We did it again: this time for Tepilo. The company that we started last year with TV's Sarah Beeny has been ranked as a top start-up business by Smarta.

A judging panel that included Dragons Den's Deborah Meaden and the Founder of Bebo, Michael Birch, has ranked our property selling website as one of its top 100 in their inaugural awards.

According to the blurb:

"The Smarta 100 is the ultimate business accolade, recognizing the UK’s smartest small businesses. Smarta.com has uncovered remarkable companies who have gone the extra mile to differentiate themselves from the market or found clever ways to compete, from their marketing plan to their ethical stance. The result is a fascinating insight into the unique business ideas that are thriving in the current economic climate. The finalists proved to the judges that they have what it takes to run a successful venture, from spotting a new opportunity to making it a reality."

Tepilo really has gone from strength to strength since we launched it in the summer of 2009 and we've got some great initiatives that will be revealed this year. Not just a pretty face...

We have just launched a lightweight mobile and smart phone friendly version of our website.

codegent.com/mobile

This is a classic WAP style site that has been designed to work across the broadest range of mobile devices that still dominate the marketplace. Our focus here has been on keeping the code limited and easy to navigate with minimal images to download.

codegent.com/iphone

We have also produced a sexier version that is optimised for the iPhone or any Smartphone running Android (such as the new Nexus) that leverages Webkit and CSS3. Check out the funky finger swiping scroll on our about page and portfolio and if you ever need to find us on your way to a meeting fear not, its all integrated with Google Maps at the touch of a button.

Just go to www.codegent.com on your device and we will automatically take you to the most applicable site.

"Build software for yourself

A great way to build software is to start out by solving your own problems. You'll be the target audience and you'll know what's important and what's not. That gives you a great head start on delivering a breakout product.” Excerpt from Getting Real by 37 Signals

It’s not exactly a tough concept to get your head around but the best businesses are usually born from a problem rather than a brainstorm on “What the World needs now” (is love sweet love?)

At Codegent we have worked with a lot of start-up companies and without fail their first task is to setup email services (we use Google Apps like everyone with a sane mind should), a holding webpage with sign-up form, Blog, Twitter account, Facebook page etc. so that the client can start pimping their hot new idea. Gary Vaynerchuk discusses the need for this in his fantastic book Crush It! 

Recently I had done this work for Tepilo & BIMA and I was moaning to Luke, our technical director, that it takes me ages to do, is a bit fiddly and that surely there should be a faster way of doing it? With all the DNS tweaks, server config & testing it can easily be a day and a half before we are all sorted.

Fast forward a few 4am-ers later and Luke invented DASH – Steamlined Online Business Setup.

What is DASH then?

DASH is a Web Application that facilitates the registration, setup and integration of all the online services you would typically want when launching a new venture. Of course you can choose to use as much or as little of it as you want – one size certainly does not fit all. The process ends with the generation of a basic but fully integrated website (Gallery powered by Flickr, Videos courtesy of YouTube, Subscriptions via Mail Chimp etc.) that you can content manage and manipulate as much as you like.

How long does it take? 10 minutes

Cost? $90

Here is a handy list of (some) initial features in DASH

• Domain Registration (or configuration of existing domain)
• Google Apps Core Services – Email, Calendar, Docs
• Social Media – Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn
• Rich Media – Flickr, YouTube, Vimeo
• Content Managed Website & Blog – Wordpress, Tumblr, Posterous
• Email Subscription & Mailshots – Mail Chimp, Camapaign Monitor
• Monitoring & Optimisation – Google Analytics, Alerts, Twilert, Feedburner

I could go on telling you about storage, backup, surveys, e-commerce, event management, accounting… but I hope you get the picture.

If you want to be one of the first users to use DASH (we will be giving away some free accounts) then please sign up on getdash.com. I will be launching the product as part of the Digital Mission to SXSWi in Texas this March. Email me if you want to hook up for a coffee, chat and sneak preview.

“When you solve your own problem, you create a tool that you're passionate about. And passion is key. Passion means you'll truly use it and care about it. And that's the best way to get others to feel passionate about it too.” (another one from Getting Real by 37 Signals)

I am very excited to announce a new business venture for codegent in 2010. We have partitioned the agency, focusing a small team of developers in our Bangkok office on building web applications.

Our ambition is to launch around four apps this year with a target audience of Entrepreneurs, Digital Marketers and fellow Developers. You can find out more on why we are doing this and what our initial ideas, such as DASH, are on codegent.com/apps. I will also be blogging and twittering frequently as things begin to take shape in the next few months so do keep an eye out for more.

STOP PRESS!

The apps business has already received a major helping hand in its quest for world domination by being chosen to represent the best of the UK Digital Community as part of the Digital Mission to South by South West Interactive in Austin, Texas. To quote the Press Release:

"39 of the UK’s leading digital companies have been selected for the second annual Digital Mission to South by South West interactive (SXSWi), taking place in Austin, Texas from 11-17th March 2010. [...] The successful companies were chosen from over 120 submissions by an advisory board of industry experts drawn from the UK community including: VC’s, export specialists, journalists and industry pundits to take part in the Digital Mission to SXSWi."

We would like to thank chinwag and UK Trade & Investment (one of our clients!) for making this possible. Personally I can't wait to get out there to start marketing our work to the wider world.

There is nothing harder than dragging yourself back into work at the beginning of January knowing that even if you had the energy to type an email – you are unlikely to get a response as everyone else will still be on holiday! So what we really needed was a website launch to get us focused and motivated. And thanks to our clients at the Mental Health Foundation this is exactly what we got when we were asked to design and build the Be Mindful website ready for a 06:15 launch on the GMTV sofa on the 5th January (which translates as focused and motivated x10!!)

Be Mindful is the latest campaign from the Mental Health Foundation and is supported by leading doctors and celebrities such as Ruby Wax. It is part of a national campaign to promote Mindfulness - a range of therapies and techniques that can help people suffering from mental and physical problems.

Our aim for the Be Mindful website was 'simplicity of design' and 'clarity of information'. The audience for this campaign falls into two main categories – the public who are looking for information, advice and courses and GPs looking for information for their patients and surgeries. We wanted users to be guided through the site according to who they are and what is relevant to them – ensuring that they interact with all of the key touch points on the site as they navigate their way through. This thinking is evident in the design, layout and architecture of the site - from the clear calls to action on the homepage to the arrow icons on the tab navigation, guiding the user through their journey.

The About Mindfulness section is broken into two distinct areas ‘Experience’ and ‘Evidence’ again helping to simplify the site and sign-post the user according to the information that is relevant to them. Both sections are supported by video, audio and resources which users can view, download and share. We have also integrated an online payment system enabling GPs to order surgery toolkits and for anyone who would like a full copy of the mindfulness report, they can order one here.

One of the main findings that drove the Be Mindful campaign was that Mindfulness courses are few and far between and often hard to find. The find a course section brings these courses together in one place. The course section uses a Google maps mash-up and allows users to search for courses near them by entering their postcode or searching the map. The site also allows practitioners to promote their courses for free.

Finally there is the show your support section, an online petition to make more mindfulness courses available across the UK.

It is early days but Mindfulness is already generating lots of publicity and support. It’s great to be involved in such a positive campaign but we are already saying goodbye to any plans for a quiet February as we get back into the studio to start planning the next phase. Phase two will include a stress diagnostic tool and allow users to take part in Mindfulness courses online. I have also heard a rumour of a cheeky little iPhone app so that you can do your course on the go (well it’s just expected these days isn’t it!)

Check out the website here.
 

Over the past few months codegent has been invited to speak at several conferences to share our thoughts on the future of the digital landscape and insights into modern marketing strategies.

In September our creative director, Matt Jukes, spoke at the ad:tech interactive advertising and technology conference in Olympia on the subject of Augmented Reality and the potential uses and directions for the technology in the future. The discussion spanned the principles of how it works, some well executed commercial case studies (such as the excellent Glasses Direct application demo below) and then hypothesised about how we can take Augmented Reality and fuse it with the latest advances in video and mobile GPS to create innovative new apps such as interactive tour guides. Incidentally this is something we are currently exploring with our latest client, the Hoxton Hotel, so watch this space for more updates!

Meanwhile, co-founder David Hart has been busy on the Tepilo Tour talking alongside our partner, Sarah Beeny, about the strategy behind the successful launch of the business and how it utilised social media platforms to spread the word and achieve initial critical mass - a massive issue for all new start-ups trying to get themselves heard amongst all the noise. The presentations were at the Growing Your Own Business conference in Birmingham NEC and the Social Media '09 event which was closer to home in central London.

We are passionate about the work we do and the medium of the internet. Having the opportunity to present our ideas and discuss our thoughts with others in this way is a real privilege of the job and something we hope to be doing a lot more of soon.

At Codegent we love a ‘big idea’, so when The Southbank Centre came to us with a new brief it was an ideal opportunity to get creative.

The concept behind GPS (Global Poetry System) was to enable people from anywhere in the world to discover the poetry around them, record it and add it to a map so that it can be found and enjoyed by others. The poetry could be anything, from graffiti on a wall to a couple of words scratched on a park bench. 

The whole premise of the site is about making poetry available. We therefore wanted to make it as easy and intuitive as possible for people to add their finds. Offering multiple upload options including audio, webcam and mobile & iPhone gives users a variety of ways to get involved, share their experiences and create a site that has rich and varied content because an empty map is no fun at all.

A cheeky Google Maps mash-up lets users pinpoint their poem against a specific location, zoom in and even use satellite to see exactly where it is hidden away. As the content builds and the virtual streets fill up with poems, the experience is becoming even better as areas rich in poetic form fill out offering the opportunity to create mini tours of urban literary gems. The long-term plan is to use the mapping tool to build and develop local communities looking to discuss and share poetry.

So you're cruising around the map and you come across something that takes your fancy. It might be a poem that reminds you of your mum or the love of your life and you want them to see how they inspire you. Simple; we added a whole host of social media tools to enable you to spread the word.

The site was officially launched on the 8th October and it has already received some great feedback. We can’t wait to see how it grows.

This week we have launched the first phase of our new property website Tepilo, a joint venture with Sarah Beeny.

In the gloomy economic climate, the property market is suffering badly. People want to not only save as much money as possible, but also be in control of the way their property is marketed. Tepilo (an imaginary castle that Sarah's father used to describe to her when she was a child) was set up to give people a new way of buying and selling their property.

This is the first time we have joint ventured with a client for equity in the business rather than agency fees. We have been offered equity deals numerous times before but had always turned them down until now.

Sarah was an existing client who we had worked well with previously and arguably was in a prime position to start an online property business as host of Channel 4's Property Ladder and as one of the most trusted authorities on the UK property market. The brand building exposure she can produce is something that most start-ups lack or cannot afford to generate. The buzz has started already...

• Tepilo on Brand Republic
• Tepilo launch Webcast on Money Supermarket
• Hype on Property Portal Watch
• Tepilo noise on Twitter

As a result some really large brands have already approached us tabling potential partnership deals and mass exposure for the new site. Brand Beeny is certainly opening a lot of doors!

The full site launches in July and we will be hitting the mainstream press at that point as well. Watch this space for more info over the summer. In the meantime I would love to hear your thoughts on our decision to JV on this project - good or bad :)

www.tepilo.com or follow @tepilo on twitter.

Well... actually a Vice Chair. At the BIMA (British Interactive Media Association) AGM last week, David was successfully elected to Vice Chair and will serve with Justin Cooke as Chair. Justin is Managing Director of agency, Fortune Cookie. The executive committee saw 9 new members joining the team.

David said: "We were amazed at the calibre of people standing for election for this year's executive committee. The experience and the will is there to enable us to make some significant changes and re-engage with everyone involved in the industry. This year we want to really push the idea of the UK being a world-class centre for digital innovation and build on the superb work that has been done by BIMA already in fostering future talent among schools. We're also going to really look at how we can bring more benefits to members in the areas of publicity, networking and education."

David joined the BIMA executive committee a year ago. It's great that one of our own has received this accolade from his peers and whilst it means that he'll have to spend less time doing Codegent stuff, we all think that improving the industry in which we all work is a worthy cause and well worth the effort.

BIMA

Is that a Jeroboam of champagne in your pocket or are you just pleased to see us?!!

Last night codegent scooped the FITC Award for Motion Graphics for our work with 40|30 at The Gherkin.

We beat off some really strong competition to win this award as we were short-listed with Coca-Cola and Warner Brothers so a huge congratulations to the codegent team for an amazing job – it makes me really proud!

Next up: the Webbys! You can help us put our trophy cabinet under further strain as there is also People’s Choice Award - you can cast your vote at http://pv.webbyawards.com. Our nomination section is Website » Ballot » Marketplace » Restaurant or click this link to go direct (you have to login first).

I'm off to iron my tux...