Why Branding Is So Important, Are You A Template?

July 31st, 2010 | Posted in Blog, marketing | No Comments
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Are you a Clone? A Template?

I’m sure you’re thinking NO, I’m unique, an original! They broke the mold when they created me!

Well, that is so right, you are an original, so why would you want your branding, for your company, to be a carbon copy of someone elses?

Imagine you select a template from one of those sites that helps you create a logo and you paid X dollars for 3 variations in color. You’re pretty happy and then you do the same thing with a brochure, pick a template, add your logo, select the colors and have them printed up.

Now you schedule a meeting with someone to discuss business and when you exchange brochures, they’re the same. Okay, you’re thinking this probably wouldn’t happen, but it could and how embarrassing would that be for both parties.

The issue I raise is that when you start a business, you have your own original ideas about it and if you cannot establish your own branding and design, something original, how can you put your best foot forward.

Most business owners are on a tight budget, but I recommend starting with the basics and what you can afford. Once you’ve chosen the name of your company and created your “INC” or LLC” you should secure your domain name so when you’re ready to start your web presence, you have it. Then be sure to alert Yahoo Local and Google Maps of your business or store location.

Hire a professional designer and have them create your own distinctive logo. One that expresses and represents you, your new company and only yours. Then have them design your business cards. These are immediate and what you need the most. The business cards can double for product tags if necessary. Then when more funds come in I’d go for a custom blog or website with just the basics, detailing the who, what, where. Then after that, a brochure to advertise the new company and the products or services. If you are creating products, then of course the product design must come either before or after the web presence.

In reading an article online yesterday written by Dan Schawbel, titled, “The Age of Resistance is Upon Us,” he writes, “Branding will always become more important because a brand creates a sense of trust, loyalty, and overall experience that’s hard to replicate.”

I loved hearing this and I realize in this struggling economy business owners look for the quick and easy solutions. Just remember that what you put out there is what you get back. If you don’t take the time or care about how you look and represent yourself the best way possible, the potential clients will see right through you.

In this age of immediacy, just throwing something together or up on the web just so it can start selling, without making sure it looks professional is not going to gain any new clients or customers.

Don’t be a copy of someone else, be yourself, and when you do, you’ll feel great about it and the masses will follow.

Why Facebook Needs An Upgrade, Which “Me” Are You Following?

July 30th, 2010 | Posted in Blog, marketing | No Comments
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Like most businesses, I have my company pages scattered across Facebook as well as pay occasionally for Facebook ads. This week it occurred to me that there was a huge flaw throughout Facebook and I decided to write about it and see whether others agree with me.

We are only allowed one profile account, but can have multiple company pages. However, when I see a post by a “friend” who likes 6 pages… then I look at those pages, an if I “like” them, I personally am now following that company page. I don’t necessarily want to hear from every product or services company everyday and there are so many that now my friends are lost and I don’t even see their posts anymore. Yes I know I can can “hide” them but then I’m not seeing them at all.

I shouldn’t have to follow a company “personally” but would love to, professionally. My design or branding company would like to. Personally I want to see what my friends are posting and wasn’t that the whole point of Facebook when it started?

So how can we get Facebook to modify their site, so that if I want to “like” something, I can choose which one of “me” wants to follow them?

Marketing – SEO Tips for Your Blogs and Websites

July 26th, 2010 | Posted in marketing | 1 Comment
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Below are assorted Tips to help you or your business get better results as far as traffic and customers

Google Maps and Yahoo Local Maps:

Whether you have a storefront business or a service you need to be listed in maps.

A- If someone is looking for your type of business, you want them to know where you are. Not because they are going to come knocking on your door, but because they might be looking for someone local that they can meet with in person, in their own area.

A-In web listings you do not have the ability to have people write reviews for you, and in maps you do. The more reviews you have, the better you will place in the listings of the web as well as in maps, perhaps with a star!

A- You have the ability to write more information about your business so when someone finds you, they have a better chance of clicking through to your site.

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Google Analytics – Why you need this

A- How can you know how many people have visited your site? What countries they come from? Whether they have been to your site before and are returning? How long they stay? What pages are looked at the most? Do they come to your homepage and leave before going in further? Who has put a link on their site going to you?

You can track this type of information and more, so that you can give more people what they are looking for.

A few key stats:
What is the bounce rate? The bounce rate refers to how many people came to your homepage but then left without looking further.
How long on average do they stay? If it’s under a minute that’s not really good.
How many are first time visitors and how many have returned? If it’s 90% always new, that in combination with length on site and the content they looked at, could tell you a lot about what they are looking for.

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Your Content – Within your website and working for you on the web like in Google (web & images)

A- Remember that your content within your website is searchable and google reads this as well as your imagery! So many people just upload images directly from their camera and the image has no name, just a bunch of numbers. The imagery can be working for you throughout the web.

For EX: Search in google images for “Earth Day Posters 2010″ and notice how many on the first page are mine? Naming images is just as important as naming pages and the text you’ve written on your pages.

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Naming titles, descriptions and Keywords for your website and/or blog

A- Some sites have a “header” and in this page whether your website or blog, you can put in the code area, a title, descriptions and keywords.

A- Depending on how your site was put together, manual html (page-by-page) or a blog with pages and posts, you can have the ability to add specific titles and keywords to those pages.

Imagine a website with 100 pages, each page having some similar keywords yet some with unique titles and keywords, and all of them working to bring more traffic and customers to your website.

Being as specific as possible: In writing your keywords and titles to pages and posts, try to imagine how someone would find your page if they searched for it in Google or Yahoo. (Rather than just describing what you do). If someone types in “Red Eyed Tree Frog Poster” I’d hope that Frogs Are Green would be right up there on the first page, and it is!
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Google Adwords – Why this is helpful and an economical way to gain more traffic

A- Creating an ad is quite simple and you can assign a modest budget like $1 a day just to see how it performs for a week or two. Once you see the results and keywords where you got the most clicks, you can not only revise your ad, perhaps using those phrases, but can put those keywords into your website.

A- You can create a few ads, and have them advertising different things. As you moniter each ad you can then determine to stop one or put more of your budget on another one.

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Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube & Savor The Success – Using them each properly to send more traffic and/or customers.

A- You must separate these into the ones that are purely social and the ones that are strickly business. Obviously we go on Facebook to chat and socialize with friends, watch fun videos, get a laugh here and there, while we’re working hard. I must say that lately Facebook has started annoying me a tad and here’s why. Many of the businesses out there have friended me, but me personally, not “liking” my business page (although many do that of course). What this means is that as I’m scanning the latest posts, so much of what I see are people selling to me about one thing or another. Am I going to have to hide all these people in order to just see my friends? It would be great if Facebook could give you another option when friending someone, linking just which page with which. Maybe I don’t personally want to follow a business, but my company does.

A- Remember that you always use your business page to send business announcements and the personal page only for social posts.

Twitter and LinkedIn can be connected to Facebook, so be careful that if they are, someone who’s following you for important details on Twitter may not be interested in the latest trick your cat or dog can do.

A- LinkedIn has enormous business potential. If you fill out your complete profile, and then join assorted groups where you’d like to comment or post a discussion yourself, you have the ability to connect with thousands of people at once.

For EX: Frogs Are Green just launched both our photo contest and our kids art contest. I posted a notice in almost every group about them both. This draws discussion and comments as well as traffic and entries!

Remember that the few main reasons people are on the web are either to learn something new, sell something or socialize and have fun.

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Email marketing – Economical and so very important

A- If you haven’t yet used email marketing, here’s why you should
1- It gives you the ability to send out an email with no attachments which means that less recipients who will reject it as spam.
2- People have the ability and register to receive it (willingly) or can opt out anytime.
3- When people are blasted day and night by others, they may forget all about you and a monthly or bi-monthly reminder or advertising new items or specials is a good way to gain sales, since these are people who like you to begin with.
4- they have the ability to email it just as it is without distortion to a friend
5- you can track from past emails if they were effective, how many opened the email, how many clicked onward, etc…

I will say this though, the best email marketer is someone who doesn’t pester people every week. I only send my email newsletter every other month and very rarely does someone opt out.

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Blogs – Posts and Pages and the settings being right

It’s very important to make sure that you have adjusted the settings on your blog so you are in control.
1- Only you as the admin should be able to approve any comments, you don’t want nasty or unwanted spam live!
2- You can install re captcha which makes it harder to post a comment and will reduce spam.
3- Be sure to set the page/post address so it’s working effectively for you. Do you want to see the year, the month and the title or some code and page number?
4- Be sure to name titles, images, content and captions so they are helping you the most.
5- Decide which you prefer, to put a link and have someone click on it and leave your site, or make that link open in a new window, so your site is still open below.
6- Be sure to create categories and sort the posts.
7- be sure to have some kid of call to action or ask a question so people are more compelled to respond

Cheering the Rebranding of the YMCA to simply “the Y”

July 14th, 2010 | Posted in art, Blog | No Comments
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Let’s hear a cheer for “the YMCA” recognizing the fact that everyone called them “the Y” anyway, and it was time to change their branding to reflect that. Below is the old logo design which had been in place for decades, next to the new logo design, and here’s a link to their new website. The new logo is a stylized letter “Y” with a chevron and orange triangle, and the small letters “YMCA” along the bottom. Focusing on the “Y” as the the main graphic they still slipped the “YMCA” in there which helps the public transition from the old look to the new. Not only did they change the name but they went with a more hip, youthful color palette.

Reaching out  with this new look in print and on the web, solidifies their approach by showing the focus is on youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. The new website with it’s easy to use menus, pull-downs and bold text make it a pleasing overall experience. Great photos of families and kids, adds positive reinforcement to the clean, colorful design.

In thinking about this I’m now wondering how many other companies out there are known more for a nickname we have for them, rather than their actual name? Ideas?

(Since writing this I thought of three more examples, so I’m posting them. Apple’s Macintosh became just Apple, The Yellow Pages became Yellow Book and the International House of Pancakes became IHOP.)

Meanwhile, as a designer I’m always happy to see a company’s progression and in the right direction!

The YMCA’s history from their site:

Today, “the Y” engages more than 10,000 neighborhoods across the U.S. As the nation’s leading nonprofit committed to helping people and communities to learn, grow and thrive, our contributions are both far-reaching and intimate—from influencing our nation’s culture during times of profound social change to the individual support we provide an adult learning to read.

By nurturing the potential of every child and teen, improving the nation’s health and well-being, and supporting and serving our neighbors, the Y ensures that everyone has the opportunity to become healthier, more confident, connected and secure.

Marie Papp Photography

July 3rd, 2010 | Posted in Portfolio, web | No Comments
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Marie Papp Photography’s two main areas are weddings and babies. I created a dramatic website and business card featuring a classic bride, photographed by Marie.

Tresorie

July 3rd, 2010 | Posted in Portfolio, print | No Comments
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Tresorie is all about framing and designer wall finishes. The concept in the branding was to illustrate both of these concepts. I also created a Flash animation for their in-store promotional TV.

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