Do You Want to Look Cool or Make Money?

O3 World founder and Partner Keith Scandone was recently featured in the Philadelphia Ad News as a thought leader and asked to give his outlook on where the industry is heading in 2012. There were some great insights from everyone involved, pick up the issue for more. We've reposted Keith's piece below in it's entirety. Enjoy!

Want More Sales? Give Your People Tools.

Despite tight budgets and the still-lethargic economy, over the last couple months we’ve heard the same goal consistently show up as a top priority across a number of industries and company sizes: attracting and retaining top talent. Specifically, sales and business development folks.

Iconic Illustration

Icons are everywhere. A picture is worth a thousand words, and all that. Never is this more true than in web design. If you follow our work you’ll notice that there are certain elements that we consistently use on our sites, one of them being icons.

How Much Experience Do You Have in Our Industry?

When we’re engaging with potential new clients, right in the middle of that sometimes awkward, always fascinating learning phase, there are always lots of questions. It’s a lot like being on a first date.

Do Your Business a Favor: Optimize Your Website for Mobile

We’re always looking for ways to increase our knowledge base here at O3. Whether it’s reading a new book, attending a conference, or just spit balling in the office over lunch, we’re constantly craving new info and exploring new ideas, concepts, and trends in the interactive space.

These days, it seems like you can’t escape the mounting data on mobile web access and how it’s changing the landscape for communicating with your consumers, whether you’re in the B2B or B2C realm. Here’s one of the staggering facts we’ve come across:

E-Commerce Best Practices: How Do You Like to Shop?

So here’s the setup:

You’re in the checkout line at the local grocery store. Your basket is full with most of the stuff you came for and even though you didn’t end up with exactly what you wanted and know you’re forgetting something, you’re just ready to get out and get on with your day.

Today's Top Story: Content Still King

Last Sunday night, I saw my Facebook and Twitter feeds explode with posts from fellow patriotic Americans. What did I miss? Is today a holiday? As I soon learned, the death of Osama Bin Laden was the culprit behind all this chatter. And apparently I’m not the only one who found out via social media.

Managing Your Content Management System

I’d say that 97% of people who contact us for a website request the ability to update their site with a Content Management System. It’s at the root of what we do, and we’ve developed our own and have experience with many others. No matter what CMS we’re building on, allowing people to update their website content, blog, promotional space, news items, etc. really puts marketing a business online in the website owner’s hands. The possibilities are endless.

Who Owns Your Social Media?

Often when discussing social media with clients and prospective clients, it seems like ownership and management of social media frequently comes up as a concern. On the one hand, it’s important that all social channels maintain a clearly defined identity and voice; your customers and the other folks you’ll be engaging with in the social space want (and deserve) to know what they’re getting in to when they strike up a dialogue online. Whether you have a dedicated social media person or team, or the agency handles both the strategy and the communications themselves, consistency is key.

Restaurants and Real Estate: Time to Get Mobile

“Where should we eat?” It’s a question I’m sure you ask your friends, family, etc. all the time. I typically find myself trying to answer this question when I’m out and about. So naturally I reach in my pocket, pull out my iPhone 4, and run a quick search for restaurants near me. Once I get the search results I typically end up with the same mind numbing outcome... restaurant websites.