Archive for July, 2007
Time to Redesign
July 31st, 2007
MatthewBefore I start, I want to say, that my job is to get you results with your business. Web design is so much more that just something nice to look at. Seriously, think about it. Myspace.com is bought for a huge amount of money. Youtube.com was bought for a gazillion dollars. Why? Because the internet is the most powerful media source available today and if you want success like I do, you need to make it and be the best you can be. The truth is designs age within a couple of years, much like cars or cell phones. With my new iphone in hand, I look at my wife’s blackberry and laugh at how outdated her phone is.
Is it time to redesign?
As overwhelming of a task as it may seem, your website is your company’s image and needs to look professional and up to date. Ask yourself, how long have I had my current web site design? If your answer is more than 2 years, then its time to start thinking redesign.
Web technology advancements are very rapid and every year the industry breaks through with new and improved web applications, usability, design and back end programming. As a reference, Car manufacturers usually change their models every 3-5 years. Always introducing something new, sleeker, faster, with up to date technology etc. In fact car manufacturers make minor changes every year to give their customers something new to look forward to. Just like cars, web sites also need a fresh design every once in a while.
Don’t be left behind, if you aren’t going to do it, your competitors will. Your site may look great to you, after all you approved on the design and paid for it, but in reality it may not be all that great in today’s standards.Unfortunately, no matter how great your product or service may be, if your web site doesn’t grab your potential customer’s attention within the first 3 seconds, chances are they will leave your website. Shoppers aren’t very patient and need something that makes them take the next step.
Evaluate your site’s look and feel, does it look old, are you still using tables or frames. If so, it is time to redesign. Have a third party look through your site, and see how well it conveys your products and services to someone who knows nothing about it.
Get your hands on a web analytics report that tells you how many users have visited your site. Let’s face it; a successful website is all about conversions. If you are getting a lot of traffic than disregard my article.Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression, so make it the right one. If you don’t your competition will.
I aspire to be more, to do more, and to make more. What about you?
Backgrounds in Photos
July 31st, 2007
MatthewEver wonder why products in catalogs are always shown without backgrounds? Even majority of clothing models are typically shown on plain white.
Without distracting elements hovering behind the product, a customer is free to see the product itself. Your customers’ eyes will instantly be drawn straight to the product — exactly where you want it to go. The product looks cleaner, especially without the distracting noise of the background. Also, depending on the product, a subtle drop shadow may add more depth to a product picture.
If you take the additional time to set up a product shot, it really pays off in the end. Not only will it need less work done in photoshop, but it will give your website a complete and professional look.
Tricks to Success
July 29th, 2007
MatthewLast week I received a phone call from a client that hired a freelance designer and after a year of going back and forth with the freelance designer, their website was still not completed. Needless to say, they were extremely upset and rightfully so. Freelance designers can be a great cost effective alternative to an established design company, however, it is more likely than not to go sour.
Why hiring a freelancer is a bigger risk .So many creative freelance designers work out of their homes and only dedicate part time hours to their clients. Most have no idea on how to do anything other than design. For example, Web design is not solely about design. It is an elaborate combination of concept, design, strategy, marketing, and follow through. Don’t set yourself up for failure: If your company is serious to you, you need to hire an established company that has taken their own company from concept to success and one that has a track record of doing the same for their clients. Starting a business is not an easy thing to do. It is more likely that a new business will fail than succeed. If you hire the wrong people in the crucial concept and development phase of your business, you are setting up a huge barrier for yourself. Success comes with hiring a successful company. They can help you get to the next step quickly because they have done it for themselves. First impressions count and don’t forget it. Whether you’re contacting a creative professional for the first time as a business or in a personal capacity there are a few words of advice for all concerned.Be clear of your goals
First off, take time to work out exactly what your requirements are and the budget you have at your disposal. The more experience the design company has, the more they can help you with this process. If you’re hiring a creative professional take time to review their skills, experience and pricing. Above all ensure their past work marries with any expectations you may have about the style of work you hope will result from your association.
Conclusion
Use common sense, only a successful company can help you build success. My company consists of three full time designers, one internet marketing expert, and a programmer. I have taken my business from nothing to a nationally recognized brand.
Shoot High Resolution
July 29th, 2007
MatthewOne of the most important reasons for packing a massive memory card is to enable you to shoot at your camera’s highest resolution. If you paid a premium price for a 6 megapixel digicam, then get your money’s worth and shoot at 6 megapixels. And while you’re at it, shoot at your camera’s highest quality compression setting too. Why not squeeze more images on your memory card by shooting a lower resolution and low quality compression settings? Because you never know when you’re going to capture the next great image of the 21st century. And if you take a beautiful picture at the low 640 x 480 resolution, that means you can only make a print about the size of a credit card, not exactly the right dimensions for hanging in the museum. On the other hand, if you recorded the image at 2272 x 1704 (4 megapixels) or larger, then you can make a lovely 8- x 10-inch photo-quality print suitable for framing or even for gracing the cover of Time magazine. And just in case you were able to get as close to the action as you had liked, having those extra pixels enables you to crop your image and still have enough resolution to make a decent sized print. The point is, if you have enough memory (and you know you should), then there’s no reason to shoot at lower resolution and risk missing the opportunity to show off your work in a big way.
New advertising ideas
July 29th, 2007
MatthewIt takes a lot to make things new, especially in advertising. The world has never been more saturated with marketing logos, messages, images and branding. They’re on the mug that holds your morning coffee, the radio in your car, the walls of your train car and even in the pages of the restaurant menu at lunch.
As Americans become desensitized to traditional media, marketers are finding new places to capture their attention. The new frontiers of advertising are as varied as the old–from ad panels on employee uniforms to laminates on airplane tray tables–which means there are opportunities for both small startups and national brands.
Here are five of the newest places to pitch your brand, service or product.
1. Tray tables in the sky
Imagine having hours of a consumer’s rapt attention. It’s just your ad and their eyes; they can’t leave, and they can’t use their phone. They can use their computer, but that will likely bring their eyes right back to your ad.
Advertising has finally hit airplanes in a more in-your-face way than the in-flight TV programming or magazine. New York-based Brand Connections SkyMedia has already lined up contracts with America West and US Airways to put laminated ads on airline tray tables.
"This is the anti-clutter," Brian Martin, CEO of Brand Connections, says. "It’s purely captive." He says the ad space is ideal for brands with high-ticket items.
2. Employee uniforms (not your own)
Bartenders can hold a lot of sway over what people choose to drink. A talented mixologist at a trendy club suggesting an açaí berry liqueur is a powerful way to get consumers to drink acai cocktails. So imagine if the bartender’s shirt bore a giant, color-rich, graphic panel advertisement of a particular liquor or mixer.
That’s the marketing concept behind Los Angeles-based Eye Level Marketing. The company is pitching the interchangeable shirt panels to theme parks, stadiums, shopping centers and retail stores.
3. Golf cart hubcaps
Golf club and golf clothing makers have long had the monopoly on golf course branding. Tournaments have offered opportunities for corporate exposure, but often the visibility for hole sponsors is minimal at best.
Enter Static Media Group and its non-rotating golf cart hubcaps. The Woodstock, Georgia-based firm launched the concept in Atlanta in November.
"It’s going very well," says Neil Johnson, director of sales. The company is expecting to launch in six markets, from Southern California to Tampa Bay, within the next three months, Johnson adds. The concept is appropriate for any company targeting high-end consumers, from beverage companies to mortgage lenders.
An executive playing at a recent golf tournament told Johnson, "You know, I can’t tell you who a single hole sponsor was, but I can tell you who was riding along on the wheels."
4. On your shirttails
Most companies have ponied up for T-shirts that feature their name and logo, whether for employees to wear at promotional events or as handouts to customers.
But aside from a company’s name, the shirts don’t offer much additional information. Montoloking, N.J.-based Telme Clothing, however, has been helping companies get a more personal message across to customers.
The company sells customized tees bearing the traditional full-front or left-chest logo, but it adds an unexpected twist on the inside back bottom of the shirt. There, a company can include several paragraphs of its mission statement or all of its contact information.
Owner and President Kevin Shane says Telme’s main market is in promotional shirts for companies, and they’re a hit with smaller firms. "We don’t have minimums," Shane says. "We don’t like to turn any business away."
5. Around town
Keep an eye out for advertising opportunities on the municipal vehicles, city-owned buildings or recycling bins in your area. More municipalities are considering ways to boost revenue without hitting up taxpayers and are seeing advertising opportunities on local infrastructure.
Allentown, Pennsylvania, for example, is exploring ways to raise revenue by selling municipal marketing space. And the police cars in Toledo, Ohio, will soon host the logos and phone numbers of sponsors. The ad sponsorships are the city council’s solution to a deteriorating fleet.
Keys to Branding
July 27th, 2007
MatthewEvery brand is different. The point of branding is to distinguish you from the competition. Just about every good brand meets the following criteria. Look at these criteria as you develop a brand from the ground up, or test your existing brand against them.
1. Targeted
Your brand must start by being appropriate to your market and product. Microsoft is a great brand, but if you were marketing to kids and mothers, you wouldn’t want to emulate Microsoft.
Every great brand you can think of clearly communicates who the audience is: Apple nonconformists; Nordstrom upper class, by wealth or tastes; Toys”R”Us annoying, but obviously kids, kids, kids.
I recently worked with a company to develop a logo and brand strategy for an electronics engineering resource site. The company had started with an idea for fun and hip. But the more we worked from that angle, the farther we got from the audience. Engineering tools just are not fun or hip. We ended up doing an about-face, and defined a brand that was clean, efficient, simple, and bright.
2. Clear
What’s the message? From the logo to the collateral, are you communicating an instantly comprehensible message? Look again at the example of Toys”R”Us. You can instantly recognize the message: kid-oriented and kids only, fun, everything a kid could want.
Test your own messaging. Show several of your marketing pieces (ads, collateral, business cards) to a total stranger. Do they describe the company traits the same way you would?
3. Meaningful
The message about your company must be meaningful. If you base your image on excellent service, you must deliver on that promise. If the customer’s experience doesn’t match his or her expectations, the image will become negative. You will lose the customer’s trust, which is a very serious problem that is difficult to fix.
List the strengths of your company. Does this match your brand? List the weaknesses. Are you trying to use image and branding to deny or rectify any of these weaknesses? The brand should talk about what’s great about your company. It should then become a mission statement unto itself.
4. Consistent
You have established a clear, meaningful message. Now repeat. Don’t change the message; and communicate it consistently through everything.
My favorite aspect of the Nordstrom brand is that they use their message perfectly. Look at the catalogs, the ads, the retail space, the merchandise, the Web site: The message is perfectly consistent across media, across targets. They may market to kids, to teens, to women, to men, to mall shoppers, to Web shoppers, but they never stray from the core image of quality and service.
Look at your advertising, collateral, communications, and environments. Are you consistent, or does your message waver? Note that the more often you change your message, logo, and branding, the harder it is to apply.
One of my clients had a tough time deciding on a message, and kept tinkering. This left the client with outdated collateral, ads, press releases, and Web sites that did not communicate a consistent message. Consistency means both consistent application of the message, and longevity.
5. Recognizable
Crafting a message is an important process. But once you have that done, the tough part begins: getting the message out there. This is the Zen of branding. If a brand is good but no one knows about it, is it really a good brand?
Good branding can work to establish recognition if you target it to customers, then consistently repeat it until they memorize it. So start that repetition in advertising, press releases, and collateral. Consistency, clarity, and repetition build recognition, the real brass ring of all branding.
6. Actionable
The point of branding and gaining recognition is to drive action. The action should be built into the message: “We are the fastest and cheapest (so buy from us).” “Trust our service: we’ve been in the news industry for 30 years (so visit us regularly).” “We are cool enough and serious enough for competitive athletes (so you should buy our shoes, too).”
The brand we developed for the electronics industry site communicated this concept: “Our service will help you be more productive, more organized, and more informed.” This message revolves around the users’ self-interest.
In other words, does the customer care about what you’re saying? It may be a great message, but the whole point is to motivate sales. Does it do this?
Use of light
July 27th, 2007
MatthewThe use of light in a photograph can be the deciding factor of whether that picture will be spectacular or terrible. When you use your camera to automatically chose aperture and shutter speed, what your camera is actually doing is using the built in light meter and measuring how much light is being reflected to the camera.
But that doesn’t mean that’s all there is to it. You should also think about the angle of the light entering the frame, what kind of shadows you want, and whether you want to use fill-in-flash (using flash to light the subject if you have a really bright background). If you are shooting at night you can create all sorts of cool effects like lights in motion, pictures with moonlight, or silhouettes like the one shown here. The following are just some examples of all the possibilities.
The angle of light should be taken into careful consideration whenever you feel like you want to create a specific effect. Shadows can be very powerful when cast over half of someone’s face. In this photo on the left the light is striking the statue’s face from the rear right of the camera and this adds more depth to the picture. It also adds more coloring because if front-lighting was used his face would likely be over exposed, and if back-lighting was used his face would just be black like a silhouette.
The effect of rays of light indoors and outdoors. can be very spectacular. A brilliant part of some great photographs is the ability to see actual rays of light. Whether it be in the setting of a brilliant sunset, light pouring through a window or from artificial lights it can look very impressive. Usually the only way to obtain something like this is a narrow aperture (high f/stop) and a very slow shutter speed.
Silhouettes are another interesting example of using light. The way to create a silhouette is to have significantly brighter light coming from behind the subject. In doing this it is important to take your camera light reading off of the background instead of the subject in order for the camera to adjust for an exposure based on the backlight. If you do this the subject will be successfully underexposed like in the picture at the top of this page.
If you keep experimenting with different ways of using light you will find that you can get very interesting results. The longer the exposure, the more fascinating the results with light most of the time. In the picture on the right, this is a long single exposure and yes that is the same person in two places. If your wondering how this was possible, here’s how.
The shutter speed was set for around 30 seconds, the camera was set on a tripod and someone stood next to the camera with a flashlight. The subject then stood in one place while the flashlight was pointed at him and moved in an up and down motion. After around 15 seconds the flashlight was turned off and the subject was told to move to his left. Then the flashlight was pointed at him again and moved up and down until the camera finished the exposure.
Update
July 27th, 2007
MatthewWell, I had hoped to have everything put together and be announced by today but we have run into a few glitches. So, next week I be letting you in on the changes, new services , etc.
Strategic Messaging
July 26th, 2007
MatthewWhen pressure surfaces to boost sales, direct marketing materials often present a logical fit for home business professionals. However, given the importance of executing these campaigns properly, it’s amazing to see how much emphasis is placed on the advertising materials and how little on the messages that go in them.
Designing and printing direct marketing postcards, for example, with standard promotional language will only go so far in increasing sales leads and conversion rates. Ultimately, the most effective postcard will speak to the unique messages of your customer base.
Strategic messaging should be a routine exercise for any home business. If customers prefer convenience, then focus on language that will best elevate the need (i.e. “hassle-free” or “user-friendly”).
If they prefer variety, then consider terms such as “choice” and “flexibility” in your materials. These seemingly simple techniques can make a huge difference in whether you resonate with your target audience(s).
In order to differentiate your business from the litany of competing materials, you need to give customers a reason to trust your brand. Your marketing materials only represent the beginning of a much larger dialogue with your customers. Here are a few tips for initiating and growing this relationship.
Needs before Leads. Any marketing piece can have a ‘call to action,’ reaping short-term benefits. It’s just a matter of dangling the right incentive. But the best organic sales growth comes from the quality of your leads, not the quantity. Keep your messages connected to the fundamental needs of your customers.
Education over Assumption. Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. They probably require more information to truly appreciate the merits of your products and services, even if they appear ready to sign the dotted line. Whether it’s having a comprehensive website or a friendly voice answering the telephone, you should always promote ways to create a more informed customer.
Be honest and set realistic expectations. There’s nothing more off-putting to customers than seeing unsubstantiated claims in a promotional piece. Even if you think the tactic will raise revenues, consider the cost of losing trust and credibility. Customers need to know what your products and services can and cannot do because, in the end, they will discover the truth.
Initiate the Commitment. You may be seeking a commitment from the customer, but it’s the commitment you make to them that matters most. Customers want to see that you can fulfill your own promises – whether it’s promising to respond to a sales lead within a precise time frame, demonstrating an genuine interest to listen to the customer’s needs, or offering a quick turnaround time on work quoted.
Successful football coaches always come prepared with a playbook – helping them know which tactics to employ in any given situation. Your next direct marketing campaign should be approached with similar precision – specifically, determining which messages to convey to the appropriate audience.
Those strategic messages will define both the integrity you bring to your profession and the confidence you instill among your customers.
Careful Business Words
July 24th, 2007
MatthewThere are many reasons that these words are not appropriate for the business world. This doesn’t mean that I do not use them at home, or with very close clients whom are also friends. My point is that you should be aware that you use them at all and examine what message you are really trying to convey to the client.
just
ie. “I just think this design is what you should do.”
The problem as I’ve seen it with just is that it provides no factual or substantiated weight to your point. Rather, it makes your statement less important, as if there is no certain thought behind your statement at all. Most often we use the word in conjunction with the word think, which can be the most damaging from the client’s point of view.
honest
ie. “I honestly don’t know how that pixel got moved.”
I love the word honest. Honestly I do! In fact, I used to use it all the time, but what I have found is that when most people hear the word honest, they immediately think dishonest or lying. I think many clients also associate the word with sales, and the last thing a client wants to do is buy from a salesman, they want to by from a friend. This word also comes in the synonyms of frankly, truly, and the truth is.
simple
ie. “Its as simple as moving the database from the legacy system to MySQL.”
The great thing about the word simple is that it almost always can predict that the future of your statement will be anything but. To say something is simple, implies that it is too small for the client to worry about, but what really ends up happening is that it is usually this item that the client will fixate on because you have tried to downplay it. This word also comes in the synonyms of easy, no problem,and likity split. Yes, I’ve really heard a colleague say that last synonym before!
actually
ie. “Actually, the real objective is to design a new way for people to use toilet paper”
The word actually is always used to debunk a statement that has been already made. There is no way to use the word that would not force the listener to become on guard. If you use this word with a client then you are putting them down and trying to prove that you are right and they are wrong. Debate is fine and healthy in a client relationship but in this manner, and with this word in particular, you can do more harm than good.