In this video blog, President and Co-founder of Onsharp, Joe Sandin, reflects on how Onsharp got started 10 years ago by 2 college interns with a passion for web-based solutions.  Joe also comments on how Onsharp has come to be the company it is today, as well as his vision for the next 10 years of growth and success for the company.  Check it out to see where Onsharp has been, where Onsharp is now, and where Onsharp is going.

Onsharp, a professional web consulting firm in Fargo, is celebrating its 10^th year of business this month.  Located at 474 45^th Street South in Fargo, Onsharp was founded in July of 2000.

The company was started by two college interns, Joe Sandin and Matt Hardy, who shared a passion for the web and yearned to share that passion with businesses in order to help them reach their full potential and remain competitive in a dynamic business setting.  Through the several local and nationwide projects Sandin and Hardy received, they realized the full potential and power the web held as a communication tool, channel for sales, and more.  Sandin moved the company to Fargo, ND in 2003, and since then Onsharp has expanded its service offerings, skilled team of professionals, and its client base.

Onsharp continues to grow with an energetic and passionate determination to help businesses create web-based solutions.  The core values of innovation, an unparalleled customer experience, and measurable results are behind every project and interaction with Onsharp, and the company has both an experienced staff as well as a proven process model to ensure growth and success for their clients. Onsharp now offers six core services: web strategy, web design, web development, web marketing, web optimization, and web hosting.  Onsharp also offers a hosted service, SmartPay, which provides web-based billing and payment integration for businesses to help them save time, money, and the environment.

“The key to our success at Onsharp has always been and will continue to be our talented and energetic team,” comments Sandin.  “Without their collective expertise and passion for what we do, the results that we have brought to our clients would not be possible. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of the Onsharp team members that have worked so hard in pursuit of our vision of driving success. I would also like to thank all of our clients, past and present, who we have been fortunate to serve.  We are extremely grateful for your business and we look forward to long-lasting partnerships with all of you for many years to come.”

At Onsharp, the overarching vision is simple: Drive Success. Whether it be for clients, employees, their families, or the community, Onsharp strives to create success in the lives of all people, businesses, and communities it serves.  Offering a full array of services, Onsharp is here to ensure your business is making the most of the web to leverage measurable results.  For more information about Onsharp or SmartPay, please visit www.onsharp.com, www.gosmartpay.com, or call toll-free at 1.866.ONSHARP.

The number of households using electronic billing and payment is quickly growing.  In fact, “According to the financial information management company FISERV, the number of American households paying bills online has doubled …up from 15.3 million in 2004 to more than 36 million last year.” Source. With the number of people using electronic billing and payment increasing year to year, it isn’t a surprise that security becomes a forefront concern.

Even though electronic billing and payment is now very secure (SmartPay is PCI compliant; if you missed our blog on that, check it out here). It is still important to take extra precautions when securing your personal information online.  Here are 5 simple steps to ensure extra security.

1. If you print off statements for your records, shred them.  Even users of electronic billing and payment may print something off every now and then—and sometimes it is hard to remember to shred the information if you aren’t used to paper bills anymore.  But it is important to make an effort to do this, as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimates about 9 million Americans are affected by identity theft every year .   Learn more about identity theft here. 

2. Never respond to e-mails requesting important personal information.  Phishing and hackers are major, valid concerns in today’s Internet-driven society, and any legitimate company with which you do business will never request important personal information via e-mail.  If you receive a suspicious e-mail, be sure to contact a representative of your bank or of the business for which the hacker may be pretending to pose.

3. Check your online accounts regularly.  It is important to keep an eye on your bank account, as well as any online shopping accounts or other online accounts.  Staying on top of your purchases and information will help you notice right away if there seems to be any tampering with or fraudulent purchases toward your accounts.

4. Keep your computer secure.  Make sure your computer and information is kept secure, and try to do all of your online financial business and bill paying at your home.  Don’t take your laptop to a public place (i.e.; a restaurant, the local coffee shop) to do your bill paying, as there is more risk if you are connecting to a network you don’t know is secure or if you are around a lot of people.

5. Make your passwords strong.  Don’t use the same password for multiple accounts, and don’t write your passwords down.  Make them long in length and very unique; using special characters and a combination of upper and lower case letters helps.  Change your passwords regularly.  Every 3-4 weeks is an ideal span of time, and be sure it isn’t a password that someone would easily be able to guess.

Following these and other simple guidelines will help you keep your information more secure, and will make the use of online accounts and online bill paying much more enjoyable!

Where are you on Google? How about Bing? Yahoo? You can easily increase traffic to your site by improving your rank in the organic search results of popular search engines (organic search results are not the sponsored links which are paid for). There are a few easy things you can do to move your site’s listing higher in the search results without spending anything but a little bit of your time. 

Get listed

Each of the three major search engines has local listings.  Think of these listings like a web based phone book. Make sure you have a local listing for each city in which you have a physical location. 

1. Go to getlisted.org

2. Type the name of your business and zip code

3. If you’re not listed, follow the instructions to get listed

Make some links 

Search engines look for how many of your links are on different sites. Create some of your own links by setting up a profile about your business on any one of these sites:

• Facebook

• MySpace

• Twitter

• ZoomInfo

• LinkedIn

Directories

There are a variety of local directories where you can get your business listed as well as industry specific directories. We suggest these directories but you can do a search for “your town local business directory” and get a list of even more directories.

a) Hotfrog.com

b) ShowMeLocal.com

c) MerchantCircle.com

d) MyHuckleberry.com

Ask for Links 

We wouldn’t ask just anyone, though! Ask your local Chamber of Commerce, your Current Clients/Customers, Business Partners, and any reputable site that lists local business but isn’t a directory, you can help them out by providing the html code for your link when you request a link. For our client College Nannies and Tutors their code would look something like this: 

<a href=’http://www.collegenannies.com’> College Nannies and Tutors </a> and look like this on our website College Nannies and Tutors.

Advertise your website

One way to improve your ranking is to increase the number of people who visit your site—so first you need to let people out there know you have a site. Put your web address on every marketing piece: business cards, brochures, ads and everything else including your radio advertisements. 

Things to remember

Keep your info up to date on local listings and update your address, phone numbers, and website address if they change, build your links, and be consistent with your social media updates and blogging. All of these things will help to optimize your search engine rankings. 

What about the 3D process?

Now that you have an idea of what we do, and how we do it for you with our services, what about that process? We use the 3D process consisting of three phases: Discover, Develop, and Deliver. Get it? Three “D’s” make up the 3D process. 

We always begin each project with a Discovery session. You tell us what you require: a way to place orders online, decrease costs, a more reliable email system… and we will begin the Discovery process of what technologies we can use to meet your requirements. We’ll even be able to tell you exactly what your project will cost based on your requirements before we begin Development. 

Development is where the technologies found in Discovery are implemented. Our developers will code away while our project manager keeps you informed of the progress. Based on your requirements outlined in Discovery, we create a system that functions they way you need it to. Our project manager sends you progress reports (weekly, monthly, or whenever you wish) to keep your project on course. Once initial Development is complete, we put your solution through rigorous testing. Okay, the testing isn’t that rigorous on the testers, but we do make sure everything is functioning and is up to your standards before we launch or “Deliver” your project. 

When we launch your finished project, it may end the project itself but it does not end the 3D Process. We continue to deliver measurable results for your business. The Deliver phase begins with the deployment of your project to the appropriate environment and continues with ongoing user training, technical and user support, and measurement of the solutions’ continued success. 

In one sentence, Onsharp helps businesses utilize innovative web based technologies to reach business objectives by measuring results; all with an unparalleled customer experience. But not everything can be described in one sentence, let alone, one blog. We admit, this wasn’t as fun as some of our other blogs, but we know you probably had questions the site just wasn’t answering. And if you have more, leave us a comment or send an email to info@onsharp.com . 

Missed the other blogs? Here are links to the other two! 

http://www.onsharp.com/blog/post/What-exactly-does-Onsharp-do-Part-I.aspx

http://www.onsharp.com/blog/post/What-exactly-does-Onsharp-do-Part-II.aspx

As mentioned in our blog called “Web Marketing Strategy”, one third of businesses have a strategy for online marketing. That leaves two thirds without an online marketing strategy let alone a complete web strategy! If you have a strategy, there are probably measurable elements such as your bounce rate, cost per online conversion, and maybe even savings from electronic invoicing and bill payment. 

Why is having a web strategy important? You have goals and objectives for your business; you must have a strategy for each part of your business to be effective and efficient in reaching those goals and objectives. Web strategy is important because it is a very powerful, often overlooked resource that will help you reach your objectives and become successful in your ventures.

Just like a marketing strategy or an operations strategy, a web strategy has a very important role in mitigating risk, increasing value, and aligning everyone involved. Similar to building a house, you want to know before you begin building which parts of the house you want and where as well as how you want the house to look. A contractor will begin by asking you pertinent questions regarding your lifestyle and what you hope to achieve by having a custom built home.

Just the same with a web strategy, our strategist begins with asking you what your business objectives are for your business and your requirements for a web solution. After determining goals and objectives of your business as a whole, the Onsharp 3D process continues with the Discovery phase. Knowing your objectives and requirements, Onsharp researches the available web technologies and presents possible solutions. The deliverables that result from the Discovery phase include weekly status reports, sitemaps (blueprint for web sites), wireframes for each page, and a statement of work that outlines implementation costs and time estimates for development.

After Discovery is the Development phase where Onsharp’s talented team of developers create the actual solution from the materials created during Discovery. Deliver is the last phase of the 3D process.

A great web strategy includes measurable results. During the Deliver phase we work with you to determine a reporting schedule based on your set metrics that determine the success of your web solutions. For example, if you want to increase the number of web leads you receive, then a number will be determined to help you measure the results your site is producing. Without the measurements, how do you know if your web technologies are successful? Without a web strategy, how do you know what web technologies can do for your business? Not all business owners are web experts and getting a little help from Onsharp in Fargo can help you get the best value from your web technologies.

"Small is the new big," according to Seth Godin. Where businesses used to want to appear to be big, they may now want to look small, cutting edge, and nimble. Small businesses, by this reckoning, should revel in their fresh, new identity and their close-to-their-roots feeling. And many do.

Good for them. What if you still want your business to look a little bigger than it really is? You may be in an industry that still places mroe trust in larger businesses. You may plan to be much bigger next year than you are now, and prefer to begin as you mean to go on. You may just prefer the idea of a bigger business.

You can do it online. And we can help.

We're not talking about deception, here. We're just talking about a highly professional self-presentation.  Here are some steps you can take to give yourself an image worth growing into:

• Have a professionally designed website. Nothing says "just getting our feet wet" like an amateur website, and yes, everyone can tell.
• Put thought, effort, and a bit of money into your logo design. This is an investment, but you can get a lot of mileage from that one investment, and it fixes your company's identity the way few other things can. This is not the place to choose something generic or auto-generated.
• Use a corporate style. Avoid down-home, handmade effects. Sure, they can be attractive, but a polished, professional air makes you look like a larger company even if you're really working out of your garage. A traditional font, rounded corners, and neutral colors may be elements you'll want to use -- discuss it with your designer. Don't be shy about that, either. Your designer can help you create just the image you want to present.
  
• Use a consistent style. Large companies get everyone to use the same style in their correspondence and writing; you should do the same. 
• Say "we." Even if you're the only employee right now, you can still say, "We carry..." or "We'll have that for you..." or "We've been in business since..." Just be sure to keep it consistent: don't say "we" sometimes and "I" sometimes, or you'll seem confused.
• Use online services to pick up the slack. SmartPay e-billing, SugarCRM, professional email, and other online tools give you a "big company" look from the beginning.

Is it possible to do all the marketing for your business from your website?

Maybe. Why? Are you doing an experiment? Unless that's the plan, it's hard to see any reason to limit yourself in that way. Your website is an essential part of your marketing mix, certainly. But it will combine well with other marketing ingredents:

• E mail marketing Build your house list  with your website, trade show booths, a sign-up sheet on the counter at your physical place of business, or your Facebook page. Then use e-mail to bring customers in --to your website or to your brick and mortar shop.
• Direct mail marketing Send out a postcard, and make sure that your website's address is on it. Studies show that consumers now usually check three different channels of information in the course of their decision to buy: that might mean your postcard, your website, and your shop. Studies also show that an e-mail follow up to a direct mailing can be expected to increase responses by 50%.
  
• Shows and speaking engagements Hold a seminar or workshop, set up a booth at a tradeshow, or take a place on a panel at a conference. Hand out business cards with your website's URL when you do, and you'll be bringing interested people in where you can tell them more.
  
• Your brick and mortar shop If you have a store, an office, or another physical place of business, be sure to put your web address on the sacks, brochures, and signs. Train staff to ask, "Have you visited our website?" when they check customers out.  And be sure to show your address, map and/or pictures of your place of business on your website. The two venues will support each other, and both will get more traffic. 
• Public relations When you do press releases, include a link to your website. Put your press releases on your website, too, or link to them. Again, there's a synergy there, and each supports the other. 
• Social media Have a blog, a Twitter account, and a Facebook page for your business. Link to your website from those social media pages, and link from your website to those pages, too. Encourage staff to link to the company website from their pages at LinkedIn or Xing, Jigsaw or Spoke or Ning. The links help your website, and they make your staff's pages more interesting, too. Friend your colleagues at Facebook and follow them on Twitter.
  
• Physical world networking Share your business card, and make sure your website's on it. When someone at the Chamber meeting gives you her email address, ask whether she'd like to be on your company's email list. People you know in the physical world will be more receptive to your email contacts, and they're likely to visit your website, too, if you tell them about it.
  

 Each time you connect your various marketing methods, you increase the value of each one, till the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.