Wall Decal Stripes – Stripes – Wall Decals – Plastic Surgery for Your Walls
I think I have fallen in love with an online store. I’ve purchased a really fun font map. I never knew someone would document how my brain works. I’m really going to enjoy this.
Wall Decal Stripes – Stripes – Wall Decals – Plastic Surgery for Your Walls.
Ten Quotes To Run Your Business By
- “To be successful in business you don’t just need a great idea — you have to sell it. Don’t be afraid to sell. Don’t think of yourself as anything but a marketer.” (Susan Sobbott) — My Take: For some this comes naturally. But for others, especially those who do not have a sales or marketing background, this can seem like the hardest thing in the world. However, most owners of successful businesses will tell you that they were their company’s main sales representative, certainly in the beginning. You have to be able to sell and market your business — don’t expect to delegate this to someone else.
- “Every brand isn’t for everybody, and everybody isn’t for every brand.” (Liz Lange) —My Take : In other words, do what small businesses do best and focus on a niche — and then own that niche. Be at the top.
- “The Web puts an exponential twist on the whole word of mouth thing, because word of mouth is now happening virally.” (Blue Man) – My Take: the Web is a megaphone. It gives you leverage and dramatically increases the spread of any talk about your business. The Web makes it easier for word of mouth to spread, and spread more quickly and more widely.
- “An inner quality that many entrepreneurs say helps them survive is optimism.” (Jean Chatzky) – My Take: optimism is the number one essential characteristic of successful entrepreneurs. There are so many things that can go wrong when you own your own business, especially in the early years. Every single day is littered with stumbling blocks and reasons to call it quits. You have to be driven by a belief that things will work out well in the end.
- “If you had to choose an address, it would be on the corner of Art and Commerce.” (Mario Batali) – My Take: This is perhaps the single most unique quote of the event. It means, turn your business into an art form. Being creative is at the core of successful businesses.
- “A little personality goes a long way.” (Jean Chatzky) – My Take: The theme of this Forum is “standing out from the crowd.” Letting your personality show through is a way to make your business stand out. People remember you and thus your business. Instead of trying to be a corporate clone, be different. For instance, Mario Batali lets his personality show through by always wearing shorts and orange clogs. Maybe we don’t all want to go that far, but ….
- “Be aggressive in getting media coverage.” (Liz Lange) – My Take: Media coverage is free, which is a very attractive price tag for most small businesses. But media coverage usually is not an accident. You have to take it in your own hands to get coverage. And as Liz’s experience illustrated, you have to be creative in order to get media coverage. For instance, Liz sent maternity clothes to celebrities. The media were more likely to cover a celebrity wearing Liz’s maternity clothes, than to write an ordinary article about maternity clothing.
- “Follow your bliss.” (Blue Man) — My Take: In a way this is like the old saying, do what you love and money will follow. Of course the reason it is an OLD saying is that there is truth to it. When we are passionate about what we do our passion gets translated into creativity, into the amount of effort we devote to the business, and into many other factors big and small.
- “We are all competing against mediocrity.” (Blue Man) — My Take: Instead of focusing on the competition, strive for a higher level of creativity. To create a great business create something extraordinary, instead of falling into a rut and settling for average.
- “Everyone talks about growing the business, but what you don’t hear enough about is the importance of not growing the business too fast.” (Blue Man) — My Take: Growth can bring on its own set of challenges and problems. Grow the business at the pace that feels right to you to manage and handle. If you are comfortable with fast change, then grow it fast. Otherwise, keep the business smaller and more manageable for you. Not everyone wants to grow their business.
Want to Attract More Customers to Your Business? Just NAP
It stands for Name, Address, Phone and it’s the most important information you can have on the Web. If you want customers to find you, it must be consistent everywhere. Search engines look for clusters of reference information that are consistent. For example: (724) 555-1212 is not the same as 724.555.1212 and Road is not the same as Rd.
Gigi’s rules of consistency
With so many websites offering similar products, it is very important to make your products or services stand out from the rest. Branding allows you to do this. The biggest benefit of branding is recognition and loyalty. A strong brand image creates top of mind awareness among customers, which makes marketing much easier. Here are some steps to ensure a lasting brand image.
Use of identical writing style, images and logos on all channels
Your writing style, images and logos are all a part of your brand image. People identify a brand through these elements. All the elements right from gr
aphic design, logo, colors and imagery to typefaces should be consistent across all marketing platforms. Ensuring that these elements are identical on all communication channels like website, blogs, social media pages, e-mails and ads is necessary to create an association between them and your company in the minds of people. This awareness and recognition is the main objective of brand building efforts. People are more likely to trust and make a purchase from a familiar brand rather than from an unknown one.
Social mention monitoring
Monitoring the mention of your brand on social sites like Facebook and Twitter is an important part of brand management. You can also monitor customer review websites like Yelp and relevant blogs. It is the best way to find out what people really think about your brand and its products or services.Social mention can offer many useful insights. The positive comments let you know the things that people appreciate about your brand. These can be emphasized in your marketing messages to promote the brand. The negative comments let you know the areas that need improvement and allow you to offer better products a
Consistent and integrated marketing through all the channels
Effective integration of all marketing channels is essential for best results. For instance, every time you add a new post on your business blog, you can let people know about it through updates on Facebook and tweets. Information on any events, contests or special deals can be offered though all the channels, rather than mentioning it only on you website.
Although brands are often associated with large companies, even small business can get great benefits from branding efforts. Branding plays an important role in retaining customers, encouraging repeat purchases as well as gaining new customers.
45+ Free Online Tools To Create Charts, Diagrams And Flowcharts
Charts and graphs are the best ways to represent information and relationship between two interlinked entities. Not only do charts and graphs inform visitors about the trend or relationship you want to show them but also add a visual connection with the visitors.
Several online tools are available that help you create comprehensively designed flowcharts and graphs that worth a thousands words. Check them out and let us know what you feel about these tools.
Social Media Power x3
Written by Robert van Geenhuizen
I love Social Media for three simple reasons. First of all it empowers people. For example we are not depended on the journalist anymore to discover what’s happening in the world. Twitter enables people to directly share their experiences with their followers. If it is newsworthy or valuable to these followers, they will share it to with their followers. So this means that Twitter is a potential mass medium for everyone that has something important of valuable to share. So it’s about people(value) again instead of who owns TV, Radio or the papers. There are no gatekeepers that decide what’s valuable or important to the masses. It’s about me or you again, individual people with individual needs.
Secondly i love that it enables authenticity. People want to know if what they are buying is authentic. Now authentic is a kind of discussable word. But for companies i think its about being who you say you are. Most of the times companies used advertising to make things look better then they really are. People don’t want this anymore, they want to be able to trust the companies in which they buy from that they care about them. Social media enables companies to create more authenticity. You can send messages using Twitter, or even interact with people. Maybe you want to start your own blog? I believe that if a competitor of you succeeds in doing this, they will have a big change of being preferred. People can trust them more because they look more authentic. Authenticity isn’t a commodity so it’s very valuable!
Last of all, Social Media enables us to listen better. If you can hear more, you can improve your products. You can please the needs of people better. You can even do some co-creation of crowdsourcing if you like. But the information is their, so use it!
One of the best video’s on that Social Media change is from Socialnomics. Let’s just end this blogpost with this inspiring video!
Top Online Marketing Trends for 2011
Marketing through instant search, mobile, instant message and online television are some other prominent trends observed this year
The field of online marketing is highly dynamic. New trends keep emerging all the time. It is essential to identify these trends and make the most of them in order to stay ahead of the competition. Anytime is a good time to take a look at your marketing strategy and assesses if you are capitalizing on the trends. The major trends of 2011 include:
Online advertising
Internet marketing is not new, but rapidly increasing online advertising spend is a prominent trend this year and it is expected to continue in the coming years. With more and more people giving up newspapers and yellow pages in the favor of internet, marketers are also increasing their online advertising budgets. Small business owners and local marketers can take advantage of internet advertising by tailoring their ads based on behavior, location and interest. A combination of search and display advertising will give best results.
Location based marketing
Location has become one of the most important considerations in online marketing. Popular search engines like Google have started offering location based results for search queries. This is a great opportunity for local business. Simple steps like getting your business registered on Google Places and optimizing your website for location can help you improve your local search visibility. Ensuring that your website is mobile friendly will also help location based marketing efforts as many local searches are conducted through mobiles.
Social media marketing
Toady it is almost impossible to ignore social media. If used effectively, social sites can be great online marketing platforms. They allow you to build a community of loyal supporters, which can ensure long-term profitability. Organizing contests or offering special deals and coupons are effective ways to attract followers on these sites. Regular updates and activities are the key to building a powerful social community. Recommendations and positive remarks made by customers are the most effective tools for marketing any product/service. Loyal customers not only buy your products repeatedly, but also suggest them to others helping you gain new customers.
Social media monitoring
Posting updates on social sites like Facebook and Twitter has become an everyday activity for a majority of people, including your target customers. Monitoring what people are saying about your brand can offer a lot of useful information. It can help you find out what people like about your products/services as well as what they dislike. The positives can be emphasized in your marketing message, while the negatives can help you identify the areas in need of improvement.
Social shopping
Today the functionality of social media is not limited to staying in touch with friends. It has emerged as one of the most important online marketing platforms. If you already have a strong social community, you may consider using new technologies like Blippy or Swipely, which enable customers to shop on social sites. Offering group discounts or new exciting products can encourage people to try social shopping.
Apart from the above, marketing through instant search, mobile, instant message and online television are some other prominent trends observed this year. Being aware of the latest trends and considering them in your marketing strategies is essential to succeed in the ever-changing world of internet.
Online marketing is a highly dynamic field and the creative services offered by GreenGigi Communication Arts Studio can help you stay ahead of the competition.
How Green Are You?
Guest Blogger: Article by Jeremy Flagg at Creative Freelancer Blog
I recently had the opportunity to poll 126 graphic designers for my MFA thesis. The poll focused on their knowledge and commitment to the environment.
Folks, I have to admit, while it wasn’t the bleakest of results, it definitely didn’t paint a pretty picture for creatives and how we treat the planet. There is a lot of room for improvement.
The first question I get asked is, why should I care? Beneath my business sense, my client-relationships and my work ethic, I like to think I’m an artist and I have a unique way of seeing the world and my relationship with it. I understand that we are currently using roughly three times the resources available to us and that it’s a matter of a time before they vanish.
I also realize that I am part of the problem, and I don’t like being the problem, I want to be part of the solution. Why let my kids deal with my mess when I can clean it up? I want to set an example for my kids. I can’t convince every person to be a tree hugger (a term I use lovingly) and I can’t convince everybody to treat the planet with respect, but it won’t stop me from trying.
So where do you begin? It’s a large undertaking to change my entire way of doing things and my way of living, but there is an easy first step. Be aware. That’s it for my first step, sweet, simple and takes little action.
Every time you’re about to send a client a bill, every time you schedule a meeting with a client, every time you order a cup of coffee, ask yourself, “Is this good for the planet?”You’ll be taking the first step by figuring out where you stand at being green. None of us start the journey saying, “Wow, me and the planet are copasetic.”
The first step is just finding out where you cringe the most at the end of the day. For me, it was in my home office. I felt ashamed at the end of the day. It’s been a year since I set out to become green throughout my business life, sometimes I’m extremely successful, other days I still see room for improvement, either way I can thankfully say I’ve come a long way since I first asked myself, “Is this good for the planet?”
From here on out, we’ll give you some ideas of how to take you and your business from the consumers of stuff to green in no time. In the meantime, what are you doing differently so far?
BTW: check out this book from Allworth Press on “Green Graphic Design.“
Branding: MidAtlantic Food + Wine Feast
The MidAtlantic Food + Wine Feast is a new world-class food and wine event that appeals to the wine aficionados and gastronauts between New York and Washington, D.C. to benefit The Delaware Theatre Company.
My approach to this logo and brand was one of sophistication and class. This food and wine event targets an audience that loves and appreciates the nuances of flavors of world wines. The event features distinguished guest chefs and top local chefs at all their winemaker dinners. The chosen color combination was carefully picked to depict the Midatlantic coast as well as the richness in the red and plum hues of wine.
For more information on this event please visit www.foodandwinefeast.com
Thoughtful Website + Viewers = Paying Clients
Don't forget to add social media to the mix.
A website is a great way to inform web users of your products and services so that they can decide if they want to make a purchase. Many companies don’t have a website that makes it easy for web users to want to make that purchase. Look over the following tips to learn how you can turn your website viewers into paying clients. With a little extra attention and care, you can bring in more company sales.
Have a clean layout. If your website isn’t easy to browse, web users won’t want to stay on the page. The longer you’re able to keep web users on your website, the more likely they will be to make a purchase.
Include calls to action. Your website text should make web users want to use your services. If you provide easy instructions on how to get started, chances are they will!
Showcase work samples. You should display top-quality work samples on your website. This will help to show the services and products that you’re able to offer.
Make your website copy stand out. Your website text should flow nicely and should keep readers interested. You should also keep your text to a minimum so that readers are easily able to absorb the information.
Include photography that stands out. Web users don’t want to look at generic photographs that are displayed on your website. Instead, choose something that is truly above the ordinary.
Display contact forms. You want to make sure that your website visitors are easily able to reach you. These forms should be easy to fill out so that potential clients are able to get the information that is needed.
Don’t forget to showcase your social media profiles. Make it possible for web uers to contact you in more social and instant ways.
Display testimonials. Buzz Marketing: You want to be able to show that others are happy with your services. This can help a website viewer determine if he or she will hire your company.
Take the time to make your website stand out so that you can not only keep the attention of your website viewers, but you can also make more sales. You can make improvements to your site in order to get the paying clients that you’re looking for. Need help with website design? Give us a call and we will be happy to talk with you about the media-mix possibilities.
