Ask writer Dennis Cooper and you'll find that the answer is Yes.

Cooper had hosted his blog on Blogger.com since 2002, only to find on June 28 that his 14 years of work had been deleted by site owner Google, with no explanation. Making matters worse, they also deleted his Gmail account.

You may not know it, but we're already in the Third Wave of the internet, or the Internet of Things (IoT), as it's come to be known.

Yep, that's right, and if your business is typical of most, you're still stuck at the end of the First Wave – at best.

You're probably thinking “not only do I have no clue what the Third Wave is, but I don't even know what the First and Second were.”

I can drive a car but I guarantee you no NASCAR team would want me behind the wheel. If I can drive safely and get from point A to point B, why shouldn't I be able to drive for a team?

Easy answer - because it's pretty much guaranteed that I would wreck, and 100% guaranteed that I would come in last if I could even finish. Plus, who in the heck would want to watch me race (other than for the laughs)?

Similarly, did you know that elements of your website can not only be wrecking your chances for good search engine ranking but can also be driving visitors away?

Across America, communities have become more vanilla over the past several decades due to the proliferation of franchises, chain stores, and chain restaurants.

People yearn for a connection to places and other people, and these desires are slowly helping rebuild the demand for local products.

A geographic brand validates authenticity and quality for consumers, creates exposure for the community every time it's seen, and helps businesses by improving the marketability of products over time.

Giving good feedback is key to a successful design project.

Regardless of what you're having designed - logo, website, Annual Report, brochure, etc. - your input is important and totally necessary for your project to be successful.

You're paying good money for your project and you want great results, but the onus is on you to give good feedback. After all, designers aren't mind readers. No one knows your business like you, and the magic happens when your knowledge comes together with your design team's skills and expertise.

Below are a few guidelines on how to provide effective feedback and, just as or more importantly, what not to do.