9 Tips for Great Design of Your Marketing Material

9 Tips for Great Design of Your Marketing Materials

by: Neroli Lacey

1) Don’t just hire a good designer. Hire someone who has had plenty of experience designing business collateral. Your designer needs to ask you the right questions about the project. And he/ she needs to be able to turn the design round reasonably fast too.
2) Write the copy first. I believe the copy drives the project. (Unless this is a print ad, in which case the visual and headline will often dominate).
3) Read your copy word for word to your designer. You’d be amazed how often designers don’t understand the project because they haven’t been properly briefed. Your designer is going to be expressing in design the same persuasive arguments that you / your writer will be articulating in words.
4) Ensure that your designer communicates your branding i.e. the values you are trying to communicate.
5) Check that the copy is easy to read once it has been laid out by your designer. If the design takes too much attention to itself, then your readers won’t be following your arguments.
6) A professional designer will give you a creative brief: he sets out on paper the brief as he understands it. This includes the brand and the benefits of the offer in question. The creative brief means misunderstandings get cleared up before it they are too expensive to change.
7) He’ll then present you with 23 design options for your review, about 3 weeks later.
8) Remember, you aren’t choosing the color for your sports car, you are choosing the piece that best reflects the brand and personality of your company or offering.
9) Finally your designer brings you the finished product. He instructs printers and oversees production.
WOULD YOU LIKE A WORLDCLASS JOURNALIST TO GHOSTWRITE AN ARTICLE FOR PUBLICATION FOR YOU? Contact Neroli Lacey NOW!
How clear and persuasive is your website, brochure copy or direct mail? Call Neroli Lacey NOW to win more business TODAY.
CALL ++ 612. 215. 3826 or email: [email protected]

About The Author

Iกm Neroli Lacey of Beyond Communications Inc. in Minneapolis, MN. I’ve been helping executives transform their businesses and their lives with outstanding marketing materials since 1995. VISA, 3M and Perot Systems are some of my bigger clients. I have worked with clients in Boston, San Francisco, Dallas, Austin, Minneapolis, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Dublin and Delhi. I used to be one of the top journalists in Britain writing for The Times, The Sunday Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Guardian, The Evening Standard, New Statesman, Vogue and Tatler.
Before newspapers I was an investment banker. I grew up in London, England, studying Latin with Greek at Bristol University.
Please visit my website: www.beyondcommunications.com

Or contact me at: [email protected]

6122153826

This article was posted on April 30, 2004

by Neroli Lacey

Graphic Designer: Four Color Postcard Making

Graphic Designer: Four Color Postcard Making

by: Marlon D. Ludovice

Being a graphic designer is not an easy job. You cannot just enter the scene and do the job instantly. It needs a lot of positive characteristics to fit for the said endeavor. But you may ask, what is a graphic designer? What do graphic designers actually do? Iกm pretty sure that most people can name at least a few things, but the graphic design spectrum is perhaps broader than you think.

ขGraphic design is the process and art of combining text and graphics and communicating an effective message in the design of logos, graphics, brochures, newsletters, posters, signs, and any other type of visual communication including post cardsข. So usually they are the one who formulate and create four color postcards for their clients. They are the one who has a greater knowledge and skills in art, computers, and problem solving and even designing creative works.

One task of a graphic designer is lay outing, it is usually a large range of work, but generally a layout artist is dealing with the structuring and laying out of images and text in a pleasing format for printed media. They transport the idea of your project in a software application, then after some creative works they are the one who gave you a final output or your project itself.

They choose the right blend of color for your postcards, the design and everything that must be included to your postcard. They are responsible that’s why creating a four color postcard is now a piece of work without much time and effort to take. With their computer skills in different printing programs the quality and service of the four color postcard is guaranteed.

About The Author

Marlon D. Ludovice is a graduate of Bachelor of Arts major in Political Science at Bicol University College of Arts and Sciences. Well actually iกm not fun of writing, i dont write at all. i am not expecting that i will be in this field. But i love to read books…almost everything interest me. reading is my passion! but now that i am in an article writer team, writing gives me an additional thrill in myself…Before i love to read books but now im also in a writing stuff. I can say that im not a good writer but i am trying to be one.

For additional information and comments about the article you may log on to http://www.mypostcardprinting.com/commercialprintingcompany.html

[email protected]

This article was posted on April 04

by Marlon D. Ludovice

กIกm just meก An Overview of an Web er.. Designe

กIกm just meก An Overview of an Web er.. Designer, Developer, Consultant and Friend

by: Andrew Mottershead

กIกm just meก An Overview of an Web er.. Designer, Developer, Consultant and Friend.

I am going to give you a breakdown of my … er … work … playtime …. income ….

Iกm a UK based Web Designer, Web Developer, Internet Consultant. I build websites, content management systems and internet solutions for anybody who can afford me. I am a prostitute!! Yes! A prostitute I use my website to sell my wares and hope that the client enjoys the result if they decide to pick me up. I like to think of myself as giving good head to a กweb enabled userbaseก. Apparently prostitution is the กoldest tradeก. Well if thatกs so then Iกve been doing the same as long at the internet has been available to home users here in the UK.

Itกs been nearly 8 years since I first logged on to the internet from my home. Prior to that Iกd used gopher servers via mdx.ac.uk as a student in the early 90กs. Prior to that BBSกs were fun. I now find myself working from home as a kind of web dogsbody. Just me, four cats, 2 horses, my son and my amazing partner down here on a 6 acre smallholding in Pembrokeshire, Wales, UK. I have several titles:

Web Designer

I use this if a client needs me to make images to make their site กprettyก. Web design has been written about by the Guruกs in their ivory mansions. At the end of the day what is it? Itกs being able to realise the clients vision without resorting to cheesy backgrounds and blinking text. Keep it nice and clean.

If your a web designer with a difficult client.. do not do what they want!! Just tell them what they should do or drop them. The previous statement depends on two things:

How much do you KNOW your right?

How much are they’re PAYING you?

Most of us now know what is good design..

If your lost read some Chomsky : )

Web Developer

This one is for websites that need กcodingก yกknow… PHP, ASP, SQL etc. A web designer puts good clean concepts into an xhtml css layout which works (HTML is bunk). A web developer makes the content within this design actually กdo stuffก. I started out making web sites กdo stuffก in late 2000. I now make websites do กlots of stuffก.

A web developer does stuff which allows users to do stuff. A web designer allows users to read the stuff the web developer does.

Internet Consultant

A nice one this it covers both of the above yet also allows me to do the following.. It also looks good on a business card.

Beware folk who say that they are กInternet Consultantsก who do not also claim to be at least one of the others on this page. They are probably con men.

Web Guru

This is a found role. I can teach! I have ideas!

กHmm, I do that alsoก what makes you special? Thatกs what your thinking.

I don’t need anyone to show me how to use my new fangled CMS (thatกs กContent Management Systemก). How to send email, use Adwords, get cash from Adsense. Guru thatกs just a made up term..

This title come through experience people are telling me that Iกm a Guru. I myself am holding judgemental on this.

I have always been a กcommunicatorก

Friend

I have lots of clients. Some are just one offs. The small guest house that needs a simple three page website and an email account others are clients that need constant modifications to their portal or ecommerce website. I try to get on with them all. Some have become friends.

About The Author

Andrew Mottershead is a web developer providing his freelance services to anyone who needs his talents . If heกs too busy he has loads of freelance mates who may be able to help. His website is www.mindstream.co.uk which is updated when he gets time.

This article was posted on February 03

by Andrew Mottershead

Elements of a Good Design

Elements of a Good Design

by: Carla Ballatan

So you’re aspiring to create designs for companies advertising their crafts online? Hold on! Before chasing after your dream of being a ‘great’ and ‘wellknown’ graphic designer…Let’s go over the many names and title that associates with graphic designer and resolve finally who a designer is and what are the elements of design you need to learn.

According to an article, Chuck’s views on design, writing and marketing at www.ideabook.com/viewa.htm the author narrates that he’s already into his twenty something years in the graphic design business. Considering his long experience, Chuck’s been called art director, commercial artist, graphic designer, desktop publisher and graphic artist.

Impressed with the wide selection of titles? Let’s get on with the definitions, though. Graphic designer is defined by the Graphic Artist’s Guild as ขvisual problem solverข, the graphic artist is a ขvisual artist working in a commercial areaข, and the art director is someone responsible for supervising the ขquality and character if visual work.ข Don’t be led to believe that the definitions tell what the work is all about.

Among the various definitions, that of the creative director’s, ขwhose responsibilities may include overall supervision of all aspects of the character and quality of the (advertising) agency’s work for its clientข came close to what Chuck thinks a designer should really be…

Now, if you are undaunted by the closedefinition and is really keen on being a graphic designer, you should know that design is a communication art. There are basic elements for creating good designs in order to perfect this art.

The following are the elements of design that serve as standards in achieving high quality and successful designs:

1. ขDesign is more than meets the eye.ข Always keep in mind that design is also communicating an idea as well as giving visual delight and entertainment. It is actually a blend of both so that it becomes a welldesigned message. Anything less and you will not have a design.

2. ขDesign is about communicating benefitsข – your design must incorporate marketing messages that focus on what benefits your prospective customers might get in responding to your handiwork.

3. ขDesign is not about designersข – Design will never be effective if it’s made to stir up the designer’s ego. You must create designs that your clients need and not design that’ll make you look good in your portfolio

4. ขDesign is not an ocean, it’s a fishbowlข – Be very particular and appropriate about your designs and that would depend on the client needing them. Be careful about the principles you apply on either designing techniques or marketing ideas. Be aware that these two may not always be interchangeable.

5. ขDesign is creating something you believe inข – Don’t let a poor product be killed immediately because of great advertisement designs. Stick to your values and principles in accepting projects from clients, in order to manipulate your ad design to the best of your client’s advantage, you, must first know and have faith on your client and their products. 30

About The Author

Lala B. is a 26 yearold Communication Arts graduate, with a major in Journalism. Right after graduating last 1999, she worked for one year as a clerk then became a Research, Publication and Documentation Program Director at a nongovernment organization, which focuses on the rights, interests and welfare of workers for about four years.

Her writing prowess began as early as she was 10 years old in girlish diaries. With writing, she felt freedom – to express her viewpoints and assert it, to bring out all concerns imagined and observed, to bear witness.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.ucreative.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 07

by Carla Ballatan

How To Save Money on a Website

How To Save Money on a Website

by: Talita Kindermann

Know what you want

Make sure you know why you want a website and what you want your website to do for you.

Write down some short term and long term goals. Establishing an Internet presence for your business is an important step – make sure you do it right! You need to have a clear vision before you start.

Surf the internet

Compile a list of websites that appeal to you in aspects of: colour scheme, content, layout and other related design properties. This will help your web designer factor in your personal tastes and preferences into the design process and produce a website you’re proud of!

Plan the content of your website

Draw a hierarchical tree menu structure (site map) so that you can see how everything will fit in and write down the names of your pages. You know your company better than your web designer! Write the content for your website – even if it is just in bullet points, a skilled copywriter can always step in from there. Keep in mind you need to write for your website visitors. As always, content is king.

Take some pictures for your website

Snapshots of staff, products, or your work environment improve the visual appeal of your website and familiarize your customers and potential customers with your business. You can save a lot of money by providing your website designer with photos you have taken yourself, rather then having them source relevant stock photography online.

Find a competent web designer

Make sure you choose carefully. Find a web design company that you feel comfortable and confident with in terms of credibility, portfolio, price and overall professionalism.

Interested in obtaining another independent quote on your website project? Please contact our web design team with your requirements and we will get back to you within 48 hours. Our engagement model includes a comprehensive preproject checklist & guide to help you further establish your website objectives.

About The Author

Talita operates a family web development firm based in sunny Brisbane, Australia. She enjoys sharing her knowledge and expertise in web design, ecommerce, email marketing and search engine optimisation. Visit her business website, Kintek: http://www.kintek.com.au/

This article was posted on April 24

by Talita Kindermann

When Your Graphic Designer Costs You Money…

When Your Graphic Designer Costs You Money…

by: Grannyกs Mettle

So how do you know when your graphic designer costs you financially and emotionally?

When a file is not prepared correctly… When you go to press and have your media material produced in prints, and find out that the file was built incorrectly, then thatกs the time when your graphic designer will cost you money.

Many prepress operators have complained about having to correct graphic designers work. To have a file prepared incorrectly can have drastic financial and emotional consequences to the owner. The time needed to rectify the problem can cause major delays and additional expense. This is due to the graphic designerกs understanding that his job is done when he produces the design that you require.

It is therefore necessary for a graphic designer to understand the basic principle of what you see on screen may not be the same when it comes off the press. A designer should know how to correctly build a bleed; check that the panels fold correctly; and that color separation is well understood. The list goes on an on. If these issues are not properly addressed, the customer will most likely pay for additional costs because a print house or service provider will definitely charge extra for fixing the problem.

When no press check is done… Not only that the customer would be paying dearly, he or she will also suffer emotionally when no press check is done. The job would definitely come out less or even worse than what the owner is expecting. The customer will be left with the frustration of having no alternative but to accept additional job for the revision of the graphic designerกs output. This is particularly stressful and definitely teethgrinding when it is a lastminute job for a presentation or a trade show. The customer is left with nothing.

When your graphic designer make more than a few major mistakes… Especially with regards to a website, a designer must be able to understand that it is not just optimizing images or putting text on a page and uploading it to a remote site. The graphic designer must understand how search engine optimization and basic HTML work. If not, well, the website may just be something for the drawing boards. And that would be another expense for the customer because he or she has to go back and redesign another website.

So when times like these do occur, and your graphic designer cost you much money and emotional stress, itกs time for you to hit the high road and look for another. There are a lot of people working as graphic designers for the web and print. Many of them are well trained and understand what it takes to create a great and working media material. You just have to discern and look a little further for the designer that will give you your moneyกs worth.

About The Author

Grannyกs Mettle is a 30something, professional web content writer. She has created various web content on a diverse range of topics, which includes digital printing topics, medical news, as well as legal issues. Her articles are composed of reviews, suggestions, tips and more for the printing and designing industry.

Her thoughts on writing: กWriting gives me pleasure… pleasure and excitement that you have created something to share with others. And with the wide world of the Internet, it gives me great satisfaction that my articles reach more people in the quickest time you could imagine.ก

On her spare time, she loves to stay at home, reading books on just about any topic she fancies, cooking a great meal, and taking care of her husband and kids.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.graphicdesignsunlimited.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 28

by Grannyกs Mettle

Sweaters and Web Sites: Aren’t They All The Same?

Sweaters and Web Sites: Aren’t They All The Same?

by: Walt McClure

Beware: Thinlystretched metaphor ahead. Proceed with caution.

A Web Site is a Web Site is a Web Site….right?

No. Itกs not.

Thatกs settled. Let us move on to more pressing issues:

Visualize. A sweater. Red and green. Whoa. Horizontal stripes with alternating colors. Causes rapid eye movement and nonphysical concussions. 3Dimensional pieces stitched in to add some flair to the viewing experience. Shame. Its the crowning piece of someoneกs holiday ensemble. It may be hard on the eyes of oneกs daily acquaintances, but as long as they wear it with pride, they c Nope. Still ugly.

In my own fashionchallenged opinion, there are two types of sweaters: Ones that scream bloody murder from 50 yards out and ones that are….กniceก and all seem to look quite similar. Most of us have the necessary survival skills to stay away from the กbloody murderก sweaters. The trick is choosing the right กniceก sweater. Some of them are lemons, prepared to unravel as soon as you walk past an erect lightswitch, but its hard to tell (for some) because they all look so similar.

Seems to me that sweater designers are กborrowingก ideas from other (more capable) sweater designers in attempts to reach the highest plateau of sweater success. Hmmm. Before long, the top selling sweater designer has dozens of competitors, all peddling the same TIRED design, all at different prices and smothering the racks at Macyกs. Some of them are well made, some not. Prices aren’t necessarily on par with quality here.

Let us digress.

Sweater metaphor unraveled: Not all web sites are created equal. Though this seems painfully obvious, you could still be suckered into contracting a horrible website just because it has a pretty design, if you’re not careful. Choose a designer wisely because looks can be very deceiving. Not the looks of the designer that you can pretty much make judgement on right away.

Just remember design and function don’t always walk into the sunset, hand in hand. In fact, sometimes design lops off functionกs writing hand and runs into the sunset alone. Tragic.

Oh. and what is that stringy thing hanging from your sleeve?

xxxxx

About The Author

Walt McClure is Head Designer and Project Manager of McClure Web Design Delaware.

http://www.mcclurewebdesign.com

[email protected]

This article was posted on January 09

by Walt McClure

How To Choose A Website Designer

How To Choose A Website Designer

by: Steve Lillo

Now that you have decided that it is time to create a website for your business there are many questions you must answer. One of the most important questions is กWho should create my website?ก

I like to use the analogy of playing music; in as little as a few hours, some people can strum a few chords on the guitar and play a song. But to really play the instrument and make your instrument sing requires experience and understanding. Likewise, although there are tools which are readily available to assist in the process, effective website design requires experience and understanding of many diverse areas including: marketing, Internet graphics options and limitations, effectively creating a site from the perspective of search engines, the differences and limitations of different browsers and computer platforms as well as knowledge of the software and coding required to move beyond simple static html pages.

It is also vitally important that your designer understand you and your business and know how to most effectively communicate you and your uniqueness to your Internet audience. To answer our question, we’ll look at some important pieces of information that you’ll need to find out before you choose your website designer.

What do you want in a website? What are your needs and intentions for having a website? Does the prospective designer listen to and understand your needs and intentions? Have you checked other similar businesses to see what they are doing on the Internet? Can a prospective designer offer any suggestions for improving upon what others have already accomplished? The more clarity you have about your intended results for having a website, the more accurately you can communicate your needs to your designer and the more likely it is that you will achieve these results.

Is the designer experienced in website design? How long has the designer been creating websites? What is their background? How long have they been using the Internet? Three years is a long time in Internet terms. More than four or five years is a seasoned veteran. Ideally, your site designer has a variety of experience.

What are the designerกs strengths and weaknesses? The range of skills required for creating any type of website is more diverse than you can imagine. If a designer tells you they have done or can do any project, I’d suggest you take that statement with a grain of salt.

Is the designer easy to work with and talk to? Is she/he able to communicate technical information so that you can understand it? The process of creating a website can often be an overwhelming process for some people. Consider hiring a designer with whom you have a good rapport and find communicating with easy.

Look at some of their previous clients sites. Do they all look the same? Do they load quickly? Are they easy to navigate through? Do you like their previous work? Do they accurately reflect their clients’ business? Does the designer custom create each site or would they have you select from a list of prepackaged sites?

What is your budget and what is the typical cost for the designer’s projects? As a generalization, the larger the company, the more they charge for their services (and often the more elaborate the sites they create.) Companies which create sites from a prepackaged template often cost less but don’t provide you with custom solutions which may more closely meet your needs. Site designers who are getting started will often create your site for a lower fee, essentially using your project to develop their skills.

Your decision should be based on many of these important questions. Also use any other questions you find useful when hiring any other service business for a project. Comparing website designers is sometimes like comparing bananas to bicycles instead of apples to apples. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. You might consider writing pros and cons for each designer on a sheet of paper to develop a more objective point of view.

The selection of your website designer is an important step in the creation of a successful website. With time and patience, you too can join the thousands of businesses with successful websites.

About The Author

Steve Lillo author of Websites That Work! is the President of PlanetLink, a website design and consulting firm which specializes in creating websites which get results. They also provide their Web Rx Service for increasing the effectiveness of existing websites. PlanetLink can be reached at http://www.planetlink.com or by telephone at 4158842022.

[email protected]

This article was posted on June 18, 2003

by Steve Lillo

Producing a Catalog

Producing a Catalog

by: Maricon Williams

Before you can produce a catalog, you must undergo first the planning stage. In the planning stage, you envision your objective. What do you want to communicate? What tone or ambiance is necessary to make the objective apparent? Another thing that you should consider is the audience. Knowing the potential readers may help you create and communicate the message, tone and identity that you want. The next thing to ask is who will be the designer? Looking for a designer is hard because only few designers of design companies specialize in catalog. A good designer will give you the style you are looking for but an unskilled catalog designer will create technical difficulties resulting in cost overruns and delays. If you have already chosen a designer, do not forget to choose an expert photographer in connection to catalog. The last thing to consider in the planning stage is the budget. Seek help from catalog designers or producers so that your catalog will fit within your budget.

After planning, decide on the initial design considerations. This includes the kind of catalog you want to create, the number of products you want to appear per page, the number of pieces you want to be printed and other details such as envelope, index, table of contents, sales terms and the likes.

Now you can set the schedule. Producing a catalog is like taking a long road trip. Efficient planning will keep you on track, on time and within budget. Usually, the creation of a new catalog takes about two months for design and photography. Revised catalogs can take less time depending on the degree of modification.

After setting the schedule, you can now formulate product information and have some creative copy. This will include data such as item name, item numbers, prices, descriptions and groupings. Most native data lack comprehensive product name and description copy. Decide whether you or your design company will write the additional copy essential for the catalog. You must keep the data to save your time and expense in case it will be needed again in the future.

The next step is product photography and catalog imagery. To prepare for photography collect and categorize samples of all your products. Then label them in a distinct location with their product code. That way the photographer can match the product code with the image filename for quick addition by the designers.

The last step is the selection of a printer and mail house. Printing catalogs is a fairly specialized printing process. You need to hand over to a printer at least 4 weeks prior to printing to warrant paper delivery. The printing, bindery and mailing will take about 2 weeks. Prepare your mailing data in advance of your print date. Your printer, mail house or catalog design company can assist you with data formats and schedule.

Additional Information about the articles can be found at http://www.catalogprintingexperts.com

About The Author

Maricon Williams

I love reading. Give me a book and Iกll finish it in one sitting. Reading is the chance to be transported to a different world and so is writing. Iกm more enthusiastic about writing however, since you can relay your ideas to someone else. I can only imagine that feeling when I hear a complete stranger talking about my ideas which read on an article somewhere. To relay my message to as many people is the same as touching people with music. Only mineกs less harmonic. I try to make up for it with the color I bring with words. And most of the time, it’s more than enough.

[email protected]

This article was posted on March 29

by Maricon Williams

How to Effectively Design Your Business Image

How to Effectively Design Your Business Image

by: Faith Seekings

In many industries, image is one of the last things business owner looks at. If business is not booming, they assume there is something wrong with the sales method, as opposed to the image. กIf we just sent out a few thousand more fliersก they say, กwe will get some more clientsก. When in reality, they should be looking at how the message they’re sending to their target market is perceived in the first place. Here are a few pointers to look at:
Color
Colors evoke innate responses, which means not all colors are suitable for all business types. How does red make you feel? Angry, in pain, tense? It’s tricky. In the financial industry red is negative (in the red). In the world of health, red can represent discomfort, not good for people offering pain solutions. In fitness, red is very sporty and stimulating. How about blue? It tends to be calm and soothing. Blue can range from fun and playful sky blue to dark, corporate navy. Green is often associated with natural things, or ‘go’ and money – depending on the shades. Yellow/orange/reds/browns in combination stimulate the appetite think fast food and candy bars. Red is tricky. In some instances red means power and is striking. Purple can very easily go from sophisticated, royal aubergene to kid’s grape (Barney). Orange is still a little weird and often used as a shocker, not as the dominant color. The only industry that can get away with almost any color is Tech.
Personal Preference VS Market Preference
People often let their own personal tastes rule their image decisions Oneกs color preferences and styles may not suit the audience they are targeting. What style of design appeals to you? Now imagine that in the eyes of someone quite different, like your grandmother. For example: being too sporty and athletic when your target is professional businesspeople. Too earthy and organic when your target is average Joes. There may be imagery that means a lot to you in your profession, but doesn’t mean much to your target market. It may even scare them. Step back and look at your business as if you’ve never encountered it before. Imagine what might attract clients, or help explain simply what you do. Realizing that your image needs to portray a certain message to the general public, not the you or your colleagues, is the first step to image success.
Looking กNewก
Just because youกve only been in business for a few days, doesn’t mean you have to look like it. Having a well puttogether public image will build trust and a solid reputation. Taking a little time and care instead of quick ‘good enough’ fixes will help you appear more established. Potential clients may not consciously pin point it, but they will pick up on the homespun factor or the generic Staples business cards. How does that affect your credibility? It is good to get your name and information about your business out there. However, when it comes to points of contact like brochures and web sites, if they are messy and difficult to read, they aren’t doing you any favours. There are professionally designed, inexpensive web templates that can do a great job until you are ready for a custom web site. Find a real printer and ask them have a look at your layout and make sure your type isn’t falling off the edge and that the images sharp.
Looking like everyone else
You have a lot of competition. If everyone in your industry uses the same symbols and goes for the standard solution, how will you stand out? What makes your business unique? Is it the name? The location? Is there something meaningful to you that you could incorporate into your identity that shows your uniqueness, or that speaks to your target audience? Maybe a new take on an industry symbol. It could be as simple as having a blue card with a different typeface. Imagine this amongst a sea of black and white, times roman everything centered cards.
Looking good on a shoestring budget
If you can’t hire a designer there are a few things you can do to help look like a pro. Have things printed professionally – it is much better than your bubble jet. Don’t make all the type gigantic. Give everything some breathing room by not butting up against the edge of the page or pictures. Line things up. Look at the competition. Compare your work to professionally designed material and try to notice the differences that make theirs look cleaner. Put your own tastes aside and ask your target audience for their opinions and then listen to them.
Faith Seekings is the owner of Faith Seekings Design. She works with business owners to help align their business goals with their business image. She can be reached at 416.368.8956 or email [email protected]

About The Author

Faith is a graphic designer trained at George Brown College in Toronto. With more than 8 yearsก experience as a designer and project manager, Faith has created logos, stationery, advertising campaigns, ecommerce solutions, websites and collateral material for a host of clients, including: Rogers Cablesystems, Daniels Properties, Zona Health, Nooro Online Research, Agent Wildfire, Nymity Privacy Services and more. Faith is a skilled designer with a keen eye for the strategic as well as the tactical elements of graphic design.

faithseekingsdesign.ca

[email protected]

This article was posted on July 29, 2004

by Faith Seekings

Make Your Web Site Work More So You Can Work Less

Make Your Web Site Work More So You Can Work Less

by: C.J. Hayden

Do you know how your web site fits into the overall marketing strategy for your business? Do you have a strategy for your web site as a marketing tool? If you’re like many entrepreneurs I speak with, you probably don’t.

All over the world, small business owners are spending thousands of dollars on building and maintaining web sites without being able to answer one big question: What do you want your web site to do?

Creating a web site without a marketing strategy can be an expensive and timeconsuming mistake. Hereกs an illustration from the more familiar world of paper and postage. Imagine that you hired a graphic designer, printed 5000 fourcolor trifold brochures, and when the boxes arrived, you asked yourself, กGee, what shall I do with these?ก

That scenario may sound a bit embarrassing as it stands, but letกs take it further. Suppose the first idea that occurs to you is mailing your new brochure to a list of 500 names you collected by exhibiting at a trade show. But then you realize that you didn’t design the brochure as a self mailer all 6 panels are filled with graphics and copy.

To mail your brochure, you will now need 500 envelopes. Of course you want to use the ones printed with your address and logo, but how much do those cost a piece? And do you have 500 in stock? What will be the cost in money or time to get envelopes printed, addressed, and stuffed? How long will all this take? Was any of this in your budget when you had the brochures printed?

The brochure example can tell us much about what goes wrong in creating web sites. Many sites are constructed to be simply electronic brochures. Entrepreneurs often get their sites designed by sending their printed brochure to a web designer, and saying, กPut this on the Web.ก

So hereกs what is wrong with that. If you want your web site to attract traffic, your web site must be DESIGNED to attract traffic.

You have a choice in designing your site and integrating it with your overall marketing strategy. You can choose to make your site an electronic brochure with no consideration of how to attract visitors built into the design. If you do this, it means that you must direct traffic to your site by other means advertise, promote, exhibit, speak, write, network, prospect, mail, call, etc.

Unfortunately, most small business owners find this out after the fact. They put up the site and then slowly realize that no one is seeing it. So they start spending time and money on banner ads, online malls, classifieds, postcards, bulk email, posting articles, exchanging links, and more.

The alternative is to design your site to attract traffic in the first place. If you’re going to spend all the time and money to build a web site, doesn’t it make more sense to have the site bring you customers rather than you having to bring customers to the site?

To create a hightraffic web site, it must be searchengine friendly. 8590% of all web site traffic comes from search engines. When a customer types in a keyword phrase you hope will bring them to you, your site needs to be one of the top 1030 results shown or that customer will never get to you. To earn top positions in the major search engines, you or your web designer must know the guidelines each engine uses to create its rankings, and mold your site to meet them.

Some of these guidelines relate to the content of your site, and how it is organized. Others have to do with the technical details of how your site is constructed. If you don’t want to know these specifics, youกd better hire someone who does. Thatกs the problem with letting just anyone who calls themselves a web designer create a site for you.

Looking at a designerกs portfolio of completed sites will tell you only a small part of what you need to know about their abilities. Who wrote the content for those sites? Who designed the page layout and navigation? Where did the graphics come from? And hereกs the most important question: What did the designer do to make those sites searchengine friendly?

Itกs a rare person who possesses the fourway combination of design ability, technical expertise, marketing knowhow, and search engine savvy to create an attractive, useful web site that will attract traffic AND generate paying customers. You know which of these capabilities you already have, and what new skills you’re willing to learn. Make sure you hire people who have the rest.

About The Author

C.J. Hayden is the author of Get Clients NOW! Since 1992, C.J. has been teaching business owners and salespeople to make more money with less effort. She is a Master Certified Coach and leads workshops internationally. Read more of her articles at http://www.getclientsnow.com

This article was posted on July 02, 2003

by C.J. Hayden

Why Choose A Professional Web Designer?

Why Choose A Professional Web Designer?

by: Joe Duchesne

It seems that almost every Tom Dick and Harry do web design in one form or another. Everyone seems to know a friendsก brotherกs son who can build websites for real cheap. Why choose to pay the sometimes high fees that web designers charge?

Thereกs a right way to build websites and thereกs a wrong way to build them.

There are a number of considerations when building a website. The first is that the website being created is search engine friendly. Iกve seen some websites built in such a way that search engines couldn’t see more than the home page. This results in a fraction of the traffic potential that would otherwise result for the website.

Professional or Mickey Mouse?

A poorly designed website reflects on the business that it is attached to. When your prospects visit a website that is poorly created, they will tend to project that first impression onto the rest of the services that your company has to offer. This can affect everything from how often you close sales to how much you can charge a client. In other words, it hurts your bottom line.

Anyone can create a simple web page. How many people can create a professional image?

What kind of recourse do you have?

If a high school kid is creating your website and something goes wrong or you spend months waiting for it only to find out you wouldn’t want to use it anyway what can you do about it? When you choose a professional web design firm that can provide you with a list of satisfied customers, you can at least look to a track record you can count on.

You get what you pay for

If you pay someone to build a simple website for you that ends up turning customers off, how much has that website really cost you? Getting a professional looking website may be more costly up front but it will pay for itself many times over in the long run.

Communicate a consistent Business Image

By having your website created by a professional and having the content of that website written by a good business writer, you can have a powerful ally towards increase business sales and customer satisfaction. Choosing the right professional website designer can go a long way towards helping you achieve your business goals.

About The Author

Joe Duchesne is a professional web designer and founder of Yowling.com. They provide a web site builder that allows anyone to create a professional web site in as little as an hour. Reprint freely as long as you maintain the keyword rich link and this resource box back to our website.

This article was posted on August 04

by Joe Duchesne