InStream is a Nashville-based company that helps businesses eliminate frustration and cost related to tedious paperwork tasks.

From their website:

If your business is going paperless… we can help. If you are sure that technology can help reduce your costs, but are not sure where to begin… we can help. If your labor costs are soaring from tedious business processes (opening mail, sorting claims, scanning & retrieving documents)… we can definitely help.

The folks at InStream were a pleasure to work with while we designed their website and helped develop their content and photography, providing us tons of access to their personnel and operation.  They have some fantastic solutions that can help your business save real time and money, and we hope you’ll check out their new website.

J. David Wicker is a Nashville-based attorney, focusing on criminal defense and domestic law. Mr. Wicker wanted a website that would highlight his experience and his passion for the law.

From the website:

David Wicker is committed to fighting for you and protecting your rights and interests. Mr. Wicker is equally committed to providing client-centered service. The majority of his clients come to him through referrals from past and current clients, friends, and associates because of his dedication to his clients and his determination to provide superior representation to the residents of Tennessee.

We found Mr. Wicker to be a particularly easy client to work with.  We also enjoyed creating a unique look and feel (for us) that incorporated his likeness into an understated, yet classy design.

We hope you’ll check out his site when you have the time at JDavidWicker.com.

Golf PROVISION is a very interesting company that focuses on creating unique, relationship-based marketing opportunities related to golfing.

According to their website, they offer a variety of services:

Golf-Centered Relationship Marketing

Events Coordination & Management

Golf Therapy – Academies & Group Clinics

Dinner & Motivational Speaking Engagements

Outreach & Networking Ministries

Specialty Merchandise

Trade Show Appearances

Our favorite part of this business is the relationships we form with our many clients, and the folks at Golf PROVISION were definitely a great group to work with.

We hope you’ll check out their new website at GolfProVision.com.

The Communion Company is a provider of communion and other worship-related supplies based out of Gallatin, TN.

They wanted to upgrade their existing site, giving it a classy feel, while also adding shopping cart capabilities.  The folks at The Communion Company have been a pleasure to work with throughout this process, and we feel confident we’ve given them a website that will take care of the e-commerce stuff without compromising on their pursuit of an elegant showcase for their fantastic products.

Check out their site at CommunionCompany.com.

The many Chambers of Commerce in the Sumner County area decided to work together in a big way, and part of that mission was to design a launch-pad website through which one could access the site of any of the individual municipal chambers.

We have worked with most of the Sumner-area chambers before on websites and other projects (we’re members of several as well) and have always found each to be a pleasure to work with.  As this was basically just a one-page portal to the individual Chamber sites, we tried to evoke some things visually that would speak to this wonderful Sumner County area we all love.

Check out the new site at SumnerCountyChambers.org.

But this is our blog. It’s a bit more informal, and we get to have a little fun with it while still delivering to our clients something interesting in the world of technology.

And judging by our blog statistics, many of you enjoy reading it. Thanks a ton, by the way!

A lot of our clients have been asking about blogs lately. Do they need one? Should they get one? Is it easy to use? Can it enhance a business? Is it cost-effective?

All five answers are “Yes!”

For any of our local clients (Middle Tennessee), we’re actually introducing a new Keystone University class this coming Friday, May 9th, 2008… on Blogging & Your Business. We’ll cover what blogging is, how it can apply to your business, how you can market your blog, and much more.

Cost for this class is only $25 (or $30 for the Blogging class and the Search Engine class we’re also having that day… both combined). The Search Engine class is at 10:30 and the Blogging class is at 12:30, with lunch in between (buy either class by itself, and you get a free lunch!), and the venue is the fabulous Lighthouse Events Center in Hendersonville.

All Keystone University participants also receive a free KU T-Shirt!

For more information or to sign up, please see our class schedule here (click “Purchase Now” next to the class you’d like to attend) or call our office at 615-826-3500. Whether you’re clueless as to what this blogging thing is all about or you’re in the know and thinking of starting your own blog… this class is for you. We’d love to see you there.

For another resource on whether or not you should start a blog, we highly recommend this great guide from ProBlogger.

Guildcraft Inc. is a Vacation Bible School craft supplier based in Buffalo, NY. You can see their main website here.

They’ve recently decided to start maintaining a blog about crafts and Vacation Bible School activities–an idea we thought was fantastic. We were thrilled to be asked to help design their blog to compliment their corporate website, and the project was really very smooth. You can visit their blog here.

From their new blog:

This blog is managed by Guildcraft Arts & Crafts and is dedicated to the special events of children’s ministry such as Vacation Bible School, fall festivals, Easter celebrations, Advent, and more. Our goal is to give you fresh ideas and planning tips. We’ll also strive to share the lastest curriculum and craft news.

The people of Guildcraft have long been great to work with, and that includes this most recent project. We hope you’ll check out their new blog and share it with anyone you know who enjoys the world of VBS and children’s crafts.

Myself and several of my co-workers had the privilege of playing in Monday’s Hendersonville Chamber of Commerce Golf Tournament at the Bluegrass Country Club.

The weather was perfect, the golfers were jovial, and the birdies were flowing–for some teams more than others.

Any of you who participated in the tournament have probably already heard about our guerrilla marketing golf balls. For the rest of you, here’s the Cliff’s Notes version:

See, one of our fastest growing services is Search Engine Optimization–or, helping websites rank better on Google.  And we wanted to highlight that service to a tournament field filled with our core demographic… small business owners.  So we conceived of and designed some specialty golf balls. They were really nice golf balls, some of the nicest Nike makes. On one side we printed our logo, and on the other side was a catchy marketing message:

“Finding golf balls is easy. Finding your website on Google is hard. We can help. FoundGolfBall.com“

At 8:30, an hour or so before the groups all teed off, Eric and I hopped in one of the spare golf carts and headed out. We drove the whole course, “losing” 7 or 8 of our special guerrilla golf balls on each and every hole. Some were “lost” in the rough. Some were “lost” in the sand traps or near the edges of water hazards. Others were “lost” in the trees and wooded areas. Heck, we even managed to “lose” a few on or near the green on several holes.

The idea was that golfers are always on the lookout for free golf balls. Anytime a golfer hits a ball into the woods and stumbles upon another ball that someone else lost… it makes that bad shot just a little easier to take, because now he got a free golf ball out of the deal.

So we assumed that our Found Golf Balls would be found… often.

Anyone whose interest was piqued went home Monday evening and typed into their Internet Explorer address bar the website URL printed on the ball: FoundGolfBall.com, which took them to this page here on our website.

There they learned that the ball itself was a coupon, good for one free hour of Search Engine consulting with one of our Search experts (a $100 value). We’ve already had a few people email or call to take advantage of that offer.

What’s even more fascinating is the requests we’ve gotten to give estimates on recreating this Found Golf Ball promotion for our clients. Guess we should have seen that coming, as there were plenty of folks talking about it at the tournament’s reception.

So we’ve put together a nice, affordable package for any small business owners who want to make the biggest sponsorship splash of your next corporate golf tournament:

• 2-4 hours consulting time with our concept team. We’ll help you pick the perfect marketing angle and slogan for your guerilla golf balls
• 144 custom printed Nike golf balls
• A free web page to promote a specific service, product, special offer, or just your business in general. We’ll print the FoundGolfBall.com URL and a promo code on the ball, and anyone who visits the site and types in the code will be redirected to your special promotional page. This includes hosting and web design
• A handy PDF guide we authored with special instructions, tips, tricks, and suggestions to help make your golf ball promotion a rousing success

There isn’t a business or industry that these golf balls can’t help promote. Here are some examples:

Churches: “If only peace was as easy to find as this golf ball. Come join us on the journey at First Community Church.”

Golf Instructors: “If you were a better golfer, you probably wouldn’t have found this ball.”

CPAs: “Finding a CPA is like finding this golf ball… easy. Finding a CPA you can trust? Now that’s hard.”

So on and so forth. You see where we’re going here… any business can take this novel approach to marketing and, with the right guidance, come up with the perfect slogan.

Sure, you can sponsor the par-3 17th hole, like you do every year, and sit there giving away bottled water… like you do every year.

OR… you can do something that’s truly unique and totally memorable with the Found Golf Ball promotion from Keystone Business Solutions. Make a lasting impression on the CEOs and decision makers of local businesses in your area, and have some fun with it at the same time.

Give us a shout today to find out what it might take to get the ball rolling on your own amazing golf ball promotion.

YWCA Nashville is a local nonprofit organization dedicated to erasing racism and empowering the women of Middle Tennessee. They offer employment and career assistance as well as a wide array of educational opportunities. From their website:

Day after day. Year after year. For women and children caught
in multi-generational cycles of poverty and abuse, violence is
as familiar as their own skin. At the YWCA of Nashville and
Middle Tennessee, we’re here to help people transform their
lives through safety, counseling and education services. We
understand the cycles of abuse, poverty and racism – and work
to eliminate them through empowerment.

We have had a great time meeting and working with the staff at YWCA Nashville. They asked us to design a website that would be clean and crisp and would speak to the empowerment of women. It’s modern and bold, yet simple in layout and easy to navigate. Pay them a virtual visit at YWCANashville.com.

Faces of Hope is a nonprofit seeking to develop and build a Sumner County center for children with autism and special needs.  They have a location picked out in Gallatin and work should begin soon. 

According to their website, their mission is:

“…to maximize the potential of children with special needs by providing individualized, family-centered therapy services as well as a skilled nursing program for medically fragile children in a Christian environment.”

We’ve really enjoyed working with the Faces of Hope folks, and did our best to combine the vibrant colors of their logo with a very clean and simple layout.  Check out FacesOfHopeTN.com.