A few years ago, we built a simple brochure website for an Austin-based client in the construction business.  At that time, we created a geo-targeted Google Adwords campaign aimed at driving qualified leads to the site and converting them into online contacts.

This pay-per-click campaign was quite successful.  For a scant few hundreds of dollars per month the client paid Google for ad clicks, he received enough good leads submitted through the website that the first year, annual  revenue jumped from low six-figures to mid six-figures.  In the second year, the client broke seven figures for the first time ever.

The client had so much new business in the pipeline, it was all he could do to keep up with demand.  It that’s a problem, it’s a good one, right?  Unfortunately though, amid all the activity he neglected to pay his $300 AdWords bill one month and, of course, Google turned his campaign off.  The client figured:  no worries…I’m so busy anyway…

Two years pass.  The client came by our office last week and reports:  business is dead…zero…we’ve got to update the website, buy some radio, tv ads, something…the recession’s taking me under!

Our reply was predictable.  He could pay thousands on a radio spend but it’ll be expensive and hard to measure.  Alternatively, we reminded him how well he was doing with his cost efficient pay-per-click campaign.

We told him:  just pay your bill…turn your ads back on…it’s the epitome of low risk, high reward.

He took our advice.   Over the weekend he got two good sales leads through the site within the first $45 spent.  He’s undeniably great at what he does from there, we’re sure he’ll turn those new leads into business.

Imagine that.

We are getting excited about Google Wave, coming later this year.

What is a wave?
A wave is equal parts conversation and document. People can communicate and work together with richly formatted text, photos, videos, maps, and more.

A wave is shared. Any participant can reply anywhere in the message, edit the content and add participants at any point in the process. Then playback lets anyone rewind the wave to see who said what and when.

A wave is live. With live transmission as you type, participants on a wave can have faster conversations, see edits and interact with extensions in real-time.

There will be a meetup tonight to discuss what this Google Wave thing might mean for Austin and our local tech community.  Come join the discussion!

Went to buy a mattress from a local organic bed manufacturer/retailer this past weekend. Got a fair price, and the mattress and box spring set works great for the guestroom in question…but that is not what this post is about.

What was fun and unexpected during the final transaction was hearing the owner/operator enthuse about his store’s website and what it means for their small business success.

Here’s the back story. He asked us how we happened to hear of them initially, and we replied that we were just driving by the day before and stopped in to see some pricing. Later that night we visited their website and learned all about their business:  how long they’d been around, how they make their mattresses individually to order, why that delivers a better value to their customers, the delivery process, etc. Standard website stuff, but competently done. This gave us a good impression and the next day we returned to the store to make a purchase.

So when the store owner heard we had checked out the website and this was a factor in our decision,  the man actually pumped his fist like he had just holed a long birdie.  He proceeded to share the following anecdotes about business before and after the site:

• Before the “internet happened” they had to compete with everybody else trying to get on TV, radio, or newspapers for expensive advertising time.
• Before, TV mattered most and good ROI was never a given…especially in a bad economy.
• Now, they do no TV which saves them tens of thousands in marketing costs.
• Now, they get qualified leads through organic search results and a well-maintained Google Adwords campaign (pay per click) who bring their undivided attention every day and all night.
• Now, newspaper and radio have slashed their advertising rates and are almost begging them to come back. They’re not interested.
• His dad, still an owner, has been selling beds for over 50 years, and has never known a game-changer like website traffic and pay-per-click advertising for small business.
• 70% of their annual business now comes from website traffic.

It was just really validating to hear this story offered up so freely and randomly…and that it would match so much of what we tell our small business clients about the value of having a strong web presence. I suspect that, for this savvy and adaptable business owner, having a website that converts has insulated his family’s small business from the worst effects of this recession at the very least.  All I really know is there are about ten bed stores in the vicinity of this one, but the owner of this one was making an easy sale on a hot Sunday afternoon that the competition wasn’t making…and his website was a big reason why.

If you’ve ever started a business–and especially if you’ve ever used a laptop computer while starting this business–chances are you’ll appreciate Kirk Ladendorf’s interview with longtime Austin entrepreneur Gary Pankonien. He led the team that developed Compaq Computer Corp.’s industry-first notebook computer many years ago.  He’s kept it moving since.

You have a range of experience in technology ranging from Compaq Computer to several small startups in Austin. How does that help you as CEO of this young company?

After you’ve ridden a few rides – and fallen in enough holes – you learn what to expect.

Many of the issues are second nature. You still have to develop the plan and solve the hard issues, but you learn how to anticipate the next moves. You learn very early that cash flow is almost more important than your mother.

What are the right traits for a technology entrepreneur? Is it technical knowledge, market savvy, organizational discipline or something else?

I think a major trait of being an entrepreneur is being able to wake up in the morning looking forward to the challenges of the day and not knowing if your business is going to live or die.

The unknown is always changing, and how you handle the change usually predicts success.

You have to process a lot of data, usually not a with a complete data set, and make decisions that will significantly impact your future.

What’s fun about running a startup?

The first time you open the mail and see the check from your first sale, it’s a good day.

I once was standing in a checkout line behind two ladies talking about this great company her husband was interviewing with and the future they were looking forward to. She eventually said who it was, and I realized that it was the company our team had built. Yes, we did hire her husband.

We’ve known for some time now that the aggrieved local taxpayer and Austin web professional community’s outcry over reported plans to outsource the City of Austin website redesign to a Californian firm did not fall on deaf ears. Kudos to Austin officials for listening to concerned locals and resetting the project.

Austin Chronicle reporter Wells Dunbar delivers a thorough rundown of the project’s history, priorities, and current trajectory in this week’s issue.  It’s a good read, and the stuff about “crowdsourcing” is just plain cool.  Who knows?  Maybe there’s a scenario where we’d do work on the project, if stars align.

Whatever final form the website redesign takes, it will certainly be an improvement not only over the existing portal but also over what the city was mulling just a few months ago. The balance the city faces is in designing a site that can satisfy not only the tech-savvy crowds of OpenAustin, who have vastly invigorated public discussion of the site, but also the average visitor looking to contact her council member. (As Web tools like social networking, blogging, and the like become more ubiquitous, this gap is already shrinking.) Another component that shouldn’t be overlooked is the original impetus behind the redesign, the push for greater transparency and accountability; the city could get the slickest website in Cyberspace, resplendent with Web 2.0 doodads, but if it isn’t fed more information on permitting, development, and budgeting, it would still be an epic failure.

Read the full article here!

A robust site redesign in Drupal for Austin-based domestic and international professional pet movers PetRelocation.com.

A brand new Drupal site and corporate logo for Austin’s own health, life, disability, and employee benefits experts CuatroBenefits.com.

Great clients to work for and we appreciate the local patronage.

It’s really discouraging to read this news article in the Austin Business Journal yesterday:

The Austin City Council is set to vote this week on awarding a contract to a California company to redesign the city’s Web site.

City staff is recommending Cignex Technologies Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif. be awarded the contract valued at up to $704,088.

The city council authorized staff to begin the process of redesigning the Web site in November 2007. According to background documents from the city, 228 notices were sent out to prospective Web development companies and three proposals were received back, including the one from Cignex.

City Chief of Staff Anthony Snipes said the two other companies that submitted proposals were based in Austin. However, the proposals from those two firms were both over $1.3 million, and one of the companies was later deemed non-compliant.

That’s neither smart nor cool.  In fact, it stinks. Depending on who you believe, that’s from $700K to $1.3 million NOT circulated into the local economy.  Isn’t that taxpayer money?  Are there really no other options represented anywhere the city or state than to outsource this task to California?  We think not.  Looking at the comments generated by this ABJ story, a lot of local folks who care about Austin agree this is a terrible business decision and an even worse message to send to local hardworking professionals.

You can email the mayor and city council to register your opinion here.  They vote tomorrow.

Austin is fortunate to have an economy driven by undeniably thoughtful, educated, honest and creative individuals.  Let’s be sure we keep it that way by supporting hometown talent and professionalism directly with our patronage.  There are so many compelling arguments why we should do so…preserving our culture…maintaining our community…cutting down on transportation cost and waste. But here’s a very simple fact: shopping at locally owned businesses puts three times the dollars into the local economy as it would if you spent the same with a national chain. That’s in good times or bad (and all the more relevant now given the grueling recession we’re all living through).  You’ve heard it said “think globally, act locally.” There might not be a more effective, more inclusive way you can personally help fix the global economy than to support your preferred local vendors.

ENTERMEDIA is a proud member of the Austin Independent Business Alliance and gladly supports, recommends, and serves our fellow Austin area businesses.