Ante Meridiem Design: New York based website development company

5 Feb 2012

Machiavellian Marketing: Don’t Try to be Liked

We live in a world obsessed with liking, friending and sharing. Reputation can be measured by how many people visit our website, friend us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, and comment on our work. Many businesses have started to cultivate their online reputation with aggressive, and somewhat anxious, enthusiasm.

Being “liked” guarantees mediocrity, which, in many cases, is synonymous with failure. The Italian theorist and diplomat Niccolò Machiavelli, who condensed his views on politics in “The Prince,” argued famously that “it is far better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both.” Machiavelli’s advice to the ruling elite in the 16th century is particularly relevant to today’s business owners, the princes of the modern marketplace.

In the chapter “How princes should honour their word,” Machiavelli writes: “In the actions of all men, and especially of princes, where there is no court of appeal, one judges by the result. So let a prince set about the task of conquering and maintaining his state; his methods will always be judged honourable and will be universally praised. The common people are always impressed by appearances and results.”

Consider yourself the Prince of your own business, with Machiavelli as your adviser. He would remind you that people care about two things: how your website looks and whether it gives them the result they are looking for. Don’t try to be liked. The only way to stand out is to be both loved and feared. Customers should depend on your existence, and competitors should fear the power of your influence.

30 Jan 2012

I WANT AN APP FOR MY BUSINESS

A recent article by the BBC states that by 2016 the web economy will double with 80% of internet users accessing the web using a mobile device. At the moment, it seems as though businesses need their own app to keep up in this ever-expanding online marketplace. Is your business missing out if it doesn’t have an app? Well, that depends. Here are 3 questions to ask yourself before you consider building an app for your business:

1. Does it answer a business need?

For some businesses, apps open a valuable channel for communicating with customers. For other businesses, however, apps do not add specific value beyond the website. Banks and restaurants could benefit from having an app because it would develop a more interactive, convenient and efficient connection with the customer. Apps allow you to manage your finances and order lunch on-the-go, saving time and effort. A more unique example would be an app for an educational program that would allow kids to prepare for exams anywhere. Ultimately, if you cannot articulate how an app will generate interest and/or revenue, you are probably better off focusing on your website and social media strategies.

2. Is it worth the price?

Developing an app costs anywhere from ten thousand to over one-hundred thousand dollars, because the process requires a considerable amount of time and expertise. Designers and programmers must create the app for each platform separately. If you want your app to be available on Android and an iPhone, you have to pay for two separate projects. Big companies can afford to risk spending money on an app that yields minimal return, but small businesses must consider carefully whether an app will drive enough business to justify the expense.

3. Are you going to market your app?

Even if your app is well-made and unique in its field, no one will use it if no one knows about it. Although it may be tempting to think that the service speaks for itself, executing a specific marketing plan is the only way your app has any chance of succeeding. Will you create a press package that articulates why your app is unique? Will you give out promo codes to influential people in your industry? Will you advertise the app on your website, Facebook and Twitter pages? The key is to generate enough hype about the app that your audience will market it for you. For a more detailed explanation of how to market your app, read this article. If this kind of plan does not seem realistic, stick to marketing channels that you can manage on a regular basis.

27 Jan 2012

Simplicity: It’s More Complicated Than You Think

Championing “less is more” can go wrong: too much white space, stark typography and hidden navigation is often a recipe for boring, uninviting websites.

Rethinking minimalism as an interactive rather than reductive principle reveals a striking parallel with the current trajectory of web design. Minimalism with a capital M was a controversial movement in art that began in the ‘60s with work such as Tony Smith’s “Die” and Donald Judd’s “Untitled”. Then and now people questioned why a black steel cube or identical stacks of steel rectangles belonged in a museum.

The critic Hal Foster came to Minimalism’s defense, and his argument touches on possibilities that are at the center of web development today. For Foster, the claim that Minimalism was reductive expressed an uneasiness that it “pushed art toward the quotidian, the utilitarian, the nonartistic.” Minimalism shifted meaning from the object itself to the “physical interface with the actual world.” If you have ever walked through the Museum of Modern Art’s sculpture galleries, you know how the cubes and stacks that seem lifeless in theory come alive in person.

How does that translate into web design? User experience has always been important, but now it is the primary ticket to searchability, recognition and ultimate glory on the web. Popular (and somewhat overhyped) terms like responsive design and social media integration indicate the same, simple demand: make beautiful, intuitive websites that give me what I want as quickly as possible. Bold typography, grid frameworks and one-page layouts are some of many tools toward achieving that objective. Minimalism, therefore, is not a trend. Web design is moving in a fundamentally minimalist direction.

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