tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41194072007-12-13T15:06:02.435-06:00kimberlyBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-32591403711138258462007-12-13T14:50:00.000-06:002007-12-13T15:00:51.548-06:00

The first picture above shows the newly built branch in Kalinaabiri on the outer edge of Kampala. The second photo shows their original building, just next door. The new facility is a real accomplishment for the neighborhood and includes a training room on the second floor for local meetings and educational seminars on personal and small business finance. The local market bustles with activity

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-44060041862282219142007-12-13T14:37:00.001-06:002007-12-13T15:06:02.461-06:00

Kampala, UgandaOne of many brave bikes laden with items to and from the market that weave in and out of crushing city traffic.

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-83007740924679370652007-12-06T20:31:00.001-06:002007-12-06T20:31:42.664-06:00

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-69717175202207925422007-12-02T02:53:00.000-06:002007-12-02T02:54:27.487-06:00

Watched the sun rise over the desert at the northernmost tip of Africa on my way to Addis Ababa - a sea of sand and nothingness brought to life only by the wind and the glow of the rising sun.

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-28319637356074032202007-10-23T23:48:00.000-05:002007-10-23T23:49:13.117-05:00

Here are two of this year’s pumpkin designs. They look sweet and innocent by day but naughty by night.

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-7403421179111054312007-10-23T22:43:00.001-05:002007-10-23T22:52:14.769-05:00

If you are a chocolate person you must try Vosges. The flavors are other-worldly and the quality so high that a little goes a long way. This pic is of their groove collection complete with soundtrack. For those of you who like the idea of white chocolate but always find the taste too plasticy, try some Vosges style; I've never tasted anything like it. www.vosgeschocolate.com

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-1299986101071166232007-10-23T00:44:00.000-05:002007-10-23T00:57:26.087-05:00

When considering the Jawbone purchase I found a lot of people complaining that they couldn't get it to work with their "older" mac laptops. My road warrior machine is a 17" PowerBook G4 running 10.4.10 for those of you looking to compare. I had no trouble getting the Jawbone to work. Start to finish - 6 minutes including finding, downloading and installing firmware update and making a test Skype

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-1161702228805729752006-10-24T06:58:00.000-05:002007-03-03T17:31:58.220-06:00

I couldn't get my old eFax account working, so I did what most of us do when that happens in a time crunch... create a new trial account. Today, I received this email from eFax clearly designed to aid in retention of trialers to buyers. In this case, the idea is that the more people who have this fax number for you, the more likely you are to keep paying for it. eFax simply took the time to

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-1160502889801640952006-10-10T12:54:00.000-05:002006-10-25T22:25:59.230-05:00

This random Yahoo note appeared for me today when visiting the Yahoo home page. It’s not a bad idea, as I would guess most people don’t realize they can swap the search engine option.

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-1157482641373534572006-09-05T13:51:00.000-05:002006-10-02T16:25:54.966-05:00

This little shopping cart widget is rather elegant. After expanding to show the item added, it automatically retracts out of the way making it accessible without losing key real estate for core content.

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-1148184482709161982006-05-20T19:56:00.000-05:002006-07-26T23:08:35.023-05:00

I am about to take you through a marketing campaign completely out of order. Not because this is how it was intended, I am sure, while crafted in the conference rooms of Martha Stewart and Motrin. Simply because this is how I experienced it, first hand, as a consumer and I would bet I wasn't alone. STEP ONE: THE EMAIL This is a screen capture of an email I received this week from marketing

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-1134146584111697812005-12-09T06:33:00.000-06:002007-01-05T09:33:38.953-06:00

Apparently my friends at Clairol remembered my birthday again this year. Folks, take note - this is not the way to maximize personalization in email marketing. I don't have a regular relationship with this brand. In fact, I cannot recall the last time I even used one of their products. I don't receive other communication from them on a regular basis. Just these once a year bits of weirdness.

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-1131519536477126412005-11-08T23:45:00.000-06:002005-11-09T18:31:38.866-06:00

Increasingly, I find myself relying less and less on my trusty laptop for routine info lookup or to respond to rapid-fire emails, due in whole to the acquisition of a new Treo. This lighter, faster, more nimble feeling has lasted well beyond the honeymoon phase of a new gadget purchase. I am convinced that handheld computing will become a very real business channel over the next few years.

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-1131514706767954092005-11-08T23:29:00.000-06:002005-11-09T23:29:29.583-06:00

If you've ever done the card sort exercise, you will be interested in this idea: websort.net which uses Flash to create virtual cards and lets users perform the requisite task online. Interesting idea. Great demonstration of using flash for good rather than evil. My tip: instructions are sparse - hit the forum for the most helpful information.

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-1131513927917449282005-11-08T23:19:00.000-06:002005-11-09T23:32:41.153-06:00

Recently, seeking tangible research on user behavior on the collection and recall of information I encountered an article by Harry Bruce of the University of Washington titled Personal, anticipated information need*. Two recommendations here... The first is to read his article. The second is to read others in the journal that published him: Information Research. The journal isn't pretty, but

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-1130006403097597572005-10-22T13:40:00.000-05:002006-09-06T05:12:06.673-05:00

http://pocketmod.com/app/index.html I’ve become enamored with these self-produced mini-books. They are great for sketching out ideas and I can easily cut parts out to put in my moleskin when they move from rough sketch to more of a working idea. Recently, I started printing 8-up storyboard PocketMods on 11x17 paper to sketch out animation keyframes – fabulous! This is a web-based flash app –

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-1130002396878606932005-10-22T12:33:00.000-05:002006-09-06T05:18:43.756-05:00

A quick snapshot from my camera phone of our Halloween pumpkins. The pumpkin skin is peeled away to let the design show off, and the design is painted with black paint to give it extra pop in the dark.

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-1115158197533513022005-05-03T07:00:00.000-05:002005-05-03T17:16:00.906-05:00

This Integrated Marketing Communications project site from Northwestern University focuses on website stickiness and argues that personalization, content and usability are key to a successful e-commerce site. This is a great starting point; well-organized and worth a read. Access the study website or go directly to the conclusions page. If you like what you see, check our the The Journal of

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-1115155879968767712005-05-01T16:26:00.000-05:002005-05-03T16:48:47.920-05:00

This research from Mark Russell at Wichita State University will give you a first hand look at an eye tracking study. This is not a full-blown study with conclusions, but does give you a view of 3 different store approaches to one product type and shows exactly where the user's eyes were drawn and the duration of the view. If you find this kind of information fascinating, you should take a look

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-1114719732173285422005-04-27T20:00:00.000-05:002007-02-24T21:44:16.903-06:00

Want to know which sites your visitors are also visiting? http://www.alexa.com Who is linking to your competitor's site, but not to yours? http://www.linktree.info/ What is the overall visibility measure for your site? http://www.marketleap.com/publinkpop/ Want all the gory details on a URL? http://www.faganfinder.com/urlinfo/

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-1114717249441532512005-04-21T14:28:00.000-05:002005-04-28T14:40:49.443-05:00

CUSTOMERS RESEARCH ONLINE, BUT BUY OFFLINE Roughly half (46 percent) of consumers say they research items online before they buy them offline. Another 29 percent say they occasionally do so, while 25 percent say they never do online research before making a purchase. Source: BIGresearch Consumers are actively shopping in store, online and catalog channels. Store shoppers also purchase 16 percent

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-1114708505279266802005-04-10T11:11:00.000-05:002005-04-28T14:41:34.916-05:00

I was recently updating a resource list for an upcoming talk on Search Marketing, and came across these two links. Both are good resources for people just learning about SEO and trying to grasp just how this search thing works. I am a big fan of starting with the basics - the terminology and technology here are just that. Search Engine Optimization (SE0): How to speak SEO Geek http://

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-1114704662075280682005-04-01T11:10:00.000-06:002005-05-08T22:01:56.206-05:00

Whether you’re hiring a designer, trying to inspire your own team or struggling to make magic with your existing creative relationships, here are some tips on getting the most from those relationships. 1) What are you trying to say? The best designs come from a solid understanding of what needs to be said. Design is not just pretty for the sake of being pretty – design is communication. Don’t

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-1087261467789044052004-06-14T20:04:00.000-05:002004-06-14T20:09:23.293-05:00

A few quick notes on creating keyword campaigns Cost-Per-Click (CPC) ads on Google and Overture are nothing new, but perhaps thinking about them in terms of cost per acquisition rather than per click is new to you. To review, CPC works like this: You find a keyword that will bring you traffic. You bid on that keyword. People click your PPC ad and come to your site. They buy stuff. You’re happy.

kimberlytag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4119407.post-1078878972605620692004-03-09T18:17:00.000-06:002005-05-03T16:25:52.623-05:00

Put things where users are looking for them. Where do users expect to find the shopping cart? This diagram shows the most popular answers (the darkest blue areas). This diagram comes from a research study by Michael Bernard which many of you will find interesting. Michael studied various components of web sites and where users expected to find them. From search boxes to merchandise links,

kimberly