Tag Archives: graphic design

Google’s One-Stop Shop for Nonprofits: What is Google Checkout?

Google Checkout for Nonprofits is a fast, convenient donation process that helps nonprofit organizations attract more donors and increase online giving. Normally Google charges a small transaction fee for their checkout service; however, the company provides a special incentive for nonprofits. Organizations that qualify for the Google for Nonprofits program can process transactions with no fee. More than $5 million in donations towards the relief efforts in Japan have been collected through Google Checkout for the Japanese Red Cross Society, International Medical Corps, UNICEF and Save the Children. Google Checkout waived all processing fees associated with these transactions so the organizations received 100% of the donations.

All nonprofits must meet the following criteria to collect donations through Google Checkout:

  • Are based in the United States
  • Represent a valid 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(6) tax-exempt organization.
  • Clearly display your organization’s tax-exempt status on your website
  • Complete the verification process.

Fill out the all-in-one form at Google for Nonprofits to apply for this free service. Once accepted into the program, you will be able to open a Google Checkout merchant account and set up donation buttons on your website to accept payment from visitors. Google also gives step-by-step directions on how to set up a pre-integrated shopping cart in minutes. Or, you can integrate your own shopping cart with Google Checkout via their Nonprofit API.

If you have any questions or need help setting up your donation website, Blue Interactive Agency can help. We are an interactive marketing company specializing in custom website design, graphic design and software development to increase your company’s web presence. We can help your nonprofit organization develop an effective website marketing strategy that promotes your cause. Call us at 954-779-2801.


Questions to Ask Before Your Website Redesign

Website RedesignWhen redesigning a website, people often seek to imitate another company’s site they admire or go straight to a design expert for help. However, those are steps that should be taken much further down the road. The first issue to address – before paying any attention to aesthetics – is what the actual goal of the new website is. Planning accordingly will set the stage and make the process much smoother with desired results.

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How To: Set Up Your Business Page on Facebook

How to Set up Your Facebook Business PageA Facebook business page is valuable for communicating with your customers as well as for search engine optimization purposes. Facebook marketing allows businesses to create targeted messages and to leverage personal recommendations from patrons. If you don’t have a Facebook page designated for your business, follow this step-by-step guide to get started.

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How To: Set Up Your Website

How To Set Up Your Website

Websites are vital for communicating information to your customers, getting visibility for your business, and promoting products and services. Setting up your own website may seem like a challenging feat, but follow this simple step-by-step guide to launch your website with ease.

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Spotify Adds Facebook-Style Apps

Spotify is quickly surpassing Slacker and other streaming music services in popularity. The company announced Wednesday that it will now begin offering Facebook-style apps that add various features and functions to its service. Many are speculating that the integration could differentiate the Stockholm-based company among growing competition from Google, Amazon and Apple.

At their press conference in New York, Spotify executives gave a presentation of the different applications, including Rolling Stone magazine, CBS Corporation’s music-recommendation service Last.fm and Songkick, which notifies users about upcoming concerts based on the artists they like. “Since Stockholm-based Spotify is opening its app platform to any developer, much as Apple does for its iPhone app store, more functions are likely to arrive soon,” reports the Wall Street Journal. Spotify is opening its app platform to any developer, which will allow for more and better functions. Although apps will be created by third parties, Spotify will have to approve them before they’re available, much like the approval process for Apple’s App Store. “It’s going to be more like the Apple model,” said Chief Executive Daniel Ek. “We want to make sure the quality of the apps we get in is really, really high.”

Enhancing the service is intended to attract new users and to keep current customers using Spotify for longer periods of time. Spotify allows users to listen to over 15 million songs on demand, and discovering new music they actually want to hear is the prime focus of the new features.

Despite backlash from people in the music industry, who have estimated that Spotify’s licensing agreements with the major labels will cost the company roughly $175 million over two years, the new features are expected to gain the company a healthy amount of new subscribers. At Blue Interactive Agency, we love to keep up on the latest tech news. If you’re looking for interested in interactive marketing services, contact Blue today. From graphic design to social media marketing, Blue offers a complete range of web services.


Fascinating YouTube Facts You Probably Didn’t Know

It’s spawned some of the most well-known web sensations since the dawn of the World Wide Web. More video content is uploaded here in a 60-day period than the three major U.S. television networks created in 60 years. Every minute, 24 hours of video are uploaded to it. From its humble beginnings in February of 2005 to the monster-sized video-sharing site we know today, YouTube has enabled the everyman to upload unlimited personal videos free of charge for 6 years and counting. Mashable did some serious digging and came up with 10 fascinating facts you probably didn’t know about the video hosting site. Here are some highlights:

No PayPal, No YouTube: YouTube was created by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley and Jawed Karim, who met as co-workers at the internet start up, PayPal. The three funded YouTube with bonuses they received from the eBay buyout of PayPal.

Starting as a Dating Site: “Legend has it that YouTube began life as a video dating site dubbed “Tune In Hook Up,” said to be influenced by HotorNot,” reports the article. Luckily, the founding members decided to forego that route, instead drawing upon inspiration from Karim’s inability to find a video of Janet Jackson’s infamous “wardrobe malfunction,” as well as Hurley and Chen’s difficulty sharing personal videos via email due to attachment limitations.

The first video ever uploaded: At the San Diego Zoo, Yakov Lapitsky shot co-founder Jawed Karim “in front of the elephant enclosure going on about long trunks.” Memorable? Not so much, but it has still managed to boast 5,174,442 views since its premier on April 23, 2005.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNQXAC9IVRw

Mind Blowing YouTube Stats: As of February 2011, YouTube has 490 million unique users worldwide per month, who view 92 billion pages in a month. Visitors spend about 2.9 billion hours on YouTube each month – over 325,000 years. And the social stats are no less impressive: “YouTube says that on average there are more than 400 tweets per minute containing a YouTube link,” reports Mashable. Facebook contains over 150 years worth of YouTube videos that are watched every day.

YouTube’s jaw-dropping success spells an invaluable interactive marketing opportunity for businesses. Although Facebook and Twitter are the two major social media marketing platforms companies typically focus on, YouTube marketing offers a unique opportunity to enhance an online advertising portfolio with videos. Whether you need help with YouTube marketing, top quality graphic design, SEO copywriting or any other interactive service, contact Blue Interactive Agency today!