All Posts, Content & Copywriting
So here’s my worldwide web, no time to be camera-shy debut. I hope there are some tidbits that can enlighten & offer clarity of key points to consider from a content writer’s perspective. These include blogging, web design and branding across all forums of marketing for your business, big or small. So get some Kettle Corn (love that stuff!), get comfy and enjoy the show.
Why Website Content Is Important [Video Interview] from designtheory on Vimeo.
Interview by Jean Perpillant of Yvonne Barber, both members of Design Theory.
Social Media
Found this really cool social media icon set online and thought I’d share it with all of you.
Designer Bio
Jasmina is a self-taught vector illustrator from Serbia who has been working as a freelance designer for over five years now. Her biggest passion is in vector illustrations and motion graphic design. In her spare time she likes to read comic books and playing Call of Duty 2. You can check out her portfolio for more and also follow her on Twitter.
Download here
All Posts
For those outside the marketing realm, let me help define “branding”. Branding is a signature ‘look and feel’ that leverages all of the resources our industry has to offer to make sure that you will be noticed and recognized by consumers and like industry companies.
- Branding is an essential component to any business therefore it’s something you should consistently think about and ensure it evolves on an ongoing basis. Taking time to think about and employ opportunities to promote your brand is both fundamental and key to its success.
- Your brand and marketing materials should precisely detail & sell your product and/or service. If they’re not, they’re wrong. You know the old adage of “if it isn’t broke don’t fix it”…well if it is, it’s time to re-think and re-brand.
- C’mon, get focused! Your view of your product/service can sometimes be narrow and if it’s your “baby”, it can be hard to be a tough critic. So if you can’t afford to pay for a professional focus group, here is a suggestion. Get together a group of professional friends from various industries and present your products/service. Offering hors d’oeuvres and beverages is a nice form of compensation. What’s most important though is getting their feedback in writing and implementing their suggestions (if they are good ideas…) into your brand/marketing strategies and promotions.
- Know your street credibility ~ Your brand image as well as its reputation is vital. It’s super important you know what your client base is saying about you…and even your competition. Being armed with this information will allow you to evolve your branding & marketing strategies to thwart the effects of the good or bad press.
- Promote your brand across all landscapes. This should include at a minimum:
∞ direct marketing via mailers;
∞ email campaigns and promotions;
∞ online & in-store promotions; and last but surely not least…
∞ social media, etc.
All Posts
In high school we all wanted to be liked…to be accepted by a group of people as part of their “in-crowd”. You remember…the cool kids who seemed to rule the hallways while others salivated at the double-dutch opportunity to laugh at one of their jokes or be thrown just a nod of acknowledgement. As adults in the business world (most of us anyway unless you are a 20 year-old Zuckerberg wiz kid), we aren’t all that different. We enjoy rubbing elbows with the “movers & shakers” in an effort to acquire business connections that will hopefully profit us in relationship and in contribution to our wallets.
It’s in these efforts that we come to understand and implement strategies to be liked, which easily translates into the business marketing forum to obtain business relationships…profitable ones hopefully. In the world of Social Media, especially on Facebook, we come to understand on a more global level, the Power of Like. If you are not on Facebook-well golly gee willacurs you should be. Why?
#1- it’s free. In a world where next to nothing is this is 100% gratis!
#2 – much like blogging and having a business website; it gives you UNLIMITED, GLOBAL access to people and other businesses. Many people/businesses are now searching Facebook for products/services in lieu of traditional worldwide web searches.
#3 – many businesses on Facebook are already “Liked” (or unfortunately Disliked) and have reviews/comments on their pages which makes their business report card accessible in a glance.
#4 – again, it’s free. No marketing budget needed.
Do you really need more persuasion? If so, here’s an elementary concept taught outside high school hallways in the game of real business life…
In the world of Social Media…Like=Relationships & Revenues
And thanks to Mark Z-that’s the Power of Like
All Posts, Social Media
This was a hot button for me when I first came across it. Apparently there are some employers out there that are taking the interview process to a whole new level. We’ve all had interviews before. The unnerving feeling of being asked a mix of mundane and out-of-left field questions that force you to say “uh…” “lets see…” Yea those. Well what if while you were asked those questions when trying to explain last week’s house party at your best friends house. Don’t remember? Well thankfully your friend posted it on his wall and tagged you so you could somewhat remember the state of mind you were in. As the memory comes back to you, the HR manager or recruiter gives you a stone cold look of disappointment.
MSNBC’s Red Tape Chronicles website was where I first read about this. Personally I think it’s an invasion of privacy. It’s almost like an employer asking what you do at home and what kind of table manners you have. On the other hand, for some agencies and high security jobs I can understand the risk and need to fully vet someone’s clearance for employment. I remember years ago when I learned banks and other financial institutions where doing credit checks for people before they even got a chance for an interview. If you were in bad credit standing, your application would not be considered. So I guess in these new days, if you are a certain way personally outside of work, that can affect you being picked for a job too.
Now social media monitoring isn’t anything new. Not long ago the Library of Congress admitted they would be archiving all tweets posted on Twitter. Not really sure why they’d want to keep all those tweets, but they’re doing it. You could follow a lot of conspiracy rabbit holes as well the more you dig in. Even Google will be collecting all of your user data across all of their services to better serve you they say.
What can be done? Well simple, stop using these applications and websites. Too hard? Well you could do a few other things:
- Don’t log in to any of these applications via internet or mobile device to keep your information out of their databases
- Change your real name to an alias.
- Try using a browser that uses no personal cookies and history saving.
- Delete your internet history before and after using such sites
- Create real/dummy accounts to use or share when needed
Is this too far? Is social media turning into a double-edged sword? We’d love to hear your thoughts on this.
