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With a new year, a new decade, and an ever changing economy, we are excited to have new clients with new challenges. Our team of designers and website developers in both our Minneapolis / St. Paul and Laguna Beach offices were fortunate to work on many new clients in 2009. We designed, developed and launched over 25 new sites this year, many new brands, brochures and ad campaigns, as well as instituted social media into many of our client's marketing strategy to have our best year yet. When Daniel and I founded NADA advertising on November 2, 2004, we did so with the notion that we wanted to offer awe-inspiring designs and brands through print and web for all sizes of clients - no client would be too big or too small. Within the first five years, we have done just that. From working with individual brands like Brad Palecek, Realtor to world wide phenomenons like Andrew Zimmern of the Travel Channel, CNBC and more, we are truly grateful for each and every client that has allowed us to help build their company while building ours. We have learned a great deal, continually added new services, adjusted to our clients' needs, and most importantly - gain them success in growing their businesses. We wish you a successful 2010 and hope to work with you and your business in the coming year.

We received the nicest note today from one of our most recent site launches, www.truetastes.com. "I just wanted to drop by and thank you again for the WONDERFUL website. We have received so many compliments from our cafe customers and future clients!! I would also like to thank you for being flexible with us and our business through the entire process. There isn't anyone we would rather have help us but NADA!! We will HIGHLY RECOMMEND you to anyone who needs a website. Your constant attention to detail and communication with me was out of this world :-) So our hats off to you and the NADA TEAM, we really can't THANK YOU enough. We look forward to our friendship into 2010. Thank You, Katie and Jeff Conlin Anita’s Cafe & Catering and True Tastes Event Catering" Chef Jeff and his all-star creative team brings worldy flavors to the Twin Cities. True Tastes Event Catering in St. Paul, MN focuses on offering the best for Corporate & Community Events, Weddings, Fundraising Dinners and Special Banquets in just about any venue. Anita’s Cafe & Catering in downtown St. Paul, in MN’s historical Landmark Center offers downtowners a unique breakfast and lunch experience. Whether you’re eating in or ordering out, Anita’s unique menu offerings and daily specials are sure to please everyone.

This past week, our team is very excited to have launched two new sites for two great new clients: Severin Fims and Sunrise Beach Villas. Thanks to our great partnerships with these two companies, they have already received praises on the new sites and we look forward to seeing traffic growth and interest to their sites over the next few months. Although we are Minneapolis/St. Paul Web design and Laguna Beach Web design agency, it is clear that with our clients in Wisconsin, New York and Bahamas, we are able to service anywhere in the world through our Went Green initiative and Virtual Meeting Room. About them:

Severin Fims

Since their founding in 2006, Severin Fims has become the foremost studio dedicated to rescuing, restoring and releasing the most controversial and provocative features from around the world. With offices in Los Angeles, London and New York, the company’s international successes in DVD and niche theatrical of films from Oscar nominees and cult icons alike has garnered applause in The Hollywood Reporter, The New York Times and The Onion AV Club, and led BlogCritics.org to proclaim, “Severin Fims are well on their way to becoming the greatest indie label of all time.”

Sunrise Beach Villas

Sunrise Beach Villa’s guests travel to paradise to escape the hustle and bustle of back home. Our resort’s tranquil setting makes the perfect retreat to relax poolside, stroll along the beach, and make memories with your friends and family. Located just across the bridge from Nassau, Bahamas on beautiful Paradise Island, you’re sure to fall in love with our heavenly one, two, three, four or five bedroom villas on Cabbage Beach.

Celebrating 5 years of a new business is a pretty great feeling. Looking back at the beginning of "will we make it?" and "are we really doing this?" seem like so long ago... and at the same time... feels like just yesterday. full scoop

A great article just came out on FindLaw.com's professional site discussing branding in a down market. full scoop

Cookies that don't taste good, but are good for business Everyone who's ever been on the internet has seen the warning "this website requires you to enable cookies." And they're not talking about freshly baked Grandma Jane's cookies. Many of our clients are looking for new, smarter ways to communicate with their target audience without buying mass ad campaigns on major websites. Our partnership with the leader in ad server technology allows them to launch a local or national campaign on just about any budget. Using "cookies," our online marketing technology puts a piece of data on the computer of the visitor when they visit your website and tracks them as they continue to surf the web. The smart cookies use those cookies to "retarget" those visitors in a few days depending on what they did or didn't do on your website. How remarketing (retargeting) advertising works:

• Stefanie visits CompanyX.com's website on Monday, spends 15 minutes on the site and buys 3 items, spending $110.
• Molly visits CompanyX.com's website on Monday, spends 10 minutes on the site but never makes a purchase.
• On Friday, Stefanie is visiting People.com and sees an for Free Shipping for the month of August at CompanyX.com (to get her back to the site to buy more).
• On Friday, Molly is visiting NYTimes.com and sees an ad with a coupon for 20% off for CompanyX.com (so maybe she will go back and purchase something... this time).

A non-shopping cart site's use of remarketing example is:

• Jim visits www.a-i-r.com and is learning about interventions for his son but doesn't complete a "lead form."
• Andrew visits www.a-i-r.com to learn about interventions for his wife and does complete a "lead form."
• One week later Jim is on CNN.com and sees an ad for AiR's Intervention services.
• Two weeks later Andrew is on NBC.com and sees an ad for AiR's Recovery Assistance Program, a program that once someone has entered treatment, this program offers additional support in their recovery.

There are endless ways of using this remarketing ad server technology dependent on what your business is, what your website's goal is, and who your target audience is. No matter what your business is, chances are, you can increase leads, make more sales, or generate brand awareness with this technology. Contact NADA advertising today to learn about ad server technology that uses cookies to make your online marketing dollars more effective and work harder.

The state of Minnesota has invested in a state sponsored program called eWorkPlace for Twin Cities metro area employers. The program is designed to provide telework options to its employees to work from home or a remote location and connect to the office with simple technology.... internet and phone. NADA advertising spent 2008 & early 2009 creating this same philosophy with our Green Ad Agency. The technology was there, we just needed to understand how to best use it to produce great work and meet the customer service needs of our clients when designing a virtual workplace. Our Minneapolis/St. Paul & Laguna Beach ad agency has seen many of the great benefits that the eWorkPlace talks about. On the eWorkPlace website, www.eworkplace-mn.com, it lists out the benefits of Telework options for its employees as well as the employer. Virtual offices benefit the Employers by:

• Increasing employee productiy - less time around the water cooler or stuck in traffic
• Reducing cost of real estate and overhead
• Expanding access to talented people
• view the full list

Virtual offices benefit the Employees by:

• Saving in drive time, as well as gas and parking costs
• Greater productinivg - again.. does this have anything to do with the water cooler chats?
• Enhance quality of life
• view the full list

One thing that strikes out at me, is eWorkPlace is not only concerned with the dollar amounts saved for the companies, but also focused on the benefits of the economy:

• Improved air quality - less driving & gas consumption
• Improved highway safety - less people on the road during rush hour the better
• view the full list

Many of our clients such as Elite Destination Homes, AiR Assistance in Recovery, Real Estate Equities and a few others have similar programs set up like this for select employees - and we love that. To learn more, visit www.eworkplace-mn.com or search google for a similar sponsored program in your state.

I found this smart article in the news today from Harvard Business by ANDREW WINSTON GREEN ADVANTAGE - You Can't Afford Not to Go Green in This Economy 2:40 PM Tuesday June 2, 2009 The green movement may be at risk of slowing down, especially within the business community. Many business people hold on to an outdated view of green: the misconception that environmental practices always cost a lot of money. So logically, in this economy they're asking, "Is this really the time for green? Can we really afford it now?" At same time, most of the global discussion about getting the economy on track focuses on the macro picture — large stimulus packages at the national and industry level. But how can the economy as a whole get on its feet if individual companies don't as well? I believe that these two questions — can we still go green and how do we revive the economy — are heavily intertwined. In this time of austerity, sustainability is perhaps even more relevant and will provide a path out of this mess. One of the core pillars of going green is doing more with less — saving physical and financial resources. So while the instinct may be to pull back from green initiatives in hard times, that would be shortsighted and a huge mistake. Not only should companies not put their green efforts on hold, they should accelerate them in targeted ways to save money quickly and prepare for the future. Those who navigate these tricky waters the best will emerge from the downturn in better shape than their competitors. The reality is that most of the forces driving companies to go green have not gone away — in fact, many of these factors have increased despite, or even because of, the economic situation. Environmental crises such as climate change and water shortages continue to evolve. Megaforces such as technology-driven transparency and the long-term mismatch between supply and demand of oil and most critical resources (billions of new consumers and not a lot more stuff in the ground) continue to advance. Closer to home, key stakeholders still demand more of companies than ever, especially corporate customers greening their supply chains (they want to save money right now, and it's pretty easy to demand that your suppliers reduce waste, energy use, and cost). Even your employees, both of whom are under extreme financial pressure, still want a measure of environmental performance and social responsibility in the companies they work for and buy from. In fact, employees may want more green programs as they look for meaning (beyond money) in tough times. Luckily for business, the solutions to both economic and environmental problems overlap heavily. The same strategies and tactics that address long-term environmental challenges will help you survive today's economic conditions. Getting lean, particularly on energy and resources, will save money and reduce carbon impacts (as well as making you more competitive when energy prices inevitably rise again). Thinking through your value chain and getting creative about how you can help your customers manage their environmental impacts and lower their costs will help you grab market share in tough times. And it will likely do much more to address environmental challenges than focusing only on your own environmental impacts. Getting your people engaged around a dual mission — save the company money and preserve our collective bounty and assets — will help boost morale in tough times and keep your company going strong. In many ways, the economic and environmental challenges are the same. We overleveraged financial resources and overextended ourselves. Isn't that exactly what we're doing with natural resources? Isn't now the right time to cut back where it makes sense, but also to innovate and grow in better, smarter ways? Your company's, and our economy's, recovery may depend on how we all handle these multiple challenges at once. We can't afford to tackle them one at a time.

The AP just came out with this which as a small business co-owner I really appreciated! WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama says the nation's small businesses are responsible for half of the nation's private sector jobs and deserve support from Washington. Obama on Tuesday welcomed winners of a Small Business Administration award to the White House's East Room. He said some of the nation's best businesses began as small ventures, such as Google and McDonald's. Such businesses' impact goes beyond the economy, Obama said, adding that small business owners help strengthen local neighborhoods. Given everything a small business does for its community, the government should do its part to help leaders, he said. That's why Obama says his economic policies would help pay off private loans and increase government backing for SBA loans.