Sitewire

Did You Know?

Southwest Airlines was leagues ahead of the pack when it launched its branded desktop application (BDA), Southwest Ding, about two years ago. BDA's are now one of the hottest and most bleeding edge technologies companies employ to increase exposure, reach, frequency and conversions directly from a user's desktop. Southwest Ding sits on more than a million desktops and this free BDA directly drove more than $60 million dollars in sales in one year! Other smart business leaders like Coke, Target, VW, iTunes, NBC, and SupplyFrame are in the game and using BDA's to their marketing advantage. Is a BDA right for your business? Check out YahooWidgets for more information and a frenzy of free BDA's!

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Featured Client - SupplyFrame

SupplyFrame is a vertical search engine for engineers and buyers searching for information about millions of electronic components. SupplyFrame delivers information and tools to people who rely on up-to-date pricing, lead time, crosses, and trends to make electronic component sourcing decisions. This information is delivered together with easy, powerful tools to quote, analyze and communicate with partners.

SupplyFrame reduces materials costs and creates business efficiencies by making it easier to get fast quotes on components and quickly compare them against each other to identify the supplier that best fits the buyer's needs. The SupplyFrame components sourcing online tool also saves time for buyers and suppliers, making quoting and analysis fast and eliminating work previously done on spreadsheets or other inefficient mediums.

In February 2007, SupplyFrame launched its GoPart electronic component search engine widget. This free branded desktop application (BDA) lets design engineers and buyers instantly find the most current available facts about millions of electronic components in real-time, from their desktops. The free search widget is available here and can be easily installed by the user onto their desktop.

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Ask the Experts

Ask the Experts is the answer to all of your marketing questions. Submit your question today and get a valuable answer from one of the bright and innovative minds at Sitewire. Ask us about anything - search engine marketing, podcasts, RSS, user interface analysis, copywriting, design - the sky is the limit!

Submit your question today and watch for the answer in our monthly newsletters.

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Back to Basics

Sometimes Innovation Means Going "Back to Basics"
- Scott Kaufmann

It seems that every time I turn around there is a new "bleeding edge" product or technology promising to change the world. Most don't. However, occasionally an innovation gains widespread public adoption and actually does "change the world" in some way. So what is different about those few technological innovations that actually earn mainstream adoption? Maybe it's less about the product, and more about the problem the product is solving, or better yet, about how the product goes about solving the problem. Technology like ChaCha and the iPhone are expanding the realm of innovation, but are doing so by starting with the basics. The aim of both of these technologically complex offerings is nothing more than providing a solution to a very simple problem.

Apple, one of the greatest corporate turn-around stories of the last decade, has fully embraced the concept of solving a simple problem with a simple solution. Everything Apple produces is "simple" to use. It may be hard to remember, but think back a few years ago before the iPod. Portable music had two primary offerings; Tape or CD. Both options had very unique problems. Tapes were cumbersome, slow and not user friendly. CD's skipped and scratched. When a new media (digital music) entered the market, it had the advantage of being capable of storage on a small device that would not scratch or skip and could skip tracks instantly. The problem was that each device that came out was more and more difficult to use, so many people found it time consuming and confusing to get music (legally or illegally) onto these devices and then play them back. Apple took the issue and brought it back to the basics with the iPod and iTunes. There isn't anything breathtaking about this product and it certainly was not the first in the industry. However, the iPod is extremely simple to use with a plug-and-sync interface and simple touch-wheel design. The result was a category killer that still dominates the market for portable music players.

Apple's upcoming iPhone leverages the same fundamental concept. Consumers have cell phones, digital cameras, laptops, PDA's and iPods. Carrying all of these around has become burdensome and awkward in most situations. A few devices have attempted to roll the functionality of these gadgets into one product. However, most of these devices have had one common problem - difficulty of use. The iPhone seeks to offer consumers full browser web surfing, genuine iPod functionality, PDA functionality and a fully practical cell phone; all housed in a simple use touch-screen product with an elegant shell. I'm not sure this device will capture a market share comparable to the iPod, but it will undoubtedly make a mark on the industry, leaving competitors scrambling to create a rival product. Once again, Apple is seeking to reinvent a category by taking simple problems and providing a simple solution, regardless of how complex the technology under the hood is.

Prior to the internet we relied on the yellow pages, a library, an atlas or even the telephone operator to answer a question. A new service called ChaCha, when boiled down is little more than an operator with access to Google. ChaCha is a "human powered" search engine that delivers answers in 15 to 30 seconds. The value proposition goes something like this - a user picks up the phone, calls ChaCha (for free) and a live operator (30,000 are currently employed) will take your call, do a search (presumably on a search engine similar to Google) and relay the answer to you. In the 15 to 30 seconds that it takes the operator to find your answer, an audio advertisement will play on your phone. These ads provide the revenue stream funding this service. ChaCha simply looked at search engines and said "the only thing wrong with search engines is they are not easily accessible when you are on the move", and applied a simple solution to provide a service to users on the move, quickly and for free.

Can you apply the same concept to your business problem? Next time you have a complex problem, perhaps a simple solution is in order.

Until next time…

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Featured Employee - Andrea Beltran

Since graduating cum laude from the esteemed W.P. Carey School of Business in December, Andrea Beltran has brought her strong drive and infectious positive attitude to the Sitewire team full time. As a search engine marketing whiz, Andrea controls tasks for her team, conducts extensive research for clients, and manages pay-per-click campaigns. Andrea also creates deliverables, reports on their success and makes recommendations that improve clients' search engine marketing efforts.

Andrea's work is continually praised by clients whose business has been positively impacted as a result of her innovative thinking and marketing expertise. A believer of continuous education, Andrea stays current with cutting-edge marketing trends and techniques, applying the experiences and knowledge she gains to the betterment of her clients.

Outside of the office Andrea loves to travel anywhere and everywhere - taking road trips to California and visiting far-away places like Scotland and England whenever she gets the chance. Andrea also spends her free time playing the piano and relaxing with friends outdoors.

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