This past year has been a great one for Famous Davis. Our staff grew to include both Nick and Jacinda Davis. Famous Davis created Europa, a content management system that allows clients to make updates to their websites if they choose to do so. We also moved to MinnWest Technology Campus, not to make room for our staff and equipment, but rather to accommodate for all of our big ideas. This has definitely been a happy year for us.

Here's wishing you and your business a happy new year!

Famous Davis will be attending the Willmar Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce Gala tonight at the Willmar Conference Center. We are very excited to have the opportunity to be a part of this event and we hope to see you there!

My job as a designer isn't to go crazy and design whatever my heart desires. Chris and Nick's jobs as developers are not to program as many functions and widgets as possible. If you're a client, even if it's your website, it's not all about you. I believe that the single most important thing that someone can do when creating a website is to have the end-user in mind.

It's all about the people who will be accessing the site!

With that said, there's an article that I enjoy that talks about a few of the things that users find annoying about websites. I definitely agree with them. I can't stand Flash intros. They're so easy to click through. Why wait for it to load before accessing the actual website? Flash can be done tastefully in moderation. I also get frustrated with flashing banners, icons, and ads. I most definitely like to design in a manner that will hold users' interests and not scare them away.

What are your website annoyances? Feel free to vent to me.

Sometimes I think I'm an odd bird.  Why?  Because I generally read my junk mail.  Now, I don't devote a lot of time to that (after all, I've got a lot of work to do!)  However, I like to see what kinds of products and services are available, even if I have no intention of buying.

That makes me different than a lot of people.  Junk mail has been around almost since the days of the Pony Express.  People are used to it, and more importantly, they're used to ignoring it.  Yeah, they just pitch it in the trash.  That amazing direct mail campaign you just finished?  90% will can it without so much as a moment of appreciation for your hard work and planning.

But... what if they received a DVD?  Well, that's different.  That's special.  A DVD says "We mean business!"  A video presentation can impart a lot of information in a short amount of time.  It can convey and emotion or a sense of urgency.  It's second best only to being there in person.

The next time you're considering a direct mail campaign, think about including a video.  Either on DVD, or a small attention-grabbing Business Card Video CD.  Please give me a call and we'll kick around a few ideas...