Wake Up Yellow Dogs!

Supporting local businesses, candidates, and organizations that support progressive principles and the arts.

Website design, message development, digital photography, Internet organizing, and media support. Contact linda.watson@wakeupyellowdogs.com.

Featured site

Fine-arts photographer Bruce Watson says:

The beauty of nature is the predominate theme of my work. I am fascinated by the underlying structures, patterns, and visual rhythms of nature.

His website, AchromaticArts.com, is driven by a database, so he can easily add photographs and change prices without requiring expensive coding changes. Because it also uses Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), the entire site's look can be quickly and inexpensively changed.

 

 woof! says the wagging yellow dog

 

 

Fast, flexible, affordable, and of high-quality

That's the type of website design and communication support you'll get from Wake Up Yellow Dogs.
Get it done right the first time with Wake Up Yellow Dogs. We listen to YOU!

Other Sites

Physical Therapy and Personal Training: PhysicalSolutionsNC.com. Physical Solutions is an independent Raleigh business that assists athletes and other active individuals achieve physical excellence. We've done two versions of this site, with the most recent one using cascading style sheets to provide better readability for the those who prefer a larger font.

Quail Ridge Books & Music: quailridgebooks.com. Quail Ridge Books & Music is a nationally known independent book store that uses the Booksense templates for its website. I redesigned the site for them in December 2006 to take better advantage of the framework provided. The site is now more sales oriented, making it easier to buy the books mentioned on the site. The information on the site was also restructured to make it easier for first-time visitors to find what they are looking for. I also write book reviews for the site.

Representative Jennifer Weiss: weissforhouse.com. We're delighted to be doing Representative Weiss's site for her third campaign season. Her website design is based around an existing star-and-stripes logo. When the site was in campaign mode, it included a photograph of Representative Weiss filing for office. Take Wake Up Yellow Dogs with you to events to capture the moment.

Previous Work

Raleigh Independent Business Alliance aka Raleigh Unchained : The message of Raleigh Unchained is simple: when you shop locally, about three times as much of your money stays in your community. Money spent at chain stores goes to other places to pay the corporate owners, employees and service providers. Money spent locally is taxed locally, so your money is "recycled" in Raleigh to build schools and roads here, not in some other state. Unfortunately, the alliance did not attract enough members to sustain itself, so it disbanded in December 2006. (The current website is just a one-page directory and will be taken down in January 2006.

On the other hand, we feel like we made a big difference. As the part-time executive director of Raleigh Unchained, I created a website with a directory of our members. I developed and had distributed 8,000 bag stuffers in the 2005 holiday season and nearly 10,000 multi-page directories in the spring and summer of 2006. The News & Observer, the Independent Weekly, the Raleigh Downtowner, and several TV stations ran stories about the importance of shopping locally. I even wrote a monthly column on shopping locally for the Downtowner. Ironically, we saw a number of independent businesses who wouldn't join RIBA start running ads saying that they were locally owned.

I wrote and had approved changes to the North Carolina Democratic Party platform so that it urges support for local businesses because "small and local businesses are the backbone of our economy." I also wrote, lobbied for, and had passed an NCDP resolution that urges Democratic elected officials to support their state by supporting local businesses. The change to the platform and the resolution introduced thousands of activists and elected officials across the state to the idea that doing business locally keeps our money in our communities. I'm grateful to Senator Janet Cowell, Representatives Jennifer Weiss and Deborah Ross, Mayor Charles Meeker, and Councilor Thomas Crowder for their active support.

Since we were a non-partisan group, I also reached out to the Republican Party, but did not receive any response. We didn't have a volunteer to pursue our cause more actively with the Republicans.

Several of our business members formed new and valuable relationships with each other and enjoyed the speakers we had at our monthly meetings during the spring. We were co-sponsors of two well-attended readings by authors at Quail Ridge Books: Charles Fishman, author of The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World's Most Powerful Company Really Works and How It's Transforming the American Economy and Stacy Mitchell, author of Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses.

So all in all, Raleigh Unchained achieved most of our goals ... except the goal to be able to continue making this sort of difference.

Doris Weaver for Chair of the Wake County Democrat Party: Doris used her site in 2007 to show the sort of welcoming, open organization she would run if she won this actively contested race. It was a simple site, evoking her strong background in grassroots politics. I'm delighted to say that Doris is won by a large margin.

Jerry Meek for Chair of the North Carolina Democrat Party: Jerry said that his website, JerryMeek.org, was essential to winning a hotly contested race for State Chair in 2005. Wake Up Yellow Dogs published his position papers as soon as they became available. The list of the State Executive Committee members helped Jerry's supporters lobby on his behalf. We also posted a new proxy form when the original meeting was delayed -- making it easier to line up crucial proxy votes.

Other Projects

Crashing the Gate Reception and Reading

Wake Up Yellow Dogs helped coordinate the visit by Markos Moulitsas Zúniga (DailyKos.com) and Jerome Armstrong (MyDD.com) to the Triangle. Linda Watson was the MC for two events at Quail Ridge Books. The first was a reception and discussion with Senator Janet Cowell, Pete MacDowell, and progressive community leaders that was co-sponsored by The Independent Weekly. The second was the reading itself. Congressman Brad Miller introduced the authors, who then made remarks about the book and led a lively Q&A session.

Ask for a Quote for Your Internet and Communications Needs

  • Hosting from $8.95 a month
  • Press releases, newsletters, and editing from $100
  • Updates of existing sites from $250
  • New sites from $750

Cut your ongoing support costs by prepaying for blocks of time.

Contact head yellow dog Linda Watson at linda.watson@wakeupyellowdogs.com or 919-781-1044.

Get it done right the first time with Wake Up Yellow Dogs. We listen to YOU!