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.

You may have noticed that on our website, one of the passions we have is making a difference in our community.  As a company, we are constantly seeking out opportunities to give back.  One such way this was lived out recently was by Joe Sandin’s participation in a local entrepreneurship event.

Joe Sandin, President and Business Development & Strategy at Onsharp, serves as a mentor for the Onsharp team on daily basis.  He provides guidance and advice from the viewpoint of an expert in the industry, as well as that of an entrepreneur in the technology world.  During second week of June, Joe served as a mentor as usual; this time for a group of three high school students during the first annual NDSU Research & Technology Park Youth Entrepreneurship Academy. 

The academy lasted for one week, ending in a special event on Friday, June 11 in which the winning team was awarded $500 college tuition vouchers to be used at North Dakota State University.  During the academy, students from Fargo-Moorhead and surrounding areas worked as teams to complete presentations for an array of case studies.  Various area business mentors helped guide the teams throughout the process.

As Joe reflected on the experience, he commented: 

“Participating as a mentor in the NDSU Research & Technology Park Youth Entrepreneurship Academy was an extremely rewarding experience. I always enjoy sharing what I have learned as an entrepreneur with younger generations to encourage them to consider the rewarding but challenging path of an entrepreneur. I only wish I could have had the opportunity they had in this program to learn about what it takes to develop and fund a startup business at such a young age. I look forward to potentially seeing some their faces in the future as fellow entrepreneurs out in the market.”

Joe’s participation and enthusiasm about the event shows yet again that Onsharp is truly committed to driving success in the lives of others—whether it be for a client, employees, or the overall community.

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.

Last year, businesses and nonprofits might have discussed whether social media might be a useful tool for their particular organization. Now, we know that our customers are looking for us at Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, so we'd better be there.

We hosted the Fargo Twestival and saw for ourselves that social media has the power to make a difference. This year's donations were twice last year's. It can make a difference in your business, too.

If you're ready to stick your neck out,  take a few simple steps to make sure your first forays into the wilds of social media are effective:

• Have a goal.  By choosing a simple, measurable goal, you set yourself up for success, and you can measure the outcome. If you plan to "Improve our company's reputation," you might have difficulty deciding when you've succeeded. If you decide to get 100 followers at Twitter or 500 fans at Facebook, to double the amount of traffic you get through social media, or to gain 30 links through social media,  then you can tell when you've succeeded.
• Recruit some allies. At a party, the animated group with a fun conversation going draws more people than the lonley wallflower. Get your staff, friends, and family to help you kick things off. Start a discussion, and others are likely to join in.
  
• Remember you're not advertising. You can suggest to your whole address book that they become fans of your business page -- once. You can e-mail people and ask them to add a link to your website onto their Facebook pages -- once. It's not intrusive, and some people will be happy to learn about you. Doing it every week is irritating, and doing it every day is spam.
  
• Be interesting. You may get some helpers to kick the conversations off, but you have to say interesting things to keep people coming back. Talk about your new products, sure, but don't forget to share things that are useful and entertaining. And occasionally you can share a little personal tidbit -- but watch out for too much information. Trouble with fellow employees, snarky comments about competitors, or complaints about customers are not going to do your company any good.
• Measure your results. Watch your site analytics for visitors coming to your site from your social media networks, use Facebook Insight , even create a special offfer for your network. All these efforts will help you see what's being most useful for your company or organization. 

Soon, you'll be enjoying your online networking as much as you enjoy meeting people in the physical world.