On Monday the MLB Home Run derby took place and for the first time players tweeted during the derby. This social media experiment, requested by the MLB, allowed players to tweet, take pictures & video and share them on Twitter. It also allowed players to communicate directly with fans. I think this is really cool from a technology standpoint, but beyond that will it really catch on?While I primarily use Twitter to push articles and business content, I’ve yet to really get into it personally. In fact out of all the social media platforms I use Twitter the least. I mean really, do i really need to know in real time that my favorite celeb is “on there way to a stunning photoshoot #glamourous.” So my question to the readers is, what makes twitter so popular? I would like to know specifically why you like to use it or perhaps why you don’t like to use it.

What bugs me the most about Twitter is the mass amount of meaningless tweets. Everyone has a voice and they are letting the world know. From strangers tweeting their order at #tacobell to celebrities tweeting how they have a new fragrance out, its all noise. In order to find a few nuggets of useful information, you must first sift through the piles of spammers, bots, know-it-alls, and so called experts. Why not use a dedicated RSS from the sites you love instead of waiting for that #new tweet? Or text message your real friends when you want to chat? I just don’t get it.

Before i get to much backlash and hate comments I want to be clear, Twitter does have some perks and is a cool concept. The ability to reach anybody you want (or there assistant), and speak in 140 characters or less makes this idea great. The traffic twitter can generate to a website can be in really high numbers which is exactly why I use it for business, but for personal use? Im just not convinced.

Follow me @
http://twitter.com/#!/avisualidentity

Before we can even attempt to answer the question, lets talk branding. I think too many people get the impression that a brand consists of a new corporate identity, including updates to the company logo and all that fun visual stuff. While that is part of it, there is more to a brand then just the visual aspect. A brand consists of a companies employees and their devotion to the consumer, bright management, and of course a great product. All of these together and more make up a brand.

The city of Surprise Arizona recently went through a re-brand a few years ago, and one of the concerns was that while the new “eye catching” logo was appealing, it would have little effect, if the city employed bus drivers, continued to flick off pedestrians. Which brought up some questions that forced the city look internally. Another great example is Dominos Pizza. Dominos is doing a great job in there advertising letting the consumer know that in the past they have made a few mistakes. However instead of wasting money on a new company logo, and look and feel, the company is making a huge effort in correcting these mistakes, and fixing the problem.

This brings us to our initial point, should companies who are well established and been around for a while visually rebrand themselves. The obvious answer to me is NO, they should not. A brand such as JC Penny, has taken decades to build, and while a fresh new look, may attract some young people, one can only guess that the new shiny logo is not going to bring in sales. It may cause major confusion, and let the end consumer know, that the brand is desperate to attract new consumers. A better strategy is to go back to the basics, work from the inside out, flush out the bad apples, make price points competitive, and have killer service and products. I was in a JC Pennys a few months ago, and it was exactly how i remembered it 5 – 10 years ago. Nothing changed but the logo. Which brings up another important question. Is it possible the young guns at the ad agencies, are selling new identities to brands without realizing the potential damage its causing?

Well, it takes 2 to tango, and while I believe that the point brought up is part of it, I also believe lack of strong brand management on the companies side is also part of it.
Companies seem to be desperate, these days to increase sales, the numbers are low, and they are in denial that its a management / internal issue. They are gasping for breath and fall victim to the “visual re-brand.” It will be interesting to see who the next big company is to do this, and see if it actually works.

What is your take on this issue? Should companies re-think the re-brand? Let us know by posting your comments below!

So how will this effect you, the end user? For 20 years we have embraced the .com. To use anything else, seems very unfamiliar, and i’m not too sure how quickly it will catch on. I was reading an article earlier, that stated a normal dot com site such as www.riseinteractive.com will now be able to secure www.riseinteractive.interactivemarketing. In a world of KISS (keep it simple stupid) this new domain extension is for the birds.

Ideas have also been thrown out there to make the domains industry specific, such as .music or .sports. These new domains would be homes to the “official” sites of say maroon5.music or chicagobulls.sports but, do we really need a .music to signify official music sites? It seems a lot more complicated than it should be?

Another big question is, how will this affect organic search? .coms have always been the Google favorite and my guess is they will continue to be in the years to come. So companies or brands migrating over to a .anything domain, may be in for long delays or loss in rankings?

What is your take on these new domains? Would you pay the hefty charges? Do you think its a good idea?

Simplicity:

Head to head this is a tough one, as both brands do a good job.  The idea behind cokes logo is very simple, yet in the details it could be perceived as complex.  The script font used is very sophisticated and traditional giving the brand that ageless feel as it should, its had minimal change throughout the 125 year history.  However when comparing it to the Pepsi logo, there is a clear winner.  Regardless of how many updates Pepsi has made to there logo, their current design is clean, simple and modern.  The strategy behind the design was a different story, as design firm Arnell, provided a 27 page document to accompany the design.  While there are a lot of critics not in favor of the new design, we can attest to its simplicity.

Memorable:

While one might feel the simpler logo may be the more memorable, in this battle we disagree.  Pepsi may be more similar, however Coke has had 125 years to build the brand, and they have done an amazing job.  Call it what you want, but there is no competition here. With all the different identities pepsi has gone through, its hard to think of any of them as memorable.  Personally I felt the Pepsi logo of the mid ‘80s was the most memorable out of all the logos, as 25 years has passed and I can still clearly remember the logo in my mind.

Timeless:

Pepsi’s logo has proved “fail” in this category for years.  They cant seem to find themselves, and just when you think they got it.  They change.  This is a complete opposite of Coke.  For the past 125 years, Coke has done a wonderful job making only minimal changes to keep up with the times, and stay current.  The logo has essentially stayed intact since the 1900’s, which is a true testament to the word timeless.

Creative:

At first I was a huge fan of the creativity of Pepsi, but writing this blog has really challenged my beliefs, i now view it as actually limited.  After doing research I found how versatile the Coke brand is,  It can really be placed anywhere.  The logo branches out to different varieties and often is often accompanied by a simple red bottle, or on top of a bottle cap.  Pepsi, is completely different.  They are a heavy hitter in terms of graphics, using a variety of effects, however it is very ineffective.  The logo is often most known by the Pepsi globe shattering threw some 3D looking ice.  While it can be viewed as refreshing the magic isn’t there, and doesn’t make sense.

One thing is for sure, both taste great, and both have a fan following,Now its your turn to give us your feedback, and tell us who the winner is.  Did Pepsi receive a knock out blow from Coke, or does Pepsi come back after the knockdown for the ultimate win?  Post your comments below.

I went to http://www.thevoice.com and was blown away by the amount of sponsorship ads on the page. What could have been a sharp and slick, multimedia website was drowning in color disharmony, and being pulled under by the sheer volume of Royal Caribbean Cruise ads. It was horrible. I did not know where to go to vote, in my eyes it looked as if the site was being held hostage by Royal Caribbean. Which I must say, was a smart move for Royal, or was it?

The website has a red monochromatic color scheme. Without the ads, the color scheme goes very well with the brand concept, and integrates perfectly with the logo. The ads which ruined the site at the time, were blue, and, taking away from a well thought concept and brand.

I’m sure NBC has no idea what the creative is going to look like from advertisers, and since its up for such a short time, I’m sure they don’t care. However it got me thinking about all the sites I go to with over ad placement. Ads from AdSense, and Commission Junction are taking up space on websites everywhere but do they work, and is it worth it?

Now its one thing for a company to give some high dollar amount for ad placement and a completely different ballgame when you get the big goose egg $0.00. What I’m asking is the bigger question of “are the ads really working?” and also, “are you taking away from the content of your site and creating a bad experience for users?” Theoretically, even in you are making a few bucks, it would not be worth a poor experience?

Our question to our readers is, does advertising on a website turn make you immediately hit that back button? How many is to many? Or are you impartial?

This brings us to the newly unveiled torch design. After the failed logo and mascots I was very curious to see how this torch would look. To my surprise I actually like it. The Telegraph reported that it looks like “a cheese grader crossed with an office basket”, which In humor I can see there point. However I also see a very simple, iconic torch design, I mean it looks like a torch. Torches past have looked like everything from joints to sex toys (referring to the 2010 and 1992 designs). They seemed to have this one on the mark. It looks elegant, and functional, what more could you ask for out of a torch.

The torch is a 3 sided cone constructed from aluminum alloy, with each side representing the number of times London has hosted the games. There are 8,000 holes punched in the aluminum, representing the personal achievements of all 8,000 torchbearers throughout the relay. The torch is also easy to hold and light weight, which is also an important factor.

Tell us, what do you think of the torch design? Does it belong in your cupboard or office? Or could you picture yourself holding this as you are running the final stretch of the relay? Post your comments below all opinions welcome!

That was almost 2 years ago and I haven’t looked back.  Now to those of you who are still PC users, you may be asking yourself or myself  “who cares, whats your point?”  Point is, It took me over 14 years, to jump ship to a Mac platform and in the end I regret not doing it sooner.  I mean the 30 second startup from restart to web browsing has me right there, they are easy to use, rich in graphics, and there is phenomenal integration between all there products.  Have you heard about iCloud that was announced yesterday at WWDC?

So why should designers and marketing professionals be on an Apple platform?  For one reason, time.  Our time is very valuable, and it seems to drain quicker and quicker.  I remember working a Vista machine running CS3 and it would take sometimes minutes to load, and even longer to switch between open programs.  Even with 6gb of memory I found myself resentful and bitter, wondering how this machine keeps crashing with triple the hardware requirements.  So when i got my 4gb iMac and loaded CS5 i was blown away by the fact i was up and working in 45 seconds from application start.  Then i discovered i can have the ENTIRE CS suite open and toggle between programs with no lag!  Thats impressive.

Another reason for switching over is for color matching.  If your in the graphics industry you know the importance of matching the color, from monitor to ink.  If the calibration is off just a bit, those colors your client signed off on, may look completely different when delivered off the press.  Nobody wants likes to explain that mess.  Well with Apple products the matching process is spot on as the software and LED display work as one unit.  I have yet to run into any issues with our press department, and the 4 color process has never been made easier.

The last and final reason is that if your not working on a Mac, most design professionals  will question you as to why?  I remember walking into a client meeting several years back and the client questioned my credibility cause i lugged in my 20lb, laptop.  After waiting several minutes to turn on and actually login to the network, he specifically said, “don’t most designers use Macs?”  If i were a dog my tail would have went between my legs, instead I got a resentment and went on to tell him how great my laptop was and how Mac’s were overrated…yeah I was a hater, and also did not land the job.

Times have changed and I have grown a lot.  I realize that change is a good thing, especially when the products your changing from keep getting worse and worse instead of better.  I wonder how many companies are still using Windows XP?  Tell me your experience, do you have a similar story you would like to share?  Or maybe you were once like me and want to hate?  Post your comments below

Dallas – At first glance the Dallas logo really catches the eye. They use an iconic sports enclosure with a fast action font to really make the logo come to life. What i’m not too fond of is the actual maverick design. The eyes, nose and jawline, look cluttered from a distance and it just doesn’t pop out like the rest of the logo. The blue gives off a good vibe and overall is quite creative.

Miami – This logo is retro. I look at it and know its from the old school. What I really like about their logo is its open to interpretation. I was on the phone with a buddy and mentioned my blog post. He said, “oh yeah I love how the fireball goes through the halo.” I had previously thought of it as a ball through a hoop with the grip of the ball forming the lines of the net. Maybe its because i’m a Chicago Bulls fan I never paid much attention till now, but he was spot on. The ball of fire looks to be under what some would say a halo, which can hold a meaning of divinity. The font style is also clean and I like how the T in heat goes up like smoke. In our eyes the far more creative logo is Miami.

Toughness:

Before I start the fantasy analysis, let me be clear, normally a logo would not necessarily want to be known as or judged tough. However in the world of competitive sports, you want to look intimidating and the Mavericks give off that vibe. They may not be as tough looking as some teams however when comparing Miami to Dallas, its a no brainer. I could just imagine the Maverick standing at a distance, smoke coming from his nose as he’s about to charge. Look out! I know thats a bit extreme, but im a very visual / extreme kind of guy.

Originality:

This goes back to creativity. I look at the 30+ NBA team logos and it appears Dallas has a similar look and feel to a few other teams, Kings, Raptors, while the Heats logo stands apart as unique. What really makes it unique from the all the other teams is the simplicity of it. If you look at all the teams as a whole you find the Heat logo is by far the simplest. Originality goes to Miami

Those are our thoughts on these 2 logos, who’s teams are fighting for a place in history. What are your thoughts? Did we miss a few points you would like to discuss? Who do you like better and who would you choose to win this fantasy logo battle?

Once again we will let you decide and be the judge.  What do you think of the Cadbury Ad? Do you find this ad racist or objectionable in anyway?  Is Naomi taking this to personal, you decide!

Be sure to check out and comment on  last weeks post regarding the Dove racist ad campaign.

The 1990’s were a bad decade for the fast food giant. Their advertising strategies were changed, to target adults, and the Deluxe Line of sandwiches launched. Ultimately bombing and costing the giant over $200 million dollars. Not a small price and was considered one of the biggest marketing flops of all time. During this campaign in 1996 the company launched its first website on www.Mcdonalds.com. This was to be the first of several key designs in the next 15 years, leading to possibly one of the best looking sites on todays web.The first website launched by McDonalds was far from innovative, as were all sites back in 1996. Computer monitors were still at a fairly low resolution, so to compensate, the main content was always placed to the left along with navigation. Like many sites in the late 90‘s, users were forced to click through 2 entry pages in order to get to “the guts” of the content. The brand colors of yellow on red lit up the screen and were far from legible. The site encompassed a majority of weaknesses that would be fixed and  shape up to make the website what it is today.

Since then, changes in technology and design trends, web browsing capabilities evolved. With this evolution, web designs have become user friendly and creativity is limitless. Thanks to browsers such as firefox, safari, and chrome, the web can be viewed in an entirely different way, than even 5 years ago. That thought brings us to the 2011 US version of www.McDonalds.com. Did you know Mcdonalds has over 64 different websites for each of the different countries they serve? Before writing this we did not.

If you have not been to the website, we recommend you check it out. They seem to be doing everything right when it comes to aesthetics and functionality. What I love about the current website is the ease of navigation and use of images and color. They do a fantastic job keeping the interface clean and innovative. They follow all the current design trends, of thick fonts, appropriate gradient usage, and animation to make this a site you want to recommend to your friends. The food also looks really appetizing. The use of large photography is killer and shows the importance of professional photography in a corporate environment. I wouldnt expect anything less from one of the worlds largest and most successful brands.

The open and roomy layout is a plus. They keep it open and spacious instead of closed and cluttered. The biggest plus is that you can access all the main information in 1 click. A different approach then their first 1996 site which required multiple clicks to just enter the site. This approach is key in web design & development. Less amount of clicks to get to a certain area the better.

Our hats are off to McDonalds, for using all the tools at there disposal to create a rich and exciting user experience. What do you think of the McDonalds website? Is there something that sticks out to you that is good or bad? Do you see something they could do better?  Maybe you know of some cutting edge websites out there you would like to showcase?  Please post your comments below.

Now I will be upfront, personally I was not offended, keep in mind I am also Caucasian, however what I did see, was an ad that would for sure create negative attention.  One thing I learned while beginning my career in advertising and design is that if an ad or a marketing piece does not draw positive attention through words or imagery, its best to go another direction.  Better safe then sorry.

Pushing boundaries seems to be common in advertising,  however its hard to believe that Dove soap would go that far out on a limb, to make this intentional, and if this is intentional shame on them.  My guess is its likely poor decision making, and lack of African Americans in the firms management, that landed this ad in publications.

One thing is for sure, it potentially puts a bad taste in peoples mouths.  The same people who may now think twice before buying a Dove product.

What are your thoughts on this ad piece?

Be sure to check out and comment on  this weeks post regarding Naomi Campbells possible lawsuit against Cadbury over a potentially racist ad.

I guess the next question is how is Warner Bros. going to fix this debacle? Are they really going to postpone one of the biggest anticipated movies of the year? Are they going to pay royalties to artist, my gut says no way! Im guessing (and it is just a guess) there creative team will be spending the next several days working day in and out doing whatever it takes to alter the tattoo on actor Ed Helms who sports the tattoo.

At the end of the day, the movie will be released on time, and probably gain more viewers than ever as the buzz around this will be huge. Warner bros. will post record breaking numbers, while the big loser here will end up being S. Victor Whitmill. I say this because of one reason. Artist’s / designer’s work is not appreciated as it should be. The general public doesn’t understand the amount of creativity, time, talent, and effort that is put into an original design. They will look at Whitmill and say, he’s just trying to make another buck on some “lawsuit.” The general public doesn’t understand what Warner Bros. did was steal. Did they do it on purpose? Absolutely not, someone looked over some details, and didn’t get a release form filled out, unintentionally. What they did do though was wrong.

The issue that concerns me is that the stealing has to stop. Over and over clients come to me during there web or marketing project and say “just grab the image off Google images” or just “copy the image from this website.” It is becoming a common trend these days for this type of mentality. We as designers and artists have to educate our clients. Let them know if there is an image out there they really want to use, they may have to jump through a few hoops to get it, which may include increasing a budget, or holding out a few weeks to get papers signed. We cant simply take what is not ours!

UPDATE MAY 24th

I wanted to post a quick update in regards to this recent blog written on Monday. It appears that Warner Bro. will be able to release the film this Memorial Day weekend. A Judge said Today that the movie will be able open, however the judge also mentioned that S. Victor Whitmill will ultimately win the copyright infringement lawsuit and be awarded monetary gain. We would like to hear your thoughts in regards to this, do you think the judge made the right decision?

Now lets take a peak at Continental. Their logo on the other hand was a bit more “classic” in design. The logo used a thicker serif font and used a wire style globe within a deep blue box. To be quite honest, I had to reflect upon it and look it up, just to be sure. It was far from memorable, but recognizable when viewed. It definitely has a “in my opinion” a European business influence and does work for a company called “Continental.”

Lets take a look at the NEW logo. The new logo that was presented, has United spelled out in a font similar to the non-original, very common, and quite boring “Helvetica” style font face. Next to it is the classic globe that continental used in there logo. When the two companies said they were merging, they were not kidding. However the end result is a missed and now lost opportunity. There are several reasons why.

Pick a more memorable font.

Helvetica and similar linear gothic fonts are, for lack of better words, played out. What was once a sleek and modern font has been over used by fashion and technology giants around the world, and lost its edge. Thats not to say that there aren’t any great sans fonts out there, Frutiger and Futuris are 2 of my favorites, both similar to the font Southwest uses.

Pick new colors.

If you noticed the new logo uses an off shade of the continental blue. It looks to have a bit more red in the hue making it almost a shade of purple. Unlike the United blue which is a bit more cyan. You almost get the feel that egos were involved and United wanted to use their blue but continental wanted to use their’s so they had to compromise. Im not so sure were off point there.

Lets get a new look.

So we get it, two giants merging together and creating this one entity. However with the way airlines are going these days, being bigger, isnt always good. If you want to fly the friendly skies with United these days be prepared for increased baggage fees, lacking service, and higher rates. Gosh forbid you are on a United flight, flying out of O’hare Int Chicago in Dec. Your certain to not be on time. This new merged look says, bigger, and broader, but i’m not sure it says better. With more overhead comes more cost.

“Ding… wanna get away?.”

Take a peek at Southwest. They are doing everything right. If I am United i want to research what some of the competitors are doing, look at there marketing strategies and get in the game.

In summary, we dislike the new merged logo. It lacks what United so desperately needs a new striking identity that can give them the do-over they so desperately need.

When first starting out, it can be easy to make the decision to either do your own web design or to hire friends or family to do it for you. After all, thanks to some programs, there are plenty of templates out there to choose from and it really is a matter of just plugging information into the required fields, correct? Well, yes, and no. You can go this route, but unless you only want friends and family to see your web design, you are better off spending the extra money to hire a professional.

You need someone to do your web design that knows how to market and design your site, is familiar with SEO, and who knows how to drive traffic to your web site. You need someone who can make your web site stand out in its field. Your web site needs the expertise of professional design and professional marketing.

Becoming a well-known presence on the Internet today takes more than merely slapping a few images up and filling in a few information fields. Your web design has to be noticed and ranked by the search engines. That means you need quality, up-to-date, relevant content; you need colors designed to catch the eye of potential customers, and you need back links and tags that will drive potential customers to your site. In fact, if any of these terms are unfamiliar to you, that is just further proof as to why you need an expert to do your web design.

It has been proven that when potential customers search for a web site, they use certain keywords to search, and they rarely venture past the first page that is brought up on a search engine. 80 percent of customers never go beyond page three. Google, Yahoo, Bing, and the other search engines have a complicated algorithm they use when determining web site rankings. Those who are experts in web design have been trained to know these algorithms. They know what font potential customers prefer to read, they know the colors that attract and keep customers on a page, and they have a staff of graphic artists and writers who work to keep your web design fresh, relevant, and ranked.

Other reasons to hire an expert website designer include:

1. Hiring an expert saves you time. Even if you know enough to fill in the blanks and upload photos to a template, there is more information to learn such as secure check-outs, linking pages, and building on your website. Hiring an expert to do this saves you time you could be investing in your business.

2. The Internet changes on a day-to-day basis. Search engine standards change, new businesses are created daily, and what is relevant today may not be tomorrow. You need an expert who has the time to stay up-to-date on this information.

3. You need someone familiar with web browsers. Did you know that information that shows well on a page in Internet Explorer does not necessarily show well in Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome or Opera? Did you know only 56 percent of users have Internet Explorer installed? Can you really afford to lose 44 percent of potential customers?

4. Do you know how to design not only an Internet web page for your business but also a smart phone application or “app?” More and more people are using their smart phones to access the Internet and to make purchases.

5. Do you know about servers and hosting? Again, you can join a hosting company and get hosting and server space for just a few dollars a month, but again, you will get what you pay for. Do you really want to share your business with a teenage boy’s skating blog?

Hiring a professional to design your website not only gives you a professional and polished Internet image, it also give you peace of mind.

1. Your Website Is A Place of Business

An online site is no different from a storefront, office, or street corner vending cart. It is the means by which you promote your product or service. Moreover, it is the forum for consummating business transactions. The lack of a physical structure does not render the proper presentation of commercial websites any less important.

Prudent business owners maintain attractive visual appearances and strategic locations for their stores and offices. An attractive, high-quality online presence is equally essential.

2. Content is Your Primary Means of Conveying Pertinent Marketing Concepts

Due to the nature of the virtual media, quality website content is imperative. Stick-and-brick concerns may generate sales through sheer physical prominence or the strategic location of retail outlets. By contrast, online operators’ only means of capturing consumers’ interest is via the written word.

The creation of effective website content is an art derived from an ideal mix of skill and talent. Most automotive tire store owners would not attempt to self-design storefront signage or newspaper ads. Despite their vast substantive product knowledge, these business owners realize that effective marketing entails an entirely different type of expertise.

Likewise, no amount of product familiarity or technical knowledge can substitute for a good content writer. Specialized writing skill is even more important in the online environment than in traditional advertising media for several reasons.

Web Surfers Are Different

Unlike print media readers, web surfers tend to scan online text in a cursory manner. A good content writer knows how to affect maximum reader impact quickly with titles, subheadings, and concise textual format arrangements. Also, certain jargon popular with online audiences is unsuitable for other media. Business owners with limited literary skills cannot accomplish the results that a good content writer can.

Effective Website Promotion Requires Unique Literary Skills

Maximum visibility in the marketplace is most vital for any internet-based commercial establishment. Accordingly, search engine optimization (“SEO”) is an ongoing priority for successful online businesses.

A good content writer has the skill to incorporate key phrases and words into site content to dramatically enhance your search engine rankings. Good SEO content is far different from mere keyword-stuffing, however. A good content writer has a knack for achieving optimum keyword frequency and placement throughout content.

Inconspicuous word or phrase repetition while impressing the reader with the underlying operative concept is not easy. Failure to do so, however, can be fatal to your entire marketing campaign. In addition, the most effective industry-specific search engine phraseology and verbiage can frequently change. Ensuring the incorporation of the most up-to-date verbiage is a major attribute of any good content writer.

Outsourcing website content creation is more economical

Employing a good content writer for these tasks frees significant resources for revenue-generating activities. Following are the typical time requirements for the most common website content projects:

Estimated hours to complete

Rewrite or edit existing content 1-3 hours per page
SEO Articles of 300-500 words 2-4 hours per article
Press Releases 2-3 hours per letter
Original web content copy 2-4 hours per page
E-mail marketing letters 1-3 hours per day
Newsletters 2-5 hours per page

A Cost vs. Benefit Analysis

An exceptionally good content writer usually earns a livelihood via constructing effective visual and text presentations. Conscientious website authors also scrupulously avoid spelling and grammatical errors. Such careless errors can kill an otherwise superb literary masterpiece. Not to mention totally destroying your business credibility with consumers.

As a businessperson, you understand the importance of maintaining a competitive edge in your industry, trade, or profession. Likewise, professional content authors recognize the competitive advantage of superior SEO skills and literary ability.

Excellence is never achieved absent the major investment of time, money, and effort. A good content writer stays abreast of evolving grammatical standards and emerging literary trends. This is accomplished through professional alliances and extreme personal vigilance.

If you ever needed open-heart surgery, would you opt for medical school or employ a trained professional? Brilliant business minds agree that the tremendous value of a good content writer is well worthwhile compared to the cost.

I think that most businesses today realize the importance of having an online presence – whether that be through a website, or a Facebook page, or a Twitter profile, etc. If your business does not have an online presence, the chances are you could be losing valuable business and customers to your competitors who do have effective and active online presences.Beyond the importance of simply having a website though, it is important to have an effective website, one that is an asset to your business and that pays for itself in the amount of business or customers it converts. Today I want to talk about a few of the features and elements that help make a website effective.

Navigation

The organization and navigation scheme of your website can ultimately be the difference between visitors staying on your site and visitors leaving to go to your competitor’s site. It is extremely important that the navigation of a website makes it easy for visitors to find what they came for in as few clicks and with as little confusion as possible. Taking the time to make sure your website’s navigation is up to par is a huge step towards building an effective website.

Aesthetic Appeal

Another extremely important feature of an effective website is its aesthetic appeal. If your site is too distracting and busy, it will detract from the appeal and usability of the overall site, potentially limiting its effectiveness if you start to lose visitors due to the poor design. On the other hand, if a website is too plain and looks like it was designed 10 years ago and hasn’t been updated, you also risk losing or disappointing website visitors and potential customers. A well-designed and aesthetically appealing website can give you a strong advantage over other online competitors.

A strong message

An effective website is clear on the message it is trying to send visitors. It should be fairly obvious what the purpose of the site is, why you should be here, who the company is that this site represents, and how this company can benefit its customers.

Intuitive design

One of the most important elements of a highly effective website is its intuitiveness. By this I mean that each page should be designed with the customer of visitor in mind and tailored to appeal to them and make it easy for them to navigate and find what they need. A good example of this is a Related Products feed or Other Products You Might Be Interested In feed on an e-commerce website. An intuitive website shouldn’t have “dead-end pages” which leaves a visitor with nowhere to go but back. An intuitive website seems to know what website visitors are looking for and where they want to go and is one of the most effective ways that a website can turn visitors into customers.
So there you have it, four of the most important elements of a highly effective website for your business. Take a moment and look over your existing website and see how it is doing. Is it as effective as it could be? Where could it be better? Investing in your website to make it as effective as it can be could be the difference between having a website like everyone else and having a website that will help build and grow your business and customer base.

Just because people like certain colors doesn’t make the colors right for a logo. Designers were taught in college what colors evoke emotion in people, so guiding the client in choosing the right background for his website is just a matter of becoming the teacher. The designer will have sketched out ideas for a brochure using different colors. The client will react strongly to red, for instance, but if it doesn’t feel right, he’ll say no. The same design, however, in sunny yellow, might bring a smile to the client’s face because he recognizes the happy feeling evoked by yellow. On the other hand, if the client’s product is technology-related, for example, he’ll feel the appropriateness of the same design in blue, so the two agree it would look better on his website.

It is common knowledge what most colors are all about. The designer’s clients will have a rough idea that red is the color of toxic hot sauce, pizza sauce and fire engines. He will recognize that blue is the color of ice cream packages, ice trays, and ice packs for swelled knees or ankles. The client will definitely understand that green is the color of money and nature. That last bit will be important to him because everyone nowadays is looking for ways to live and work green in order to help the planet. The client may well know that pink is the color of delicacy and the youth of little girls, yellow the color of the sun, white the color of innocence, or even that purple is the color of royalty.

Some colors bring out other ideas in consumers. Brown, for example, is the color of United Parcel Service, but it’s also the color of soil, which reminds people of gardens. Consumers don’t see much black, for people tend to think of it as the color of death and darkness. Yet other colors, such as gray or silver, remind people of stars in the night sky, fairy dust at Disney World or the glittery disco ball at the club. Orange to a consumer is the color of fruit.

Guiding the client through the well-established fact that emotion sells more products than anything else will be easier for the designer to do when he creates a brochure in emotions rather than colors. The client will choose which emotion he wants his consumers to enjoy from the appearance of his logo. Now, business is a cold thing and necessary, but the people who buy a product or service buy because the appearance of the thing is pleasing to the eye and soothing to the emotions. They know that an icy cold bottle of Coke is going to be a cool treat on a hot day, they know that a bright pink cone of spun sugar at the county fair will be fun, and they know that potato salad just isn’t potato salad without bright yellow mustard in it. The designer knows it’s all about the psychology of colors in marketing. He knows he can teach his client to reach more consumers using the right psychology of emotion as well.

When a business decides they need custom logo design help they may have some fears and concerns about how to get the job done and about how to get the right logo for their business. The business is the embodiment of so many of the hopes and dreams of the owner after all. A good custom logo design company will strive to work with the business to quickly put these fears to rest and meet all the needs of the client.

Designers work closely with their clients and spend enough time to learn about the client’s business before a logo is crafted. Good communication is essential throughout the process. The designer needs a good idea of the strengths and weaknesses of the business they are working for before actual logo design can be done. A designer will want to learn what a business does, what the competition does, what type of customers their client is trying to attract, and also what type of customers a business does not want to attract.

After the custom logo design team has developed a good feel and understanding of the basic functions and offerings that a business provides, what makes the business tick, and the type of customer the business is targeting, the designer will begin to contemplate style and image. What is the client’s business striving to be known for? What type of feeling does the business need to inspire in a prospective customer, or a repeat customer? High end luxury? Affordable dependability and function? Toughness? Thriftiness? Goofy fun or somber seriousness? What a business wants to project can greatly influence a custom logo design. So you can see how vitally important it is for a designer and client to communicate openly and freely. Communication before designing begins is the key to minimizing hassles and hurdles which saves everyone time and money.

Custom logo design is often more art than science and there can truly be special magic in good design work. There is far more to good custom logo design than the average businessperson may realize, and there is definitely far more to designing good logos than can be expressed in a single blog post. In the end though good designers will keep things fresh, give clients what they want in a quick and timely fashion, and make this whole process go smoothly.

Don’t be afraid to get the logo you need for your business, establishment, or project. As crowded as the marketplace is these days, and as competitive as they internet age is becoming, a striking, distinctive logo is a must have for the modern company. A logo really can make your business stand out. A logo can project a feeling of what you are about in a concise and special way, and perhaps most important of all help your customers remember you. Find a good custom logo designer, communicate your hopes and desires freely with them, and let them work their magic on your custom logo.

A professionally designed logo by marketing services gives the business a strong proficient image that provides the company with visibility and credibility – factors that help business attain success and expand. Having a highly certified team or a superior product is useless, until customers get to know about it. Good marketing services have the skills needed to portray a company with the right image.

The first point of interaction between a company and the client base is the website. A really well designed website will be able to anticipate the different types of visitors at the site, and make the use of the website easy to navigate. An attractive, user friendly website professionally designed by marketing services will get revisits, while a weak website design that makes people search for information will drive potential customers away.

Corporate identity is dependent on branding consistency. If the company is strong and impervious, or creative and flexible, whatever the values the company stands for, every effort should be made so the design conveys this message to the public. Good marketing services keep this in mine and help to develop a company’s business cards using the same colors and fonts as those on the website. This trend is followed through with any downloadable materials or presentations.

A website that is artistic or playful, but has business cards that give the corporate look, succeeds in sending mixed signals to the public and only confuses them. Eye catching brochures and flyers that further promote the vision and products of a company and are developed using the same theme as all the other materials designed by marketing services, helps to further promote a company in target population areas.

While an attractive design will help to catch initial attention of potential customers, good copy holds their attention. A copy put together by professional marketing services will be able to push the right buttons of potential customers. The ability to activate the emotional triggers and sell the product or service as something the customer cannot do without can only be achieved by a professional service.

Focusing on the looks of the product is important, because if it is not appealing to look at, it is a given that no one will touch it. Once the looks are perfected, it is essential that the product live up to the expectations of the people. A strong product or service is as important, if not more, as the design. With outstanding design people will try the product once and if the product is no good they will not return. So in the early days, strong product comes right there with a good design.

Employing a professional firm with years of experience in marketing services and eye-catching graphic design doesn’t really cost – it pays for itself. It’s a very important investment in a business, especially in the beginning. It tells the future consumer what the company is about, what it sells or does, and what it stands for.

Internet technology is changing the way that people interact with their environment. Americans spend time browsing the web to socialize with their friends, meet new people, seek entertainment, perform research and purchase all kinds of different products. They use smart devices to look up directions, learn about local businesses, and contribute feedback about the retailers and service providers in their area.

The advent of social media has pushed internet marketing into a new dimension. Websites like Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, FlickR and LinkedIn, among hundreds of others, are helping people to connect and cooperate faster and more efficiently than ever. Business owners can amass incredible exposure through these social media outlets, and can reach brand new demographics and untapped audiences in both the general consumer and business to business sectors. From manufacturers to consultants to retailers, just about every modern business can engage their local community as well as potential customers and partners across the world simply by actively participating in social media advertising.

What then, is the role of an actual website among an abundance of social media marketing campaigns? Why does your company need a website if you’ve got active accounts with Facebook, Twitter and others?

The answer is simple: a website serves as an anchor for your online presence. It ties together your marketing campaigns, establishes your identity online, and gives your users an opportunity to interact with your brand. A website lets you sidestep the stringent functional and visual branding limitations imposed by your various “home” pages with the social media giants. It can look and feel exactly how you want it to and can feature a wide variety of useful functionality like an online store, media library and more. A website can be search engine optimized to increase “organic” traffic (web traffic from search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing). It can record robust traffic analytics data to help you better understand your users’ behaviors and adjust your website’s offerings accordingly.

That said, social media marketing certainly has a place in online advertising. A presence in the web’s largest social networks is a fantastic way to create familiarity with your company’s unique contributions to your industry. Online social networking is also a great way to initiate relationships with your potential customers and participate in industry relevant conversations and events. Social media helps you to keep a finger to the pulse of your target demographic, and lets you actively participate in the social circles that your customers frequent.

Online social networks are a great place to establish rapport with your audience. They simply aren’t, however, the right place to conduct business. Websites like Twitter and Facebook are primarily intended as social platforms. As such, their users are easily irked by pushy or “spammy” businesses flooding in-boxes and issuing friend requests. Social media marketing should be non-confrontational and easy going – even subtle. While Facebook, Twitter and the like can be a great way to get your name out there and position yourself as an authority in your industry, they aren’t the places to sell your products and hock your services.

Your primary focus should be to capture your brand, provide access to your services, and deliver your story with a quality, easy-to-use and fully functional website. Once that’s accomplished, it’s time to meet your target demographic in the online social circles that they frequent and build the relationships that will ultimately drive traffic to your website. By taking a balanced, holistic approach to web marketing you’ll be putting the cart and the horse exactly where they belong.

Below are the keys to branding your business in the age of the Internet, to a consumer who has increasingly little time for any sort of confusion.

Choosing What Your Brand Is About

Many marketing experts say to start the branding process by creating a slogan for your business, as many of the other branding efforts are simply graphic interpretations of this short phrasing. Make the slogan as short and as poignant as possible.

Sell the Sizzle, Not the Steak.

When choosing your slogan, be sure to focus on the benefits of your product or service, not the features. For instance, if you are a luxury car maker, you are not actually selling the features of that car, which may be incredible horsepower or more roominess. These are features which simply enhance the true benefit of the vehicle, which is status.

Connecting Your Online and Offline Brands

Neither the online or offline components of your marketing and advertising campaigns can fully function without the other. The two working together, however, is definitely a case of 1 + 1 = 11. The first consideration you should give to branding your business is to make sure that both your online and offline components are similar in message and visualization.

Second, make sure that your online marketing stays up to date. Nothing is perceived as less professional than offline branding which leads to an inferior web site. It is also frustrating.

Ideally, your online and offline branding should create a circular web of information hubs and contact points all recommending one another and leading to the sales page, or a salesperson. Expand this web judiciously, using strategic backlinks online and well placed ads in a targeted locale (or locales).

The Importance of Your Logo

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a logo is worth a thousand ads. Implant meaning in the mind of the consumer with your logo and your brand message will soon reach critical mass. People will begin spreading the word about your brand, rather than you having to do all of the work yourself. Your message will also become simpler and more focused, because it will now have a center, a core from which to eminate.

Make sure that you are branding your business with a logo that is as simple and as catchy as possible. It helps to define your business in a sentence or slogan first, then perhaps take that description to a number of graphic designers. Have them draw up a few suggestions each and chose the best.

Make Sure to Brand Your Collateral

Many people mistakenly group branding material and collateral. Although the difference between the two is academic, it helps to have a generalized lingo when speaking to third party vendors who will be helping in branding your business. Your brand is anything that brings your product and what it is all about into the mind of the consumer. Collateral can generally be defined as the medium by which the brand is transferred to the consumer, e.g. a brochure or business card.

All collateral must have the same logo, text type, color, etc. Try to maintain a similar graphical outline between mediums.

Branding Your Business For the Web

Branding a business online requires the most technical expertise, and therefore deserves special consideration. The main idea to branding a business online is to have backlinks pointing to your web site. The mediums by which these backlinks are transferred are usually blogs, directories, and do follow comment links. Try to control the content of these mediums as much as possible and streamline the message. This process is perhaps the one to make sure to outsource, as attempting to market to high quality backlinks can be time consuming, much less controlling the message that they send out.

Think of the businesses you frequent without even batting an eye. What logos are you wearing right now whose meaning has been so ingrained in your psyche that you could not only place the company just from looking at its symbol, but probably sing its theme song as well and name the last commercial you saw of that product? Such is the power of a logo. People like to be branded; to show that they are in the know by being associated with brands that are in the public eye. You do yourself a great service when you commit to a well designed logo.

What is a well designed logo?

The logos of the companies that you love are very simple, and they say a lot in a decidedly uncomplicated way. Well designed logos take on meanings of their own, and become their own definition. Yet they are immediately recognizable upon first glance and impossible to mistake for any other symbol, even though they look like they have been around forever. In short, a well designed logo is familiar, simple, and unique.

How do you design a familiar, simple, and unique logo?

As the great philosopher Britney Spears once famously said in an interview, “It’s easy to make a song that nobody likes.” Hate her or love her, she has a point. Her music is popular because it is catchy, and her brand new song sounds like something you have somehow already heard. Her songs sound so simple, yet every note is pored over by a team of producers and engineers who are paid great sums of money to cram very complex procedures into an easily digestible four minute dance song. They can only do this by permitting themselves to follow current trends and lingo, and producing their ideas in the language of the average consumer. This may mean using the same instruments as last month’s Miley Cyrus hit, but using a different melody. It may mean making reference to a current event in the lyrics. Without getting too in depth, familiar, simple, and unique ideas are so because they are translated into a language that anyone can understand.

How does this help me make a well designed logo?

In order to create a well designed logo that is familiar, simple, and unique, you must first truly know and vet your company. What are you really selling your customer base? If your product is a 100 inch 4 dimensional TV, are you selling a new technology, or are you selling social status? If your service is carpet cleaning, are you selling clean carpets, or are you selling peace of mind?

Most likely, your product or service has been done before by someone; however, the reason that you are in the industry that you are in is because you offer something that is better, faster, or a little more innovative than the competition. If you have not already pinpointed why people give you their money rather than the 15 other companies they could do business with, take a survey or hold a focus group and find out. This difference between you and them is called your niche and will become the basis of your beautifully well designed logo.

Once you have found your true niche, translate it into words.

You may already have a slogan for your business, but does it address the real reason that people use your product or service, or is it attempting to hard sell your wares to the consumer with a generic plea of “we are the best / fastest”? Make your slogan familiar (no words that your seven year old cousin would not understand), simple (direct and to the point), and unique (this should be easy if you have found out why people are really giving you money!). You will then be ready to translate those words into a designed logo.

Translate the slogan into a picture.

This may be where you employ the services of a graphic designer, but his or her job will be made easy by the fact that you already have the idea worded and clear as ocean water. All that is required then is to find someone who sees your vision and is able to translate it into a visual on Photoshop or a similar program. And there you have it, your logo, which will draw people to you for years to come. Congratulations! Now, all you have to do is learn what “bandwidth” is and how to increase it without destroying your “uptime ratio!”

Do You Grab the Client’s Attention?

When you sell your design services to potential clients, do you really grab their attention? Do you even know what it is that you offer to them? You have to know this and you have to put out that call to action to get the client to use your services and not the other company. Sell it to the client and show them how you will get the results that they need. Think about how many different ways that you can find to sell their product with your graphic design talents. Add a call to action that says that you are the one for them to get the idea across. It doesn’t matter what they have to sell. Tell them that you can sell it with your design talent.

Content Time

Do not forget to add content that graphically shows the client how you work. You need to make sure that any call to action reflects content and not fluff. What does that mean? Show them how you helped the other clients with graphic design, and how you did it. References probably wouldn’t hurt either. You’ve heard of “show me the money?” Well, show them the content. Show it to them big. Include that call to action.

What is in Your Portfolio?

Your portfolio is your showcase. Far too many designers have the same one every single time. It’s a disaster for anyone that wishes to stand out in the crowd. The only way that you can do that is to make your portfolio stand out from the other hundreds of thousands of designers. When you show that remember to add that call to action. Ask the client to use your design services. Provide them with the required information. Make sure that you have a “call” section on that card. Then place as many ways that they can reach you as possible.

How can you do that?

You have to think of what makes you different. What makes you unique? How is your design portfolio a step above the rest? Whatever that is amplify it for the client. Make a point to show off the difference that you offer the client. Remember that it is the first impression that they have of your style and design that sells your work. You want to show them how you will “rock their product”. Then go do it. Remember to tell them to call you when they need that specific type of design.

Get a Professional Business Card

This is where you put your big call to action. Place the information that catches their eye. Remember to keep it uniquely you. Offer the information that they need to hire you as their client. It is where you really shine as a designer. Show the client what you can do with the design or your business card. The worst thing that you could do is to have a plain professional business card. Too many designers do this because they want to not get categorized as any one type of designer. You have to stand out for who you are to the potential client. Your call to action is your business card. Make it shine and advertise who you are to them. Sell it there. Tell them how you are going to get them exactly what they are looking for.

Final Thoughts

When your new clients come calling from all this new advertisement you have created, then you must make sure that you call them back immediately. Get that ball rolling in your direction. Your call to action is never more important than right now. The client is calling you and asking about you. It is now time to step up the game and get it sold. Show them what you can do. Then do it. Do it right and listen to what they want from you. Do that and remember to ask them to call you anytime that they need someone for a design job. Don’t forget to share some of your business cards then too. Ask them to share their experience with you to their colleges. This is the final step. Get the new client to be your new call to action.