11 Apr

Workshop: Intro to Social Media Marketing, April 30 2013

Please join us for a 90-minute introduction to the world of social media as it relates to business and internet marketing.

We’ll introduce you to

Facebook Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest Instagram Yelp and more How these outlets integrate and relate to “The Big Picture”

Where AS Designs & Services offices 308 Kamehameha Ave., Suite 115  |  Map

When April 30, 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Who Anyone who wants to learn the basics of social media for business and internet marketing.

Cost: Free

Your Instructors: Cymber Lily Quinn, Ian Hatch, Taryn Wong Fowler – AS Designs & Services

To register for this class, please go to our Workshop Registration Page >>

* NOTE:  We will be broadcasting this workshop LIVE to the web.  You can watch and/or participate from your computer if you are unable to come in person. Please register for more instructions. Workshop Registration >>

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02 Apr

Keep It Simple: Tell Your Company Story Like A Children’s Story

We really enjoyed Michael Brito’s blog post, suggesting that content strategy should be as simple to communicate as a children’s story.  This is where Internet Marketing and Design meet to tell a story…which is the first step towards properly engaging your audience.

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I used to read “Love You Forever” to both of my girls when they were little. Even thinking about it today, I still get choked up. It’s really a heartfelt story.  What I remember the most about it is that it uses imagery to tell a very significant story (as with most children’s books). The story is about a mother’s unconditional love for her son; and then chronicles her son’s life growing to an adult and starting his own family. The sad conclusion shows how he reciprocates his love to his mother who has grown to be an elderly woman. There are just a few sentences on each page but the story and illustration is powerful and you can even follow along without even reading the text.

This is …

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28 Mar

New Smartphone App Makes Finding Rentals Easy

HILO, HAWAII – March 27, 2013 – Finding a rental on the Island of Hawai’i just got a lot easier. Day-Lum Rentals, the largest property management company on the Big Island, has launched a new app for the iPhone and iPad to help renters find their new home faster.

Developed by “yours truly” The AS Designs & Services NEW Mobile Application Development Team, the new app allows renters to see what listings Day-Lum has available at any given time. These are the same listings that are available on Day-Lum’s rental web site.

“We love the new app,” says Nancy Cabral, owner of Day-Lum Rentals. “We are thrilled to be able to give the properties we manage much greater exposure and accessibility to all potential clients around the world via our new Day-Lum app!”

Map-Based Rental Listings The easy-to-use intuitive interface works like most other iPhone and iPad apps. Users touch the screen to view the rental listings in various different ways. An interactive map of the area shows push-pins that allow the user to click and see more information …

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28 Mar
outsource socialmedia and internet marketing

Want to Outsource Your Social Media?

SocialNicole explains all you need to know when choosing an agency to outsource your social media:

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Social media is not going away and for businesses it is not good strategy to simply ignore this communication tool. You wouldn’t ignore your telephone would you? Nope. So why would you ignore the most rapidly growing communication method – a method that allows your customers to not only connect with you, but to connect with others? Simply put, businesses who want to be around in 5-10 years must start engaging in social media and figuring out how to use it as an effective communication tool and marketing medium.

Many small and mid-sized businesses have set up a social presence. They have presences on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and possibly even YouTube. But it’s obvious that many of these businesses do not have the time or the knowledge to utilize these tools effectively in their marketing.

Does this scenario sound like you? If so, outsourcing may be the right choice.  Last week, we led you through how to make this decision.

If you …

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11 Mar
Know your audience when writing

Help! What Do I Write About On My Blog?

Just the other day, one of our clients asked a great question: “What’s a blog for?”

A blog is a special web page that’s a regular way to share current news and events. You can think of it as an on-going magazine or newsletter. Your blog lists articles in order of publication date. Ideally, you should add content two to four times per month, but you can write more often than that if you have more news.

Business-to-Business Blogs

Blogs are great place to share industry news. If you run a B2B (business-to-business) company such as a consultancy, you can write about:

important legislation affecting your industry new methodologies interesting conferences talks or classes you are giving educational articles (like this one)

Retail Blogs

If you own a retail business such as a restaurant or store, blogs are great places to announce things like:

drink specials contests, giveaways new menu items special events art openings changes in hours holiday events music events

Personal Blogs

It’s always nice to have a personal note from the business and/or staff now and then. …

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11 Mar
Hilo web design, internet marketing, logo, branding

Instagram Best Practices for Brands

As of February 26, 2013 Instagram reached 100 million active monthly users, after gaining 10 million users in one month!  Instagram is now one of fastest growing mega social media networks, and being an active user is as simple as snapping a photo on your smart phone.

Besides the personal aspect, Instagram is a great social media tool for businesses to share their products, food, store, employees, anything! Photos are easy, fun, and have the ability to entice potential customers into your establishments.

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In Part 1, ‘Secrets from an Instagram Power User: How @missyhelly got 51k Followers’ we interviewed HootSuite’s Mobile Designer, Helen Park on her best practices for Instagram users. “I’m amazed at the lack of engagement by brands for their customers in social,” says Helen. Over the last few years, Instagram has proven itself as a tool that allows celebrities, bloggers and youth-focused brands to effectively reach today’s audience. But are top brands “bringing it” to the same extent as these power users?

…

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10 Jan

Hilo Web Design at the 2012 Hawaii Social Media Summit

This year’s 3rd annual Hawaii Social Media Summit was held at the Neal Blaisdell Center on Oahu October 17, 2012.  This event was part of the Technology Expo for Business and Consumers.

The Social Media Summit shared the best practices and insights on developing and implementing large-scale social marketing and advertising strategy. This year’s event focused on the latest in social media trends, with speaking sessions by several of the nation’s most talented social media experts, including two of the social media gurus from Forbes’ list of the Top 50 Social Media Power Influencers, Mike O’Neil, and Lori Ruff.

Hilo Web Design’s own writer, blogger, and eMarketer Taryn got to attend the summit and soaked in one action packed day of all things social media.  She attended seminars such as: How to Lose a Fan in 10 days by Trey Takahashi from the Hawaii Social Media Training Institute, Twitter 201 by Susan Tenby, and Social Media Campaigning by Asiana Ponciano the Social Media Marketing Manager from Hawaiian Airlines.

This was a great place to learn, network, and compare notes with some of the social media leaders in Hawaii.  Hilo …

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01 Jan

WordPress Web Hosting

We have recently setup new hosting servers in a super secret off-site location.  We put these hosting servers together with one thing in mind, “to meet the ever growing demands of the WordPress website.”

We will be migrating our existing clients to our new hosting servers over the course of the next few months.  So, if you notice that your website is performing BETTER then ever then you will know why!

Contact us for more information on this process.  There should be no downtime during this transition period.  Please don’t hesitate to call our support line at anytime with questions at:  (808) 933-4004

Even the Data Center is AWESOME!!!

Data Center Specifications (for the dorks):

Power Feeds: Twelve, featuring N+2 transformers Water Reserve: 80,000-gallon water tank Power Redundancy: 2N and N+1 with 12 UPS systems and 10 diesel generators HVAC Cooling: 4500-ton cooling tower capacity with N+1 redundancy Surveillance: Multiple 360-degree cameras with 10x zoom. 30-day tape storage Physical Security: On-site 24/7/365. Biometric hand scan required SAS 70 Cert:Type II Certification

Click Here to Signup.

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17 Aug

SEO & Social Media

GOOD CONTENT IS THE KEY:

The interactive exchanges that people have with each other, with the brand, and online are happening now in the social media channel.  The search engines are placing more importance on how these conversations influence their views on brands and how websites should rank.

This means that a brand can no longer rely on a well-optimized website to earn Google’s attention. A brand must be a conversationalist, going where the people are and engaging them in discussion, and by doing that earn a wonderful reputation.

Smart brands are doing this by fully leveraging each social channels particular properties.

Click Here to Read Full Article

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13 Jun

New Domain Name Extensions

Brands Set For Domain Name WAR

By

The Internet’s naming system is getting a glut of additions in an expansion that is by far the biggest such move by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the nonprofit that manages the nomenclature. Last June, the organization formally approved the expansion and started the application process for new generic top-level domains or the .com-like part of a website’s address.

It received 1,930 proposals for new domain names, with applicants including JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM), Wal-Mart Stores (NYSE:WMT), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), and Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX). Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) submitted applications for 76 gTLDs, including .read, .store, .music, .fire, .cloud, .news and .pay, while Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) applied for 101.

According to ICANN, the program may result in hundreds more additions, including generic terms such as .book and .love.

“This is a historic day for the Internet and the more than 2 billion people who use it,” ICANN chief executive Rod Beckstrom said during the webcast …

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