chom chom advertising

166 Ways to Misspell the Word "Twitter"

Vinh Nguyen — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:34:19 +0000

Twitter started as “Twtter” as it was reported in Twitter Turns Three on TechCrunch.

By curiosity, I wanted to know the possible misspellings for the “hottest social media site.” For that I used Typo Generator created by Aaron Wall. The result: 166 popular misspelled words and here they are:

Skip letter

1. witter
2. titter
3. twtter
4. twiter
5. twiter
6. twittr
7. twitte

Double letters

8. ttwitter
9. twwitter
10. twiitter
11. twittter
12. twittter
13. twitteer
14. twitterr

Reverse letters

15. wtitter
16. tiwtter
17. twtiter
18. twitetr
19. twittre

Missed key

20. rwitter
21. 5witter
22. 6witter
23. ywitter
24. hwitter
25. gwitter
26. fwitter
27. tqitter
28. t2itter
29. t3itter
30. teitter
31. tditter
32. tsitter
33. taitter
34. twutter
35. tw8tter
36. tw9tter
37. twotter
38. twltter
39. twktter
40. twjtter
41. twirter
42. twi5ter
43. twi6ter
44. twiyter
45. twihter
46. twigter
47. twifter
48. twitrer
49. twit5er
50.twit6er
51. twityer
52. twither
53. twitger
54. twitfer
55. twittwr
56. twitt3r
57. twitt4r
58. twittrr
59. twittfr
60. twittdr
61. twittsr
62. twittee
63. twitte4
64. twitte5
65. twittet
66. twitteg
67. twittef
68. twitted

Inserted key

69. rtwitter
70. trwitter
71. 5twitter
72. t5witter
73. 6twitter
74. t6witter
75. ytwitter
76. tywitter
77. htwitter
78. thwitter
79. gtwitter
80. tgwitter
81. ftwitter
82. tfwitter
83. tqwitter
84. twqitter
85. t2witter
86. tw2itter
87. t3witter
88. tw3itter
89. tewitter
90. tweitter
91. tdwitter
92. twditter
93. tswitter
94. twsitter
95. tawitter
96. twaitter
97. twuitter
98. twiutter
99. tw8itter
100. twi8tter
101. tw9itter
102. twi9tter
103. twoitter
104. twiotter
105. twlitter
106. twiltter
107. twkitter
108. twiktter
109. twjitter
110. twijtter
111. twirtter
112. twitrter
113. twi5tter
114. twit5ter
115. twi6tter
116. twit6ter
117. twiytter
118. twityter
119. twihtter
120. twithter
121. twigtter
122. twitgter
123. twiftter
124. twitfter
125. twitrter
126. twittrer
127. twit5ter
128. twitt5er
129. twit6ter
130. twitt6er
131. twityter
132. twittyer
133. twithter
134. twitther
135. twitgter
136. twittger
137. twitfter
138. twittfer
139. twittwer
140. twittewr
141. twitt3er
142. twitte3r
143. twitt4er
144. twitte4r
145. twittrer
146. twitterr
147. twittfer
148. twittefr
149. twittder
150. twittedr
151. twittser
152. twittesr
153. twitteer
154. twittere
155. twitte4r
156. twitter4
157. twitte5r
158. twitter5
159. twittetr
160. twittert
161. twittegr
162. twitterg
163. twittefr
164. twitterf
165. twittedr
166. twitterd

Top volume of misspellings from Google keyword tool

360+ Most Famous Business Taglines Ever

Vinh Nguyen — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 23:08:09 +0000

Taglines are probably the second most noticeable element of a business identity. With just a few words, a tagline must be understandable, summarize the product or service offering, build trust, or incite to buy.

If like chom chom advertising, you are looking for a tagline for your business, here are some of the most famous punch lines. The list is an update from Eric Swartz 2005 list at Tagline Guru.

3M Innovation
7-Up The uncola
Acura The road will never be the same
Adobe Better by Adobe
Aflac Ask about it at work
AIG We know money
Ajax Stronger than dirt
Alka-Seltzer I can’t believe I ate the whole thing
Alka-Seltzer Mama mia, thatsa spicy meatball
Allegra The relief goes on
Allstate Are you in good hands?
Allstate Insurance You’re in good hands with Allstate
Alpo Dog Food Doesn’t your dog deserve Alpo?
Ambien Works like a dream
American Airlines Something special in the air
American Dairy Association Behold the power of cheese
American Express Don’t leave home without it
American Express Do more
American Express My life. My card
American Express Don’t leave home without it
Anacin For fast, fast, fast relief
APC Legendary reliability
Apple Think different
Apple The power to be your best
Apple Think outside the box
AT&T Reach out and touch someone
AT&T The world’s networking company
Audi Never follow
Avis We try harder
Bank of America Higher standards
Bank of America Bank of Opportunity
Barack Obama Change we need
Bartles & Jaymes Thank you for your support
Bayer Aspirin Bayer works wonders
Bic Flick my Bic
Bissell We mean clean
Bissell Life’s messy Clean it up!
BMW Sheer driving pleasure
BMW The ultimate driving machine
BOSE Better sound through research
Bounty The quicker picker-upper
Braniff Airlines When you’ve got it, flaunt it
Brim Decaffeinated Coffee Fill it to the rim with Brim
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co Hope, triumph, and the miracle of medicine
British Airways The way to fly
British Airways The world’s favorite airline
British Rail We’re getting there
Budweiser Wassup?!
Budweiser The king of beers
Burger King It just tastes better
Burger King Have it your way
Cadillac Break through
Calgon Toiletries Calgon, take me away
California Almond Growers A can a week, that’s all we ask
California Milk Processor Board Got milk?
Calvin Klein Between love and madness lies obsession
Calvin Klein Jeans Nothing comes between me and my Calvins
Camel I’d walk a mile for a camel
CameraWorld For negative people
Capital One What’s in your wallet?
Cascade For virtually spotless dishes
Charmin Please don’t squeeze the Charmin
Cheese Council Anyway you please it, cheese it
Cheez-It Get your own box
Chesterfield Cigarettes A silly millimeter longer
ChevronTexaco Turning partnership into energy
Chevy Trucks Like a rock
Chevy’s Fresh Mex
Chiffon Margarine It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature
Chrysler Inspiration comes standard
Cialis Will you be ready?
Cisco Systems Empowering the Internet generation
Citi Live richly
Citi City never sleeps
Citgo There at every turn
Clairol If I’ve only one life, let me live it as a blonde
Clairol Does she or doesn’t she?
ClubMed The antidote for civilization
CNET The source for computing and technology
CNN The most trusted name in news
Coca-Cola Coca-Cola refreshes you best
Coca-Cola The pause that refreshes
Coca-Cola Have a coke and smile
Coors The silver bullet
Cotton Incorporated Cotton The fabric of our lives
Coty Perfume If you want to capture someone’s attention, whisper
Covergirl makeup Easy, breezy, beautiful Covergirl
Crest Healthy, beautiful smiles for life
Crest Look, Ma, no cavities!
Crisco Vegetable Shortening Cooks who know trust Crisco
Dannon Yogurt Love it for life
DeBeers A diamond is forever
Dell Computer Easy as Dell
Delta Airlines You’ll love the way we fly
Delta Airlines We love to fly and it shows
Denny’s We’re cooking now
DePuy Orthopedics Restoring the joy of motion
DHL We move the world
DHL Yellow. The new Brown
DHL Competition. Bad for them. Great for you
Dial Soap Aren’t you glad you use Dial? Don’t you wish everybody did?
Disneyland The happiest place on earth
Dunkin Donuts Time to make the doughnuts
DuPont The miracles of science
DuPont Better living through chemistry
Dupont Better things for better living, through chemistry
eBay The power of all of us
eBay The world’s online marketplace
EF Hutton When EF Hutton talks, people listen
El Pollo Loco When you’re crazy for chicken
Electrolux Nothing sucks like an Electrolux
Energizer Batteries It keeps going, and going, and going
Epiphany See your way forward
Ernst & Young Quality in everything we do
Esso (Exxon) Put a tiger in your tank
Expediacom Don’t just travel Travel right
Fancy Feast Good taste is easy to recognize
FannieMae Our business is the American dream
FedEx Relax, it’s FedEx
FedEx The world on time
FedEx When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight
Fedex Absolutely, positively overnight
Fisher-Price Play. Laugh. Grow
Florida Orange Juice Growers Association It’s not just for breakfast anymore
Ford Bold Moves
Ford Built for the road ahead
Ford Drive one
Ford Ford has a better idea
Ford Quality is job one
Foster’s Foster’s Australian for beer
Fosters Fosters—Australian for beer
Fox News Fair and balanced
Friends of the Animals Extinct is forever
FTD Say it with flowers
General Electric We bring good things to life
General Electric Imagination at work
General Foods Celebrate the moments of your life
Georgia Federal Two words to the wise
Gerber Babies are our business
Gerber Shouldn’t your baby be a Gerber baby?
Geritol My wife, I think I’ll keep her
Gillette Look sharp, feel sharp
Gillette The best a man can get
Gillette Dry idea Never let ‘em see you sweat
GLAD Don’t get mad, Get GLAD
Glaxo/Wellcome Disease has no greater enemy
Goodyear The best tires in the world have Goodyear written all over them
Grey Poupon Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon?
Greyhound Leave the driving to us
Guidant It’s a great time to be alive
Haig Scotch Whiskey Don’t be vague, ask for Haig
Hallmark When you care enough to send the very best
Harley Davidson American by birth. Rebel by choice
Hawaiian Punch Hey! How about a nice Hawaiian Punch?
Hebrew National We answer to a higher authority
Hertz Hertz puts you in the driver’s seat
Hewlett Packard Invent
HJ Heinz 57 varieties
Holiday Inn Pleasing people the world over
Honda The power of dreams
Hooters Delightfully tacky, yet unrefined
Hostess Cakes Where’s the cream filling?
Huggies We’re behind you every step of the way
IBM Solutions for a small planet
Intel Intel Inside
Irish Spring Soap Manly yes, but I like it, too
Ivory Soap Pure clean, pure Ivory
Ivory Soap 99.44% pure
Jack in the Box Jack’s back!
Jaguar Don’t dream it. Drive it
Jaguar The art of performance
Jell-O America’s most famous dessert
John Deere Nothing runs like a Deere
JPMorgan Chase Bank The right relationship is everything
Juicy Juice 100 % juice for 100% kids
Kaiser Permanente Thrive
Karry-Lite Takes the ‘lug’ out of luggage
Kay Jewelers Every kiss begins with Kay
Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes They’re g-r-r-r-eat!
Kellogg’s Smart Start Start aging smart
Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Snap, Crackle, Pop
Kentucky Fried Chicken Finger-lickin’ good!
KFC Nobody does chicken like KFC
Kix Cereal Kid tested Mother approved
Kodak Share moments Share life
KPMG It’s time for clarity
L’Oréal Because I’m worth it
Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority What happens here, stays here
Lay’s Potato Chips Betcha can’t eat just one
LendingTree When banks compete, you win
Lexus The relentless pursuit of perfection
Life Cereal Hey, Mikey he likes it!
LifeCall I’ve fallen and I can’t get up
Listerine Always a bridesmaid, but never a bride
Lucent Technologies Creating value through true convergence
Lucky Charms Magically delicious
Lucky Strike Lucky Strike means fine tobacco
M&Ms Melts in your mouth, not in your hands
Marlboro Come to Marlboro Country
MasterCard There are some things that money can’t buy. For everything else there’s MasterCard.
Maxwell House Good to the last drop
Maypo I want my Maypo
Maytag Appliances Our repairmen are the loneliest guys in town
Mazda Passion for the road
McDonald’s Did somebody say McDonald’s?
McDonald’s I’m lovin’ it
McDonald’s We love to see you smile
Memorex Is it live or is it Memorex?
Meow Mix Tastes so good cats ask for it by name
Merrill-Lynch Merrill-Lynch is bullish on America
Metropolitan Home Mode for your abode
MGM MGM means great movies
Michelin Because so much is riding on your tires
Michelob Ultra Lose the carbs. Not the taste
Microsoft Your potential Our passion
Microsoft Where do you want to go today?
Milk Board It does a body good
Miller Beer It’s Miller time!
Miller High Life The champagne of bottled beer
Miller Lite Everything you always wanted in a beer And less
Miller Lite Tastes great, less filling
Mitsubishi Motors Wake up and drive
MorganStanley One client at a time
Morton Salt When it rains, it pours
Motrin Medicine with muscle
Mountain Dew Do the Dew
National Cattlemen’s Beef Beef It’s what’s for dinner
National Crime Prevention Take a bite out of crime
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration You could learn a lot from a dummy Buckle up!
National Pork Board Pork. The other white meat
NBC Must see TV
Nestles Butterfinger Break out of the ordinary
New York State Division of Tourism I love New York
Nike Just do it
Nikon At the heart of the image
Nine Lives Cat Food Only fit for a king Nine Lives
Nintendo Wii Wii would like to play
Nissan Enjoy the ride
Nissan Shift
Nokia Connecting people
Noxzema Take it all off
NyQuil The nighttime sniffling sneezing coughing aching stuffy head fever so you can rest medicine
Office Depot Taking care of business
Old Spice The mark of a man
Oldsmobile It’s not your father’s Oldsmobile anymore
OneTouch Changes everything
Oracle Software powers the Internet
Ore-Ida Ore-Ida! It’s all-righta!
Outback Steakhouse No rules Just right
Pace Picante Sauce Grab the Southwest by the bottle
Pacific Southwest Airlines Catch our smile
Packard Ask the man who owns one
Panasonic Slightly ahead of its time
Parkay Margarine The flavor says butter
Partnership for a Drug-Free America This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs
Paul Masson We will sell no wine before its time
Pepperidge Farm Pepperidge Farm remembers
Pepsi Come alive! You’re in the Pepsi generation
Pepsi The taste of a new generation
Pepsi For those who think young
Pepsi Pepsi-Cola hits the spot
Pepsi The choice of a new generation
Perdue Chicken It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken
Petco Where the pets go
Peugeot The best kept automotive secret in America
Philip Morris Talk They’ll listen
Planter’s Peanuts Famously fresh
Playtex Cross-Your-Heart Bra Lifts and separates
Polaroid The fun develops instantly
Prudential Get a piece of the rock
Quaker Oatmeal Something to smile about
Quiznos M’m, m’m, m’m, m’m, m’mtoasty!
Qwest Spirit of service
Qwest Ride the light
Radio Shack You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers
RAID RAID kills bugs dead
Redbull It gives you wings
Remington I liked it so much I bought the company
Ricoh How well do you share?
Rolaids How do you spell relief? R-O-L-A-I-D-S
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines Get out there
Safeway Ingredients for life
Salesforcecom Experience success
Sanka Sanka—everything you love about coffee
Saturn A different kind of car company
Schlitz The beer that made Milwaukee famous
Schlotzky’s Deli Funny name. Serious sandwich
Schweppes Schhh! You know who?
Seagate We turn on ideas
Secret Deodorant Strong enough for a man, but made for a woman
Shake and Bake It’s Shake and Bake, and I helped
Sherwin Williams Cover the earth
Skoal Always there in a pinch
Smith Barney We make the money the old-fashioned way—we earn it
Smucker’s With a name like Smucker’s, it has to be good
Snapple Made from the best stuff on Earth
Southwest Airlines You are now free to move about the country
SPRINT PCS Now, that’s better
Sprite Obey your thirst
Staples That was easy
Starkist Tuna Sorry, Charlie Starkist wants tuna that tastes good, not tuna with good taste
Subway Eat fresh
Subway Five dollar foot long
Sun Microsystems The network is the computer
Sunkist Better snacking
SuperSoil If it’s not SuperSoil, it’s just plain old dirt
Sweet ‘N Low There’s no equal
T Rowe Price Invest with confidence
Taco Bell Think outside the bun
Taco Bell Head for the border
Taco Bell You quiero Taco Bell
Tareyton Cigarettes I’d rather fight than switch
Target Expect more. Pay less
TAZO TAZO. The reincarnation of tea
Tempur-Pedic Welcome to bed
The Economist Free enterprise with every issue
The New York Times All the news that’s fit to print
The Sharper Image For the person who has everything, we have everything else
The Virginia Tourism Commission Virginia is for lovers
Tide If it’s gotta be clean, it’s gotta be Tide
Timex Takes a licking and keeps on ticking
Toshiba Choose freedom
Toyota Get the feeling
Trix Cereal Silly rabbit, trix are for kids
Tyco A vital part of your world
Tylenol It’s hospital recommended
Unisys Imagine it Done
United Airlines Time to fly
United Airlines Fly the friendly skies
United Negro College Fund The mind is a terrible thing to waste
Unocal The spirit of 76’
UPS What can Brown do for you?
US Army Some of our best men are women
US Army There’s strong. And then, there’s Army strong.
US Dept of Transportation Friends don’t let friends drive drunk
US Forest Service Only you can prevent forest fires
US Forest Service Give a hoot, don’t pollute
US Marines The few, the proud, the Marines
US Marines We’re looking for a few good men
US Navy It’s not a job. It’s an adventure
US Peace Corps The toughest job you’ll ever love
US Postal Service We deliver for you
V-8 I coulda had a V-8!
Verizon Wireless We never stop working for you
Verizon Wireless Can you hear me now? …Good
Victor Talking Machine Co His master’s voice
Virginia Slims Cigarettes You’ve come a long way, baby
VISA It’s everywhere you want to be
Visine Visine gets the red out
Volkswagen Think small
Volkswagen Drivers wanted
Volvo For life
Walmart Save money. Live better
Wal-Mart Always low prices
Wells Fargo The next stage
Wendy’s Where’s the beef?
Western Airlines Western Airlines the only way to fly
Wheaties The breakfast of champions
Wisk Laundry Detergent Ring around the collar
World Wildlife Fund For a living planet
Xerox We’re moving beyond documents
Yahoo! Personals Believe
Yellow Pages Let your fingers do the walking
ZDNet Where technology means business
Zenith The quality goes in before the name goes on

My top favorites are:

BMW The Ultimate Driving Machine
California Milk Processor Board Got milk?
MasterCard There are some things that money can’t buy. For everything else there’s MasterCard.

Many taglines are not current. I will update the list as it goes… with your help.

What is your favorite tagline? Do you have one to add to the list?

How Yellow Pages Can Stop Wasting Money from Businesses and Save Trees

Vinh Nguyen — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 00:08:38 +0000

When I came home last night, there were two Yellow Pages phone books at my door. Like all the others, they ended up in the trash bin.

Who is using phone books nowadays? Not many for sure.

Yet, businesses are paying several millions of dollars to display their ads. Money is being wasted; trees are being wasted.

If At&t, Verizon, and YellowBook were to conduct ethical business, they could send a postcard instead of the phone books. The postcard would ask for the permission to send out the phones books. Suddenly, we are collectively saving trees.

Then, At&t, Verizon and YellowBook sales representatives would present to business owners the real number of persons willing to receive the phone books. Suddenly, money is not being wasted and the lies stop.

The ethical move is unlikely to happen… Well, the Yellow Pages phone books might just simply disappear.

[update]

[poll id="3l"]

[update]

I have been researching how I can opt out automatic deliveries of phone books:

How to Stop Receiving Phone Books and Yellow Pages by leelefever. The comments are very interesting.
Yellowpagesgoesgreen.org is “an organization working to educate consumers and promote the green movement to eliminate the unsolicited delivery of Yellow and White Pages books.” You can sign up to stop receiving the telephone directories.

How to Post Comments that Drive Traffic to your Website

Vinh Nguyen — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 09:01:33 +0000

Posting comments is becoming more and more popular. You can do it on blogs, on photo sharing sites, on video sharing sites, and even on “non-social media” platforms. When you do it right, leaving your comments will help to:

drive free traffic to your website
make you more noticeable

It’s not rocket science. Here’s how you can do it:

Set up a free account with Gravatar (Globally Recognized Avatar). Gravatar allows associating any of your emails with your picture. When you leave your comment with your registered email on Gravatar supported platforms, your picture will automatically be displayed. The more you put your face out there, the better is your personal branding.
Find good blogs to leave your comments. For me, good places are:
- blogs from experts. You can be noticed and build your reputation. However, you would need to bring your A game.
- do follow blogs. Do follow blogs are blogs where the link to your website will count in Google’s eyes. Here is a search on “do follow list” on Google.
Chose a name. Sometimes, it will be appropriate to put your full name; sometimes it will be appropriate to put a keyword phrase relating to your website. I prefer to put my full name because the keyword phrase makes your comment look like a spam.
Add the url of your website. You can either point to the homepage or even better to a page developing similar or complementary idea.
Leave meaningful comments. It seems obvious but it’s not easy to do. Post comments that will be useful and interesting. If you are an expert in your field or would like to be recognized as an expert, it’s your chance to show what you got. Be smart and don’t post comments that look and smell like spam.
Repeat. The more you comments the more traffic you will drive and the more noticeable you will be.

What about you start practicing by commenting on this post? What do you have to say?

Can The Blogosphere Shoot Down Ryanair?

Vinh Nguyen — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 08:08:07 +0000

It all started when Jason Roe reported on his blog an insignificant glitch in Ryanair online reservation system. Jason provided screenshots showing “Total Cost of Flight 0.00.”

Few hours later, Jason received the incredible comment from a Ryanair staff member:

jason!
you’re an idiot and a liar!! fact is!
you’ve opened one session then another and requested a page meant for a different session, you are so stupid you dont even know how you did it! you dont get a free flight, there is no dynamic data to render which is prob why you got 0.00. what self respecting developer uses a crappy CMS such as word press anyway AND puts they’re mobile ph number online, i suppose even a prank call is better than nothing on a lonely sat evening!!

Good press can spread fast online. But bad press spreads even faster. Ryanair released an official statement, not only, confirming the company’s involvement, but also insulting Ryan and the blogosphere as a whole.

Ryanair can confirm that a Ryanair staff member did engage in a blog discussion. It is Ryanair policy not to waste time and energy in corresponding with idiot bloggers and Ryanair can confirm that it won’t be happening again.

Lunatic bloggers can have the blog sphere all to themselves as our people are far too busy driving down the cost of air travel.

Unlike Facebook when facing with a case of bad publicity, Ryanair clearly underestimated the shift of power and influence with social media. Bloggers have followers, and followers are ultimately consumers. When Ryanair is “too busy driving down the cost of air travel,” the consumers might just pick another company that cares about its clients.

I am not a Ryanair client but they already lost me!

Other related resources:

100 Free Business Cards by HP Marketsplash with No Catch

Vinh Nguyen — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 12:20:05 +0000

Marketsplash by HP is offering 100 business cards for Free, with no processing fees, no shipping fees. You pay $0! Here is the offer provided by Marketsplash:

At no cost, you’ll receive:

100 full color, professionally printed business cards.

Over 1,200 designs to choose from.

Unique images that are designed by award-winning designers.

Option to design your own logo.

Delivered to your door in seven business days or less.

Limit one free order per address or user.
To prevent fraud, a credit card is required to order the free business cards. Your card will be authorized but not charged.

Step-by-step tutorial to design your business cards

Go to the free business card offer page and click on “Get your free cards”
On the left navigation column, select the type of business cards:
1. logo: you can import your own logo. 43 designs.
2. basic: simple graphics, no custom logo. 74 designs.
3. industry: full color pictures representing various industries. 1269 designs
On the left navigation column, select the layout: horizontal or vertical
Select your design and start customizing:
1. the text. You can remove, add, edit any line of text. You can move and arrange any line or block text
2. the color. You can click on any elements, graphic or text and change its color. Use the white color as a trick to remove the graphics you don’t like.
3. the layout. For the free offer, you can only re-size elements of your card. If you are importing a logo, make sure it is a square to avoid distortions. Use the Re-size function to enlarge the logo as fit.

The design process is very easy. I have only noticed four minor issues:

If during checkout you see a different total than $0, make sure you have clicked on “Get your free cards” on the free business card offer page
I was not able to retrieve and edit a “Saved project.” It came blank although I can preview it
Text boxes do not seem to working properly in Firefox 3.0
the back of the card advertises marketsplash free offer

chom chom advertising business cards designed using Marketsplash

It took me about 30 min from designing to placing the order. Let’s see how they come out.

[update]

Well I received free business cards from Marketsplash. I would say they are average:

There was no promotional message on the back which was not expected
The paper is a too thin for my taste
On the front, the first 50 cards looks right; but then the rest is unusable because the logo was off-centered

I would not feel comfortable giving this card to a prospect client. On another note, the batch of 500 cards I ordered in 16pt dull paper came perfect.

The Painful Logo and Business Card Design for chom chom advertising

Vinh Nguyen — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 04:55:44 +0000

Like every starting business, chom chom advertising needed a logo. The logo is the second most important visual element of branding after the business name.

From the start, I knew the design process would be painful. I wanted a great logo… I don’t have much money for it… I am not a graphic designer… I criticized Vietnamese logos… I was noticed by David Airey after posting a comment on his post:

Good luck with the chom chom logo design. I notice you’re in the process of designing one. I hope it goes well.

The utopian scenario: design the logo by renown graphic designers

In the best of worlds, I would contract with David Airey or Jacob Cass. David and Jacob are two graphic designers I truly admire. I would fill up a questionnaire, relax, and wait for the magic to happen. Very likely, I would be happy if not amazed by the result. Surely, the cost of their services is proportional to their talent. And the utopia ends.

The cheap scenario: design the logo under $200… if not for $50

If I wanted to be disappointed, that would be the way to go. Unfortunately, most small business entrepreneurs would adopt this solution because an OK logo at $200 is better than no logo at all.

Here are two posts about “penny” logo design services before you decide:

The 50 Dollar Logo Experiment by Jim Walls, creative director at 160over90
Let the (Logo) Games Begin by Doug Bartow, founding principal and the design director of id29

The smart scenario: design the logo by unconventional means

I love smart scenarios. Actually, I don’t have many alternatives, do I? Here are the phases I went through:

1. Bargain. I made a deal with Havana Nguyen, a young graphic designer I researched online. She would design the logo and I would help to market her graphic design services. I was presented with several concepts:

I was pleased with the version above with the word “ad” in grey. However, I felt something was missing and questioned my choice with “ad” as a short for “advertising.”

2. Discovery. I forwarded the final draft to two seasoned graphic designers for their opinions.

Kriszha:

From a design perspective there is a lack of visual appeal in your logo concept.I believe that the design of your logo should be a reflection of your business concern and make the right impact among your clientele.

Kien Nguyen:

I don’t think this is identity is working out for me. From a design perspective, there isn’t much visually that speaks about the mission of your company and what you guys do. Here are a few issues I would fix that might help make it more appealing:

1. Name - As it is now, the name reads as “chom chom ad” and that can be confusing. Ad can be misinterpreted as advertisement, advertising, advertise, etc… I would stick with the full name of “Chom Chom Advertising” to make the name straightforward and more apparent. Yes the name might be a bit long, but again, that is a challenge a designer should work around, not avoid with cheap short cuts and abbreviations.
2. Colors - is there a a reason why you chose orange? I think it should be more of a deep reddish color to reflect the fruit. This can be a lot more interesting and impactful I think.
3. Kerning (spacing of letters) - it is somewhat awkward in certain areas, especially between the c and h. some might read it as a d.

I am more of a conceptual person when it comes to logo design. I believe it should be as abstract as possible but at the same time, it should reflect your company’s core values within it. There should be a rationale for everything you choose down to the color and the graphic elements. This is your brand, and right now, your logo doesn’t really tell me much about it.

From their valuable insights, I understood I was far from finalizing the logo.

3. Deception. While chatting with a web developer from India, I inquired about their logo design services. I knew they were good at making websites. He quoted $50 for seven concepts. Since we’ve worked on various projects, he offered I would only pay if I liked the designs. Their portfolio shows elegant and sophisticated logo designs so… why not a try? I forwarded my logo requirements, the previous designs, Kriszha & Kien insights, and wish for the best. I might be lucky this time!

Needless to say, I was very disappointed. The logos are nothing like the ones from their portfolio. The cheap scenario did not pay off. Oh! really?

4. Self-fulfillment. Over 20 days in the design process and I was going nowhere. I felt an urge to take the matter on my own. For a whole Sunday, I sat down and worked on finalizing the logo:

- the concept. The pictogram symbolizes the purpose of chom chom advertising– to match service/product offerings with the needs of the target audience. The disks relate to the shape of the chom chom fruit and the “o” in “chom chom.”
- the typeface. I chose the very popular ‘Gotham rounded light.’ It’s a safe choice given my little expertise in typography and graphic design.
- the colors. Black, Grey, Pastel Red. Again, a safe play.

I ran the finalized version through my wife (that’s how it works!). She was happy… It’s a winner!

Business card design

I ordered 500 business cards on 16pt dull cover paper with matte finish.

Epilogue

A logo design is an incredibly complex process. Like everything complex, you need expert people to achieve remarkable results. I know the chom chom logo can be way better in the hands of experts. It’s JUST good enough. And for now, “good enough” is acceptable as Seth Godin said:

All a logo needs is to be GOOD ENOUGH (I know, I’m the guy who says good enough is a curse). Why is it okay to have a non-wonderful logo? Because the logo is just a placeholder. It gains value AFTER it hits the world, because people associate things with it.

I would like to thank everyone who participated directly or indirectly to the design of chom chom logo. I can’t wait to see it up on the website and business cards.

What are your thoughts? Comments, insights, and feedback is welcomed!

chom chom advertising shows on 1st page in Google

Vinh Nguyen — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 04:43:52 +0000

On Thursday, February 12, 2009, chom chom advertising appeared #9 on the first page of Google for the keyword phrase “chom chom” out of 440,000 results. Houra!

First milestone

Let’s consider this as a SEO milestone since the website launch on January 26, 2009. Eventually, one day, there might be other milestones for “advertising” or “advertising agency.”

Rome wasn’t build in one day.

Here are some concurring facts that explain the ranking:

10 pages
7 posts
optimized title tags
70+ inbound links
2 submissions on digg.com

To be continued…

30 Most Powerful Logos of the US Economy

Vinh Nguyen — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 08:01:39 +0000

I bet you’ve seen 99.9% of those logos at least one time in your life. The 30 most powerful logos represent 30 companies component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average index, also called the Dow Jones, the Dow, the DJIA, Dow 30, or INDP.

Billion of dollars have been invested to build brands inside those little squares, rectangles, ovals, or circles. Truly unique, truly remarkable, truly powerful.

Click to enlarge

What is SEO? You Have No Excuse for Not Knowing

Vinh Nguyen — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 19:18:27 +0000

If your business has an online presence, there are thousand of people who just want to find it (and they don’t even know you exist). Obviously, you want them to find you before they find your competitors. Obviously, you need to be “cool” with Google, Yahoo, Live Search, and other search engines because they DELIVER search results. Obviously, you want tons of traffic but without spending tons of money. SEO or Search Engine Optimization is exactly what you are looking for!

What you are losing without SEO

How you website is written. This is the content of your website: the coding, the text, the pictures, the videos, etc.

How people search online. People use keyword phrases to search for what they need: one word, several words, whole sentences.

Without SEO, you just care about your website without any consideration for the way search engines display search results and the way people search online. Your are losing free traffic and under utilize your website.

What does SEO do?

SEO is the set of optimization tactics to drive traffic to your website by understanding how search engines ranks and display results and how people search online.

How search engines ranks and display results. The ultimate goal for every search engine is to display relevant results. “The perfect search engine,” says Google co-founder Larry Page, “would understand exactly what you mean and give back exactly what you want.” When you know the rules of the game, you can improve your play.

How people search. The content of your website matches what people are looking for.

SEO in the big picture

How important is SEO?

If you have a website, you owe to know the game of SEO and how it impacts on your bottom line: more traffic, more customers, more leads, more sales.

Now, you are ready to tell your marketing team, your online marketing consultant, or yourself the following:

I want [my website] to show on the FIRST page of [search engine] for the [keyword phrase] using SEO!

You might use chom chom advertising infographics under the Creative Commons License: