2008 In Review: A Website Design Company Begins

The year 2008 was a big one, mostly because it was the first year for us as Five Technology.

We launched in February 2008 with a more specific and enhanced web design and Internet marketing focus then our parent company had provided to date. We benefited from our partnership/ownership with a 13 year old company (Intrcomm), but still had the challenges of a spanking new brand (and domain!).

So for our last blog post of 2008 I thought I’d put together a review for our first year. So here are some of the highlights of our web design firm:

+ Get a name, a logo, design a website

We settled on a name that kept “technology” in it, just like our parent company. We also feel that thanks to our in-house programmers and proprietary content management system that we bring a strong tech backend to our creative interfaces.

The Five Technology logo design process was a fun experience and the official birth of us. As with any start-up or new business, the logo creation is a fun, proud and important process. Once that was pulled together it was a creative flurry to pull together our website and get our blog launched. Hard to believe that we’ve posted over 70 times since then.

+ A creative space to work & meet

It took more sweat than tools, but the Five Technology office came together as a great creative space to meet with clients. The crazy thing is we recently moved to another part of the building, having to clean and rearrange all over again. No matter where in our 100 year old building you put us, we’ll find the right way to hammer out a fun and creative space to work.

+ Who wants some great web design?

As the year closes we are very fortunate to have engaged web design and Internet marketing projects for 36 clients. Each one is very important to us and we’ve approached them all with great passion and strategy. Some have already hit the web and others continue to be in production, but should hatch real soon.

Putting together the right layers of strategy, design, functionality, usability, content and analytics is what I love about this industry. It’ s what makes us tick for sure. We even took a bit of time to kick out an internal project, highlighting great Minnesota Web Design on Websota.com.

+ Connecting, learning & growing

I have blogged since 2005, but getting involved with Twitter has been a connection and energy source like no other. I finally took the plunge and have reaped so many benefits. Great people, great knowledge, great links, great networking and more. On a lighter level, both LinkedIn and Facebook have contributed to our success as well in ’08.

A big thanks to everyone I have connected with online through social media this year. There are too many to thank here but you all been incredible resources, inspiration and more.

On Twitter, you can give me a follow at @AaronWeiche. No doubt this business is all about learning each and every day and my passion for that grows daily. I look forward to even more learning and growing in 2009.

+ Process, structure and all things organized

This is the year I’ve really honed in on structural planning for every client and website. The importance of the project strategy, design structure, layout structure, content structure and usability structure finally became uber clear to me. They all interact and I’ve found with the right structural principles in all these areas you get a website that delivers.

We truly are a partner to our clients.

+ Looking ahead in 2009

No doubt we are expecting some big things at Five and in the world of web design. New clients, new projects and new challenges. This thing called the Internet never sleeps and there will surely be change, innovation, fun and opportunities ahead.

In my 10 plus years of this web stuff, I can’t remember being more excited with what lies ahead.

Thank you to all of our partners, clients and supporters in year one, we are honored to have earned your trust and friendship. We are anxious to flex our web design and development skills, creativity and passion even more in 2009.