Business Strategy

Every business must recognize that their web site is an extension of their brick-an-mortar business. Sometimes, even more so! Your web site should be the center of as many activities as possible. Business owners should use their web site for many more items than they currently do.

Getting results online begins with getting your employees and your customers to regard your web site as something of great value. Your web site should be seen as an online business. Something that is constantly evolving, changing... getting better. Something that is working for you all the time.

Your web site should be the center point of all your communications, internally as well as externally. Need to tell clients about an important product upgrade? Post it on your web site and refer to it often. Do you find that certain questions are being asked by your customers? By employees? An FAQ page is a great spot to put all the answers to these questions. Do you have print materials about your company? Great! You should. They should be on your web site as well, available for download in pdf format, or Word doc, or CAD drawing, anything. If clients and employees are looking for a document, they should find it on your web site.

Another important aspect of your online business is your support center. Your web site should be the first place customers look for support. You need to train your clients to do this. Instruct your employees to mention the web site all the time to people. Get your staff in the habit of referring everyone to your web site. As a business owner, you need to do everything to keep your employees and your customers thinking of your website as the place to find the information they need.

One great tool of custom website design are online forums. It's a great idea to let your customers talk to each other--get the conversation going about your products and services. You should also have interactive forms where users can fill out to request support or to be contacted. Online blogs are also a great tool in creating a community around your online business. Your web design company should help you determine what web services can be used effectively on your web site.

Your business will have lots of additional needs. One of your marketing tools should include email marketing design. This is a great way to stay in-touch with your customers, and your staff! Email marketing should go hand-in-hand with your web site, they should work with each other. This is a great tool to get more business from your current client base.

Now, you're probably thinking, "sounds great, now what?" Well, you need to find a website design and development company. You can always start locally. Let's say you live in Reno, Nevada. You could start a web search for reno web design and see what comes up. Or, search website design reno. Additionally, if you really like a certain web site, find out who designed it and talk to that web design company.

One of the best things about the internet is the world-wide reach. Custom web site designers can be found everywhere. At Bullsprig we have clients all over the country. The majority of our clients are in the San Francisco / Bay Area and Los Angeles. We're bidding a website now for a client in New York City! The power of the internet has allowed this great opportunity.

You need to use the web to reach your customers, and create value behind your web site. It takes work, but people are doing it every day. Our clients have been having tremoundous success with their web sites. Each website powered by the Bullsprig Platform.

The Bullsprig Platform is a high-powered, user-friendly web infrastructure, designed to help companies with their online web sites. We use this technology infrastructure on every website we design and develop. This technology allows us to deploy custom web sites in a short amount of time. We design custom web solutions that not only look good, but function seamlessly.

If you need help designing and developing a custom web site, let's talk.

In 2004 we designed a web site for WHITNEYfusion, a high-end event planning company. The web site was built entirely in Flash, and won Bullsprig numerous design awards. The web site was incredible--utilizing the latest in Flash technology and engineering.

Fast-forward to 2009 and WHITNEYfusion was overdue for a redesign.

Since 2004 WHITNEYfusion has seen tremendous growth. They have added a lot of new clients, and added people to their support staff. In addition, WHITNEYfusion has added wedding planning to their list of capabilities: corporate events, sports marketing and social soirees.

There are a few main business objectives for this redesign, including: be found on Google; give WHITNEYfusion the ability to updated the web site on their own; capture prospective leads via the web site; add photo galleries fast and whenever they wanted; and, finally, add a section on WHITNEYfusion weddings (more on this later).

The first phase of the redesign focused on the events side of WHITNEYfusion's business. The look and feel needed to be somewhat corporate but still incorporate the movement from the previous version of the site. The target audience for WHITNEYfusion Events is human resources staff at companies. In other words, people who needed information and examples fast, and hassle-free.

We built the web site entirely on the Bullsprig Platform, integrating numerous key business indicators, including:

• Web Site Analytics - We generate custom reports, sent to WHITNEYfusion weekly. These reports illustrate their top performing pages, most popular products, web form submission volume - everything WHITNEYfusion needs to know to improve their online business.
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) - WHITNEYfusion can now manage their customers from their web interface, allowing them to track customers actions easier.
• Lead Management Systems - We built custom web forms that capture every inquiry, then update their contact management database automatically.
• Workflow Notifications - We built multi-step work-flows to notify WHITNEYfusion of new web form submissions, verifying steps as they are completed, and remind and escalate to management if need be.
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - We put special effort into making sure WHITNEYfusion can get found on the web. We automatically generate the sitemap.xml file for WHITNEYfusion each day, ensuring maximum visibility in Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. The SEO efforts for WHITNEYfusion will be ongoing, as they have contracted with us to provide results and keyword analysis. This will be a lot of fun, as our initial analysis shows the area to be ripe with opportunities!
• Content Management System (CMS) - Utilizing the Bullsprig Platform, WHITNEYfusion can maintain their web site from any computer with a web connection. They can make updates and edit content, upload files and communications, add and change photos seamlessly.

Click here to check out the new site.

Back to the WHITNEYfusion weddings side. This is a different animal... a completely different web site. Different objectives, different audience. Evidently soon-to-be brides are very picky. (I should know, I am married.) We're in the middle of designing this side of WHITNEYfusion. It's an exciting site, very creative, and, of course a custom website design.

Below is a peak at the initial comps. I'll post the entire site when we're done.


About the company: WHITNEYfusion is a boutique event planning firm that offers the very best in corporate events, charity events, sports marketing, social soirees and wedding planning. From simple to extravagant, traditional to edgy, we fuse your vision with our insight & resources to create the perfect occasion.

We just went live with a new web site for Capital Glass. This 40 year old company specializes in apartment renovations commercial construction and residential construction. Their location in Carson City hasn't stopped them from expanding nation-wide.

The main business objective of their new web site is to sevice exsiting clients, while attracting new clients across the country.

The Team at Capital Glass is extremely busy with ongoing projects. They wanted their web site to work for them... to be an online business. Communicating with architects and contractors on a daily basis takes a lot of time--on the phone and via email. One of their business goals was to create a "members only" portion of the web site where Capital Glass clients could download specs, plans and other communications, allowing Capital Glass the time to focus on their projects.

They also wanted to control their content, that is: make changes, add photos, plans, specs and communicate with their clients. We built the web site entirely on the Bullsprig Platform, integrating numerous key business indicators, including:

• Web Site Analytics - We generate custom reports, sent to Capital Glass weekly. These reports illustrate their top performing pages, most popular products, web form submission volume - everything Capital Glass needs to know to improve their online business.
• Customer Relationship Management (CRM) - Capital Glass can now manage their customers from their web interface, allowing them to track customers actions easier.
• Lead Management Systems - We built custom web forms that capture every inquiry, then update their contact management database automatically.
• Workflow Notifications - We built multi-step work-flows to notify the Capital Glass team of new web form submissions, verifying steps as they are completed, and remind and escalate to management if need be.
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - We put special effort into making sure Capital Glass can get found on the web. We automatically generate the sitemap.xml file for Capital Glass each day, ensuring maximum visibility in Google, Yahoo and Microsoft.
• Members Only Section - We built a members only section for Capital Glass, allowing current customers secure online access to download their files and communicate with Capital Glass.
• Content Management System (CMS) - Utalizing the Bullsprig Platform, Capital Glass can maintain their web site from any computer with a web connecting. They can make updates and edit content, upload files and communications, add and change photos seamlessly.

Click here to check out the new site.

The site was built, and is hosted, on the Bullsprig platform.

About the company: founded in 1968, Capital Glass, Inc. is a family owned and operated glazing contractor dedicated to providing the highest quality products and services to all customers and projects regardless of their size. The company's founders, Donald and Virginia Larkin, and now their sons have grown the business on the principals of hard work, quality, and accountability.

Quick update from the boiler room.

We have been super busy here at Bullsprig. We have 3 really big eCommerce web sites we're working on, 2 really cool web sites we're putting the finishing touches on, and went into contract this week on 3 more sites.

In the meantime, we've sent email blasts out; sent a lot of print design to our print vendors; performed search engine optimization for clients; and designed a new stationary system for a client.

If you want something done, give it to somebody who's busy right?!

This is fun stuff. The best part is delivering results. Oh, and if you need a haircut, please go to Sport Clips!

What Do You Want Your Online Business To Do?

I’m sure you’ve heard the term Web 2.0 design from some Reno web design agencies recently and wonder... What does that mean? Well, "Web 2.0" refers to a perceived second generation of web development and design, that facilitates communication, secure information sharing, interoperability and collaboration on the World Wide Web. Essentially, Web 2.0 design changes the way people use and interact with online businesses.

The concepts behind Web design 2.0 have led to the development and evolution of web-based communities, hosted services, social-networking, blogs, Twitter, et cetera, et cetera. There are some really cool web companies coming online and doing great things.

As a business owner, you’re probably thinking, "Web 2.0 means I need to spend even more money on my already oversized technology budget." Well, Bullsprig, a Reno SEO web design agency, is here to help!

With Web 2.0 design we need to change some terminology. Instead of talking about your "web site" let's talk about your "online business". The technology changes to the web have changed the way web sites work, or at least, should work. Instead of having your web site simply display your telephone number and physical address, web sites are now living working extensions of your business. Your Reno website design should be more proactive and work hard to:

• Amplify Your Voice
• Automate Your Customer Service (Self-Service)
• Sell Products Online
• Generate New Leads
• Build Your Community
• Build Customer Loyalty

Amplify Your Voice
One of the best ways to amplify your voice is through Reno Blog Design and Reno Email Marketing. Good content addresses your customers’ information needs, and search engines love good content (helps with your Reno search engine optimization. It also gives your business a human touch.

Automate Your Customer Service (Self-Service)
How many customer phone calls do you get asking about the same thing? And, how much time is spent answering the same question? Every custom website design should have a section that focuses on Customer Service. It is important your web site has an FAQ section, Webforms and Workflows and Secure Zones to help your business automate your customer service.

Sell Products Online
Building Reno eCommerce websites and selling your products online was once a very expensive, time-consuming adventure. The cost to develop online businesses has gone down dramatically. If you want to sell your products online, there is nothing standing in your way. Online businesses are a great way to expand your business’ reach and product offering.

Generate New Leads
Your web site should offer users an option of getting in touch with you. Webforms and workflows help ensure your web site is converting users to new leads.

Build Your Community
A good business will always have a community of dedicated customers. With your online business, Blogs, Forums, Comments, Customer Databases help to build that community and keep it strong.

Build Customer Loyalty
Building customer loyalty is a lot harder than it seems. It takes incredible focus to make sure your customers are loyal. Your Reno website design needs to help you do just that. Targeted Email Marketing, Comments, FAQs are all aspects of your online business that should be working for you to build that loyalty.

Businesses must embrace the strengths of the web and use it as a platform. Make your web site, your online business, work for you!

Oh, and if you need a great Reno web site design and Reno web development company that can handle your Reno SEO, Reno Design, Reno Email Marketing, let’s talk.

We are Bullsprig, a Reno SEO web design agency. We’ll take you by the hand and provide good guidance. We give concrete ideas about suitable Reno web design, what functions your Reno online business should have, and help with business strategy to achieve your online business goals. We take the time to help our clients prioritize their goals so that we can provide you with a custom web design solution.

In the office we have a paper hung on the wall that reads:

1) Sit down.
2) Get a brilliant idea.
3) Start figuring out how to get this idea to work. Don’t touch a thing before you got it sorted out.
4) Start messing around. You will learn that your initial idea was a bunch of crap. Start working on a new one.
5) Show your stuff to your friends/colleagues. Ignore them if they tell you it looks like shit, because you know it is great.

When I first started in graphic design, I used to get upset when my colleagues at the time didn’t like my design work. Not any more. I realize not every design works for every business.

Currently, we’re in the middle of a huge e-commerce web site and our initial look and feel comps didn’t go over as expected. We always review design work with outside consultants to get an initial review. On this particular project, the initial outside reviews were great. Everyone loved the comps! Everyone, except the client.

Okay, so rule number 5 won’t work in this situation. We can’t ignore our client. Which brings us to rule number 6: No matter how good your design is, somebody has to buy it. Respect those people. You need them. Big time.

So, we’re back to our initial wireframe.

Your business can compete with the big guys on the block. However, you shouldn’t try to beat them at their game, using the same old set of marketing rules.

We often see small businesses trying to compete against larger rivals using the same advertising and marketing methods to attract customers. The outcome? Smaller businesses are often outgunned.

What the big guys do is focus on branding. They’ll put up a billboard, they’ll run a TV or radio commercial, or even an ad in a newspaper. Their name recognition and reputation are at such a level that often all they have to say to the public is, “Here I Am.”

Most small businesses don’t have the name and brand recognition, or the kind of money to spend on marketing to make it feasible.

We advise our clients to get more out of their advertising dollars by basing advertising decisions on measurable results. You don’t have a limitless budget, like the big guys, so you need to make sure each dime is spent wisely and accounted for. When you’re a small business owner, you should know what your return on investment is. You need to find out what works!

Two great examples of measurable marketing are online advertising and email marketing.

Need more traffic to your web site? Online advertising is a great method for driving traffic. There are many options for business owners to advertise online. One of our favorites is Google Adwords. No matter what your budget, you can display your ads on Google and their advertising network. Pay only if people click your ads!

We also utilize conversion tracking so you can see if your online ad is doing what you want. A conversion occurs when a click on your ad leads directly to user behavior you deem valuable, such as a purchase, signup, page view, or lead.

Need more foot traffic to your physical location? You can create an email campaign that has a coupon or some other type of response device to encourage actual traffic to your physical store. Other email marketing campaigns can take the form of a discount or gift.

The bottom line is your business CAN compete with the big guys on the block! However, you shouldn’t try to beat them at their game when it comes to marketing. Let’s get creative and apply these new, cost-effective technologies!

We just went live with a new web site for TopLine Leadership. In addition to a brand-new look and feel, we built a customer relationship management (CRM) system, blog and email marketing systems.

TopLine's main business objective was to capture new leads. We integrated their AdWords account with their analytics for better tracking and conversion stats. We also administered a complete overhaul of their keywords and added multiple landing pages.

Click here to check out the new site.

The site was built, and is hosted, on the Bullsprig platform. TopLine Leadership can control their own content, email marketing and CRM.

About the company: TopLine Leadership delivers 2-day sales seminars for sales managers and sales people through customer centric selling and Getting Into Your Customer's Head solutions.

Hey there, thanks for stoppin' by, and welcome to the new Bullsprig.com! It has been almost 5 years since we had a major redesign. We're very excited!

We're embarking on something new and offering more services than ever before. We're helping businesses become more profitable and connecting business owners with their online businesses, faster and easier.

This is a very exciting time for us as more and more clients are looking for more than what traditional agencies have offered. We're here to help. We're here to stay.

We would especially like to thank our beloved clients for their business, support and referrals. Thank you!

We look forward to working with you.

We have been testing the new Bullsprig.com. We're really excited about the new site... stay tuned!