With a rising cost of living and uncertain economy, many businesses and nonprofits are doing everything they can to cut back. Bravo:Smart Web Design, a business-tailored Web site development training course, offers companies the ability to create and update their own sites and reach audiences in the new medium.
"At the end of the day, we are empowering employees to make content updates and changes to their Web site in a controlled environment," said Luis Maury, Bravo:Smart president. "This allows companies to have immediacy in response to both their customers and changes in the marketplace."

The company, which was created by Ken Kousky, Rebecca Kotz and Maury in March, is headquartered in Midland's MidMichigan Innovation Center. The three recognized a need for a Web site training company and launched the first session in May. Their Web Smart 2.0 class is tailored toward business and nonprofit professionals and teaches how non-technical individuals can create and update a site.
"All three of us have a strong desire to help businesses and nonprofits be successful," said Kotz, Bravo:Smart director of marketing. "They are the backbone of our society."

The course takes a unique approach on Web site training by applying a business-based focus in addition to the technical side. By teaching business professionals how to create and manage their own sites, they can bring those services in-house. The transition saves money associated with initial start-up and maintenance costs, they said, while Web 2.0 reduces the time it takes to update a site from hours to minutes.

According to a 2007 GlobalSpec survey, 85 percent of the industrial community now uses the Internet to specify products, and as a result of visiting a Web site, 85 percent of respondents contacted a supplier while 49 percent ordered samples.

"Web 2.0 technologies allow organizations to communicate with their audiences like never before," Kotz said. "And Web 2.0 sites can help portray a stronger brand and position than traditional Web 1.0 sites."
Web 2.0 describes the emerging evolution of the Internet as a more interactive, innovative and, especially, collaborative medium.

With one $3,500 fee, a company can enroll up to three individuals for the training and create a company Web site. The course is three days long and meets every other week, allowing for the completion of homework assignments pertaining to site content and design.

To help launch the business and gain community support, Bravo:Smart collaborated with Saginaw Valley State University's Center for Business and Economic Development to offer grant-funded $1,000 scholarships for local manufacturing businesses to enroll up to three employees in the course.

Course enrollees range from the health care industry to retail and manufacturing businesses. According to Kotz, they all share the need for a dynamic Web site.

What makes Bravo:Smart innovative, Kotz claimed, is its ability to make other businesses more innovative in the way that they work and the way that they think about their Web sites. "It's the way we are harnessing the power of 2.0," she said.

Bravo:Smart work also creates customized sites for customers.

With more local courses upcoming, Bravo:Smart is also focusing on growing nationally. The company is in the process of offering training in St. Louis, Mo. and Washington D.C.

Kotz sees the program having continued success, but the company identifies one difficulty.

"Our biggest obstacle is how many people don't know about Web 2.0 technology," she said. "It's the education gap. Once they understand it, the floodgates open."

Rachel Protasiewicz is a freelance writer living in Auburn.