In my neighborhood of Jersey City Heights and close by Hoboken, New Jersey, there are many businesses that are struggling and many that have closed up and left. Whenever I walk down Central Avenue in the Heights and Washington Street down in Hoboken, there are empty stores. More and more are closing due to this stalled economy and I truly believe it’s because they are all focused on the foot traffic of the surrounding areas… and of course there’s the rent increases and costs of operating their businesses.

Businesses need to wake up and realize there is a whole world out there, waiting and wanting what they have to offer, if they just knew about it. The combination of newer social media and community sites as well as changing technology scare many away. Some have told me, “I don’t see the point” or “I can’t write English very well, what if they start writing back?” or “I don’t want my personal information out there” or “I wouldn’t know what to say or show.”

Social Media and updating your website often is the key to your business being successful. I know because I have run my business for almost 2 decades and my clients are all over the world. I do not depend on local businesses to give me assignments, although I’d welcome them. I reach out to the “WWW.” Remember this term? World Wide Web!

Let’s begin with the basics.
The public likes entertainment, and they also like to read and be educated. They like music, videos, gorgeous imagery and thoughtful commentary. That means you can draw interested people in a lot of different ways using many different mediums and across many different social websites.

But there is always a goal.
Each business has different goals but they all have a few things in common. They want fans, to be recommended, and new customers. How is this going to happen in a dragging economy if they’re only hoping someone is physically going to come into their store. They post 30% off, 50% off and try so hard just to make sales.

Your business is unique and you need to tell the world about what you are doing. Once you post imagery, stories, or video and you do that consistently, your engagement widens, your visibility reaches out across the web to new eyes, and fans start to pass your business around and before you know it, you have increased sales.

Here is one example of what I have done to help a local small business.
This is based on reviewing the company’s Google Analytic stats. Before we began his website traffic was about 235 visitors for the past 30 days and social media engagement 0%. Once we attacked social media and updated things on the company website, 3 weeks later, the social engagement is 25%, and website traffic is now at 2,100 for the past month. Many new visitors are coming from social media, and they are staying on site longer, looking around, and more sales are coming in. The more consistently we do this, the engagement and visitors will continue to go up.

So, you’re now wondering if you have the right business and how social media can help you. Just ask me… I can spin branding and marketing ideas easily and I’m happy to offer advice that will attract more potential customers for your business. Whether you are a florist, small book publisher, interior designer or own a bicycle shop, social media can bring you increased visibility which is really a GOOD thing.

So join in and remember to be “social!”

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.

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.

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

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.

Okay so why is this important you’re asking.

The 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.

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 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 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.

How long has your company been in business? Please tell us a bit about your company, its mission, goals…?
Crawford/Mikus was established in 1989.  We are a business-to-business creative marketing and design firm.  At Crawford/Mikus, we understand core business principles, and we recognize the role of branding, marketing and integrated cross-platform communications play in advancing our clients’ business goals. We believe that our clients’ business goals are best supported by communications that are innovative, compelling and cost-effective.

We believe our clients’ operating principles and brand identity should be visible in every communication we produce and deliver. Effective communications will positively impact the way client organizations are perceived in the marketplace and influence the views of employees and customers.

Do you donate to charities? Tell us about that also and why.
We do.  We focus on one to two full-time charity organizations to support.  In keeping the focus to one to two full time charities, we are able to create a relationship and really add value to the partnership.  As an organization, we feel it is extremely important to give back to the community.  For the last seven years, we have partnered with and supported the Simple Abundance program at the Atlanta Community Food Bank (www.ACFB.org).  The ACFB is a wonderful organization and it’s extremely rewarding to see the impact and continued success of the program.  We are able to see the results first hand.

We have also just been named the firm of record for The Foundation for Hospital Art (www.hospitalart.com).  The Foundation is a 30+ year international organization that is dedicated to softening the hospital environment with colorful paintings, wall murals and ceiling tiles. Participants paint pre-drawn, color-coded designs at PaintFest® events held in a variety of settings around the world. The artwork is touched-up and then donated to needy hospitals on behalf of the sponsor.  We are extremely excited and proud to partner with such a wonderful organization.

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…
For us, the logo reflects who, what and where Crawford/Mikus is. The woodblocks represent a history of our practice – design and printing.  They are also characteristic of our studio environment — a 100+ year plow factory (King Plow Arts Center, Atlanta GA  www.kingplow.com).

How did you decide on the right color palette to fit your company look and feel?
We wanted something that stood on its own.  Our work is very colorful and layered.  Because of that, we wanted something that was different, would contrast the portfolio and show our creative range. We feel this approach has been very successful for us, especially in our promotional materials.  The subtle identity palette really highlights the colorful work palette.

How did you decide which type of designer to work with, or did you design your own identity and web presence?
Being a creative shop, of course, we did it ourselves.  To expand on this though, we as partners played a major part in the development.  The company was our vision and because of that, we felt it was important that the identity was an extension of our vision, not somebody else’s.

In what order did you present your company to the world? Did you start with marketing and products, or website, blog and social media?
As a 23-year-old firm, I joke that we were born in 1989, b.c.  (before computers).  The Internet did not exist when we began our firm.  It would be years before anybody in our field even knew what that Internet was.  In the words of the Grateful Dead, “What a long strange trip it’s been..”  I add “seriously” to that statement.

How long after the launch of your company did you start pitching in social media?
We have always been very aggressive in regards to our ongoing new business initiatives.  However, it has not been until the last year that we have really begun pitching social media.  Reason being, we needed to understand it, live it and create it before we could pitch it.  Also, I have to recognize Sheryl Roehl and her team at Avenue L Marketing (LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/sherylroehl, www.AvenueLMarketing.com and @MarketingIntel on Twitter), an Atlanta-based content marketing, PR and social media firm, for being instrumental in our successful launch into social media. It is through their extensive experience and understanding that we have been able to quickly achieve the visibility and success we are having with our blog (www.crawfordmikus.net/blog) and social media presence (Twitter: @crawfordmikus).

Did you do research or study any software, take webinars, teleclasses, before approaching any area of your marketing or web presence?
Back to being in business prior to the Internet existing, we have grown with it.  I will say this, though, our philosophy in regards to web development is, you must stay current.  Technology is a moving target and you can be left behind in a nanosecond.  We are excited about the future of web development and content management coming to the forefront.  For us, it’s not all about the wiz and bangs of cutting-edge technology, but now more about strategy and content management.  For a long time there, it was all about the technology.  And, that was disappointing — to me at least.

Do you advertise locally in newspapers and/or nationally in magazines? Are they effective?
We do not.  We focus on 1:1 communications to build awareness vs. newspapers or magazines.  We are able to achieve so much more with our promotional marketing dollars in approaching new business programs / initiatives this way.  It also allows us to really focus on who we want to work with.  We build advertising awareness through community involvement, awards and PR.

Do you advertise online using Google, Facebook or on other company sites? Are they effective?
We don’t.  For all the same reasons I previously mentioned.

When you printed your products, packaging, business cards and other print marketing did you choose an online printer or visit a local vendor?
Local.  We always support the community and are looking for a 1:1 relationship.  I always like to say, “people do business with people.”  I feel online printers are more about cost savings.  Also, it takes you out of control of the end product – i.e. your work is ganged with countless other customers to achieve those cost savings.  Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with utilizing those types of companies and or services.  There is definitely a market for it, just not a fit for us.

Did you know anything about different types of papers, when you wanted to print your marketing materials?
A great deal.  Our work is printed on premium paper and definitely was not an afterthought. The paper plays a critical part of the design.  I’ll share something with you — when I was starting my career, I was interviewing a photographer rep.  I was holding one of the agency’s mounted photos.  The rep saw me rubbing my fingers on the back of the boards.  He laughed and pointed out that “it felt good.”  You know what, it did.  I have never forgotten that. Paper is tactile.  You engage and react with it, whether you realize it or not.  Subliminally, it makes a very strong statement.  For example, our business cards are printed on a Neenah duplex paper.  You know what: They are sturdy cards and they feel good. It’s a wonderful first touch point with anybody.  And, we win a boatload of “drop your business card in the jar” promotions — when they reach in, it’s hard and sturdy and stands out!

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?
We try to use as much recycled papers as we can.  Fortunately, they have become much more economical.  There was a time that you paid a premium for them. I remember when people would sell them as “Recyclable.”  Now that’s marketing at its best.  As far as printing techniques, as much as we like to try, I have learned they are very, very expensive to “experiment” with.  I have come to really appreciate paper samples that show off traditional, four-color process on their paper.  No bells and whistles.  The 12- color, double-hit of black with a gloss, dull, satin touchplate printing are a thing of the past.

If you sell products, are they produced in the USA or abroad?
There are many firms who are doing this, mainly as another revenue stream.  However, we are not.  Main reason is time.  I would prefer to focus that energy on our existing business and building new business.

Is there anything that you haven’t yet tackled, but will want to do soon?
Figuring out how to spend more time with my wife and 7-year-old daughter.  Although I love what I do, there always has to be a balance.  For me, family should always trump work. That’s non-negotiable.

To learn more about Scott Mikus and Elizabeth Crawford of Crawford/Mikus, visit the links below:
Website:  www.crawfordmikus.com
Blog: www.crawfordmikus.net/blog
Twitter: @crawfordmikus
LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/pub/scott-mikus/22/a14/9a2
Email: scottmikus@crawfordmikus.com