ChaoStructured Services Showcase: PTA Web Site

The second example in our showcase is a simple and clean PTA web site for a local elementary school. By using the school's existing logo and school colors and gathering some pertinent information from the PTA group and the staff, we were able to complete this site within less than a week of starting the project.

The school's PTA group now has a web site that costs them nothing to host, significantly improves their ability to provide up-to-date information to parents and PTA members and is easy for them to maintain. We also set up a Twitter account and a Facebook Fan page, using the same look & feel for all of them.



http://twitter.com/TwinLakesPTA/

Twin Lakes Elementary - Official Page

Promote Your Page Too

Slam's ChaoStructured Services

Although a good portion of our focus for the past year has been on building our flagship product, Woubie, we've also been working on developing our "ChaoStructured" services.

When we started the company, we intended to hire someone to build our web sites, so that we could focus strictly on the development of Woubie. We had the skill sets to handle what it took to build a program like Woubie, but we hadn't dipped our toes into the design pool. Yet. Then we found out that it would cost us upwards of $2,500 just for one basic web site and it wouldn't even cover everything that we wanted or needed. And since we wanted a company site and a Woubie product site, we quickly realized that it just wasn't going to happen.

So we learned how to do it ourselves. And let me tell you, it was a frustrating and hair-pulling process during which we frequently said, "huh?", "WTF?" and "Maybe if we try...". In the end it was worth it. We've learned several new skill sets and we're proud of the fact that we've literally built everything for our company ourselves. From our Slam logo to Woubie, every design element, web page, support process, tweet, blog, photograph, animation, video, etc was done by one of us.

While we were doing all of this we found that many writers, comedians, small businesses & NPOs would like to have a web presence and make use of social media sites to promote themselves and their business. But like us, they just can't afford to pay what it typically costs. Or, if they do pay to have one built, because of the way web sites are typically built and hosted, they're stuck paying more every time they want to update it.

So we began working on developing a way for those folks to have a well designed, branded web presence at a fraction of the typical cost, which they can maintain and update on their own.

The result is our ChaoStructured Services.

Over the next few weeks we'll be showcasing the sites we've built using this method and showing how easy it is to get your brand out there.

The first site in our showcase is for Freeman Solutions, Inc., a home renovation company with an excellent and well-deserved reputation for impeccable work. Click on the image below to go to the site.



P.S.
We're not a hosting company, a marketing company or SEO experts. But we do know some very talented people who are and would be happy to point you in their direction if that's the type of service you're looking for.

2010 - Year of the Woubie

We're back on track. Keep an eye out for our press release coming this spring.

Woubie Woubie Doo, Where Are You?

At the beginning of the month the plan was for me to post a new blog at least every other day leading up to the Woubie launch. Clearly a dumb plan. Here we are, 8 days away from D-Day, and this is only my fifth post since the October 1st.

Whoa, hold on a minute...8 days? 8 DAYS?! Do you have any idea how much I still need to do before then? Let's make a list:

1) Make final corrections to the Slam and Woubie sites (Thanks, Mom, for the grammar lessons). :)
2) Get some more of those Rolaid soft chews.
3) Final test of the billing process.
4) Buy some beer.
5) Make sure the duct tape we used on MatStreet is still holding up.
6) Finish writing the press release.
7) Have a beer.
8) Try one more time to break Woubie; click on every button, type something in every space, save, edit, search, filter...this process takes a while because Woubie does a lot of stuff.
9) Chew a Rolaid.
10) Untape MatStreet and let him have a beer just to perk him up a bit and make him create marketing and training videos.
11) Tape him back up again. This is a time consuming process. Our takeaway from this learning experience is that it's much smarter to buy duct tape in bulk.
12) Have the Advisory Board members read the press release (since they need to do something to earn the money they aren't getting).
13) Give each of the advisory board members a beer since we can't pay them. Oh, wait, 2 of them are pregnant. Sweet, more beer for the rest of us.
14) Fix the footer links inside of Woubie so that they open a separate window instead of taking the user away from Woubie.
15) Reassure the Mad Scientist for the thousandth (is that really a word?) time that, "Yes, I really do think that Woubie will make at least enough money for us to buy food and toys".
16) Finish up the Woubie Help file.
17) Chew some more Rolaids.
18) Add the "30 Day Trial" button to a couple of pages, so that people can easily find them.
19) Get ready for the Launch party (which is also going to be a Fall Festival / Halloween / Birthday Party). And by "get ready" I mean meditate, have a beer, lose sleep, stress out and have another beer, because I'm definitely not the hostess-with-the-mostess and the damn party is making me down more Rolaids than the idea of launching "the very first product of our very own company on a tattered shoestring budget".

That last one did me in. I'm outta here. I have stuff to do.

Mat Street is a big fat wuss

With the exception of Mr. Noseeum, the Slam team is basically a family affair. The things you learn about family members once you become co-workers are interesting. For example, I found out today that Mat (@matstreet) is a big fat wuss. Since I've known him his whole life (okay, fine, he was probably already 15 minutes old the first time I saw him, but you know, 15 minutes isn't a whole lot unless you're holding your breath), it came as a bit of a suprise that I didn't know this about him before now.

The highlight of our Woubie launch party was supposed to be Mat Street jumping out of a plane and landing on the roof of my house. Today, on Facebook, he posted this comment in response to my announcement of our plans:

"Can you park an airplane in your backyard and I jump from your roof onto it instead? Pretty please? Let's think this through. Me no likey freefall!!!"

Damn baby.

Seriously, Mat, you wimp out on this, but still expect me to believe you when you say you would do anything for your family? Does your girlfriend know you're such a wimp? And since when is a feeling like freefall a negative thing for you? Also, you couldn't tell me to my face that you're chicken?

All I have to say now is that you better come up with something awesome to take the place of the plane jumping-falling-landing-splat routine.

If not I'm tellin' Mom.