Thanks again to our other sponsors, Creekside Bar & Grill and Prudential Carolina Real Estate.

The authors behind a specific strain of malware are trying every trick in the book to get users to succumb to their ill-meaning plans. You name it, they’ve used it: weather news, personal greetings, reports that Saddam Hussein is still alive, reports that Fidel Castro is dead, sexy women, YouTube, and even blogs. The group seems hellbent on creating the largest botnet to date, and they just might do it.

Obviously, as always, if you see any emails containing links or images from people you are not familiar with, DO NOT OPEN THEM. If you use Windows, get security software. I use Norton, but there are other free options out there as well. If you don’t want to run any security software on your computer, you may want to consider one of these

One of the changes in user interaction is using the web as a platform. What this means is that there are applications which we use that are not installed on our computers, but reside on the internet. The most common of these would be web mail applications such as yahoo mail, gmail, or hotmail (most of which have in fact been around since the “web 1.0″). Now we also have image editors, word processors, calenders, and spreadsheet applications which reside solely on the web. Even your documents can be saved on the web, so essentially you only need your computer to browse the internet.

The biggest thing to emerge from the “Web 2.0″ from a business or corporate standpoint is the blog, which stands for web log. It may as well stand for Better Listings On Google. Blogging allows you to keep your clients and customers up to date on the latest happenings in your business and industry as a whole. They keep users coming back to your website to find the latest news. Another aspect of blogs is the social interaction. Readers are allowed to comment which makes them a part of the action and encourages a two-way communication between the business and the client.

Another new part of web 2.0 sites are social networks, such as myspace and facebook. Social networking websites allow you to create a profile for yourself and then find people throughout the network to share thoughts, photos, ideas, and even business. You may or may not know these people in real life. Social networks are a great way to make new business relationships or to keep up with people you wouldn’t otherwise.

This is by no means either a complete definition of the “web 2.0″ or a complete list of the different types of sites included. These are a few of the parts that I feel are very applicable to the business world for now. Please stay tuned here as I will be posting more in depth about blogs and social networks in the coming weeks, or if you’re ready to dive in to the “blogosphere”, contact me and I will be happy to give you a free consultation of your online presence.

In response to the “Good Credit? Good Luck” article by Peter Hull in the 8-26-07 issue of The Post and Courier, there are still a number of reputable mortgage bankers that buyers can contact. I represent Guaranty Bank, (fsb- Milwaukee, WI) doing business locally in Mount Pleasant, SC as Home Mortgage Choices. We have been Prudential Carolina Real Estates lending partner for over 13 years.

This credit crunch that has resulted in cancelled closings, overnight bankruptcies and underwriting changes across the board has significantly increased our business for August. There are numerous mortgage products available, if you work with a knowledgeable loan officer with the stability of a bank behind them, you’ll be fine.

I personally saved 4 loans in August and closed each of them within 48 hours with funds. I maintain a 100% on-time, funded closure rate and have no intentions of blemishing that record now.

Yes, you have to be able to afford the property you are buying and don’t expect a bank to just take your word for it. And unless Susan Brooks (Good Credit? Good Luck, 08/25/07) has some serious outstanding credit issues, we can finance 20% down, fully documented, primary residence transactions all day long. Ms. Brooks, please call me at (843) 849-0095 – if you can be helped, I can help you.

Buyers! Don’t be frightened – as I tell my realtor partners, before someone goes out looking for a new home, bring them to me. Let’s have them fully approved, lock them into a product (to avoid it becoming unavailable later) and set realistic expectations up-front for everyone.

We continue to offer 100% financing, VA, FHA, state housing, jumbo (loan amounts greater than $417,000) and stated income loans, yes, stated income.

Granted, last years buyer with a 580 credit score, 1-day out of a bankruptcy, open collections and the inability to verify income is out of luck. This is not an exaggeration.

This month, I approved, closed and funded (on-time) a buyer with a 579 credit score, 2×30 day late payments in the last 12 months on a credit card, 10% down, fully documented with a Fannie Mae single lien loan with mortgage insurance. And don’t be afraid of mortgage insurance, for certain buyers, it is tax deductible.

Yes, closings will be cancelled, the mortgage brokers that have popped up in recent years will cease to exist, and some banks will halt wholesale and correspondent lending operations and may eventually leave the industry. But there are lenders that will survive. Guaranty Bank has an excellent management group, a smart, quick product development team and years of experience navigating through change. Our bank and others that manage cautiously in the coming months will remain competitive and all along the way closing and funding new loans.

Buyers, realtors – make sure your loan officer is a) local – do not go on-line and don’t use an out-of-state lender b) backed by a bank – banks maintain 100% control of your transaction – I suggest staying away from mortgage brokers in today’s market – each loan I saved this month was from a broker and c) make certain you use someone you trust.

If you don’t have someone you trust, call me – I’ll work hard to earn it.

The market is changing and no one can tell you with certainty what the outcome will be, but don’t let the negative media stop you. Talk to your loan officer and find out if buying a home is right for you. Guaranty bank (dba Home Mortgage Choices) has been operating since 1923 – I have zero concern with my job security.

The American dream of owning a home is not lost, only the fantasy of owning the one you can’t afford.

Jason M Watkins
Sr. Loan Officer
Home Mortgage Choices
A division of Guaranty Bank
(843) 849-0095
Jason.watkins@gbmail.com
www.jmwatkins.com

What I would like to do with this post is give an idea of the advertising process we use at McNelis Media. For an example, I will use one of our recent clients, Creekside Bar and Grill. Creekside is a new restaurant and bar on Shem Creek in Mount Pleasant, SC. They contacted us towards the end of April, and were in need of a logo, print advertising, and a website. They needed these things in a hurry as their opening date was slated for June 5 and needed to ramp up their advertising to the opening day. We met with the owners and came up with a custom advertising package based on their needs. Although all of these things happened in conjunction with each other, I will break it down into different sections: Logo Design, Photography, Print Advertising, and Website Design to give an idea of our work flow. Please follow along over the next couple of days as I post the different sections, or just contact us for a quote on your own project.
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1. Does your website have your logo prominently displayed and is your contact information on every page?

2. Does your website tell what goods or services you offer, and does it give a potential customer all of the necessary information? This should be clear, concise, and on your homepage.

3. Does your website have a search field? Potential customers need to be able to search your site to find exactly what they’re looking for.

4. Does your site use crazy fonts and colors? Everyhting on your site needs to be readable.

5. Are the photos on your website optimized for the web? If you are using high resolution photography on your site, it can take minutes to load for some people (remember, dial up is still with us). If the photos on your site take too long to load, potential customers will be clicking away…

6. Is your page Flash driven? Flash sites can be cool, but they can also take a long time to load (remember dial up) and can have obscure navigation.

7. Will your site display properly on everyone’s monitor? While you may have a new widescreen monitor, and your website looks great on it (it “fills the screen”), someone using a monitor that’s ten years old will need to scroll around to see the entire site, or just click away…

8. Does your website get updated regularly? If you’re still displaying “Fresh News” from 2003, at least remove the “fresh news”.

9. Is your site navigation clear and intuitive? Potential customers need to be able to find what they’re looking for.

10. Are all of the pages on your website relevant to your business? A bigger site is not necessarily a better site.

For list of sites that are doing exactly what you shouldn’t do, check out The Worst Websites of 2006. If your site has any of these problems, please contact us for a free quote on a redesign. Check out some of the sites we have created and see how they measure up.

No: If you already have Windows XP on a computer that is less than 3 years old, I’m a big fan of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. If you have Windows XP on a PC that’s 3-5 years old and you think an upgrade to Vista will “make it run better” you’ve been misled. Order a new Gateway online or pick one up at Best Buy with Vista preinstalled. Spend between $1000 and $1500. Don’t want to spend that much? Don’t do anything. Your PC is just fine.

No, buy a new PC: If you have Windows2000/Me/98 as your desktop OS, then it’s probably time. Order a new Gateway online or pick one up at Best Buy with Vista preinstalled. Don’t spend more than $1000, and make sure you get an LCD monitor. You will get a computer comparable to the the one I have sitting on my desk at home.

^*If you want to be running the latest and greatest software for it’s own sake, then by all means upgrade. But then you already knew the reasoning behind my “No” answers. Oh, and the whole reason I started this post is because Ken Fisher at Ars Technica has put together a most clear and readable synopsis of the difference between OEM and Retail versions of Microsoft’s OS, and I wanted to share.

-Bryan