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What We Do - Click Below To See
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Business Operations
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 Competitive Analysis Starting and growing a business doesn’t happen in a vacuum. As a smart entrepreneur you need the answers to questions like: - Who are your main competitors?
- What customer needs and preferences are you competing to meet?
- What are the similarities and differences between their products/services and yours?
- What are the strengths and weaknesses of each of their products and services?
- How do their prices compare to yours?
- How should you plan to compete: Offer better quality services, lower prices, more support, and/or easier access to services?
- How are you uniquely suited to compete in your marketplace?
Our experienced researchers know just where to look, using offline and online sources to help you define strategies and market positioning help you stand out from the crowd and hit the ground running. Market Research
Everyone needs customers, but how can you be sure enough customers even exist for your product or service?
Information is critical, and market research can help you understand – and act on – the dynamics of your local or global market, on market trends, on customer satisfaction with the products and services in your area… in short, market research will help you understand who and where your customers are, and how to meet their needs.
Say you’re a real estate agent and you want to focus on listing and selling high-end homes in your area. How many potential buyers exist in your area? What are your market demographics? What about the demographics of buyers in surrounding areas? Effective research may cause you to advertise your beach-front properties to potential buyers in a nearby city, instead of locally, because a huge untapped market of buyers is just waiting for you. Collections
Many business owners despise the collections process. Contacting clients who are late paying bills or invoices is stressful and, handled poorly, can lead to hard feelings or even lost clients. And if you have a lot of customers or generate a number of monthly invoices and you don’t stay on top of the situation, your receivables can quickly add up to a considerable sum. Instead of facing a potentially emotionally-charged confrontation, have Kincaid Group handle your collections process. Skilled collections providers handle customer communications firmly but with a deft, nimble touch.
Getting the money you’re owed and still maintaining a positive customer relationship is a difficult skill to master; plus good collections agents are also great negotiators, and may be able to find creative solutions that you, in the heat of the moment, might overlook. One of the basic tenets of business is to hire remote workers for the tasks you aren’t good at – in the case of collections it may also make sense to let Kincaid Group handle a task you truly dislike. Financial Reporting
What is your cost of sales this month? Which products generate the most profit? Which services should you stop providing because they actually cost you money? Which customers are truly your best customers – from a profit point of view? Accurate and timely financial reports give you the information you need to make quick decisions, re-focus your efforts, and grow your business based on data and facts, not on hunches or intuition.
Kincaid Group can generate the reports on a scheduled basis, or can set up automated reports in accounting packages like QuickBooks that you can then run yourself whenever you need information. Either way you save time and still get the critical information you need. Not sure which reports will help you? We can suggest key metrics to evaluate based on the nature of your business. Financial Analysis
How much is your business worth? What is your return on investment on recent projects? Are there seasonal swings you can take advantage of? Or best of all, does elancing one or more of your functions make good financial sense?
Skilled financial specialists can wade through complex data and financial statements and make recommendations that can improve your bottom line. The financial repercussions of some decisions are often not clear unless you can really crunch the numbers; if you don’t have that kind of skill, don’t worry – there’s help available. Human Resources
Human Resources departments do more than hire, fire, and organize company functions. Effective human resources includes managing employee benefits, ensuring regulatory compliance, handling grievances and complaints, supporting and fostering diversity…
Managing employee relations effectively can be a huge boost to your company; falling short can lead to low morale and retention rates or even lawsuits. While you may need an HR professional on staff, finding a person with the right blend of skills and experience can be time-consuming – and their salary may outside of your budget. Kincaid Group can set up and manage the HR functions you need on a part-time or as-needed basis and save you the expense of adding a full-time professional to your staff. Recruiting
You are here; the candidates you want are out there…somewhere. Locating, connecting with, and hiring top talent is critical to the success of your business. But it’s also incredibly hard work that drains time and resources from your day to day operations. And most of us don’t have the skills to screen and interview dozens of potential employees to find the perfect fit.
If that sounds like you, don’t take on the job yourself or turn it over to someone in your company just because they have a little spare time. Skilled recruiters know how to attract outstanding talent – in any field or specialty – and narrow the list down to the top two or three candidates you should personally interview. That way you can focus on making a great final decision, not posting your opening to online job search sites in the hope you get lucky and the right person comes along. Benefits Administration
The cost of employee benefits has skyrocketed and continues to rise. Few of us know how to effectively manage benefits programs so we provide what our employees need while keeping our costs as low as possible. You owe it to your employees, and yourself, to provide the right benefits at the right cost, and aggressively manage those programs so your dollar goes as far as possible. If you don’t have that kind of specialized knowledge, hand your benefits administration to a professional whose finger is on the pulse of changes and trends in the insurance, healthcare, and retirement planning industries. Reference & Background Checks
Most employers wait until they’re ready to make a job offer to check references. That approach makes sense, but if you’re overwhelmed with work and need help desperately, you may be tempted to skip that step – with possibly disastrous consequences. Even if you do have the time to call previous employers, enlisting the services of a reference-checker can be especially beneficial if you wish to do an in-depth background check that includes the job seeker's criminal, credit, or driving history.
Kincaid Group can perform third-party background-checking services that comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act. You’ll need to get written authorization from the applicant before obtaining information about him or her; Kincaid Group can let you know which authorizations you need. Then you can be sure your newest hire meets all of your objective standards for qualifications and background. Research
Writers, analysts, consultants, marketing specialists, and attorneys are just a few examples of people who do ongoing research. But if you’re a consultant, for example, your time is probably better spent with your customers than finding the data and facts you need.
Research specialists can find the information you need, and often much more quickly than you can find it yourself. No matter how narrow or specialized your request, a researcher can find the answers you need: How many colleges offer aerospace graduate programs, how many retailers sell a particular item in your town and more. Data Management
Collecting data is relatively easy – but what do you do with all that data once you have it? Studies show that data volume grows at about 1% per week; are you managing your data, or is your data managing you?
Data management services from Kincaid Group can store your information, ensure it’s available whenever – and using web-based tools, wherever – you or your employees need it. Our data management lets you avoid adding costly IT infrastructure as well. Data management isn’t just a task; with the right provider, you can see it as a service that provides real benefits to your company. Virtual Assistant
As your business grows so does your workload; especially your administrative workload. Time spent on administrative tasks is time you can’t spend continuing to grow your business. Instead of hiring employees, you can effectively multiply your staff by hiring a virtual assistant, either for a one-time project or for ongoing, long-term support.
Virtual assistants can take on almost any business or personal task, whether it’s traditional office support or website maintenance and updates. They can handle word processing, answering phones, paying bills, scheduling appointments, maintaining appointment schedules… even ordering flowers or making dinner reservations. A good virtual assistant can go beyond administrative support and help develop new clients and provide marketing support. Document Formatting
Say you send out an average of 20 customer proposals each week. Instead of creating each proposal from scratch, hire us to create a proposal template specifically designed for your needs. Enter the information you need and your professional proposal – which is also consistent with your corporate identity – will make a great impression on your customers. You can create formats for all your common documents: faxes, customer responses, invoices, contracts… literally anything you send to customers or vendors. Data Entry
Do you type fast? Does your staff? Most of us have keyboarding skills, but few of us are fast.
The problem is you may find yourself with a large amount of data or text to enter into a spreadsheet or document. Say you’ve distributed a customer survey; the results are back, and you want to tabulate them – but who on your staff can handle the task efficiently? Is there anyone you can pull away from their regular duties?
You don’t need to – our pros have outstanding data entry skills and can blast through your project. Then you’ll get the data you need at a cost you can afford. Job types can range from product entry on shopping websites to accounting data to website marketing through forum posting. If you need data entered, Kincaid Group can take on the task for you. Word Processing
Most of us are familiar with the basics of word processing programs. But check out what a word processing service can do for you: file management, web based word processing, mail merge, export to PDF, document conversion, opening and saving documents, typing, copying, pasting, inserting and deleting text, cutting, defining various page sizes and margins, searching, replacing… the list goes on and on. If you have documents that need work, don’t fumble around trying to learn new functions. Survey Tabulation & Research
Say you’ve performed a customer survey and you received a great response: 500 respondents answered 25 questions each. Wonderful! But what do you do with all the data you’ve collected?
A skilled analyst can organize the results, recommend different ways to analyze data, and then deliver key findings. You can request a preliminary analysis, a detailed, multi-level analysis of data and findings, or anything in between.
Make sure you reap the benefits of your survey – get help analyzing your data and determining steps you can take to take advantage of what you’ve learned. Reports & Presentations
Your best chance to land a new client may hinge on the quality of your presentation. If you know your business inside and out but aren’t a skilled PowerPoint user, for example, Kincaid Group can help you communicate complex ideas using an effective slideshow or other media can make all the difference. You provide the information – we'll provide the presentation.
And if you’re in a hurry, we can develop your during their business hours while you’re asleep – when you wake up, a professional, effective presentation can be in your Inbox. Kincaid Group can also develop reports or report templates you can pour current information into, saving you time while letting you put your best professional foot forward to your customers. Travel Planning
Assembling all the pieces of a trip is like building a house of cards; one small mistake and your entire plan collapses. Online tools are available to help you book almost every aspect of your trip, but it takes time and effort to pull all the pieces together – and you may miss out on incredible deals. Kincaid Group can not only plan your trip effectively, they can also make recommendations and give invaluable advice about local conditions and customs. Event Planning
Three weeks from now you’re holding a public seminar for 100 current and prospective clients. It’s a great opportunity to highlight your skills and expertise; you know your business inside and out, but how do you pull the pieces together to stage a great event? Setting up logistics and supplies for an event is a tremendous challenge for the inexperienced.
Hire us an event planner; we specialize in preparing the venue, working with vendors and caterers, setting up displays and multimedia tools, and even greeting guests and serving as a de facto host. That way you can focus on connecting with your guests instead of making sure the refreshment tables are well stocked.
And remember, we can also take on “personal” events like family reunions, weddings, and parties. Scheduling Appointments
Setting appointments and keeping up with your calendar is time-consuming… and is probably the last thing you should be doing personally. A service with good communication skills and access to email, a phone, and a fax can schedule appointments and handle schedule changes for you. Combine our efforts with an online calendar system and you’ll always know exactly where you should be and when you should be there. Kincaid Group can maintain and coordinate schedules for some or all of your employees. Copyrights & Trademarks
It’s yours – protect it! Copyright protects original works of expression – like books and articles, graphic arts, music, photography, and software – and prevents others from copying or commercially exploiting your work without your permission.
The problem is that copyright laws don’t protect names, titles or short phrases. So, a trademark protects distinctive words, phrases, logos, symbols, and slogans used to identify your company, products and services.
To get the protection you want, you might want to file for a copyright or trademark. This means you’ll need to research existing copyrights and trademarks, and that isn’t easy for a newbie. The application process itself can be complicated and time-consuming. And, if your inexperience causes you to make a mistake or leave out key information, the approval process could take many months.
Protect your ideas, your work, your slogans, and your business identity – they’re yours. Contracts
Handshakes are great… but contracts are better. A well-written contract creates a legally binding agreement establishing what you and the other party will (or sometimes will not) do. A contract normally requires one party to make a reasonably detailed offer to do something – ghostwriting, web design, graphic design, whatever it may be – and the other to provide compensation for that service.
Since a contract is legally binding it must clearly and precisely define your agreement and it must also protect your rights and your long-term business interests.
If you provide the same type of service for multiple clients, have a contract template developed that you can use over and over. You can also post projects for new contracts specific to an unusual or unique business opportunity. Incorporation
Forming a corporation can protect you from personal liability and create significant tax advantages. It’s the right move for you, but it also requires effort and expertise: Should you create a Corporation or an LLC? Who will create your bylaws, issue stock, and file the articles of incorporation with your state offices?
Kincaid Group will quickly navigate you through the process so you can enjoy the benefits of a corporate structure without spending hours determining how to actually create one. Agreements
An agreement isn’t a contract even though they share many similarities. An agreement is instead an exchange of promises. Say you’re an IT professional and you troubleshoot network problems. Your fee agreement specifies your hourly rate and response time if and when a customer has a problem and needs you. An agreement is, in simple terms, like the father of a contract, so it must be precise, accurate, and thorough. Kincaid Group can draft an agreement that will protect your interests and clearly define the expectations of both parties – and possibly point out items or issues you may have overlooked. General Business Advice & Legal Guidance
Have you ever struggled for information, guidance, help… or even the right answer to a problem? Or just thought, “I wish I could ask someone what to do”? You can. You can get help with a patent, a tax issue, possible litigation, employee relations issues, arbitration, or just an answer to the basic question, “What can happen if…?” Getting legal advice is a little like having insurance: You won’t be sorry if you seek guidance, but you may be very sorry if you don’t. Copyright Infringement
You created an amazing design. You wrote a great how-to article. Or you’ve offered a podcast on your website that’s now showing up on other websites. Whatever the case may be, if it’s yours and you’ve protected it someone may still use it without your permission. If you’ve asked them to stop and had no success, you’ll need to take the next step and get legal help. Let Kincaid Group look over the case before bringing out the big, expensive lawyers. Lawyers who specialize in copyrights and trademarks can also take action to remedy copyright infringement situations. Not only can you force violators to stop using your work, in some cases you may be able to receive damages. Policies
Even if you only have one employee, well documented policies and guidelines help you ensure quality, safety, and service. You should also define your terms and conditions, what your clients can expect in terms of privacy or confidentiality, your shipping and returns policy, etc. Creating solid policies not only protects you and your business – those policies also let customers and clients know exactly what they can expect from you.
Build a solid foundation for your business and develop clear policies. Your business will run business more efficiently and you’ll enhance your credibility in the marketplace. And you’ll add a layer of protection from lawsuits and other legal action. Non-Disclosure Agreements
You have a great idea for a business and you want to protect your idea… but you need help pulling the pieces together. Or, you have been asked to provide a service but the other party wishes to protect their idea. Use a confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement (NDA) to help ensure confidentiality: A solid NDA defines what is and is not confidential, the obligations of the receiving party, and the terms under which the information must remain confidential.
Think an NDA isn’t necessary? Keep this in mind: Under trade secret law, if you reveal your “secret” to the public you lose your rights to that secret. So if you’re uncomfortable sharing details about your idea, protect yourself and require an NDA is signed before you share information. If you’re asked to sign an NDA and you’re not sure what you’re agreeing to, ask Kincaid Group to review the NDA before you sign.
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Sales & Marketing
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Lead Generation
You need customers – Kincaid Group can help you find them. Techniques include sourcing affiliates, driving traffic to your website, collecting information from interested prospective clients, or researching key decision-makers within your industry. Our sales and marketing professionals can help determine the most effective and cost-effective lead generation approach for your industry.
Email
Depending on your product or service, email campaigns can be incredibly effective, especially if you can target the right audience. Email marketers can help develop mailing lists, craft your message, and send your emails – whether it’s to 10 or 10,000 potential customers. Then they’ll manage your campaign, removing “dead” addresses, sending follow-up emails, and connecting you with great prospects.
A broad-based email campaign can be a complex and time-consuming undertaking: Hire Kincaid Group and spend time working with new customers instead of finding them. Telemarketing
Contacting customers and fielding queries by phone works incredibly well for many businesses, but the cost of setting up your own call center is high. Plus good telemarketers are skilled and experienced – do you have the time and resources to effectively train your staff? Telemarketers can help you create call lists, design scripts, run tests on your message, and manage your marketing campaign. If you do business worldwide you may need a two- or three-shift operation, complete with staff fluent in multiple languages.
Hiring Kincaid Group also lets you start and stop, or ramp up your campaigns as you see fit without worrying about expanding or contracting your own staff. A great telemarketer can cost-effectively generate new leads and new customers while you focus on servicing those customers.
Promotions
Creating a promotion – like a sweepstakes, survey, contest, game, or even simply a product or service giveaway – can be a great way to attract attention and create a connection with potential and existing customers. If you have a website, an interactive promotion can motive behavior by turning an unidentified site visitor into a registered prospect, letting you start a permission-based, data-driven relationship. You can create a sweepstakes with online and offline prospects – either on your website or on other websites – registering to win one of your products or services. Or you can create promotional items like coffee mugs, pens, t-shirts – the list is limited only to your imagination – branded with your logo. Blogs
Most business websites are static and boring and turn people away. A well-written blog that complements your website can transform your on-line presence, giving you more ways of reaching out with your message, more credibility as an authority in your field, and more effective ways of supporting your existing customer base.
A great blog also takes time to write and maintain. Instead of handling the task on your own, Kincaid Group can write new articles, respond to comments made by visitors, add links to relevant articles or websites, upload photos or videos… and leave you free to run other aspects of your business. Web Content
A commonly used Internet proverb states, “Content is king.” Great content attracts visitors, holds your audience, builds your credibility, and highlights your products and services. Adding well-written, effective, SEO-friendly articles on a consistent basis to your website may take more time and effort than you have to spare.
Many writers specialize in writing informative, SEO-friendly articles. Some specialize in a particular field or industry, while others enjoy the process of researching unfamiliar topics.
The more great content your site contains, the more visitors you’ll see – and possibly the less you’ll need to spend on web advertising. In any case, if it’s worth writing about, it’s worth writing about well, so make sure your content enhances your image. Bulk Mailings
The Internet is great for marketing, but some businesses still benefit from a well-targeted and compelling direct mail campaign. And you’ll need to test and track your results so you can refine future campaigns and spend your advertising dollars even more wisely.
Bulk mailing requires a specialized set of skills best left to the experts, plus expensive automated mailing equipment that you’re unlikely to wish to invest in. Every aspect of a bulk mail campaign can be handled remotely – turn it over to the experts and focus on fulfilling all the orders or queries you receive. Corporate Identity
How many companies or brands do you recognize by their logos or other visual element? To create a memorable corporate identity, it must to unique and consistently displayed in every way you “touch” your customers. Your corporate identity – your logo, stationery, business cards, folders, signs, and other collateral – must be clean, professional, consistent, and most of all help customers remember who you are and what you do. Designers can develop logos, stationery, folders and pamphlets, a website design, even Word and PowerPoint templates – literally any material or media.
In short, a great corporate identity reflects the quality, service, and standards that are the hallmarks of your business – make sure your corporate identity enhances your professional image. Web Banner Ads
Web advertising has exploded in popularity and effectiveness. Advertising on the right websites can put your products or services in front of consumers eager to buy your products or try your services – but only if the ad works. Banner ads can not only catch a site visitor’s attention; designed properly they can also send highly-targeted web traffic your way. But many websites have rigid specifications and guidelines for banner ads.
To make sure your ads are designed appropriately for web viewing, and to bring customers your way, have your banner ads professionally-created. Remember, successful advertising isn’t simply a function of spending – it’s also a function of spending wisely. Print Ads
Statistics show print ads including photos and well-designed graphic elements catch the attention of four times as many readers as do text-only ads. Graphic designers can also source stock photography in case you don’t have photos of your own – plus they can ensure your ads are consistent with the business identity you’ve worked hard to establish. Voice Talent
Call any large corporation and the recorded voice you hear sounds welcoming and professional. Do your greetings and messages sound they same? If they don’t, they may be leaving a poor impression with your callers.
Kincaid Group works in their own studios to create the audio messages you want, adapting their tone and style to suit the needs of your industry and your goals. A good voice may keep your callers listening all the way to the end of even the longest message. And they can add music behind their voice if you like.
Voice talent can even produce recordings for other purposes like podcasts or even audio books. Articles
You may never be published in a magazine or newspaper, but the Internet has created an endless demand for well written, information-packed articles on virtually any subject. Not only will articles on your website provide useful advice and guidance to your visitors, they can also help your site perform better in search engine rankings, drawing more visitors – and potential customers – to your business. And by using an article distribution service you can place your article – and your contact information – on multiple sites, reaching even more customers.
Not only can Kincaid Group develop your articles, but in many cases they can also post those articles directly to your site, saving you time and effort. Kincaid group is capable of creating outstanding articles on a wide range of topics. If you want to inform, educate, and attract visitors to your site but don’t have the skills or time, we are ready and waiting to assist you. Press Releases
A press release is like a news story: It’s written to share information about a person, event, service or product. If your company has developed a new product, a new service, landed a large customer, expanded operations – in other words, something newsworthy and significant has occurred – a press release is a perfect way to let the world know. Properly written, your press release may catch the attention of an editor or reporter and serve as the springboard to a story or feature on the web, TV, or in print, gaining you valuable – and free – publicity.
Sounds great, but the fact is most press releases never get picked up by major media because they’re poorly written and seem intended to “sell” rather than to inform. Media outlets appreciate press releases that read like news – Kincaid Group can turn a quickly discarded press release into an item that immediately grabs the attention of readers, media outlets – and customers. Copy writing
Words are powerful. Well-crafted messages can be unbelievably powerful. Marketing copy takes many forms: slogans, headlines, direct mail text, taglines, jingle lyrics… and is used in print ads, mail-order catalogs, billboards, commercials, brochures, postcards, websites, and other advertising media. Chances are any time you communicate in writing with your customers, a skilled copywriter can dramatically increase the effectiveness of your message. That’s especially true if you need direct response copy, or copy that provides instant results – a skilled copywriter can flood your Inbox, store, or offices with new customers. Editing
Have you ever written a letter or memo and realized, upon re-reading it a few days later, how much better it could have been? A fresh look, or a fresh pair of eyes, can quickly spot ways to improve nearly anyone’s writing. Most full-time writers will agree with this statement: “Any words, no matter how carefully chosen, can benefit from skillful and thoughtful editing.”
Instead of explaining complex information to a writer, you may feel it’s easier to write a first draft and have an editor make corrections and improvements. A good editor can help shape the tone and style of your text, help you fine-tune your message, and/or avoid embarrassing mistakes. Newsletters
Do you want a custom newsletter to deliver valuable information to your customer base? It’s a great idea, but it takes time and effort (and skills) you may not have. With a little input regarding your goals, your audience, and potential subject matter, we can format, write, and even email your newsletter to your customer base.
You may initially decide to review the newsletter before it’s published, but once we develop a good working relationship your input may be limited to a few minutes of your time per each newsletter. And since you already have the content, we can post each newsletter to your website archives, and you can even pull out individual articles for inclusion on other sites – after all, you own the content! Sales Materials
Do you have the skills and experience to write an effective television commercial? Most people would say no, but many try to write their own sales letters, advertising copy, or promotional literature.
See if these requirements meet your skills: Bold, attention-grabbing headlines. Clear, well-defined descriptions and product or service benefits. Text that creates a rational and an emotional appeal. And a clear call to action that readers will respond to, delivering more sales to your business.
If you’re not sure your writing is making the grade, hire Kincaid Group – the end result will be more bang for your advertising buck. Product Design
Your idea can’t become a product until it’s designed, specifications determined, blueprints drawn, prototypes built up to full-scale production. Kincaid Group can even help you flesh out your initial concept and give you ideas and input on materials, processes, and even manufacturing solutions.
And while you may have a great idea, you’re probably not an engineer.
If you have an idea but don’t know where to start, Kincaid Group can walk you through every step in the process – from helping you refine your idea to the point when your product rolls off the assembly line.
Audio
Say you’ve made an audio recording. The problem is you need to edit it for length, add other content, place a layer of music in the background, and clean up a few mistakes. With the right software it can be done, but the task is daunting for newbies.
The solution: Send your audio files to a Kincaid Group along with instructions for what you need done. In return you’ll get an audio file, per your specifications, for use on your website, in multimedia presentations, or even for distribution.
Or a sound editor can record specific sounds or create a music or audio track combining the specific elements you need. You won’t need a studio – you just need to be able to describe what you want. Video
If a picture says a thousand words, how much is a video worth? Web visitors not only enjoy, they’ve come to expect videos that explain processes, feature products, or simply entertain visitors – and keep them coming back for more.
But poorly-produced or delivered videos can quickly turn visitors away. Kincaid Group can edit, enhance, and prepare your video for “publishing” on the web, whether on your site or on social media sites. Make sure your video presents you or your products and services in the best light possible: the right editing and formatting can transform your video from a cutting room floor candidate into an “Oscar-worthy” short that quickly goes viral. Photography/Image Editing
Anyone with a camera can take a photograph, but even professional photographers edit and enhance their photos before print or web publication. Say you’re creating a catalog with product photos; before you finalize the design have your images edited and enhanced so your products are shown to their best advantage.
To accomplish these tasks you could become a Photoshop whiz, but is the time and effort required to become proficient the best use of your time?
Mosca Photo can retouch and resize your images as well as perform advanced manipulation techniques like changing backgrounds, removing objects… even put your head on someone else's body. And if you need photos taken in a location hundreds or thousands of miles away, Mosca Photo can handle the job and send you image files so you incur no travel costs. Animation
Get noticed and set your business apart with high quality animation. Many companies can benefit from animation on websites, movies, presentations, product demos, applications, advertisements, and logos.
Skilled animators are proficient in 2D/3D modeling for simpler applications like caricatures, and cartoons, while medical animation helps healthcare professionals see and understand complex procedures and processes. If movement can add value and understanding to your message, an animator can take you to that next level.
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Technology
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Website Design If you don’t have a website, you’re operating at a disadvantage; in most business, customers and prospective clients expect you to have a website even if they don’t actively use or refer to it. It may sound odd, but recent research shows that most people assume that a company with a website is larger and more stable than a company without one. You don’t need to be a graphic designer; unless you’re in the web design business, why would you want to be? Focus on growing your business while Kincaid Group creates the look and feel of your site. Site design is one of the most necessary projects; you can have a new site designed – or an existing site given a makeover – in weeks or sometimes even days. Just make sure your site is an extension of your corporate identity; you’ll spend money creating it, so be sure it works for you. Programming
Web programming is an incredibly diverse field. Let’s just summarize: If it happens on a website, somewhere a programmer made it happen.
Anything you’ve seen on another website can be developed on your website by the right programmer. Web programming can be a highly-specialized field; different providers can have different skills. E-commerce Website
The rate of online purchasing of products and services continues to rise dramatically. With e-commerce you can reduce your transaction costs while reaching customers around the world. Kincaid Group can install your shopping cart tools, gateways and links to your commercial accounts, set up credit card payment systems, install PayPal applications, and even provide back-end solutions like order management, fulfillment, and inventory tracking. E-commerce takes your business to the next level – even the global level. Simple Website
Simple websites aren’t really simple: They can include Flash, forms, photo galleries, and a variety of other tools and applications. If you’re a small business looking for an online identity, or you need to re-vamp your old website, or you’d like to create a site that is clean, professional, and informative, a simple website is perfect for you. Providers can design and implement your site for you; all you need to know is what you want – they’ll take care of everything else. If you prefer you can request a content management system that lets you easily and quickly update text and photos on your site, or even change your internal links and navigation structure. HTML Emails
If you’re using text-only emails, consider upgrading to HTML emails. HTML emails have the look and feel of a website but are delivered to your clients’ inboxes. Once a template is set up, you can add your own text, images, or other graphic elements, create a variety of links to different pages on your site… even include banner ads for your (or for others) services. Search Engine Optimization & Search Engine Marketing
Search engine placement is critical to anyone with a website; even though you built it, they won’t come if they can’t find you. Search engine optimization (SEO) specialists help your site gain high rankings; the algorithms change constantly so techniques naturally evolve – unless you’re in the web field you’re unlikely to have the necessary skills.
Search engine marketing (SEM) is also a specialized field. It can take days, months and years of expertise to write effective ads, place your banners on the right sites, set up effective affiliate programs, or manage your pay-per-click programs so you get the most visitors and more importantly conversions.
Kincaid Group can do that for you – plus they can keep track of new developments and trends in the SEO and SEM fields. Blogs
Applications like Blogger and WordPress are free, but what if you want your blog to stand out and include custom features? For instance, do you know how to set up Permalinks so your URLs are search-engine (and people) friendly? Can you create a Google sitemap? Do you use FeedBurner? Can you set up a contact form to thwart spammers, tag your posts, or add a custom design instead of using a template?
Your response to those questions might be a series of “No” answers, and could even be, “No, and I’m not even sure what any of that meant.”
Don’t worry – Kincaid Group can customize your blog and install and set up all the features you need. And if you’re not sure exactly what to ask for, just refer them to a blog with a feature you want and say, “I’d like that on my blog.” Online Forms & Applications
Forms are a great way to collect data and distribute it by email, into databases, or to perform calculations. Streamlining your data collection and eliminating double-entry can save you huge amounts of time and expense. Determining what data you want to capture or what calculations you want to make is relatively easy; converting your ideas into a logical, easy to use form that interfaces with your enterprise system or database can require significant programming skills. If you capture any type of data more than once, a form can make the process simpler for you and your users. Widgets
Widgets are small programs that can run on your website or social networking site or can be downloaded by users onto computers, phones, or even televisions. You can create widgets for games, news, weather, sports, search tools, music and video.
You have probably noticed that widget popularity has exploded on social networking sites, and every day new widgets are developed and distributed – you can do the same. A provider can either help you find and install a free widget, or can develop a new widget specific to your needs. Usability Design
A great website is designed with your users in mind. The way users will interact with your website should be considered at every stage of the design and implementation process, and it’s virtually impossible to create an elegant and streamlined website (or application) without professional help. The results of a great usability design include higher end-user satisfaction, increased end-user productivity, success, and completion, and lower training and support costs.
Remember, usability design isn’t limited to websites; it can also be applied to applications, databases… nearly anything your employees, customers and prospects touch. Flash
Flash lets you engage site visitors with motion, sound and interactivity to help you deliver your message, sell your product or service, or promote your cause. Flash, well-designed and produced, is a great tool for developing dynamic content for the web and can be a great asset for your website.
A skilled Flash designer can create banner ads, product demonstrations, interactive panels, or an innovative way to deliver static (and possibly otherwise boring) content.
Social Networking Applications
Do you need a custom Facebook application? (Or simply want help setting up your Facebook page?) Do you want to optimize your use of MySpace or LinkedIn? You can learn the tricks of the trade yourself, but you don’t have to. Kincaid Group can apply current solutions or develop new tools to keep you on the cutting-edge. Understanding and applying the right tools to your social network platform can not only help you socially – it can also be good for business.
Enterprise Systems
Enterprise Systems provide a technology platform that enable organizations to integrate and coordinate their business processes. They provide a single system that is central to the organization, ensuring information can be shared across all functional levels and management hierarchies. Enterprise systems help eliminate the problem of information fragmentation by creating a standard data structure.
Maintaining and updating your Enterprise System requires a diverse set of skills – hiring Kincaid Group can provide those skills at a cost you can afford.
Database Development
A great database does more than archive information. Operational databases let you or your clients modify data, view a variety of reports, and ensure real-time, up-to-date information is always at your fingertips.
Setting up a database that effectively manages your data and can be shared by users is not for the faint of heart – Kincaid Group can make quick work of what may have appeared to be an overwhelming task. They can also suggest the type of database that’s best for your needs, both now and as your business grows.
Technical Support
Occasionally your site or site applications will have a problem; your email goes down, your forms no longer function properly, or (gasp!) a hacker takes over your site. Providers around the world can step in, sometimes on a moment’s notice, to take care of your problem and get your site working smoothly again. If you have an ongoing relationship with a provider, that’s great, but even if you don’t a new provider can often take care of your problem quickly.
Local firms may not be able to respond as quickly as you need. Think of it this way: If you’re in England and your site goes down at 11 pm, it’s 3 pm on the West Coast of the U.S.; your problem could be fixed before you get your morning coffee. And if your customers need support, hire Kincaid Group who offer 24-hour, 7-day per week coverage. Auto-responders
It’s exciting when potential clients use a form on your website to request information, or even better order a product or service. Auto-responders automate the process of responding to queries or confirming registrations, requests, or sales, and can be set up to deliver information on a scheduled basis and to remind visitors or users of upcoming events or promotions. Kincaid Group can develop a unique auto-responder system for your particular business, or modify an existing application.
Podcasts
Recording and distributing audio has never been easier thanks to podcasts, and setting up web applications that allow users to listen to or download your audio files can be tricky. If you’re not sure how to best approach the problem, Kincaid Group can create easy to use tools for you to upload and distribute your audio, or can handle the entire process for you anytime you wish to update content on your site. Focus on your content – let a professional take care of how it’s delivered to your audience.
Network Administration
Network support is absolutely critical when you have problems, but can you afford to hire someone full-time? Kincaid Group can perform server maintenance, software installation, make changes and upgrades to your network, even set up and maintain a VOIP server – from anywhere in the world. Help Desk
Do you know everything there is to know about applications like word processing, spreadsheets, databases, website maintenance, blogs…? Probably not – but when your employees need help, who do they call? If you run a small company, in all likelihood it’s you.
Instead, hire Kincaid Group to be your Help Desk. Your employees simply call a number and we can provide information or help them work through problems with a variety of software or even hardware applications. Project ManagementYou know what you want, but how do you communicate your needs effectively, screen providers, determine the applications you need, and stay on top of the work in progress. A project manager can oversee your project from start to finish. Think of a project manager as a general contractor who pulls together all the skills, materials, and timelines and makes sure the final product meets your specifications and needs.
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Mosca Photo - Two Photographers, Two Huge Hearts
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