Bloggers read this – it is the law!

On Dec 1, the FTC regulations regarding aspects of social media went into effect. First of all this is a good thing (not that regulations are good). It demonstrates that the era of social media has not only arrived but is a main part of business marketing and communications.

The FTC ruling is entitled “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”. The ruling is mainly directed to online media and specifically blogging. The aim of the ruling is to provide consumer protection that is found in traditional advertising media.

Some aspects of the ruling:
• Full disclosure by bloggers, on their blog posts, when they are either receiving compensation or free products by organizations whose products or services are discussed in the blog posting.
• If a company or advertising agency provides a blogger or other online commenter with incentives the online comments will be treated legally as endorsements
• If you provide incentives to a community of “preferred users” who blog about your product or service, you may be liable for any misleading statements made by the blogger
• For customer organizations, if one of your employees receives an evaluation sample and lets say free tickets to a Magic game and the employee evaluates the sample product as one of your employees, you may be liable for any statement (positive or negative) made by the employee.

A best practice guideline is to now treat company-initiated social media and blog posts as official corporate communications. Thus it becomes imperative that all social media marketing activities of an organization come together under one policy.
Thus Social Media, previously unregulated, now is regulated.

Marketing vs Technology

As we move from recession to transition, one of the areas that is changing is the type of market research and analysis that is conducted. It used to be one of the following two major categories:
• Technology driven
• Market driven

Computer and high tech companies are examples of technology driven. These companies based their marketing plans on what was/is the latest technology. Once the technology is replaced, the marketing program becomes unraveled. Product R&D drives the market.
Market driven is driven by market characteristics such as demographics and/or psychographics. Once the demographics change, the marketing approach must also change.

What works for baby-boomers will probably not work for Gen-X or Gen-Y.In the transition world, the most important thing is to address what customers want. The main point to remember is that customers do not really know what they want. What they are really looking for are better ways to solve their problems. The challenge thus becomes being able to understand the customers and their problems in depth. We must continually work on ways of making life easier for our customers. This may occur because of luck or detailed marketing research. The how is less important than the end result.

It is a Great Time to be Small

The reality is that we will not be in this recession forever. We are moving from recession to transition. Yes, clients are still buying but they are buying differently. After full economic recovery, they will continue to buy differently. Thus every organization and company needs to develop responses and solutions to address this transition.
Even the larger companies will have to change and this is great news for smaller companies. Large organizations have organizational structures that are slow to move and change. Their bureaucracy prohibits the types of changes that will be required. An example is when it comes to advertising. Previously advertisers and marketers measured ad campaigns by the amount of exposure. Social marketing channels have changed that. What we need to offer our clients (no matter the industry) are metrics to measure not exposure but effectiveness.
We must realize that the digital world is no longer a specialty but rather a competency that must exist throughout all elements of an organization. So my advice to small business owners and managers of larger organizations – as a ‘60s popular song lyrics read “for the times they are a changing”. That is a good thing if you start today moving from recession to transition just like your clients purchasing patterns.

Look Smart, Act Smart, Be Smart

One of strongest selling points for an organization, especially when providing professional services, is to have current and potential clients believe you are “smart”. This does not mean that you act as a “wise-guy” rather you are known for good ideas, professional knowledge, and willingness to share your insights. We call this Knowledge Perception.

There are several ways to build Knowledge Perception:
• Give seminars, workshops, and presentations – always be open to “speak” to people. Act as a subject-matter-expert (SME).
• Write books, e-books, and white papers – get your name and your organization’s name in print
• Electronic magazines and newsletters (e-zines). Provide helpful and relevant information to your audience.

We strongly suggest that you consider e-zines as part of your sales and marketing leads generation. Develop Knowledge Perception as part of your brand awareness.

What are you colored blind?

When working with clients, especially when it comes to brand and branding, we emphasis the importance of color (quick lesson: if 80% of all purchase decisions are emotional and 60% of emotion is created by color then. . .). Yet color is often a great source of frustration for both the designer and the client. This is especially true when the client wants you to match a color from some printed material (they do not have the color code (PMS, CMYK, RGB, etc.) and are judging if you have isolated the correct print color by viewing it from their lab top. Or they are trying to view using their in-house, free ink-jet printer of 4 years ago and are thinking that you are just stupid because it does not look green to them – it looks grey. You think that they are crazy and must be color blind.

It does not work. Stop right there. The two parties will never agree and if you do wait until you print. It will look even worst (did not even mention coated or uncoated.)

Designer – color is important. Take time to instruct your client on the science of color, Explain what the various color codes are, and why at times there is not a direct match between PMS CMYK and RGB. Explain what are web safe colors and their benefits. Warn them to never do final approval for print via a monitor.

Clients – Color is important. If you selected a professional studio/agency they know what they are talking about. Invest time in learning color management. Trust them. If not, you are just causing problems for the professional you hired and for yourself. Remember the most effective color probably is not your favorite color. We are trying to sell not select a color swatch for painting your house.

One final note: more than 15% of the population has some type of color blindness, but that is not the type of color blindness I am talking about. Color is important to the sales and marketing process. Take time and learn about color and color management – do not be blind to color.

Touching the Infinite

One thing good about blogging, is that your blog can and should be personal. Your blog should also be at times controversial. Well today I enter both arenas.

Yesterday, the studio took an employee motivation day and went to the Business Motivation Seminar at the convention center. There were over 7,000 attendees just at the convention venue. Do not know how many were at the Arena downtown. NO I am not going to comment on the program or the speakers (my favorite was Laura Bush). The organizers of the seminar said that their surveys indicated attendees were looking for more topics on spirituality and personal finance.

I was pleasantly surprised that most, if not all speakers continually referenced the need to include God in what we do. This got me thinking. God is the creator of all things. Our industry often uses the word create or creative such as creative graphic design. Not that we are playing God (even though there are some out there who border on thinking they are God). There is something in us designers who try to tap into that spark of creativity given to us as a gift from God. We, on/in various forms of media try to create stories, ideas, communications, and yes even beauty. As designers we try to “create” beauty and balance that we see all around us. As designers, everything we see is looked upon from a view point that was given to us as a gift from God. We strive to touch the infinite knowing that we never can. As St. Theresa once said, "God in the blinking of an eye can create an infinite number of new realities (new designs)".

I thank God for my gifts and talents in participating in the creative process, even if it is, in terms of eternity, just a grain of sand.

Get rid of some of the hot air

We often say that a picture is worth a thousand words. This is sometimes misinterpreted as visualization can replace words. This is so – not true! When marketing and selling, words are extremely important. Designers must work hand-in-hand with copywriters. Words are necessary tools to motivate and persuade your audience. Words are still a storyteller’s strongest tool. This is such an important subject that copywriting will be the theme topic for our upcoming monthly e-zine “Studio Buzz”.

I will leave you with just one of the many skills, good copywriters must have – elimination of wordy expressions! Marketing and sales collateral must be focused and on topic. The shorter the available copy space, the more challenging the task. Lincoln’s Gettysburg address was a masterpiece. The President was able to say more in his short speech than the speaker before him did in an hour and a half oration.

So here are just some examples of phrases that amount to little more than “dead wood” Most can be trimmed to a single word.

Instead of: At the present time, use now
Instead of:At this point in time, use now
Instead of:As of this date, use now
Instead of:At that time, use then
Instead of:At that point in time, use then
Instead of:During the time that, use when, during
Instead of:At which time, use when, during
Instead of:On the occasion of, use when, during
Instead of:Subsequent to, use after
Instead of:In the event that, use if
Instead of:After very careful consideration, use after considering
Instead of:Make inquiry regarding, use inquire

These are some of the many examples that demonstrate avoiding wordy expressions.

Are you design savvy?

A couple issues back of our studios’s e-zine “Studio Buzz” we talked about the importance of design. We also stated that since customers/clients so often make buying decisions based on emotions, successful organizations recognize that their human assets need to be design savvy. It is no longer function over form but it is now form over function. So how do you become design savvy? First of all, remember that design is about usefulness and affect not about contemplation and what you like. Design needs to communicate a message or concept.

Design savvy needs to start with the designer. As designers, often the people who make the final approval of our design(s) are not visually trained. They operate in the world of budgets and market share increase. Words and logical thought are their tools. They really cannot tell if a design is good or not. They then often revert to what they like. They need and often time want to be convinced.

Designers must be able to and prepared to sell their design with words. As designers we must assure our clients that the design has merit and supports their marketing strategy – the perfect solution to their problem.

So what does this have to do with becoming design savvy? First when reviewing designs, try to separate what may work with what you like. There is no room for egos when it comes to being design savvy. Second, make your designer present as part of the design review the following three things:
• What objectives they were attempting to address
• What assumptions they used in their design
• Verbally explain how the design achieves the objectives within the assumption set

And designers remember one thing: ultimately your job exists only to help your clients achieve their objectives and they nearly always have the last word.

Sometimes it is all worth it

The creative process is not easy. It is not just sitting down and this inspiration comes over you – voila a masterpiece. For design it is even more difficult. Art is very personal and meant for contemplation. Design is meant to be useful and to communicate. Designers must constantly remember that their goal is to meet the client’s needs. So often you are convinced that it is the perfect design, the president walks in to see it (after being approved by the marketing department), one hour from the media dead line, and the president hates it. For those not in marketing and advertisement, this scenario may not seem real – Believe me it is real!
Then you have yesterday. Having worked several weeks, and many long brainstorming sessions, we completed the concept phase of a totally new marketing and advertising approach for a national bio-mass energy company. The concepts were somewhat “edgy” but would be very effective. We went in, presented the 10 different communications channels that would be designed. There was silence in the room (oh boy that must have been a bomb, we were thinking). The chairman looked up with the biggest smile on his face and said “Love it – different and that is what we need”! It is moments like this that makes our industry truly enjoyable and satisfying.

Always Keep Them Surprised!

We are working with one of our clients on a major re-launch of their system of web sites (actually 5 different sites supporting each other). Over the past couple of years we have developed a strong sense of trust and respect for each other.

In large projects like this, sound business practice is to not find yourself in the erroneous belief that whatever the client asks for you perform the work for free. “Out of spec” merits engineering change orders. But you can also fall into the trap of “nickel and diming” the client to death. Balancing these two extremes is important but at times difficult. The more we respect our clients and they respect the studios, the easier it is to find the right balance. Both each have to be fair – and in today’s economy fairness often times goes out the window.

With all this said the done, we at the studio constantly remind ourselves that our success has been and will continue to be built on “always striving to exceed client expectation”. This mantra can be heard in the truly successful studios and agencies

If it helps – think of it as a bird’s nest!

As we work with our clients to establish channels of communications for advertising and marketing, social media always comes up. Yes, everywhere you turn there is some start-up offering a free seminar in social media and how they use it.

Many clients when first exposed to social media channels, either have a blank look or an expression of “I dare you to try that craziness here”. Such reactions usually come from the baby-boomer age cohort. As a baby-boomer, I fully understand. On the surface, it makes no sense. It is one of those things, the game-crazed younger people do. Within the studio, I was the last to have a “FaceBook” account. The real story is: one lunch time when I was out of the studio, Studio Guy et al set up my FaceBook link.

This was my mindset until I heard the following story:

Often times we see birds with twigs, strings, and pieces of trash in their beaks. How often we would ask “What will they use that “crap” for? Until we see the beautiful nest they build. That is exactly the same with social media. Maybe that is why they call some postings “tweets” in Twitter!

Every time there is some type of social media posting about your company/organization, it adds to building your nest. So my advice to you who are still resisting trying these communications channels, is the same advice I got from others at the studio – “Get over it and just do it”! Go “tweet”.

You just cannot get around it!

We believe in the power of a brand and that branding is one of the most important assets an organization possesses. Every organization needs a brand. So often, we find organizations having survived their first five years of start-up, having built no name recognition or client loyalty - just two of the benefits of branding. We repeatedly remind clients going through the brand development process that their brand is more than just an icon or graphic, so much more than just a logo.

Creating your brand elements should be the result of a process. If not the results are personal opinions. Even worst, they just concentrate on a graphic element and actually get lost in the design. They quickly move from design to art. The process gets thrown out of the window. Branding degenerates into what family and friends like – so much for what will work in the market.

I have come to the conclusion that even though everyone needs a brand and should be branding, some organizations and/or founders are just ready for a brand. We have actually included interviewing and screening prospects, who are interested in branding as part of our marketing processes. Both process and product are required for success. Some people are just not ready or understand that principle.

Meet Our New Studio Member

It has been a week or so since I last blogged. Have been busy getting our new studio staff member settled and “trained” in our ways. He comes to us from Iowa. It has been a real joy having our new member. Everyone who has visited the studio is extremely impressed by him. A photo of our new addition – Studio Dog is included in this blog. Studio Dog’s alter-ego is played by Toby who is a Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier. So you are all invited to come to the studio and meet Studio Dog.

Design Wins Again

We often repeat the phrase: Design is a necessity not a decoration. And last week’s business news validated that expression.

Apple Computer, in the mist of one of our worst recessions, posted their best non-holiday quarter ever. If you stop and think about it – Apple grew when everything else was shrinking.

I wonder why? Even though they have always been known for quality they are definitely not the cheapest. They also do not dominate the installed computer base. Some may say it is the iphone and ipod. Those two products do go along way in explaining Apple’s success. But during the same period of time, they also sold millions of desk and lap tops.

You see, Apple understood and understands the power of Design. They came to the realization that consumers are more interested in how it looks versus how it works. Design has become an integral part of Apple equipment. It is not just some “white-wash” to make you think that they are interested in design.

Design is a strategic component of Apple not just some passing tactic for quick- short-term success. You need to just walk pass an Apple store and everything screams – DESIGN.

The lesson learned? You must make design part of your culture, part of your strategic growth. Your staff must become design savvy in their thinking and approach to business growth. You just need to look to Apple for validation.

Are you making the proper investments?

One of the real sad results of today’s economy is how we look at making important business investments. True, “cash my be king” but that does not mean we throw away our business savvy when it comes to business decisions.

An example is your business’ web site. It is one of the most important investments you can/will make for your business. It is the focus of expanding your brand. It is the first place someone will go to validate your organization or be introduced to your products and services. Your web site is one of your most important first-impressions maker. And yet so many business owners and managers are selecting their web sites for the wrong reasons. Let’s take an example out of our personal lives. Our cars and houses are probably two of the most important investments we will make. Now, if you have a family of five and have your main car a two-seater – wrong investment. You are just going to have to return the two-seater and get the right car – the investment.

Or take your logo. A logo is one of several important elements of your brand – and branding is extremely important. Going to get some modernized clip art because it is cheap or quick is the wrong investment. Just hope you are not making your other business decisions with the same short sightedness.

It is hard to fathom!

This past weekend, our household watched the annual showing of the musical 1776. I am not commenting on the quality of the musical or the accuracy of the story line. Just call me sentimental, but the founding of the USA is a powerful story. A story of men from different geographic areas and different view points coming together for the common good. Everyone of them probably had a hidden agenda that eventually they were able to overcome.

It is hard to fathom what that group of men had to endure for the sake of founding our country. America and the world are much different now and yet the principles that not on relative values but ethical absolutes. A principle is only a principle when it is difficult to follow.

This is suppose to be a blog for creative design. Our founding fathers were truly exceptional designers – designers of something as grand as freedom – now that is some genre.

After watching the DVD, I still feel honored and proud to be an American. I need that yearly reminder to have the courage and belief to say “God bless America”.

It is more then just being considerate - Design for Accessibility

Many visitors to your web site may have certain physical challenges. Accessibility refers to web designs that remain accessible despite any physical, sensory, and cognitive disabilities, work constraints, or technological barriers. Many web sites are image and media intensive that may not lend itself to adaptive devices such as screen readers, voice browsers, and Braille translators.
Building more accessible content does not mean you have to delete complex and/or rich media sites. Or by offering a text-only based site alternative.

The W3C supports and encourages a accessibility program (www.w3.org/WAI/. This site provides guidelines and standards to build ore accessible web content. Some tips you will find at this site:

• Images and animation – use the alt attribute to describe the function of each visual
• Multimedia – Provide captioning and transcripts of audio ad descriptions of video
• Hypertext links – Use text that makes sense when read out of context.
• Page organization – Use headings, lists, and consistent structure. Use CSS layout and style where possible.
• Scripts, applets, and plug-ins – provide alternative content in case active features are inaccessible
• Tables – make line-by-line reading sensible and summarize
• Validity – check design ad validate code using validators from W3C.
• For physically challenged visitors validate site by using Bobby (www.cast.org/bobby) -recently sold to IBM or similar web-based tools offered by W3C for checking accessibility guidelines.

GENDER – Women consumers

So often we consider age when profiling and crafting the write visual communication message. That is why my last three blogs covered the three major age groups of Baby Boomer, Gen-X and Gen-Y. Did you know that Women represent 51.2 percent of the population and they influence or buy 80 percent of products sold?

Women want products, ads, and businesses that are without comparisons to a man’s world. Markets have proven time and time again that the primary thing that women want,, as people and as consumers, is relationships. Women prefer personal one-on-one networking as a way of finding solutions to business problems and this is often how they discover products as consumers.

Women are largely holistic in their approach to relationships; meaning that they are less likely than men to compartmentalize a brand or company solely according to what it has to offer them in a specific situation.

They want to feel a deeper, more layered connection.

Five key elements of women as consumers:

• Respect: women are well-informed. They research products well before buying. They read ingredients much more closely than men to make sure there are no harmful elements, and they are very careful about their decisions. Acknowledge that they are intelligent and informed, and they will respect your brand.
• Individuality: Women are playing multiple roles today and do not want to be talked to from only one, narrow perspective. They are feminine, powerful, nurturing moms and caregivers, independent, sexy, smart, and so on. Recognize their diversity as much as possible and resist any and all temptation to stereotype.
• Stress relief; In numerous studies stress has been shown to be women’s number one enemy. Women today feel overwhelmed by taking an equal role as breadwinner and primary nurturer to the family. 43% of women feel frustrated in trying to balance their work with parenting. Offer solutions, or at least understanding, of the tensions that prey on them
• Connection: Women base most of their decision making on emotions as opposed to rational elements. Studies have shown that they don’t like reading lists of numbers, specs,
• Relationship: Women want dialogue, not just a transaction. Women are looking for brands to trust and will often remain extremely loyal to a brand that has built on their trust consistently – even beyond price. Part of the relationship a woman has with a brand has to do with that brand representing some-thing important to her in her life. Brands that take a sincere stand for something and demonstrate it in real, concrete terms will do well with women.

Women and the web:
Women’s primary online activities are:

• Gathering information: (business/career/family/shopping/health/travel/computer)
• Sending and receiving email
• Chatting

Women tend to go online for a specific purpose and men are more likely to be surfers or browsers.

Contents or helpful tips are more valuable to women than games.

Respect: Women use the web to conduct research of products, services, and companies in order to make informed decisions.
Individuality: Women are using the web to reinforce their sense of themselves as multidimentional people.
Stress relief: The major reason women sop online is convenience. Also a good source for a little relaxation and self-gratification.
Connection: Easy to navigate information and content that is highly relevant to women in a way that fosters a sense of community.
Relationship: Women use the web to help themselves and their families.

Generation Y: Coming Right at You (at Warp Speed) This presently is the youngest of the consumer age cohorts.

• Although still evolving, this generation’s emotional palette and passions are entirely unique.
• They are going faster and doing more than any previous generation.
• Activities that absorb them fully do it through demanding and concisely packed content.
• When trying to reach this generation, advertising needs to be brief and sans fluff.
• Never talk down to this generation as kids. They have developed responsibility and awareness early in life.
• Most not underestimate the sophistication of this generation.
• Demonstrates an unprecedented sensitivity to global issues, such as poverty, war, environmentalism, as well as race, gender, or sexual orientation discrimination issues.
• They hold civic responsibility in high regard and whereas their Boomer parents fought to topple society, today’s youth would rather fix it up.
• The internet may not, despite the hype, necessarily be the foremost venue of the Generation Y’s consumer demands. But because of the internet they can freely and independently of their parents develop their own tastes.
• Generation Y enjoys using the Internet as a social space. However, until now they have shown a dislike for shopping on the Internet.
• This generation craves a more direct interactivity and sensory experience in marketing.
• For this generation, ten seconds is often too long. Their desire for immediate gratification is frustrated by the delays of slow-loading web pages and week long shipping waits.
• Promotional events are gaining popularity in marketing this generation.
• This generation will tell us what they want, goal is to listen.

Gen X to Gen excel: No Slacking Here

We continue our discussions on the various characteristics of age cohort groupings that should be included in any design element.

• Take-control, independent-minded, pragmatic mentality which aided by a booming economy has effectively shed all resemblance of a decade old image of slackers.
• In the process of building careers, buying houses, and preparing to people them with god-knows-what generation.
• Conservative and sensible in all matters pecuniary.
• Gen eXcel is exercising maturity and prudence.
• As a generation, they are averse to divorce.
• Homes are considered a symbol of their individuality, rather than their status symbols.
• Predominately they are looking for a particular look and that look can be provided by a multitude of brands.
• They have sharp and discriminating taste that freely adapts and subverts existing fashions and brands while meeting hip fashions and individualizing. In other words, your basic postmodern portrait.
• They saw job security and corporate loyalty fly out the window, they are the workers most likely to leave the company they are with if they receive a better job offer.
• They are unwilling to sacrifice their personal lives on the corporate altar.
• They favor work that offers variety and enhances their own skill set while allowing them to learn.
• They are entrepreneurial and want to direct themselves.
• They yen for teamwork and are accustomed to collaboration and enjoy being part of a team.
• Being told what to do damages their morale, but being allowed to find their own solution and make their own mistakes is very rewarding to them.
• They are equally accustomed to working for male and female bosses and show diminished concern for gender issues in the workplace.
• Businesses must provide accurate depictions in their media – appeal to the eXcels’ individuality and their aspirations.
• Humor, particularly sarcasm, is a favorite of theirs.
• Anything irreverent has good shot at stirring their sympathies and maybe their loyalties. An amusing story with a great punch line and a good laugh is one way to do it. Offbeat, slightly off-color humor is often advised.
• Campaigns that target the eXcels should strongly consider nontraditional approaches.
• They have abandoned the typical hierarchical mentality in favor of equality – in other words, they expect others, even their bosses, to treat them as equals.
• They describe the Internet as a means of escape and mental stimulation, as well as a way of gathering specialized information.
• They are the first generation that said “What’s in it for me?”
• Their rules:
• Is it Hip/Cool? Is it Original? Is it Flashy? Is it New?, Is it Creative? Is it my Community? Is it Me?, Is it Sexy? Can I see myself in the message?, Is it Honest?, Is it Fun?, Is it Interactive? Is it Cynical? Does It Show I have Style? Is it Humorous? Is it Real?
• Does it show I am one smart, brave, bad-ass success?!
• The Xers have managed to usher in the “alternative” to everything.
• Unbelievably smart, they are savvy and pragmatic and exchange information as bargaining chips.
• They refuse to adhere to any road map and can turn on a dime to acquire a new strategy or skill set to win with.

What's your cohort?

There are three major age cohorts or groups that must be taken into account when developing branding and corporate identity solution. They are:

• Baby Boomers born 1946 – 64
• Gen Xers born 1965 – 76
• Generation Y born 1977 – 94

These three population segments simply don’t speak the same language. Baby Boomers respond to cues of achievement, status, and performance, while Gen Xers value imagination, creativity, and relationships, and Gen Y responds to fun, interactivity, and experience. It is important that we understand these differences and assist our clients with such understanding. This critical to maintaining our own brand promise of cost-effective, message-effective, and products they are proud of. In the next series of blogs, I will address the different groupings.The following consist of sound bites and statements about the Baby Boomers

Aging Baby Boomers: Not Your Typical Grandma and Grandpa

• This generation finds itself presented with a new obstacle, unlike anything it has ever encountered before: LAF – Life after Forty. Boomers will confront this change with vigor and finesse, co-opting the meaning of maturity and retirement and fitting it to their generation’s idiosyncrasies.
• Comprise eighty-one million people, 30% of the population and 55% of the US discretionary income.
• Will not bend to the strains of age. Instead they will revitalize and reshape what it means to be mature.
• Boomers are not getting older; they are reaching a youthful maturity. They can look forward to indulging in the three big benefits of maturity: wisdom, health, and status and can buy their way out of most of the drawbacks of maturity.
• Anxiously indulging in treats with connotations of youth and adventure that reaffirm their youthfulness and energy.
• Competitive careers, demanding families, and a slew of medical advances have kept this group remarkably fit.
• By denying their age they are more apt to undertake ambitious projects such as starting a new company or vacationing in rugged terrain. Their Peter Pan “never grow up” mentality constitutes an empowering attitude.
• Boomers are ready to indulge in pricey pleasure purchases.
• Products that present themselves as panic purchases, catering to Boomers fleeing the fates, will flop.
• Products that take into account universal design principles will meet with success. Universal design principles take into account the needs of all consumers, whether they’re seventeen or seventy.
• Branding is about comfort, reassurance, and solutions for this group. Attempts to scare consumers into buying their products no longer works. Today’s brands romance the consumer and demonstrate understanding.
• Comfort has also become a priority for many Boomers.
• Marketing campaigns that emphasize physical and psychological benefits are more successful than those that focus on the problem being solved.
• Brands must develop much more sensitivity to the symbolic values surrounding their product and image that are open to constant repositioning or embellishment.
• Even as they begin to downshift, Boomers will maintain remarkably active lifestyles.
• Understanding both these sides of Boomers – the desire to escape and downshift while remaining active – is vital for 21st century business. Products and promotions must sensibly cater to both halves of this mentality

The Pen Is Mightier Than The Sword

In the studio’s May e-zine, we discussed the importance of print material. There is one aspect of print (hard copy) media that we did not address - one that is extremely important. It is the hand-written note. We have become so email oriented that we have forgotten this powerful tool. The hand written thank you note or invitation says one thing – You are important enough for me to take time out, compose a message and personally write it. I am not talking about a typewritten note – a human hand written message or note.

The sales courses talk about constantly keeping in touch with your prospects and clients. This is so true. Large amounts of communications coupled with the cost of paper, envelope and postage makes emails so cost-effective and they are so convenient.

Take a birthday card. There is the convenient electronic card you can send. It is convenient and low-cost. It is often entertaining with rich media. At least it says I did not forget. But too much email cards can make us “sloppy”. It is even easier to post something on your FaceBook wallpaper. Again, at least I did not forget.

But a personal card says you are really special:
• I remembered
• Took the time to pick out a card
• Wrote a message on the card
• You are important enough for that extra cost and time of mailing

With the card, I can also keep it and refer to it many times. My wife had this tradition that she would keep the Christmas and holiday cards we would receive. She would then during the year, take one card out of the collection to remind her of the sender and pray for them during the day. Keeping in your save box e-cards or emails is not quit the same thing.

We ask our new awards how they found out about the studio and why they selected us. Several times we were told it was because they received a hand written thank you card after we had met them.

By the way, poor penmanship is not an acceptable excuse. So buy that pack of thank you notes or cards and take the time to think of a message, personally write it out, and send it.

More Important Than Ever

Yesterday a long-standing client of the studio called. The first thing he said was “Kudos to you”. I know we had not just provided a deliverable, so I asked why the kudos. The client said because we answered the phone. “Kudos for answering the phone?” I asked. Well it seems that the client has been calling his other vendors and they have not been answering the phone.
I guess in today’s economic environment, every other call you make or receive is trying to collect money. You can easily see why the phone can become a source of pain. But these situations will get better as the economy gets better. Being available to your clients is not a short-term practice. It should be along-term habit. Make sure you answer the phone especially if it is one of your clients or prospects. You can always use caller-id to identify telemarketers. Answering the phone also includes returning phone calls.

Today’s consumers have the following characteristics. They are:
• Angry
• Cynical
• Time Starved
• Don’t care about the how only the results for them
• Measure their level of being impoverished not by amount of money but by connectivity.

If they cannot get in touch with you, they will feel impoverished. At times this can be troublesome for it creates a high level of psychological noise but not being able to reach you will make them uncomfortable. Our clients on the whole are more demanding. This is true not just for the graphics design industry but for all industries.

Even product oriented businesses find themselves in the service industry. Taking orders, processing orders, delivery instructions, etc are all service-oriented processes.
It is not just a matter of performing at your present level, but constantly raising the bar. So start today by answering the phone, or returning that call and do it with a smile.

Can you really afford to hire an amateur?

If you think it is expensive to hire a professional, imagine the REAL cost of hiring an amateur?

As Kermit would say – “It is not easy being green”, it is very similar for design firms – “it is not easy being in the business”. One of the difficulties is that in some aspects the cost-of-entry appears low. If you say that I have a computer, some graphic programs, templates, and html editors, I am a designer. I guess this is somewhat true.

The fallacy is where or when do you start considering the cost-of-entry when it comes to creative talent and visual communications skills. So often this is both an art and a science. The past 10 years have seen too many false or instant solutions.

“I have Word so I must be a writer” or
“I got Publisher with my computer – I am now a graphic layout person” or
“I can use PhotoShop – I am a graphics designer” or
“I got Homepage or can use one of the free web template services – I am a web designer” or
“I bought the book built my own website – of course I can build yours”

You must be kidding me!
. . . and it is hard to fight this lack of logic or knowledge until it is too late – “My collateral/web site is not helping my organization to grow” Well what do you expect.

This whole scenario really becomes disastrous when applied to your website. Remember websites are not just electronic yellow pages anymore. They are the first place one goes to find out about you and be introduced to your products/services. I do not care what you are offering this is still true. Your first impression will make or break you – don’t care if you are selling products, introducing your Church services, or running for political office.
For your web site you MUST consider three domains:

Look/design “ugliness does not sell”. Your web site better be building up your brand and not weakening it

Functionality – does it provide the services, correctly processed, that are aids to your viewers?

Marketing – how are people going to get to your site and more importantly how are you going to distribute your site outward.

Many may disagree with me, but your visual communications are so important that in some cases doing nothing may actually be better than publishing/posting something that weakens your brand image.

So for you designers or people that work with designers – you get what you pay for. Crap is still crap!

In or On the Business - Part II

I am continuing my blog from last week addressing the issue of working-on-the-business versus working-in-the-business. This sequel is somewhat late in that I had my oldest son and his 8 kids visiting me from Chicago so I non-blogged over the past holiday.

6. Concept Policy – You need to know what is the general policy when it comes to how many different concepts you promise a client. Some promise only one. Here at the studio, we usually gear for three concepts.

7. What are your normal schedules – Develop generic schedules for the various basic products you offer (web, brochure, logo designs, flash presentation, etc.) These should of course be modified for specific projects but they will provide the client some idea of elapsed time for the project.

8. Do you charge for rush jobs or projects that are clearly required in time frames less that your typical schedules for product/service.

9. Do you hold regular staff meetings – Of course if you are a one-person show this may not apply. But even if there are only two staff members you should have regular staff meetings. The last thing you need is to work in a vacuum. But never underestimate the power of group thought.
10. Who estimates – there should be clearly defined procedure on how and who prepares your estimates. To assist you in this area is to develop average project costs similar to the generic schedules that you develop in #7.

11. Hardware and Software – know what hardware and software your firm or studio utilizes It can add value in the eyes of your client.

12. Work Samples – make sure you collect your work samples in a central location. Everyone will know where the work is ad also to re-use design elements. This central repository is also important in creating your portfolios.

In or On the Business

So often we as designers spend all of our creative energy working “in the business” that is doing the actual creative work for a client. To be able to survive and continue offering design services, we must also realize that many cases we have a parallel set of functions – making sure our design firm/studio is profitable. If not the doors will close and so will our avenue to be creative.

This deals with “working on the business”. This is important for a one person design firm to the large studios. So I thought I would spend some time with this and the next blog going over graphic design “on-the-business” suggestions.

1. Just like any other business, the graphic design business must have goals. These will permit you to measure your progress and provide opportunities to celebrate when you reach such goals. Sales and Revenue goals are two of these very important goals. Set a goal for your upcoming year. This should include reviewing what your revenue was last year so you can set meaningful goals that can be reached with a stretch.

2. Who are your firm’s clients? You should know who you want to sell to and who is buying. If you have been following my blogs you should know that answer of “every and any one” is unacceptable. Avoiding the wrong clients is just as important as going after the correct client.
At the studio we measure a potential client/engagement by 4 criteria. If the prospect as only two or less, it is a very high risk situation to accept the project. These (in no order of importance) are:

• Good credit (did not say lots of money). They need to be able to pay their bills when milestones are reached and not post-pone acceptance to meet their cash flow crunches.
• Understanding of Design - or at least an appreciation of the importance of design and the process and creativity behind effective designs. Also stay away from anyone who says I do not have time to provide input but I will know it when I see it. Run away from such a prospect as fast as you can.
• Not a dying industry – every industry has its cycles. Stay away from those industries that at the present are in a down-turn. You do not want to be pulled down with them. Such clients will also just be looking for price and not the most cost-effective, message-effective, and brand-effective solutions.
• More than one engagement – It takes time to build relationships with clients. You want to be able to harvest the investment in such relationship building.

3. Marketing and advertising – Design firms must also advertise and market. You need to invest in your own collateral. So often we just create such collateral for our clients and forget about our own internal needs. This is often called the “physician heal thyself) syndrome.

4. Are designs available for out-of-the-studio meetings? Many times, especially for more complicated projects, the creative design team must be available to meet and discuss/brainstorm/present with/to the client.

5. How professional are your proposals. For small projects, a quote is sufficient. But as the project becomes larger and more complicated, pull blown proposals are required including addressing the three aspects of a project (specifications, budgets, and schedules).

Our Philosophy Wall

We had moved into our new studio location this past December. As with all moves, it takes a while to get everything in place. This week I have been preparing to re-constitute our philosophy wall. It is various saying, various sources, various sizes of saying that convey our “philosophy” of design and its proper place in the creative process. I thought I would share some of these with you:

“Budgets only restrict how much you can spend, not how much design you can get.”

“When color is at its richest – form is at its fullest.”

“Today it is form over function – How it looks is more important than how it works.”

“Crap is crap.”

“Tell me the facts and I will learn. Tell me the truth and I will believe. But tell me a story and it will live in my heart forever.”

“Design is a necessity not a decoration.”

“INSANITY: Repeatedly performing the same process – hoping for a different result.”

“If the identity of your brand is not well defined, you may have visibility but no personality.”

“There is no curve as beautiful as a rising sales graph.”

“The objective of a name is to stand out and distance itself from any formulaic or trendy expressions that could diminish the impact of the brand.”

“Design is more inspiration and imagination than logic and analysis.”

“Design is all about personalization and customization.”

“One single idea – especially if it involves a great brand concept – can change a company’s entire future.”

“Ugliness does not sell”

Ring the Bell

I was in “deep design thought” yesterday when all of a sudden The Bell rang out and everyone at the studio starting clapping and yelling. So much for keeping my current thought pattern. It may sound like I was upset – No just the opposite. You see that whenever we win a new task or engagement, we ring The Bell - Happiest sound around!

So you may think I am complaining - No way. We have learned at the studio that for success you need to celebrate success. Every time you reach a milestone, or win a contract – celebrate it. Ring a bell, have a party, make a speech, have a company party – whatever - but celebrate.
The secret to celebrating success is to break down your goals and objectives into small measurable milestones. Recently we just completed a rich media presentation. Of course we had a “client presentation” party but we also had smaller celebrations whenever we completed a scene.

Are we party animals at the studio? No but we have learned the all-important function of defining what is success, measuring our progress, and celebrating reaching the finish line (on time, within spec, within budget, and high quality). So make sure your organization learns to Ring the Bell.

The Finish Line

Welcome to blog#31 of our series on New Media Marketing. I wanted to present a summary of the last 30 blogs and the various aspects of New Media Marketing. I thought the best way was to share with you an announcement that we crafted for one of our clients who just announced there advertising campaign for the upcoming year. The content has been modified, where appropriate, so as to provide some unanimity for the client.

“Last year we embarked on the continuous journey of making our company stronger and better. The reason we were even able to start such a journey was we were building on an already strong foundation of quality, design, and service.

Our first step was to launch a stronger and updated brand. One that through consistent usage, will grow our perceived quality, name recognition, and customer loyalty.

This past year we have been concentrating on new and improved methods of customer communications and effective sales and marketing. We started this segment of our journey with a statement that was made at one of our planning sessions with our creative design firm: ‘Customers are still buying but they are buying differently.’ This statement becomes even more powerful given our present economic environment.

We also agreed upon four givens:

• It still takes on average seven contacts to make a sale
• Conventional approaches of direct mail and phone campaigns are becoming more costly and time consuming with in many cases response lead times being too long
• It is important to control costs and yet successful organizations do not cut marketing and sales activities during economic down times.
• And probably the most telling – over 72% of consumers now communicate electronically

We thus have started implementing a new approach to our sales and customer communications. It is called New Media Marketing – using today’s technology and communications channels. The result is more communications, in a more timely fashion, with lower costs, in a manner of electronic communications that we all are moving toward in our everyday lives.

So what is New Media Marketing? Would be more then happy to discuss in more detail the hows, whats, whens, and where but you will get a good picture by giving some examples of what we are implementing to bring more prospects into our community of buyers using today’s technology.

1. More then ever, the web site becomes critical. We are completely overhauling our present web site to bring it from what is known as Web 1.0 (information only) to today’s Web 2.0. Today’s consumers look for and expect not only information but also collaboration and personalization. Our new look will be more simple, cleaner, and easier to navigate with the ability for viewers to ‘tap’ into other channels of communications and discussion. Also our brand will be more dominant. The web is one of if not the most important vehicle for branding in today’s business environment.
2. You will start seeing on all of our electronic communications (web, email, electronic newsletters, etc) what we call “opt-in” capabilities. We are starting to constantly offer and request that our future and present community of buyers choose to provide their name and email. With these two pieces of information, we can proactively – electronically market without becoming spammers.
3. In the very near future, we will be introducing our blog. We are still working on a name and look, but this will provide another networking channel where we will be able to provide information and opinions on various topics. Our blogs will encourage readers to make comments that we will respond to. We will be blogging at least twice a week. Blogs are critical to providing collaboration capabilities and also providing timely and up-to-date communications. From our blogs, viewers will also be able to link to our new web site.
4. We will be re-launching our newsletter. But it will now take the form of a html(nice looking) email. These are known as ezines –electronic magazines. When fully implemented, we will be publishing once a month. Articles will have links to our blogs and web site for additional information.
5. We will be expanding our email campaigns. We will not be abandoning totally direct mail, but a well designed, visual email piece is much more cost effective. It is how people now communicate and with email you get feedback within 48 hours not weeks.
6. Like it or not, one of the fastest growing and impactful communications channels are the Social Media Channels. Facebook, Plaxo, LinkedIN, Twitter, etc. are becoming dominant forces in not only personal networking but also business networking. You will be seeing not only our company but each staff member, establishing presence in these Social Media Channels with always a think back to our web site. As a side note we have found out that these Social Media channels are one of the major methods that the googles of the world determine where your site appears on a web search.
7. We will then move on to podcasts (both audio and video) so that we can provide communications on a longer term bases.

This sounds like a full plate and it is. But we are very excited. It is something that we all need to do to stay competitive. You see the secret is that every time someone clicks on our web site or clicks on our blog and from there clicks to our web site or clicks to open an email or clicks to read our ezine and from there our blog, etc - each one of those clicks is one of the 7 needed to move a prospect or keep a current client in our buying community. “

Tracking Results

One of the most important aspects of NMM is the ability and the discipline of tracking results. You need to know what is working and what is not. Here are some recommendations for tracking results. Such tracking should occur for three distinct considerations:

• Content
• Relevance
• Impact

Content: This is directed toward the “audience”. What you need to determine is who is talking about you. What are people saying about you and your industry. Metrics that can be used:

• Blog posts
• Recommendations
• Tweets and similar Widget Views

Some tools to use:

• BlogPuse
• Google Alert
• Cymfony
• Techrigy
• Blog-search
• Technorati
• Net Promoter

Relevance: This measures the value of opinions and conversations, interest levels in your messages, content and intensity of blog posts. Metrics:

• Time on Site
• Bounce Rate
• Pass Alongs
• Comment to Post Ratio
• Podcasts Listens and Views
• Recommendations
• Tweets

Some tools:

• Google Analytics
• Web Analytics
• Omniture
• Web Trends
• DoubleClick
• Digg
• StumbleUpon
• Del.icio.us
• Feedburner
• BlogPulse
• Cymfony
• Techrigy
• Blog-search
• Technorati

Impact: To whom is your NMM campaign appealing, how involved is your audience, number of times desired outcome occurs. Metrics:

• Referrers
• Demographics
• Time on Site
• Bounce Rate
• Conversions
• Reviews
• Recommendations
• Tweets
• Tools:
• Web Analytics
• Google Analytics
• Omniture
• Web Trends
• Double Clicks
• Repeat Customers
• Reviews and ratings
• Net Promoter
• Platform

E-PR and Mobile Marketing

New Media Marketing impacts the full range of marketing and sales. Traditionally, PR dealt with reaching the media, usually through press releases. This would connect the PR professionals and their client with reporters and newswire services. New Media Marketing permits one to distribute releases directly to the customers. Done properly this can greatly increase the impact and effectiveness of your PR function. Note: This requires that you create news releases that are not loaded down with technical jargon but rather can be easily understood by your clients and potential clients. Some recommendations to develop ePR strategies are:

Keep in mind SEO – Enhance your URL by including in your electronic PR release the same key words and phrases you use for your web site SEO. Including images, videos or audio to your releases will make them more attention grabbing. Also use Social Media tags so that they can also be circulated through the various Social Media Channels. Also a carefully crafted headline and sub-headlines, using your key word phrases, is also important.

A second consideration when using NMM vehicles is the whole concept of mobile media. More and more of your potential readers will be using mobile instruments to receive, read, and respond to your electronic communications. The following are some of the differences you will need to take into consideration:

• The size of the preview screen goes from 13-21inches to 2-4inches.
• Content rendering hardware and software vary in how they render your data.
• In many cases, mobile units are used to categorize messages for delete or save for further review and action via phone or computer.

Recommendations for mobile readers:

• Reformat text – always offer a text only option to html formats. Also remember most mobile viewing screens will show smaller lines and fewer number of lines. Do not create long paragraphs or sentences.
• Unlike other media formats, for mobile communications use short URLs for tracking purposes.
• Be Brief – Small file sizes, smaller paragraphs and sentences.
• Include a mobile option on your opt-in forms
• Test before using

But there are so many:

Social Media channels have become such a force in the way we communicate with each other, that the number of different channels available is extensive. I thought that I would provide a list of Social Media Resources. This list was obtained from the book of Dave Evans, Social Media Marketing. I tested each one to determine if they are still available. Things change so quickly that several of the links provided in his book are no longer up.

Industry Blogs:
AdRants - http://www.adrants.com
BoingBoing - http://boingboing.net
Chruch of the Customer - http://www.churchofthecustomer.com
Customer eXperience Crossroads - http://customercrossroads.com
Social Media Today - http://www.socialmediatoday.com

Social Media Platforms
Bazaarvoice - http://www.bazaarvoice.com
BzzAgent - http://www.bzzagent.com
Jive - http://www.jivesoftware.com
Lithium - http://lithium.com
Mikons - http://mikons.com
Ning.com - http://www.ning.com
Pluck - http://www.pluck.com
ProductPulse - http://www.friend2friend.com
RockYou - http://www.rockyou.com
Salesforce.com - http://salesforce.com
Slide - http://www.slide.com

Social Networks and Services
AdGabber - http://www.adgabber.com
Bebo - http://www.bebo.com
Brightkite - http://www.brightkite.com
Del.icio.us - http://www.del.icio.us.com
Digg - http://www.digg.com
Dodgeball - http://www.dodgeball.com
Flickr - http://flickr.com
Eventful - http://eventful.com
Facebook - http://facebook.com
FriendFeed - http://friendfeed.com
Friendster - http://friendster.com
Identi.ca - http://www.identi.ca
Kyte TV - http://www.kyle.tv
Last.fm - http://www.last.fm
LinkedIn - http://www.linkedin.com
Livejournal - http://www.livejournal.com
Ma.gnolia.com - http://www.ma.gnolia.com
Metacafe - http://www.metacafe.com
Minggl - http://www.minggl.com
MySpace - http://www.myspace.com
Orkut - http://www.orkut.com
Personal Life Media - http://www.personallifemedia.com
Photobucket - http://www.photobucket.com
Ping.fm - http://www.ping.fm
Plaxo - http://www.plaxo.com
Plurk - http://www.plurk.com
Pownce - http://www.pownce.com
Seesmic - http://www.seesmic.com
SocialThing - http://www.socialthing.com
Sonico - http://www.sonico.com
Stickam - http://www.stickam.com
Stumble Upon - http://www.stumbleupon.com
Tumblr - http://www.tumblr.com
Twitter - http://www.twitter.com
Upcoming - http://www.upcoming.com
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com

Social Media as Business Networks

With respect to Social Media as business networking, the following are the major social media business networking sites:

AdGabber (http://www.adgabber.com)
LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com)
Plaxo (http://www.plaxo.com)
Spock (http://www.spock.com)
Jigsaw (http://www.jigsaw.com)

Unlike MySpace, Facebook, and other personal Social Media sites, the above sites are set up to be business-oriented. It should be noted that one can use Facebook for business solutions. Visit http://www.insidefacebook.com to learn how to incorporate Facebook into your marketing program.

The following are some examples on using Social Media for business applications:

• Develop focused target list by using search capabilities of LinkedIn
• Use contact tools in Jigsaw
• Use Facebook to build a group around a new product or service you want to launch. This is a good way of beta testing and getting feedback.

So how do I start:

• Select a professional network
• Create a presence on that network
• Invite a few colleagues to join
• Ask colleagues what networks they belong to and join them.

Always remember, when it comes to Social Media, active participation is a requirement.

As you become more active in Social Media networks always remember that they are a means to an end not an end in themselves. You should always be guided by the following:

• Developing a presence to extend your brand
• Reaching out to potential employees
• Gathering feed back about your products and services
• Building a sales prospect profile

Please share with us other Social Media business networks that you use and how you use them.

When it comes to Social Media it is personal

Many of the Social Media vehicles were developed for personal relationship building. This must constantly be remembered when using Social Media. Unlike other media such as TV, for Social Media the other participants and not some producer or programmer determine actions. Thus there are several considerations that must be taken into account when using Social Media for business concerns.

• Social Media vehicles are often advertiser unfriendly. For Social Media we want to share our information with others and visa versa. There is really no motivation for one to share advertising with others.
• Your conduct is very important while using a Social Media channel. The guests make the rules not you. We have a business acquaintance that is “gung-ho” about Social Media. The problem is that this person uses any and every Social Media channel to communicate some business event or offering. After getting 6 – 7 invites from the various channels about the same topic, it starts having the same affect and effect as spam and I stop even opening up the corresponding emails from this person.
• Social Media is just one part of an integrated marketing approach. So do not become too concerned when you cannot strongly suggest or forcefully persuade. Use your other media channels to accomplish this.
• Social Media, since it is a personal network, is a very good channel to recruit new employees
• Act as if you are a guest – one that would like to be invited back.

Do not let the above sway you from using Social Media as part of your marketing program. Often times us baby-boomer will say that w e do not like to use Social Media channels since they are for kids. Remember those “kids” probably are in their 20s or 30s – large buying community.

Facebook, Twitter, Flicker, LinkedIn? What a busy social life

An important part of New Media Marketing is the integration of the various Social Media vehicles. For many Social Media is a new type of building friends and relationships. This is also true for businesses where we are concerned with customer relationships and sales. In this case we refer to it as Social Media Marketing.

One of the first couple of blogs in this New Media Marketing series dealt with the arrival of Web 2.0. Web 2.0 users took for personalization and collaboration. This is also one of the major discriminators of Social Media. Social Media differs from traditional media of newspapers, broadcast, books, etc. in that with Social Media the audience can participate in social media by adding comments and stories themselves.

Social media has the following characteristics:

• It is involved with a number of different social media channels.
• Social Media changes over time. Actually the more participants the faster the amount of change
• You cannot have social media without assuming and encouraging the audience to be part of your sales or creative process.

A question often asked: “Is social media accurate?” Yes and no. Statements may be made about your products/services that may not be true. However, if your customers reject them, you better fix them ASAP if you want to be successful. Guidelines when it comes to this:

• Social Media uses the collective, the wisdom of the crowd – they cannot be entirely wrong
• Social Media is effective when used for participation and influence not command and control.

Marketing classically deals with awareness -> consideration -> purchase. Social media feedback is user generated: use -. form opinion -> talk. This talk must be captured and made part of the marketing consideration. Social media is word-of-mouth. It is based on actual post-purchase experience. This is critical to help maintain the perceived quality aspect of your brand.

In terms of psychobabble, Social media follows Reed’s Law. David Reed’s work at MIT developed the Law of the Pack. This holds that the value of a network grows more powerful as the network grows. Thus a network of 100 customers is much more powerful than a network of 10 customers.

The simplest and effective way to jump into the Social Media Marketing is to use the New Media Marketing vehicle of the blog.

But to at least starting looking at all the various vehicles out there, here are just a few:

Microblog Services:
Twitter (http://twitter.com)
Tumblr (http://tumblr.com)
Plurk (http://plurk.com)
Seesmic (http://seesmic.com)

Multimedia Sites
Flickr (http://www.flickr.com)
Photobucket (http://www.photobucket.com)
YouTube (http://www.youtube.com)
Seesmic (http://seesmic.com)
Metacafe (http://www.metacafe.com)

Taggin Services:
Del.icio.us (http://del.icio.us)
Stumble Upon (http://www.stumbleupon.com)

Social Sites
Facebook (http://www.facebook.com)
MySpace (http://www.myspace.com)

Business sites
AdGabber (http://www.adgabber.com)
LinkedIn (http://www.linkedin.com)
Plaxo Pulse (http://www.plaxo.com)

Please share with us any others that you may be using.

All dressed up and no where to go:

The past few blogs, we discussed some guidelines and recommendations to help create an effective email. Now that is done – but it is a waste of time (except for practice) if you do not have a list to send the email to.

Jut a reminder as we continue this discussion – remember you cannot spam – it is the law!
So how do I build up my email list to send this perfect email to? There is actually two parts to this question. The first is to get legitimate emails and the second is to keep them on your list (not opting out).

The second part is straight-forward: target the right people and keep your emails relevant and engaging:

• Keep it relevant – tell your audience about things they are interested in.
• Tailor to your audience – consider different emails to different sub-targets
• Attract attention with your subject line
• Get straight to the point – people do not like you to waste their time
• Use simple language – create text that is simple to understand and very clear on benefits and call to action
• Offer exclusive benefits – offer special benefits that will appeal to your audience
• Correct frequency – send on a regular basis but only when you have something relevant to talk about.

So how do I begin building my email database? Before we address this question – make sure you have some procedure/process to capture and maintain your email list. You do not need to capture extensive amounts of data BUT capture enough so that you can select sub-lists. This will help you sent out emails based on message relevance. Now on to collecting and building your email list.
Collect information on-line: Place sing-up (opt-in) requests on your web site and other similar locations.

• On every page of your web site
• E-mail signature
• On your blog
• On banner ads and online advertising
• Online directories

Collect information in person: Always ask for permission when you collect information in-person.

• Swap business cards
• Guest book on counter or in office
• Business card bowl at trade shows and events
• Train employees to capture customer information

Collect information through print:

• Send a postcard offering an incentive to return card with email information
• Position sign-up request to add value to the mailing piece
• Add sign-up incentive
• Always add your domain name to ALL print media

If you have any other suggestions, please share them with us.

If you're going to send an e-mail, design it right!

In our last blog, we talked about picking the proper theme. We will now look at format and layout considerations.

One of the most important parts of any email is "from:" and "subject" lines. There are studies that show up to 65% of recipients will decide to open an email based on the from: line.

The secret is to keep the from: line familiar. Some guidelines to achieve this is to include the following:

• Your name (drjack)
• Name of your business (tCDG Studios)
• Combine your name and your business name. (drjack - tCDG Studios
• If you have many locations, include your locations - drjack - tCDG Studios, Orlando

Also create an email of what you are and what you are doing

• Newsletter@tcdgstudios.com
• Coupons@tcdgstudios.com
• Event_response@tcdgstudios.com
• Announcement@tcdgstudios.com

It is estimated that up to 31% recipients will open an email based on the subject line. Some suggestions:

• Highlight immediate benefits
• Include value words
• Work with a theme. Colors work well, eg. making your sales more green

Another important aspect of your email is its format/layout. You should consider the following when working with text.

Font - This is especially true if your email is in a html format. If you select a font that is not stored on the viewers computer, it will not display properly. Use commonly accepted fonts such as Arial, Garamond, Georgia, Impact, Times New Roman, or Veranda.

When considering font styles, use the following rules:

Bold: contrast or emphasize

• Headlines
• Short phrases
• Captions
• Key words or phrases

Italic: subtle emphasis

• Single word
• Subheadings
• Proper names
• References to titles

Underline: emphasize words or phrases

• Text links
• Column headings
• Headlines to separate from text

Font Color: enhance overall look and feel

• Add emphasis to headlines and subheadlines
• Links within text

Images - Make sure that the file format can be recognized by browsers. These are usually .jpg, .gif, or .png.

Images should re-enforce your text.
Photographs are most versatile in telling your story.
Examples include:

• Key staff members
• Products/Services being used
• Site location
• Event activities
• Customer testimonials

Created Art

• Logos - required for brand strengthening
• Clip Art - recommend limiting use since it can "date" your design/layout
• Animated .gif - same as clip art
• Icons
• Text images - most common is signature. Also effective for headlines

Another important consideration is how to increase the content value of your email. The following help increases the effectiveness of your email.
Include an offer

• coupons
• Give-a-ways
• Lost leaders
• Extending urgent offers

Effective Call to Action. Examples of Call to Actions are:

• Read your email
• Save your email
• Print your email
• Forward your email
• Make a purchase
• Fill out a form
• Visit your web site
• Visit a physical location
• Request information
• Register for an Event
• Make an appointment
• Phone you

So what is your theme?

There are two aspects of “what an email should look like”:

Format and Theme. There are many who do not consider both but often one will at least consider format. Format refers to the classification and configuration of an email. For a successful email campaign, you need to also consider the appropriate theme. The theme is the main idea of your entire email campaign. It is not the same as format.

Once you have decided on the objective(s) for your campaign, you then select your theme. Most objectives can be achieved using one of the four typical email themes:

• Promotional
• Information
• Procedural
• Relational

We will also address emails that have multiple themes.

Promotional Theme – Use the promotional theme when you want to persuade your audience to take a specific action or at least ask for a specific purchase decision such as making an appointment. Typical PROMOTIONAL theme include:

• Product images and descriptions
• Testimonials
• Coupons
• Headlines and links that cal for action
• Links to information that supports your main call to action
• Directions on how to make the call to action

Informational Theme – Use this theme to inform you audience so that they will form an opinion. They are different from Promotional in that they usually do not include a call to action.

• News articles
• Stories and narratives
• Opinions and viewpoints
• Announcements
• Event calendars
• FAQs

Procedural Theme - This theme is used to give instructions or explain processes. Like informational themes, they usually do not include a call to action. Examples are:

• New customer or opt-in welcome
• Notifications
• Shipping or privacy policy
• Disclosures and warranties

Relational Theme – This theme is used to build or deepen relationship(s). These are usually one-way communications and no call to action. Examples:

• Greetings
• Acknowledgements
• Personal experiences news and stories
• Customer recognition messages

At times your email campaign may require you to use Multiple themes. Try to minimize the use of multiple themes. Recommend the following when considering multiple themes:

• State your main theme very succinctly right up front
• Sub-group together with design and layout elements
• If there is that a major theme within the multiple themes, then send out separate emails
• Remember objectives -> themes -> formats -> genre.

We will discuss the concept of genre when it comes to design in a future blog. But just remember, if your email is not text only, then maximize the visual impact by doing it right. Viewers are very savvy and can quickly detect amateur design. As I covered in my blog of January 29, 2009 “Crap is Crap”.

Why email if you are going to do it wrong?

As we start the email portion of the New Media Marketing (NMM) blog series, we will not be spending time on what is an email or how important they are. Most of us are very familiar with emails; email marketing campaigns, and which ones seem to work. Creating emails as part of your integrated marketing program is not the same as sitting down and writing an email as most of us do several times a day.

When it comes to email marketing campaigns, there are three distinct tasks that you must follow to maximize your email campaign effectiveness. (Thus don’t waste your time sending out emails).

The first is to determine your message – what your email message should say.
Remember: Make your emails as concise and focused as possible. Most recipients scan e-mails and do not necessarily take the time to read every word or sentence of your email.

Your message should contain the following three content elements:

• Value proposition – why you versus someone else or some other solution/product/service.
• Supporting Information – Provide additional information to support your value proposition. Summarize the following four questions in a paragraph: (1) What are the features of your product or services, (2) Benefits (always more important then specifications), (3) How are you different (4) Why that different is important
• Call to action – ask the readers to take a specific action in a specific way. So often a well-crafted email forgets this part. Do not be afraid to ask the viewer to do something. This need not be “buy now” it could be call, click a link, download, save this message, forward this message, print out and use as a coupon, etc.

After you determine your message, you should select the look/type of your email. We will address this in more detail in the next blog.

The second step is to deliver your message. The how is easy to answer especially with the well-developed email service providers such as Constant Contact. The who is most important.
Like direct mail, email campaigns have the same mantra – junk mail/email is good mail/email sent to the wrong person.

As we so often mentioned in this blog series: targeting your campaign, categorizing your lists is critical.

The third step is to evaluate your message. The beauty of email is that you will learn very quickly if your message worked (usually within 48 hrs) and you can change the message or target for your next email.

Some suggested metrics you can use:

• Increase in number of web visits
• Increase in orders and sales
• Event attendance increase
• Increase number of opt-ins
• Change in opinions over time

Please refer to our last ezine Studio Buzz articles to read more about email as a marketing tool.

• Getting Started with an Email Campaign
• Do it Right – Five types of Emails

Note: links
Getting started… www.tcdgstudios.com/articles/articles_030901.php
Do it right… www.tcdgstudios.com/articles/articles_030902.php

Crafting your Podcast

One of the first questions asked by clients who are attempting their first series of podcasts is: How long should a podcast be? A typical podcast episode is usually 15 to 30 minutes.

Remember podcasts are episodic so for a given podcast, since you have your audiences attention for that amount of time, you can build advanced or nuanced themes over time. Remember think of your podcasts as scheduled sequence of audio (or video) files, downloaded to a computer or portable media device.

Strategies learned from successful corporate podcasting:

• Plan your podcast: spend time determining your audience, the purpose, format and audio alone or audio-video
• Stylize your podcast: Will you use a one person presentation or an interview. For interviews use participants who are knowledgeable in the podcast subject /theme.
• Podcast in a series: Podcast users expect a continuing series that they follow, not just a one-time file
• Combine with interactive blogs: This will create an even higher level of interaction with the audience (Remember when we first started this series of blogs concerning New Media Marketing – the rule of 7 clicks to get someone into you Buyers Community).
• Internal and External Use: Consider using podcast series for internal use for employees, associates, partners, etc..

How do I “get my podcast out to the public?”

Similar to other NMM tools, specific distribution tools are required. Podcasts use the same delivery mechanisms as does blogs. GoDaddy (www.godaddy.com) or BlueHost (www.bluehost.com) provide basic podcast delivery tools.

Podcasts have their own directories. Submit your podcasts to as many directories as possible. Most, if not all, are free. It is actually not that difficult to add your podcasts to iTunes (www.itunes.com) for more details

To close the discussion on podcasts, we provide some don’ts:

• Don’t garble your words
• Don’t speak in a monotone
• Don’t record with background noise
• Don’t try to show-off by bombarding your audience with too much information
• Don’t use loud, harsh music
• Don’t try to act as a broadcaster be yourself
• Don’t publish a podcast that is not relevant to your audience
• Don’t make your podcasts too long. Even though a 15 – 30 minute max is suggested, as audiences become even more time starved, 10 minute podcasts are strongly recommended

For those who have ventured into the exciting world of podcasts, please share your lessons learned and some tricks of the trade.