Obama's State of the Union Shout Out This gets us excited about the economy and to be living in such an innovative city like Seattle. Obama's statement reminds us that innovation is worth investing in no matter what kind of economic climate we're in. Keep on keeping on entrepreneurs, startups, and small businesses. "After all, innovation is what America has always been about. Most new jobs are created in start-ups and small businesses. So let’s pass an agenda that helps them succeed. Tear down regulations that prevent aspiring entrepreneurs from getting the financing to grow." - Obama...


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This is Pantz.   Tell us you favorite "Pantz" commands on Twitter @odddogmedia #pantz. #Pantz Down! #Pantz off! Adam is the proud new owner of this little gem with teeth. He is an 8 week old Goldendoodle, and in true Odd Dog Spirit his name is Pantz. We've also determined he has an Australian accent, mostly to annoy Chris the Kiwi when we talk to Pantz in our 'Australian' accents.     If pants could talk he would say "Oy hey mate. My name is Pantz. I like nappin' and putting shrimp on the barbie. I also like plastic office chairs and Annie's leather boots - they're mighty...


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Keeping up with the ecosystem   The web of today is not the same as it was only a few years ago. Unfortunately, many web designers haven’t yet got the message.   It use to be that all you had to do was put up a website and that was enough. But these days, just having a website barely brings you up to par. The increasing adoption of the internet and sophistication of web-users, combined with the simultaneous rise of social media, enhanced capability of search engine technology and, even in the last year alone, the blurring of the lines between search and social have created an extremely...


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Favorite Gadget Fail: Chromebook We don't feel bad about deeming this as a fail. I mean Google just officially became the top web company of 2011. Clearly they're doing something right. Google teamed up with Samsung to create a netbook to "Go straight online to creating, sharing, and enjoying." Essentially, they created a netbook that gets on the internet using Chrome as its browser in 8 seconds and has built in wifi and 3G. So, like, you made a laptop smartphone hypbrid? Isn't that what an iPad is? I'm confused. So was America. Needless to say, Chromebooks didn't take off. What we learned...


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I was browsing the pending comments sections of some of our sites when a few of the clearly spam comments caught my eye. After having a good laugh at them, I decided I wanted to share them with the world. Before we get into it, I would like to give a brief explanation of how these comments come into existence. Many of the more shady SEO companies use blog comments as a linkbuilding opportunity. They use a robot to surf millions of pages searching for content that matches some (very loose) guidelines that they set. When the bot finds content that fits within these (once again VERY loose)...


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Over the past few months, we have been working with Rainier Industries to create a fresh, new look that will not only give their Yurts business a new face, but will help to improve their web marketing, social media and search engine optimization. www.rainier.com/yurts We are still working with Rainier to create some very cool features that are unique for a Yurt manufacturer website.  Check back to see the site as it continues to improve! Also exciting is that Neiman Marcus chose to feature Rainier's Eagle Yurt in the Neiman Marcus Christmas catalog this year.  The Neiman Marcus "Dream...


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I attended a seminar at Think Space (@thinkspace) today with Matt Heinz (@heinzmarketing) of Heinz Marketing speaking about Sales for Startups. Matt had a wealth of information (most of which will be the subject of a future blog post), but the biggest thing I took away is that I don’t make my team share enough of our insight on marketing with you. [insert a long, meaningless list of excuses about being too busy with clients that nobody cares about] The reality is that we can all make time for things/people who are important to us and it’s time we made some time for you. Starting today,...


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Does your company need a shiny new website? Feeling a little uneasy because you don't speak the lingo? Heard countless horror stories about flaky web developers taking off? Or are you just looking for some education on the whole web development process? Whichever criteria satisfies your need, you're bound to find an answer to something here. We may even end up solving where Jimmy Hoffa is. Most importantly, I'd like to protect you from getting screwed by your web developer. [sws_blockquote align="" alignment="alignleft" cite="Ernest Hemingway" quotestyles="style04"]The best way to find out if you can trust...


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Ignorance has long been a tempting thought to man and dog alike. When something bad happens, we wish we could just forget about it and have it go away. That kind of problem solving would certainly have our tails wagging, but unfortunately ignorance is not bliss. Being famous online (even if your only fan is the Google algorithm) takes a lot of attention. The folks on social media are not always kind and if you become active it is highly likely that at some point you will receive a negative review. This post is about how to react and what to do. Finding bad reviews The first step to dealing...


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Now that you have your information gathered and your content plan in place, it is time to start making it rain. There are a few tricks to this part of the equation and a lot of the skills that are gained are acquired through simply following through on your plans. However, there are a few pieces of advice we are able to give aside from "just get out there". Your Social Schedule Having a schedule is one of the most important parts of the social media experience. However, your schedule refers not just to the days you post on, but also the times at which your posts come out. Look back...


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