Five Technology is proud to sponsor the Twin Cities Thursday Happy Hour Event on April 15th, 2010 from 5:30pm to 8:30pm.  Join us at Shorewood Bar & Grill in Fridley just off 694 for FREE appetizers, drink specials, networking and talks on mobile web design and mobile marketing.

• Limited space, Register now – FREE

Mobile Web Design & Marketing
I will be giving a short presentation on mobile web design covering the basics of the why, how and some of the technical aspects involved. Delivering information on your business to consumers via their iPhone, Blackberry, Android and even basic cell phones is an exploding area of marketing.

We’ve also invited Lisa Foote, founder of MixMobi to speak on their mobile marketing service that any business can leverage with ease.  Lisa is an expert in the mobile marketing industry and brings knowledge and passion to this exciting topic of mobile coupons, offers and consumer engagement.

Bottom Line: Great People, Free Food, Drinks & Mobile
The Twin Cities Thursday Happy Hour has earned great reputation as a fun and dynamic event.  You can follow them on Twitter at @TCTHURHAPPYHOUR.

You’ll connect with other great Minneapolis & St. Paul area professionals, eat some great food, get one more check-in on your Foursquare account and get some great insight in the mobile web and marketing landscape.

Make sure you reserve your spot and we’ll see you there! Drop us a comment below if we’ll see you on April 15th.

Mobile March was a first time event held in Minneapolis on March 27th.  The event was a day long focus on mobile, offering multiple sessions on mobile marketing, technology, development, apps and more.

It’s no secret the continued rise of mobile in every aspect.  In many ways it is the new darling in marketing, and has the touch of “the Internet 10 years ago”.  Challenges, opportunities and ideas all coming together in this unknown but rapidly evolving space.

Five Technology developer Travis Neiderhiser and myself managed to cover both the business/marketing and development sessions of the event.  The mobile development side offered technical insight, code basics and overall approach for the iPhone, Android, and BlackBerry.

iPhone app development session with Aaron Kardell

The business track offered great looks into consumer mobile objectives, marketing integration and even the types of consumers and their behaviors by mobile device.  On the strategy end of things the thoughts were very general, but that’s what you get with a young medium I guess.

My two favorite sessions of the day were the development session (pic above) that walked through developing an iPhone app and the creative show and tell provided by Jamey Erickson of Seventhsin.  Jamey’s firm has handled mobile projects for the likes of JC Penny’s and others and he shared some great mobile projects and led an open discussion.

It was a solid first time event and it was great to focus on strictly mobile.  Both Travis and I were hoping for a bit more discussion on mobile web design, but hopefully that will happen at future events.

The importance of content online is often summed up in the statement “content is king”. Maybe you have championed this statement for years or maybe you struggle to see how this might be true.

So let’s keep it simple. Here are just a few items to consider with your website content.  Read your content, does it accomplish the items on this simple content checklist?

• Content is what answers questions
• Content is what builds trust
• Content is what educates
• Content is what makes you an expert
• Content is what ranks in Google
• Content is what attracts a link
• Content is what sparks conversation
• Content is what provides clarity
• Content is what makes you different
• Content is what motivates the next click
• Content is what converts a visitor, to a client

Solid content, when combined with a good web design is a dynamic duo. Your content is darn important. In most projects, it’s more important than the design. Don’t forget that.

While creating content that hits upon all of these elements can be a challenge, writing with them in mind is a great start that will put you ahead. While others are writing to “sound cool”, you’ll be creating real value that actually interacts with your website visitors.

Our latest creative work is a logo design for Excel Mechanical of Watertown, Minnesota.  Excel is into making the world of water treatment, plumbing and other mechanical services a better one.

Here is the new logo design.

We’re excited to have worked with Excel Mechanical on a new image for their brand and we’re moving on to redesigning their website next.  You can even give them a follow on Twitter, @excelmech.

Here are some other posts from our past logo design work as well, we currently have 2 other logo designs in the works for clients. Stay tuned!

Make an impact with your email marketing by delivering your content in a custom email design. Your business needs to leverage all of the benefits of email marketing and design is one of those.  Five’s email marketing services offer custom designs, to match your website and branding along with many other features.

Here are two examples of Five Technology clients using custom email designs in their email marketing efforts:

1. Mental Health Association of Minnesota

This non-profit utilizes our email platform for their organizations newsletter as well as special communications to their clients. Our tool allows for multiple custom designs and layouts in one account, you just pick the one you want to use.

2. Rosen Properties

This real estate services firm utilizes custom email delivery to market their properties and communicate with real estate investors.  Rosen switched from Constant Contact to Five’s email offering to gain a custom design and stronger reporting features of their campaign’s performance.

Step Up Your Email Efforts
You can join the ranks of these two, just ask us how.  Our email marketing services are truly a level above many others with a  feature rich offering, backed by our customer service.