Photo by Stephan Geyer

Who says Myrtle Beach doesn't have tech chops? 

Local web marketing company OIR Interactive and software developer Blast Off Inc teamed up to launch SMSMarketing.com this month with hopes of making text message based marketing more accessible for small businesses.

OIR has been ahead of the curve on SMS marketing in the Myrtle Beach area for well over a year providing custom tailored solutions for large and high profile clients such as Legends In Concert, WMBF, Bojangle's, and Sonic. But OIR's founder, Justin Rockwell, recognized the need for small businesses to perform their own SMS marketing campaigns in a very easy to use and accessible way. 

Justin felt that an experienced software developer like myself would be required to create the interface he envisioned. We had originally met through the MBGeekOut and worked together on some smaller projects before taking on this ambitious project. 

Did I mention we built the whole thing practically from scratch in 2 weeks? The result is a web based service with a very clean user interface with a lot of technical tricks to make it all happen. 

The local tech community has been slowly finding each other over the past 2 years. More collaborations like this could lead to a snowball effect that open the door for some exciting and new possibilities for Myrtle Beach area technology.

• Interested in local technology initiatives? Check out the Grand Strand Tech Council and the MBGeekOut.

Disclosure: I am also one of the founding partners of TheDigitel Myrtle Beach. You can promote your cool project and story too thanks to the Open Community.