The Birmingham SharePoint Saturday was awesome! I was given the opportunity to offer a presentation on branding SharePoint 2007. The event was well organized and Terry Webster did an amazing job of organizing a wonderful day. I was also able to sit in on a couple of the other presentations and learned quite a bit about the new features on the way with SharePoint 2010. I can’t wait to start digging in and branding this new version.

Over the next couple days I'm going to add some helpful information regarding branding SharePoint 2007 to this post. [More]

E-mail newsletters are an effective and relatively low-cost method to market your business. In simple terms, an e-mail newsletter is an e-mail which consists of news and information regarding a topic that is sent periodically to a group of contacts or subscribers. Although these newsletters can be a great asset, they can also backfire by getting mangled by software like Outlook 2007 and Gmail. Worse yet, your intended recipients may not receive your e-mails – nullifying your marketing efforts entirely. Here are just a few ideas for consideration before sending that first e-mail. [More]

Internet browsers are one of the most important tools available in utilizing the benefits of the World Wide Web. They convert thousands of lines of code in a matter of seconds into usable applications and websites. Aside from just displaying content on the internet, browsers have continued to evolve in speed, security measures, and customizable add-ons. These are all excellent examples of why it is both important and beneficial to stay up-to-date with the latest releases of the internet browser you are using. [More]

Really Simple Syndication or RSS is an XML-based format for digital distribution of content on the web. Think of it as your very own personal news agency reporting the latest news or information on your website or blog. Since 1997, RSS has grown in popularity a great deal and is being used by just about every major news agency, magazine, or blog on the Internet. You can tell if a website RSS enabled by looking for the little RSS icon . RSS is a great way to draw more attention and exposure to your Website. Simply put, RSS makes the information you most want your audience to see, more accessible. Most of the work load of RSS is carried by programs called aggregators, these programs are RSS-aware and check for the latest feed changes in which the user has subscribed to. Many programs that are currently being used today are equipped with these RSS feed readers, some examples are Outlook 2007, Internet Explorer 7, Firefox, as well many Internet based readers. Below is an example of how you can customize Google's home page with RSS feeds. [More]

Blogging is a great way to quickly deliver content to an audience but it’s so 2006. If you want to expand your reach beyond the computer-tethered audience of today, podcasting is the way to go. Podcasting is a method of publishing and distributing audio files throughout the Internet using RSS. It gives publishers the ability to reach a large audience with very little cost or effort. For users, it’s an easy way to keep up with a favorite commentator, teacher or preacher. While a lot of users will listen to a podcast on an iPod, any personal computer with the appropriate software, like iTunes, can play podcasts as well as most standard digital audio players. [More]