Connected Web Solutions - Harrisburg Web Design

Some time over the last week Connected Web Solutions officially turned three years old.  In these 3 years we’ve seen

• Countless (re)designs and apps developed
• Our first official product, alumLINK
• Clients have come and gone (I guess you can’t keep them all)
• The business has changed locations twice
• Worked in Costa Rica for a month (see www.mymovableoffice.com)
• A company car
• Annually increasing revenue, profits, and expenses (I guess the last is inevitable)
• A larger team
• And loads more but these are all that come to mind right now…

These 3 years have been a great learning experience not just in terms of web design and development but also in business and life.  I wanted to take the opportunity to thank all the clients and people that have worked with us in these three years.  Let’s hope the next 3 are just as exciting and successful!

“Learning never exhausts the mind.”

Leonardo da Vinci

I am very proud to announce that we released our first official product on Monday this week.  alumLINK is an alumni networking and management app aimed at affinity groups.  I am in no way trying to compete with the big boys (Facebook, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc) but trying to provide a way for alumni from a specific group to network easily without all that social network “noise” you see with them.  I know you can create Facebook or LinkedIn groups but I feel like this is overkill for the niche I am trying to reach.  Each instance of alumLINK is secure to its own group or team (unless customized otherwise upon installation).

3 years ago when starting the company I saw the need for this kind of product.  We had no good way of communicating with all the soccer alumni that went through my school.  We always thought it would be nice to have a way to communicate with all of them and provide job opportunities and a way to mentor the younger alumni or even current students.  alumLINK now makes this possible.…

This isn’t so much a technical post but more about how important it is to set goals and the amazing payoff there is in achieving them.  For the first year or so running the business I was perfectly happy coasting through and picking up clients here and there and watching the revenue slowly increase.  I did no active new business development.  Pretty soon I realized that my numbers were kind of hovering and not really getting up to where I would need them to be to do this as a full time job.  After reading a ton of books and business blogs, it was apparent that I needed a business plan and to set some goals within it.  So in 2007 I decided to write down my business, and well as personal, goals in my business/life plan.  I didn’t go the route of the traditional business plan but created more of a life plan with my business integrated into it.  Once I set my goals I had something to strive for.

Setting Goals

• Double my client base in Harrisburg as well as the Lehigh Valley (achieved)
• Increase revenue AND profit by 25% a year until 2012 (achieved)
• Find subcontractors

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As always this post is long overdue but it would be quite relevant to a lot of people out there in need of inspiration in this tough time.  I have been fortunate enough to attend a few conferences and listen to a LOT of great speakers.   From designers to developers and freelancers to entrepreneurs I have picked up a wealth of knowledge just listening to them speak for an hour or so.

A couple weeks ago Gary Vaynerchuk (Host of Wine Library TV and super inspirational young speaker, @garyvee on Twitter) posted a link to his talk at the Big Omaha conference on his Twitter stream.  It was about an hour and the majority of it Q&A but after listening to it during my lunch break I felt refreshed and that I could take on any project and was itching to get back to work.  This is not the first great talk from a conference that I have seen on a Twitter stream.  I also follow Tim Ferriss (author or 4 Hour Work Week, @tferriss) and he always…

It’s been too long since my last post but I was struggling to find a good topic for a post.  I have since realized that in the last 3 years I have been able to successfully freelance and bootstrap my business into a successful web design agency.  I thought that I would pass on what I have learned over these last 3 years.

1. Do your homework
   I was fortunate that I had someone to ask a handful of questions (the former GM at my pro soccer club) about starting a business before I took the plunge but that is not the case for all of you.   Learn about the appropriate paperwork to fill out in your state.  Figure out what kind of business entity you want (LLC, Corporation, Nonprofit).  Learn about registered trademarks and copyrights if they apply.  There are tons of books out there but I recommend contacting SCORE with a list of pre-made questions you have about starting a business to get your answers quickly.  SCORE is an amazing FREE service that is basically a bunch of retired business owners that offer their advice to people starting or

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