Whether or not you've kept up with all the buzz about Gizmodo, the lost iPhone found, and the Silicone Valley technology guestappo going to retrieve the recovered device, you have to be wondering if it's worth upgrading your old iPhone to a new one.  I've wondered the same thing.  Let me tell you what I have first--  I'm an owner of an iPhone 3g 16gb phone that I first purchased in August of 2008.  I have to say up front that I've never been an Apple fan, but the possibilities of what an iPhone could do for me in helping to manage my business were too tempting to pass up.  I must say that the iPhone is an AWESOME PDA.  It manages my appointments in incredible fashion--  snycs everything everywhere seamlessly with my desktop machine and Outlook, and my experience with that and the apps n the phone have been really good.  I even play Dragon's Lair on my iPhone.  I will say that I'm on my actual 3rd device, with Apple replacing 2 of them that died prematurely, despite my anality with respect to taking care of my electronic equipment.  I also decided to jailbreak my iPhone about 6 months ago, which gives me the ability to tether my iPhone to my computer via wireless or bluetooth at will.  Take that AT&T.  I tethered prematurely and I've been doing it for a long time!  Ha! 

So anyways-- I was REALLY interested in upgrading my 3g to a iPhone 4.  Apple has done some really cool things the past 2 years since I purchased my 3g.  One of those things is giving me a couple of new operating systems for my iPhone, or as I like to call it, "early obsolescence."  While these OS's have nice new features, my iPhone drags and runs slow now with the new operating systems.  I generally replace my cell phone every 2 years, so it's time, and yes, technology does grow old quickly, so I get it. 

But I still want to be able to tether my computer to my phone.  I work in web design, so I NEED the internet all the time.  So I went to the Apple store today to preorder my iPhone only to find out that AT&T shut down the preorders on the phone due to the confusion it was creating.  That figures.  Leave it to AT&T to be confused with a staple of its business--  SALES. 

Perhaps more important to me than the phone, however, was the data plan.  I heard last week that AT&T--  your friends and mine--  were "altering" the data plans to something "better."  So I decieded to check it out.  Right now, I'm spending $30 a month for my "unlimited" data plan.  So my first question was to the nice Apple representative was, "Do I have to switch from my unlimited plan to any of the new plans that AT&T is offering?"  She quickly resounded with a "No."  That's cool. Then I asked if I could add tethering to that package, and I was told I would have to talk to AT&T, which I hate doing. 

 But since the kiosk was in the mall, I decided to man-up and do it anyways.  So I went up and inquired, and told the rep that I wanted to get a new iPhone and was interested in tethering with it, so I asked if I could tether with my unlimited data plan.  The kind AT&T rep seemed very excited to tell me--  he said, "no, you can't--  but you can get on this new plan that is going to be CHEAPER!"  I didn't exactly take the train trip to Funkytown immediately with him, as I know better with AT&T.  So I pressed further.  "I heard that the data plans are as follows--  for $15 a month you get 200 mb (hardly enough to download your email a couple of times per month) or there is a 2gb plan that is $25 a month (eh... compared to unlimited)."  He said, "that's correct.  But you can't use tethering with your existing data plan-  you'd have to go with one of these new plans and go with that if you're going to do tethering from your phone", and he finished, "--  and the resason I'm so excited about it is that your monthly data rates are actually going to go DOWN!." 

By this time, I was ready to pull out the chalkboard and chalk and do a lesson in remedial math, which I started to do:

Now I'm paying--  $30 a month for unlimited service.

With the new service I'd be paying $25 for 2gb of download media (which ain't that much) PLUS I'd be paying an additional $20 PER MONTH to tether my iPhone as well  which = $45. 

Hmmmm...  let's see....  is $45 with 2gb of data and tethering less than $30 of unlimited data (and I can already do tethering thanks to my jailbroken phone--  free).  I think this guy needs to go back and take basic Consumer Math at his local middle school. 

So that's the scoop--  you can't keep your existing data plan if you want to tether your iPhone.  It's gone.  And if you want to tether, you get less download material for the money, AND an additional $20 per month charge to tether what little data they offer you.

So what will I do?  For now, the dollar value increase with the very limited data plan is enough to make me steer clear of wanting to preorder anything from Apple with respect to a phone.  Apple, you shoulda gone with Verizon.  For now, I'll wait and continue to use my draggy slow 3g, until something better comes along.  Truth is, I haven't fallen in love with any of the Droid's or Blackberry's I've seen either.  Until I'm in love again, it will be me and the 3g.  Perhaps the Window 7 Phone will do it for me around Christmastime? 

John Lehmberg

Marketing Your Web Site - A Guide For Small Business
Lesson 1: How To Increase Your Search Engine Ranking Through Back Links
By: Steven Sukovich

If you are a Small Business Owner and you have a Web Site, then I'm sure you would like to increase your traffic. I am going to try to explain this in the most simplistic way possible, but unfortunately, the process is not simple. So if patience is a skill that you do not possess, then stop reading this right now! This guide is specifically made for clients of Make It Loud Web Design. The reason for this is because there are alternate steps in Search Engine Optimization that should be done in addition to backlinking. Here at Make It Loud, we start our clients off with their choice of "keywords" or "meta tags" and apply these to the Web Site not only in coding, but in text, Page Descriptions, Image Tags, etc. If you would like more information on this stuff, then request for me to write another blog! But for now, let's talk about backlinks.

What Is a Backlink?

In Short?  Backlinks are links that are directed towards your website.

It's funny, some companies come up like a bolt of lightning, emerging through the clouds with all the thunder, lightning, pomp, and circumstance of a newbie to the internet market.  Sometimes they last, sometimes they don't.  Companies like the Microsoft's and Apple's of the world, who steadily build their companies, take over market share, and provide services fall into the category.  You see them coming.  You see their impact.  You see what they can and can't do, and you know their limits.

Then there are the stealth corporations of the world, who grow into the monstrosity almost silently.  One day you awaken, and they are there--  entrenched, and you wonder if that is a good or a bad thing.  For the past 15 years or so, people have been frightened that Microsoft was going to take over the world, elevating Bill Gates to Nerd King of this great land, while Apple bites at their heels, stealing their market share.  Like the cold war between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R., we've watched each side duke it out.  All the while, silently, almost imperceivably, Google has been getting entrenched. 

And now, I am truly beginning to wonder if that is a good thing.

Have you ever phoned Google?  You can't.  Tried to get a contact email address where someone will respond?  Not really.  They are not only entrenched, they are unreachable.  If this were ANY OTHER COMPANY in this world, that we spent hard-earned dollars on, we'd not tolerate such a thing.  Yet we do.

And what of personal privacy?  We all know that it's become a serious issue on the 'net, but do you really want EVERY SEARCH YOU EVER DO, for the rest of your life, FOREVER RECORDED by Google?  Every site you ever visit?  I can hear your response already, "Well John, if people aren't searching for inappropriate stuff, they have nothing to hide."  Perhaps, But people have personal and private medical issues they search for information on in the net, there is family research, people do financial things on the 'net and have private conversations.  Do we really  want everything we do recorded by Google, then "anonymized" and sold off to the highest bidder?  I understand the need to chase predators. We all do.  But what about the average personal things in life?  This is now Google's way.  They keep everything on you, and they're proud of it.  At least Yahoo delete's all of your information in 90 days.  If you have a google search bar on your computer (most do, BTW), they have you.  They OWN everything you do.  Sounds a bit like cyber slavery.  Mark my words.  You will see privacy issues come to bear over the next couple of years, and at the center of this controversy will be Google.

On top of that Google is raking in the cash hand over fist on their SEM/Pay Per Click Ads.  Who monitors them?  Who makes sure that they don't have little computer programs out there clicking on all of the ads and raking in the dough for them?  They could do it easily.  If they can have spiders, intelligent programs, that scour the internet, returning information to the mother ship, they are certainly intelligent enough to create a program that will click through on links in order to achieve themselves money.  Am I saying that they are doing this?  No.  Am I saying they are not doing this.  No.  I'm just sayin', they could, and no one would be the wiser.  They could have their little programs go out there, click on your precious pay per click links, and drive up your costs right into their pocket.  There is no accountability for Google, and where there is no accountability, man generally takes advantage.  We know of a friend who has a landscaping business and looks like Santa Claus.  During the winter when landscaping is slow, he IS Santa.  He rents himself out to folks, and he has a website as well that promotes him.  All year long, his website has been in the top 5 of Google.  Then, "mysteriously," in the beginning of November his site vanishes off of Google.  Gone. This would be his busy season, where SEO would be most valuable to him as a Santa, so he could be found.  What's the solution?  Of course, Pay Per Click would solve that right away, wouldn't it.  Meaning, I can spend money with Google to fix the problem.  How convenient for them???  And then, once the Christmas rush was over, his website miraculously reappeared to its original spot, no changes made.  Am I saying that Google did that to make money off my friend?  NO.  I am saying that it is quite a coincidence, however, and awfully convenient for Google. 

As for search relevance, we are convinced, after learning SEO, that Bing and Yahoo deliver FAR MORE RELEVANT results than Google.  How do I know?  We were trying to optimize a site for a client.  For MONTHS, Google kept in the top 10 a website that had been defunct for quite some time, and also, when the search term was put into Google, it pulled up a WhoIs page.  Quite honestly, pulling up a WhoIs page is the most irrelevant result one could possibly find, as it yields no useful information whatsoever, except for a domain owner's personal information. 

So for me, Bing is now King.  I can at least see them coming.

John

I've noticed that there is an amazing onalaught of Mac commercials on TV recently, and I was wondering why.  Then I realized that they as well are gearing up for the release of Windows 7.  Why would they do this?  Plain and simple..

THEY'RE SCARED.

And you know what?  THEY SHOULD BE.

We just uploaded the beta last week on a brand new machine, as well has running it on a MAC in VMWare, and here's what we found:

1. Installation is much simpler and much faster.  It went faster, it was easier, and it went quicker.  No driver conflicts, no program errors. Flawless
2. The taskbar has been redesigned.  Yes, a bit more "Mac-Like" you can pin programs in the taskbar much like you can save a program in the dock on the Mac.  It shows what is in the tabbed content on browsers, making navigating between windows seamless and easy.  We love it.
3. You can't cook breakfast during bootup.  You got it, Windows 7 boots up like a champ.  No more will you fire up the computer, go brew yourself a cup of morning joe, nuke a bagel, and then return, only to find your computer just finishing the bootup sequence. 
4. This OS is fast.  When we got a Vista machine a few years back with only 2 gb of RAM in it, we were shocked at how slow it ran.  It needs a minimum of 3 gb to run well on most anything.  With Windows 7?  It's lightning quick on even a single processor machine with only 2 bg of RAM.  Amazing.
5. This OS is easy to use.  If you're an XP or Vista owner, no prob.  I must say that it has more of a feel of XP to it than Vista.  Most everything is in a nice, familiar place.

Does it do *a lot more* than XP or Vista.  No.  I must say, OS's are definitely overrated.  About a year ago, I had an older machine lying around the house.  It was about 5 years old (an antique by todays standards) with a single core P4 processor, AMD.  I decided to load up Windows 98, which, by the way, was truly one of the best OS's on the plant for a long time.  How did it perform?  AMAZINGLY WELL.  LIGHTNING QUICK.  And you know what, it made me realize how *little* a new OS actually gets you.  It surfed the net well, it runs Microsoft Word, Publisher, and an old version of Adobe.  What else does one REALLY need????  So yes, Windows 7 is amazing, but truly, it's an awful lot like Vista, which is a lot like XP, which is a lot like Windows 98, which was much like Windos 95. 

I bought a Mac.  I actually bought one 2 years ago.  I've seen the commercials, I've heard the hype, "Mac's do things so much easier than PC's-- They're so much more reliable, and they're so much better for graphic design." 

Well, I'm in graphic design, so finally, after 2 years, I've decided to chime in.  Here are my thoughts:

1) Mac's are not easier.  You have to know all the inbred Mac keystrokes to make it easy, and quite honestly, some of them are pretty complicated.  In defense of Windows, they have the same kinds of keystrokes and quite honestly, they're easier.    If I want to delete an icon off the desktop on my pc, I single click it, then hit delete.  This cannot be done on a Mac.  There are other rather idiosyncratic things just like that.

2) Mac's have the "confirm or deny" thing too.  Not only do I have to confirm or deny an install but in order to install software, I even have to enter a password.

3) Mac's are not more reliable.  I am anal about my equipment.  I've had 5 different laptops.  The Mac is the ONLY piece of computer I've ever had in almost 15 years that has ever had a hard drive fail prematurely.  Mine failed on my MacBook at 1.5 years in, with quite honestly barely moderate use.  Incidentally, I'm on my 3rd iPhone as well, and I take equally good care of my telephones.  All hail Apple Care.  If you have an Apple product, you're going to need it.  BTW... my son has had to return his iPod Nano once already in the first year as well, and he's got dad's perfectionistic-anal-about-equipment thing going on. 

4) I love the dock on the Mac.  But I can install something identical on my PC.  Go to www.rocketdock.com

5) Graphics are not easier on the Mac.  You guessed it, Adobe Creative Suites is IDENTICAL on both Mac and PC.  They both work equally well.

6) Mac OS is not more stable than Vista. I've had my Mac crash more, I have to admit.  Not only that, my Vista mahcine goes 3 months or more of 24/7 use and doesn't need to be restarted.

7) Mac software is more expensive.  'nuff said.

8) Those people we've worked with who own Mac's CONSISTENTLY have more email problems.   Not sure why, but it's definitely been true from our observation.

9) Windows Vista is not near as crappy as Apple would have you think.  I've used it for more than 2 years now, and have honestly had relatively little trouble with it.  Do I prefer XP?  Yes, absolutely.  Vista was more an upgrade to XP from my perspective.  It honestly doens't have a whole lot of more functionality than XP.  Both continue to be strong OS's. Apple's commercials are exactly what they should be...  targeted marketing designed to create an image that Windows is trash.  Again, more marketing ploy than fact.  You'll notice that Microsoft hasn't spent near the kind of money going after Apple.  Why?  They don't have to.  They own 90% of the OS market and despite all the negative marketing directed their way, Windows works well.  Apple is inconsequential to them. 

10) There are more viruses on the Windows platform.  This I believe is true.  But then again, if you want to look at potentially the most attempted OS to be hacked and virused, look at Microsoft products.  There aren't as many viruses for Mac's because there are so few Mac's on the market.  When (if, really) Apple does the volume in OS's that Microsoft does, I assure you, you'll have anti-virus software for the Apple too.  Plain and simple-- Apple, there aren't enough of your machines on the face of the planet to make you worth hacking or writing a virus for.

11) We love Ubuntu.  Yes, Linux has a great contender.  It's wonderful, and it's free.  It's stable, reasonably easy to use.  The only problem is that no one writes software for Linux.  Otherwise, we'd use Linux.

12) We love Windows 7.  Imagine all the best features of XP and Vista combined in one?  No it doesn't take rocket science to learn it, and it runs all of your existing Windows Vista software.  It also, I'm convinced uses less memory.  Vista drags without 3gb of RAM.  Windows 7 runs like an absolute speed demon on a single core proecessor with 1gb of RAM.  I'm completely impressed. 

13)  We still don't know what a Snow Leopard is.  Never seen one. Apple seems to have an upgrade to their Leopard OS.  The nice thing is it's only $30.  Reasonable, I'll admit.  For that price, I'll actually go and buy it.  I know it is supposed to make my MAC run faster, and also to take up 7gb less of hard drive space (which seems necessary, as MAC's updates to their software are HUGE).  After reading what Apple says it does though, I'm not sure it does much of anything. We'll let you know.

14) There is WAY MORE software available for Windows platforms.  I found it interesting that when I went to the Apple Store to buy an accessory for my iPhone last month, when the associate checked me out on their handy-dandy little handheld computing device (they have no real cash registers in Apple Stores), I noticed it was running a version of Windows.  Doesn't that just about sum it up as to the versatility and reliability of Windows?  Apple stores use the Microsoft Windows OS in their handheld devices all across the nation.

15)  Windows software is cheaper.

16) Mac's are WAY more expensive than PC's.  Go to Best Buy, find yourself a nice HP laptop and then go to the Mac store and find a similarly equipped Mac.  Plan to spend a MINIMUM of $500 more per machine.   Oh yeah, by the way, the PC machines and the Mac machines have virtually the same hardware in them. 

Conclusions:  For the money, for the reliability, for the software, for the ease of use...  don't buy the Mac hype.  If you want to throw away your money on a machine that is no more reliable, yet costs more money, then go buy a Mac.  It's more a status symbol than it is practical, just as a cup of Starbucks Coffee seems to have more clout than Seattle's Best or McCafe.  The only thing is that McCafe has been rated to be a better product.  We believe on the whole, PC's are better products. 

Does Brand of PC matter?  In our experience, tremendously.  We recommend HP machines, have used many of them over the years, and they give way more than their money's worth.  Compaq and HP are now the same company, so we expect their reliability to be equal.  Dell's run a close second.  We've had poor success with Gateways.  Although they have been trashed in ratings int he past, we've also had great success with E-Machines.  Sony's have typically been poor machines.  Most of the Sony electronic products I've owned have weak solder points on their printed circuit boards, the joints wear, crack and give intermittant service.  I wouldn't buy Sony.  Toshiba makes a nice laptop.

The most satisfying computer purchase I've made EVER, however, is a Asus EEE-PC notebook.  They're amazing.  $350 of computer bliss at your local Best Buy or Tiger Direct.  Highly recommended.

John

I must say, that I don't normally write about anything political, because I generally think that politics are crap, and are a complete waste of time.  Now I know that's true, because my daughter has now entered high school.  I'm shocked, horrified, and dismayed at what I've experienced getting her enrolled in worthwhile scholastic endeavors.  

She has joined the orchestra, as she had in middle school, and is also playing on the volleyball team.  The dollar value on these things is over $700, just to participate.  That's disgusting, and horrifying.  I've asked around to many people of many different ages, from all parts of the country, and when I tell them that we have to PAY for these kinds of things, they are shocked, as was I when I wrote the checks for these things.  What I found was that it costs $27,000 to have a volleyball team, and that the school's part of that is ZERO.  The orchestra, we've found, has to pay for their own paper, copier, maintenance, and *EVERYTHING ELSE THAT A SCHOOL SHOULD PROVIDE FOR ANY STANDARD CLASS IN GWINNETT.  

THIS IS RIDICULOUS. 

Since when is edcuation defined solely as book learning, and not art?  I once had a student I worked with who was terrible scholastically.  He had to work very hard to make grades in "scholastic" courses.  But in art, he always had straight A's and his work was amazing.  He was truly gifted at this.  Yet this is not a "scholastic/educational" endeavor worth funding in Gwinnett.

AGAIN, RIDICULOUS.

Since when is education only definined by what you can learn from a book?  Why are these other kinds of artistic endeavors--- or athletic endeavors--  that kids are truly gifted at, not a priority to the Gwinnett Public School System?????  

So the question comes, "What do poor people do?"  Are athletic or artistic endeavors unreachable for those people?  Are those who are truly gifted left out because they cannot afford to participate?  Has athletics and artistic endeavors become and elitist endeavor that only the rich can participate in?  It doesn't matter, right?  Those who are poor and could actually use the scholarships in these kinds of things to fund college later in life will not be able to get them because they don't have enough money to participate in high school sports.  

THIS IS THE MOST RIDICULOUS, ABSURD, STUPID, THING I'VE YET COME ACROSS IN THE GWINNETT COUNTY SCHOOL SYSTEM.  

Poor students can't play sports because their families can't afford it--  oh, unless it's football.

I know, a Gwinnett County Commissioner would tell me that they "don't have the money."  

Well they do seem to have the money to secure land for a stadium for people to play baseball in that I'm sure cost millions.  It's a shame that their priorities are so far out of whack.  They've lost their sensibilities.

Next thing you know, they'll be charging people to drive in the HOV lanes on I-85, making that the elitist lane.  Oh, wait a minute, that's really going to happen.

On My Soapbox.
John
 

I just purchased a Brother all-in-one laser printer this past week, not just because laserjets are cheaper to operate, but because we needed a multi-funciton piece of equipment that faxes, copies, scans and the like.  One of the things I was so very much looking forward to was to beginning to move us to a paperless environment, and scanning all old documentation which could easily be done with this all-in-one product and it's document feeder.  The device is EXACTLY what I wanted-- and performs flawlessly--  with one exception, the software included in it called Paperport, v 11 by Nuance.  I have 2 vista machines and an XP machine that I attempted to install it on, and it absolutely would not install on either of the Vista machines (go figure). 

So I tried to contact the manufacturer of the software and they wanted $40 just to talk with them by phone (with no guarantee of a solution), and they told me that I needed to contact the product distributor, Brother in this case.  So I did.  Brother initially denied any affiliation or knowledge of the product, but then when I pressed the non-english speaking representative she said that she had a patch.  Well it really wasn't a patch (language barrier, I guess), but she wanted me to install/reinstall the software, which I had already done.  I could tell she didn't have any clue what she was doing, so I told her to stop reading the procedure she knew nothing about on the paper in front of her, and asked her to stop wasting my time on the phone with her.  By this time, I was agitated and still had no solution, so I left the call. 

So i scoured Google and found this product, A-PDF's product, Image to PDF.  *IT'S EXACTLY WHAT I HAD NEEDED.  Simple to use, and a small file, I took about 30 seconds to download it, another 30 to install it.  It was easy to select my new all-in-one printer via the twain driver, and in less than 2 minutes, I was already testing it on a couple of documents.  It worked flawlessly, and did EXACTLY WHAT I HAD WANTED.  It's intuitive, a clean interface, and bright.  It was perfect. 

A-PDF Execs--  a note for you and potential business opportunity--  *GO TO THE BROTHER COMPANY AND SHOW THEM YOUR PRODUCT.  It's a third of the price of the "product" they now include in their scanner suite and yours actually works.  Not only that, but it would save them the trouble of having customers calling their support center and finding no help there as well, which would build their business image.  You'd save them money and face.  The best way for customer service to have a good reputation is to not need their services in the first place, I always say  :) .  A-PDF--  you could do that for Brother.  Sounds like a match made in heaven. 

So if you need GOOD scanning software, go check out the good folks at A-PDF.  www.a-pdf.com

If you want to see the software product page for the A-PDF Image to PDF, go here instead.  http://www.a-pdf.com/image2pdf/index.htm   In my estimation--  $27 well spent.

Peace,

John Lehmberg

My experience in economics and recessions is limited.  I do however watch the news and keep up with the headlines from across the world.  Lately, I was watching Fox News and there was a bit about a guy who worked for a big automaker and was laid off after 28 years.  This was no surprise and there are probably over 100 thousand job losses similar to this every month.  The news story continued to interview the man about what his plan was and how he was going to provide for his family.  This is where the story caught my attention.  The man decided that instead of looking for another corporate job and answering to the usual 5 bosses watching his every move, he was going to become his own boss.  He grew up fixing things around the house and working for his neighbors.  He always loved working with his hands and the quietness of working alone.  So his idea was this:  I am going to do start a business doing the thing that I love: working on people's homes. 

Now, I understand that this is a difficult economy to start a business.  However, with proper planning and execution, this mom and pops small business could really take off.  So what does he need to start his business?  First I believe he needs a business plan.  In that business plan, he should have outlined who his potential clients are and what his market is.  He should also have an idea as to how he will advertise and market to these prospects.  This is where we come in: he needs to develop a brand with a logo, marketing materials, business cards, and of course a sharp website that shows up in search engines.  All of these things cost money, but they also produce money. And if they are not done well, his business will not do well.  Make it Loud provides the perfect solution to the entrepreneur set on reinventing himself.  No more corporate, hello small business.

After this long drawn out story, the point is this:  I am proud to be in the business that I am right now.  I love what we do.  We provide great business solutions.  But more than that, we provide opportunity for a 50 year old man who just got laid off to start his own business that will not only provide for his family, but it will PROSPER.  Thousands of people are being laid off everyday.  Where are they going to work?  How are they going to provide for their families?  I am not saying that this solution works for everyone, but it does work for many.  We have been getting calls and e-mails from this same situation more and more frequently.  "I got laid off, and I want to start my own business."  I love the fact that we can work with this seamingly hopeless situation and turn it into a prosperous small business.  We are enabling people to do what they love and be successful at it. 

-Jacob Willis

When you go and hear someone speak, it is said that if the speaker doesn't capture the audience in the first 2 minutes of his presentation, he never will.  The same can be said of web design viewing--  only the time frame is MUCH shorter.  To me, it's almost funny how people surf the web, and how very QUICKLY they actually move through a website.  Statistically speaking, it is said that the average person, when viewing a website, spends only 6-10 seconds exploring a site, and makes their decision in those brief moments whether or not they want to go further.  But what can you *actually absorb* in 10 seconds?

• A few pictures?
• A few bullets?
• A tag line?
• A logo?
• A link to your e-store?
• Your telephone number?

My guess is that you are down to the bottom of my bulleted list above and you're right near 5 seconds.  So what is it that actually gets someone to STAY at your website?  I think some of the things that reflect on you or your business are less tangiable but are things a good web designer thinks of when they view your site.  Here are some of the things we believe a good web designer must look at in order to make a website great and effective during those first 10 seconds.  Viewers make judgments about these things immediately that reflect on you, your company, or your business:

1. Current, Up-to-Date Design.  We're designing sites with different color schemes than two years ago.  I saw an Avocado refrigerator in the store the other day, like back when the Brady Bunch was new.  Design must be current, including color schemes and design elements.  If these things are behind the times, during your first 10 seconds, people will think that you are behind the times as well.  Note to self:  if my website is still 1990's teal, it's time for an update.  see Make It Loud immediately.
2. Relevant, Search Engine Friendly, Text.  When I do public speaking the one thing I consider most often is this:  is what I'm saying a rifle shot right through the center of the thought I'm trying to communicate, or is it a shotgun at the target, where I hit the center, but the target has shot all over it as well.  When i was younger I worked in an aquarium store, and my old boss, Dennis Hare, had me change the sign on the front glass window regularly, with the clear plastic letters that stuck to the window glass.  Inevitably, we found that we could put whatever we wanted on the front window, and no matter what information was there, the result was always the same--  someone would walk right in the door, and ask a question that could have been answered if they had just looked at the window glass.  Our conclusion?  PEOPLE DON'T READ.  In fact, you're probably not reading all the way down to the bottom of this, but hey, we tried.  In any event, keep your text to what you need to say and what is search engine friendly, and you'll keep your customers engaged.  Note to self:  If I have more than a couple of paragraphs of text on my home page, or a flash introm on my home page that takes a moment to load--  I'll actually lose the client I'm trying to engage.
3. Clean and Simple Navigation.  Javascript drop down menus make this so easy on websites nowadays, but some people just don't get it.  It has to be easy to find the information someone wants, and quickly, or they'll go elsewhere to find it.  Use 1 main menu on the site, instead of menus all over the page.  Make it easy for your clients, not hard, and they'll actually stay longer because they'll easily find what they need.  Even if they don't buy from you immediately, if they have a positive experience in your website, they'll remember you in the days ahead.  Not to self:  if I have more than one main menu, or there is no link to my primary pages in my main menu, people can't find what they need.

Happy Surfing.

John Lehmberg
Owner, Make It Loud Web Design
 

Here are a couple of tips when selecting Domain Names:

1. Keep them as short, yet as memorable as possible.  You want to have a domain name people see and can remember well, so that when they get home, they can type it in and find you easily.  The shorter, generally, the easier it is to remember.
2. Steer clear of using hyphens and non-alpha characters in your domain name.  People don't generally remember where the hyphen or characters go.  Using alpha characters and spelling out words is always best for recognition!
3. If at all possible, find a domain name that is available with a .com, or .net extension.  .Org is also appropriate, however it often is used for non-profit organizations like churches and other 501-C3 Groups.  .Com and .Net are the most commonly used extensions, and are the most easily remembered.
4. Consider purchasing both the .com and .net extensions.  Domain names are so inexpensive, that their cost is usually insignificant in light of the traffic that is directed to your site by having both.  If someone can't remember whether your site is .com or .net, they can type in either and still find you.  It also keeps a competitor who has the same business name in another state from securing it and getting your web business.  Recent research shows that domain names effect searh engine results. Choose wisely!
5. Consider purchasing your domain names for 2 or more years.  Again, for reasons of search engine rankings, purchase your domain names for more than a year.  Search engines now look at length of time a domain name is purchased for.  The assume the longer the name is purchased for, the longer the website will be around--  thus, the higher the search engine ranking.