For the Major Fashion Designers Websites and Internet Excitement are Last on their List. Why?

Do remember that Seinfeld episode where Kramer has this whole pointless story about how he wanted to return a pair of pants he bought, but by the time he got to the store “he ended up ruining the very pants he set out to return”?

Apparently, stories about your clothing can be a big deal – and people can come around in a sort of social networking attitude, to share their favorite clothing stories.

That’s the whole concept behind Burberry’s new venture; the company from England has been making raincoats (or rather trenchcoats, if you are a fan of Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca), for almost an entire century and their new way to stay relevant, is the new Art of the Trench social networking site. As fashion designers’ websites go this one is an unbelievable creative leap, and a success.

Many of the fashion houses we know and admire, have grown to their present levels of international acclaim from a single basic product that their founder once thought of. For some, like Hermes, it was a handbag, for Gucci, it was trademark fashionable shoes, and for Burberry, it was the coat.

These remarkable fashion icons, haven’t ever tried to market themselves to the customer. They are just too lofty a deal for that. But today, with sales to the ultrarich falling, it just seems to the fashion houses, that presenting themselves to the young urban youth market as an aspirational brand, could make up for what has been lost in traditional sales.

And this could be quite exciting as designers’ websites try to bring their famed sense of artistry and fashion to their online presence. Art of the Trench is undoubtedly the most successful attempt so far. The website, curiously, allows you to get street level portrayals of people going about their business, wearing trenchcoats.

In the beginning, the pictures you saw on the website were just professionally-shot fashion photography. But pretty soon, the idea touched a nerve somewhere, and millions of people have been sending in their own trenchcoat pictures. No other designers’ websites have ever thought of a way to just showcase their products on the Internet, and involve people in a passionate way in that attempt.

It is quite disappointing if you think about it, but these other companies are icons of fashion too – that are supposed to be so able to judge the pulse of high fashion and what people will love in the future; and they have been left on the sidelines by the Internet – the very iconof today.

Prada, the name that launches a million dreams in starry-eyed rich young people seems curiously short of ideas on what to do with the Internet, if you go by the look of their website. When you buy a DVD of a hit movie, you expect a bunch of extras – the process of filmmaking, the bloopers, interviews – you hope to get inside the very skin of the creative process. Prada however, just gives us a drab look into a series of its products from its latest fashion season, and that’s about it.

As they begin to sort their plans out, the future for fashion designers websites is sure to be exciting. The same fashion names like Karl Lagerfeld are sure to exploit their rockstar-like mystique by having their creative moments documented on videos on the site, and live broadcasts of the creative process are sure to attract millions of fashion devotees. Top designers have an opportunity here like no other, to actually become fashion gods on the Internet.

The Migration to VoIP calling.

Communication is important to everyone and especially to businesses. The need for a cheap and easy form of communication has brought about the integration of fax, email and recently use of VoIP calls. VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) works just like your normal landline.

VoIP uses the internet to transmit voice, data and video traffic. Thus, VoIP calls have brought about a new revolution in cheap communication methods over long distances and in some cases, these calls can be made at absolutely no cost. As you can see, this form of communication is not only ideal for businesses, but for anyone looking for alternatives to a cheaper mode of communication.

However, VoIP calls offer more than just a cheap means of communication. With VoIP, you can conduct meetings and presentations with a number of people or even close deals with customers much faster than before. In addition, via a webcam or a videophone, you get to see who you are talking to.

VoIP calls can also be made and received anywhere on the planet as long as there is an internet connection. This allows for important business opportunities and emergencies to take place despite long distances. In almost all ways, VoIP calls prove to be superior to traditional phone calls.

Effective VoIP calls require that your internet connection be both stable and fast. When one of these is missing, any calls made via the internet will have delays or will result in dropped calls. This is an important consideration, especially when you are trying to make a sale. While a one-second delay may not seem like much, it can make a difference as to whether you get a ëyesí or a ënoí from the other party when it comes to a business transaction.

One of the best VoIP calls services is the one that is relayed over the 3G data network. This type of connection requires no PC, no WiFi connection or any additional kit. Some mobile operators have also integrated a VoIP element to their services that allows them to offer cheaper calling rates in addition to introducing new revenue streams. All in all, VoIP calling is transforming the global communications matrix by creating a single converged network that carries both voice and data on the same protocol. Many companies are rushing to migrate and many more are helping make the move. VoIP calls will continue to get cheaper and better. Have you made the move yet?

Using Major Search Engines.

Searching for information, people, or places is probably one of the most common things that people do on the Internet. You may spend time on social networks, playing games, and sending emails, but you probably search for something using major search engines at least once or twice a day, if not more.

If you want information, the Internet may be one of your first stops. In order to get what you need, and to know you are getting information that you can trust, there are some things you can do and some guidelines that you should keep in mind.

Most of the major search engines work in the same way, but you may get different results for each one. The key to finding what you want is to use the right words when you search. These are called keywords.

These words are what the search engines use to see what documents, pictures, or news items you want to see. Choosing the right or wrong words can mean finding what you need and feeling lost in the results you are given. You also want to be sure you get web sites with good information versus sites that offer you filler material.

The keywords that you use determine what you find through the major search engines. In order to get the right results, you want to make sure you use the right words. Think about starting a conversation with someone that you know. You want to get this information from them, but you only have a few minutes to talk to them. What would you say to them to get the quickest answer? Usually that helps you decide the major point you want to research. Use these words to find the information you want on the Internet.

Many people use just one or even two words when searching for data to help them with their questions. One word will usually bring up too many results that are not related to what you want. Two words is better, but not always the answer. Sometimes you need three or even four. Are you worried about your cat’s health? Go to some of the major search engines and type in ‘cat’ to see what you get to come up. Then type in ‘cat illness’ to see the results get better. To get even better results, type in ‘common cat illnesses’ and see what you get.

While you are figuring out how to use the right words to get what you want, also learn how to judge a web site. You can find great information about cars in many places, but you have to be more selective about the results you seek through major search engines when you want medical information.

Some web sites are going to give you better information than others, and some sites are going to be dangerous. For serious issues that can affect your health and your life, be more choosy. Otherwise, read what you find and see how much sense it makes and how many other places can back up what you just read.

The New Government Plan to Bring Broadband Services to the Countryside.

George Bush always had more time to devote to getting wardrobe malfunctions off TV than bringing up America’s access to “the Internets” to the standards the rest of the world enjoys. Now that a little more sense seems to prevail in the government, the FCC has drawn up its vision for pulling the country up into the 21st century. And it envisions Internet access as the main method the country communicates – not television, and not the telephone. Just the Internet. Not that such a great industry shake-up is going to go down easily. A new plan like this is bound to get the established majors all worked up for how it challenges their positions in the business. According to the new plan, the government will be completely focused on bringing broadband services to the countryside, rural parts of the country that don’t have access right now.

The government also plans to set off the development of a new kind of set-top box that will do it all for remote places – cable, Internet, and anything else. Rural areas are also going to get better cell phone services. These plans could not come a day sooner; fully one third of all Americans have no access to broadband services. Still, each one of these plans is going to be fought out tooth and nail as the established players come to feel threatened. What use is it that the country that gave the world the Internet, most of modern computer technology and most of the world’s greatest software, doesn’t have the means to take it to the large parts of its own land?

The average speed of individual broadband services in the country is about 1.3 Mbps. The FCC wants to raise that to 100  Mbps for a third of the nation, over the next ten years. And it wants to reserve a large part of the wireless spectrum for the experimental technologies of the future. The government feels that pretty soon, rural areas will be able to access great online learning materials on tap. With information so widely available, they feel it will put America back on top. Most of the country can’t wait for it to happen. Google for instance has a plan to wire several cities in the country with such ultra-high-speed broadband access already. There are cities across America that are trying to bob up into Google’s line of sight to get on Google’s list – several of those cities are renaming themselves to be called Google City.

Right now in America, we need to pay about $30 a month for the miserable 1.3 Mbps we get. Over in Japan, the same money will buy you 8Mbps and it’s even higher than that in South Korea. All the cable and telecom operators in this country, when they laid down their fiber optics, earned valuable tax breaks for their investment in the country’s infrastructure. If they can’t use it for the betterment of the country now, if they can only use their investments to overcharge and underserve the country in broadband services, the government should just obtain eminent domain – the government order that private property be sold to it for the betterment of the country.

Brochure Design That Can Work for You!

Many small business owners may feel that their tight budget does not give them room to afford some basic marketing materials like brochures or websites. Brochure design and website design should not be options for small business owners. Without some great digital art and eye-popping brochure design and website design it will be hard to grow most businesses. Many business owners are just not aware what these items cost or how to get them designed.

There are several ways for business owners to get professional brochure design or website design. If money is no object then the business proprietor can hire one of the many top advertising agencies or boutique design firms in their area that cater to this type of client. They should receive great service and award-winning design for the exorbitant price they will be shelling out.

For most small business owners however, the prospect of hiring a professional design or advertising agency or design shop is way beyond their budget and means. They need to find other, less expensive alternatives if they are going to end up with the brochure design that they need to jump start their business.

There are many freelance graphic designers or digital artists out there and before you decide on one you should really make them bid for your project. First off you can place an ad on Craigslist or in your local paper asking for artists to reply with rates and links to their online portfolios. Any artist that is worth anything will have a lot of their prior work posted and displayed on their own websites or on one of several artist portfolio websites. One of the best of these sites can be found online at http://www.alphaomegadigital.com/. Check out all of the awesome online portfolios from some very talented artists.

Hiring a freelance designer can be somewhat expensive as well and you may not end up with the kind of quality work you really want. Make sure to review all portfolios carefully. The artist you choose should have some samples of brochure design that they did for their other clients with businesses that are similar to yours. With freelance designers and artists you will probably have to pay a deposit before they start producing artwork for you. They should give you several different designs to choose from.

Three design alternatives are usually enough for the client to decide what they like best or what the best direction is. Freelance artists should be able to take the project all the way to completion and that would mean overseeing the actual printing process as well. You donít want to end up with a design that just wonít print right so you want the artist to take some responsibility for the final outcome of the printing. Get any agreements to this effect in writing whenever possible. A short contract should not be out of the question.

You can also make the brochure design yourself if you are creative, but we recommend letting the professionals handle it. No matter how much you think you know about graphic design in general, unless you have studied Graphic Design at the college level or worked in the field for many years, your efforts will probably not be very attractive and wonít bring you any more business and could even potentially lose you customers. People can react very negatively toward what they perceive as bad or amateurish design and advertising.