to manage website content, documents and images.  This allows them to maintain fresh content and an updated location for company events and news.

Marketpath also built a custom event management application so SYSCO can provide online registration to their clients.

We are proud to have SYSCO as a new customer and look forward to a strong, enduring partnership.

10/18/2007 - Servers Partners, maker of the easy to use office file server FileEngine©(http://www.fileengine.com), has chosen Marketpath CMS to manage their website content.

Marketpath has a strong relationship with Server Partners that has lasted many years.  We build custom applications and more to help Server Partners grow their business more effectively.

8/24/2007 - IUPUI Auxiliary Services has chosen Marketpath CMS as the preferred tool to manage eight of its organizational websites. 

IUPUI Auxiliary Services' business units consist of the IU  Natatorium, Indianapolis Tennis Center, Michael A. Carroll Track & Soccer Stadium, Mail Services, Food Services, Bookstore, University Place Conference Center & Hotel and the National Art Museum of Sport.

IUPUI Auxililary Services is a complex organization that blends business, sport and art to support the educational and cultural needs of the entire campus. By using Marketpath CMS, the Auxiliary business units have the abillity to provide University students and staff with frequent and relevant content updates while maintaining consistent branding across each of their sites.

7/15/2007 - NorthPark Community Credit Union has chosen Marketpath CMS to manage its website (http://www.northparkccu.org).

NorthPark provides a broad range of financial products and services in a professional and friendly environment. Services, products and especiallly rate changes require very frequent updates. By utilizing the benefits of Marketpath CMS, NorthPark is able to make these updates any time of day without the delay and cost of a contracted website developer.

6/14/2007 - Cognitio, a food product research company based in Carmel, Indiana, began using its new web-based survey management tool.  The previous application was built with Microsoft Access 97 and presented continual problems that had become costly and time consuming to fix. 

Marketpath rebuilt the old application into a web-based application utilizing Microsoft ASP.Net and SQL Server 2005.  This provided a solid foundation for usability and reliability and could be used in the office or from remote locations.

Visit http://www.cognitio.us to learn more about Cognitio.

5/30/2007 - Dominion Group, an Indianapolis-based provider of comfortable and affordable housing, launches a new website designed and built by Marketpath, Inc.  The new website incorporates an appealing, modern design with the ability to search for apartments by type and location. 

The Dominion Group website also includes a document management application that enables over 30 apartment communities to share business critical forms and other information.

Visit http://www.dominiongroup.net to learn more about Dominion Group.

5/14/2007 - Alway Development Corporation, a South Bend, IN based custom home builder, launches a new website designed and built by Marketpath, Inc.  The new website highlights two Alway communities, Fernwood and Deer Hollow, and presents detailed information about homes for sale and available models from which to begin the building process.

Alway manages their website with Marketpath CMS, a website content management solution.

Visit http://www.alwaydevelopment.com to learn more about Alway Development Corporation.

4/30/2007 - Indianapolis, IN - Marketpath, Inc., an Indianapolis-based software development firm, has implemented Indy's first full-featured content management solution that offers an easier way to manage websites.

Outdated and stagnant websites are a major ailment for the Internet's business community and Marketpath has the remedy.  With sophisticated tools for editing and publishing website content, Marketpath CMS can lower website maintenance costs and the time to publish by virtually eliminating programmers.

Most website pages are 80% to 90% static information.  Companies can spend $100 per hour or more to keep those pages updated.  The money used for updates could be better spent on custom software development that connects and enhances relationships with customers.  Simple website updates should be left to capable marketing staff using a full-featured content management solution like Marketpath CMS.

Marketpath CMS allows users to manage everything from website pages, headers and footers to documents, images and navigational menus.  Marketpath CMS also provides visitor statistics so users can see what pages are receiving the most visits, where those visitors are originating and where visitors typically abandon the site.

Marketpath CMS not only makes website updates easier and more convenient through its browser based toolset, it also lowers website maintenance costs and decreases the time it takes to deploy those updates.

Click here for more information.....