Archive for January, 2010

Logo Design from a Designer’s Perspective

Written by Jenn on January 29th, 2010

Functionality

A great logo transitions easily across a variety of mediums  and sizes. It may need to be seen on everything from a small black and white newspaper ad, to a  2-page spread in a full-color, glossy magazine to a billboard on the side of a freeway. It  needs to represent your company on the web, or on t-shirts, etched in glass, embossed in leather, and so on and so on. A simple, clean yet dynamic logo can accomplish all these tasks easily.

Timeless

While a logo may need to be updated from time to time to remain relevant, the fundamental design of a logo should stand the test of time. Logos that rely on the current trends will look dated quickly and need to be recreated, diminishing any awareness you had built up in your brand.

One-of-a-kind

A custom logo should represent you and you alone. It should be uniquely your own and not a copycat of someone else. While it may seem like a good to idea to ride on the coattails of others, it can be confusing to the consumer and can lead to a loss in sales.

Set the tone

A logo sets the tone for the company. The product or service you provide should be represented in your logo. It should provide a quick snapshot of what is being marketed.

For example, a company that is comprised of mostly men and focuses on tractor sales will not be represented well with a delicate script font.  It would require a more bold, strong sans font style to portray their product.

Check back here next week for examples of some top Ranked Logos

Posted in Branding/Identity | No Comments »

website programmer’s productivity

Written by Brian on January 28th, 2010

As a website developer it seems I’ve got a lot of applications and windows open at any given time and there are a lot of programs that I need quick frequent access to.  With 99% of my day spent looking at this 23″ real estate in front of my eyes (two 23″ screens actually), I am constantly searching for ways to be more productive and fly through my workspace.   Nothing is more frustrating to me than getting a phone call or getting a new idea and having to hunt for a place to put a note.  Or deciding I need to look up an email address and having to hunt through many open windows just to find outlook’s Contact window.

Sidebar Guy

One of the solutions I found over the years is moving my Taskbar to the left side of the screen.  A feat that caused one of my coworkers to refer to me as “oh you’re one of those sidebar taskbar guys… I can’t talk to you anymore.”  But I figured this out about 5 years ago and just love the results!  It gives me so much more room at the top for all my Quick Launch programs.  These are just programs that I open and close on a frequent basis.  For programs like Outlook which I open once per day and leave open, those stay one more click away in the start menu.

After the Quick Launch icons, all my programs are displayed in a vertical stack.  I can see the title of all the open windows and get to them instantly.  No more squished taskbar buttons with just a hint of an icon displayed.  I can now configure applications like MS Office to keep separate documents as separate taskbar buttons because I have so much room!

Next, there’s no need to hide those pesky tray icons because I have more room still!  This way I can see each one of those little resource hogs and kill the ones I don’t want.  And right under those the FULL date and time is displayed.  By just glancing down to the bottom left I can instantly see the current date (and even be reminded it’s Thursday in case it’s been one of those weeks).

Changes in Paradise

All of these things have made my life working in Windows more enjoyable.  Ha!  More enjoyable?  Yes, I actually like Windows.  I used to be a Mac advocate (really!) but I have been converted to the Windows majority.  I have a Mac at home right now, but I just can’t seem to be as productive on it.  What were they thinking leaving off that right mouse button for crying out loud???  First thing I had to buy was a REAL mouse. :)

But unfortunately Microsoft seems to copy everything good Apple produces and adds their own little flair to it.  Although I believe Microsoft made some good decisions with the taskbar and their windowing ideas (file, edit, view on each window instead of just at top) I’m not so confident in the future.

Windows 7 is now out and in full effect.  It seems the taskbar has been transformed into something that is almost exactly like the OS X dock.  Although people seem to love them (Both Windows 7 and the OS X dock), I’m not so certain of my future happiness.  I’m used to everything I want one click away and now it seems like everything is 2 clicks away or maybe a 2 second mouse-over, move the mouse, then a click.

Ack.  If I’m browsing the internet on my Mac at home, this is great and works just fine.  But when I have 10 things going on and 20 windows open, I just love having my taskbar on the side.

Posted in Computers, Web Design | 1 Comment »

Key Ingredients of Successful Website Design

Written by Vanessa on January 27th, 2010

Grab the users’ attention! People move quickly from site to site so catch their attention with a call to action, striking images, graphics and headlines.

Tell it up front! Explain who you are, what you do, why you do it, and how they can contact you on the home page.

Navigation should be simple and intuitive. People will leave a website quickly if the navigation is confusing in any way.

A well designed site with quality graphics will boost customer confidence. If a visitor perceives your site as amateurish, they will move on.

Place important information “above the fold” so people do not have to scroll to read it. This term is borrowed from newspaper publishing where lead stories are placed in the top half of a page or “above the fold”.

Images should be optimized so they download quickly on the web.

Ecommerce websites should make online ordering fast, easy and secure.

Respond to messages and orders from your website quickly. Usually within 24 hours.

Give people a reason to come back by providing fresh content.

Posted in Web Design | No Comments »

Growing Exponentially

Written by Joan on January 26th, 2010

Being a business owner for over 16 years gives me a lot to reflect on. Starting as a freelance artist and now the owner of a small website and design firm with employees and a partner has been quite a journey. Where I am today in business is a culmination of life experiences and decisions. I have now recreated my business for the third time and it has given me some insight on growing a business. I wanted to share a few of these business growth accelerators with you this month.

Get comfortable with what you don’t know. The only problem is that you don’t know what you don’t know until you know what you don’t know. It took me two years to figure this one out. I came to a place of realizing that I didn’t know enough to grow the business any larger then what I knew. I didn’t know enough about growing my business to fulfill the ultimate vision I had for it. Because of this realization when Malcolm Hilcove approached me to buy into my business I considered it. Once I realized what an amazing businessman he is and that we had the same values (the same values are extremely important for a business partner) I accepted his offer. This was one of the best decisions I could have made in growing my business. With his business knowledge and my vision SmartImage Media started advancing at warp speed.

Next week I’ll write about Accelerator two, Take Responsibility for Everything.

Posted in Smart Image Media | No Comments »

Campaign to update your browsers

Written by Brian on January 22nd, 2010

As a programmer, I usually love my job.  I get a new project, slice up the images from the graphic designer, whip up some standards-compliant XHTML and CSS code, and my efforts are rewarded by a beautiful result in my Internet Explorer 8, my FireFox 3 browser and the Safari browser we use to test.  All is good in happy in programmer land.

…then, I usually remember a few minutes before we go live, I need to test the site in IE6!  So I open my Virtual PC, pop open the dinosaur browser, and without fail, the site looks nothing like it was intended.  Things are shifted all over the place, graphics that are supposed to be transparent are not, some JavaScript doesn’t even work well.

This is the hardest part of the job.  Usually sets me into a mood where I start wishing I was a rock star or even just a simple farmer with no browser issues to worry about.  But I press on, find some hacks and get the site to work in IE6.  When it’s all said and done, it usually works out OK, but the frustrating part is this browser should be long gone.  It was written over 8 years ago.  Do you remember what computers were like 8 years ago?

But I digress.  Let’s forget about the poor programmers who are losing their hair too early and lets talk about YOU.  :) With so much money spent on anti-virus, firewall programs, identity protection, etc… these days, why not upgrade IE6 to something more secure?  Take a look at the security flaw found in IE6 on July 8, 2008. With patching schedules, this issue wasn’t fixed until over a month later.  Want to read more?  Check out this article.

I’m thankful for sites like YouTube who display this message on their page: “We will be phasing out support for your browser soon.  Please upgrade to one of these more modern browsers”…

If you’re on our site, you probably have an up-to-date browser, but if you know someone still in the Precambrian period, lets get them to upgrade. With everybody’s help we can move the web forward and make it a better place for all!

Posted in Web Design | No Comments »

Business Nugget #1: Be True to Your Values

Written by Malcolm on January 21st, 2010

In tough economic times it’s tempting to take whatever business comes your way, even if it means compromising your values. If "EXCELLENCE" is one of your business values, don’t succumb to the temptation to drastically reduce your price or quality just to get the job. The compromise will hurt you in the long term – either your quality will suffer or you’ll reduce the price so much that you’ll make very little profit. It’s not a good recipe for long-term growth.

Recently a customer asked one of our sister companies us to do a wrap job in which they supplied the artwork. The design was mediocre, so I suggested that I would pay for a professional design. They agreed that if they liked the design, they’d pay and if not, we would pay. I said “You’ve got a deal!” They loved our design and our sister company has since wrapped over a dozen vehicles for them.  In fact, the customer says they get more inquiries from their wrapped vehicles than any other form of advertising and promotion they’re doing.

Standing firm on “excellence” led to a great design for our customer, even at the risk of having to pay more, not less.  This led to more business for our customer and a need for more vehicles. Naturally they wanted these extra vehicles wrapped too, so it came full circle.  Who knows what might have happened had we accepted the mediocre design to start with?

Posted in Marketing | No Comments »

FROM A DESIGNER’S PERSPECTIVE

Written by Jenn on January 21st, 2010

What you can do to help create a great brand for your company?

KNOW WHO YOU ARE

[What is your vision / goal for your company ]

The most important thing you can do in helping your designer create a unique and engaging brand is knowing who you are and what you want to say.

For Example:

If you had to sum up in one short sentence what your company is about, could you do it?

It you had to pick 10 words that describe the look and feel of your company, could you narrow it down to only 5?

Fonts: What font style do you lean towards? Are you more the simple, clean and strong SANS font style or do you prefer the embellished look of the SERIF fonts.

Colors: Colors have symbolism and what color you choose says a lot about who you are.

(check back here next month for a more detailed list of Colors and their Meanings)

DON’T RUSH THE PROCESS

[ Why “I want it yesterday”  is not a good idea ]

Can it be done? Absolutely. Should it be done? Absolutely not.

Creating a brand that is uniquely your own and describes who you are takes time. There can be many rounds of revisions before it feels right to you. The best thing you can do is speak up and be patient. And know that the designer that is creating your brand wants you to love your brand, not just like it as it will become a part of who you are.

THE QUICKEST WAY TO DESTROY THE BRANDING PROCESS

[ Why Designing by Committee is a BIG no-no ]

Bringing in an entire committee to help design a brand can add days, weeks or even months to an already lengthy design process. While it can be comforting to get many opinions on the brand you are creating, you also need to be conscience of the fact that everyone has different likes and dislikes. Even though a consensus has been reached on the vision and goals for your company, how that vision gets portrayed can be very different for everyone. It helps the designer to have one voice and one clear vision or your brand will not look cohesive.

KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

[ Be Conscience of who you are asking feedback from ]

Are you a young fashion designer who is trying to appeal to the young up-and-coming 20 somethings?

Then your Mother, whom  you love, trust and have always cherished her advice, may not be the best person to ask if this brand describes you and what you do. While your brand is definitely about you, it also has to appeal to the masses you want to reach.

Posted in Branding/Identity | No Comments »

5 Things to Know Before Beginning your New Website

Written by Vanessa on January 19th, 2010

1. Determine who will be involved

How will you select the right company to build the website for you? Will someone in your office update the website?  What company will host the site? Will a consultant or advertising agency be involved with the project such as an SEO expert or a copywriter?

2. Define the purpose of the website

What is the goal of your website in order to reach your target market? Will you sell products or services on the website?  Will you accept credit cards? Do you need databases? Are you providing information or expertise maybe a Blog is a good idea to share your knowledge and advice. Do you want a content management system? Get out a legal pad and start making a list of pages.

3. Design and Layout

The design and layout should be created first incorporating your logo/brand, colors and graphics.  Keep in mind you should have an outline of the proposed content for the site in order to make sure that everything is accounted for and has it’s place to ensure nothing is missed pr forgotten. If visitors have an unsatisfactory experience, they won’t come back.

4. Promote, Promote, Promote

Even if you are familiar with some web marketing techniques, a web marketing professional can determine the right strategy for your website. There are many web marketing options available, selecting those that will be most effective for your website will save you time and money. You should also create and use an email signature which includes your website address. Send out a press release or launch and email marketing campaign to promote your new website.  Give people a reason to visit, whether it be to educate, get a free sample, or enter a drawing. A “Call to Action” is very important in getting visitors to your site and to keep them engaged while they are there.

5. Maintain and update the website

As your website evolves, pages will be added and removed. Regular maintenance should include looking for broken links and missing graphics. Old price sheets and outdated articles will destroy your credibility. If you want to keep people coming back, you’ll want to regularly update the website and add new information. No one will be interested in returning to a stagnant website.

Posted in Web Design | No Comments »

Want More Referrals? Give and You Shall Receive

Written by Vanessa on January 6th, 2010

As a sales person we all want to get that big deal, make the killer commission and score points with the boss. Have you ever thought there must be an easier way than the traditional grind of selling, cold calling, lead lists, and the like? Well I think I may have found a solution with five laws to stratospheric success. As a business owner, they have all worked for me.

About two years ago I began a very extensive program to do business by referral. I learned all of the techniques, took all of the classes, studied hard and applied what I learned to my business.  All of the things that I learned and applied are broken down into five laws in the book The Go-Giver and they are techniques that I use everyday. I bet a lot of you use them as well but just aren’t aware you were doing it! They are:

The Law of Value

Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment. For instance treat all current and future clients the same and provide the same value and experience regardless of the cost of the sale.

The Law of Compensation

Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them. Your compensation is proportional to how many lives you touch.

The Law of Influence

Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first. Place others’ interests ahead of your own and you will get what you need.

The Law of Authenticity

The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself. YOU are the most important commodity. No matter what you are selling, what you are really offering is yourself.

The Law of Receptivity

The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving. YOU must make yourself willing to receive in equal measure as you give. If you are unwilling to receive you interrupt the process. You must have an appetite to receive.

I urge you to apply these five laws to your sales process for the next month and see if you notice a difference not only in your sales but in yourself. One of the best ways to increase your success and wealth is by investing in yourself. Hey, if it’s not right  for you, you can always go back to cold calling!

Posted in Marketing | No Comments »

Don’t Lose your Domain!

Written by Vanessa on January 6th, 2010

I recently heard a story about a business owner that I thought was worth sharing.

One day this business owner realized that he was not receiving any emails. After a lot of digging to find out the problem he realized that he had let the registration expire on his domain (www.mydomain.com), which in turn disabled his email and website. He contacted the registrar of his domain who informed him that the domain had expired and that they had made numerous attempts via email to contact him to renew it. Turns out all those emails ended up in his junk email folder and were never opened. As a result, someone bought his domain out from under him and advised him that they would be happy to sell it back to him for $150,000!

These days, domain brokering is becoming becoming quite a business in itself. These individuals keep an eye out with domain registrars for expiring domains and snap them up for a nominal fee—sometimes as low as $10.00 a year. Then they turn around and try to sell them for an exorbitant amount of money that the average business owner cannot afford.

Don’t let this happen to you!

  • Be aware of where and who is the registrar of your domain
  • If possible host your domain with a company that will handle the renewals for you.
  • You can often set up an auto-renewal with registrars
  • Mark the renewal date on your calendar. Set up a reminder for a month before
  • Consider renewing your domain name for 3 years or more years at a time, so you don’t have to worry about it for while.

In our ever-changing economy everyone is trying to make money and keep their businesses competitive. Don’t let these domain brokers take advantage of you. Once you have an established business and domain, losing it can cause serious setbacks to your business. Your website goes down, no one can email you and all of your business collateral is no longer valid—a pretty expensive misstep.

If you are not already aware of who the registrar of your domain is, find out and keep track of it or ask Smart Image Media how to find out this information. If you already have all of this information, consider yourself a step ahead of everyone else!

Posted in Domains | No Comments »