Developers Tab/Iframe For Showing Travel Experiences

Ok, this week we're going to be launching a site every travel blogger is going to love.

A fully functional interactive map system that is far more robust and holds a lot more information than current solutions.

Basically, it's going to be Oistr encompassed in a blog.

Blogger is great, in the pursuit of ultimate flexibility and customization you have access to the actual HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) where you can insert all sorts of awesome things to make your page better.

We're going to provide a tutorial and the ability for any blogger who would like to show their pictures and video on a map (and post it in the public domain for the rest of the world to see - and even better, link back to the blog) that is interactive and intelligent. It will show people exactly where the bloggers content from a single city or the entire world.

It works like this: You go to www.oistr.com where you create an account and upload your photo's or embed the Youtube videos. Once they're up you place them on the map in groups called "trips" where they took place by hand (moving the map around to the location and clicking on the exact location) , by lat/long (if you have GPS) or by address.

Next, you add the code for embedding the trip in your site. You can even add the individual trips to a master trip so you can show everywhere you've been in the world or just the latest stops.

Voila, a fully interactive map that allows users to finally get the full scope of where you've actually been whether it's 500 miles between cities or 32,000 across a continent.

Please go, enjoy!

Mounting a Projector, How Hard Could It Be?

Ok, this seems off topic, but it actually isn't at all.

This is about small business. We bought the projector, even bought the proper screen and telescoping ceiling mount for it.

Do we want to spend the extra $250 to have it properly installed? Pfft, no.

Projector, $900, screen, $225, mount off ebay, $75, blood sweat and tears during installation? Priceless. Ok, I was being dramatic there were no blood or tears - but lots of sweat.

The screen goes up fairly easy. We are in a very old building that has concrete ceilings and standard office type foam panels above our heads. These panels are held up by wires that run into the cement so it wasn't difficult to tie more wire to a couple of these anchors and dangle the screen down.

Well, we can't get around it this time. The projector mount has to be carefully positioned and there are no existing anchors to bolt it to. That's it, we have to put holes in the concrete. How hard can that be?

Well, the holes weren't a problem. Any idiot can mark the spots and start drilling. I didn't know I needed special bits and an impact drill, but I found out quite quickly. This is code for "hilarity ensues".

Skipping along, with the proper equipment I go ahead and sink the holes effortlessly. As concrete showers my clothing and hair in a fine dust that a only requires a couple showers to get out, the impact drill goes into the concrete like butter.

Next, my first experience with concrete anchors. Things that look like nails only the heads are flared and have a hollow tube designed to be pushed over the flare to widen and pull tight have been provided.

Seems simple enough. But wait, this drill bit seems a bit small and this one is clearly too big, well, I guess I'll just have to lightly hammer it in. No, that didn't work.

Now I've got a stud that is jammed hopelessy in the hole, won't come out (good job, anchor!) and is in the way of the mount. Well, I'll just rotate the mount and try again.

Drill, drill, drill (more fine concrete in the hair and clothes). Tap, tap, Strike two. Two very solid metal anchors sticking out of the concrete.

Rotate the mount again. Two out of four are broken. If I don't get it right now I'm in a bit of trouble.

Drill, drill. Tap, tap. Wow, I managed to not completely screw it up. Only 50%.

Cut a hole in the ceiling tile and shebang! Professional job.

No ladders or drills were harmed during the making of this episode. My head and my ego however...

Intro To Web Marketing for Small Business

With the economic downturn, every business is going to be tightening their belts.

Usually, one of the first things to get cut back is marketing. Studies done in the past have actually shown that companies that are able to maintain advertising during an economic downturn see the benefits for years after.

So the question is: How do you get the same advertising presence without spending as much money?

I like to answer the question with a question: How many times have you found a website that you didn't even know that you needed until you'd found it?

You did this by surfing around reading blogs, news stories or through random results from a search engine. This means that the more times a website is mentioned in blogs or news stories or comes up in search engines the more likely it is that it will be found. Part of the visibility in the search engines comes from how many times it has been mentioned on the web.

One of the best way of getting your business mentioned on the web is by using as many of the free web directories as possible. Obviously, the more popular and the more content that you are able to put up the better.

For travel, there is our website www.oistr.com. You've seen a lot of businesses put a map to their location on their website. We're kind of like that map, only on steroids.

Oistr is the only listing service that is searched on a map instead of through traditional text. It's tourism focussed so if you have a business that sells anything to anyone who ever travels, it may help.

There are lots of other directories and I urge every small business to go get on as many as possible. At the same time, blog, link to your site and try to get more attention wherever possible on the web.

That's what I'm doing, good luck.

New Features! Site Grows! Exclamation Mark!

Wow, we are growing fast, our programmer hasn't been leaving the office.

New features! First, browse public trips that other people have added. You can see the list of newly added trips, sort through them and then look at whatever regions of the world you'd like to see more of.

Improved search feature, no when there's 600 pins on a search list you actually have the alphabet to sort through them by - very nice improvement.

Add pins to trips! This is huge. Ok, say you've put together a collection of pins but someone has already added the hotel you stayed at, now you can select it and add it to as many different collections as you want.

For photographer groups, this means that you can add the pins from other people in the group all into one big collaboration of talent. Users viewing the new trip will see a map of the world with pins from each location represented.

This is the key to inspiring people with good photography and putting up your favorite images of the world. Go, contribute, explore, enjoy!

I feel like one of those jack russell terriers jumping up and down! I kinda look like it right now! It's hard to type! Lot's of typos I have to fix! Good times!

SEO and Link Building

You think I blog for fun? Huh? Do ya? Well, yes, actually I do a little.

I like getting thoughts down on things that excite me (don't think this makes me boring, I do plenty of interesting things off the web) and sometimes it really gives me the chance to think things through.

The number one reason I blog though is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). The more times people link to your blog or the more times it is read, the better off your linked to website does in the search engines.

Nearly every blog entry I link to my website, www.oistr.com. The search engines read these links and rate my site higher because of the number of sites that link to it. When Facebook RSS feeds this blog posting into my Oistr company page the search engines eventually read a couple more hits.

The more times your website is listed on the net or linked to or from, whether it's blogs, business directories or your Facebook group page, you will gain attention from the search engines.

So there you go, turn a hobby into a business development tool! Most people don't even realize how great blogging can be for that. It takes a significant time investment but I think the benefits outweigh the time spent...

Business Cards, Social Networking

Would you believe that we only got business cards today? We found a great printer in our neighborhood named Print Time that did an excellent job. (In fact, there was an issue with how our chosen font printed on his equipment and he was great enough to not only proof it but ask us to come down and figure it out because it wasn't up to his quality standards - that is good service.)
The card looks good eh?

So, now we have cards. What do people need business cards for? I forsook business cards a long time ago in favour of making my website as easily findable on the web as possible. I thought, surely with Google no one will ever have problems finding us if we're memorable enough.

Well, that was kinda dumb. You meet so many people in passing that if you don't give them a card, they don't find it in their pocket later at home while digging for keys or mints, and they never look you up. By the time they remember that they met a guy that had a business, your name, face and location are lost to the winds of time, tiny grains of sand that were scattered amongst a billion others never again to have any recognizable pattern.

(That metaphor was a bit excessive, but if you've studied how human memory works you'll see what I mean.)

So, business cards. I was at Toastmasters the other night which is a club for people who want to learn public speaking and practice it in a formal setting. In this meeting the tables are set up in a long U and the member sit around. As I was making my speech about my business moving around at the front I realized how easy it would be to deal the cards like playing cards along the tables. My speech was excellent and I know everyone would have taken them home.

I'll do that next time. That is just one example of how great cards are.

Social networking, striking up a conversation on a bus, hitting on the counter girl at Starbucks, whatever, business cards are the way to be.

Launched 1.0! Version 1! Lanched! Party!

The last week has seen many improvements on our site www.oistr.com where our programmer has been working his guts out day and night. I don't know why his girlfriend is still with him, he spends all his time in the office.

But as in the classic saying one mans loss (or woman) is another mans gain. That would be his other partners, including me.

Now I just have to get people actually seeing and using the site. Oh, the easy job, right?

The site is designed to be a social network for travelers to show where they've been, make recommendations and gain inspiration to get out into the world.

We have a long way to go on this site but we've been working on it for close to two years and it is incredibly exciting to have it out there now.