Brand Interview: Tamar Cerafici, the Barefoot Barrister

April 30th, 2012 | Posted in Blog, Brand-Interviews, Branding, marketing, Social Media, Website Design and Development | Comments Off
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Brand Interview: Tamar Cerafici, the Barefoot Barrister

Tamar Cerafici, the Barefoot Barrister

Listen here for the entire audio interview >> Tamar-interview-040312-audio

 

How long has your company been in business? Please tell us a bit about your company, its mission, goals…
I have been an attorney for about 25 years. In 2009, I left a big law firm to join my husband, who was on a nuclear assignment in Sweden.

That’s when I conjured up the Barefoot Barrister, which is a coaching and mentoring program that helps law students, young attorneys, and attorneys in transition to adjust to the changing trends in the practice of law. Right now I’m focusing on the importance of proper marketing and branding for attorneys.

I still have my own law practice in environmental law.

 

Do you donate to charities? Tell us about that also and why.
Yes. I think it’s important to feel abundance as you build your own business. So I donate my time and funds to various activities like mentoring law students, working with young women in the community, and donating 10% of my income to various church and charity efforts.

How did you know what typeface (font) would be right for your company wordmark or logo? If your logo has an illustration, describe why that art was the right thing, animal, place, object, etc…
My logo is two bare feet with red nail polish under water, enjoying a sandy beach experience. I vacillate between fonts, but right now I’m a big fan of magneto.

The Barefoot Barrister, Tamar Cerafici - red toe nails under water

How did you decide on the right color palette to fit your company look and feel?
I wanted to emphasize that most lawyers need to get back to the things that bring them joy in practicing law and having balance in life. For me, that meant being on the lake, sailing with my family on our Hobie Cat.

How did you decide which type of designer to work with, or did you design your own identity and web presence?
I work with Suzanne Hobbs, who is a genius graphic designer with her own studio call PopAtomic. She’s a brilliant young designer, and I work with her on nuclear projects as well.

In what order did you present your company to the world? Did you start with marketing and products, or website, blog and social media?
I’ve started mainly with social media, in person seminars and the products are just starting to get some attention.

e life mentor web page

How long after the launch of your company did you start pitching in social media?
Well, I’m sort of putting the cart before the horse. I’m building a presence as an expert in marketing legal and billable professional practices before I seriously launch any product.

Did you do research or study any software, take webinars, teleclasses, before approaching any area of your marketing or web presence?
I’ve been studying this for over 2 years. The whole thing is fascinating to  me.

Did you know anything about different types of papers, when you wanted to print your marketing materials?
I advertise in local papers when necessary, but most of my work is on line and word of mouth.

Have you ever used “green” technology in printing, using FSC certified papers or recycled paper and if not, how likely are you at trying this on a next project?
Absolutely. I’m totally committed to green tech.

If you sell products, are they produced in the USA or abroad?
Any products will be produced in the US.

Is there anything you haven’t yet tackled, but will want to do soon?
I’m at work on a book right now, but I really want to write a book about creating your own job that’s directed to law students. There are a lot of reasons for that.

 

To learn more about Tamar Cerafici, her law practice and the Barefoot Barrister, follow her at the links below:

Blog “Legal Shoe” at PositivelyPitsburghlivemagazine.com
My blog for law students: elifementor.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/tamarcerafici
Twitter: http://twitter.com/tamarcerafici
Google+ : https://plus.google.com/115755468775842263476

Lessons Learned from Savor the Success’s Women Entrepreneurs Rock the World 2012

April 28th, 2012 | Posted in Blog, Branding, marketing, Smart Business Practices, Social Media | Comments Off
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This past tuesday and wednesday I attended Savor the Success’s Women Entrepreneurs Rock the World NYC. A gathering of 100+ women to listen and be inspired by guest speakers. It was a lot to download but I have some great tips I’m going to list here and a video to share.

  1. Think BIG! We tend to think small.
  2. A business owner has a job with a lousy boss. An entrepreneur is an entirely different scenario.
  3. Don’t be afraid to hire someone who knows more than you!
  4. Don’t take failures so personally.
  5. Whenever you find yourself doing too much, you need to find someone to do it for you.
  6. What is distracting you from getting where you want to go? Hire someone to do that and focus.
  7. When someone doesn’t accept your gift, maybe they just aren’t ready. Don’t take it personally.
  8. A book gives you access to the finest minds, no matter where you are or what your financial status.
  9. Adapt to what clients want, not what you think they need.
  10. You can always get more money, but not more time.

 

 
In this video below are some short clips from Rock the World – Day One. Some of the speakers you’ll see are Angela Jia Kim, JJ Ramberg, Amy Abrams and Adelaide Lancaster, Angelique Rewers and Amanda Steinberg.

Why Listeners and Lurkers are Important to Blogs and Community Sites

April 23rd, 2012 | Posted in Blog, Branding, marketing, Social Media, Website Design and Development | Comments Off
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Did you know that approximately 20% actually comment but 80% are watchers and listeners?

Okay so why is this important you’re asking.

20 percent comment, 80 percent watch and listenThe reason is because when you comment within a discussion on let’s say a Facebook Timeline post, or a LinkedIn Group or Question and Answer discussion, you may only get a few comments, but you haven’t considered how many more people are reading, watching, listening, but either are to shy to comment, don’t have anything to add because they gained the answer needed, or maybe just need more clarification and have moved on to another discussion.

If I were to gauge interest on my blogs purely by how many commented, I’d close them down and stop writing. But Google analytics tells me different. Not only lots of interest, but on many blogs, LOW bounce rates. 5-10%. That tells me that they are looking around, gaining insight and found what they were looking for, just don’t want to comment.

Remember that the ones who comment aren’t necessarily the ones who turn into clients. It’s the ones who are listening that matter.

When Building Your Website: Good, Fast, or Cheap, Pick Any Two

April 6th, 2012 | Posted in art, Blog, Branding, marketing, Social Media, Website Design and Development | Comments Off
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In the Broadcast Louder webinar called “Secrets to PPC advertising and Ultimate Marketing Tips” with my guest speaker Louis Tanguay of Circle Marketing, he brought to my attention a phrase I hadn’t actually heard before, “Good, Fast, or Cheap, pick any two!

Building Websites and Marketing Webinar - good fast or cheap graphic

Basically it means you can combine any of these but cannot have all three. If you want something good and fast, you’ll pay more. If you want something cheap and fast, it’ll probably be a design nightmare.

The reason I am writing about this is because it has come to my attention that so many just don’t know what’s involved in designing and building a website or what the costs would be.  So, here is an outline.

1- Research: Before I begin designing any project I must understand both my client and my client’s industry better. I’ll ask my client a bunch of questions and also ask them to show me by example, other websites they like or dislike and why. By building the groundwork and seeing the color palettes, functionality and structure preferences, I am better able to give my client exactly what they are seeking.

2- Designs: Designing a client’s website is going to be different each time, because they each have different goals. Some may want to build a following, some way want to sell a product. Using the content, my marketing concepts of what will work and designing everything to achieve the client’s goals is crafted with hours of thought, layouts and development. In showing those first drafts, my goal is for the client to say, “Exactly!”

Then I build out a few or several other page designs, depending on the complexity of the site (blog or e-commerce store).

3- Initial theme or custom page development: Once the page designs are ready the high resolution Photoshop designs are given over to the team developer who builds out the custom design into ready to go pages. We work together to tweak and customize that css styling to perfection.

4- Pages, posts, plugins: Once the theme is ready, the content is loaded. The images added, the SEO tagging and plugins are added. I have a list of 20+ plugins I love and will start to load many social media and SEO plugins, plus lots of other fabulous and functional ones.

5- The site is all completed and is either taken live, or was set live (with coming soon on pages till filled).

As you can see there are many parts that must be designed, created and developed and something that is the face of YOUR BRAND shouldn’t be slapped together.

Costs: Be prepared for the starting rate of most custom websites/blogs to begin at $1,800-2,500.E-commerce sites start at $5,000 and go up depending on the types of e-commerce and the bells and whistles. Usually there is a down payment or installment plan.

The ROI: Here’s a case study to show you how a well developed website can make a big difference in your wallet. A local business in my Jersey City Heights neighborhood didn’t even have a website before 2008. We designed and built a lovely, tasteful e-commerce website and after launching the orders were coming in locally, internationally and after 6 months – 1 year it increased his business by 25-30%. If you’re business takes in a million a year in sales, imagine what 25-30% can do! Now it’s 2012 and if the client continues to add new products, and actively engage on social media, the sales will continue to go up!

Here’s another article you might like: Tips on Building the Most Effective Website for Your Business

 

Facebook Timeline Cover Graphics and Page Designs

April 5th, 2012 | Posted in Portfolio, web | Comments Off
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Facebook Timeline Graphic Design and Page App Design

Facebook Timeline pages and graphics give us new opportunities to be creative and use marketing effectively. Pictured here are two new cover and profile images for Prospector’s Run and Hudson County Coalition for a Drug Free Community. Notice how we are using the profile graphic as it interacts with the cover image. In addition we are creating new custom pages/apps and those new thumbnail images.

Hudson County Coalition for a Drug Free Community – Branding and Design

April 5th, 2012 | Posted in Portfolio, print, web | Comments Off

Hudson County Coalition for a Drug Free Community

Hudson County Coalition is working to reduce youth substance abuse in Hudson County. Learn about what you can do. This rewarding assignment includes branding, print marketing materials, website theme design and development, seo tagging, and social media pages and graphics.