I am teaching another free class on how to boost your web traffic through paid and organic search traffic at the Pleasure Island Chamber of Commerce located in Carolina Beach on Wednesday 9/17 from 6-8:30 pm.

The class is for anyone who wants to drive more traffic to their web site through paid (cost per click) or free (organic) searches. You will learn the basics and some advanced tips on search engine optimization and building links and how to track your website traffic.

This is the same class I have taught at CFCC. Read more about it after the jump.

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North Carolina Biotechnology Center

North Carolina Biotechnology Center’s President and Chief Executive Officer Norris Tolson and Southeastern Office Director Randall Johnson, spoke on how biotechnology drives North Carolina’s economic development at  the Brunswick County Entrepreneurship Conference held on April 10th and 11th in Sunset Beach, N.C.  Some of the topics discussed were expanding the production of natural products, growing algae to produce biodiesel, marine fish farming and practical applications of marine biotechnology.   According to Johnson, entrepreneurship, expanding existing business and recruitment are three equally important components to economic development.

“The key is to start the business here and it will grow. The big question is how to move the ideas from the mind to the marketplace‚” said Johnson.

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Verizon Wireless

Verizon Wireless’ Wilmington call center is expanding and will hire 150 new full-time customer service professionals as part of its plan to expand its operation and support increased demand for its wireless products and services.  The company plans to hire approximately twenty-five new employees per month through November 2008.  Verizon Wireless currently employees more than 1200 people in the Wilmington area in their customer service, information technology, training and financial services departments; it also has two full-time employees and two interns in the fitness center.

“Our customer service team helps us deliver on our commitment to provide an exceptional experience for our existing customers and the new ones we plan to add this year nationwide,” said Human Resources Manager Rob Clayton. “We have been very pleased with the talent pool in Wilmington.”

Clayton also commented that he started eleven years ago as a customer service representative and has since advanced to his current position in management.

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I am teaching a class on how to boost your web traffic through paid and organic search traffic at Wilmington, NC’s Cape Fear Community College on Tuesday Mar. 25th from 6:00pm to 8:30pm.

The class is for anyone who wants to drive more traffic to their web site through paid (cost per click) or free (organic) searches. You will learn the basics and some advanced tips on search engine optimization and building links and how to track your website traffic.

Topics:

• Basics of Google Adwords Advertising Program
• Setting up your first campaign
• Writing effective ads
• Tracking your success; ROI, CPC, and more
• Basics of Search Engine Optimization
• The 4 elements of SEO
• How to build traffic through inbound links
• Tips and Tricks
• Intro to Google Webmaster Tools

The Class is Free

This is the second time I will be teaching this specific class, and I was well attended last time, so you must register before hand.

Visit www.cfcc.edu/sbc/ for more information.

Registration Information after the jump.

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McKim & Creed wins design award for website.

McKim & Creed, a engineering firm, started in Wilmington, with an office in downtown Wilmington, won the 2007 Construction Writer’s Association (CWA) for best website.   CWA a non-profit organization for professional journalists, writers, editors, and publicists serving the the construction industry and presented a total of  three national awards this year for electronic communications. Web sites are judged on criteria such as quality of content, overall design and use of innovative and accessible technology.

The number one challenge for this industry is hiring and retaining good people and this site helps attract quality employees, especially recent graduates,  said Pete Kienle, Chief Marketing Officer McKim & Creed and past national president for the Society for Marketing Professional Services.  Kienle stated that the firm has put a greater emphasis on their online presence than most of their competitors and that more employees are increasingly using the web to research employment.

“Most firms in this industry would not have spent as much money and time on their website but we felt it was money well spent, the owners are thrilled to death,” said Kienle.

The firms has also hired a full time person to administer the site and create a company intranet and used video of staff throughout the site.

The website (www.mckimcreed.com), launched in July 2007 and was built by Signal, a design, marketing, and technology firm with offices in Wilmington and Raleigh. The website includes a custom-built content management system that enables McKim & Creed staff  to update key portions, add pages and content to the site, said Bryan Kristof, Director of Marketing for Signal.   “McKim & Creed was easy to work with because they already understood the design and construction process.”   Since the award, there has been “huge activity” on the site, said Kienle.

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Since being featured in the November issue of the GWB, Trend Funnel, a web based software program that organizes home furnishings, flooring, paint and accessories by style and trend, has been accepted in Piedmont Triad Entrepreneurial (PTEN) 2007-2008 Growth Accelerator Program (GAP) competition.  Trend Funnel is one of sixteen finalists who will receive a scholarship to PTEN’s FastTrac Tech Course, a 10-session training program. The classes are followed by a business-plan competition and an announcement of the top three GAP winners will take place by May.

Cofounder Mary Elizabeth Beal, an Allied Member of the American Society of Interior Designers, will be participating in the classes since she is based in the Greensboro area.   “We are excited about the program and believe it will help solidify and refine our business plan and identify ways to grow the business on a much faster track,” said cofounder Thera Storm, who lives in Wilmington. According to Storm, since being featured in the “pitch” section,  the company has seen an increase in interest in the idea but have not secured funding.   The site is live and in the second beta phase, increasing in membership and  the company is starting to work with key groups; REALTORS, builders and sponsored marketing partners.  The next step is to work with a group of UNCW entrepreneurial students to test the software and offer new ideas.  Storm said they are analyzing the data that is coming through the software to see how target groups utilize the application. “Right now the number one goal is to raise $150,000 and then six months later an additional $500,000,” said Storm.

I am still testing out OS X 10.5, and in the process need to ensure that once I convert my laptop I will still be able to sync my Nokia E70 with it.Out of the box, OS X 10.5 does not sync, but a simple install of the official Nokia iSync plugins adds the functionality back.  So far the calendars, contacts and todos sync without any big problems.

One todo from the phone, that was set to not have a due date, was imported with a 2015 date, but that is not a real issue.

• Download the iSync plugin from Nokia.
• Install it
• Relaunch iSync

This should work with any of the phones listed on that page.   

While there is no statistical evidence that zombie outbreaks increase around Halloween, you can never be too careful. The following are some links and resources to get you prepared for the season.

Emergency Zombie Defense Station

You can never be too prepared. Learn how to build this important toolkit. Read more here.

The Zombie Handbook By Max Brooks

“The Zombie Survival Guide is your key to survival against the hordes of undead who may be stalking you right now. Fully illustrated and exhaustively comprehensive, this book covers everything you need to know, including how to understand zombie physiology and behavior, the most effective defense tactics and weaponry, ways to outfit your home for a long siege, and how to survive and adapt in any territory or terrain.” from Amazon

Top 10 Lessons for Surviving a Zombie Attack

1. Organize before they rise!
2. They feel no fear, why should you?
3. Use your head: cut off theirs.
4. Blades don’t need reloading.
5. Ideal protection = tight clothes, short hair.
6. Get up the staircase, then destroy it.
7. Get out of the car, get onto the bike.
8. Keep moving, keep low, keep quiet, keep alert!
9. No place is safe, only safer.
10. The zombie may be gone, but the threat lives on.

Video after the break.

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“In April 2007, A List Apart and An Event Apart conducted a survey of people who make websites. Close to 33,000 web professionals answered the survey’s 37 questions, providing the first data ever collected on the business of web design and development as practiced in the U.S. and worldwide.”

This is an exhaustive survey of who makes websites, including Project Managers, Webmasters, Developers and Creative Directors .

Some interesting results:

• 72.5% have their own blog.
• 46.5% had a field of study unrelated to current web work.
• 32.2% have only been in their current job 1 year or less.
• Project Managers had the highest job satisfaction (51.6%), Webmasters, lowest (40.3%)

View results here http://www.alistapart.com/articles/2007surveyresults

On Wednesday night, I traveled to Chapel Hill to get a head start on the drive to CED’s annual Tech Conference. The conference was great, but that is another story. While sitting in a friend’s yard, we were interrupted by the Carrboro police looking for someone who had called 911.

My friend Blake Watters, knew immediately it was him. His Blackberry 8820 has a great feature, it allows your to accidentally call 911 while the phone is locked.  When in key lock mode, you get three options:

1. Unlock Phone
2. Emergency Call
3. Cancel

I guess some brain trust at RIM decided that instead of accidentally calling your brother or mother-in-law and leaving a garbled message on their voicemail, your phone should be able to accidentally call the police by sitting on your phone.

The best part is that since the 911 dispatcher has access to the triangulation information from the cell towers, they are able to find your withing a couple of hundred feet. The officers were understanding but I could imagine a time when they would not be so interested to learn about the technical reason you made a call to 911.

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