Pomegranite has built quite a few school websites over the last couple years, and the latest one we’ve just launched is the Drakensberg Boys Choir site.
By Liz
Pomegranite recently live tweeted (and built the website for) the Alternative Mining Indaba and when I was putting our event report together, I was looking for some great tools to show off our work.
Weve been running Pomegranite for two and a half years now, and sometimes I still feel like I need a guide for client meetings. Here are five things I took away from my last (very successful – hooray!) meeting:
By Liz
I have mixed feelings about those Facebook memory posts. You know the ones, they appear first thing in the morning announcing, with confetti, “on this day four years ago…” and a photo of you in the arms of an ex-boyfriend that makes you cringe inside. That’s no way to start the day. It’s like running into your old self on the street, a twin you enthusiastically wearing your old clothes, obliviously making your old mistakes. You’re confronted with the person you were, a person who has changed. Mostly, I wanted to drag that historical twin into the nearest doorway and pack her away into a cupboard.
So you’ve chosen a name for your business and you’re ready show the world your brand spanking new logo. Your designer starts asking you a lot of questions and suddenly it all seems like a big decision to make in one meeting.
We get three types of reactions to our business’s name.
It gives you quite a thrill – working with entrepreneurs who have a cracking idea, workshopping the branding and business plan, designing the logo, building the website, and then experiencing their finished product and being blown away.
At the beginning of the year, Marc and Monika (a chef and an opera singer who are a married couple) came to see us about their business idea: Sing for Your Supper. They wanted to offer people a new and exciting way to experience opera that didn’t require a bank loan and a ball gown – an experience that came with delicious food in the bargain.
We explored their idea, asked some difficult questions and together we built the elements of their online marketing: a logo (with the help of the talented indieBerries), a blog, and a website.
Happy with the way these turned out, Marc and Monika started planning their first event, which I attended last week. And wow, was I impressed! (You can read just how impressed I was over here.)
You guys – do yourself a favour and book for one of their upcoming events. You’re in for an evening of incredible food, great entertainment and a whole new appreciation of opera. Even if opera was the last thing on your list, (even if was the very last thing, like after the dentist maybe) this is something you should try. Because it’s nothing like traditional opera.
In between courses, Monika chats to you about the aria she will be singing, telling you what’s going on in the opera at that point, how the character is feeling and what she’s singing about (which ranges from heart-breaking to hilarious).
Watching this business grow from idea to ideal and being a part of its journey was just such an affirmation of why we do what we do. Apart from the warm-and-fuzzies we get from seeing our clients succeed, life is never boring when clients like chefs and opera singers walk through your door!
So you’re in the final meeting with your web designer/agency, it’s been two months of looking at screen designs, prepping content and, if you’re using WordPress, possibly more time looking at themes and functions. Now the moment is here and the final sign-off meeting has arrived.
Clicking through web pages has never been more gratifying as you compare, load, reload and check content. But are you missing something? Are there things that should be in place before you give the all clear?
Here are my top five items you should ensure are in place before signing off any website.
1) Google Analytics
Google Analytics are blocks of code that are embedded in each page which allow tracking of website data.
2) Favicon
This is the little icon that appears in your browser when you visit a website; it’s more of a branding visual that adds that extra bit of value to any site.
3) Structured URLs
URLs are the links in your browser that load each time you navigate pages; these should mimic or relate to the page they go i.e. if the page you’re going to has the heading “welcome to our business” the URL should reflect this: “http://www.yourdomain.com/welcome-to-our-business”
not
“http://www.yourdomain.com/?=pageid1234422/article/content/welcome”
or something along those lines.
4) Responsive layout
In today’s digital realm with the technology and HTML advances there is no excuse not to have a site that at least adheres to tablet screen size (1024 * 768).
5) Out-bound links actually link outbound
Out-bound links are those links that drive visitors away from your site – for example, an affiliate logo that goes to a different site. Theses links should always open in a new window or tab and should not open a new site over yours.
It hasn’t been that long since we moved offices, but we’re so at home here in this light, sunny, friendly space that it feels like much longer.
Liz wrote a bit about the philosophy behind this great coworking space in Cape Town, so I thought I’d give you a little visual window into the space where we spend our days at 75 Harrington Street.
The side of the building that can be seen from the parking lot. There is SO much awesome street art in this area.
Looking up…
We’re on the third floor – along with these other awesome businesses. It’s the most inspiring thing, being surrounded by young entrepreneurs who are just making things happen. You can feel it in the energy of the building as you walk in.
There’s always an interesting event happening at 75. Always.
Our little corner
More of the amazing street art. And the mountain. Always the mountain.
Then there’s this guy. Just because. (And Pomegranite in the background)
Our sunshiney kitchen
Light, bright space and awesome people
Our “opposite” neighbour was actually one of our first clients, White Rabbit Days. We find ourselves wandering into this treasure trove of beautiful jewellery more often than we probably should.
This fist-pumping cat was a gift on our first birthday. It was supposed to bring us good luck and ALL the money. Looking at the way we’ve grown in the last little while, I’d say it can stay.
It’s funny how a joke can change your fate.
As you no doubt saw, last week we started the hunt for a great intern. In the course of my regular banter with our freelance developer, Riyad, he joked that he should apply. One thing led to another and he’s now our newest team member!
Things you need to know about Riyad:
– He’s crazy talented
Having worked for institutions like Media24 in front-end development, Riyad’s certainly got the corporate chops but check out his portfolio on his own website and you’ll see how slick his work is.
– He’s absolutely lovely
Seriously. Every interaction is a pleasure.
– He’s into running and his family and friends and he adores his wife.
– He secretly loves it when we call him RiRi
Exhibit A: last year’s birthday card including some hot photoshop:
– He’s broadening our offering. Not only is Riyad a whizz on Wmailers, html,
So our road shifted direction and we made a different choice but it was clear during my highly entertaining eye conversations with Sarah during that initial phone call with Riyad that this just felt right. We both trust him, we know his work, we know he’s going to be a great asset to Pomegranite.
He starts on Tuesday and we can’t wait to welcome that cheeky face. Stay tuned for his first blog post next week!
Spread the word guys – Pomegranite is looking to hire an intern!
We have grown steadily over the past two years, but things have really taken off in the last couple of months, so we need someone to join the team.
We’d like you to start asap, but it’s really important to us to find the right person. So if this sounds like you, please get in touch and we can chat.
The right person needs to be:
– A recent graduate / have a tertiary education
– Based in Cape Town
– Good with words. We need someone who can write well across a broad range of platforms – from lengthier website copy to short, snappy content for social media
– Keen to learn how to build websites on WordPress (prior knowledge of WordPress a bonus but not a requirement)
– Experienced with social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc)
– Driven, motivated, able to take initiative (i.e. we would like to be able to give you some direction, but then have you run with the project)
– Someone with an eye for branding and the way in which brands are represented in the online space in particular
– A team player with people skills
– Hungry to learn
– Able to work well under pressure (There will be pressure. But there will also be beach days.)
– Open to a dance break every now and then when things just get a bit much
Nitty gritty:
– Full-time
– Salary of R4000 p/m (with the option to increase significantly after six months if you’re the right fit and would like to join Pomegranite permanently as a Junior
– Tertiary education a must
About us:
Pomegranite is an online presence consultancy based in Cape Town. It was started two years ago by myself (Sarah) and Liz. (Feel free to stalk us on Facebook – because viva le internet).
We have built the company into something we’re really proud of and we have so much fun working with our clients. You know those irritating people at braais on Sunday who are excited to go to work the next day? That would be us.
If you’d like to get a feel for the vibe of the company, read about our #InspirationDays on our blog.
Keen to join us?
To apply, please send the following to info@pomegranite.co.za by 30 April 2015:
– Your CV (No more than two pages please. We don’t really want to hear about the merit badge you got for swimming in grade two – although good job on that.)
– A cover letter telling us why you think you’re the right person to join Pomegranite.
Ready, steady, go!
Dropbox is a great service that helps you keep your files safe in a cloud, synced with other users and accessible from anywhere: your desktop, laptop, tablet or phone. We work with it a lot to exchange content with clients – especially during the website building process.
You can work Dropbox it in two (integrated) ways.
1. Online at the Dropbox website: sign in and create, access and share your folders in your account online.
2. Download the Dropbox app to your device: once installed, Dropbox acts like a normal folder on your computer where you can keep files, but it’s special in that everything you put into that folder is automatically backed up to the cloud and synchronized with other users you’ve assigned to the folder and in your Dropbox on any of your other devices its installed on.
WikiHow gives a great step-by-step guide to getting started and sharing files with both methods.