about taoti

What We Believe

This is where we’re supposed to put a mission statement, right? Not very out-of-the-box-ish for a firm claiming to be so creative, right? A mission statement doesn’t quite say it right. Instead, we have a purpose statement and belief—an ideology, if you will:

"Our driving force is fueled by a deep desire to be a best-of-breed creative team—a team that pushes limits and creates the kind of stuff that others try to emulate--the guys you go to when you want to take it to that proverbial next level. But we can’t be so out in left field (however artistically appealing left field may be) that we lose sight of solid business practices and down-to-Earth objectives. We believe that form really should follow function and that good form and good function are not mutually exclusive goals. And above all, we believe in getting results. Websites are business and marketing tools put in place to help your organization prosper. And to that end, everything we do should help accomplish the goals established from the outset.

Who We Are

Taoti is a small, but established web design and marketing firm based in Washington, DC. Started in 1996, Taoti has over 700 clients worldwide—from mom and pop operations selling cheesecakes online to major institutions like the World Bank and the California Senate. Our clients are as diverse as our portfolio and services. There’s no such thing as ‘standard operating procedure’ here at Taoti. Each client and each project is a new challenge and gets a fresh look and customized approach. What sets us apart from a lot of our competition is the fact that we’re idea people. We think outside of the box. In fact, we don’t recognize the existence of the box. We start with the objectives of the project and then go about figuring out how to accomplish them.

What We Do

We develop ideas, build brands, create websites and we market them. Unlike many shops that are either primarily 'designers' or 'programmers,' we do both equally well. Which means that yes, we do all the artsy design, multimedia production, and user interface stuff, but we also have production resources in-house to create mission-critical, enterprise-caliber web applications. We’re not a ‘launch it and move on’ type of firm. We build long term relationships with our clients and continually help build their brands, improve their online presence, and market their websites to the world. But here's the thing: It's not about the website. It's not about the logo. It's not even about what ranking you get in Google. It is about the results. And really, that's what we focus on. The results. Tell us what you want to accomplish. We'll figure out how to make it happen. That's really what we do. Everything else is simply a means to an end. (That said, click here for a more down-to-Earth list of our specific services.)

Customer Approach

We adhere to the adage that your success is our success. And to that extent, we’re not just ‘yes-men.’ Our hope is to take your industry expertise, combine it with our marketing expertise, and come to a solution that is better than either of us could have arrived at on our own—a solution that advances your objectives and very real, tangible ways. It’s not sufficient for us to simply have pleased the client (granted, that’s still a big goal, of course.) But we’re even more concerned with making sure that we accomplished what we set out to do. Our work is typically bigger than any one person or department or agreement. And we need to ensure that we not only satisfy the customer, but also the objectives.

Our People

Taoti is comprised of a diverse group of people—artists, programmers, copy writers, etc. Even our sales people come from a creative background. We intentionally keep ourselves small so that individuals and personalities can shine through and not be trampled down by processes and committees and chain of command. Our people are who make us who we are, so we want to…scratch that…we require them to think. To inspire. To innovate. And to create, for the good of our clients. Being the creative people that we are, our naturally casual tone and relaxed atmosphere are a big part of what affords us to work in that ‘out of the box’ realm where no one is restricted from innovating new ideas or pushing our work to new levels.

Click here to download or print our overivew brochure.

What does Taoti mean?

Taoti, pronounced Tay-Oh’-Tee, is actually an acronym: The Art Of The Internet. It’s a reflection of our thinking: that the services we provide, from branding to web design, are an art form—not an exact science. From the guy that answers the phone to the girls in programming--everyone at Taoti is an artist in his/her own way. And it’s this artistic thinking and creative process that gives us our edge.