Erich Stauffer

Tag: Indianapolis

  • Why I’m Going to Mixwest 2014

    Mixwest is an Indianapolis marketing, design, and technology convention with speakers and multi-track sessions spread out over two days: July 31-August 1, 2014. I’m going to meet new people and see old friends.

    Mixwest 2014

    I first went to Mixwest in 2011 when it was called “Blog Indiana“. Half of all of the people I follow on Twitter I met at that conference and I continue to keep in touch with them today. It’s any not different than many other conferences you might find in New York, Vegas, Austin, or San Francisco, it’s just that it’s in the Midwest, which makes it closer to me. I’m from around here, but it’s close enough that if you really wanted to come you could drive it in a day from Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, or Kentucky.

    The #Mixwest14 conference has a keynote speaker that opens each day, then there is breakout sessions, lunch, and an evening big speaker again. The first year they had Jay Baer, who I didn’t know of at the time, but have since realized is a pretty big deal in the social world. He lives in Bloomington, Indiana, which is an hour south of Indianapolis.

    You can learn more about the conference on Twitter @mixwest and can follow all of the speakers on the unofficial Mixwest 2014 Speaker Twitter list. If you’re looking to socialize with the tech entrepreneurs, social media pros, and freelance writers around Indianapolis, this is the place to do it.

  • E-Commerce Blueprint

    While this isn’t a technical ‘how-to’ list on how to start an ecommerce company, it’s the top 10 list I’ve developed on how to start an ecommerce company in 2013:

    • Give back – be a socially conscious company with a cause
    • Use keywords in your titles (the most impactful part of SEO)
    • Make it shareable and shareworthy (Gamification/viralness)
    • Write about peoples problems (and how to solve/escape them)
    • Go small within a niche first – build up a “beachhead” then expand
    • Repurpose your content (ex. record you reading a blog post)
    • Build a platform for marketing (ex. a website + social media)
    • Be a real, transparent person (as a opposed to just a company)
    • Don’t worry about anything you can pay for (ex. design elements)
    • Start with the product first, then build out from there #sellfirst

    As I wrote on my Twitter profile, I am “an IT business analyst in Indianapolis specializing in WordPress web design & technology consulting & I’m now building an ecommerce business.” I have decided to document the building of this ecommerce business on this blog and a lot of these ideas have to do with content development, which I have talked about in customer development and how to get more customers. It’s really about creating systems for ecommerce and developing success by management. According to Steve Blank, startups are simply a, “organization formed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model.” An e-commerce business is not a startup because it is already a well-defined business model that is proven and repeatable. The only question is to how you will run your e-commerce business. This is not a search for a new way of making money, but of your way of making money. Essentially it’s a question of how you will run, or manage your business. In other words, it’s a search for your internal business model, or management style, that can be repeated and replicated within your own company (or e-commerce business). This above list on how I choose to run my e-ecommerce business is a glimpse into the how I think an ecommerce business should be ran.

  • Indianapolis Video Surveillance Analysts

    The other day I was in downtown Indianapolis at the Circle Center Mall where I noticed two video surveillance cameras in one of the parking garage escalator areas. This would not have been a big deal, but all one camera was doing was looking at the other. It seemed like perfect fodder for Fail Blog, whose ironic content fits perfectly with Roman poet Juvenal’s famous line, “Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?” from his Satires (Satire VI, lines 347–8), which is literally translated as “Who will guard the guards themselves?” One video surveillance camera had probably just replaced the other without the former being removed, but it still goes to show the value of a good Indianapolis video surveillance analyst.

    Who Will Watch the WatchersThe video surveillance system you choose to purchase and/or update could be purchased on Amazon.com or from a variety of different resellers, but how do you know if it will give you the results you need and how do you know if your IT system can support it? That’s the value that AllThingsIT provides with their Indianapolis video surveillance design services. They have been providing IT networking and video surveillance system support for over 30 years. Their new “Safe Small Towns” initiative is focused on helping small towns and municipality police and fire departments develop and implement video surveillance cameras that give them evidence they can use in court.

    As an IT business analyst myself, I can understand the value of working with a company like AllThingsIT for Indianapolis network management because video surveillance technology changes fast and there are hundreds of different cameras out there – each with their different light sensors and lens types that create a myriad of features. AllThingsIT has the tools to create a turn-key video surveillance solution for your organization that can be proven effective before it’s even installed. If you’re in the market for a new video surveillance system or are looking to upgrade, contact AllThingsIT at 317-755-0200.

  • Indianapolis Video Surveillance Systems

    We recently learned about a video surveillance vendor, AllThingsIT, who provides video surveillance systems and cameras to small towns, municipalities, and businesses in and around Indiana under the brand, “Safe Small Towns”. The idea is that video surveillance systems can help keep small towns safe by providing business owners and police departments with the evidence they need to find and convict criminals. They call this, “civic surveillance”.

    Safe Small Towns’ website talks a lot about educating the consumer on how camera and other technology works and about providing “performance-based work statements”. They seem to really be up on results-based solutions and the primary way they do this is through JPEG 2000 technology, which takes multiple still images to make a video instead of traditional interlaced video. However, the primary value AllThingsIT brings to the table is in their knowledge of not just how to choose the right video camera solution, but how to integrate that solution into your existing computer network.

    AllThingsIT has provided IT network support, video systems, and computer monitoring for a wide variety of corporate and government entities over the years. Their experience with servers, networks, video cameras, and monitoring makes them the ideal video surveillance vendor in the Indianapolis area. Safe Small Towns takes everything AllThingsIT has done with video and wrapped it up into a comprehensive package suitable for small towns, police departments, and other industries in order to offer them specific solutions for their video surveillance needs.

  • What Do Meetups Mean to You?

    Recently, Aaron B. Hockley wrote about, The Dirty Little Secret of Attending Meetups. Aaron states that he doesn’t go to meetups to learn, but “to meet interesting people.” Having written about Meetups extensively in the past, I decided to comment:

    “I go to meetups to learn new things, things that aren’t taught in any class, things that you wouldn’t have learned if you hadn’t been in a group setting to learn them. There are things that happen in group dynamics that don’t happen while reading a blog post on how to do something. But to your point, the people make the difference and if you go to it with that mindset of just wanting to meet interesting people, then learning or networking or anything else is just a bonus on top of that.”

    Unlike Portland, Indianapolis doesn’t have an Instagram meetup, but any photographer could create one. It does have a WordPress meetup – two of them, in fact. Indiana may not be the west coast, but here’s 4 reasons why Indiana entrepreneurs rock.

    Here’s what Meetups mean to me. What do Meetups mean to you?

  • Linking Indiana

    I recently attended a Linking Indiana event where Blake of Blaze Communications gave a presentation on personal branding. Personal branding is to branding what you are to your organization. In other words, if branding is the reputation for your business, then personal branding is your reputation.

    It was raining in Indianapolis and yet the light from the sun was still shining through the clouds, which made for some interesting views of the city. There were also some interesting views discussed after Blake’s presentation when we all sat around discussing possibilities for our personal brands. My favorite was of the IT guy who described his business as fitting like a glove.

  • Indianapolis Marketing

    Indianapolis marketing firm, Erich Stauffer, offers web design, search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, online advertising services to help you get more exposure, gain new customers, and grow your business.

    Erich Stauffer is in the business of helping your business and Erich Stauffer will help you every step of the way. He’s helped businesses from startups to established businesses grow using the multiplying power of the Internet.

    We believe that sharing, transparency, and engagement with current and potential clients is one of the best ways to reduce barriers to using your products and services. We use web technology to get your message across to those seeking it.

    While the Internet is an open playing field, you may be unfamiliar with the terms or all of the new sites, techniques, or jargon. That’s okay. We keep up with that stuff and can explain it all to you when you’re ready. We’re nice like that.

    We know how to market businesses online in Indianapolis. We’ve got clients who rank highly on Google in some of the most competitive categories including dentists, landscapers, and retail. If you’re a local business in Indianapolis, Erich Stauffer can help.

    Our Process

    If you’re interested in learning how Erich Stauffer can help use the power of the Internet to grow your business in the Indianapolis market, call or email us to setup a time to discuss your goals. The first hour of consultation is free at which time we’ll be able to provide a no-obligation, up-front quote on what we believe it would take to achieve your goals.

    Indianapolis marketing projects start at $200 and vary according to your needs. If you’re looking for an outsourced marketing team member who can help you get organized and move in the path of growth, Erich Stauffer is a nice guy who’s been there. He’s led successful projects of varying sizes and would love to help you get started with your project soon.

  • Increasing Productivity In Website Maintenance

    This is a guest post from Robby Slaughter, who runs an Indianapolis consulting firm.

    Hiring a web design company is only one step of the process.  Once you have a new custom website designed that meets your needs, you still have to maintain it.

    Sure, there are many website design companies in Indianapolis (and elsewhere) that you can pay to manage all of your site content and marketing. But that may not be within your budget. For many small businesses, keeping their website current falls on their own shoulders. And with all of the work that you have to do for clients, managing the website may fall by the wayside.

    Ensure You Have a CMS

    One of the benefits of working with a web design firm like Erich Stauffer is their use of a CMS, or content management system, to build your website. A CMS is a software application that lets you edit most of the text and  some of the imagery and layout in your site using point-and-click tools.

    WordPress, which is the CMS I’m using to write this post, is a popular and effective product in this category. I don’t have to worry about coding or technical details in order to add content to the site. I just login and type.

    Get Training on Your CMS

    At first, it may seem like you don’t need training to use a tool like WordPress. It’s similar to a word processor. There’s a box you can type into, and there are buttons at the top that you can use to change formatting or insert pictures.

    However, just like a word processor, you don’t know what you don’t know. There are some incredible features inside every CMS and without training, you probably won’t find out about them.

    Schedule Time To Maintain Your Site

    If you plan to write a new blog post once a week, put an hour aside on your calendar and make an appointment with yourself. Or better yet, reserve a day on your calendar to write blog posts for the next two months. Then use, the scheduling feature of your CMS to parcel the blog posts out over time.

    Don’t know how to schedule posts? Talk to your website design company.

    Create a Guest Login

    This is an incredible productivity secret that will save you time. If you want to have others post on your blog, create a guest account for them. That way, you don’t have to ask them to send their post by email, copy and paste it into WordPress, and deal with formatting issues. Instead, you’ll find out that there’s a new post ready to be reviewed. What could be easier?

    In short, you can actually be more efficient when maintaining your website. Talk to your website design company about your CMS. And if you don’t have one, considering checking with Erich Stauffer about moving to a platform like WordPress.

    Good luck!

  • Why Have a Website?

    What’s the value of a website? What does it do for your business? What’s the point?

    We make websites. We know what they can do and what makes them tick. But what we were unsure of was what problem they were solving. We wanted to know what value websites bring to a business.

    Are they strictly utilitarian? Are they a commodity? Are they something you just have to have?

    We remember a time before the world wide web. We recall relying on the phone book, the library, and recommendations from people you know in order to make decisions on where to shop or go.

    We remember a time when websites were new and [literally] flashy. It was a new medium for your message and the rules hadn’t been written yet. It was the wild west and everything was new.

    It’s been nearly 20 years since the first web page went up. Websites have become more professional, technology has improved, and there are much more rules, but only one that really matters.

    The value of a website is in the information it provides. Remember the “Information Superhighway” and it’s king, Content? The purpose of a website has always been the same: Information.

    So what does this mean for business owners looking to market their business online?

    • Eliminate the Unknown – Make sure your potential customers get the answers to the questions they have about your business to remove any fears (rational or irrational) they have about doing business with you.
    • Tell Who You Are – Customers want to know who they will be dealing with. This includes, but is not limited by the bio in your About page. Use real (not stock) photography whenever possible and let your personality show.
    • Share Your Process – What’s it like interacting with you? What sort of interactions will I have with you? What will it cost? What are you hiding? What’s your motivation? Your website can and should explain all of these things.

      • You may have heard the expression, “Know, trust, buy,” which means that a customer has to know you before they trust you and trust you before they buy from you. Your website can ease and accelerate that process because they’ve already spent a lot of time on your site getting to know your business to the point they trust you enough to call you. This doesn’t mean your website is selling for you, but it is enabling you to sell. Think of it as an advertising brochure that someone is reading at the exact moment when they need your service. That’s the power of the Internet and if your website isn’t responding to a customer looking for services you offer, you’re business is missing out on a huge opportunity.

      Erich Stauffer is an Indianapolis web design firm that uses the power of web technology to grow your business.